caulfield12

They had no choice. He was abysmal offensively. Couldn’t go into a must compete season relying on him again. Prospects bust at an alarming rate. Even Top 15-25 ones.

So they now have Strahm and Pomeranz from the LH side...Yates closing. Pomeranz can be an excellent swingman in that division. Grisham for starting CF, so they need a 2B still with Urias gone. Margot should be gone. Renfroe and Myers the other two outfielders, with 2B and some uncertainty remaining about Mejia/Hedges at catcher.

I think they hold onto him for at least 2020...he’s more expendable when Gore arrives, but they desperately need to up the ante for 2020 in terms of fighting for a WC spot at least. Lucchesi gives you innings and usually keeps his team in the game. Strong competitor. Very calm and poised demeanor.

What role does Sheets have going forward? With Abreu moving to DH in 2021 with Vaughn at first, he gone. This is a trade KW would typically make 98/100 times.

Lauer is basically Jim Parque with slighty better stuff...or a really poor man’s Q. Fox the Sox, he would be the perfect swingman and he’s LH. Obviously Milwaukee just needs affordable bodies for the rotation, and Davies was going to become increasingly expensive. Miley and Gio are similar possibilities.

Strasburg still seems likely to return to Washington. If someone gives Rendon 7 years, no way they match that.

Urias is a very strong defender but he struggled all season just to get to .200. Lauer is just mehhh. Padres trying to ump the ante in the rotation with Richards back from TJ with expiring deal next year...Lucchesi and especially Lauer expendable. Rotation looks like Paddack, Davies, Lucchesi, G.Richards, Lamet/Quantrill...with Gore pushing to be the second ace, and quickly. Grisham has as good an opportunity as anyone to break through as an impact player...Braun/Cain/Yelich and Huira ensconced there for MIL in 2020 and Urias needed a scenery change. Moustakas would be another possibility at 2B. Schoop or Gennett?

Successfully? Well, it’s unlikely to improve with Vizquel gone.

It wasn’t even half...but I guess ten’s of random Twitter screen shots of supposed “insiders” is also cause of unabated excitement. Of course, almost everyone now claims to be an insider of some sort. It’s just that only 5-10% are actually accurate, which in all likelihood is worse than even weather forecasters.

As 26th man, he better improve his “steal on demand” in late innings capability.

Reddick sucks...but at $8-9 million, who knows between him and Calhoun who’s the better value. Of course, in that case of a subsidy from Houston, we’re going to have to surrenders some second/third tier prospects like Burdi, Fulmer and Hansen.

As noted previously, Pederson at least gives you positional flexibility to stick him in CF preventing (hopefully) more Engel appearances.

Reddick is still under contract with Astros, $13 million...so money would be coming over with him from Houston, at least $3-4, touching $5 million. Dickerson, Nimmo and Scooter Gennett shout-outs.

Polanco/Reddick the other lower cost options to acquire due to contract...Benintendi, probably not AS cheap as previously imagined. Calhoun still the likeliest individual FA name.

Sweaty Freddy Garcia 2005 AL Central Division champs version? Still have mine, although the heat transfer press on is quickly losing its luster. Josh Donaldson is next predicted big-name signing, fwiw. Wheeler is the next listed. Zack Wheeler, RHP, age 29 There is a sentiment in the industry that he could sign as early as the Winter Meetings. He’s drawing broad interest, from the Phillies, White Sox, Twins, Padres and Angels, among others. MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal recently reported that the Reds are also pursuing Wheeler. Wheeler didn’t pitch in the Majors during the 2015 and ’16 seasons, while undergoing (and recovering from) Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. He also missed time this year due to shoulder fatigue. Because of those factors, it’s unclear whether clubs will be comfortable offering a contract of five guaranteed years. That said, over the past two years he is 12th in MLB with a total of 377 2/3 innings pitched, which should put some of the concerns about his durability to rest. And his combined 8.9 WAR during that stretch (per FanGraphs) ranks ninth, ahead of former Mets teammate Noah Syndergaard (8.5) and even Strasburg (8.1). Wheeler will be less expensive to sign than Strasburg or Cole, so he appeals to teams -- like the White Sox, Angels and Padres -- that want to preserve resources to pursue offensive upgrades as well. https://www.mlb.com/news/next-mlb-free-agent-to-sign?partnerId=zh-20191127-156907-47943&query_id=1026&bt_ee=anG01a33VbOatev%2FEUXlgwRRFvds0mG%2BwzvgATKPsCGnqjeZp1AUTYdcQzWH%2B4oI&bt_ts=1574857937186 So it’s Phillies, Padres, Mets (low probability), Reds on NL side, Twins, Yankees, Astros, Angels, White Sox in AL. Up to nine total teams mentioned so far.

I do think a player with 2-3 years of arbitration control...either a pitcher or RF, or both...are realistic. Maybe just not some of the high-profile names we’re currently imagining, at least on the pitching side. Of course, if we miss out on Wheeler, all bets are off.

And trade half our system away in the process without having long-term control of either...?

Not in China. Working day like normal in a British/Cambridge/CIE international school. In fact, students are just getting their notifications about Oxford and Cambridge interviews and booking flights to Heathrow between next week and X-Mas.

Mike Cameron definitely coming out of retirement to play with his son on the Tigers and face Parque Margarine 4-5 times...

Since nothing actually happened... https://sports.yahoo.com/much-might-zack-wheeler-cost-185142660.html Wheeler won't command the same kind of gargantuan deals that Cole and Strasburg end up signing. But he won't come cheap, either. The White Sox just gave out the richest deal in franchise history when they signed Yasmani Grandal to a four-year contract last week. They might need to break that record in order to land Wheeler. Would they? Historically, they haven't rushed to hand out lengthy contracts to starting pitchers, and while Rick Hahn has been keen on smashing any and every preconceived notion about his team he can find - the idea the White Sox aren't willing to spend fell by the wayside with the Grandal deal - he acknowledged why any team might be hesitant to sign starting pitchers to such contracts. He also kept with his theme of the offseason, suggesting actions speak louder than words, as well as keeping the door open to every kind of move. "With all these moves, free-agent moves, specifically with pitching, it's going to come down to pricing and what's accessible and what's the price and what level of risk we're willing to bear," Hahn said during the GM meetings earlier this month in Arizona. "There's a heightened level of risk with free-agent starting-pitching signings. It's just the nature of the category. "But anything I say right now about ‘we're willing to do X' or ‘you'll see us do this,' it's meaningless until we actually do it. So if we actually go out and convert on a free-agent pitching target, we'll talk about how we wound up with the term and why." ..... The Nathan Eovaldi deal with Boston was their comp in season. I believe that was four (years) and $68 million. I believe at this point, given where the pitching market is at, Wheeler's bar is going to be raised from that quite a bit," Martino said. "If you're not getting Gerrit Cole, I don't know where you turn for a potentially really high-end guy other than Wheeler. So I think he could get into the $100 million territory at this point, based on the way the market's going. "I don't think it will eliminate competition overall for him because there's a lot of teams that need pitching and want an upgrade, whether it's the White Sox, the Reds, the Angels, the Padres. And these are teams that sometimes have been having trouble convincing players to take their money. So they've got checks to write, it's just a matter of where's Wheeler going to choose. "So I do think it will continue to be a robust market, even at a pretty high number for a guy who's really good but doesn't have a super long track record." https://fansided.com/2019/11/26/twins-whatever-it-takes-sign-zack-wheeler/ https://fansided.com/2019/11/25/five-most-likely-landing-spots-zack-wheeler/5/ Wheeler listed as #1 likelihood to end up signing with White Sox, Reds 5th, Mets 4th, Astros 3rd, Yankees 2nd. No Angels or Twins. Padres. Not sure where the idea about Angels or Padres not being able to land premiere free agents is coming from...since the Angels won the Ohtani sweepstakes, after all.

Jacoby Ellsbury/Yankees, anyone? PETA? DEA if they pluralized it accidentally... Anything to dump that contract and free up another $10ish million.

Do we really need three Wheeler threads? With “We’re Back” it almost reads like four, if someone just popped in here casually.

Keuchel seems like he would be an absolute disaster in the heart of the summer at GRF...I know Atlanta has even more dramatic weather from June-August, but really want nothing to do with him unless the price is an absolute bargain...and there's too many other teams looking for pitching for that to occur, realistically.

If Robert/Moncada WERE to sign extensions (and they would go well beyond the end of Abreu's Sox career, in all likelihood)....or ANOTHER Cuban free agent were to come on board, then it starts to make a lot more sense. We can always imagine that Grandal would have beeen much more comfortable knowing that 3 year deal was almost finalized for Abreu, rather than anticipating his imminent departure as soon as he joined the team...even as early as the trade deadline. That has to be at least one significant aspect of all this.

Four guys doesn't include Hamels? It feels like even Hamels (coming off his rebound season in 2019) is going to get close to $13-15 million, or maybe more...and for that price, I'd rather sign two more versatile Drew Pomeranz's. Just have a feeling, like with Bumgarner...that Hamels would be a much better fit in the NL.