caulfield12

Chances for astronaut arguably higher with an AI fix/solution imagined at some point.

TA is gone. JR has never spent $80 million...let alone 5X that. He would perceive situation as very unlikely playoff run not unlike situation in Anaheim. Plus the Cubs were already in his previous top 7...only two of those teams outside the West Coast. Not sure if NYY or Boston the other. Zero chance. Cubs just hired Counsell to help go after Ohtani as well as former Brewers and fellow NL Central players.

A lot of talk Ohtani will sign before Winter Meetings...of course MLB might prefer the timing be delayed for then https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38841002/shohei-ohtani-free-agent-latest-news-updates-analysis

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38905458/shohei-ohtani-free-agent-chicago-cubs-cody-bellinger Cubs not likely to go after Bellinger unless Ohtani falls through... The timing could finally be right for a Cubs-Ohtani union. "Ohtani would own Wrigley Field, literally," one NL scout joked about his potential salary. "He'd own Chicago, for sure." The Cubs are also in on Japanese pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga -- the latter has already spent time in Chicago -- according to sources familiar with the situation. They also have an eye on Milwaukee starter Corbin Burnes, in case the Brewers begin to subtract -- and Milwaukee is willing to trade with the team that just pilfered its manager. The Cubs would like to acquire a starter after Marcus Stroman opted out of his deal recently -- though young pitching is a sudden strength for the #2 ranked MiLB organization. Minor league righty Cade Horton could end up being the top pitching prospect in baseball next year, according to McDaniel. But the big fish is still Ohtani. Like all his suitors so far, the Cubs are keeping their strategy close to the vest.

Just making this the catch-all for non Sox related offseason stuff... by Shaun O'Neill MLB.com With Peter Seidler, there was no “yeah, but …” He set a World Series championship as a goal and backed his words with actions. Period. He promised a first-class fan experience at Petco Park and delivered. Period. He was curious about his adopted city and constantly sought more knowledge about it. Period. He was kind, friendly and respectful to all those he encountered. Period. He sought solutions for the toughest problems and did not assign blame. Period. He was relentlessly optimistic -- about the Padres, about baseball, about homelessness issues, about the city. Period. Peter Seidler, the Padres’ owner and chairman, will be dearly missed. That was clear to those who knew him, and then became evident to all by the reaction to his death Tuesday. Pitchers Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove joined the many fans who paid their respects at Petco Park. Darvish was eloquent on social media. “My heart hurts with the unfortunate news of Peter Seidler’s passing,” Darvish wrote. “I’m sure everyone that knew him would agree with me when I say Peter was a truly wonderful human being and being in his presence was always a blessing. “He was a teacher of life and taught me countless lessons from all the interactions we had. May his beautiful soul rest in peace.” Padres fans should be commended for not waiting until after Seidler’s death to express their fondness for him. A scan of Petco Park during a game -- almost always a full ballpark in 2023 -- would bring sightings of multiple “Seidler” jerseys. That is a rare thing in pro sports for fans to feel so connected with an owner that they customize jerseys in his honor. In April, Padres fans broke into a “Peter! Peter! Peter!” serenade when he was spotted strolling in the stands … in Arizona! We know he heard the chant. Here’s hoping he felt it, too.

Going to have to do a fire sale...they might be much better off dumping Bogaerts OR Machado along with a Soto trade asap. All depends on what LAD SFG and AZ end up doing. But they don't have enough pitching/bullpen to compete. Also wouldn't be shocked to see Quantrill go back there.

Moncada Robert and TA constantly having numerous injury problems? Pretty much three anti Vaughn/Burger types.

Wouldn't keeping powerless fugureheads in Getz and Grifol in place be the strangely counterintuitive way of essentially asserting we're running an open house and have no clue how to go about fixing things ourselves?

Not to mention Cal Berkeley and Stanford from the Pac 12.

Recalls Greg being upset with Thome, Dunn, Gallo, etc., not bunting down 3B line every PA.

Obviously the previous ties with Nintendo corporation, proximity to home, beautiful park (not great for hitters though) and trendy city…Ichiro’s legacy and the long history of previous Japanese pitchers. They really do need one more high impact hitter in that lineup. Also have a feeling he would have just a bit more anonymity there in Pacific NW. Recent socio-cultural trends though in Portland and Seattle might not be to his personal liking. Seems to be a bit more conservative/traditional in terms of his personality…

But the iconic nature of Wrigley and Fenway also includes built-in high profile Japanese teammates…that’s not insignificant. And the way the stadium plays through the summer months. In a way, those two places are kind of like the current Disneylands of MLB…so it’s not shocking the most entertaining player in the world would naturally be drawn there. Red Sox with a long long history of Japanese pitchers going back to Dice K and numerous relievers over time.

Luis Robert pretty much the only answer there…or Colson doing an 85-90% impression of Corey Seager while remaining healthy over multiple seasons with Robert as well. There’s your Sox versions of Semien and Seager. The problem here is the rest of the team, just like 2016…and losing Burger simply due to the burdensome Moncada and Benintendi contracts is even more annoying by the day.

It’s the fact Benetti was “one of us” as a unabashed Sox fan…and not an outsider or carpetbagger. Not many have the White Sox listed as their dream job these days.

The more you listen to Benetti recently, the more you realize he trapped himself in that kind of cornball role…feeling he had to substitute for poor Sox onfield product with filling up so much awkward time and space. Like promoting concession items…pushing/explaining analytics, Nationwide. Away from the Sox, and the obligation of carrying the broadcast 162 games per year, he found his true voice in the natural rhythms of basketball and football. He has a really synergistic partnership with Brock Huard and seems to thrive more on the event status of Top Ten football matchups and the environment around college football and basketball. Probably he simply feels liberated to get away from what appears to be a horrific 4-5 upcoming years and simply wanted to be in a place where he was wanted/valued than tolerated. JR always seemed the type much more comfortable with the old ballplayers like a Stone Harrelson Farmer Paciorek…JR probably had zero clue about 85-90% of his pop cultural references and found his kissing up to partners and constantly deferring to them a bit of a drag, too. Heck, unless you just kiss JR’s ass, you’re eventually going to be on his bad side and losing KW/Hahn might have exposed another annoyance when it seemed as if Boyer wanted to totally clean house and move forward with a new group of sycophants. Benetti realized he had a lot more leverage/bargaining power but overplayed his hand and then burned some bridges with Brooks and realized it was going to be impossible to swallow his pride and return. He’s now branded himself as kind of an underdog symbolic of Detroit itself…being born again in a way, revitalized, restored. That fits his natural personality a lot more than simply being a sideshow resented for his growing popularity by ownership. Also believe the responsibility of attracting a new generation of Sox fans lost since the end of the Ozzie Era kind of wore him out or down over the last two seasons when Sox onfield play totally disintegrated and managerial decisions became a source of weekly embarrassment.

Cubs #3 here with #2 Rangers and #6 Braves the two scariest teams in terms of overall talent already stockpiled. https://sports.yahoo.com/shohei-ohtani-suitor-rankings-which-team-can-make-best-case-for-most-exciting-mlb-free-agent-ever-225037191.html

30 years old is Gurriel Jr. Negative fear defensive numbers every single year until a 0.1 this year.

https://newarena.com/posts/predicting-where-the-top-25-mlb-free-agents-will-sign?utm_campaign=tb_df_freeagent_11223_mxc_dt&utm_source=tb_ae&utm_term=yahoo-home&utm_content=180203&tbclid=GiD7HNnBQ02E8wZSEgy0_29E9YT5ifvjvl3gzNmK5TC1QyD8tWEo19S6lNXdkId2&cost=TIb1NVKo9gKml3eQChgxFzhawko4dEWyBWmIE3sdqNQ= Lourdes Gurriel Jr. predicted from WS team to the White Sox...??? Using Jim Bowden’s prediction for his The Athletic article, he predicts that Gurriel will get a three-year, $36 million deal, which totals $12 million annually. For the sake of comparison, that’s the same annual salary that veteran sluggers such as Michael Brantley, Joey Gallo, and Justin Turner signed for last winter, but for longer term, which makes sense, given Gurriel Jr.’s age. Feels like it's going to be much closer to the $40-45 million range, though. Especially coming off an ASG appearance and with much improved fielding numbers to go with the offense.

If they're willing to spend $6-7 million...two years of control remaining.

https://www.foxsports.com/stories/mlb/shohei-ohtani-to-the-cubs-why-ben-verlander-believes-it-could-happen Not to mention another high-profile Japanese teammate already seemingly comfortable there...of course, conversely, Fukudome wasn't so warmly greeted due to his various issues adjusting to MLB ball.

Except Robert was going out there for weeks when he could barely swing the bat one-handed in late 2022... How much of it was being overprotective or too cautious with players (including the whole go at 75-85% of all out under TLR)...how much was it the actual characters and work ethics of those players? How much was it lack of motivation to play for anything for almost six full months...and nobody to really push them that entire time from a leadership/professionalism standpoint?

Wow...really in cost-cutting mode. They're likely going to have to decide soon whether to put Bieber on the market, which would mean yet another option out there to Dylan Cease. There will be a lot of interest in Quantrill as well if he is proven to be healthy. In a bid to forestall another season of uncertainty on the local media front, the league on Wednesday asked a Houston bankruptcy court to deny Diamond Sports Group’s recent request for more time in which to hash out its overdue Chapter 11 restructuring plan. In a pair of motions filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, MLB and five of its clubs (the Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers and Texas Rangers) objected to Diamond’s Sept. 29 request to push the deadline back another 60 days. https://www.sportico.com/business/media/2023/mlb-demands-status-update-diamond-sports-rsns-1234741883/#!

Have you looked at his remaining contract and GP the last 2-3 seasons? $35,450,000 next six seasons...covers ages 33-38.

They might end of doing a total teardown at this point. Soto Machado Bogaerts Tatis Jr. Musgrove Darvish Cronenworth Kim...

Feels almost like similar circumstances going from 1993 through strike to 1995 and where the Sox went from the TA FoD walkoff and where they currently stand as of today. Doubt Salvy Perez would even leave his winter home for that one unless it was a KC-hosted fan even because he's still so beloved there despite the fading utility of his contract as a declining player in late stage career.