caulfield12

If anyone wants Cueto, Samardzija or Melancon...not sure a reunion is the best idea for Shark with all the pressure to win instantly, but it could work. But you’d have to get more back than Happ for the remaining years on Heyward’s deal, not to mention RCF is Death Valley for most LH hitters without huge pull power down the line.

Who do the Dodgers have left to trade for Merrifield? Taylor or Hernández can play second, and they’re going to have to save Verdugo for Kluber or Realmuto.

Then why trade for Kopech when he was at heightened risk from trying to push for max velocity? Not sure why there would be much distinction in drafting versus picking said pitcher up a couple of years later? It’s also pretty clear Fulmer didn’t exactly possess smooth mechanics, either.

https://sports.yahoo.com/dodgers-created-space-outfield-bryce-harper-really-whats-next-la-014706903.html

Scott Sanderson?

Unless we want to watch 10-15 more Dylan Covey starts, there aren’t many options to replace Giolito before next season, unless we’re now willing to push Cease hard in what will likely be a fairly meaningless season, competitively.

I’ll attempt to throw in some Marvel or DC Comics allusions, next time.

The fact that arguably our current (overall) best position player is being moved off his best defensive position isn’t ideal, but we have never really had any problems in the recent history of our franchise with thinking we can move players around like pieces on a chessboard without any consequences to their hitting. One would think finding a natural 3B or natural RFer might be a somewhat better idea.

Where is there any speculation one year ago that we were legitimate threats to sign Machado and Harper, if this was the plan all along? If you haven’t noticed, almost every thread about Harper and Machado is based purely upon speculation and conjecture. But thanks for the reminder of peavy44, he didn’t like to use periods or punctuation marks, either.

But still, only 4 playoff appearances over two decades. The Tigers, Indians and Twins all beat that over 5 or 6 year stretches during the last twenty years. And KC was in the World Series two consecutive years. We were consistently good enough for second place and only bottomed out in the late 90’s. Plus, 1994 was taken away from fans. That did as much damage alone as anything positive that was accomplished, other than 2005.

Replacing the 26-year-old Bogaerts, who’s posted an exceptional 17.4 fWAR over the last four seasons, would be nearly impossible, and the rental market, at least in recent times, leaves little to be desired. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/12/red-sox-notes-bogaerts-payroll-sale-catchers.html So we’re back to changing positions for Anderson, Moncada, or both? He’s played only 50 career games for the Red Sox at 3B.

We know this about Vaughn. He doesn’t run very well. He can throw about 92 as a pitcher, so he has the arm for 3b. He was voted first team PAC 12 as a defender at 1B. He’s also a touch under 6 feet, listed at 5’11”. "In 1999, we had the two Joshes [Hamilton and Beckett] and then everybody else," a National League scouting official said. "It could be a similar situation this year with Rutschman and Witt. Bobby Witt's kid is certainly one of the most exciting kids I've seen in a long time. You have to go back a long way to see a shortstop with those tools." Some teams would group Vaughn, the reigning Golden Spikes Award winner, with Rutschman and Witt. He's the best offensive player available, a .402/.531/.819 hitter as a sophomore who draws raves for his ability to barrel balls, hit for power and control the strike zone. https://www.mlb.com/news/2019-draft-top-50-prospects-list-revealed/c-301460626 3. Chicago White Sox Andrew Vaughn, 1B, Cal I can hear the White Sox moans from here-- not another college bat! Especially not an undersized first baseman. The last two years, the White Sox have drafted my guy in the draft and without a doubt, this year it’s Vaughn. Vaughn had a strong freshman year and then came back and nearly doubled his home run total, more than doubled his walk total, and also doubled his doubles total while striking out less. The White Sox have targeted players who hit for power with low strikeout rates. There is not one stat in which Vaughn did not excel. Over the summer, he was selling out for power in the Cape and, while it worked, his walk and strikeout totals were off. It still shows, though, that he can hit for power with wood bats. We have heard the Seth Beer hype the last few years; Vaughn is a plus version of Beer. His size and position will be the knocks on Vaughn, but he should be the first bat to the majors and a middle of the order hitter in a hurry. 4. Miami Marlins Riley Greene, OF, Hagerty HS (FL) The Marlins have been targeting upside in trades and via the draft. I thought they did very well a year ago, drafting high ceiling prep players. Greene would make it back to back years for the Marlins using their first rounder on a high ceiling outfielder from the Florida prep ranks. Greene is a legitimate five-tool talent who could challenge Bobby Witt for the top player in this draft. For fun, go look at Greene on the Perfect Game site; his lowest percentile rank is 93.61 in all the areas they measure. 5. Detroit Tigers Shea Langeliers, C, Baylor Last year, there was some late talk that the Tigers were tempted to draft Joey Bart with the first overall pick. I think they made the right pick, taking Casey Mize instead. This year, they have a chance to draft a similar talent in Shea Langeliers. Langeliers has a better defensive profile, but more questions with his bat. I also think the Tigers have a heck of a future catcher with Jake Rogers. Still, there is no position harder to fill than catcher and Langeliers power means he should be a player who would profile anywhere. He did not hit for average a year ago, mostly in part because of a major drop in BABIP. The Tigers have been looking for a consistent catcher for years; Langeliers and Rogers would give them the best catching prospects the Tigers have had since I started covering the minors. https://247sports.com/mlb/scouting/Article/Way-Too-Early-Mock-2019-122757013/

Bote is no better than Yolmer. Besides the fact we’re just begging the Cubs to sign Harper. In that lineup, Moncada would be at 3b with Happ at 2b with Bote on the bench. Happ’s offensive upside compared to Bote dictates that.

Frankly, we can say they HAVE to sign him, but the Phillies are in the exact same position, except they’re 100% in win now mode and desperate to get back into contention. They also have a huge t.v. deal, so the money’s definitely there to spend. It would be nice, of course, not to go through this wringer two years in a row. The odds will be even more difficult next year, and nobody gets as excited about pitching as position players, especially ones in the prime of their career. We could sign Sale or Bumgarner, and there would be just as much concern as excitement. That’s the volatile nature of getting too attached to pitcher’s names. https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/mlb/reds/2018/12/22/reds-dodgers-blockbuster-trade-players-react/2396188002/

He didn’t. But the fact remains until proven otherwise that the best way for the Sox to build winning teams is either drafting that talent or signing Latin Americans, not playing on the free agent market. You’re simply never going to achieve a justifiable return on investment when you’re paying 10-15% above what the second most desperate team is willing to shell out. It didn’t get the Mariners anywhere, and the Rangers’ eventual playoff success had nothing to do with A-Rod.

Is that really worth $350 million, when you can have TEN Ohtani’s and Luis Robert’s? Betting on Harper is like picking Apple or Google stock. For a franchise like the White Sox, they’re better off with ten shots at the next Nvidia or Netflix. To beat the Harper deal, you only have to be right 2 times out of 10. If our scouting department can’t manage that, I’m not sure what to say, other than big changes need to be made. If you believe in the baseball gods, I guess there’s a certain irony in our last whale from 20+ years ago in Belle having the Orioles bail Reinsdorf out of that contract. Machado would be Angelos’ gift in return.

Wouldn’t it have been somewhat cheaper to add Carlos Beltran to our front office?

You’ve got Fulmer and Giolito. Rodon’s value is pretty low, compared to where everyone expected it to be. Kopech was always going to be extremely high risk. We don’t know exactly where Dunning and Hansen are physically or psychologically. Burdi has become an even bigger question mark. If not for Cease (who still is high-risk due to prior TJ) and Jimenez, it would be almost impossible to justify Hahn still having a job. The best argument MIGHT be the Robert signing, and that’s at least 18 months from paying off.

Then wouldn’t it have been smarter to sign Ohtani for pennies on the dollar (of course, that would also mean never having made the deal for Robert)? He was worth 2.8 fWAR in just 367 plate appearances...not to mention he could serve as a closer as well. Harper was worth only 3.5 in almost twice as many trips to the plate (697).

If you’re wrong on most other aspects of the rebuild, then you are simply going to be trading your 28 year-old superstar in his prime and getting back another version of Soriano or Cano, but now playing on a cellar dwelling team. (Soriano put up a 2.3 fWAR average for two seasons in Texas after a 5.1 in NY in 2003, but really took off again with the Nationals and Cubs.)

Let’s be honest. If Kopech, Moncada and Giolito succeeded, we likely wouldn’t even be having this conversation. The strategy always called for bringing in a “proven winner” Jon Lester type to anchor the rotation, but never a whale. In some ways, instead of trusting the process, it’s a classic panic-induced move. It’s probably why neither of those guys sign, ultimately. Righfully so, it’s up to our current roster, Jimenez, Cease, Robert and Madrigal (Collins, to a lesser extent) to prove they can live up to the scouting reports. Bringing in Machado just obscures how offtrack things are for the rebuild, in terms of perception. If the scouting/evaluation is off on most of our young talent, we will simply end up jettisoning a whale contract for 60-75 cents on the dollar. Hahn and KW will be long gone. In some ways, it’s better to let 2019 play out before making any huge long-term moves.

Greg would like this move if he was a Reds’ fan. The problem is we’re so locked in on whales right now, we’ve totally forgotten how to identify good values in the Tier B/C players we usually go for. And, of course, have no reason so far to trust that Hahn will get it done correctly. In the past 15 years, we only managed it in 2004-05 and then leading into the 2008 season with Danks/Floyd/Quentin/Alexei. Of course, the two big players from that era that we’re going to lead to sustained success, Beckham and Viciedo, flopped. Even if we DO actually make the right smaller moves, it’s going to take a couple of years for the fans to buy back in and start to believe again. The only thing that gives them instant credibility is signing Machado or Arenado. Doubt even Rendon gets that done.

They better take out a yuge insurance policy on Eloy, because any type of injury to our franchise hitter would send even some of the biggest fans into cryofreeze for another couple of years. So far, the only surprise is the Indians didn’t get that group of Dodgers’ outfielders for Santana, but we will see where things stand after the expected Kluber/Bauer deal. Pollock to the Indians for 3-4 years actually makes some sense, paired with Verdugo. He would have to come down into the $60-65 million range, though, for that to occur. That would force the Dodgers to up their offer for Harper. As long as he has multiple options (Braves, Padres, Nats, Phillies, White Sox), Boras still is in control of things. Of course, if they’re going to maximize the return for pitching, the Indians might not want to antagonize Friedman like that.

This Muncy idea is not even as good as Mark Teahen at 2B or in the outfield.

Yeah, the Multiverse Spider-Man is a surprisingly good animated film. Although I'm still not quite ready to accept the Porky Pig version.