caulfield12

Baty seems to be w/o a home. Acuna needs more seasoning in the minors.

Very few of the prospects are going to outplay the likes of Taylor Tauchman or Rojas Amaya defensively. The problem is protecting the pitching staff on defense (the same idea leading to "all the vets" philosophy last year)...but the trade off is having an even worse offense than 2024. That won't help the young pitchers' confidence either...or a constantly imploding bullpen.

If Robert is traded for a marginal return in ST...it will simply be because JR ordered Getz to keep cutting payroll and in the name of risk mitigation. What a fun team to follow...the last trade that POSSIBLY could provide them All-Star level talent. Relying on the draft and free agency has simply been a horror show for Sox fans.

"The Sox selected Ky Bush's contract from Triple-A Charlotte, activated Dominic Leone from the 60-day injured list, and optioned Prelander Berroa and Sammy Peralta to Charlotte"...that was the original move in August, totally forgot those guys existed except Berroa. https://clutchpoints.com/white-sox-news-white-sox-makes-attention-grabbing-potential-savior lol September 15th last year he was put on IL for TJS...one day after being recalled from Charlotte. Then activated Oct 1 makes zero sense except as a roster management move. thebaseballcube.com 2024-09-14 Recalled from from Charlotte Knights (A+) Chicago White Sox Yes Active 2024-08-26 Assigned to Charlotte Knights (AAA) Chicago White Sox Charlotte (AAA) Yes Minors 2024-08-05 Contract purchased from minors 2024-10-01 Activated from injured list Chicago White Sox Yes Active 2024-09-15 IL-15 Tommy John Surgery Chicago

Yeah...misread it and assumed it was Colson because Braden has never set foot on an MiLB or MLB field as of yet. So the idea he would make the team was completely preposterous.

Hoyer acknowledged some introspection because of the uncertainty but said he feels 2025 is going to be a good year. “Sometimes that’s the nature of this business — but it’s fun,” Hoyer said about dealing with free agency rumors. “The reason we’re sitting here, the reason we got into this in the first place, is baseball is an awesome fan sport. People care so much about the Cubs. That’s why I love working here.” https://sports.yahoo.com/chicago-cubs-alex-bregman-pairing-213719650.html

As a team, the Bulls shot 12-of-52 (23.1%). As a team, they were 1-of-23 from 3-point range (4.3% — yes, four percent). As a team, they committed 10 turnovers, two fewer than their field goals made). And it was all against the Pistons, a solid team but definitely not among the elite in NBA defense. Detroit outscored Chicago 34-18 in the first quarter, which felt quite lopsided, and then they won the second quarter 37-11. Rookie Matas Buzelis ended up leading the team in scoring with 12 points. Chicago emptied its bench so fully that every player on its active roster scored at least three points, which is an achievement in itself. https://sports.yahoo.com/bulls-forget-how-to-play-basketball-for-entire-half-in-chasmic-loss-to-pistons-031416265.html

PHOENIX — As the Dodgers officially opened spring training at Camelback Ranch on Tuesday, reminders of the team’s 2024 World Series title were everywhere. On the side of the hitting facility building, a banner had been added to the seven other championship markers. On a grass hill behind one of the backfields, a large painting of the club’s World Series championship logo loomed behind the backstop. That same logo was plastered around the clubhouse too, printed on nameplates adorning every locker. https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2025-02-11/dodgers-open-spring-training-world-series-hangover

https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/los-angeles-angels/overview/_/year/2025 Angels up to a $195 million payroll after the Kenley Jansen signing...

"NBA fit and intel: Chicago got the San Antonio Spurs to lift their rights to this pick (previously top-10 protected) as part of the three-team De'Aaron Fox/Zach LaVine trade. Though the Bulls should be worse without LaVine and might end up drafting in the top 10 anyway -- making for a somewhat minor return in that deal -- Chicago was flirting with the play-in and is now guaranteed to have a first-round selection regardless. Duke center Maluach, the clear top rim-protecting prospect, would fill a void, giving a young roster a long-term defensive backbone. The Bulls have been without a defensive-minded big for some time, with this era largely defined by their trade for Nikola Vucevic in 2021. -- Woo https://global.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/43781826/2025-nba-mock-draft-predictions-team-intel-all-59-first-second-round-picks-players

"The A’s brought Luis Severino aboard to anchor their rotation. That two-year deal with a player option for a third could have a total value of $67 million, making it the largest contract in franchise history. The A’s also signed third baseman Gio Urshela and reliever José Leclerc, while re-signing lefty T.J. McFarland. They traded with the Rays for lefty Jeffrey Springs. They extended designated hitter Brent Rooker on a five-year, $60 million pact. And their international class includes two-way Japanese star Shotaro Morii, whose $1.5 million signing bonus was the largest ever for a Japanese amateur outside Nippon Professional Baseball. All told, the A’s have invested north of $150 million in talent this winter." https://www.mlb.com/news/biggest-surprises-from-2024-2025-mlb-offseason

So it was Michael A. Taylor that won the GG. He won a Gold Glove Award and Fielding Bible Award in 2021. Benintendi was actually runner up/honorable mention in 2021. So, to summarize...three GG's in Benintendi, Taylor and Robert (shortened 2020 rookie season), Tauchman at that level in 2019/21. How many times will Jon Schiffren cite that statistic lol? About as relevant as Nicky Lopez from 2019-21, right?

A commenter to Fegan's article wrote that...actually. "On a per-inning basis, Mike Tauchman was arguably the best defensive outfielder in 2019: in just 694.1 innings across all three outfield positions (two-thirds of which came in left field), he accrued 19 DRS and 9 Outs Above Average (OAA). The former was tied with Lorenzo Cain and Hunter Renfroe for fourth among outfielders, the latter with Mallex Smith and Keon Broxton for eighth. The difference between Tauchman and the defenders ahead of him, however, was that he did that in more than two hundred fewer innings than those ahead of him — and remember, these are counting stats! Tauchman, in fact, had played so little relative to his competition that he wasn’t even eligible for the Gold Glove Award, as the award requires you to play 713 innings in the field before the team’s 141st game — more than Tauchman played the entire season." https://www.pinstripealley.com/2021/11/10/22771009/yankees-mlb-defense-gold-glove-aaron-judge-brett-gardner-masahiro-tanaka-mike-tauchman-ichiro-suzuki Also, seems most SFG fans were arguing he was a GG deserving candidate as recently as 2021. OFC...like with AJ Pollock, playing him in RF might not be as ideal.

"The fact that Taylor hit like Danny Mendick last year but still would have easily been the 2nd most valuable position player on the White Sox says something about the guy’s defense. (It, uh, also says something about the 2024 Sox…) Don’t look now, but the boys in black are rostering THREE Gold Glove outfielders! And like the Mavericks' GM says, “Elite defenders in their 30’s win championships!” Now there’s an executive to emulate!" Benintendi GG 2019 Luis Robert GG 2020 Mike Tauchman GG 2019

“A great example is just going through the hiring process and going after the best talent that we can,” Getz said. “Will is a prime example of this, where, OK, we need to show individuals what our organization actually looks like and where it’s going. In professional sports, there are so many individuals who want to take on a challenge because if you get it right, it’s [probably] going to be the most rewarding experience of your career. All of us view that. To be able to overcome what we did last year in these coming years is a great opportunity for so many different people and myself included.” https://soxmachine.com/2025/02/white-sox-seek-to-begin-their-slow-crawl-back-from-the-bottom/ Fegan VERY skeptical we'll see Colson Montgomery breaking camp with the team... ”The mobile van in the Camelback Ranch where players were lined up to complete body composition scans seems new..."

https://www.tankathon.com/ 12 1/2 back with 30 games left. Probably end up with Ron Harper's kid since it's the Bulls...

Every year ... at least the past couple, there have been rumors about "cash crunches" with the team...you really start to wonder if after paying out $29 million to Moncada, if they simply are more interested in saving money from the 2025 payroll compared to the seemingly more important overall goal of improving the team's supply of young positional talent. Obviously the majority of the board is at the point where taking the risk of rolling him out there for the first 2-3 months and things breaking the Sox way on his level of play is the better "opportunity cost" decision than taking prospects that are of the Colas/Ramos fringe Top 100 level and SAVING the remaining money on his contract. Like that Arroyo kid on the Reds that more likely than not will never be a solid or even average major league hitter while playing a "plus" SS defensively...who is coming off an injury-filled/disappointing year like N.Marte for CINCY. The typical "buy low" guy like Vargas, prospect but no longer shining so brightly.

Has to be Rojas Baldwin Amaya at that spot...

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/02/white-sox-outright-steven-wilson.html "Despite the rough season, the White Sox tendered Wilson a contract for 2025 and avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $950K salary. They then bumped him off the roster when they claimed lefty Brandon Eisert last week. It seems none of the 29 other clubs were willing to grab Wilson at that price point, so he went unclaimed. Wilson has three years of service time, which gave him the right to elect free agency. However, since he has less than five years of service, heading to the open market would have meant forfeiting that $950K. He’ll stick with the Sox and try to earn his way back onto the roster."

"Winning that day's game is more important than development at the major league level..." Or avoiding more embarrassing historic loss totals that draw too much national media attention.

They already have the Woo contract on the books for 4-5 years...

Well, up until last year, he averaged a 2.0 fWAR for 2021-22-23, so there's that. His 0.4 is beaten by only Robert's on last year's team, pretty sure Luis was just 0.5. Lenyn Sosa at 0.1 was the only "positive" fWAR guy on the roster, after Luis. DeJong and Lopez led the team. Vaughn Benintendi Lee combined for -0.9. Sheets himself alone "contributed" -0.9.

Shohei Ohtani is easily the most marketable player in baseball, a global superstar with appeal not only in the United States but in Japan as well. He’s no stranger to commercials, some of which you might see during games, like for New Balance, for instance, and many others. The latest ad for Ohtani is from Beats by Dre, and he’s not alone. Also in the commercial for the Powerbeats Pro 2 are LeBron James and Lionel Messi. https://www.truebluela.com/2025/2/11/24363508/shohei-ohtani-beats-by-dre-lebron-james-lionel-messi Dodgers finalize Kiké Hernández contract, place Gavin Stone on 60-day injured list Hernández gets $6.5 million on 1-year deal with LA. Stone is expected to miss the 2025 season after October shoulder surgery. https://www.truebluela.com/2025/1/13/24337436/dodgers-payroll-2025-teoscar-hernandez-hyeseong-kim

Vargas is "versatile," the problem is that he's not really good at 3B, 2B, LF or theoretically SS...although I wouldn't even want to see that play out, it would be like Madrigal there.