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At least until some of the young guys come up, but yeah opening day is going to be filled with a bunch of garbage I don't have much interest in watching.

I don't think you understood what I meant. I was just saying hypothetically I would rather get an underwhelming package for Cease instead of seeing him get hurt. I don't think they are going to get an underwhelming package anyways and fully expect him to be traded, but would be incredibly disappointed if he is on this opening day roster.

He was never going to play out his contract here anyways, doesn't matter who his agent is. This does however worry me about Luis putting up another 5+ WAR season and Boras bitching about his clients $15million salary.

This team is flat out going to be noncompetitive in 2024. The time to cash in on Cease is now, while he is still cheap and has 2 seasons of control left. There is no reason at all to run the risk of an injury derailing his value. This team needs young promising assets, and Cease is one of two chips they have to make that happen. We cannot afford to not cash in on Cease this off-season.

Holding on to him would be just about the dumbest thing I can think of. He needs to be gone before they report. I would rather trade him for an underwhelming package than see him get hurt and be worthless.

Yep, that's what happened with Josh Allen. You draft a player on what you believe they can become. Josh Allens college stats were awful. Couldn't even complete 57% of his passes against a bunch of nobodies. Drafted, developed, and by year 3 he was an MVP caliber superstar.

A lot of that is going to depend on the coaching staff and the scheme that's going to be there for the QB when they step into the league.

If it means the MLB team is competitive and has a chance to make the playoffs and win a title, absolutely. Im about to have to watch my favorite team slog through a 90-100 loss season. I would give away our top 5 prospects if it meant we would win 90 games and make the playoffs. I would give them away if it just meant I would enjoy watching the season in 2024. This is about to be miserable and a bunch of prospects who might be good in 2-3 years doesn’t really matter much to me as a fan.

Im going to be honest with you Balta, I don't understand the point you're trying to make. After going through all of your stuff on this, it sounds like you are saying "Cease isn't as good as he was in 2022, but he may still be as good as he was in 2022" Which means as an asset, hes a really good SP who has a chance to be a dominant Cy Young contender. He is also young and controllable. Why would you or anyone not think the return on that would be a big one?

Walk rate, sure. I was only talking about the hard hit stats that you were pressing. Lets throw out Ceases 2022 hard hit percentage, his career avg is practically the same.

Dylan Cease hard hit rate 41.6% Career 38.1% Gerritt Cole hard hit rate 39.5% Career 39.7% I think he’s fine Balta. We all know 2022 was an amazing season and I don’t expect Cease to have a 2.2 ERA every year. He’s fine.

These GM's aren't stupid. They aren't going to look at Cease and say "Man, back in 2019 he had a 5.79 ERA and then in 2020 he only struck out 6.8 per 9 innings in 12 starts. I just don't think we can make this trade" They're going to see a young, controllable pitcher with elite stuff who has developed into the type of arm that you pay for whether that be money or prospects.

Fields has started 12 or more games for 3 straight seasons now. He hasn't gotten any better. I can't really look at it the other way around. ** 10 starts, 12 games played in the first year

Misleading. One of those years was his rookie year on a 72 win team and the other was the covid season where he got 12 starts. 2021 he was ascending. 2022 he was amazing. 2023 I would argue he was still good looking at underlying stats but he was on arguably the worst team in the league all things considered. Your 5 year track record shows a young pitcher who has become a very good pitcher, not some guy who had 1 good season 3 years ago and hasn't shown anything since.

Passing on a QB with that first pick and then coming out and having a bad season or even mediocre for that matter would be, almost surely, the end of your career with the Bears if you're in that front office. Especially if one of those QB's has a CJ Stroud type season. Could you imagine the Bears trading back with the Giants, the Giants selecting one of Williams/Daniels/May and then winning 11 games and going to the playoffs? While the Bears go 7-10 8-9 or 9-8 and miss? Yikes. If they believe one of these QB's are legit franchise caliber, you have to pull the trigger. It not only allows you to upgrade from Fields but probably buys you some time as well in your position.

This reminds me of Jurassic Park when Jeff Goldblum says "That is one big pile of s%*#"

Everyone seems to have it that way because Baltimore has a prospect excess and needs a front line starter, the match is there. Has more to do with that than anything. And yes, spare me, I am aware you think you already have a bunch of TOR pitchers. Hard disagree. We don't need to argue about it.

No idea, they have obviously talked to teams. Neither you or I know what has or hasn't been proposed. And even if the Sox asked for the Orioles top 5 prospects for Cease, not wanting to do THAT deal is not the same as passing completely. He's going to get traded eventually, hes a valuable asset. This isn't a salary dump that you just get done. Its going to take time and lengthy discussions before either teams is comfortable with the returns.

What are you talking about, just because a deal hasn't been made yet doesn't mean anyone has said no thanks. Holy crap, its January 4th and Snell hasn't signed yet. I guess he sucks.

Detroit to win it, Sox to finish last. There is zero chance the Sox can win this division, the pitching is not even close to being able to compete.

It never does

Florida State making a great case that they shouldn’t have been left out lol

Hey guys it’s only for 1.75 million shut the f*** up and quit whining, it’s fine “ThAtS WuT ThEy TeLl mE”

Nope, but I can offer you a Hawk "You gotta be bleepin me" one

Your opening day 2024 White Sox Catcher - Maldonado/Stassi 1B - Vaughn 2B - Lopez SS - DeJong 3B - Moncada LF - Benintendi CF - Robert RF - Sheets SP - Fedde