Chicago White Sox

Where does it say he’s not on the block? They are just saying they won’t give him away, which may or may not be posturing. And with Crochet, they literally said the same thing at last year’s deadline and held despite a compelling offer from the Phillies. I still lean this is a bluff, but’s not an indefensible position if not.

The rumors are they are willing to give cash. Regardless, trade deadline trades are much less made on the parameters of surplus value and more so on maximizing your chances of making the playoffs or making an extended October run. Robert is a wild card, but his potential impact is probably higher than almost anyone else available. If you’re the Mets or Phillies with a massive CF hole and an otherwise strong team, he’s the exact type of player you roll the dice on to enhance your post season chances IMO. If I were Stearns, I’d 100% be willing to give up a prospect like Clifford who comes with real question marks to have Robert for the stretch run and to also have the option to bring him back at a high, but not unreasonable cost if he keeps performing well.

You prefer no salary cap and the worst parity amongst all major sports?

His xwOBA is basically league average right now…unfortunately his wOBA has not fully normalized yet but we are seeing that happening right now. This idea that he is a bad hitter is wrong. He is certainly flawed, but when healthy, he is an average or better offensive player who plays a premium position and adds value on the bases. I too am ready to move on from the player given his past health issues and general streakiness, but holding him into next season isn’t a terrible idea if no one is willing to even give us a 45 FV prospect for him. It’s a gamble no doubt, but one that might be worth taking on. I’m still hopeful someone will pay up before the deadline and this point all becomes mute.

Which young players would you give playing time to? Guys who can’t even hit in Charlotte? The reality is we have no young players to give the playing time to other than Baldwin. Hopefully that changes very soon, but having a couple veterans who can provide some lineup stability has value.

Robert’s xwOBA is .321, which is about league average for hitter. A guy who can play CF and run the bases like he does is probably a 3.5 win player with that type of offensive production. That would theoretically provide surplus value at 1/$20M. Discount some for injury and it would be about break-even. It also ignores the fact that no player performing like that would ever be available on a one year deal with another team option. It also ignores the fact that Robert has been much better than league average over the past month and might be figuring things out.

Honestly, I am not sure what happens. If they hold him past the deadline and he does bad down the stretch, I don’t think they pick up the option. But if he keeps playing like he has of late then maybe they would? It’s a really bad free agent OF market, which is going to increase the interest in him. And for reference, Bellinger got a 1/$17.5M deal with the Cubs coming off two similar seasons that Robert has been enduring. 1/$20M probably isn’t that far off for a pillow contract estimate.

If what Rosenthal is saying is true, and he’s without question the best insider, then he’s likely telling teams that they need pay up or else he’s going to hold and pick up the option. Interesting this comes not longer after another insider claimed we had already been offered one top 10 prospect for Robert.

Bluffing is a dangerous game to play as GM. If you don’t follow through with your claims, your reputation can be compromised in an instance. Feels like this one will go down to the wire regardless if opposing GMs already think Getz is full of s%*#.

xwOBA reflects total expected offensive value similar to a wRC+.

And yet somehow the slow, RH hitting 1B currently has a worse xwOBA than the rookie SS you criticize constantly 😉

It’s late in New York…hopefully no one is watching

Chase is fucking due

Pay the f*** up Stearns!

f*** yes!!!!!!

Benintendi’s splits at DH are wild. Given he can’t play defense anymore and we refuse to use Teel / Quero at the same time, we might as well use him exclusively at DH against RHP and see how his numbers progress.

Give me the Mets

Yankees are watching Slater…do your thing here

Hell fucking yeah!

In the minors…you are saying they should have starting working him at 3B more frequently before we was called up.

Good at-bat even if the outcome wasn’t there

An early HR and some late innings hug watch would be swell

Woof

Martin actually K’ing some guys is all I want to see from him. A K per 9 rate below 6.00 is not going to cut it in the long run.

I think he’s far more likely to be part of an offseason trade, but probably needs to have a good August & September to improve his value.