Eminor3rd

Well shit, if all we need is someone who CAN hit it far, we already have Daniel Palka.

Ozuna made some loud, bone-headed plays this year (including the absolute instant classic where he climbed the fence and the ball ended up landing in front of the warning track) that are dragging both his numbers and reputation down, but his ability and track record suggest he’s perfectly serviceable out there going forward. He’s not too far removed from being a solid CF, and is a former gold glover, for whatever that’s worth (not much, admittedly). Not a plus anymore, but not a problem. Now, $160 million? GTFO But at 5/$75M or so, I can see him satisfying the White Sox free agent craving for declining 2.5WAR position players rather nicely.

Beat me to it.

Why would the Mets trade Nimmo?

Yeah -- if they decide to "go for it," I agree that that is the right strategy, I think as much because of what is available on the market as anything else. In terms of RF, there are really just a handful of DH types available, each with their own warts. The pitching, though, is actually pretty deep and features some high-end talent. Might as well spend on the good stuff and take a cheaper, upside gamble on the the flawed stuff.

This is basically all true. How good he is will depend on how he adjusts. Very difficult to guess how that will turn out. He’s a good talent, not a can’t-miss one, so you’re gambling on his adaptability. i like low cost gambles, and we have a black hole in one of our OF corners, so I’m into it. And I think players with good plate discipline can figure out how to sit on fastballs of any velocity. But I think a scout could take a good look and decide they’re not feeling it and that wouldn’t be surprising either. The “college-level ball” thing is a bit ignorant. Doesn’t really make sense at all, in fact. Top college programs will often feature better velo than you’ll see in Japan, actually, but the command and control will be way, WAY worse. It’s a substantially different set of pros and cons. Short-sighted and naive to think you could just fit it into a sliding spectrum based on what you see in affiliated stateside baseball.

No one announced the death of the Indians. Some people thought they should have pushed all in so that they wouldn't get bounced in the post-season, but nearly everyone assumed they'd walk into the playoffs easily via the AL Central crown.

No sense in trading for a DH. Lots of candidates to just sign

As someone who works on the business side of this industry, it’s really hard to believe that this would ever happen. I don’t want to put anything past the White Sox, but this would simply never occur in any place that I’ve been.

The time for this move was before Moncada converted to 3b and liked it. IMO, the ship has sailed on a big 3B acquisition.

Correct. And the reason I’m guessing that is because it’s in line with what top NPB players get paid in Japan. Based on the stuff that’s been reported over the last couple years, Tsutsugoh wants to come over for the challenge, not because he’s seeking big money. So I don’t think an MLB team will need to do any better than that. He might even accept a bit less, though we have to remember that the team has to agree to the price too, and the current system gives them a percentage of the total contract value as a posting fee. So, it’s just a guess. I could be off, but I think the price will be low by Mlb free agency standards, because I think the interest will be tepid because of the defensive limitations.

I’ve been following this guy closely for a few years now. Even saw him play two games live when I was in Japan. Pros: - legitimately good plate discipline; can do damage on both fastballs and breaking balls - left handed, true power hitter - should come cheap because he really wants to play in mlb, And has a good relationship with his team. I’m guessing 3-4 years at $4-6mm - he has played well in WBC and other exhibition tourneys, suggesting he can handle MLB velo Cons: - he’s not a good defender. Not a Palka-like butcher, but it hurts to have mediocre defenders in both corners, and if Abreu is back, there’s no room at DH when Vaughn arrives. - he’s been good the past couple years, but he hasn’t been able to repeat his monster 2016-2017 years. Those years made it seem like he was a transcendent hitter, the last two haven’t quite been there. So it’s possible he is already in decline. Overall, he’ll be entering his age 28 season, and he looks like a tick worse than what Hideki Matsui was when he came over at age 29. My opinion is that the upside here isnt really all that tremendous because of the defensive profile, but the cost will be low enough and our need great enough for a short term offensive fix, that I’d like to see the White Sox pursue this. That said, Akiyama might be a better fit.

Akiyama will be a true free agent. If Seibu doesn’t extend him, he won’t require a posting fee.

Thanks. This is what I’ve been watching instead of White Sox games this year lol.

There are a couple big amateurs from Koshien this year that MLB is trying to poach. The most famous is Sasaki. Big tall kid with a big fastball. The best pitching prospect in NPB right now — IMO by far — is SoftBank Hawks ace Kodai Senga. Can sit 97-98 all game, touches 100, slider flashes double plus but is consistently average to plus, will steal a strike with a curveball, but his famous wipeout is his splitter, which plays way up because of his velo. Slider and fastball both show above average spin rates. His command has come and gone the past few seasons but it’s been there for long stretches this year, and he finally looks ready to go to me. Also he just threw a no hitter the other day. I think he’s 26. I like him a lot more as a prospect than most NPB started for a couple reasons: (1) he was actually not scouted as an amateur out of HS and came a little late to pro ball, and was used as a reliever at first, so he has WAY fewer miles on his arm than the typical Japanese starter, and (2) the stuff is so good that the downside is a high leverage reliever, and likely a very good one. The problem is that the Hawks almost literally never post their players, because they want to win. They’re one of the ten largest corporations in the world, so they don’t care about money. They want championships.

I’ve brought it up in other threads, I know, but it seems relevant here. A couple outside-the-box options could be available from NPB this offseason: Seibu Lions CF Shogo Akiyama (31) will be an unrestricted free agent. Left-handed, Five time golden Glover, current holder of the single season NPB hits record (broke Ichiro’s). A taller, leaner version of Nori Aoki with more power and better defensive instincts. Everyone agrees he’s lost a step from his prime, so he probably isn’t a plus in CF anymore, but would likely still be a plus in RF. I dont think he’ll cost much because if he can’t hit elite velocity, he’s a just fourth OF already in his 30s. But if he can, he’s a 2-3 win player on the cheap Yokohama BayStars LF Yoshitomo Tsutsugoh (28) is rumored to possibly be posted this year. Also left-handed, big time power with good plate discipline. Not a good defender because he’s slow, but has a pretty good arm. FWIW, he’s currently playing third base because Toshiro Miyazaki broke his hamate and is out for the year. I haven’t seen it yet, but from what I’ve heard, it isn’t particularly pretty but it’s passable enough to keep doing, which says something for his athleticism at least. But he’s a bat-first player for sure. He would, I think, cost more because it would be through the posting system, but probably still not a ton — certainly way less than someone like Castellanos. Much more of an MLB-style slugger than Akiyama, but again, you never know how these hitters translate until you see them turn around 98mph.

Nick Castellanos is a so-so DH. His reputation far exceeds his actual production.

This would certainly be on brand.

If he stays at short, maybe. If he hits like his career norm (even factoring down years) and is even a scratch defender at third, that's a 4-5 win season.

It depends on whether or not you think he will bounce back.

Manny Machado is having a terribly disappointing season... ...and it’s still gonna be worth about 3 and a half wins. This is the “downside” of premium talent.

Greg are you actually arguing that we keep a mediocre player so that we don't end up with too many good players?

Anyone who even utters “you have to have a balance” is so far behind, it may not even be the same game anymore. Successful franchises like the Dodgers and Yankees got all of this out of their system ten years ago. There is no “old school vs. new school” debate inside baseball anymore. All reliable info is good info and it all has to be used to make good decisions, period. Well-run organizations don’t have time for this — they get everyone on the same page, and if you can’t hang, you gotta go. The Yankees and Astros are revolutionizing the relationship between talent acquisition and player development, identifying and targeting players they know they can improve, evaluating and using feedback in real-time to ensure consistent progress up the chain. They understand their own strengths so well, they are poaching other teams’ underperforming talents and fixing them in a matter of weeks. The White Sox are still trying to get their manager to figure out what order to put the players in.

There will be some guy as good as Ivan nova looking for a job in March.

The problem, of course, is every other stat that you didn’t mention.