caulfield12

Too early for election year humor.

Palacios via trade from StL. https://www.mlb.com/prospects/rays Ledbetter Auer Jones second tier prospects #8-13. Junior Caminero...#1 former Guardians prospect https://www.cleveland.com/guardians/2023/10/guardians-see-bad-trades-magnified-as-ex-cleveland-prospects-flourish-for-other-clubs.html

See Kopech Crochet Burger Vaughn

Kyle Gibson wasn’t even good enough for the Twins. Nice try puffing him up to be something he’s not by the O’s fans, but everyone has known his pluses and minuses for the last five years, if not longer than that.

Not with Snell Montgomery and Imanata all waiting on $100+ million deals…with a ticking deadline of the 14th coming up for the Japanese pitcher, a deal has to get done relatively quickly. Then everyone’s left eying the same group of 3-4 options. Who knows…maybe the Marlins blink and drop the price on Luzardo first. Or the Guardians and Brewers decide they really can’t afford to carry Bieber and Burnes. But then there will always be pitching injuries in the spring as well…WBC or not.

Sure, but that’s always going to be a crap shoot…and Bautista had A+ stuff. And if your closer spot is a weakness, it trickles down across the entire pen as you push each guy one step up the rung to cover for someone else. The White Sox always used to fill out their pen this way too in the 90s and 2000’s…instead of overpaying for past performance and especially big name back end guys. Then the talent development fell short and they to start spending on the likes of Koch, Robertson, Dotel, Linebrink, Hendriks, etc., eventually leading to the most expensive bullpens in modern baseball history from 2021-23 under Hahn. They tried to be the 2016/17 Royals on the expensive downside instead of the of the 2012-2015 Royals on the cheaper upswing. For 75-80% of baseball, it’s a year to year guessing game. Another example, The Padres had arguably the best closer in MLB history in Hader last year and four stars and another statistically in Kim…and Josh had a very very solid year except for one short spell, Preller still spent a lot on their pen overall and went something like 9-23 in one run games and 0-12 or 0-13 in extras. There are no guarantees in baseball. Especially in the AL East with the level of competition ramping up even more this offseason. Standing pat like the Jays gets you left behind in the dust.

Clevinger has such a terrible reputation around the industry, Mr. Yale isn’t going to risk adding him to the clubhouse mix unless he has no other feasible alternative. Look at how much Severino Montas Giolito etc. are going for. They’re going to have to go well beyond the Gibson price tag. Wore out his welcome in CLE and SD. Same will happen again in a similar situation under high pressure. He needs to pitch in relative obscurity imo. He’s certainly not the guy you can count on in the clubhouse to hold everyone together as one unified front pulling in the same direction. And he’s had two major elbow injuries so his health is basically a ticking time bomb…his mechanics have always been spotty/erratic.

Counting on Fujinama…good luck with that. You can try another 5-7 guys like that and you might get one that sticks…like Cortes with the Yankees, for example. The problem is how much can you really count on that guy in the postseason? How likely are they to repeat after one breakthough season…following up is always the toughest part. See Bradish, Kyle. Everyone in baseball expects big things of Rodriguez eventually, but it’s the second and third options on a staff that are often the differentiators between good and great seasons, since all you hope for from your 4/5 guys is innings/bullpen coverage and a .500ish record in those games.

He has a lot of weird throwing angles and his mechanics aren't clean but scouts love his deep ball accuracy. The problem is he has a great receiving corps at Washington with three studs and a relatively strong line...it's how much more they can improve the short and medium passing game, combined with his escapability at the college level being closed down by the next level speed in the pros. He also isn't very adept at throwing on the run...at least not until more recent games. Half the NFL teams automatically have him off their first round draft boards due to his injury/medical history. Makes a great resilience/perseverance story for the championship game...but going with heart over logic usually doesn't end well in the NFL. That said...look at Brock Purdy. With the right offensive firepower surrounding you and an ideal coordinator for your game (or Tua in Miami), anything is possible.

Even the 5'7"/5'8" Madrigal and Heuer were worth one of the supposedly best closers in baseball just two years ago. Of course Nicky Two Strikes (an Ortiz comp if everyone there was one) was originally a near consensus top collegian in the entire country. Somehow the entire industry was nearly consensus-wrong on his defense, speed, base running and leadership qualities. At any rate, now the Kimbrel Curse has moved on yet again and everything has come full circle. Poor Dodgers and Phillies. Eventually GMs will learn their lesson...even if he does have at least 50/50 odds to make the HoF some day.

The White Sox are one of the worst franchises in baseball so they can simply be bullied into submission...how much more miserable and pathetic can they get? Only true Sox fans know how to make light of this situation and propose ridiculously ludicrous moves that don't move the meter...not condescending interlopers lol.

Certainly Grayson Rodriguez will just follow a linear development path like Kopech did and win the Cy Young this season. Nothing to worry about at all with his wonderful raw stuff.

Doesn't that mean less concession stand revenue if game times are cut by another 5-10% just by cleaning up the defense? And fans will be even further annoyed with less offense to cheer than last season's tepid slog/malaise?

https://fansided.com/2023/08/07/orioles-suspend-kevin-brown-explained/ Maybe we can instead trade announcers that weren't appreciated enough by their respective front offices?

The perfect storm with a small market team...owner passing away and RSN contract ripped up, knocking out at least $50 million in additional spending. Then you have a GM under intense pressure to win (who keeps going through new managers like a house afire) and yet he's also rebuilt the farm back to #9 despite it all...only to blow it up yet again soon by trading for pitching and/or outfielders? Or signing Pacific Rim relievers because few teams can still afford $100 million for Hader.

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/pitch-arsenals?year=2023&min=2000&type=avg_speed&hand= Cease was 16th and Kopech 21st in average FB velocity among starters. Unless someone is going to trade for Castillo Gilbert Miller or Kirby…there aren’t many available options. Luzardo, I guess. That’s if the goal is pure velo.

Two ACLs (both knees) and two other major injuries might push him down on some boards to the 2nd or 3rd because of risk mitigation, but have a feeling someone will pull the trigger in the late first or early 2nd.

Yay. Ahead of the Orioles even. Somehow.

21. Chicago White Sox (41.0°) 2023 change: -4.1° (once-promising rebuild devolved into 101-loss debacle) 10-year change: -15.5° since 2014 Franchise peak: 122.0° in 1919 (the team that will live in infamy) Franchise nadir: 16.6° in 1950 (after the Black Sox scandal broke in 1920, the ChiSox didn't finish above third place again until 1957) The White Sox have been stuck in the 30s and 40s ever since cooling down from their 2005 World Series championship. Things warmed up during the very brief resurgence of 2020 and 2021, but that netted just two playoff wins. And now, once again, the temperature is dropping. Chicago and its new baseball honcho, Chris Getz, have three years to avoid falling below freezing for the first time this century. https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/39235505/mlb-ranking-all-30-teams-franchise-temperatures-2024 Cubs were 12th, fwiw

9. Sounds close enough to Mike Sirotka it will fool old school fans or make them believe it's actually his son.

Everyone BUT Staumont lol. Who is of course the only really solid guy over there.

Absolutely pathetic Cubs and Cards would both be favored in the Central...by some instance. Even the Reds and Brewers. Who are still ruminating over a rebuild.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39249174/rays-trade-andrew-kittredge-cardinals-richie-palacios-acquire-jose-caballero-mariners-luke-raley Watch Palacios turn into next Arozarena/A.Garcia.

Mix in the Twins...although they won too much. Problem was always the post season until 2023. Now it's the Pohlads' spending or lack thereof. Seemingly, Javy Baez and Correa paralyzed the entire division...frozen in fear over a similar big contract going awry.

Other team are looking at him as a future coach...