caulfield12

Ranked 27th at Yahoo Sports https://www.yahoo.com/sports/article/way-too-early-mlb-rankings-121915724.html

Luke Fickell, Wisconsin +150 40.0 Hugh Freeze, Auburn +300 25.0 Mark Stoops, Kentucky +600 14.3 Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia +800 11.1 Dabo Swinney, Clemson +1200 7.7 Mike Norvell, Florida St. +1200 7.7

Who exactly is Rome Odunze? Anyone concerned he's not looking like a true WR1 or does it not matter, as long as they're winning?

During the All-Star break, Buxton was asked about the possibility of him being traded ahead of the deadline, to which the 31-year-old responded, “I’ve got a no-trade clause.” “I’m a Minnesota Twin for the rest of my life. That’s the best feeling in the world, knowing when I walk into the clubhouse every day, it’s going to say Twins.”

Note this was written the day the Sox were officially eliminated...many now expect Minnesota to dump more vets to continue clearing payroll/lowering debt load. "White Sox fans will be disappointed to know that this team is still not ready to climb out of the AL Central basement. Significant free-agent additions are unlikely at this point in the rebuild, and there’s a good chance the veterans who stabilized the bullpen will either regress or pitch for other teams next year. The measure of progress in Chicago in 2026 will be the development of several talented youngsters. Fans should be watching Meidroth, Colson Montgomery, Vargas, Sosa, Shane Smith, Burke and Taylor to determine which members of that group can be part of a core that eventually contends for a postseason berth. Additionally, it would be exciting to see Schultz and Hagen Smith make an impact by next summer." https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/article/chicago-white-sox-2025-offseason-preview-with-reasons-for-optimism-emerging-whats-ahead-this-winter-in-chicago-190136150.html Crazy there's not even a Top 150 fantasy pick...but Teel and C.Montgomery would have to be close. Bullpen too veteran-laden has to start changing this year.

Hugh Freeze out at Auburn...

Thomas/Ventura over 35 years ago the only two Sox prospects that could be even close to guys like Boggs (and Gwynn, by extension).

The Dodgers acquired Rojas from the Miami Marlins in January 2023 for infielder Jacob Amaya, who since has been with three other organizations and is now a free agent. But Rojas isn’t the only Dodger who joined the team as a modest acquisition. Through superior player development, the Dodgers often turn minor moves into mini-coups. Reliever Will Klein, who pitched four scoreless innings to close out the 18-inning victory in Game 3, is one example — he arrived from Seattle in a June trade for lefty Joe Jacques. Third baseman Max Muncy, who hit the eighth-inning home run in Game 7 that pulled the Dodgers within 4-3, is another. The Dodgers originally added Muncy as a minor-league free-agent signing in April 2017. His home run was the 16th of his career in the postseason, a franchise record. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6770381/2025/11/02/los-angeles-dodgers-world-series-champions/?source=athletic_pulsenewsletter&campaign=15400823&userId=310262

Depends on Walker Jenkins' health and whether Ryan/Lopez (and maybe even Buxton) are all traded? Holding onto Buxton after a healthy productive year?...been there, done that with Luis Robert.

Varsho was striking out a ton, though...

All of these things were better off left unsaid. You know which phrase is the most popular to repeat? “I don’t have a lot of time left. I don’t want to go through a long rebuild. I only expect to be here another 10 years,” Reinsdorf said during a rare media session. ..... “That moved me to the thought — what is it I owe to the fans? I think one of the things I owe the fans is to get better as fast as we can possibly get better. Speed is of the essence. I don’t want a long-term proposition. “It became clear to me that he [Getz] would be one of the major candidates, alongside these other candidates. And then when I started thinking about the SPEED (my emphasis) I owe the fans, I realized that if you bring in somebody from the outside, it’s gonna take him a year, he’s gonna have to evaluate everybody in the organization. So you’ll lose a year." Well thank god we have Getz so we can compete in 2029 now instead of 2030!!! How the HELL are they acting like speed of the rebuild is a priority???? Total unadulterated B.S.

Or you should be asking why you can't afford $46 million (inflation adjusted) when he's bringing in $100-150 million in additional revenues ally himself for LA. His contract more than pays for itself. And that's not counting all the other Japanese and Korean players now even more likely to join the Dodgers. "How do you give a guy $325 million without ever throwing a pitch in MLB?" — Josh Reddick (@JRedDubDeuce) December 22, 2023 Well, the answer to that for LA is all explained in the Jeff Passan article copied above. "Watching people work at his clinic in Osaka is special," said Galen Carr, the Dodgers' vice president of player personnel and a fixture in international scouting. "They do things with their bodies -- contortions and twisting and balance and strength -- and it's body weight, not stuff we do here. And somehow that kid throws 98 and he's 5-10. ... Maybe we can learn something from him." Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers president of baseball operations, wasn't sold until he saw it himself. At the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, he watched Yamamoto long-toss from the right-field corner to home plate. Yamamoto wasn't taking crow hops or hurling parabolic throws. "I wish someone had videoed me watching that before the game," Friedman said, "because my mouth was agape." Even if the list of short, slim, front-line right-handed pitchers could be counted on one hand, the Dodgers were already perfectly happy to get into the outlier business, giving Ohtani a 10-year, $700 million contract Dec. 9.

You're going to be hard-pressed to find that for under $10 million. Chris Flexible types? I was just reading a Cardinals' offseason article and they're desperately trying to get rid of Sonny Gray's $35 million for 2026. That's high Tier B pricing for a starting pitcher, although he was once Tier A.... (They basically added 2.8 fWAR last off season and subtracted 10.6 fWAR and still won 20 more games because of all the rookies and second year guys.)

It's a violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement to publicly utter those words. And how did it benefit the fan base in any way? (Did the Royals ever make a statement saying they couldn't afford to extend Bobby Witt, Jr.?) Jud demoralizing to hear it said about. Everyone in the world knows he could only realistically sign with 4-5 teams, although some might argue it's actually closer to 13-14 teams.

We're going to hear a lot about how passing the Twins for fourth place is the next indicator of progress. But it's far from guaranteed.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/46826185/cubs-earn-major-league-high-3-gold-glove-awards Semien and Tatis win Gold Gloves again, as well as PCA Hoerner Happ.

https://global.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/46813024/world-series-2025-clinching-night-mlb-champions-clinching-night-yamamoto Jeff Passan article on Yamamoto and his pitching guru/mentor in Osaka... https://www.si.com/mlb/los-angeles-dodgers-baseball-modern-dynasty-2025-world-series-win-digital-cover

https://sports.yahoo.com/article/dodgers-bad-baseball-why-world-160635412.html “Small market owners would tell you the Dodgers should be cheaper. If the Dodgers didn’t try so hard at roster construction it would be easier to keep up. Is that how competition works? The Dodgers won the World Series because they’re the most expensive team. And because they are good at spending money – which, as the New York Mets demonstrated this season, is not always a given. Even the fans and defenders would have to agree. It’s impossible to separate the strength of the club – an All-Star squad of nine-figure free agents – from the success. It costs a lot to be the premier destination in the sport. To pay Mookie Betts what the Red Sox wouldn’t. To pay Freddie Freeman what the Braves wouldn’t. To pay for practically an entire ballot of Cy Young contenders, something that means it’s not too much of a problem if some of them have to spend the bulk of the regular season on the injured list. And then there’s Ohtani. For six seasons the second coming of Babe Ruth languished on LA’s other team. Even alongside the unassuming greatness of Mike Trout, Ohtani on the Angels never made it to the national stage of the postseason. That’s a problem with baseball; it takes more than one or two elite players to build a winning club. Baseball fans loved Ohtani when he was an Angel. But now they love him and they get to watch him start Game 7 of the World Series.”

Sasaki looked very seriously at SD and Toronto....

Very clear there's a defined bottom 6 and Minnesota by their actions in the last 12-24 months have surely joined as well. Angels 019 Pirates 024 Marlins 025 Rockies 025 White Sox 031 Athletics 039 Interesting thing is Bochy was the one everyone most wanted to play under yet, there's no "transference effect" from Venable being mentored by him in Texas.

Monangai and Loveland supporters were validated this weekend...now they have too many options in Moore Kmet Odunze Burden Swift etc. A lot like Detroit's problem right now. Defense wins playoff games, but offense more fun to watch.

Sure...that's why they can get him for only $175-225 million rather than $300+ million, which was the suggested price a year ago before he missed 2/3rds of the NPB season.

On any other team in baseball (other than the Dodgers), Hope and dePaula would be fighting it out for a starting outfield spot next year. See Cubs, Caissie over Kyle Tucker because of the cost savings/opportunity cost. Because the Dodgers are expected to win the WS every year...they might instead trade for a vet. It's just like if they replace Muncy with Murakami. They don't have to...Muncy has a club option at just $10 million, but they still might pull the trigger to upgrade before Max finally hits a cliff. Ohtani Yamamoto and Sasaki all wanted to play where they could win a WS. Period. Absolutely zero to do with JR. They probably don't even know that he exists, as far as they're concerned. Toronto Giants Yankees Mets Padres all offered equal (or more) money for all of those guys. https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/dodgers 7 outfield/SS prospects in their Top 10, including another Korean. White Sox have Braden and Carlson and maybe Bonemer.

See White Sox 1998-2000 and 2017-2019...two groups that both were ranked #1 in the entire sport.

They have plenty of outfielders in the minors that are highly regarded, including Hope (Cubs originally) and de Paula. They have a plethora of prospects drafted at SS that can be moved all around the field. You're making the argument that Betts, Freeman, Teoscar, Muncy (soon to be replaced by Murakami) and Ohtani should be blamed for wanting to play there. How many teams can produce prospects to displace three former/current MVPs including the greatest player in the history lol??? The White Sox minor league rankings have been used as one of the primary supports or foundations of the rebuild over the last 2-3 years. Now they're mostly irrelevant? Or Colson being knocked out of the Top 100 and then emerging as one of the most important players in the franchise nullifies the value of ranking players? If the Dodgers prospects always failed, nobody would trade for them. Like K.Ruiz and J.Gray for Scherzer and Turner didn't work out so well for either team (if your only measuring stick is winning the WS.) One or two prospect trades not working out isn't the end of the world, lol. Chaim Bloom was ordered to dump Betts because they didn't want to extend him. The return was far from ideal because the GM was ordered to move him.