Jerksticks

Yes. Cease is the only option for small market teams to add high caliber too. Getz is doing this pretty well it would seem.

I’d like to add that way more teams are probably in on Cease. All the teams that can’t spend huge money/years on a pitcher are in. He’s super valuable to like the entire NL Central just for starters. Especially since a team could trade him after this year to recoup prospects if they really wanted

If Westburg is worth more than half of Cease in SV…I mean you’re talking about making a trade that doesn’t even really help us. If you’re trading a pitcher that will compete for the CYA, isn’t the minimum ask 2 players that will compete for the CYA, but way in the future? They get to steal the sure thing now from us but we’re okay with that because if things go right, we maybe get 2 of those in the future. But using your percentages, you want to trade Cease for a guy who has a 10% chance of being really good? And then some other pieces a little worse than that? I mean you trade for Cease and pay him $20M for 2 years, or you give Blake Snell $175M for 5-6 years. And that benefit is only worth Westburg? There’s no way this makes sense

Yea I like him to just stay as our 3B. Down the road he can move to 1B as Vaughn insurance

Sure but that’s in a vacuum of value, right? In the real world, this random GM you speak of may not be able to give out large contracts to starting pitchers and therefore can’t compete in FA with the big boys. This random GM might represent a team that hasn’t really competed for a World Series in decades and finds itself on the cusp. This random GM might not have enough pitching in his homegrown stables to compete with the big boys on the big stage. Cease at 2/20 just might be the holy grail to a GM in such a situation. This GMs rival might have just done Stroman for 2 years and locked up a pretty solid 150+ IP next year. Uh oh. But yea, keep trying to make the trade values equal in the simulator. Mayo & Cowser.

But man…cheaper than 150-180 for Blake Frickin Snell. Whoof

Come to daddy everybody. Mayo and Cowser continues to be my fair trade.

I’d be so pumped at a new concept of pairings. 5 two man pairs on 5 days rest. And then you have some swing arms accounting for implosions etc. there would be more nuance to it than that obviously but it’s a cool framework based on our current stables

40 hit plus huge power. I love it! Sounds like he’ll be a mainstay in the Swords videos.

For sure. I would expect him to keep adding to the trenches. Pretty sure he’s prioritizing being the meanest, nastiest team at the line. Let the children drool over the skill positions

If I was GM… Okay this is Bagent Town for the next 15 years. He’s honestly played the best, most exciting Bears quarterback I’ve ever seen. He moved defenders with his eyes and played the real game. I’ve never seen a Bears QB ever do that and I started watching during the Kramer years. If we roll with Bagent I think Poles needs to upgrade 3 lineman. Tev & Darnell lock up the right side for the next decade. Braxton first sub at tackle. Davis first sub at guard. Those guys aren’t starters just move on. Tev & Wright together was wrecking; I feel like we all liked that as fans and questioned the switch back. Davis ego? Whatever. Trade down as low as you can to still get Olu for LT, lock in future firsts and grab an established stud just like last year. I think Briggs & AB are right to get that guy and forget about it for the next decade. Trade Justin for maybe a 2nd and that’s where you get a risky ceiling guy like Xavier Leggett for Tyson to throw to. Not sure what you do at 9. Maybe trade down some to grab more 2nds and draft your LG? I’d be stoked with this but that’s cuz I believe in Bagent. If you hate Bagent you probably hate this post and want to flush it down the toilet ?

Right. We both outlined these prospects the same. I originally said I wouldn’t be super excited by this. Again it’s a fine haul but I don’t have to be thrilled by it. Again I’d rather get some bad ass LH bat prospects. So now explain how me not being thrilled by that leaps to a “Ruth, Aaron, Clemens & Nolan Ryan” type of comment. It sure seems to insinuate a level of ridiculousness on my part. Why?

That’s ridiculous. Lowder hasn’t even pitched professionally. Petty started the year with an elbow injury which delayed his start, averaged like 4 IP and only logged 60 innings. He’s young but that’s all kinda yikes too. Arroyo by all accounts struggled pretty bad last year. He was no Joey Headlines out there. At least Phillips logged 100IP but he posts some really high WHIPS. So he’s all over the place. So yea, I’m not doing cartwheels to get a bunch of really young pitching that hasn’t really logged the innings yet. Like I said, I get it if a pitching-heavy return floats your boat. Id rather plug in Mayo and Cowser all day.

So I just spent an hour on a Reds’ prospect site. Even that excessive package you mentioned above would be underwhelming to me personally. Like I get it, but I’m not tuning in next year excited.

lol. Definitely an exciting second piece for sure. JFO

Semantics for our side of the discussion ?

Mayo & Cowser is the foundation of a really good deal that both really hurts and really helps both teams moving forward.

Hey can we get another grouping of 4 prospects that don’t hurt to lose? Norby, Ortiz + + Can we get another one of those that doesn’t hurt at all? Please don’t include your great prospects that would hurt to lose because they might be good players. We don’t want close to surefire good players for Cease. We want 45-50 FV guys with a good mix of tools and big flags.

But we have already Bagent

Man I hope we do. That could be a cheat code for us to skip a few steps back into contention. Maybe stand up for him publicly. Say evil and extortion have no place here on the south side. And the weak that rush to judgement are just as guilty in allowing this kind of evil to flourish. But all are forgiven that seek it. Something like that. Maybe heal society a little bit. Maybe becoming this beacon of light attracts free agents to this s%*# hole of a franchise cheaply, I dunno. We’re out of options; we’ve tried everything else ?

I think Poles is smart. I’d be super surprised if he doesn’t try to keep rolling this pick every year into the next year’s worst team. That’s never been done before. He just seems more calculated than simply making his two first round picks.

I’m glad it’s not easy for every team in baseball to say yes. Mercy

You what hurts man? You know what really destroys a team’s chances? Trading Dylan Cease away. So you know what else needs to really hurt? Trading prospects who haven’t performed yet and only have ceilings which remain hypothetical at this point. Ceilings Dylan Cease already lives in, cheaply, for two more years. Holy eff does it need to hurt to equal that level of hurt. Taking a wild guess here…but I bet the reason we don’t have a deal yet is because Elias isn’t willing to feel that same level of hurt Getz is by losing Cease. Propose something that hurts you as a fan and I bet we all can come together crying about what we’re losing and simultaneously excited about what we’re getting

Man, screw pitching. I can’t believe I used to like pitching. So delicate to ever count on or make useful projection with. Tip your cap to the ace performances and beat the heck out of the pitchers in the other 140 games you play.

I’m 100% with you. I really think our only sustainable path is Rays with maybe more brutality. We flip everybody at the 2-years-left mark. Doesn’t matter if you’re Robert or Big Frank. See ya. Totally brutal. We need to turn you into 2-4 assets. And then we spend money on FA to pack the pen. we never give money to our own developed guys because they have to get flipped to keep the churn machine going. something like this maybe?