almagest

Yes, it looks like we have a team that can at least generate 0 WAR or higher per player.

He sucks. No thanks.

Moniak and Jankowski are basically the same player impact-wise, and that's only due to Moniak's outlier 2023. They're both bad, and neither one would have any substantial impact on this team.

Gave him a D so far. This can change quite a bit over the next year or two, depending on how things go. Positives: I like a lot of what's been happening behind the scenes. They're modernizing the organization and making what appear to be some good hires. Time will tell how these work out, but they are digging out from such a massive hole left by KW and Hahn so it's going to take a bit. They're leaning into their competitive advantage drafting Sale-like pitchers, and the results so far are encouraging. Fedde was a diamond in the rough, and a smart signing. Crochet became a premier starter and was traded for a really nice package of prospects. Last years' draft looks solid. Interested to see if that continues with the next two. Negatives: Recency bias, but the rash of TJ surgeries and other injuries is scary. They started to have issues with injuries when Herm left and that continues. They need to figure out their medical staffing and training issues ASAP. Getz had a pretty poor track record as director of minor league development. Some of this is the lack of talent in the org once the big prospects came up, but you'd expect they'd find a way to make SOME of these guys good. Colson's regression last year. How much is on him, on his back injury, and on the org? It's early still, but the trade returns for Cease and Fedde look pretty terrible so far. If Vargas carries over his spring improvements that will help a LOT, as will Zavala figuring it out and Thorpe making a recovery for 2026. They seem to struggle quite a bit identifying hitting talent, and then getting those players to maximize their potential. Fletcher and Deloach are prime examples. Hopefully hiring Ryan Fuller and establishing a modernized identity and process helps, but they need to fix this.

I appreciate how universal the "yup this makes sense" theme is here, in an age where posters here will fight about almost everything. Goes to show what a dbag people think Bernstein is.

Because Colas has -1.4 bWAR in 278 at bats in the majors, while only managing a career .774 OPS in 735 PAs in a AAA bandbox. He needs to figure that level out first before he gets a longer shot at the majors, or they need to release him.

Eh. If Baldwin spends a little more time in AAA I don't think that's an issue. He only had 8 games there last year, is only 24, and was just ok in the majors in limited action in 2024. Meidroth can repeat AAA for a bit while the roster shakes out, and come up once trades happen in July at the latest. I agree on Taylor. He should be in AAA in case of injury at best. Tauchman can be the backup CF.

Tauchman and Slater are the likely RF platoon. Rojas is probably the utility infielder, given Sosa, Vargas and Drury look good.

That's all that really needs to be said, here. None of Colas, Fletcher or Deloach have shown anything while in the Sox org to indicate they'd be anything other than a disaster in full-time play, or even as a platoon. This is absolutely a scouting and player development issue they need to solve, but for now the Sox just need players who can approximate competency in right field.

Then they can let him rot in AAA.

Mayo should be in the majors. No idea what the Orioles are doing - they apparently can't or don't want to use him in a deal to acquire pitching, so what's the point in letting him rot in AAA when he's already mastered that level, with a .919 OPS over 562 plate appearances? I'd definitely check in to see if you could grab him for a good deal, like a lower level pitching prospect and someone the Orioles like in AA or AAA that isn't on the top 100. They might still not want to do it, in which case... enjoy letting one of your top prospects rot in the minors!

.364/.444/.545 in spring training so far, and he looks like he has a clue at the plate with a much better swing. Turning him into even a 2 WAR player would be a huge win given what he looked like last year.

Really no one, unless there’s a QB run for some reason and some of the higher ceiling prospects fall. I hope they trade down too.

I really don't mind going when they're bad because I can get in and out of the park easily.

Boy I hope not. I think that'll be a mistake unless there's absolutely nothing left in the first round. I guess if Ben Johnson is pounding the table for him I'd feel better about the pick, but still.

I want this to be a real hat

I think a better question is - "Will taking Jeanty at 10 and other positions later in the draft bring more value than taking another position at 10 (or trading down) and a running back in a later round?". In my mind you have to be pretty convinced that Jeanty is a generational running back to take him that highly because you're spending a ton of draft capital on a non-premium position.

DLine first, then WR and RB is my hope.

Everyone likes beating Houston

They're definitely not going to trade Hoerner now. My thought was he could be used to acquire a front line starter if they had Bregman at 3rd and if they thought Shaw was ready at 2nd. Shaw has played some 2nd in the minors. Not sure I'd use Hoerner for Cease anyway, though, since Cease only has a year left. Hypothetically, that'd probably be a 1 for 1 deal, with maybe a couple low minors guys going to the Cubs. Not sure what the Padres want, and I don't think I've seen any rumored Cease deals. They're built to win now, so I'd assume they'd look to upgrade at 2B/LF/DH with major league talent, and maybe grab some lower level lotto tickets to develop, which they seem to be very good at.

Of course the Sox need Colson to succeed long term. If he struggles this year it's not a big deal, though. They can absorb the struggles for the future payoff. The Cubs can't absorb any struggles from Shaw because they're in win now mode with Tucker only being signed for a year. Teams don't have to spend like the Dodgers, but they should embrace depth at multiple positions via free agent signings with deferred money and retaining impact prospects. I'd be on board for a Cease trade for them, mostly because I'd like to see them trade and acquire him. I was thinking Hoerner could be in a deal for a starter, which probably relied on Bregman signing. I wouldn't trade Hoerner now. Not sure what the Padres are asking for, but I'd imagine it's MLB ready players, so I don't know how well the Cubs match up.

I don't think Colson is ready for the majors, but the Sox have the ability to not care about him playing poorly at the MLB level at least. Cubs don't have that. I don't think so - if Shaw is great, Bregman and Shaw is still better because it gives them options with Hoerner and Swanson. The Dodgers do this better than anyone, and it seems like other teams just haven't caught on yet. The Cubs should be fine with deferred money on Lester and Heyward, because it brought them a World Series win and like 5 years of sustained playoff success.

$20 million is deferred per year on Bregman's salary. They could definitely afford Bregman and Tucker, especially if they can get out of some of Swanson's money. The Cubs are allergic to deferred money apparently, though, which is really silly, given how that franchise prints money. As it is right now, they will have neither of them.

Jon Berti is not good. If the Cubs are relying on him at third base, they have absolutely failed. You're also completely missing the point. I'll say it again - the Cubs have Kyle Tucker for ONE YEAR. They cannot assume he'll sign an extension, or resign with them as a free agent. They just spent good prospect capital for him and need to maximize that resource. They are relying on a rookie to produce near or at Bregman's level - I don't care how highly Shaw is ranked, because rookies struggle in their first season all the time. You don't rely on them as equivalent for a major producer like Bregman. If you sign Bregman and Shaw hits well, then great! That opens up a trade for Hoerner, or maybe it lets the Cubs get some relief from that Swanson deal, shifting Hoerner to short, where IIRC he's been decent.

It makes a lot of sense to sign a sure thing free agent and have infield depth, as we just saw in our failed rebuild. Shaw hasn’t accomplished anything yet, and you only have Kyle Tucker for one year right now. It’s pretty unlikely Shaw comes anywhere close to what Bregman does this year, and if he’s bad (which rookies often are), you press full-decline Turner into full time play. So, instead of having a damn good third baseman for a few years and sprinkling Shaw in at 3B, 2B and DH, you’re relying on a rookie and a 40 year old in the only season you’re likely to have Tucker.