caulfield12

$650,000 plus per diem meal expenses...joking, actually the full 2024 contract was $4.65 million.

Basically, we can't automatically project or extrapolate the White Sox failure rate to other teams... Baltimore has already had success with Rutschman, Henderson, Cowser, Westburg and Kjerstad (.745 OPS blows away anyone on the Sox)...Grayson Rodriguez is a TOR starter, he caveat being when healthy. Henderson is one of the 10 best players in baseball and was the first pick of the second round, not far off from Mike Trout draft territory. Henderson was drafted with the first pick in the second round and is one of the bigger scouting misses in recent memory. Most of the prospects drafted before Henderson are still in the minors, or struggling to prove they belong in the big leagues. The names kept ticking off. The group kept waiting. The Yankees had always preferred another high school shortstop, Anthony Volpe, and took him – the eighth shortstop drafted – at No. 30. A faction of Houston’s scouting department wanted Henderson, but the Astros ultimately selected Cal catcher Korey Lee with pick No. 32. Every team but Boston, which didn’t have a first-round pick that year, passed on Henderson. The Pirates passed on him twice, as did the Dodgers. Arizona and Tampa Bay passed on him three times each. The athleticism was enticing, as were Henderson’s raw tools, but he wasn’t a sure bet. He hadn’t fared that well on the recent summer circuit. The Astros weren’t sure he could make enough contact and stick at shortstop, and the Dodgers had concerns about his swing and lack of domination against the weaker competition Henderson faced in Selma. Team after team didn’t want to take the risk. When the Texas Rangers took Baylor third baseman David Wendzel with pick No. 41, the broadcast of the draft ended — only the first round and nine compensatory/competitive balance picks were televised — and the TV was switched to another channel. As the draft picks got to the low 30s, and with Henderson’s name still out there, Elias — who had scouted Henderson more than two dozen times — called Henderson’s then-agent, Larry Reynolds, to ask: Would Henderson sign if they paid him over slot value? Reynolds wasn’t sure. The family had been pretty clear it was the first round or Auburn. They patched in Allen, who was still lingering at the Waters’ home. After the Auburn announcement, Kerry had gone to try to eat something. Gunnar was out back playing cornhole. There wasn’t time to gather them and relay the message, let alone make a life-altering decision. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5781950/2024/09/30/gunnar-henderson-orioles-mlb-draft-development/

https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/player/_/id/23911/wilyer-abreu 2030 seemingly....about the time the stadium issue comes to a head.

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/wilyer-abreu/23772/stats?position=OF At least he graded out positively on defense, but didn't we hear over and over again how acquiring 25 year olds/(26 in the middle of next season) players when the Sox are YEARS away from competing was considered foolhardy at best with the Burger trade????? By the time they're even close to hitting .500 (theoretically), he's already going to be into his arbitration years. You can't trade a future Cy Young winner for a platoon corner outfielder (whose service clock has already started) as the headliner if you are in the position of the White Sox here...you just can't. Run: Average speed. Solid baserunning instincts, but has already started to slow down and has the type of frame that might cause him to slow even more as he matures. Unlikely to steal more than 5-10 bases a year at the major league level. Field: Profiles best in a corner outfield position. Solid instincts and efficient routes. Not a flashy defender, but makes the routine plays and does a good job getting to balls on the move. Could be an above-average defender in right field, but projects as average in center field. Summation: Potential platoon bench outfielder. Ceiling of an average regular. Development of hit tool will determine his major league potential. Has raw power and will take a walk, but needs to cut down on his swing-and-miss and show he can consistently make contact and impact the baseball against advanced pitching. Concerns about his platoon splits will linger until he shows the ability to put together quality at-bats and make consistent contact against left-handed pitching. https://soxprospects.com/players/abreu-wilyer.htm

Would probably be 90% against now after the last three weeks and a new era of tax cutting being ushered in at the Federal level. Locally it feels like voters simply got tricked and now fighting against a sneaky bait and switch tactic. Plus, that whole "job creators" approach just doesn't work with public stadium facility funding anymore...unless you're a city trying to get a team and you've never had one previously. Trying to change the perception of a city or target an influence of tourism/creating an entertainment and gambling hub.

You think they'd go for Raffaela if elite defense was the main point. Ofc...that would mean the least amount of homers for the offense but it's a vision of sorts that certainly got distorted last season.

Sure Lux over Amaya at SS. Likely they already are targeting Montgomery for third and don't have an internal replacement (Baldwin more utility guy), but the main point would just be turning around and flipping Lux for a prospect at some point after his value had magically bounced back to a higher point again.

Red Sox have supposedly joined Soto Sweepstakes. Need Crochet to go along with that...also, to bring along Benintendi Yoshida would have to go.

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-trade-rumors-top-players-for-2024-2025-hot-stove?partnerId=it-20241113-11683663-mlb-1-A&utm_id=it-20241113-11683663-mlb-1-A&lctg=34656683 Crochet and Robert prominently featured.

Plus he'd be going back home to Maryland...

Pittsburgh you also have Heinz Stadium in the immediate vicinity...and 17 consecutive years of .500 and above football takes the edge off Pirates' criticism, just like Royals/Chiefs relationship where one team dominates the marketplace.

Why in God's name would we want Lux at SS for two years before losing him after arbitration runs out? The Dodgers reliably prove where guys like Grandal Vargas and Peralta do and don't belong on the field, but we just disregard their findings because the Sox have such a good record with fixing players defensively.

Can probably put the Dodgers Cards and Padres into that zone of built in attendance. Maybe even the Rockies to a lesser extent.

Single game offerings for sports that aren't played every single day make MORE sense than for baseball obviously...there's the sense that some games are "events." Maybe if it was changed to buying an individual series of games or not.. .or all the Cubs games for a season against StL for example, SD/LA, Baltimore vs. Yankees, etc.

Payroll lol? This is getting more pathetic by the day that we're creating space for a guy who has almost no positives other than being left-handed but is in no conceivable way part of the next playoff team. And they wonder why attendance is to the point of collapsing the next two seasons...

How can they possibly consider pushing Fletcher to the bench? Well they can always trade Robert too and put Fletcher in a new position where he won't lead the league in DRS/game.

Zuckerberg Bezos Musk LV guy and Buffett are not patient enough to run 100 loss teams out there into perpetuity. You'd have your new stadium and maybe not Soto but at least a fighting chance to compete...just like the Mets now under Cohen, granted 2023 was a major disappointment, but they followed with a magical season and Stearns is another Andrew Friedman in waiting.

Tim Anderson, 31, career fWAR 17.5 Yasiel Puig, 33, career fWAR 19.6 RIP Rizzo 35.7, Bryant 29.7, Baez 23.7 Andrew Vaughn 1.7 Shohei Ohtani, 30, fWAR 28.6

Kenley Jansen Hader and Kimbrel are the only relievers that are possibilities…maybe Edwin Diaz in 3-5 more years.

The Bears chose Waldron over Kliff Kingsbury, whose job at USC as a senior offensive analyst was to get Williams ready for the NFL, and Zac Robinson, who has built the Atlanta Falcons' offense into a top-five passing unit and the league's 12th-ranked rushing attack. Kingsbury became the Washington Commanders' offensive coordinator and is helping guide rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, drafted one spot after Williams and the current favorite to become Offensive Rookie of the Year. The Bears also passed over three other candidates who went on to snag offensive coordinator jobs this past cycle: Liam Coen with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, whose offense is ranked eighth, Klint Kubiak with the New Orleans Saints, who have the 16th-ranked offense, and Greg Roman, offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers (22nd). Espn.com

Riley Greene…but we don’t even have anything close to 2024 Salvy Perez and Pasquantino production-wise. Plug Teoscar Hernandez into the equation and still not close to a 100 loss team. You’re assuming ROY candidacies from Smith and Schultz, Cy Young from Crochet…but Eder and Thorpe??? I think Burke, Cannon and Martin would be much higher in the pecking order. Eder will be in a pen role undoubtedly and we don’t know much of anything about Thorpe’s health.

“We’ve had very thoughtful discussions,” Reinsdorf said. “I’m always positive about everything. I’m even positive about the White Sox winning the division.” Said before the worst season in modern recorded baseball history…

Then you better be on par with Milwaukee TB and Cleveland on the development side. Dodgers, obviously.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/nancy-armour/2024/11/11/bears-caleb-williams-botching-qb-development/76206105007/

Fwiw, Jobe could STILL be a monster.