caulfield12

Hard to know where to count Arlington as it feels like suburban sprawl between Dallas and Ft. Worth. Definitely far from downtown/s and set up just like KC with two stadiums and easy interstate access.

Harbaugh to SD...not Atl. Not a shocker.

Sounds like a perfect prescription for White Sox...too.

DR?

Actually his offense was higher than his defense…but that was really carried by April 2023. The rest of 2023, he hit just .205 with 12 homers and 33 RBIs, or what you might expect out of Conor Gillaspie. He wants to be paid $30 million for at least 4-5 years, but he’s likely a low $20s and falling further hitter…and it was 3.5 fWAR vs. the quoted 4.4 bWAR, a pretty significant spread. Certainly his agent wants him to be regarded as the same player he was in his 20s, from 2017-2021. We can let Sports Guy and Rolle Tide assess how much he’s worth to the Orioles, lol. Nobody on this board would favor signing him for $150 million and five years. It’s the primary reason why he is still unsigned.

The 755 OPS…which is closer to 675-700 if you strip out the first six weeks. Turning 31. At some point his defense will start to slip. You’re paying at least 65% for past performance with this contract. Maybe you get two decent years…maybe…but the other 2-3 are going to be pretty terrible, something like Longoria’s collapse. Matt Chapman has a .205 batting average with 84 hits, 12 home runs, 33 RBIs and 49 runs scored in 113 games since May 1, 2023. fWAR paints a story of diminishing defense well off his 2021 peak…and at some point falling off a cliff…it also paints a picture of a player falling from the 4’s into the 3’s and losing more and more by the years in all likelihood. https://www.fangraphs.com/players/matt-chapman/16505/stats?position=3B

“Assuming he's healthy, Hoskins should slot right into the middle of the Brewers' lineup while also giving new manager Pat Murphy another potential option at designated hitter. Defensively, Hoskins doesn't fit the profile of the current Milwaukee roster; he accounted for minus-nine outs above average in 2022 – much lower than even former Brewers first baseman Rowdy Tellez. However, the team's need for offense at the corners is such that it's willing to deal with that potential shortcoming in order to add Hoskins's bat while at the same time keeping him away from the NL Central-rival Chicago Cubs, who had reportedly been interested in signing him. Milwaukee first basemen combined for a .231 average, 23 homers, 79 RBI and an OPS of .681, collectively one of the (worst) first (base) performances at the position in the majors in 2023.” https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2024/01/23/brewers-reportedly-agree-to-terms-with-ex-phillies-slugger-rhys-hoskins/72332868007/

Chapman might be done…certainly well post peak.

Aka Truist Park

Orioles going to have to roll the dice https://www.si.com/mlb/orioles/news/brandon-woodruff-baltimore-orioles-free-agency-opportunity-matt9 Old article but certainly still relevant... "They found that 68 per cent of the players were able to get back into action (pitching competitively) approximately 12 months after surgery. Some players were able to return to pitching within nine months after the surgery. Others were not ready for a year and a half (18 months). Very few actually made it back to sports participation the same year they had the surgery. This was especially true for those who had rotator cuff or labral surgery." eorthopod.com/news/rate-of-return-to-el

This definitely takes Corbin Burnes off the market, by the way. Plus they can bring up their shiny new CFer without worrying about service time.

And Boras is waiting for $175-200 million, not $140-165. $170 million seems close to the compromise point.

https://www.baseball-almanac.com/hof/hofstca.shtml How many catchers in the last 20-30 years, though? Biggio started as a catcher, lol. Ivan Rodriguez, with a cloud over his head. Piazza, likewise. Carter and Fisk from the previous generation.

Kansas City????? Las Vegas project?

Swinging like a slow rusty gate that hasn't been greased isn't exactly a highlight. It's more like another reminder of Leury and Grandal....or Darin Erstad.

Gun in the gut...

You HAVE to pick the RIGHT player. You simply cannot afford to be wrong. Bellinger is the only hitter out there...but the risk is extreme of being left with an albatross contract by Sox standards. Think back to the Cubs' adding Lester to their young/emerging core to get that rebuild jump started. The timing here is ALL wrong to jump the gun by at least one year without knowing EXACTLY what you have throughout and across the organization. It's making a move just to make a headline and fire up the fanbase but the consequences of missing are way too high...because it means JR would simply use another failure in FA as an excuse not to dip into that water again. I watched this happen with SD last year...Preller missed out on all of his targets (Judge in particular), and they signed Bogaerts when they didn't even need to (had 4-5 shortstops on their roster already) and a top 20 MiLB prospect as well. That one move pushed out Wacha, Hader, Lugo and Soto...and might push out Ha Seong Kim as well in his FA year. Now you have a player past his prime with a bad contract who will likely decline unless he's playing at 100% health.

Sure, but they haven't really done that yet...maybe some of the players from the deadline trades. Maybe. It's pretty likely that NONE of the players acquired this offseason will still be around for the start of the 2027 season, which would be Robert's theoretical final season but he would likely be long gone by then as well.

Beltran and Andruw Jones the biggest winners. Sheffield will eventually get pushed in by the Veterans' Committee, probably after he and the writers who didn't get along with him are long removed from their various beefs/feuds and have passed on. Those numbers and NOT ever getting nailed for steroids equals an eventual vote in his favor.

Except you're asking for double the biggest contract in White Sox history when they don't have a rotation or bullpen (certainly with Santos looking iffy, even if he was 100% healthy as the closer) or a bench. You're betting your GM job right off the bat on being right...on someone there's a consensus he's simply not worth the $200 million he's asking for. You're paying at least a 25% premium for 2023 over-performance, and discarding 2020/21/22, exactly what they did with Benintendi, buying at an extreme high point and disregarding his 3 year stretch of struggling mightily. And that line-up doesn't look all that imposing at all from Robert/Bellinger on down...and God knows which version of Benintendi they get in 2024. If you have 2019-2022 Tim Anderson leading off instead of AB, sure, I might be more willing to agree.

Because politicians simply love to brag about "bringing in new businesses/generating economic growth." In the same way, they don't really spend enough time taking care of the existing customers...80% of effort is spent chasing the 20% of "new business." White Sox fans have been gouged to death in multiple ways the last couple of years, and they keep dumping ticket rises knowing their most loyal fans are the ones who will have the hardest time quitting/leaving because of the emotional connection.

I've figured out a way that Cease could be pitched to go Tigers, Royals, Cincy, KC, @Minn and Minnesota, lol. Avoiding Atlanta, @CLE, @Philly and TB. That's for the first month. Now I highly doubt Dylan would even accept being used this way...he would think of it as being "hidden" away from the very best teams and it would be too obvious. I think he will actually WANT to pitch against Atlanta (he's from that area), @Philly and TB at home because he loves competition...

Well...with Foxconn, not only relocate to another country, but be subject to China/Taiwan/US global trade war politics and technology embargoes. If you watched the glass company documentary...imposing Chinese labor practice and policy on US workers was a terrible idea from the get go. All that that said...Mexico City might not be more than a decade or two away for MLB. Or the incorporation of a Japanese/Korean division. Nevertheless...pretty safe bet they are anchored there at least 25-30 years.

But he loses a ton of value not playing CF. Robert has to be there to boost his trade value. And blocking the Cubs from getting him or winning the PR war with them is such a flimsy excuse. There are also numerous glaring issues with peripherals and his power numbers compared to 2019 MVP year.

So you don't believe in fWAR for assessing pitchers? At any rate, the odds of Cease having a lower ERA with veteran catching and improved overall defensive play across the board are not being taken into account...nor the injection of Bannister into the equation. At this point...roll the dice. Someone will go down in spring training. Hopefully it's not Cease Orioles have to also consider their prospects aging out or regressing...and how much higher the cost at the trade trade deadline will be, not to mention opportunity cost of getting left behind in the first three months of the season with few in-house alternatives to inject into the rotation.