bighurt574

Not a bad deal for Pittsburgh. Glasnow and Meadows aren't worth what they were a year ago. Neither is Archer I suppose, but he has a track record at least.

I think that all just shows that who develops into elite relievers is pretty random. Also a lot of variability from year to year. So all you can really do it develop some depth/volume and hope you hit on a bunch. On Fulmer, he was drafted too high to ever really be a value play as a reliever candidate.

Once a few teams started doing it, everyone else basically had to follow for liability reasons. If someone got hurt, good luck explaining why you were a holdout.

We played some great baseball but I never thought of '05 as a dominant team. Regular season run differential was only +96 (6th best in the AL that year). I know the playoffs are always a crap shoot, but I didn't see us as an overwhelming favorite in any of those matchups. Even losing to BOS in the ALDS wouldn't have been a huge upset. Maybe a lot of that was a result of the late season swoon though.

QUOTE (wrathofhahn @ Jan 12, 2018 -> 12:46 PM) MLBTR had him projected at 17.9 strange he would agree to such a below the line contract without going to ARB. It will definitely cost him next year. MLBTR also acknowledges that its model might be off for Abreu. Not exactly sure how his prior contract plays into the arbitration calculations.

As long as we're engaging in fantasy, can we just go back in time and draft Trout instead of Jared Mitchell? That's my package....

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ Dec 14, 2017 -> 06:52 PM) Why? If the Orioles are going to be bad either way, it stands to reason that trading him for something now is better than letting him walk and getting only a 2nd round comp pick. If the Orioles are looking at it that way, getting something of more value than that would be their floor for dealing him. The White Sox have many ways they could exceed that floor without giving up any core rebuild pieces. Avi, Fulmer, Cease is a package that I'd be okay with parting with that doesn't really tough the rebuild assets all that much, but may look better to the O's than anything else they're getting offered. Of course, that would all be with the caveat that the White Sox are committed to extending him and get the job done. Otherwise even that becomes an overpay. Not that I'm all that attached to any of them, but Avi, Cease, and Fulmer seems like a steep price for one year of Machado at around $17M (projected arbitration salary).

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Dec 14, 2017 -> 06:41 PM) Why do the O's care if he ends up there for one season, a season in which O's will be bad if they trade him? He could easily end up in NY for the next decade. That might happen anyway once he's a free agent, but I'm sure they don't want it to look like they facilitated it.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Oct 4, 2017 -> 06:00 PM) Not really. He's been vocal about hating the team and negativity around the organization as early as last week. His kicker is he finally grts the f*** out of that organization. He's also said that he doesn't want to go through a rebuild. We'd certainly be further along and nearly out of rebuild mode by adding him, but we're not exactly a playoff team yet either. Who knows how he'd feel about us.

QUOTE (GenericUserName @ Oct 4, 2017 -> 12:10 PM) This is exactly why I would want us to get Stanton if the prospect cost isn't prohibitive. Everyone is saying they would rather have one of the other three guys, but what are the odds we actually get one of them? Not only would we have to match the offers from teams that have far greater financial resources, we would have to convince him to come to the south side, and when have we ever done that with top tier domestic free agents? Stanton may not provide as much value as some of the other guys, but he does give us certainty of having that top tier player whereas going after the other guys presents a risk of us missing out on all of them. Yeah, that's basically it. And Stanton's contract may end up looking decent in a few years compared to what it would take to land one of these other big names in free agency. If he opts out in three years, that probably means you got some nice production out of him. That's worth Rutherford+, I think. Taking on the contract is certainly a big gamble, but that's true if you're willing to go after any of these big name guys.

Stanton is tough to value. There's really no excess value on that contract, but I have a hard time seeing MIA just dumping him after this past season unless they get something in return. I'd consider giving up Rutherford and a couple lower level guys for him. I don't see us outbidding others for a Harper, Machado, etc. in free agency.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Sep 7, 2017 -> 07:52 PM) For those non subscribers, any other hitters on the list? How do they stack up to Eloy? Here's the full list after Vlad Jr. It's not supposed to be a prospect ranking, its for "who showed the best performance in the minor leagues" this year. He gave greater weight to guys who were young for their level. Acuna Tatis Bichette Devers Whitley JoJo Romero Hansen No Eloy. For Hansen, Law notes that he led the minors in strikeouts on the year and would probably be a top 10 pick in a 2016 redraft.

Keith Law released his 2017 prospect of the year - Vlad Jr. The 7 runners up included Tatis (re-iterates that he'll be a top 10 prospect next year, with a Manny Machado comp) and Alec Hansen. http://www.espn.com/blog/keith-law/insider/post?id=7614

QUOTE (ptatc @ Aug 31, 2017 -> 11:12 AM) I know I've said this before and people can fire away again. If they have an awful season next year with that plan, the rebuild has failed and they will need to start again. If the rotation is Rodon, Lopez, Giolito and Kopech, all players they are counting on for the rebuild, they better not lose 90 games. They will struggle but they can't ALL struggle that badly. They could still easily lose a bunch if some of those guys put up say 4.00 ERA's while taking a few early lumps, and then having a garbage bullpen when they come out after 5-6 innings. Hard to see a guy like Kopech, for example, going deep into games right away, even if he's doing pretty well.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Aug 24, 2017 -> 03:50 PM) Wrong. Winning 5 or so more games in a lost season does nothing. If the consensus BPA is a pitcher when our pick comes up then so be it. You could always potentially trade for said offensive talent if you draft correctly. The wins don't do anything, but it would be nice for the future to see Moncada, Lopez, Giolito, Anderson, Rodon, etc. do well. Here's hoping our future core plays well but our veteran starters and garbage bullpen blow a lot of games....

Fangraphs' projections have it as a dead heat between the Sox/Phillies for the top spot. No one else all that close. http://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=Standings

Don't forget about free agency. With our minimal payroll obligations, I assume we'll make some moves there at some point. I don't know if we'll make the playoffs, but I could see 2019 being competitive.

Interesting deal for Oakland. Lots of risk with the injuries, and they're buying low, but they basically got 3 top-100 quality prospects (when healthy).

I wasn't even thinking about a Jennings trade, so I'll gladly take a guy who was a borderline top 100 prospect a half season ago. If he straightens out whatever is going wrong this year, great, if not, no big loss.

Seems like another Tilson AAAA type who can eat up some MLB at bats on a bad team for a few years. And who knows, maybe he'll take another big step.

There's not much if any surplus value on that contract (and it may be negative), but it would probably take at least one top prospect to get MIA to part with him. And then you'd still have to deal with his no-trade clause.

I'd consider moving him, but he needs another year (at least) to build up his value. Maybe next year's deadline, if all goes well. We control him for another 4 years after this one.

QUOTE (StrykerSox @ Jul 13, 2017 -> 11:40 AM) Rankings also do not include Burger, Sheets, and Skoug, who are three players I'm really intrigued by these days. Not sure that really moves the needle. Every team added some top draft picks.

The biggest key now is capitalizing on some top 5 draft picks the next two years.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jun 26, 2017 -> 11:10 AM) Hasn't happened yet. TA is the closest. Yep, need some guys like Fulmer, Collins, Burger, and whoever we draft with high picks in the next year or two to pan out. We can pull off some great trades, but if you're not drafting well, it's awfully tough.