Chicago White Sox

Because a system that penalizes teams for sucking creates a trap that is difficult to get out of. The NFL probably has the best parity in all of major sports and they don’t require such an aggressive draft pick system to achieve it. The reality is that a simple lottery is likely the best solution here. Make it less attractive to tank without creating a potential death sentence to small market teams that suck and dig themselves a hole.

And this is why you don’t let scouts make important economic decisions that impact the well-being of the entire league. Just a horrible idea if parity is what you’re actually seeking.

Gil Meche put up -0.3 fWAR his final season…

So fucking true. The fact these guys aren’t even talking is embarrassing.

Being a baseball fan is legit brutal right now.

I would have been ecstatic with that trade, but I don’t think Kimbrel returns back Lux if that’s what you’re getting at.

That’s a very fair point. But 2B is generally such an easy position to fill that I wouldn’t rule it out completely, but that’s me just speculating.

He’s a still developing player, so obviously you don’t know what you’re going to get. That being said, he’s a former 70 grade prospect prospect, who bats left-handed, adds much needed athleticism, and fills a position of need (and appears to be a good defensive 2B to boot). He’s exactly the type of player you gamble on if you are the White Sox if the price is right. Worst-case scenario, he should be a very productive platoon 2B given his splits (104 wRC+ against RHP last year) and defensive value. If we were to add him and Conforto, I’d be super fucking pumped about the offense. Again, it all comes down to the cost though.

All this being said, I’d probably prefer seeing the Dodgers would do something like Crochet for Lux. Maybe make it expand it to include Kimbrel and other pieces, but I’d rather go with the younger guy with more team control if I’m giving an arm like Crochet.

I like Madrigal but he’s gone and McNeil was a high end-player from 2018 to 2020. I also think McCann is hugely overrated around here, but I think him at $7.5M/year is worth it (if you assume Keuchel is worth ~$10M and will cost us $19.5M). That being said, I’d have rather signed a 2B than trade Crochet to fill the hole, but not a lot of options that only cost money at the moment.

That’s a framework that makes some sense. Just got to be sure you’re getting a McNeil that’s closer to the 2018-20 version than the 2021 one.

McCann for Keuchel would make sense for us. But we can’t afford to pay McCann $10M/year to be our backup catcher.

How is McNeil a “utility guy” exactly? Obviously being able to play multiple positions is highly valuable, so I’m assuming you’re making a jab at his bat which has been 26% over league average in his career.

You don’t get the Jimenez love? A consensus top 5 prospect who in his second year put up a 139 wRC+ and 1.6 fWAR in 55 games (a 4.7 win pace). He’s under control for the next five seasons at an AAV of $12.8M. He’s incredibly valuable if you don’t overreact to an injury impacted 2021. Trading Eloy for McNeil would be a fireable offense IMO. Also, BTV’s valuations are meaningless. It’s a fun little tool, but we should not be using them as a legit benchmark for assessing player value.

100% us. McCann is currently negative value player at his contract and Jimenez is worth significantly more than McNeil.

He makes a ton of sense for us. Just no idea what he’d cost and he’s not someone I’m willing to overpay for.

Why in the world would the Dbacks trade three core pieces for a trade centered around Lucas Giolito (I get there would be other stuff)? They will want want controllable pieces and that’s something we lack unless we pull from the major league roster. Personally, just sign Conforto if we’re looking to fix the offense.

? No idea what you’re getting mad about, it literally says your name next to the laugh emoji on his post.

Who do you think? Tray…

For the people on their high horse supporting the MLBPA, just know this is a group who cares about nothing but getting more money for its existing members. Why bump up the minimum salary when the vast majority of current players are off their rookie contracts? Who cares about the poor minor leaguers who sleep six deep in a rundown apartment unit and have to eat KFC and Domino’s seven days a week. And fuck those poor LatAm kids who have to be subjected to disgusting predatory practices when the MLBPA can ensure that Max Scherzer is able to buy a few more Lambo’s. No matter how you want to slice it, this is a fight between millionaires and billionaires. Sure, the players probably deserve a larger share of the pie, but anyone losing an ounce of energy over this has all the wrong priorities in life. Neither the owners or the MLBPA could give a fuck about the customers, minor leaguers, or non player personnel. As such, people like Parkman & Ray Ray taking a hard side in a fight between the rich and the super rich is absolutely hilarious.

As dumb as it sounds, I really wish there was some sort of fan union to get these assholes to start actually negotiations. Like no agreement in place by Jan 15th, then a large group of fans agree to sit out a portion of the season. I know it’s not feasibly possible, but it’s absolutely disgusting these fucks aren’t even talking right now.

That’s absolutely brutal if Colas doesn’t play in the states this year.

Nevermind

If we’re dumpster diving, Brad Miller could be a good platoon partner with Leury. His defensive metrics at 2B were solid and he can still hit RHP pretty well. Not what I was dreaming of when we dealt Madrigal, but the free agent 2B market is a hot mess.

If we can’t trade at all and need to address RF, 2B, & SP, then I’d do the following: Michael Conforto: 4/$76M ($19M AAV) Matthew Boyd: 1/$6M Brad Miller: 1/$3M That leaves about $2M left for some random backup catcher. But man is it challenging to fill the rest of our holes through free agency. Just not a lot of 2B worth consideration, which means anyone worth a damn is coming via trade.