caulfield12

https://www.mlb.com/news/martin-maldonado-s-accountability-shows-white-sox-play-fast-culture#:~:text=Manager Pedro Grifol called Maldonado's,be routine off the bat. Merkin-Puff

Schultz vs. Ohtani…

Fletcher wasn’t even in the same vicinity as guys like Mazara or Avi were as prospects. Colas would be much closer. The problem is they expect near an 800 ops again (like AZ in 100 at bats) and the underlying peripherals nearly all point towards more luck than long term sustainable success.

Beckham just couldn’t hit the high fastball…neither could Viciedo. Most hitters can hit the fastball ahead in counts, it’s the slider or curve off the plate outside that usually get them. Or pitching backwards if they have enough confidence in their off speed stuff.

That’s a lot of expectation to put on him. Maybe Stone simply feels he can be more relaxed with someone less deferential and more in tune with the game…rather than a performer and more the feeling Benetti was recently attempting to be just as much of an attraction as the game itself, compensating for the poor product on the field. Meaning he was getting a bit too big for his britches. Stone is saying Schiffren is more like him…not an outsider and non athlete who will never quite be fully accepted and respected by the players, coaches, front office and ownership…as well as the likes of blue-blood Boyer.

Gregory Santos is probably the best (recent) example...

Or Quentin for C.Carter.

Moncada would have to be hitting 875-900 and healthy for at least 2 or 2 1/2 months to stimulate serious interest. JR isn't going to sign off on eating $20-22 million all in one check (don't forget $5 million 2025 buyout) if you were trying to trade him along with Cease.

Yeah, Mena as the next Chris Bassitt who doesn't blow you away from a scout's eye but simply knows how to pitch.

I'll be fine watching this season...until/unless either Cease or Robert get hurt. Then will just tune out until June/July for the trade deadline maneuvers, but even that would be boring if Cease was off the market and due to the fact that the draft this year (yet ANOTHER "plug and play" collegiate for the Top 15, maybe a couple emerging preps) won't be all that exciting either.

DeJong was really good...in 2019. That's the best you can say. Lopez had that one outstanding 6+ fWAR year and has been a 1-1.5ish player ever since.

It just shows how much wasted spending (or wasteful) spending there was that the Royals spent more than almost all of the big market teams (combined in numerous cases) and yet they're still below the White Sox even with the all those new deals, the Bobby Witt, Jr., extension as well as Salvador Perez. With the Sox, the Moncada, Eloy and Benintendi contracts all weigh so heavily on current payroll.

But elevated revenue normally is most correlated to previous year performance...they make the playoffs, and the real gains in ticket revenues trail the following year in increased interest and usually ticket prices rising as well. So we're now entering the opposite cycle where the teams will struggle on the field, interest in tickets will diminish, I guess from JR's perspective it doesn't matter because it all balances out, 4th or 5th place and low payroll or 1st/2nd/3rd and a higher payroll. But they've hardly ever gone out and invested in the product coming off down years...instead demonstrating that propensity to cut back and claw back any previous losses rather than "investing in the future" like the Royals did with all their spending this offseason, coming off a 106 loss season. Sherman (KC owners) would certainly at least acknowledge this strategy (the Witt extension especially) is just as much for positive PR and goodwill for the new stadium project/upcoming vote as it is for demonstrable results on the field. That's something JR doesn't care about in the least, winning fans over, so to speak.

I think that's what Boras is experiencing now with Jordan Montgomery (recent results not obscuring a relatively pedestrian career overall, 4+ ERA, etc.)...obviously Cease has the stuff/K's and durability, but he's suffering as well from high pitch counts and not providing extended innings.

Except you shouldn't have to waste a Top 20 asset to "motivate" a player...that's how the White Sox got into the mess they're currently in, or having to find "managers" on the field to make up for Grifol and TLR's fault/s, isn't it?

There's going to be lots of "moral victory" posts this season...

Remember, Getz the best at his minor league director job according to JR since Branch Rickey and the Brooklyn Dodgers in the early 1950s. 70+ years of baseball history. (***Well, except for letting Clemente get away to the Pirates.)

The wrist, the wrist...looking forward to hearing any excuses this year.

https://sports.yahoo.com/bill-madden-teams-not-willing-103000682.html Not willing to give Boras what he wants for Snell Montgomery Chapman JD Martinez. https://www.yahoo.com/sports/mlb-free-agent-rumors-drag-113050019.html Nightengale “Clubs have plenty of money to spend," Boras says, “but they’re not spending in a matter that is customary to competitiveness. It’s not that they don’t have the ability to pay, but their choice to regress on their payrolls. Just a year ago, the Mets and Padres were in an arms race, spending wildly, convinced it was their year to win the World Series. This season, they’re settling for being competitive, with a simple wild-card berth considered a tremendous accomplishment. “Nobody is saying the revenues in baseball are not going up, or that every team in baseball isn’t getting record revenues than at any time in their history," Boras says, “but you’re seeing clubs that are not in any way pursuing competitiveness in the manner of the past." The stagnant market has caused some of the biggest stars in the game to call out their own ownership this past week. Three-time MVP Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels, Yankees MVP Aaron Judge and Boston Red Sox All-Star third baseman Rafael Devers each implored their teams to take advantage of the players available. “Players that have made commitments to their franchise," Boras says, “they’re crying out. They were told by ownership they had a common goal of winning. We’re seeing those situations now where the players are serving as the litmus test for the commitment to winning. “When you have players like this who are available, they can dramatically impact the outcome and goals of teams. It’s like the trade deadline in July. You can absolutely change the culture in the clubhouse by adding one of these players." Several general managers and managers have privately joined the chorus, telling agents to remain patient. They continue to have discussions with their owners, hoping to convince them that reinforcements are needed.

Boras saves face if Bellinger plays so well he can escape that contract for another long term deal but that will be harder and harder as he gets into 30’s. Certainly nowhere near the $150-200 million in guaranteed money he was originally seeking.

12 or 13 teams on that that are approaching this season as competitive. All but Boston, Colorado, Sox, Washington, KC (expecting 70-74 wins), Oakland realistically consider themselves to be competitors.

Makes the Benintendi deal look even dumber, in retrospect…there’s just no way the Sox competitive window was ever going to extend through 2027, even with Robert also around, too.

Not collusion. Just an acceptance that one really strong season in the past four injury-plagued years doesn’t merit $150-200 million. Watch Chapman come way down now too.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/cody-bellinger-reportedly-agrees-80-073706612.html Bellinger reportedly back to Cubs…3 years for $80 million

At the rate they’re going, it’s going to take at least three more seasons to get back to .500 barring a minor miracle. Yet that would mean five full seasons passing while withholding a fair assessment based on lack of talent to compete with. At the very least, four.