caulfield12

About right. Like end of Machado and Wheeler debacles.

Exactly like Bloom dealing with Henry and Fenway Sports Group…forced to dump Betts for 15-25 cents on the dollar, then vilified for it. Then criticized for signing Devers after losing Bogaerts. It will be fascinating to see how they fill out the 4/5 spots in the rotation and those two temaining OF spots. Just like the “on the cheap” Korean and Japanese bullpen. Will it actually work? Then there’s leveraging Kim’s massive fWAR this year in trade (walk year), after the Korean Series is over. Can they trade him despite being in WC position? Trade Bogaerts and/Machado? Darvish or Jake Cronenworth, their own version of Benintendi after 4+ fWAR the previous year? Not trading Hader, Snell, Wacha and Lugo hurt too. See Angels. Between a rock and a hard place. Have a feeling this year’s team will outperform 2023, with Tatis and Bogaerts way off career highs due to injury and sheer number of months of inactivity. All comes down to pitching.

Where’s your trade proposal? (Feel like Nikki Haley trying to get just one head-to-head debate scheduled, lol.)

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/padres/story/2023-01-18/column-padres-are-big-players-in-latin-america This article explains pretty well why we are the opposite of the Padres in every way on the international front…but it has a lot of important lessons for Preller’s success in building the farm system completely within the span of less than one decade. Note the biggest problem from churning so many prospects through is the Padres use those prospects to trade for major leaguers (KW mode)…but the consequence is almost no cohesion and chemistry despite the sheer amount of talent accumulated because they don’t advance together through the minors and learn how to win together like mid 2010’s Royals and Cubs prospects, or the current Orioles. I think this article in particular explains the lack of success in the Dominican as well since 2008…as well as the Pacific Rim. There’s more knowledge contained here than in all of Haber’s quantum computers. It’s almost amazing why no more than 4-6 teams (Dodgers obviously) follow this very simple formula. Elias and Rays and Braves and Guardians and Brewers as well. Of the roughly $150-175 million AJ Preller has spent (including the last two consensus international #1 prospects), the biggest success has been Adrian Morejon, arguably. The sum total of all their fWAR is WELL below Fernando Tatis, Jr., alone. Details… (OF Jorge Oña and RHP Michel Baez were among the Padres minor leaguers released this week. Both Cubans were signed during the Padres' $80 million spending spree in the 2016-17 international (signing period), with Oña signing for $7 million and Baez signing for $3 million (Luis Patino, in contrast, signed for $130,000 that year). Injuries played a role in their stunted development and ultimately forced the Padres to take them off the 40-man roster.) Another example, the Padres blew through their spending cap in 2016, signing Cuban left-handed pitcher Adrian Morejon ($11 million) and Dominican shortstop Luis Almanzar ($4 million) as well as the highly-touted Anderson Espinoza and Jarlin Susana (last piece of first Soto trade). The Padres paid a hefty penalty ($20 million fine) for their spendthrift ways back then; nowadays there’s a hard international cap and signings like this wouldn’t be possible.) Long story short, they only have to be right once every ten $5-6.5 million signings to still get a positive ROI out of two Andrew Benintendi’s worth of spending over a decade. Lottery tickets turned into Top Ten members of the farm system transformed into the likes of Juan Soto. Classic KW here…the Freddy Garcia deal for three prospects stands out in particular now. Just like finding the next Nvidia, Netflix or Amazon on the stock market. You get 8 busts, one break even and one generational wealth creator if you’re really lucky. Except the White Sox have NEVER supplemented June draft picks enough on the international side of things to build up sufficient depth…exposing their second and third string lack of depth like 2021-2023. Despite TERRIBLE net losses on two Soto trades, Clevinger, Nola and Ty France, they’re once again a consensus Top 5 farm system, rising from #28 almost all the way back to the top in roughly 3-4 years. Finally, Padres drafting a number of their better prospects outside the Top Ten in the first round…James Wood (traded away), local product Dillon Head for example, just look at the June draft positions of their Top Ten pitching prospects as well…not to mention leveraging CJ Abrams into Soto instead of Nick Madrigal from the same draft being magically “transformed” into Kimbrel. Don’t bother reading this for all I care…simply read the attached article in order to “see the light.”

According to a fan survey done by The Athletic's Dennis Lin, the confidence in president of baseball operations A.J. Preller has been declining by the fanbase. In the survey, only 5.3% said they were very confident in him, and 19.1% said they were somewhat confident in his ability. On the other hand, 27.5% of the fans surveyed said they were unsure, 26.7% were not very confident, and 21.4% were not confident at all. This is a stark difference from where the team was even a year ago, and it's a direct result of the lack of trust in the front office. https://www.si.com/mlb/padres/news/padres-news-confidence-in-a-j-preller-seems-to-be-decreasing-among-fans-based-on-survey-ml0802 https://www.si.com/mlb/padres/news/padres-release-2-formerly-high-paid-international-minor-leaguers-rks97

Luis Silverio…Anderson Gomes, etc. Can scout Brazil for the next Andre Rienzo…Krause’s last official assignment with Sox.

Did Mike Cubbage ever have a sandwich? Did we actually sign the guy now?

Hyperbole and overreaction is good for riling up the masses…

11 hours on a private jet to get there?

“If the Chiefs advance to the Super Bowl on Sunday, hold on to your foam fingers. With the possibility of Swift attending the big game on February 11, it becomes a perfect storm of opportunity for CBS to show her throughout the broadcast to presumably their biggest audience of the year. (Swift is scheduled to perform an “Eras Tour” concert in Tokyo on February 10 and has not spoken publicly as to whether or not she plans to attend.) “There will definitely be discussions at a high level about how that’s going to be handled. If indeed it happens, they’ll figure out what seems to be a reasonable amount of shots,” Jeff Fellenzer, Professor of Professional Practice Sports, Business and Media at USC, told CNN. CBS did not return CNN’s request for an interview regarding their broadcast plans or strategy for Sunday’s game or the Super Bowl by press time. What is a sure bet? The game – including Swifties or not – will have eyeballs.” https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/27/entertainment/taylor-swift-nfl-games/index.html

They also can’t accept Ortiz and Norby and a 40 FV piece. That would do nothing to alter the trajectory of the franchise. If that threat of taking him into regular season isn’r real…Getz will lose this trade big time as he backs himself into a corner.

Apparently websites like Field of Schemes that question the bonafides of any politician cannot be quoted from. So basically the current mayor should be treated like Modi, Xi Jinping, Putin, Orban, the King of Thailand, etc., and not publicly mentioned in any but the most benign or oblique way??? If that’s the case, it should be officially declared that he is off limits to mention/discuss, even if originating from an opinion/editorial piece that simply generally skeptical about all Chicago politics. Not censored. Also interesting that Gov. Jim Thompson has been constantly “criticized” by numerous posters for selling out the taxpayers and coming up with a sweetheart deal for JR…so God help the White Sox and SoxTalk if the Obamas ever become formally connected to an investment group involved in purchasing the team.

Despite that massive spending…Dodgers still spelled with a small d. One poster here and Jerry Reinsdorf would be particularly horrified.

Absolute fiasco…will have to hit like Olerud/Grace+++ at that spot to put up 3-4 fWAR numbers. Can’t look more like Ryan Sweeney.

Now they pretty much have to sign Bellinger OR Chapman. BOTH would be considered winning the offseason. One will be considered hopefully keeping pace with 2023. They’re also going to have to trade Morel in that case as well, if those two guys were both inked.

Why should we trust the White Sox in free agency with self-imposed spending limits…in the draft and development game…in international free agency with the Cuban Connection drying up…and in general when the Big 3 trades (not to mention Frazier Robertson Kahnle) have been roughly cut in half and there’s no tanking for draft position or subsidy for operating like a small to mid market club??? Long winded, yes. The answer will probably be the new stadium, the new stadium, the new stadium will generate sufficient additional revenues to eventually compete.

Shrugs shoulders at deals for Graveman and especially Joe Kelly…NL Central getting more interesting with Pirates and Reds getting into the mix, too, and Brewers somehow attempting to compete on the fly.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said Wednesday that the White Sox‘ proposed South Loop stadium project is “the way new stadiums should and could look,” despite it not actually being a proposal yet, having only designs that were leaked anonymously to Xitter and then taken down, and having a funding plan that can best be described as “Wait, I thought you had the money.” Johnson added, “I just hope that this is … yet another display of my leadership,” and if by “display” he means “telling example,” then I think we can all agree that yep, sure is. fieldofschemes.com

https://www.mlb.com/news/adam-frazier-royals-deal

That’s yet another argument…he will eventually have to replace Luis Robert in CF. PLUS Orelvis Martinez or Nimmala as the second part of trade. Rk Name Age Highest Level Position ETA FV 1 Ricky Tiedemann 21.3 AAA SP 2024 55 2 Orelvis Martinez 22.1 AAA 3B 2024 50 3 Arjun Nimmala 17.8 R 3B 2028 45+ 4 Addison Barger 24.1 AAA 3B 2024 45 5 Leo Jimenez 22.6 AAA SS 2024 45 6 T.J. Brock 24.3 AA SIRP 2025 45 7 Adam Macko 23.0 A+ MIRP 2024 45 8 Yosver Zulueta 25.9 AAA SIRP 2024 45 9 Josh Kasevich 22.9 A+ 3B 2027 45 10 Brandon Barriera 19.8 A SP 2027 45

We know you’re not going to provide a trade of your own…apparently everyone prefers a 4-5 year rebuild. I assume you’ve looked at who is receiving at-bats in the 2024 projected Fangraphs outfield. 2023 Luis Robert 5.0 2nd place 1.4 fWAR 2022 Dalton Varsho 4.8 Jose Abreu 3.8 2021 Anderson 4.6 Moncada 4.0 Varsho 2.3 in 95 games would be roughly 3.5-4.0 extrapolated out for a full season 2020 Abreu 2.8 (would have to be projected) Anderson 2.4 (would have to be projected due to Covid season) 2019 Moncada 5.5 Anderson 4.5 Lots of 4.8 fWAR and above seasons in there…

The Jan. 21 Ohio State-Iowa matchup on NBC and Peacock was the most-watched regular season women's college basketball game on any network since 2010. Viewership peaked at 3.9 million viewers and the broadcast averaged 1.93 million viewers. South Carolina at LSU peaked at 2.1 million viewers and carried an average of 1.56 million viewers. Heat vs. Celtics, the second-highest-rated game of the night, had an average of 1.39 million. It's the second-highest-rated women's basketball game of the season, trailing only Iowa vs. Ohio State. A day after her autographed NIL trading card sold for $78,000, Clark came five 5 points shy of No. 3 on the all-time list with 38 points in a dominant win over Nebraska on Saturday. Yahoo.com/sports

Let me ask you this. After Cease and Robert on the active roster, which three players have the most value as of today, based on their current/existing contracts? Other than maybe Santos and maybe Kopech based on their 2024 first halves, it’s almost impossible to come up with anyone. I guess Nicky Lopez…based on his floor due to defense. Someone else might squint and say Vaughn, but that’s a bit of a stretch, too. Or even Colas, to other organizations who have watched in disbelief how the White Sox have mishandled him from afar, cratering his value completely.

Varsho had a higher fWAR than Cease when Cease finished 2nd for the Cy Young. Three years of control. A top Blue Jays prospect for Santos OR Kopech, who couldn’t be more totally irrelevant to the future of the White Sox. Every judgment you’re making is 100% based on 2022. Now you understand why Orioles’ fans won’t ever pay 2022 prices for 2024 Cease. For the exact same reason everyone can argue that Varsho is his 2023 version for the rest of his career, or O’s fans that Cease will never return to previous form or ever 100% recover his fastball from 2020-2022 and out it back in his too bag.

Let’s hear your non Orioles trade and we can all pick that apart as well. Don’t just list the Yankees prospects everyone is currently focused upon.