caulfield12

There haven’t been many exceptions to this rule...maybe Nick Markakis In 2018, Lowrie for one year then he really fell off, Zobrist was decent in 2018 but fell off...then you’ve got Nelson Cruz and Howie Kendrick. JDM is considerably younger than those examples, and at least he’s been hitting in the AL...in an even more competitive division...but nobody would be shocked if he continued to decline, either, especially if you take into consideration the health issues.

Harper and Boras, in Las Vegas, first meeting where we don’t even know if an official offer was extended...

The day when they outbid everyone in the market and award Betts with a contract almost five times bigger than the current record for the franchise will be a day worth celebrating...but not the way this particular organization has operated since the Albert Belle contract over two decades ago now. Everything else I pretty much agree with, except for it being so easy to pick up the likes of Pederson or Nimmo in trades that help two franchises in “win now” mode. For Pederson, it would likely be Bummer, Fulmer and at least one of those high bust risk minor league outfield prospects. We’re not going to come away unscathed.

Which will only matter if all the bad vibes from last offseason, the Samson debate on second place finishes and the taste of dumping IFA pool money (twice) because we couldn’t find anyone to spend it on is replaced by high/er quality FA signings that affect the next 3-5 years for the franchise. And bringing back Abreu into the fold can hardly be considered be considered one of these key/impactful moves to any but the most casual of Sox fans.

From a fan's standpoint, that's pretty much the dumbest thing ever, to sabotage your own franchise to make a moral and perhaps financial point simultaneously. Nobody is listening to JR anyway, his pre-emptive argument will be lost on the new generation of owners and front office people.

https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/rangers/2019/10/31/texas-rangers-make-series-of-roster-moves-on-1st-day-of-mlb-offseason/ Interesting they originally want to rehab Jones and resign him to incentives-laden deal. Hunter Pence for RF!!!

The successes of Tatis and Robert (maybe he had just turned 19) would argue that spending money on 17 and 18 year olds was definitely worth it, even if you only hit the proverbial gold mine once every 5-10 years on average. Or even drafting American-born high school players like Gavin Lux and Jo Adell, for instance.

How the heck are the Reds going to be competitive in 2020?

On May 16, 2008, the White Sox fired Wilder and two scouts after an investigation in Latin America. Federal authorities were called in as well, and the baseball commissioner's office was investigating the parents of several Latin players about bonuses that they may have received from major-league baseball teams.[6] A major league baseball investigator confirmed to the Chicago Tribune that the investigation involved skimming and was limited only to the White Sox.[3] On February 11, 2011, Wilder pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud in federal court in Chicago. He was released on bond pending sentencing.[7] On August 28, 2013, U.S. district judge Charles Ronald Norgle, Sr. sentenced Wilder to two years in federal prison.[8] He was ordered to begin serving his sentence on October 31, 2013.[8] He was released from federal prison on October 9, 2015.[9] the-tawdry-tangled-history-of-the-white-sox-latin-american-operations you can google that title under Southside Sox...2 or 3 part article that gives the entire story, but it's mostly related to Brazilian and LatAm signings in the 2006-2007 time period

Baseball America USED to be the best place for trade analysis, rather instantaneously...but everything's pretty much buried behind paywalls at this point.

Does anyone have a clue what Paddy's salary is? I'm guessing $300-500,000 per year...well, at least we have him to thank for Nestor Molina, Abreu, Tatis and Luis Robert. Even if it was $500K per year for less than a decade, he's more than earned his money with those last three, despite all the other issues with LatAm/DR operations.

Usually, thebaseballcube.com is the best site to find transactions, agents, signing bonuses, signing scouts, etc. Just plug in the names. You'd have to also look at Polanco, Arraez, Berrios, Rosario, Sano (he was a big bonus, Michael Ynoa and Sano were so famed in that class a documentary movie was made about it). The Indians would be the other natural place to look, going across their roster. Of course, as someone noted, just getting Luplow, Mercado and Reyes has been a boon for them, enough to keep them from tearing things down and auctioning off the rest of their pitching staff, Lindor and Jose Ramirez (when his value has fully rebounded, will take another half season.)

Sure. IF IF IF IF IF. Which represents the five tier B/C players they will bring in not named Wheeler, JDM and Moustakas.

Or Irquidy out of Mexico City for just $100k, White Sox were outscouted by Astros...gee, it would be nice if we had a pitcher like that so as not to spend nearly $10 million on a Nova. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/08/rangers-sign-bayron-lora.html https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/rangers-trade-for-international-pool-money-to-sign-bayron-lora/ Waiting for a story on the next player the Rangers sign with our IFA money.

https://www.lonestarball.com/2019/10/31/20942330/texas-rangers-transactions-wellington-castillo-chicago-white-sox-free-agents As expected, Rangers declining options on Jones and Castillo. Enjoyed comments on the player they acquired. Another never even was version of Jon Adkins. Fwiw, In the Dallas Morning News, says they are looking to spend approximately $30 million this offseason.

But when have we ever taken on other team’s big/ger contracts in order to bring additional prospects into the fold...? We’re almost always more willing to save money and get less talent in return when dumping our own players. I mean, I guess we got Leury for Alex Rios.

The Yankees are going to have to get creative with pitching, for sure....Gregorious and Gardner are free agents, and/or trying to dump Stanton's contract on someone for 30-50 cents on the dollar opens up space. Not to mention Sabathia, Betances and Encarnacion all off the books, as well. So they're losing $60 million, more or less. That's assuming Aroldis Chapman doesn't opt out!!!! Can Chapman get more than two years and $34.4 million on the open market? MAYBE??? PROBABLY!!! And if he doesn't want to go to a West Coast team (limited no trade list), going FA now opens up possibilities for him if he does want to leave the Yankees (for whatever reason). If so, the Yankees will be down almost $80 million in payroll from 2019...before arb and built-in increases.

This sounds like a 1980's Bon Jovi or Wilson Sisters power ballad.

Oops, VPN in China getting blocked so can't access Twitter at the moment.

Ryne Sandberg...sad/crying Jordan face.

Kind of like Magglio, El Caballo and Jose Valentin being sacrificed for roster and payroll flexibility before 2005.

Wasnt nearly as exciting as Uribe to Konerko... who was that Astros' hitter again, Palmeiro or Cedeno?

Makes the Corbin acquisition look more defensible... not to mention the Eaton deal and letting Harper go. Finally, just one year ago, everyone in baseball was ready to write off Dave Martinez. They couldn't have been more wrong.

Don't think we'll see another Series with seven road wins again, at least in my lifetime.

Another franchise with their first title. Congrats to former Sox Adam Eaton, Daniel Hudson and the eminently forgettble Javy Guerra.