caulfield12

Except there’s a huge dropoff from Top 4 to Collins...then again to all those pitchers like Stiever, Thompson and Dahlquist. Steele Walker is now #12 for the Rangers, for example.

Go Hawkeyes! Breaking the string of six losses in a row to USC. Slovis going down completely changed the game. Smith Marsette looking like he will be first Hawkeye wide receiver/KR in ages to make it in the NFL. Probably will lose Epenesa and Wirfs to the pros after four early departures last year. Duncan has been one of the best kickers in Iowa history as well. Pretty nice TE tradition w/ Clark, Kittle, Hockenson and Fant. La Porta the next...has some Gronkowski to him, albeit not as explosive. Stanley goes down as top 5 Iowa QB along with Chuck Long, Rick Stanzi, Matt Rodgers, Drew Tate.

The starting pitching and bullpen will make or break this team...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfM7_JLk-84

Those who don’t know him, who haven’t spent time with him, don’t know and think differently,” Reyes said. “But coming here and having him as a teammate and seeing the kind of guy he is, he changed my mind completely. “He’s someone who enjoys his game. The way he plays, that’s who he is. He shows the public and his teammates and his opponents who he is. He isn’t trying to be something different.” First baseman Carlos Santana, the leader of the Indians’ clubhouse, also speaks of newfound appreciation for Puig, admitting that he was initially concerned about the arrival of the enigmatic slugger. Santana says that manager Terry Francona asked him to have a chat with Puig right off the bat. “I’m really surprised. He’s a cool guy,” Santana said in Spanish. “I think he adjusted quickly to the team, with so many Latino players here. He feels comfortable. When he got here, I spoke with him. I told him that here we come to play baseball and play it hard. I think he got my message, and he’s been playing hard.” It certainly helps that Puig has performed well of late, hitting .288 with two home runs, 11 RBIs, eight walks, 10 runs and an .810 OPS in 21 games with Cleveland. https://www.mlb.com/news/yasiel-puig-winning-over-indians-teammates

This would be the same exact problem with Joc Pederson...and he’ll get $60-75 million next offseason.

Nope, died at age 70 in 2010. Even Rachel Phelps is gone.

Marisnick or one of the losers in the Mets' outfield battle would be a decent pick-up. Nimmo, J.D. Davis and Conforto are expected to be the starters. They also have Domonic Smith and Cespedes (all the Cubans, if they come with a huge salary subsidy).

At $60-65 million, you really think the White Sox would bite? It would have to be four years as well. I would guess that Puig and his agent are really pushing for him to join his countrymen in Chicago, and he’s willing to sacrifice money for one season to get that unique opportunity.

But wait. Was Puig a malcontent? He carried that heavy baggage when the Reds acquired him from the Los Angeles Dodgers. He showed none of that with the Reds. In contrast he was a fantastic teammate, beloved in the clubhouse Yasiel is a great teammate,” said Garrett. “I’d heard a lot of things about him before he came to us. I thought he was one of the best teammates we ever had. He was always joy in the clubhouse. He loved these guys, loved being around these guys. “We are definitely going to miss him,” Garrett said. “I’m just going to have to strike him out next year. He is always messing with me because he is 1 for 3 off me.” https://www.daytondailynews.com/sports/reds-pitcher-garrett-grateful-for-puig-backup/22OEMTujWgm3WXCljSWl1I/ Seems like Rabbit is carrying around the 2013-14 Wild Stallion version. Of course, the 1.5-2.0ish fWAR Puig isn’t nearly as impactful on the diamond, but the Dodgers wouldn’t have kept him for another four seasons if he was THAT bad as has been described. And I’m guessing none of those anonymous quotes were from Latin American or Hispanic players, who comprise the majority of the Sox starting lineup right now.

But why the heck would Cleveland do that, and with the White Sox? It has never made any sense at all. For a divisional rival, they’re going to premium value him like they’re trading two years of Lindor for and asking for Lux, Verdugo and May in return. Next, there’s never been a tangible link between either Bieber or Clevinger and the White Sox...if it’s going to be anyone, it would be them offloading Carrasco first. You’re also forgetting the White Sox never trade their first round position prospects until they drive their value into the ground first. This is not Poreda or Ring, it’s a Golden Spikes winner.

Renteria will go with McCann over Collins as long as he’s on the roster. Heck, he still went with Castillo over Collins frequently in the second half last year....until the very end of the season.

That’s because of 2013 and 2014. Realistically, he’s not capable of being a 650 at-bat player anymore due to his splits. He has been worth 1.8 and then 1.2 fWAR the last two years...projected for 1.9 by Steamer. Mazara’s projected to produce roughly the same numbers at $5-6 million and won’t impact the clubhouse in any way but positively. If it was the 2013-14 version of Puig, and he hadn’t worn out his welcome in LA and Cincy and probably with Francona, he’d be getting a $250 million contract instead of just $25 million. He’s the baseball equivalent of Josh Gordon.

Why would the Indians entertain such a scenario for Clevinger? They’re going to want Madrigal and Vaughn. How is Vaughn even blocked? Abreu is going to have to give way...and there’s zero guarantee that Encarnacion will be around for more than one season. In reality, Swanson still has time to establish himself. The Braves are going to be patient with him, just like the Sox were with Tim Anderson. He’s still going to be only 26 at the start of the season, and has been worth 1.7 per season averaging only 130 games played the last two years. A 2.1 SS isn’t great, but nobody’s giving up on him quite yet, either. You’re not drafted 1-1 without a reason. Let’s see what he can when fully healthy for an entire season.

Puig has been a 1.5-2.0 fWAR player for many years now. I haven’t seen anyone other than Villar or Cesar Hernandez getting contracts up in that range, If Moncada or Robert sign extensions due to the continued presence of Abreu...how many more millions is that worth? If Abreu, Grandal and Encarnacion have positive mentoring relationships with the young hitters like Mazara, Robert, Jimenez and Moncada, how much is that worth? If Puig tears up the chemistry of another clubhouse, especially impressionable 1st and 2nd year players, how much long-term damage can that incur?

How many pitchers in the last five years have responded well to missing 2-3 months of the season? How many many big improvements in the following year?

Not exactly. DBacks were too desperate to acquire Shelby Miller...and the Braves now look like they’re set up to be contenders for the next five years. That’s not uncommon when you trade talent like that For veterans, it usually comes back to bite you. A cautionary tale if ever there was one.

I’m mean, let’s be realistic here. Not even the Dodgers are showering any FA’s with huge contracts. While we can certainly afford one at that level, we can’t afford one to go bad. Obviously, Betts seems as safe a “bet” as any, but that’s always true at the beginning of most free agent contracts. I guess Balta did a mini-study of some of the bigger pitching deals working out more often than not in recent years, but it’s almost impossible to predict with any degree of certainty which ones will turn out to be albatrosses. For example, Cano signing with the Mariners...that turned into a disaster for that franchise that runs similar budgets to the White Sox. Harper/Realmuto or Machado didn’t guarantee playoff spots for their acquiring teams, either.

We could never convince Betts to sign in the first place without winning around 85 games or more. Then we end up severely overpaying for 30-something Springer or spending $60-75 million for a platoon bat in Joc Pederson. Look no further than the Northside for a team decimated even at the luxury tax level by a series of bad contracts like a Heyward, Darvish and Chatwood. Two of those guys were “premiere” talents that haven’t worked out well.

Is that Pujols reporter/source any relation to Albert? Just curious...

It seems Castellanos/Ozuna are moves that are no longer going to happen with the addition of EE and Mazara...they need this year to wait on their 2020 platoon to develop, to see what they have in their four minor leaguer outfielders and also to wait on the mid-season trade market and of course monitoring the rest of their rehabilitating Top 30 minor leaguers, 9 coming off major injury setbacks. Lots of moving parts, lots of possibilities. Of course, Ozuna could end up signing just a one-year deal and waiting for next offseason, like Grandal did this past year, or Moustakas. Castellanos is more likely to get paid based on his last two years and relatively youth.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/white-sox-win-now-intent-014114973.html Sox Win-Now Intent Becomes Obvious

When's the last time a Top 3 pick was traded within two years of being drafted?

Though he didn't look great in the postseason, he finished the regular season having hit .244/.344/.531 with 34 home runs. One potential red flag: he was underneath the ball far more often in 2019 than usual, resulting in a sky-high launch angle (over 22 degrees) and pop-up rate. Could that be a sign of decaying barrel control? Encarnacion will turn 37 in January, meaning he'll arrive at camp with "Attrition Risk" written on his forehead until he can prove otherwise. For his career, Encarnacion owns an OPS+ of 125 across parts of 15 major league seasons. His 414 career home runs rank 52nd on the all-time list. Last season, White Sox designated hitters combined to bat a meager .205/.286/.356 with 17 home runs in 550 at-bats, so even if Encarnacion endures some decline he should still constitute a hefty upgrade over that 2019 baseline. It's been an active winter for the South Siders, who are primed to get back to postseason for the first time since 2008 when they lost in the ALDS. https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/white-sox-strike-up-christmas-day-deal-for-free-agent-edwin-encarnacion-per-reports/

Hunter Pence's name has been coming up a lot recently. Puig looks like he will end up on the Marlins, of all teams.