caulfield12

Old School reference? Blue died in real life I think. All these scouting profiles seem more encouraging than Eder at least for the Marlins. https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/rangers-acquire-jake-burger-from-marlins-for-3-prospects/

Don Wakamatsu at least sounds Japanese, but pretty sure it was via Hawaiian islands originally. (We have a better chance here than we did with Harper...I guess., as long as Scott Boras isn't involved.) Hopefully they updated from Windows 98 and didn't have any technical glitches.

To me, the first name that immediately popped into mind was our former 1st round draft pick LSU football WR / College World Series winner Jared Mitchell. https://fanbuzz.com/college-football/sec/lsu/jared-mitchell-now/#:~:text=Videos by Fanbuzz

Lots of recency bias here too. Had a great run in season to get him into Cy contention, but massive playoff disappointment. Had he pitched to his potential, LAD would be staying again at home this offseason after yet another early exit.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/garrett-crochet-trade-red-sox-close-to-landing-white-sox-star/ In case it hasn't yet been posted...just woke up, it's 538 am here.

Funny that Getz "drafted" another version of Madrigal back to the White Sox with this trade...hopefully more Pedroia than Chris Getz. Wiki's father had a great throwing arm, that much really sticks out. "In a seven-season career, González's (father, the catcher) posted a .238 batting average with 17 home runs and 103 RBI, including 75 runs, 41 doubles, three triples, and three stolen bases in 283 games played. His most productive season came in 2001 with San Diego, when he batted a .275/.335/.463 slash line with eight homers and 27 RBI. A slow runner, González holds the curious distinction of having hit into a 5-4-3 triple play in 2002 while playing for the Padres, during a game against the New York Mets just on his birthday." wiki

Gonzalez' father was a "stumpy" catcher back in the mid 90s on the Augusta GreenJackets...had one of the oddest bodies I had ever seen in baseball but it somehow all fit for a catcher Really struggled at times in 2024 such that on multiple occasions, the organization had him throw shorter outings in a piggyback or true relief role as part of his development plan. Summation: Potential up-and-down swingman. Ceiling of a leverage reliever. Still has a wide variance of outcomes; will show four pitches, including a fastball and curveball that stand out, but delivery and command are more like that of a reliever. Still has a long way to go developmentally and must significantly improve command and control to reach his ceiling. Needs to throw more strikes and be more efficient with his pitches to last deeper into games. Does not have the typical size you look for in a starter. Has simplified his delivery over the course of his career, which should make it easier for him to keep his arm in sync with the rest of his body, but still has considerable effort in his delivery. If command does not improve, that, along with his size and delivery, could push him to a short relief bullpen role, but with his stuff, he could thrive in such a role or even in a multi-inning role. Struggled out for the first few months of 2024, before improving as the season went along. https://soxprospects.com/players/gonzalez-wikelman.htm

This what happens when you can’t draft and develop middle infielders and even your corner guys are not average hitters with the exception of Burger…who was losing value to a small market team as he neared arbitration. Madrigal Vaughn and Sheets have all been pretty much total busts…barring a miracle in 2025. The jury is still out on Montgomery.

Who are you moving to 2B to bump Sosa…Vargas? Ramos? Baldwin? You really believe in Montgomery at short? Or 3B?

What could go wrong with Ramos in the outfield? Vargas would be a better fit in LF but we're forced to put up with him for another 3-4 months at least on the infield.

You have to wonder how much the older brother's 2024 season of struggles impacted him...

Andrew Vaughn must have negative/underwater trade value going by this deal... These were the same arguments for not trading him ... now being espoused by Marlins' fans.

Well, apparently they weren't amused by his comparisons to slavery/indentured servitude. At this point, blocking someone from joining one of the worst teams in baseball history, kind of seems like a form of inhumane cruelty. Or maybe it's actually a form of kindness?

Rick Hahn/Jeremy Haber????...neither are even working in professional baseball, at the moment. Unless the big supporter is Marco Paddy, who's also currently out of a job...two years after winning the "International Scout of the Year" Award in 2022.

Miami is expected to receive a package of three Minor Leaguers in return that includes SS/2B Echedry Vargas, Texas' No. 17 prospect, and shortstop Max Acosta. The teams have not confirmed the trade. Only Corey Seager (30) hit more homers than Burger in the Rangers' lineup last season. https://www.thebaseballcube.com/content/player/233033/ Looks like Mendoza is at least three to four years away, was a solid LH starter in A ball in 2024 (2.18 ERA in the Carolina League) and will be making the jump to High A in 2025. Strikeouts 44 Walks 63 Hittable 69 SO/BB 58 vsPower 69 Hitting 0 Durability 81

Tucker and Valdez are FA's after 2025 for the Astros...so the ONLY way this would make sense is if the Cubs were pairing him with Bellinger. Who would the Cubs be willing to give back? It's not like Houston needs Hoerner with Altuve in place. Cassie? More minor leaguers/depth pieces? But it seems most of the Cubs' rumors have been about trying to get out from under the Bellinger deal already, as the predicted 2024 regression already took place after the sensational 2023 first half.

https://www.soxon35th.com/a-tale-of-two-fletchers/

Where he goes from a PLUS/Top5-10% defender to probably just a bit above league average if he's lucky... We saw the same exact thing with Adam Eaton's value in RF escalating into the stratosphere with all the outfield assists versus his difficulties in CF both route-wise and throwing with the mound in the way.

"The younger (not HaSeong of the 6 fWAR two seasons ago!!!) Kim has excellent bat-to-ball skills, but he's also never shown much power. He has just 37 home runs in nearly 1,000 games in the KBO, and his career high in home runs is 11, set in 2024. Kim is a plus defender at second base and can play shortstop in a pinch." Basically, he would be Iguchi but with even less power...more like Madrigal, in all likelihood. And then we already have Sosa, Vargas, Baldwin that all profile as 2B. We REALLY need someone who can legitimately play SS on an everyday basis, and that's a healthy HaSeong Kim. As recently noted by Anthony Franco in a piece for MLBTR Front Office subscribers, HaSeong Kim is one of the trickiest players to evaluate within the 2024-25 free agent class, owing to the shoulder surgery (jammed it sliding into second base) that Kim underwent in late September. Kim will miss some time at the start of the 2025 season, though the exact timeline is up in the air — agent Scott Boras said a late-April return is possible, while Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller in October said Kim might not be ready until “May, June, July." (does he have ANY possible motivation to suggest that, lol?????) It should be noted that Preller was speaking broadly on the topic rather than giving any sort of definitive timeline, yet even raising the possibility of a three-month range adds to the uncertainty over Kim’s health. Some teams have still floated the idea of signing Kim to a multi-year contract, though the exact nature of such offers aren’t clear. It would be risky to offer Kim something like four or five guaranteed years, but a two-year contract (likely with a player opt-out after 2025) seems entirely plausible. Kim and agent Scott Boras might also seek out a flat one-year deal with the same idea of Kim getting to quickly re-enter the market next winter, ostensibly on the heels of a healthier and productive platform year. MLBTR’s projection of a one-year, $12MM contract for Kim supports this strategy, though Boras is no stranger to creative deals that provide his clients with plenty of flexibility. mlbtraderumors.com At least if they signed KIm, they would have insurance for Amaya/Maton at SS and have the upside (hopefully) of being able to flip him to a contender in 2024/25 when his level of play rebounded to 2023 levels...although clearly that's not a guarantee with the surgery and his hitting his 30's and an eventual decline after coming into his own offensively. It would also buy time for Caleb Bonemer's development. Of course, it also depends on how much you buy Colson Montgomery's braggadocio about starting for the White Sox at SS on Opening Day, 2025.

Would be absolutely shocking if SD could still afford the most expensive pitching contract on the market... Now if they hadn't already signed Bogaerts to what's looking increasingly like a terrible deal for a then SS but now more like a 2B/1B/DH into his early 40's...still on the hook for Cronenworth, Darvish, Machado, Tatis, Jr., and they're eventually going to want to extend Jackson Merrill before he's out of their price range.

"Giménez signed a seven-year, $106.5 million deal with the Guardians ahead of the 2023 campaign, which will carry him through the 2030 season." If I was a Blue Jays' fan, I would be irate. They lost Ohtani last offseason...just when fans were starting to get their hopes up. They're likely going to watch both Guerrero Jr., and Bichette hit FA after the 2025 season, and one of the reasons they won't be able to resign them will be this ill-conceived extension that CLE quickly regretted after Gimenezes' offensive production fell off a cliff. Then to give up a significant prospect to CLE when most of the teams in the majors wouldn't have even taken over that contract ala Alex Rios/KW back in the day.

The difference is that they were able to obtain Higashioka AND Michael King (basically an All-Star in terms of impact) and Vasquez filled a significant amount of starts for that rotation. No way they could get the same back on a one-year Cease rental. Shedding salary at this point makes no sense if it cripples your starting rotation. Not to mention Joe Musgrove is going to miss the entire 2025 season after TJ surgery...and Darvish is going to be challenged to pitch an entire healthy season now in his mid to late 30's. They desperately need Cease, and the pressure to cut $100-125 million in payroll like the previous offseason after Seidler's death just isn't there this time. They're even expected to be on the periphery of the Roki Sasaki Race.

Back to reality in the AL Central where only KC and Detroit are spending apparently... "I’ve got to imagine that an event that that had ballooned to the the size of that (Guards' Fest), that it was at the Conv. Center and, you know, took up as much time and and as many resources was probably not cheap. Probably didn’t operate at a profit for the for the club. You got to remember you got to pay the workers there and for the space and all that. But you also have to pay and include clauses in the players' contracts to incentivize the players to come back to town and spend time at that event, signing autographs and posing for pictures. So is it going to save them money by not having it every year? "

Cleveland even cutting back on their Guardians' Fest. Will be just every three years... "But word came out that Guards fest, the popular fan festival that typically takes place downtown at the Convention Center in January. Is kind of their shifting their their philosophy on it and it’s not going to take place in January of 2025. In fact, they’re going to move it to a triennial every three years event, and they’re going to look to stage the next one. After the 2026 season, so I read that as January of 2027, the next time they’re gonna come back with some sort of fan festival. Where and and how that looks and if it will look different than past guards fests in in in Cleveland still remains to be seen. But what did you take away from the the news that the? Guards Fest is not going to take place this year, and it’s it’s not going to take place for a a another couple of years. Paul Hoynes 1:25 Yeah, Joe, I thought it was. I’m I’m. Still a little perplexed by this. The timing seems strange to me. You’re coming off a great season in which you won the division with 92 wins. You got the manager of the year. You make a deep postseason run. You drew over 2 million fans. That would seem like a season we’re celebrating. An opportunity for the team to create some goodwill, sell some tickets for 2025. But. You know, so I I’m a little. I I was not caught off guard because we had. We had heard some rumblings about this, but it it does seem like a strange move." Cleveland.com

Why would SD trade him when they need him to compete in 2025? Maybe as a FA...but if Eeovaldi's at $25 million at the top of the second tier, yikes!