caulfield12

Balta's going to be squirming here to debate his way out of this...that he would have been right on his prediction until the Cole injury reopened the trade market.

Interesting to see if DeVrieze gets added into the deal...and if the Sox can actually develop him. More likely Head as a local Sox connection ala Nicky Lopez.

Just got tax bill instead lol.

Cease had to catch flight to Seoul for Opening Series with LAD lol. Quite an intro to a new team...10+ hour flight and unexpected trip to a foreign country halfway around the world to pack for.

Merrill on Opening Day roster. Salas most untouchable teenage catching prospect in baseball at the moment. Well really the only one.

Have said all along the Padres were one of the teams with system, desperation in NL West and rotational needs after Darvish Musgrove King. We shall see the price soon enough.

How can the #5/6 system in baseball not have one? Then it would have to be some combo of Marsee Head DeVrieze. There's only two untradeables in Merrill and Salas. Unfortunately Padres can't absorb deals for Benintendi Jimenez and Moncada...well, that's more for JR's pocketbook sake I guess. If SD could eat half the Benintendi deal...for example. Of course, that would limit the prospect return while simultaneously being classic JR "screw the fans."

Jimmy Lambert and Cole like two ships passing in the night...same doctor. Let's not forget all the variables with Rodon and Nestor Cortes coming off injuries as well...Rodon recently struggling to ramp his FB velo back up again in ST.

Marsee and Head would be the two top outfielders at the moment...

Pauley and Rosario aren't even likely to be the equivalent of Nicky Ortiz. Both are relative long shots. Batten as well.

The Grandals and Melky Cabreras and Benintendis of the world would seem to be the exact definition of good but not great/elite. Lynn, Robertson and Kimbrel as well. Only Abreu and Robert defied those limited return for amount allocated rules.

Well...since they arguably have one of the worst FA ROI records in the majors over the last decade...they should be at least decent in one area just by pure luck. Shields Shark and Swisher deals would argue quite the opposite, though. Only the Q and Eaton rebuilding trades worked out well...and any astute minor league fan could have picked those names quite simply from poring over BA prospect lists.

That's likely DeVrieze before he hits stateside...but the odds of essentially two Salas-level players in a row out of international headliners can't realistically be all that high. Would be like winning the real Powerball lottery.

Just hate always going with lower ceiling collegiate hitters in the draft. As far as spending with the big boys in FA...we all won't believe it from JR until we see it actually happen. No more second and third tier guys...they need a legit All Star level guy and above, the type who's getting $175-225 million and not well less than half that amount. No more elite relievers instead of developing their own guys internally. The current and draft positioning is also highly unlikely to provide that type of difference maker unless they really get lucky in the next lottery.

Then Marsee would be another option. Looks much better than Fletcher, at least. Has some helium in his favor. Guess we shall see which GM gets most desperate. Likely Cashman or Preller over the guy in Young who just won a WS title playing without deGrom.

They need at least Head from the Padres...where else are they going to get any position players? And SD isn't likely to deal two pitchers with their rotation still so thin and some of their new FA relievers already struggling...

Doubling the likely terrible Snell deal? He won't do well in NYC.

Not if Machado can't play third.

Though he was MLB Pipeline's top-rated pitching prospect in the 2022 Draft, the Rangers managed to float him to the 109th pick, where they used the savings from taking Kumar Rocker at No. 3 to pay Porter a fourth-round-record $3.7 million.

85-90% Hall is a reliever this time next year unless the Milwaukee pitching factory can fix him. Risk around Porter and Hall fairly similar.

How much did they pay Porter though? He was one of the top 2-3 preps coming into that draft but fell due to signability/college concerns. If you go back thirty years or so of White Sox history they have never had a second round pick light it up in the majors.

The Padres will give two Top 100 guys, but they probably won't amount to anything significant when all is said and done. The only guy they've really regretted trading has been Nats' outfielder James Wood in the original Soto deal.

That's still longer than any season-long stretch of baseball without getting hurt somehow.

Better than two pitchers who were considered the top 1-2 collegiate and prep pitchers in the country just two years ago? Nonsense. DJ Hall would be ranked behind both those pitchers by nearly any scout in the industry. Talent-wise, they're both in Mayo territory. And he's a two trick pony...bat and arm, but not a great 3B or certainly RFer. Could just as easily end up at first with Henderson at third, Holliday SS and Westburg 2B. (OFC the Baltimore Board Trio would argue Bradfield over Langford and Carter.)

Take that, Nicky Ortiz lovers.