Sambuca

Merkin would be tweeting and writing articles as part of his job for MLB. In that instance, MLB would be directly paying Merkin for writing words trashing them. I get Rosenthal was employed by MLB in some capacity, but all of his words and reporting do not belong to MLB. Rosenthal wrote these articles about the lockout/Manfred for the Athletic. There was also nothing inappropriate written about Manfred. It was normal reporting for a guy another company is paying to report. It’s not like he was on MLB Tonight calling Manfred a b****, as much as I really wish that happened.

Rosenthal is probably the most professional and well respected person in baseball media. This should go over well with fans and the rest of the media, especially with literally no other MLB news to discuss except for the current f’ing lockout. The current lockout with MLB/owners and Manfred being almost fully responsible.

Thank you. Posted this in the Work Stoppage thread a bit ago, but I did not have a chance to read anything so I did not include links/details.

MLB Network fired Ken Rosenthal. He just seems like the kind of guy that doesn’t get fired from anywhere. Haven’t seen the details, but I know it’s over comments about Manfred, assuming from an Athletic article.

Sox should do something whacky like Keuchel and Crochet for McNeil and McCann, but I’m not sure if the Mets have a clear path to another starting catcher. Giving up Crochet would suck, it’s possible no one would gamble on Keuchel for that price at the back of the rotation, and McCann is way overpriced. But the Sox would be filling two holes, while gaining 3/4 mil of payroll to work with for next season. McNeil obviously fills 2B/LHB, and McCann fills backup catcher. McCann is decent defensively, and as well all know works very well with pitchers, especially some of the Sox pitchers. He had a down year offensively, but his bat is good enough to give him a ton of time behind the plate, saving Yasmani’s health, and giving him more time in the lineup at DH. If the Sox can also unload Kimbrel’s salary, while hopefully getting something useful in return, they will have plenty of money to sign an OF (Conforto), someone to eat up innings at the back end of the rotation, and hopefully another bullpen arm. They still might be a little short on SP, but they don’t need anything special to fill some more innings. The Mets will get two pitchers for the backend of their rotation. One who is playoff experienced, has a long history of success, and could bounce back going to the NL and with changes to the baseball (grip). The other pitcher being an extremely young, high ceiling, cheap potential SP for the next 5 years. They also did this while only taking on 3/4 mil of payroll. Someone, hurry up and tell me how stupid this is.

He’s silly.

I didn’t even realize you can view each individual reaction like that. Thank you.

Who laughed at this?

I am not saying he’s a good OF, but using his OF skills to diminish his value is not fair. He was drafted to be a 1B, was expected play 1B exclusively, and literally learned how to play OF on the fly, in his first season in MLB. Not to mention, his time in the minors to hone his hitting craft was non-existent. The fact that he had to learn how to hit MLB pitching, essentially skipping the minors, while playing a position nothing remotely close to the 1B tells me how much better he might been offensively last season if he could have just concentrated more on hitting. Or you know, spent a full year in the minors above A ball, to concentrate on hitting. It also tells me what kind of hitter he can become in the following seasons. The fact that he’s a hard worker and seems to have decent baseball intelligence also bodes well. I know this stuff has been repeated a lot in his defense, but it shouldn’t be understated. Three of the best hitters in White Sox history have been RH 1B/DH types. If the guy can hit like many believe he can, no one will be complaining about his position or handedness. A lot of White Sox and fans of other teams are clamoring to give Castellanos contracts up to 5/100. Castellanos realistically shouldn’t be classified any differently than a slow RH 1B/DH type. And at age 23, posted a “pathetic” .721 OPS and 1.3 bWAR. Vaughn is under control for the next 5 years for pennies. Trading him and not getting another cost controlled elite talent that fills a hole (SP) is pointless, short sighted and will be a mistake. Maybe trading him at all will be a mistake. I just don’t agree at all that Vaughn’s rookie season revealed anything negative about the dude’s talent or value. Again, he’s not untouchable by any means, but the way some posters are just casually throwing his name around in trades just for the hell of it is odd. And for Tray’s question, no, I would not trade him for Bellinger. That’s silly.

No, I don’t think that at all. But damn, this question is provocative.

This sucks.

As far as your signature part of the post, the Sox intention is to trade Kimbrel for a “few decent players.” Suggesting they just casually throw in Vaughn alongside Kimbrel for a “few decent players” is honestly ridiculous. Your bias is so strong you’re literally ignoring the reality of Vaughn’s value, not only to the Sox, but to the rest of the league.

Was sure this was a Caulfield post until the bottom part.

What is anyone even saying?

Riveting.

One of my all-time favorite players to watch play.

Does he still need to develop a tool if he is a tool?

How does that work exactly? Did they stop providing him a clean uniform for every game?

Anyone know how is stuff is today compared to when he was drafted? I am assuming injuries have left him as a shell of his prospect form.

I think we will. Having your hip completely rip in half just from running in a straight line has to be quite the traumatic experience. I am thinking an offseason of strength/conditioning and mental rehabilitation should go a long way. It’s amazing how quickly he was back on the field and playing at an elite level.

Ben Sheets hit zero home runs in his MLB career. I’m guessing his power at age 43 wasn’t too hard to project.

Those appraisals are non-existent.

Someone alert me when this becomes a Machado/Tatis, ARod/Jeter, Seager/Turner situation.