Dominikk85

Apparently they like the fringe 5 thing and want it privately. Carson was quite successful predicting success of those fringe prospects. Usually those were low K guys with a good K-BB rate, some flyball tendency but a bit underpowered with the hope that the mlb ball and a bit of added strength will lead to more homers in mlb than in the minors.

As a hitting anayltics instructor. Very good sign by the sox, I have followed his stuff in the internet for some time and he is very modern and progressive. I do use some of his drills with the players I'm working with too, he is a guy whom I would trust to do swing changes towards the modern elevate style on sox prospects.

I think the talent is no question, he just needs to stay healthy.

I do think there is a lot of racism and sexism in baseball. This is really not a good situation and the worst is that this might cause other front offices to avoid hiring women or minorities to avoid scandals if they fire someone.

I think madrigal's arm doesn't really project to center. Moncada would fit there better.

Also did another article by total value and the sox system ranks third behind padres and braves. Not bad after graduating a few guys.

Yeah got that wrong. Still the 127 wrc+ is correct. It wasn't a great get but I'm sure projections had him like a 110 wrc+ or so which is decent. I'm sure Hahn would have preferred someone else but he didn't have more money then. I'm sure if you give him 200m he will make better signings.

La Roche came off a 127 wrc+ season with a 277 average and 26 homers. He was old but there was reason to believe he could have been like an average first baseman for another year. Nobody could have foreseen that he tanked that much. It was some risk but for the money it was an ok gamble at the time.

I agree. Fangraphs has him a 50 as a 1b because they think there is elite plate discipline and above average power. If he can hit 30 homers and walk 13% in the majors he can be an average first baseman with a 245 average.

Yes Garcia would be a swing change candidate, good exit velo but a little low launch angle. Problem is that a swing change is a risk. JDM was about to be out baseball after Houston released him but Avi already is a decent albeit not great hitter. 2017 was a fluke but I guess his healthy true talent is something like 280 with 15-20 homers which secures him a well paid job. There would be some risk to try a swing change and maybe end up in a mess like heyward or Pederson who change swing like every off season.

You simply can't judge the rebuild until 2021 or so. I agree it didn't start super well like the cubs rebuild with moncada and giolito struggling and kopech and Robert getting hurt quite a bit but there are still a lot of chips down in the farm and the guys up have time to fix their flaws. What matters is the end result and I don't think we can judge that before 2021. Sure giolito and moncada already showed some red flags in the minors but otherwise it also was a lot of bad luck involved with prospect injuries.

1b was terrible in the AL this year.

That is an understatement, over the last 3 years cruz has a higher ops+ than machado and Harper, he was a top hitter. However at his age decline or injury can come quickly.

Harper already turned down 300, I think he will probably get 400 in the end, or alternatively 300 with 3 opt outs starting after 2 years like heyward got. I think machado also will get 300, no team is going to commit 700m to both.

I think BA is good with the top100 but I think they are not putting much effort behind that and just put out names late. I trust fangraphs much more because they actually grade the 40s and 45s. I think BA does the top100 well with effort and then pulls the 10-20 org guys a bit out of their ***.

Corbin was really good last year and probably is the best available starter. It wasn't luck either his peripherals were spectacular: 2.47 FIP (3rd in mlb) 30.8% k (7th in mlb) 24.8% k-bb (5th in mlb) There is obvious regression risk but he was an absolute ace last year and actually had more WAR last year than both machado and Harper. I'm not saying this will continue but there is a chance you get an absolute ace. And I don't think the sox will pay the 350 millions needed for either of Harper and machado but Corbin at 5/90 or so would be interesting.

Of course he won't break camp because then all the hate he faced for not calling him up in September would be for nothing. The can live with a shitstorm, Epstein got hate by cubs fans too but a week after he was up that was all forgotten.

I do think the sox will make an offer but I can't see them actually winning the bid. They probably hope the market is slow but if the yankees, phillies, dodgers make serious offers they won't beat them.

There is a chance the 19 sox are like this years braves: -eloy debuts like acuna -robert does a Soto (high A to majors) -moncada, giolito, lopez take a big step forward -anderson continues to improve a bit Now this isn't a likely outcome but there is a chance, at least better than the teams who just started tanking.

A 670 ops is actually pretty terrible (mlb average is about 730). The obp is decent but slugging is part of hitting especially at first base. If banuelos becomes a decent lefty reliever the trade would be a win. Of course most likely is that both amount to nothing. The Dodgers will probably improve his swing a little because they have great coaching but the upside is still limited. I would put banuelos in relief immediately and if he does decently you can flip him for a slightly better prospect than yurchak is.

Yeah with sheets I would be afraid that we read "worked with Justin Turners private coach in the offseason" and all of a sudden he hits 35% grounders and hits 30 bombs if he gets traded but if raw power isn't great a swing change will only do so much.

I agree. Yurchak has a good k-bb rate but zero power plus he is a ground ball machine. Now the dodgers coaches unlike the sox coaches can fix the latter but even with a swing change the raw power is below average. A first baseman who might hit 15 bombs with decent obp is not sought after in mlb.

I think the sale trade was pretty good. Not only they got the number 1 prospect in baseball but also a tor upside pitcher. Now currently the pitcher is hurt and moncada still tries to find his stride (would have hoped him starting like the braves guys) but at the time it was a great trade and it can still become one.

With madrigal there are different options. He had a wrist injury and I do think with a healthy wrist he can hit 8-10 homers next year when he maybe adds 10-15 pounds to his frame. But he also has a non optimal bat path, that is very compact and quick but cuts through the zone and causes ground balls. There are two options now. Leave him as he is and get a good average, 10 homer guy or do what the Astros did with Bergman who also was a polished college hitter but had similar bat path issues and the Astros corrected that and turned him into a star. Now don't get me wrong, Bergman has more raw power than madrigal so a swing change won't make him that much of a star but it could have a significant effect and make him a 20 homer guy. The downside is that the latter will take another season or 1 and a half and there is also a chance a swing change messes him up like what the cubs tried with heyward (wanted to make him lift the ball more and all fell apart). Since I'm also a hitting coach (albeit in amateur ball) I would probably go for the change but then again the Astros have top notch minor league coaches and the so maybe not. Difficult decision.

He said he also wants to train pitching this winter. Do you buy into that? I would assume he will mostly be a mop up reliever. With the bat I like the walk increase but he still wiffs a ton. Probably more of a platoon/bench bat.