caulfield12

Sounds like either an accounting firm or a golf equipment manufacturer...

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/42195046/gerrit-cole-yankees-stay-together-original-deal Cole and Yankees extend pact...by one year.

The Orioles are responsible for both Jimenez buyouts of $3 million? Or there's just one...voiding 2026? What about Liam Hendriks? Hendriks is owed a $15 million buyout that will be paid in 10 equal installments from 2024-33 After his option for the upcoming season was declined, Jimenez is due a $3 million buyout, which the Orioles and the White Sox will split. https://clutchpoints.com/orioles-news-decision-eloy-jimenez-future Then you have the Sox eating at least one more year on Grifol's deal...basically between these three another $4 million wasted, roughly.

Well, if Fedde for $15 million over two years is considered expensive...it's going to be Flexen and Rea types. Better just go with all youth unless there's just no other legitimate or feasible choice.

Wacha was looking at 2/$44 million if he went to the market...so guessing very quickly him and Cole are off the FA board. Probably more than the White Sox will spend in total these next two off seasons.

Some of the original fans of that Burger/Eder trade (few are left defending it at this point) are going to still be talking about his potential all winter long. Because what else is there left to argue? You certainly can't cite his statistics, credibly.

But just think if they actually make the playoffs eventually...? (Everyone's already expecting you to be the worst team in baseball for the next year or two, and you're not adding significantly via Free Agency...) All the credit will likely go to that manager and GM, so you essentially have nothing to lose (except for time, opportunity cost) and the Marlins job is far from a sure thing with the Braves and Phillies in that division, and even Washington on the rise now. Assuming Venable couldn't get any assurances in Texas that he was going to eventually take over for Bruce Bochy, and when that handover was actually going to take place...a World Series team (well, one year removed) is just as likely to go after a more experienced Skip Schumaker, Buck Showalter, Fredi Gonzalez, etc.

Venable is basically guaranteed a 3-5 year run as manager...because the next person fans will blame is the GM or owner when the personnel level is so bad. It would almost be impossible to equal the ineptitude of Grifol...and nobody expect the team to approach .500 until 2027 at the earliest. No Adam Dunn FA signings to excite or motivate the fanbase to have unrealistic expectations either. So multiply $750-900k per year over that time frame...it starts to make a lot more sense than Miami. Look at the career longevity of the majority of their front office and managers in the last 10-15 years.

A bit reminiscent of the Braves' and Nationals' scandals...at least this was stopped before money changed hands. JR was right...haha...don't sign underage LA kids!

https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb-reportedly-finds-dominican-prospect-with-4-million-padres-deal-is-19-years-old-not-14-022945322.html https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2024/11/02/report-prospect-linked-to-padres-caught-falsifying-age-documents/

Thought it would have political overtones this close to the election...

Ron? Or Cali? Where did it go?

"Donovan isn’t as pressing a case any of Arenado, Gray, (Willson Contreras), (Erick Fedde) or (Ryan Helsley) because he has three seasons of club control remaining, is more affordable and can more or less play anywhere on the diamond," Adams said. "That said, all of those factors will also make him appealing to other clubs. We know the Cardinals aren’t going to focus on contending for at least one of Donovan’s three remaining seasons, and if the goal is to beef up the farm system, listening to offers on one of the sport’s premier jacks of all trades makes good sense. https://www.si.com/mlb/cardinals/st-louis-cardinals-news/cardinals-4-million-key-piece-surprisingly-could-be-on-trade-block-pat3

Vargas at least doesn't cost $29 million.

Other than Thomas/Ventura…Sox fans rarely get follow-up standout sophomore seasons. Ordonez/Lee/Durham. I guess Abreu, but he wasn’t your typical rookie. So disappointed after starting out a huge “Panther” fan in skinny Sosa. Very typical ending to JR players…it’s the Sox way or the highway. Mike Cameron was also really exciting but quickly traded for Konerko.

Sosa pre-steroids…Kenny Williams…Kurt Brown over Bonds. Beckham. Brian Anderson. Viciedo. Josh Fields. Eloy Jimenez.

https://www.justbaseball.com/mlb/kopech-edman-trade-won-dodgers-world-series/ It’s pretty easy to go with the Dodgers with three former MVP’s and the current best player on the planet…and the amount of money invested across that pitching staff, albeit Glasnow Kershaw May all injured. One argument is simply that the AL was weaker due to the AL Central issue of two teams that normally don’t make postseason without playing the worst team in baseball history a disproportionate number of times. Stanton Soto Judge are also not guys who can easily change their approaches just to make contact…especially Stanton and Judge. LA always fought you every single at-bat, and had more of a cohesive team approach…seemingly.

The Black Widow

Most assuredmy they are part of going from 12th to last in fWAR though in the span of 2-3 seasons.

That would make sense if he's throwing more cutters than true sliders....then even moreso for a sweeper, which he doesn't throw yet.

The last real significant contributors on the position player side to come from basically nowhere are Narvaez, McCann and Yermin. The rest were first or second round draft picks (Sheets, who probably carries negligible overall value statistically.) Romy for the Red Sox, I guess…if you want to count him.

The issue is we constantly replace major league talent from the 2019-21 rosters with less than replacement value and keep getting worse instead of better. Fedde Kopech Crochet and Robert were transformed into just a negative asset so far. The next time we turn out a stud SS or 2B will be the first time since Tim Anderson and Ray Durham.

https://www.thebaseballcube.com/content/player/316381/ https://www.truebluela.com/2023/8/8/23823149/dodgers-hyun-seok-jang-south-korea-international-bonus-pool The Dodgers are not the only team that takes risks. This LHP prep kid from Korea we traded them intl bonus money to sign might never make the majors…or he could be another Nomo Park Urias, or anything in between. But you never know unless you’re actually willing to spend money like the Guardians do in Latin America. You don’t need the Rangers or Padres scouting budgets to pull this off. You can always operate like the Brewers or Rays if you want. It just takes organizational vision and commitment.

Vargas was a negligible risk. They already had Rojas Lux Muncy and then added Ki ke and Edman. Zero need for a non productive player without plus tools…except walking. Half the GM’s in baseball would take a flier since failure would be expected and success a massive feather in your cap. Like when the Sox traded Borchard for Matt Thornton after Cooper spotted a quick fix. The low A infielders were never more than lottery tickets for a team that buys 25-30 per season…neither of those guys have plus tools across the board.

"Since coming to Los Angeles, no hitter has gotten a hit off his cutter anywhere in the strike zone, or even in the “shadow” area just around the strike zone. Those cutters have led to extra strikes and the count leverage to let that fastball rip above the zone, his bread and butter as a reliever." Clearly two differentiated pitches...but that's where charting gets more complicated. Cutter sweeper slider. All with different spin and drop rates.