caulfield12

He was simply cheap compared to Bummer, okay, Brebbia then...

What is this fascination with players in their 30s? Did having all those vets like Banks, Wilson and Tim Hill last year help much in the overall scheme of things? Just let the young hitters and pitchers play...

Aaron Combs, RHP, 8th Round Combs is another pitcher who gets a lot of vert from a low slot. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb in saying the White Sox draft philosophy revolved around this principle. It’s a great shape fastball with below-average velocity at 92, getting huge ride and arm-side run. He also showed a sinker with slightly less ride and more run, and he may keep both pitches going forward. His curveball is a huge pitch with tons of movement and spin, at around 2900 rpm. It’s probably not a major league pitch, but the feel to spin is there, so you’re getting a potentially plus fastball, and the raw clay to build a couple of breaking balls. Combs is a very intriguing arm. baseballamerica.com Plus he's from the University of Tennessee, so clearly the next Crochet in waiting, lol.

32 homer pace if he played a normal season, but the crazy thing about 2023 Tatis is that he put up a 5.5 bWAR (despite that much lower .770 ops) because of how many outfield assists he piled up and his defensive runs saved, much like Eaton in RF in 2016...

And Baldwin wasn't on anyone's radar screen a year ago. Ofc, our #15 first rounder wasn't on the verge of non-prospect status, either (although he too was likeliest to end up at 2B, eventually, due to his lack of carrying physical tools in terms of range/arm.)

Nicky Lopez reminiscent even in that extra $300k. Only 1-2 million off without the Naperville or whatever local connections. Or was that Nick Massey?

This where you need KW...Jenks Sergio Santos Matt Thornton Jesse Crain Damaso Marte.

But imagine if it was Michigan/OSU Part 2?...hopefully they get at least ND to break up the Big Ten/SEC juggernaut. The money men must have been scared to death ASU was going to crash their party.

You're already forgetting Slater and Tauchman...so 3/12=25%.

Calls are even coming in for the versatile Scholtens.

To be fair he had a 959 career ops heading into 2023...he had over one full season off and was going through a position change to RF. 770 ops with Gold Glove defense is still pretty valuable, and the best player on the roster last year for the Sox...but there's no doubt JR was never going to give him anything approaching $170 million as an extension, let alone $340.

If they really had any degree of confidence in those Steamer projections for their young prospects...no reason to make this move. Or they simply don't believe they have a single above average defender at any of those infield positions, either. This is more about avoiding being the worst team in baseball history again... rather than building for the future.

Meidroth Well Vargas and Rojas sound almost interchangeanle as names at least. Hopefully Amaya was never given serious consideration as a starter at anywhere but Charlotte.

Christmas bonuses, Mortimer!

Except Soroka wasn't going to make the Braves' roster...but the sure, all things considered, we guaranteed his services and salary for 2024, which worked out quite well for him getting even more from Washington for next season. Maybe in AAA he doesn't get noticed or puts up Charlotte-inflated numbers. Now his family's financial future is much more secure.

Nick Lopez's veteran leadership and local connections were worth millions in marketing tie ins.

Soroka signed a decent enough package with WAS that he should have been worth more than Clevinger at the deadline...ofc, Flexen didn't go anywhere, either.

Potential starters cheaper than Bryse Wilson or Flexen?

It's obviously what happens when you have zero additional budget for adding veteran bullpen arms, but you also want to avoid another all-time worst record simultaneously. Rock and a hard place. The Law of Diminishing Returns...we're pretty much the anti-Dodgers, almost.

At least we could have led the league in former first round draft picks but with Shewmake gone that dream is now deferred.

We took out the Braves' garbage for them, nothing more or less.

From the most expensive pens in baseball history from 2021-22 to the cheapest and arguably worst. Quite an accomplishment.

You spoke too soon...barring a miraculous Oregon Ducks comeback. 390 to 69 in total yards and still not to halftime yet.

Texas fans have to be beside themselves with angst/nervous energy. You can't do that twice in a row without karmic consequences.

Probably 20-25% on the worst MLB roster ever assembled.