almagest

I have a notebook full of "AlmaGetz" with hearts around each one

Kelenic stinks. I doubt the Sox are guaranteeing him anything, and if they are they're stupid. Don't mind taking the shot to see if they can "fix" him to be a positive contributor but I expect he'll either be in AAA or released to go play overseas by the start of the season.

Yeah I agree. They probably put out the “we’ll pay some $” to see what offers came in but weren’t going to trade him unless they got what they wanted.

It’s clearly not, though. They’re apparently fine keeping him if that’s all they’re going to get.

Based on the article I posted earlier a comp pick wasn’t on the table. Three pitchers were mentioned as possibilities - Petty and two guys coming off of TJS

I don't think any player was ever directly confirmed by Whittenmeyer (which i guess isn't surprising). Petty was listed as an example of what was on the table. Nothing about a comp pick in the Whittenmeyer article either. He brought up Julian Aguiar and Brandon Williamson, both of whom are recovering from TJ surgery. Williamson is also 27 so not super interested in him. Aguiar is 23 so maybe? His minors stats are just ok. If all three were offered maybe? Very much doubt that was the case though. Just don't think there's enough value there to replace Robert for even 1/2 the year unless they have a strong hunch they can fix Petty. As he is, he's a bad AAA pitcher. I just don't get the rush to trade Robert for scraps. I'm 100% fine having him play CF. Not like he's blocking anyone.

It has zero veracity

And if teams view him this way (which it seems they do), then there's no shot they're getting anything good for him right now either, even if they eat money. So you trade him and pay $10 million of his salary and probably get nothing useful - if the best case rumors are true, where the Sox get a reclamation pitcher in the minors and a comp pick worth about $1 mil is that enough for you? It's not for me, as neither the comp pick nor a reclamation project are very likely to amount to anything. You then have a hole in CF and if it was so easy to find 1.5 to 2 WAR there in free agency or in other trades, then teams wouldn't even be talking about Robert.

I'm not a fan of trading players just to trade them, so I don't blame Getz for holding out for something useful for Robert. No reason to trade him for nothing, especially if they're eating half his salary. Not sure what the Reds were offering, but it clearly wasn't enough. See if you can get anything at the deadline if he's playing well, or just let him finish the year here and move on, or if you have nothing in CF still buy him out and give him a cheap prove it deal or pick up that last option if he's good.

If Murakami ends up with 2.1 fWAR and a 118 wRC+ I’d be pretty happy. That’s around an .800 OPS which compared to Vaughn looks like Big Frank is over there again.

I hope one of two things happens: Roch plays out of his mind again and is a no doubt #1 pick Someone else plays even MORE out of his mind and becomes the no doubt #1 pick

They shouldn't need to. But who knows with how this franchise is being run right now.

I know he has a lot of concerns about swing and miss, but I still can't believe the White Sox signed the two time NPB MVP who hit 56 homers in a season during a deadball era to play first base and bat left handed.

I think the K rate improvement is great, but it's just one piece. SSK25 added context on his control issues keeping his xERA about the same and control was the reason I said bullpen for Burke. Strikeouts + elite extension + high walks + an xERA of 5 = probably a reliever. Does he have a chance to keep that K rate, lower the walk rate, and become a solid starter? Probably. I sure hope you're right. Right now it doesn't look like it's going to happen though.

I was looking at his 99 ERA+, but yes I don't disagree. He wasn't very good and doesn't have much of a ceiling. He'll probably end up in the bullpen as a good outcome.

If they need to save 10 million so badly they'd take a return of injured guys and a pick worth $1.5 million then MLB needs to step in because Jerry doesn't understand how to run this business.

If the Sox think any of these guys are worth it, and can get a comp pick in the deal, then do it. Otherwise don’t trade him for players you don’t think will have any impact just to get rid of him.

Whatever Getz needed to do to get this signing through.

Burke was about a league average pitcher last year, but his Baseball Savant page is pretty mediocre - only his extension measures as a plus. He's average to below average in everything else. He's probably a #4, #5 or long reliever best case, unless he suddenly adds a great pitch or adds 3-4 mph on his average fastball. I think people are hopeful Kay can continue the Fedde type success, but I'd guess he'll be closer to what Fedde is now (i.e. a 5.something FIP). If we can catch some lightning in the bottle due to lack of familiarity with his pitch changes and turn him into a prospect or two at the deadline I think that's best case scenario. Doubt most teams are going to fall for that though. Maybe he'll turn into a decent bullpen option. Thorpe I have more hope for, as he absolutely dominated the minor leagues. Yeah, the list of guys who washed out/went to the bullpen with stellar MiLB numbers is long, but I think it's worth giving him some time to see if that changeup can carry the rest of his stuff, and what stuff improvements he can make (if any). I would agree that 2026 is likely not good for him, though.

I would agree, but the Sox aren't going to eat $30+ million. I also don't think he's tradable in any scenario except where the Sox take on a worse player/more risk. Unfortunately I think he's the DH/LF for 2026.

Yeah, those are guys who are still very young and have a good shot to be quality players though. I don't mind that. Guys like Benintendi and Blake Rutherford were poor choices due to not being very good.

The Sox just got hung up on him after missing out in the draft and never let that go. Like they've done with so many other players. Hopefully that's coming to an end.

God damn what a terrible signing that was. -0.2 fWAR in his three years with the Sox, and at BEST that ends up at like 1.5 at the end of his deal. The warning signs were there too after having his second best offensive season (121 wRC+), but with zero power, and only managing 2 fWAR.

Devers or Olson sounds just fine to me

Get ready boys, because I read the tea leaves again and discovered "Tucker too"