2 minutes ago, Perfect Vision said:

Everyone can draw their own conclusions, but the decision by the org thus far to not call up Dunning suggests to me that they plan to have him be a part of the rotation for the foreseeable future.  If they were seriously thinking about signing a starter this offseason, why not call up Dunning now and give him 8-9 starts the rest of the year?  See what you have in him before signing a free agent.  He's clearly a better option today then the bullpen games the Sox are currently going with.  The only logical reasons I can think of for not calling him up now is (1) service time/super 2 considerations or (2) be careful with him to avoid injury.  Both reasons would indicate a plan for him to be a big part of the future of the team.

Yeah, always had the sense Lambert was perceived as more “expendable.”

1 hour ago, YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES! said:

Give me Stroman. He’s not as good as Bauer but he’d be a solid #3 or #4 starter for this team. I also think his personality and energy would fit well in the clubhouse.

Stroman is not a good 3 for the playoffs.. Sure he would be fine and an upgrade, but we'd still be VERY weak at SP.

We have two expiring contracts at positions of depth in McCann and Colome. I don't think anyone will trade  any non-expiring contracts for expiring contracts this year, this season is just too uncertain. However, I'd be curious if we could get any of these SPs with expiring contracts for a package primarily consisting of those two. 

For example, the Reds bullpen has been a disaster, and Colome would be a huge add for them. Additionally, I think McCann would be a pretty significant upgrade over Curt Casali. Sonny Gray and Anthony DeSclafani are throwing well and they have Luis Castillo too, plus Wade Miley should be back soon (already is?) and a promising young guy in Lucas Sims. 

I think a Colome/McCann for Bauer swap would improve both teams without any long-term consequences for either, but I also think CIN might say no because trading (arguably) your best SP is a major risk.

35 minutes ago, gusguyman said:

We have two expiring contracts at positions of depth in McCann and Colome. I don't think anyone will trade  any non-expiring contracts for expiring contracts this year, this season is just too uncertain. However, I'd be curious if we could get any of these SPs with expiring contracts for a package primarily consisting of those two. 

For example, the Reds bullpen has been a disaster, and Colome would be a huge add for them. Additionally, I think McCann would be a pretty significant upgrade over Curt Casali. Sonny Gray and Anthony DeSclafani are throwing well and they have Luis Castillo too, plus Wade Miley should be back soon (already is?) and a promising young guy in Lucas Sims. 

I think a Colome/McCann for Bauer swap would improve both teams without any long-term consequences for either, but I also think CIN might say no because trading (arguably) your best SP is a major risk.

Lucas Sims, who used to be in Braves’ system?   Hmmmm....

That trade is just not going to happen.  They will come back to Raisel Iglesias.

Don’t want to bother with a separate RF thread.

https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/gregory-polanco-15330/

If Pirates ate at least half 2021 and 2022-23 buyouts, that would be an interesting play if they can’t get Springer or Pederson.

Put him on a team where little to nothing is expected, as opposed to being a future franchise cornerstone with Pirates...basically, exact same theory as underpins Mazara move.   
 

And yes, I realize his recent numbers are quite ugly.  Otherwise, they wouldn’t be forced to jettison his contract.

Polanco looks awful. Want nothing to do with him.  It’s time to bring in an above average right fielder and stop with underachievers 

24 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

Don’t want to bother with a separate RF thread.

https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/gregory-polanco-15330/

If Pirates ate at least half 2021 and 2022-23 buyouts, that would be an interesting play if they can’t get Springer or Pederson.

Put him on a team where little to nothing is expected, as opposed to being a future franchise cornerstone with Pirates...basically, exact same theory as underpins Mazara move.   
 

And yes, I realize his recent numbers are quite ugly.  Otherwise, they wouldn’t be forced to jettison his contract.

Pederson is having an awful year, so he would prolly come cheap as he is already a platoon guy anyway. Springer is a RHH and is not exactly doing great either (and would command more money). 

I'd rather we put the money into Bauer and add Joc cheaply if they can't trade for a decent LH RF.

23 minutes ago, SoCalChiSox said:

Pederson is having an awful year, so he would prolly come cheap as he is already a platoon guy anyway. Springer is a RHH and is not exactly doing great either (and would command more money). 

I'd rather we put the money into Bauer and add Joc cheaply if they can't trade for a decent LH RF.

That makes sense too.  Springer’s age, expected contract years and high K numbers are not an ideal when almost all of the hitters but Madrigal and Grandal already fit that profile to a tee.

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2020&month=0&season1=2020&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=2020-01-01&enddate=2020-12-31&sort=10,d&page=6_30

E. Rosario, Blackmon, Ketel Marte, Tyler O’Neill, David Peralta, Michael Brantley, Starling Marte, Whit Merrifield, Adam Frazier, Jeff McNeill...
 

Outfielders/super utility guys exactly in that mold.  Love Peralta’s defense, too.  Merrifield’s awesome.  Ketel Marte a quietly budding star nobody pays attention to because of West Coast.  We already targeted Brantley once, but will be too old at end of this most recent deal.

Edited August 13, 20205 yr by caulfield12

A few of  us have just about thrown in the towel on Mazara already. I am still waiting for one of those tape measure home runs in a clutch situation.

No.

Good gracious.

With this line up we don't need an all star in RF, would like someone who plays good defense and gets in base at the bottom of the line up. Spend money on pitching 

5 hours ago, gusguyman said:

We have two expiring contracts at positions of depth in McCann and Colome. I don't think anyone will trade  any non-expiring contracts for expiring contracts this year, this season is just too uncertain. However, I'd be curious if we could get any of these SPs with expiring contracts for a package primarily consisting of those two. 

For example, the Reds bullpen has been a disaster, and Colome would be a huge add for them. Additionally, I think McCann would be a pretty significant upgrade over Curt Casali. Sonny Gray and Anthony DeSclafani are throwing well and they have Luis Castillo too, plus Wade Miley should be back soon (already is?) and a promising young guy in Lucas Sims. 

I think a Colome/McCann for Bauer swap would improve both teams without any long-term consequences for either, but I also think CIN might say no because trading (arguably) your best SP is a major risk.

Lmao what? Why would the Reds trade Bauer?

49 minutes ago, BigHurt3515 said:

With this line up we don't need an all star in RF, would like someone who plays good defense and gets in base at the bottom of the line up. Spend money on pitching 

In the offseason make  a trade with the angels for Brandon Marsh. Their outfield is stacked and hes ready. Left handed, great defensively, good OBP skills and young / controllable. 

Anderson - SS
Robert - CF
Moncada# - 3B
Jimenez - LF
Abreu - DH
Grandal# - C
Vaughn - 1B
Marsh* - RF
Madrigal - 2B

5 hours ago, tray said:

A few of  us have just about thrown in the towel on Mazara already. I am still waiting for one of those tape measure home runs in a clutch situation.

This is the official Jump the Gun thread. We have no idea what's going to happen with our starters the rest of the year nor do we know how Covid will affect next season.

Confirmation bias is settling in on Mazara despite warnings about SSS just about everywhere you look. 8 games and 20 AB for Marzara. He could go 3 for 4 tomorrow with a HR and a double and his OPS is around .850 and OBP is around .450.

3 hours ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

This is the official Jump the Gun thread. We have no idea what's going to happen with our starters the rest of the year nor do we know how Covid will affect next season.

Confirmation bias is settling in on Mazara despite warnings about SSS just about everywhere you look. 8 games and 20 AB for Marzara. He could go 3 for 4 tomorrow with a HR and a double and his OPS is around .850 and OBP is around .450.

SOXTALK BIG BOARD.   We're playing three-dimensional chess while the rest of MLB fan boards are playing checkers and Tiddly Winks (does anyone even play that anymore, haha)?

Edited August 14, 20205 yr by caulfield12

18 hours ago, ptatc said:

Correct. Which means they are locked into Giolito, Keuchal, Cease and Kopech for next year. If they go top tier FA (which I still maintain is not a wise investment) that means neither Dunning nor Stiever got a shot. Let's see how Dunning looks when they bring him up before making off season decisions.

And what happens when one of these five guys go down with an injury?  By default, a smart organization should have six starters ready to go.  If we’re serious about competing next year, then Stiever shouldn’t be any higher than 7th on the depth chart.

17 hours ago, Jack Parkman said:

I think you trade a couple of those guys. 

I've seen enough of Lopez and Rodon, Rodon is in Arb 3 and Lopez in Arb 1. Both are non-tender candidates. 

Without those two, Are you really going to give two rotation slots to kids? 

I'm not a huge fan of Cease these days as despite him throwing high 90s his fastball is very hittable. He's starting to remind me of Lopez. Too many walks, too hittable. I'd like to move him before his value craters. 

 

Cease is basically a rookie dude.

Too bad we dont feel Dunning is ready. It'd be nice to see what he can do in order to know what needs to be done for next year.

We know Gio/DK/Cease/Kopech are locks. If we saw something good from Dunning we'd just need to bring a #3 type pitcher bc all good teams need 6 starters (not to mention we dont know how Kopech will react from his surgery coming back next year especially after such a huge lay off)

On 8/12/2020 at 9:20 PM, caulfield12 said:

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/04/2020-21-mlb-free-agent-class-starting-pitchers.html

Another name that I couldn't fit into the poll, Mike Minor, who had a great comeback 2019 season but is really strugglng out of the gate in his first four starts in 2020.

 

1. Giolito

2. FA/Trade

3. Keuchel

4. Cease

5. Kopech/Lopez/Rodon/Dunning

Stiever, Thompson, Dahlquist, Flores, Crochet, Kelley, etc.   Lambert?

You dont HAVE to sign a pitcher, however it would be nice. Positives? You enter the WIN RIGHT NOW strategy. This weird year kind of already put us in that in some weird way, but in a regular season we'd have a lot of ups and downs that would be highlighted over a long season. The downside is that you tie up a lot of your money into a single guy. Ideally that rotation has Cease above Keuchel in a year and Dunning/Kopech do their jobs. Post 2021 season I'd ideally see the rotation as such. Giolito, Cease, Kopech, Keuchel, Dunning. 

 

But if we do go outside the orginization i think it's all but clear the obvious candidate in Bauer. 1 year contracts, even if inflated, are JR wet dreams. 100% for him. The rest of the list is a bunch of okay pitchers, but none that give you a better chance of winning a WS than in house candidates.

 

Lopez to the bullpen as a 7-8 inning guy has always been my plan. Rodon? Sucks cause i like him, but i think you have to move on and let him probably flourish elsewhere. 

1 hour ago, Capital G said:

Too bad we dont feel Dunning is ready. It'd be nice to see what he can do in order to know what needs to be done for next year.

We know Gio/DK/Cease/Kopech are locks. If we saw something good from Dunning we'd just need to bring a #3 type pitcher bc all good teams need 6 starters (not to mention we dont know how Kopech will react from his surgery coming back next year especially after such a huge lay off)

With no minor league season and him not pitching in games for more than a season, you would be getting a couple inning starts out of him early as he builds his way up.

28 minutes ago, BrianAnderson said:

Lopez to the bullpen as a 7-8 inning guy has always been my plan. Rodon? Sucks cause i like him, but i think you have to move on and let him probably flourish elsewhere. 

Agree with Lopez at this point.  I think he would flourish out of the pen.  The same scenario needs to be considered for Rodon as well.  I'm ready to go the Andrew Miller route with him, but will he be up for something like that?

13 minutes ago, KillahPriest said:

Agree with Lopez at this point.  I think he would flourish out of the pen.  The same scenario needs to be considered for Rodon as well.  I'm ready to go the Andrew Miller route with him, but will he be up for something like that?

It has been said that Rodons shoulder problems might make it difficult for him to have 60+ appearances per year with little rest between. That the shoulder flared up again this year is not a good sign.

36 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

It has been said that Rodons shoulder problems might make it difficult for him to have 60+ appearances per year with little rest between. That the shoulder flared up again this year is not a good sign.

By Ptac?

12 hours ago, BigHurt3515 said:

With this line up we don't need an all star in RF, would like someone who plays good defense and gets in base at the bottom of the line up. Spend money on pitching 

I've wanted to trade for Nimmo for years.. He would fit this profile EXACTLY.  Give them Collins and Dalquist/Thompson.

11 hours ago, beautox said:

In the offseason make  a trade with the angels for Brandon Marsh. Their outfield is stacked and hes ready. Left handed, great defensively, good OBP skills and young / controllable. 

Anderson - SS
Robert - CF
Moncada# - 3B
Jimenez - LF
Abreu - DH
Grandal# - C
Vaughn - 1B
Marsh* - RF
Madrigal - 2B

That would likely require Dunning/Stiever or one of our draft SP.