Jose Abreu

That's exactly why I think the ask would start with Robert. And the talks would end.

Not trying to enter the rabbit hole, but in the context of the MLB market, that's actually a solid percentage

He had the deal itself about a week before any U.S. reporter, and everyone (including U.S. reporters themselves) laughed at him. Then, when the deal actually happened, people still wouldn't give him credit because he didn't get the terms exactly right. Those who choose to write him off can do so if they please, but no matter how loudly they scream into the void about how bad he is, it's obvious to any impartial reader that he has good sources.

It was asked in person

I get why everyone is talking Snell but I really don't think it's him. Even with the injury, 5 cheap years of a Cy Young winner? No way that gets done with Cease as the headliner. It would have to be Robert. That's why I'm thinking more Syndergaard, Price, Gray, and so on. Snell has too much cheap control

"would sign", not "has signed"

Syndergaard, Nimmo, and the contract of Cespedes (basically just eating $ for a year) for Cease, Stiever, Steele, Sosa

Pretty realistic though

I think the heightened activity in the weeks before the meetings is a good indicator that this won't be like the last few

I get your point but I also think it's quite likely that Cease's trade value increases after next season, even though he loses a year of control

Which SPs on the trade market would you guys think qualify as "coveted"?

Did the same with Machado too. But he deleted those tweets.

They do. You can say whatever you want about Reinsdorf, but I know for a fact that he'll do whatever it takes to maximize profits.

For sure. He's a guy you can pencil in for all 162 if he's healthy and not have to worry about splits. I just wanted to push back on the notion that he's better against RHP, as that has only truly been the case in 2017 since this year was a very SSS

They are, but that's because 2017 is skewing it so heavily, and the lack of PAs vs LHP in 2019 makes the aggregation less of a true three year sample. I think his career figures are much more telling.

Almost certainly small sample size. 2017 was legit, but 89 PAs is nothing.

Ozuna doesn't hit RHP better than LHP. It's actually the opposite. His numbers from this past season may appear that way, but he only had 89 PAs for LHP. That's far too small of a sample size to draw any conclusions. For his career, he has a 126 wRC+ vs LHP and a 109 wRC+ vs RHP.

I see what you mean. I was looking at his average percentile ranking by year rather than the raw total. Either way, I don't think it's fair to throw out 2019 (his worst defensive year) just as I don't think it would be fair to throw out 2017 (his best defensive year). I like UZR and DRS for non-1B infielders, but not as much for outfielders, so I'm struggling with understanding his variance in OAA.

He's better than Castellanos in most categories. And I agree that he isn't nearly as bad as many are making him out to be. I just am seeing a lot of people saying things about certain stats that are categorically false. I would be fine with an Ozuna signing

It actually has him as below average literally every single year other than 2017

Or, hear me out... There are more than two advanced stats out there for defense, and taking an all-or-nothing "no one should ever reference advanced defensive stats again if you disagree with two in particular!" approach doesn't make any sense

You can't just look at UZR and DRS, especially because that's in LF and not RF. Statcast has his outs above average and jumps as pretty bad throughout his career, with the exception of 2017 when they were randomly good for one season. I know he isn't this bad regularly, but this hasn't been posted yet so I couldn't help myself:

Not that it matters, since they have Alonso at 1B, but a top-25 prospect in Vaughn is actually a pretty good headliner for 2 years of a ~4 WAR pitcher in Syndergaard, IMO.

This guy is far more entertaining than Schins, HotStoveIntel, and J. Michael Robertson IMO