caulfield12

He just doesn't have the positional flexibility of a Josh Rojas...whether he's actually worth the money for such a light hitter, we shall see.

The most interesting takes from Janish is that the comp of Baldwin to a Ben Zobrist was a lot "higher" (especially in the power department) than the likes of "Jamey Carroll, the Nick Punto, or maybe even a Jason Bartlett-type of player, Bartlett was more of a pure defender, but those are the kind of comps I would give" for Meidroth. That reads more like they see Chase as a utility player, and Baldwin as more impactful...a combination of a lesser Chone Figgins in terms of speed and a lesser Zobrist in terms of eventual power. Combine those two, you have a great, impactful player. Ofc it's not so simplistic, because the real question is to what actual extent with Baldwin does his speed/athletic ability/dynamism impact the game on the basepaths, stolen bases, advancing extra bases....but he's not (at least for now) the kind of guy you look at and project 20-25 homers from, at least not at this point. 12-15 homers at peak? 15-18? 20? That's what separates a 1.5 fWAR from a 3-4 fWAR guy, in the final analysis. Cutbacks to short-season ball (once upon a time, you had Bristol in the APPY League for HS draftees and Great Falls in the Pioneer for more advanced collegiate guys) have obviously impacted the White Sox as much as any team in the majors, IMO. Then all your Latin American kids that were making their debuts in the US but weren't yet ready for the SAL League/Kannapolis. The last observation is that the "hitting center" is still a work in progress, compared to the relatively more advanced development of the Bannister/Katz pitching school. Obviously, Fuller has just come into the organization this offseason, so it's going to take him at least a year to get into the full swing of things. Hopefully he can make a lot of progress with both Montgomery's, Gonzalez and George Wolkow as well.

His son has been more penurious...but they were involved in the Bregman negotiations and outbid the Red Sox eventual offer, so that's a big sign they have finally moved past the Javy Baez deal psychologically, and are again willing to absorb more contract risk.

This. The Padres have recently invested in something like 5-6 additional players for less than $10 million, including Pivetta on this year's payroll. One was a KBO signing over half of baseball was tracking. If Getz had waited until the last couple of weeks before spring training both offseasons...he wouldn't have had to waste nearly so much money that could have been invested into scouting or "Sox infrastructure" building out. You're not going to get a Rodon or Profar for pennies every year...but the smarter/more competitive teams are just better with these $1-3 million signing than the Sox on the margins.

One bonus "like" for utilizing the criminally-underappreciated word haranguing today...

The quality of 26 and under players in the organization... 20 points possible for major league young players (Robert/Vaughn/Fletcher last year), 5 points each for prospects, hitting and pitching. 30 points total. Not scientific, but a good snapshot. The Guardians, Twins and Tigers were all up there in the Top 10-11 last year, where they remain. KC was lagging. SD #8/9 based on guys like Merrill (turning 22 on OD this year)/Tatis, Jr. (26, last year of "eligibility"). They had a much better farm system a year ago, but cleaned it out for Tanner Scott and Jason Adam at the deadline, so I would guess they're #10-12/13 in this year's rankings when they eventually come out. So it's not shocking that the experienced veteran teams in NYY, NYM and Phillies (we've discussed their prospects over Robert trades pretty consistently this offseason) would be at the "top" (in this case the bottom).

Nice to see three former Sox pitchers in the Top 11 for fantasy baseball drafts. Well, sorta... https://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy-baseball-rankings-starting-pitcher-sp-tiers-for-2025-drafts-183159229.html Rodon/Lopez "third tier"...jury still out on Giolito's eventual return. Q still on the FA market.

The problem is nothing in his last 3-4 years of play would indicate that's going to occur...but it's a White Sox FA signing, anything is possible I guess.

Except odds are greater than 50/50 that Bregman opt's out again after one year hitting at Fenway due to that contract structure...which would work well for the Cubs as well. Ofc if he continues to slide a bit...left holding the bag with a bad contract. Same basic situation though in Boston...as Cubs w/ Shaw, opening up positions for Campbell and Anthony in the next 6-12 months.

There’s not much left though. Veteran presence/leadership. Combined 2023/24 for 1.1 and 1.2 fWAR seasons…at least three full years since he was still a really dangerous hitter. Maybe he has a Pujols-esque final run in him, and it might be a case where he starts the year and Shaw is the relief guy at third if he just can’t get going out of the starting gate this year at 40.

Cubs can't afford (figuratively) to offer him a spot in a rotation that's supposed to be playoff caliber.

2024 "If not for Luis Robert Jr. and Colson Montgomery, the White Sox would be dead last in our rankings. Those two in this organization are like that meme of a $2 million Bugatti in a raggedy driveway, though Andrew Vaughn probably doesn’t like that comparison." Prospect pitchers (2/5): RHP Nick Nastrini, RHP Jordan Leasure, LHP Jake Eder, RHP Prelander Berroa Young major league pitchers Garrett Crochet, Deivi Garcia (1/5) Those were both WAY WAY off. 12 points last year's vs. 11 in 2025, 6/10 alone for Robert/Vaughn/Fletcher and 3/5 for Colson +...minor league/prospect hitters https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb-26-and-under-power-rankings-nos-20-16-how-high-are-the-ceilings-for-bobby-witt-jr-oneil-cruz-and-evan-carter-160013786.html

The main culprit for Chicago's low overall rating was their quartet of young MLB position players. Catcher Korey Lee, second baseman Lenyn Sosa, third baseman Miguel Vargas and shortstop Colson Montgomery were the four hitters taken into account, and they combined to earn a 1-out-of-10 grade from Mintz and Shusterman. In a way, that may have been a bit generous on Mintz and Shusterman's part. Montgomery is ranked as the No. 39 prospect in baseball, having not yet made his big league debut, so qualifying him as an MLB player could be slightly premature. At the same time, Montgomery hit .214 with a .710 OPS in Triple-A last season, so perhaps his inclusion didn't do much to boost the team's score in that category. https://www.yardbarker.com/mlb/articles/chicago_white_soxs_collection_of_young_bats_given_brutal_grade_entering_2025/s1_17016_41772536 Big league hitters 1/10 Big league pitchers 2/10 Hitting/pitching pre-MLB prospects 4/5 + 4/5 Total 11/30 Marlins and Rockies expected to finish bottom 3 in standings as well...

No. Quite the opposite. It's because of the weighting for the talent at the major league level currently...especially 2024 performances. Robert is 27 now. Vaughn will be 27 the first week of the season. Another factor. Phillies last because they're such a veteran heavy team...same for the Yankees except Volpe and Dominguez. Basically it means 3rd worst in the majors. Which is a direct relationship with the lack of development at theater league level the last 2-3 years.

Both Montgomery's, Quero and Grant Taylor with the most volatility across all these recent rankings. Author looks at straight path to starting SS job but questions the wisdom of pushing Colson too quickly up to Chicago.

28. Chicago White Sox (total score: 11/30) | 2024 rank: 26 A series of trades and some strong recent draft picks have the farm system looking stronger, but the complete lack of players whom we know for sure to be good major leaguers keeps Chicago near the bottom of these rankings. While there are some promising pieces in place, we’re still a long way from knowing which players will form the core of the next good White Sox team — let alone how long it will take for such a team to come to fruition. Chicago’s epic collective failure in 2024 was predominantly rooted in its abysmal offense, and it’s not readily apparent which young hitters could emerge as above-average big-league bats in the short term. Lee and Vargas have flopped offensively since being acquired via trade. Sosa had a strong September last year and was tremendous in the Venezuelan Winter League, but his upside is limited. https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb-26-and-under-power-rankings-taking-stock-of-the-young-talent-in-each-mlb-organization-starting-with-the-phillies-at-no-30-163043087.html

"An economist at Indiana University Columbus interviewed by the Indianapolis Star recently calculated that Clark was responsible for $36 million in economic impact to the city of Indianapolis and almost 27% of the league's economic activity for the 2024 season, including attendance, merchandise sales and television. Clark's salary is expected to be just over $78,000 for the 2025 season." https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/43890753/agent-fever-caitlin-clark-wnba-players-deserve-higher-pay

The Guardians are reportedly in agreement with free agent lefty John Means on a one-year deal with a 2026 club option. The signing, which is pending a physical, guarantees the Wasserman client a $1MM salary for the upcoming season. The option can be worth up to $7.5MM after factoring escalators and does not include a buyout. Means is recovering from his second career Tommy John surgery and expected to be out of action until August. www.mlbtraderumors.com Interesting speculative move for MAYBE just 1-2 months worth of season...insurance policy.

https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/is-the-head-coach-position-at-indiana-still-a-top-job-in-college-basketball-in-2025/ Saying Indiana has only made one Elite Eight in more than 30 years stings, and just two NCAA Tournament appearances in what will probably be nine years here in a month is a soul-crushing reality. You know about the success prior to that — five national titles, eight Final Fours, 22 Big Ten titles, 68 NCAA Tournament wins. The list goes on and on. But both as it relates to the historic success or the more recent disappointment, the past is not prologue. There is nothing about Indiana’s long run as one of college basketball’s elite that guarantees the Hoosiers will continue in that realm. We’ve all seen that harsh reality play out before our eyes now for far too long. But there is also nothing about this Indiana program that makes it an irredeemable mediocrity.

https://www.mlb.com/news/hyeseong-kim-to-play-multiple-positions-in-spring-training "He has the ingredients to be great," (hitting coach Aaron) Bates said. "It's just kind of fine-tuning things. Obviously, he was a great player in Korea and has all the components, so it's just making some tweaks here and there. All the while, letting him play and play free, mentally." GLENDALE, Ariz. -- When it comes to first impressions of Hyeseong Kim, the Dodgers have been fairly consistent in their descriptions. "He's a lot stronger than I expected," manager Dave Roberts said. "I think he's one of the [lowest] body fat guys in our camp." "He’s fast, he’s athletic," first baseman Freddie Freeman said a few days later. "I’ve heard he’s got the lowest body-fat percentage on our team." Kim is used to others bringing up his physical fitness; his former teammates in the KBO said the same. But don't let the reports of his skill with the glove be lost in all the chatter. ..... "I think that he can certainly win ballgames with his defense alone," Roberts said. "Then the question is the development part. What's good for him? What's good for the Dodgers? And that, we don't have to answer right now."

Isn't Jeremy Haber's "grand failure" the main culprit here, arguably...it feels like still, after all this time, that Rick Hahn has been somehow shielded from taking on as much blame as he should have. Of course, the plethora of conspiracy theories: "KW never gave him a chance to really run things on his own," or "JR screwed him over on AJ Hinch and some of his prime targeted FA guys like Machado..." Maybe Dan Fabian, ND alum who was around there forever and then supervising analytics has to bear part of the blame? Pretty much everyone but Hostetler's been gutted and hung out to dry from that era of execs.

By the information above and appearance of the tell-tale brace...he already had it two months or so ago.

Doesn't really matter if he's getting traded...but it would behoove Mr. Fuller to figure out a way to showcase Luis' hitting and health improvements as early as this coming Saturday since a ticking clock is starting counting down until the days in all likelihood.

https://sports.yahoo.com/angels-outfielder-mike-trout-making-the-move-to-right-field-just-trying-to-preserve-the-legs-164329934.html Trout switching to RF to end his career... Also, Jo Adell was top 5-6 in the big leagues last year for bat speed and a definite change of scenery possibility for some team willing to work with him and be exceedingly patient.