caulfield12

https://www.mlb.com/news/most-improved-farm-systems-in-2018/c-302225978 Three AL Central teams, M’s and (sigh) Astros five most improved farm systems

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/rays/2018/12/27/tommy-pham-rays-need-a-new-stadium-or-a-new-city/ This is a huge reason why Machado to the Sox is much more likely than Harper 1) He’s used to playing in front of small/er crowds the last couple of years in Baltimore. 2) His agent is not out to get the biggest contract in the history of the game 3) Positional need 4) Already comfortable in the AL 5) All the players they’re surrounding him with in an effort to make him comfortable 6) Johnny Hustle comments/postseason 2018 and injury history have put a ceiling on his value to many teams...

That "opening with a reliever/s" approach might actually work well...as long as Giolito gets to come in with a "clean" inning and doesn't ever have runners on base when he enters the game. One of the most interesting targets out there was Lance Lynn, and I personally would have gotten behind that particular move (3 years) rather than Nova for one, just to provide that veteran leadership/stability...and Lynn already had a taste of the AL Central and improved quite a bit in the last few months after finding his footing with the late start to the season. That said, maybe they have a plan to sign Kikuchi. If they don't get Harper OR Machado, they have a LOT more money to spend next off-season in the free agency market, but it's likely to end up as an overpay no matter who they target. Assuming that Cease and Dunning stay healthy and Kopech comes back (three big assumptions) cleanly, we should be in really good shape with ONE key pitching addition who overlaps into 2021-22. We just might go fast-moving college pitcher #3 next June, nothing can be ruled out. Of course, we still don't know ultimately what will become of Rodon's Sox tenure.

It's only going to make sense to those of us who spent 2-3 days battling over the "marketability" of Bryce Harper about 3-4 weekends ago and what it would mean to the Sox franchise...didn't even bring Katie Ledecky back into it, lol. For "non-insiders" to that particular insane thread, it will be coated in meaninglessness.

This is Pirates Of The Caribbean without a pirate or Caribbean, a knockoff to suit prejudiced audiences like cricketer Virat Kohli who prefer to exclusively admire the locally made. In this 1810-set adventure, Aamir borrows the Jack Sparrow eyeliner, while Amitabh is literally given the bird, his entrances on screen preceded by a noisy hawk. Bachchan plays a rebel, a freedom fighter rallying troops against the colonisers, while Khan is a two-faced rogue on the Company payroll sent to infiltrate Bachchan’s squad and bring him down. For those who remember the Q-Rating battle royale over Harper, a mention of our new SoxTalk-favorite Indian cricketer in a review of Bollywood film The Thugs of Hindustan, lol.

Well, with all those veterans, it obviously depends what they have left, stuff-wise. You never know what wonders a change of scenery can work. Of course, they more likely end up like Felipe Paulino than Esteban Loiaza or Phil Humber. No harm in at least bringing them in for workouts, right? Covey, from everything we observed last year, is much better suited for the long relief or swing man role, where he's typically only going to see hitters a single time. That said, the odds are 50/50 of Giolito not even being in the rotation still by mid-season, but you have to give those two and even Fulmer or Stephens looks before you completely pull the plug with a Shields/Holland-ish innings-eater.

Oh, for the 2007ish days of Aardsma, Sisco and especially MacDougal (who Cooper would typically just tell to throw it down the middle of the plate and the movement would take care of itself).

The biggest problem with Arenado is going to be those home/road splits and the transition to the AL. That said, the two most successful Sox position player acquisitions of the last 10-15 years or so (trade-wise) both came from the NL West, Carlos Quentin and Adam Eaton.

Sounds like Robertson for stretches with the White Sox...until he would just completely fall apart and then somehow get it back together again.

It’s not going to create a long line at the ticket office, that’s for sure. Then we’d have to dump Castillo for pennies on the dollar, as well.

White Sox: Yasmani Grandal, C Even closer to Yonder Alonso than Yonder's brother-in-law, Machado, Grandal is a more than adequate consolation prize if Machado and Harper, as predicted, go elsewhere. https://www.mlb.com/rangers/news/one-player-for-every-team-on-christmas-day/c-302129216

Will turn 29 at the end of the 2020 season, before hitting free agency. Will he still get a 10 year or more deal, assuming he stays healthy? $400 million? $450? $500 million? 2019-20 offseason still seems like it might be the best time to go for it, if Harper and Machado (less likely) sign 4 year deals with the Dodgers and Yankees to put them back out on the market at age 30. It gives us the entire 2019 season to figure out who to keep and who to trade...and you’re not forcing Harper or Machado onto the rebuilding roster when they don’t really want to be there until 2020 or 2021 (and feel more assured about the direction of the franchise.) Next year, the headliners are Arenado, Rendon, Bogaerts, Goldschmidt, JD Martinez (will be 32 at end of next season, opt out a good bet if he repeats), Sale, Cole, Bumgarner, Verlander, Wheeler, Porcello...feels like a lot more options that we would be targeting long-term if they were available right now, yes? Out of all the remaining players on the current market, AJ Pollock was the only other long-term guy, and age/injury risk seemingly prevent that type of move. Donaldson on a short term deal at $20 million never was going to fit. We can argue endlessly about Moustakas, I guess. Yasmani Grandal also makes sense unless you’re a huge believer in Collins, because there won’t be any premium options (FA) available without sacrificing our minor leaguers in trade (see Realmuto asking price.)

https://sports.yahoo.com/bryce-harper-manny-machado-reportedly-dont-like-idea-playing-philadelphia-024356728.html Phillies out, but Dodgers/Yankees still in driver’s seat? “But the other choice, particularly for Harper, is fascinating,” Sherman writes. Because even if the Dodgers refuse to offer the mega-deal, landing there for four-ish years is what is best for Harper and — not that this should matter to the slugger — the game. “ This suggestion would not have seemed like a realistic possibility a couple years ago. Given how the free agent landscape has changed the last two winters though, perhaps anything really is possible here. The biggest question coming into this winter was how high would the offers to Bryce Harper and Manny Machado be. Now it might actually come down to just how much money one or both are willing to give up in order to reach a preferred destination.

Well, nothing can go wrong when 1600 Pennsylvania is openly touting this as a buying opportunity...and, as far as the thread, the FIRE movement’s probably in some trouble at the moment. The Dow went up so quickly, the 22-23,000 range is closer to where it belongs on a historical basis, considering factors like P/E ratios, interest rates, inflation, GDP growth. Of course, China, Europe and America all being in near chaos probably doesn’t help...can throw Brazil into the mix for good measure. When they look back on this time period, the premature tax cut that didn’t find its way into the pockets of the middle class but added $1.4 trillion to the deficit will go down as one of the precipitating causes...all the stock buybacks artificially inflated the markets, along with the easy money policy that definitely had its place getting us out of 2008-09, but has pretty much run its course.

Has the market for Kikuchi really sunk that low because of the injury risk/concern and reports of diminished velocity? At one point, it seems like he was heading for at least a $65-80 million contract. So this is wholly dependent on what the medical/training staff have to say, Cooper and some of the renowned Sox minor league pitching coaches, etc. Anyway, the scouting reports (including this one, this one, and this one) say Kikuchi is a fastball/slider guy who also mixes in a curveball and a changeup. A few weeks ago Jon Morosi spoke to former big leaguer Frank Herrmann about Kikuchi. Here’s what Herrmann said about playing against him in Japan: “When we have faced him, we have hit him pretty well, and that’s with a heavy left-handed lineup,” Herrmann told MLB.com. “The [velocity] and sharpness of the slider seems to be down from last year. The one positive I’ve seen from him is that is he’s becoming more than a [two-pitch] guy, which he predominantly was last season. He will now flip in a curveball early in the count and uses his changeup to guys that [are] on his fastball. Last year, there was never a need to get away from the [fastball/slider] combo. … “They all mention that his work ethic and competitiveness are top-notch,” Herrmann said. “It’s also known that he really wants to go to MLB and compete against the best.” http://riveraveblues.com/2018/11/scouting-free-agent-market-yusei-kikuchi-181208/ Very extensive write-up about signing him from a Yankees' "win now" perspective. Basically, if everything goes right, and he manages to stay healthy (which has been touch and go in recent years)...he could be a much more expensive version of Jose Quintana.

My main memories of Richard is terrible throws to 1B, his unorthodox motion, his limited time as Michigan QB and that 2008 playoff debacle against the Rays. That said, if they can't find any veteran swing-man candidate and they want to go in that direction, he couldn't be much worse than Santiago. Of course, it's probably better to audition 1 of about 15 possibilities from our minor league system, including Fulmer and Dylan Covey. The other point is that those numbers compiled in PetCo are simply not going to hold up in the American League.

Well, pretty obviously it depends on how well-placed Buehrle>Wood's sources are...it's obviously hard to know if this is referring to Manny coming close to making a decision, a move in the reliever market (Ottavino, Robertson, Herrera, Britton, Miller or Cody Allen...can't believe we'd go after Kimbrel) or simply accumulating more players/coaches/front office personnel connected to Machado.

With all the incoming SoxTalk subsidies, can we contract with the Ukrainian hacker/troll farms to create false social media rumors and further drive down the price on Machado/Harper...?

Adding Realmuto would be nuts unless they're signing Harper and/or Machado...and, even then, the amount of minor league talent it would require just can't be justified (it's going to take Cease OR Robert as headliner, at a minimum). Selling low on some of our major league players would be equally ill-advised. You also have to take into consideration it almost always takes at least 1/2 a season just for players moving from the NL to the AL to make that difficult adjustment.

Well, the bullpen this year was certainly like 2007. Where’s our Octavio Dotel?

Well, that would push out Rizzo, Baez and Contreras, for one thing. And you’d think they need one smaller deal for Hendricks, because who knows what they get from Darvish and Lester/Q are likely on the way out eventually. They really are going to have a tough choice between Baez and Bryant...they can’t afford all three. It’s all going to depend on Bryant returning to MVP form, and we know how well these 8-10 year deals typically work out when the majority of those seasons are in a player’s thirties.

LBJ (although it sounds more like a Hawkism) said, ‘Sometimes you just have to hunker down like a jackass in a hailstorm and just take it.” So that’s where we are.

Adolfo is really going to have to rake in a Jimenez way to justify that ranking...especially since he is likely to DH for most of the first half. His viability to play RF is almost completely dependent on his arm/elbow. Dunning’s going to be in that same “prove it” situation, along with Collins/Rutherford/Burdi/Hansen/Sheets.

Hopefully it doesn’t involve more fines from the FCC.

It’s probably not helping that lots of season ticket holders have lost 15-25% of their net worth in the last month. But the front office put themselves front and center...failing now is close to unacceptable. That will leave Opening Day, the Jimenez (and Cease) debuts and the #3 draft pick announcement as the only reasons to get excited. Unless Abreu or some of the veterans go on huge tears and can attract considerable trade interest in June/July. Hope they signed that television contract on the dotted line before economic conditions deteriorate further...it’s going to be a pretty bumpy ride if we’re forced to suffer through another year of waiting on FA’s to choose the Sox.