Chicago White Sox

Cease with 6 K’s through 3 perfect innnigs. 28 of 40 pitches for strikes (70%). Kid looks filthy right now.

Good problem to have. And hopefully Burger forces his way at some point and makes it all even more complicated.

Cease is on fire. He’s going to be a top 40 prospect by the end of the season if he keeps this up.

It’s the worse camera angle I have ever seen.

Problem is the option is of the mutual kind which isn’t worth much. And while Britton hasn’t been great for some time, GMs can still dream of a return to form for him and that’s makes him a bit more valuable than Soria IMO.

Boo. Also, did the Knights get postponed again?

Perfect end to a perfect day right there!

I really hope Shields gets traded mid game.

Same here!

Whoops, forgot is it’s a shortened game due to the double-header. Even better!

Curbelo grand slam to take lead in the 8th!

Rumor that the Phillies are looking at Adam Jones, not sure he’s much of an upgrade in RF. Avi would sure make a lot of sense for them.

I’d say a low end top 100 prospect at best. I could see the Braves trading a guy like Fried or Allard for him, but I don’t see much beyond that at this point in time. A year from now that could change significantly, but the kid needs a longer track record IMO.

Are you suggesting we generally undervalue our players here?

Their system is beyond horrible. Just looking at it reminds me why we had to rebuild in the first place.

Shields makes sense for them as an innings eater, but I can’t imagine he nets you much. If we could somehow get Rodriguez for him and he suddenly becomes the next Tatis that would set the world right again ?

I think packaging players is fine and I the way to go, but we gave up three good players in that Yankees trade year including a cost-controlled high upside arm in Kahnle. Adding Shields to a Soria trade doesn’t move the needle enough IMo. I think our best chance of landing a pretty good prospect is adding someone like Sanchez or Leury or even Avi (if value can be had) to the mix. The Red Sox for example could still use bullpen & 2B help and a packagd built around Groome for Yolmer & Soria would be awfully attractive to me. The Phillies could use Avi & Soria and might be willing to give up Medina.

Oh I totally agree, but there’s been some debate on this here.

Jim Bowden ranked the top starting pitchers available for trade. While I’m not a huge fan of the guy, I wouldn’t get my hopes up for an exciting return.

I’m not sure I agree. The Dodgers have moved top 100 prospects for rentals three straight years (Machado, Darvish, & Hill/Reddick). The Cubs moved Torres for Chapman. The problem is there haven’t been a ton of impact talents moved as rentals in recent years, as teams are trying to move guys with at least a 1 1/3 of team control. I think teams would be lining up with offered centered around a top 100 prospect if the old Britton was available.

That AA lineup is going to be nuts next year. 1B: Sheets 2B: Madrigal SS: Rivera 3B: Forbes LF: Rutherford CF: Basabe/Robert RF: Adolfo DH: Gonzalez

I can totally buy that assessment and I agree it should be part of the equation. But technically speaking, I think the scouting grades are more focused on pure arm strength and from that standpoint it’s certainly not plus IMO.

Rutherford? BA & Fangraphs both grade it below average, whereas MLBPipeline has it as a 50. I have seen a few times this year and while it didn’t seem bad by any means, it’s certainly not plus to my untrained eye.

He’s going to make all the publications that completely jumped ship after his rough stint with the Sox last year look foolish. The kid is going to start the 2019 season as a 21 year old in AA and to me has the frame to add significant muscle in the coming years. It’s going to take some time, but he has chance of being a pretty damn good OF. Just too bad his arm limits him to LF, but not the end of the world by any means.

Britton wasn’t exactly dominant last year and his performance over the past 15 months is reflected in the return the Orioles got. Elite relievers, even rentals, typically go for more than a Tate like prospect. That’s not to say Soria is worth more (he’s not), but I don’t think the gap is quite as large as you believe.