Jose Abreu

That's pretty massive. That reporter is better than anyone on the Sox beat, he gets tons of info and it's always spot on.

This always reminds me of Welington Castillo's apology. It's one of the only ones I've ever read and thought was actually not terrible.

It's addressed in this thread, but Rosenthal's lack of spine when it comes to these issues is a consistent disappointment. I guess I should've known, after he tried to "both sides" domestic violence and praised the Cubs for doing the bare minimum in response

I think part of that speaks to their trade philosophy though. They easily could've traded the big three for packages that would stack the farm with depth, but they went for upside and hit on most of those players

It would never happen, but I did find it funny that both Flaherty and Giolito liked my friend's tweet the other day that joked about Flaherty teaming with Giolito and signing with the Sox in 2024

I see. One tool is a stretch to me but I know that's what you were replying to. IMO, he has decent trade value in that he moves the needle and can be the 2nd best piece for a Burnes/Gonzales, but he can't headline

Gonna guess Yankees

Plenty of players have lots of value but are flawed, why is Madrigal exempt from this?

Sure, but the whole idea of contact versus power gets so oversimplified. While they also hit for power, Eloy is a contact hitter. Tim is a contact hitter. Vaughn will be a contact hitter. You don't need to dedicate lineup spots to guys who have no power in Madrigal/Eaton for the sake of "balance" if you can find hitters who are simply better

I agree. Ironically, this team could really use 2018 James Shields (204 innings of a 4.5 ERA)

I'm (perhaps irrationally) worried that if we don't see a Madrigal+ for a SP trade (then sign La Stella), they're just gonna sign Wainwright and that will be it

I expect this to change, but as of now, they've actually cut more salary than they've added

Got it, thanks. I hope that's right but it seems optimistic to me

Where do people get the idea that there's $15 million left to play with? I keep seeing that exact number but I don't know where it came from

I don't buy this but FWIW this is pretty much the same thing that happened with Encarnacion last year. I believe the hold up with him was that his father passed away so he went back home to be with family for a bit

Isn't this really the only critique one could have of him though? And it would be a welcome change from having a bunch of Lopez/Cease types who can throw 97-99 but can't locate

Maybe it’s all a leverage play to scare Minnesota into offering him a second year

The analysts show their personal lists on these shows, and FWIW Robert was in the 3-5 range on a couple of theirs. If not for his, September crater, I bet the shredder would have had him top 5 too

It's my opinion that his value will never be higher because right now, he looks like a scary dominant lefty who throws 103 with a wipeout slider. But it's so easy to get caught up in visions of him being a #1 starter long-term that I feel as if his flaws are being ignored. The fact that you can say he has a Randy Johnson ceiling right now speaks to the fact that his value is more likely to decrease than increase

It would never happen but I would've shopped Crochet heavily this offseason. His value will never be higher, IMO, and if you could get a Burnes type or a stud RF with control, that's an easy trade for me to make

I probably would trade Crochet+ for him. It would be the ultimate sell-high move, but it would hurt. I definitely wouldn't move Kopech, but as established earlier in the thread, that has nothing to do with Burnes and is just my high opinion of him plus all the great things I've heard about him this offseason

Seeing a lot of "if that's what Burnes will cost, just sign Richards!" And I agree, I wouldn't be comfortable trading Kopech, Vaughn, or Crochet either. But I think you're really oversimplifying signing Richards, especially given the relatively high AAV SP contracts being handed out lately. If the budget is as tight as we all think, who's to say that the alternative to a Burnes trade isn't closer to the Brett Anderson/Rick Porcello tier?

It's 2/32 according to everywhere but the thread title btw