MLB Trade Rumors

19 Nov 2025 15:26:03
Yankees Offseason

Non-tender Ian Hamilton, Jake Cousins, and Mark Leiter Jr.

Trades

Tigers get Will Warren, Spencer Jones, Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz, and Carlos Lagrange

Yankees get Tarik Skubal (Sign to a 10 year, $450 million extension)


Padres get Carlos Rodon

Yankees get Adrian Morejon and Jeremiah Estrada


Phillies get J.C. Escarra and Oswaldo Cabrera

Yankees get Alec Bohm


Diamondbacks get Jazz Chisholm Jr., George Lombard Jr., Ben Hess, and Bryce Cunningham

Yankees get Ketel Marte


Twins get Brock Selvidge and Brendan Jones

Yankees get Ryan Jeffers


Free Agency

Resign Cody Bellinger for 6 years and $150 million

Sign Gregory Soto for 2 years and $12 million


Roster

Lineup

2B Marte
RF Judge
LF Bellinger
DH Stanton
1B Rice
3B Bohm
CF Grisham
C Wells
SS Volpe

Bench

C Jeffers
3B McMahon
OF Dominguez
Utility Caballero

Rotation

Skubal
Cole
Fried
Schlittler
Gil
Schmidt

Bullpen

Yarbrough (Swingman)
Hill (Middle Reliever)
Morejon (Middle Reliever)
Estrada (Middle Reliever)
Soto (7th Inning Setup Man)
Doval (8th Inning Setup Man)
Bednar (Closer)

20 Nov 2025 21:53:29
LOL. That's a payroll of $370M.

After luxury tax penalties, that's a total bill of over $500M.

Not only are most of these trades laughably awful, the Yankees aren't going to spend a half-billion on their roster next year.

05 Nov 2025 19:01:11
San Franciso Giants Offseason

Free Agent Signings:
-RHP Tatsuya Imai, 4/90M
-RHP Devin Williams, 2/25M
-RHP Tyler Rogers, 2/20M
-RHP Max Scherzer, 1/8M
-RHP Hunter Harvey, 1/6M
-OF Rob Refsnyder, 1/3.5M


Trades:
-2B/UTIL Brendan Donovan from St. Louis for LHP Carson Whisenhunt, OF Bo Davidson, RHP Keyner Martinez, SS Lorenzo Meola

Lineup
2B- Brendan Donovan
SS- Willy Adames
1B- Rafael Devers
3B- Matt Chapman
LF- Heliot Ramos
DH- Bryce Eldridge
CF- Jung Hoo Lee
C- Patrick Bailey
RF- Drew Gilbert

Bench
C- Andrew Knizner
2B- Casey Schmitt
2B- Christian Koss
OF- Rob Refsnyder

Rotation
Logan Webb
Robbie Ray
Tatsuya Imai
Landen Roupp
Max Scherzer

Bullpen
CP- Devin Williams
SU- Ryan Walker
SU- Tyler Rogers
RP- Hunter Harvey
RP- Erik Miller
RP- Jose Butto
RP- Joey Lucchesi
RP- Joel Peguero

16 Jun 2025 18:15:40
Giants got: Rafael Devers

Red Sox got: Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks, James Tibbs, someone named Jose Bello.

Absolute highway robbery by Buster Posey.

22 Jun 2025 02:57:10
The Giants may have been the only team in the league willing to take on that full contract. Devers is a fantastic hitter right now, but that's a ton of money for a DH that isn't in the best shape already at 28 years old.

We'll see about this one for Posey after his first big swing has been a whiff thus far.

22 Jun 2025 21:50:15
If Devers was a free agent this winter, he'd make a whole lot more than 8 years, $250M, which is just about what the Giants are paying Devers. (The total dollars are less when you factor in Hicks' contract coming off the books) .

The Giants are getting Devers for about 100M less than he'd get in free agency. I also genuinely don't care that they'll be paying him a lot of money in 2030, or something like that. They are in a position to win it all right now. You try to win now.

Also, Posey's first big move was extending Chapman. He had to close the deal since Farhan Zaidi was unable to do so. That's been a pretty great deal. Either way, Willy Adames will be just fine. I'm not even slightly worried about three months' worth of production.

07 Jul 2025 12:17:35
Willy Adames since he called Adames a "big whiff":

.354, 3 HR, 13 RBI, 1.022 OPS, 187 wRC+

Could you please say something bad about Patrick Bailey? He could use the boost, too.

27 Aug 2025 05:43:22
welp.

Devers' wRC+ has dropped by over 30 points after the trade, and the Giants are literally the worst team in MLB since the deal.

oof. Breslow is chuckling.

11 Sep 2025 19:38:01
"Devers' wRC+ has dropped by over 30 points after the trade. "

You said this on August 27, when his wRC+ was 138. His wRC+ with the Red Sox this season was 144. So that's a drop of six (6) points, not 30.

But hey, no one has ever accused you of being truthful, now have they?

Hilariously, you posted this at the end of August, when Devers hit for 176 wRC+ for the month.

11 Sep 2025 19:43:31
"oof. Breslow is chuckling. "

Let's check in on the Red Sox return:

-Jordan Hicks has an 8.20 ERA, 1.73 points HIGHER than it was in San Francisco.

-Kyle Harrison has pitched 3 innings.

-James Tibbs was traded for Dustin May, who has a 5.40 ERA with the Red Sox.

Oh, and how has Boston's DH position done since Devers left?

103 wRC+. That's ACTUALLY 30 points lower than Devers' stint with the Giants. (Their 1B have hit 77 wRC+ since then. oof)

But hey, Breslow saved John Henry some money! Good for him, I guess.

11 Sep 2025 19:57:48
Hey, speaking of "how'd this guy do after a trade"

How's Andrew Vaughn doing?

Before you get the chance to lie, I'll tell you:

He has a 1.5 fWAR and 140 wRC+ in 53 games.

Compare that to his 97 wRC+ and his -1.6 fWAR in 610 games in Chicago? Oofta. BIG time oofta.

Meanwhile, the guy they acquired for Andrew Vaughn? He's on the Cubs.

What an absolute disaster in Chicago.

12 Sep 2025 18:27:54
"You said this on August 27, when his wRC+ was 138."

Yes, for the entire season. It was 111 in a Giants uniform from June 15 to Aug 26. Type into the Google machine, it's an awesome tool. Those details always seem to trip you up, kid. What's 144 minus 111?

The Red Sox are 15 games better since trading diva Devers.

Vaughn was also not a great guy in the clubhouse, and the White Sox are 7 games better since they dumped him, including a series win over the Giants. & they have better players in Vaughn's role now.

13 Sep 2025 05:53:43
"In a Giants uniform"

Nice job on changing the scope of your argument after you were called out. His wRC+ IN A GIANTS UNIFORM is now 133. Wanna tell me: is that 30 points worse?

It's almost like we shouldn't call things over after just 2 months. I know that's awfully tough for a White Sox fan, where your season was over on February 1st, but it's just a good reminder.

Also, the Red Sox being better in the short-term is nothing. Devers is under contract for 8 more years. The Red Sox are going to walk into the winter having to find a replacement for a 140 wRC+ hitter (and they are losing Bregman, too) in a really weak FA class.

They'll be hard-pressed to find a comparable hitter as Devers for less than $250M this winter.

The Giants literally got a 140 wRC+ hitter for $250M and a few players they weren't going to use. You have to find a way to cope with how elite that trade was for San Francisco by looking at some hilariously small sample sizes.

"BuT bOsToN's ReCoRd PoSt TrAdE". Again, I don't care how Boston is doing post-trade. It means literally nothing for Rafael Devers or how he's done for the Giants as of late. The players the Giants gave up haven't done anything for them. It's 100% irrelevant, and you certainly know a thing or two about irrelevance, don't ya?

Now, go find other ways to cope with what is becoming your team's THIRD CONSECUTIVE 100-loss season.

Remember, these guys were the "Los Angeles Dodgers of the American League" LMAOOOOOOOOO.

Maybe your grandkids will be lucky enough to see a winning season again in the southside. I'm not holding my breath.

13 Sep 2025 15:33:08
"Nice job on changing the scope of your argument after you were called out. "

I didn't change anything, you just struggle with basic reading comprehension. You got confused. If I'm going to make a point about Devers' performance in a Giants uniform, I'm not going to include his Red Sox numbers in the process. Hopefully you can understand that?

But, let's stick with the facts here:

On June 15, the Red Sox were 36-36 and they traded their all-world superstar to the Giants who sat at 41-30, firmly a playoff team.

Now, you'd think adding a 140 wRC+ hitter to your lineup would help that win% right? And be a pretty big blow to the team that lost him?

Nope, the Giants are 8 games worse and the Red Sox are a whopping 14 games better. So you say you don't care about the Red Sox record, but I'm sure you are about the Giants', no?

Now we know that correlation is not causation, but funny how that happens, right? Usually adding a player of Devers caliber helps the team, not significantly hurt it.

The Red Sox dealt Devers not because he couldn't play, but largely because he was a prima donna who turned into a pretty awful teammate. He was clearly hurting the team's morale because he selfishly had to be the center of attention. They are rolling since the dumped the headache that the Giants have started to suffer from.

The Red Sox had a great team with an exciting young player pool & the opportunity to sign another superstar that could help them win this season, but Raffy didn't care. For the objectively awful third baseman, that was "his position". Winning is not at the forefront of his desires, which is fine, he's certainly not the only player in MLB that feels that way. The Red Sox just weren't comfortable paying that much money to someone with that mentality. The Giants were.

The good thing about signing DHs (with attuite problems to boot) to massive contracts is that they usually always work out well for the club.

Oh, wait.

13 Sep 2025 18:02:55
"So you say you don't care about the Red Sox record, but I'm sure you are about the Giants', no? "

Let me explain it this way:

To suggest that the Red Sox record without Devers is relevant is to say that Rafael Devers is a player that was LOSING them baseball games, which is perhaps the most nonsensical take you've ever had (and we have A LOT of candidates to choose from. )

Rafael Devers wasn't the reason for the Giants' awful July/ August slide. That was a team effort.

And as far as "he doesn't want to win" how has he played since your hilariously awful statement on August 26th? He has a 163 wRC+ over the past 30 days. He's probably the sole reason the Giants began are just 1 GB in the NL Wild Card right now.

And is Devers a bad teammate? No. He's not. How do you think the Red Sox had to justify the trade? By getting people like you to buy their answer hook, line and sinker.

Weird that when he comes over the Giants, he's more than happy to play DH or 1st Base, or even 3B on a rare occasion (because the Giants have one of the greatest defensive 3B of all time, Devers hasn't been needed there) .

Weird, if he was such a bad teammate, he wouldn't have played a new position like 1B when he arrived in San Francisco, now would he?

It's almost as if, and hear me out, the Red Sox lied about his character to justify to their fans why they traded away their best offensive player.

But I'm not going to expect a fan of a Jerry Reinsdorf team to understand when a front office/ leadership culture is toxic.

13 Sep 2025 18:08:06
"The Red Sox had a great team with an exciting young player pool & the opportunity to sign another superstar that could help them win this season, but Raffy didn't care. For the objectively awful third baseman, that was "his position"

Boy, you'll believe any narrative that serves your own version of the truth, won't you?

Because that's not what happened. As corroborated by other Red Sox personnel and players, Devers was told he would remain 3B and Bregman would play 2B. That was changed, and Devers was asked to play DH. He was told he'd be the DH. He was okay with it. THEN, they asked him to move to 1B.

Devers' frustration wasn't the change of position, but the way expectations were communicated to him. Again, this position has been well-documented in The Athletic, the Boston Globe, ESPN, and other major outlets, including various Red Sox podcasts after the fact.

All signs point to the problem existing within the front office, not Devers. The toxicity of the front office has been corroborated by multiple former coaches, scouts and front office personnel.

If you want to buy into Craig Breslow's narrative on things, go for it. But as it the case with you, you're not siding with what has been proven time after time.

14 Sep 2025 07:23:46
"To suggest that the Red Sox record without Devers is relevant is to say that Rafael Devers is a player that was LOSING them baseball games, which is perhaps the most nonsensical take you've ever had"

Nate, I know you never played sports, but I'll tell you that when you have a major "me" guy causing distractions on a daily basis, it has an effect on the team. It's pretty obvious that the Red Sox were fed up with him after he literally stopped showing up.

"Devers was told he would remain 3B and Bregman would play 2B. That was changed, and Devers was asked to play DH. He was told he'd be the DH. He was okay with it. THEN, they asked him to move to 1B.

Devers' frustration wasn't the change of position, but the way expectations were communicated to him. "

This narrative is such BS. It's not that complicated. The Red Sox wanted to make him their primary DH at least to start the year A. because Yoshida was hurt, B. because they had the opportunity to sign Alex Bregman (a better 3B than Devers) and C. because you, Nate, could probably play a better 3B than Rafael Devers. He has been objectively awful over there his entire career. They could have played Devers at 3B, but that

They only then asked him to play 1B because Casas literally blew out his knee and they didn't want to have to stick a rookie (Campbell) over there out of position when he's already adjusting to MLB. Face of the franchise leaders usually make that move without question for the betterment of the team, but, again, that's not Raffy.

Devers is certainly not the first guy to take the transition into DH-hood hard, but you can't just stop showing up to obligations. He handled the situation like a complete baby.

And just to quickly recap:

The Giants and Red Sox are 86-62 without Devers this year and 70-79 with him.

14 Sep 2025 20:24:40
"This narrative is such BS. It's not that complicated. The Red Sox wanted to make him their primary DH at least to start the year"

How is it BS when there are MULTIPLE Red Sox PLAYERS who confirmed the fact that Devers was told he'd remain at 3B and who acknowledged the Red Sox front office wasn't being truthful about it?

Or when multiple former players, scouts and front office employees were coming out of the woodwork to suggest that Craig Breslow is a disaster to work with, I'm not sure I'm going to buy the narrative from him.

Or when Devers WILLINGLY moved to DH and then WILLINIGLY learned to play 1B when he got to San Francisco, because, well, the Giants communicated their expectations with him in initial conversations (something both Devers, his agent, and Buster Posey all acknowledged) .

But yeah, I'm not gonna buy the take of a guy who thought everyone was "emulating" a now-fired GM, or that his team was "the Los Angeles Dodgers of the American League"

Your commitment to writing fan fiction on this website is admirable, if nothing else.

14 Sep 2025 21:32:18
And so we're clear, let's just look at Jeff Passan's article about the trade for key details:

-Devers was not even told that the Red Sox were looking at signing Bregman. In fact, all that was communicated to him was that "nothing was close. "
-They did sign Bregman, and Devers was told Bregman was playing 2B.
-They changed course, without consulting Devers (their franchise player and most expensive player), and Devers was left without a position. He was told by Cora to "leave his glove at home"
-Devers approached the Red Sox with a happy medium: ease into a new role. A few games at 3B, a few at DH. He was told no. (Yes, the Boston Red Sox REFUSED to have any flexibility to accommodate the player they gave over $300M to)
-Devers acquiesced and took on the DH role. Then, it was demanded he play 1B, shortly after being told he wouldn't be a fielder.

If you're keeping track at home, that's TWO position changes in the same amount of months. There's not an athlete in America who is going to be okay with that, even less so than one who is getting paid $300M by his team.

***
In the article, Passan even gets to the heart of the matter, "The day after the trade, when Breslow and Kennedy held media availability, they acknowledged the flaws in their process -- particularly Breslow needing to better communicate with players. "

Did you catch that? Even the Boston Red Sox themselves acknowledged the need for their GM to communicate better with players.

***

So, why the lie from the Red Sox?

I suppose it's to save face with their fans and otherwise ignorant people who can't be bothered with facts (such as you) . If the Red Sox can convince everyone that Devers is just this bad teammate with a bad attitude, maybe they'd forgive them.

I suppose there's also some ad hoc financial decisions to accommodate for FC Liverpool's (owned by Fenway Sports Group) record-breaking $565M in transfer spending. Henry had to find a way to foot that bill, and getting rid of $250+ million elsewhere in the organization allowed for some financial freedom.

But the Passan article lays out the facts, which pretty clearly do not depict a "bad teammate with an ego" but rather, a front office that clearly mishandled a tailor-made situation for their franchise, and it resulted in a fan favorite going somewhere else (and the organization getting merely packing peanuts in return) .

To sum it all up: the facts are clearly not on your side here. That seems to be par for the course with you lately.

15 Sep 2025 05:31:45
Poor Raffy Devers, man. He got his feelings hurt because he was one of the worst defenders in baseball and the Red Sox were rightfully looking for him to move on from him as their 3B. If that caught him off guard, then he's an idiot.

" (Yes, the Boston Red Sox REFUSED to have any flexibility to accommodate the player they gave over $300M to) "

He been worth -62 (NEGATIVE 62! ) DRS over his career at 3B and -27 OAA. That's a whole 14 runs worse than the next closest 3AB. Forget leaving your glove at home, go ahead and donate it to Goodwill. He deserves no happy medium playing that kind of defense over 8000+ innings

So guess what dude, yeah, you're going to DH, and since we're a club with world series aspirations, when our 1B blows out his knee, maybe you could try to stick it out at 1B for a while?

Devers chose the alternative of simply not showing up - a true professional. Acting like he was in no way in the wrong is funny. He got butthurt.

You always think you're onto something with that Dodgers comment thing from almost 6 years ago at this point, lol. It's so tired at this point, man. At that time, the White Sox were one of the best teams in baseball & you were still making fake accounts so that someone on here would agree with you.

Time to move on to new stuff, maybe like how the Sox got an awful return for Garrett Crochet? That has aged well.

15 Sep 2025 12:54:28
"He got his feelings hurt because he was one of the worst defenders in baseball and the Red Sox were rightfully looking for him to move on from him as their 3B. If that caught him off guard, then he's an idiot. "

Red Sox: Hey Raffy, you're our $300M third baseman. That's your role going forward.

Red Sox: Hey Raffy, we were talking to teams about other third basemen, but don't worry, nothing is particularly close and we probably won't land one anyway. Enjoy your winter, we'll see you in February!

Red Sox: Sooooo, much to our surprise, we actually landed a 3B. But don't worry, Raffy, Alex Bregman is going to be our second baseman. No worries about those expectations. You're still our third baseman.

Red Sox: Hey man, you're not our third baseman. Please discard your glove and prepare to be a DH.

Raffy: Can I at least play 3B a few days and ease into the new position?

Red Sox: HOW CAN YOU BE SO UNREASONABLE AND EGOTISTICAL? YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO DO WHAT'S BEST FOR OUR TEAM! Actually, Raffy, while we're being reasonable, we're asking you to go get your glove back, and learn a position you've never played before. And if you don't do everything we demand, we're going to publicly excoriate you and treat you like the bad guy. We're DEFINITELY not the bad guys here.

***

Weird that you'll harp on Rafael Devers for having some issues wiith how his former team treated him and not have any issues with a front office who literally couldn't be bothered to communicate with their player. That's all Devers wanted from his team: communication.

How do I know this? Because he was MORE THAN WILLING to play 1B and DH for the Giants. Why was he willing? Because they communicated their expectations with him.

If you want to continue to believe a completely false narrative that guys like Jeff Passan threw the coldest of water on, go ahead. I won't stop you from believing a lie. But just so we're loud and clear: Boston's narrative on the Devers situation has been debunked at literally every single point.

But again, you don't care about any of this. You just want to stand on a fully-debunked narrative because it helps you "dunk" on the Giants. Which is such a weird stance to make here. I guess I don't blame you: hitching your fandom to a team that is on track for 320 losses in 3 years probably makes you need to look elsewhere for some interesting baseball.

But hey, at least you have Kyle Teel. Maybe he'll be a part of the NEXT "Los Angeles Dodgers of the American League. " I personally can't wait for the "every MLB GM is trying to emulate Chris Getz" stuff in a few seasons when the White Sox suddenly win more than 62 games in a season.

15 Sep 2025 15:40:44
Seriously, if you've been tracking with what has been well-documented publicly about this situation, and your takeaway is that Rafael Devers was the bad guy in any of this, you might actually be a moron.

But then again, you were the same guy who vehemently defended the White Sox front office for hiring Tony La Russa, so I'm not going to accuse you of having any scruples.

Expecting a player to change his own position (a position the Red Sox were MORE than happy to pay him $300M to play) not once but TWICE in a Major League season doesn't make you the reasonable party. If you really think that the Red Sox were at all reasonable, then you've displayed just how worthless you are.

15 Sep 2025 16:05:46
And lastly, if you want to convince yourself that an organization that burned bridges with Mookie Betts, Chris Sale, Xander Bogaerts, Terry Francona and others is somehow, suddenly, the good guys in this, again, I won't stop you.

But the Red Sox have a lengthy recent history of mishandling these situations, and I don't know if you're being serious in giving them the benefit of the doubt here or if you're doubling down and tripling down on slandering Rafael Devers' character all for the purpose of trying to "win" some conversation on this site.

If it's the latter, you should probably do some serious self-inventory, because you've let an online discussion cloud your ability to see the truth of a situation.

15 Sep 2025 17:34:16
I am not disputing Passan's account of how it went down. I'm saying that if that's true, Devers is overly sensitive.

In fact, when they extended him in 2023, Devers had actually shown some improvement at 3B in 2022 - still bad, but better (-6 DRS, -2 OAA) . They probably told him he'd remain at 3B. But since that extension, he went back to being BY FAR the worst third baseman in baseball. The Red Sox were rightfully done. No matter how much he was getting paid, he was awful.

Obviously when negotiating with Bregman (and also trying to get Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer at-bats), they realized that the best version of the Boston Red Sox was with Devers not at third. If Devers was too stubborn to realize that, then I don't know what to tell him. It's a business and you're an adult. If he wanted to be the definite 3B without any other consideration, maybe don't be the worst in baseball over two seasons. Again, this had been turned into some sort of complex communication riddle.

Bottom line: he sucked and lost his job and he cried about it. The Red sox moved him and got better after shedding the distraction.

Players get forced in to DH-hood all the time. They usually aren't happy, but they usually realize that they a. probably suck in the field and b. the team has someone clearly better. What those players pretty much never do is throw a temper tantrum and stop coming to work.

Oh, and I just hope that Kyle Teel will be as good as you assured me that Joey Bart would be.

16 Sep 2025 12:34:29
"It's a business and you're an adult. "

So we're clear: Rafael Devers, who expected his employer to communicate properly and clearly with him about his role on the team, he's a baby because he was (rightly) upset that his employer was jerking him around and not communicating with him.

But the Boston Red Sox, Craig Breslow and John Henry, who have a lengthy history of mishandling player situations, of running off excellent baseball players, coaches and front office personnel, they aren't in the wrong at all here?

There's no expectation, by you, for the Boston Red Sox to communicate clearly, and they aren't at fault for doing so?

The (very, very short term) ends justify the means? Because they won some games in 2025, clearly, they were right to mistreat a player and mishandle a situation with their objectively best offensive player?

What if, and I know this might be a surprise to you, winning in one season isn't always indicative of long-term success?

If anyone should understand how colossally stupid it is to rely on a season or two of success as a barometer for the front office, it should be a Chicago White Sox fan.

You know, the team who had a GM "everyone was emulating? "
The team that was deemed the "Los Angeles Dodgers of the American League"

After they had two (2) winning seasons (one of those being a COVID-shortened season) and won one (1) playoff game.

Maybe, just maybe, we shouldn't trust that some immediate short-term wins are indicative of a team that's doing things the right way.

Running off your franchise stars is generally not a great long-term strategy, and the Red Sox have done it now with FOUR of their players. Two of those players, by the way, have won major awards after leaving.

But no, Rafael Devers is the bad guy here. Go ahead and malign someone's character because you want to win an internet debate, you continue to display your own character here. It's kinda pathetic tbh.

16 Sep 2025 12:54:41
Also, where are you getting that Devers "didn't show up? "

All we know is that Rafael Devers pushed back his Spring Training debut because he was recovering from a procedure on his shoulder in the offseason.

Please back up your claim from a reliable, industry-trusted source. (I say that to remind you that Bennett Karoll is not a "journalist")

16 Sep 2025 20:41:28
Buster Onley reported that on Sunday Night Baseball the day he was traded. He was supposed to show up to certain team "events", I assume marketing stuff, charity, etc. and he stopped showing up. It was one of the nails in the coffin.

Onley also reported that most execs he talked to around the league, though faulting the Red Sox for faulty communication, were "appalled" by how Devers handled the situation. Forget having to take on the contract, there were probably a lot of good teams that didn't want to touch Diva Devers with a ten foot pole because they didn't want what has happened to the Giants to happen to them.

Even when he got to SF, he was supposed to work with Will Clark at 1B and he blew him off too. It's an extremely entitled guy.

"So we're clear: Rafael Devers, who expected his employer to communicate properly and clearly with him about his role on the team, he's a baby because he was (rightly) upset that his employer was jerking him around and not communicating with him. "

Yes, be a man and don't ghost Alex Cora and the owner of the team when they try and talk to you about the issue. He should realize that he's an abhorrent fielder & the club was trying to put him and, get this, THE TEAM in a better spot to succeed.

"Jerking him around". Give me an effing break. Let's hold these guys to a higher standard over a warranted position change. Honestly, Nate, you seem to be the only one jerking him around.

You just better hope that Devers doesn't go full Pablo Sandoval here soon. He's already fat at 28 years old with declining bat speed and rising K rates that is a complete liability in the field.

16 Sep 2025 22:31:04
"Even when he got to SF, he was supposed to work with Will Clark at 1B and he blew him off too"

If anyone should need further evidence that Chi Sox will believe ANY narrative, there it is.

Let's see what the TRUTH was about that story:

“I know what the (expletive) happened, ” Clark said. “I said, he didn’t want to go out and be at first base and be 20 feet in front of their freaking dugout with what went on in Boston, and now he’s working with me at first base. He didn’t want to have to go through all that (expletive) through the press in the media. So, I completely understand. ”

***

"be a man and don't ghost Alex Cora and the owner of the team when they try and talk to you about the issue"

Once again, you're lying. Devers didn't answer Cora's texts because he was off the grid in the Dominican Republic. Alex Cora even acknowledged this later on and pointed out that he had no issue with it, personally.

This wasn't "ghosting" or avoidance of the issue. It was literally a player in the offseason who wanted to focus on his ability to retreat. Acting like it's a character flaw is a grotesque misrepresentation of the truth, and I suspect you know this and you simply don't care.

***

Your continued misrepresentation of the truth is actually becoming a character issue for you.

But I shouldn't be surprised, considered how you carried water for the White Sox when they hired Tony La Russa. This is just par for the course with you: you're willing to lie about a minority player (not your first instance of being against them on this site) and malign his character.

So we're gonna consider this conversation over. If you want to believe your lies, knock yourself out. I won't stop you. But I'm not interested in debating this topic with a guy who has outed himself as a pretty awful human.

Bye.

17 Sep 2025 05:00:46
LOL. We've gotten to the race baiting part of the conversation. You usually get to that when you've ran into a wall with your arguments and you're out of other options.

Gee, I hope the league outlaws those racist contract extensions in the next CBA! That was an all-time take.

Or remember when you came at Tim Anderson's character? But no, not anything race related there from the supporter of the Walter Johnson-owned team, right?

"he didn’t want to go out and be at first base and be 20 feet in front of their freaking dugout with what went on in Boston"

So he was scared of the Red Sox org at this point? Poor guy!

Nate, quick, make a new account and have them agree with you! LMAOOO.

17 Sep 2025 15:58:48
"Or remember when you came at Tim Anderson's character? "

Ahh, yes, coming at the character of a guy who literally assaulted a baseball official. And a guy who instigated multiple fights on a baseball field. You know, incredibly public incidents with minimal nuance to the situations.

Totally the same thing as taking a multi-layered story about Rafael Devers and Boston's relationship and using it to call him lazy (fat), a bad teammate, a crybaby and someone with bad character.

TOTALLY the same.

At this point, I'm beyond questioning your intelligence. I'm actually now questioning your integrity and your character. And I won't continue discussing with someone who is objectively a bad person.

Go find someone else to beef with. You've fed the meter enough.

18 Sep 2025 06:08:05
"Your continued misrepresentation of the truth"

Shot.

"coming at the character of a guy who literally assaulted a baseball official"

Chaser.

31 Jan 2025 04:23:06
Padres Idea

First, I don’t think that the Padres trade Cease or King, at least until the trade deadline. If they do, it’s going to be for a haul. We saw what Burnes got from Baltimore at the deadline, to get Cease before the season, with a comp pick attached, it’ll be more.

With that, the Padres are going through a legal battle with the ownership family and are shedding money. My thoughts on what they can do.

Padres trade Cease
Cubs trade Caissie, Alcantara, Wicks

Next

Padres trade Jake Cronenworth
Yankees trade Marcus Stroman, Peraza

Padres sign Jack Flaherty 1 year $15m

Rotation:
Darvish
King
Flaherty
Stroman
Wicks/ Vasquez

Pen:
Suarez
Adam
Estrada
Morejon
Hoeing
Jacob
Cosgrove
Brito
Waldron


C: Diaz/ Campusano
1B: Caissie (played 1B formerly w/ Padres)
2B: Arreaz/ Peraza
SS: Bogaerts
3B: Machado
LF: Ornelas/ Alcantara
CF: Merrill
RF: Tatis

Arreaz can also play 1B if needed.

Cubs solidify their rotation. They have a front end starter, Horton and Brown fill Wicks spot. Currently have 4 OFs and Triano could play OF. If Wicks is absolutely not for grabs, Assad would be consolation, with another low level arm.

Yankees have been open about a competition at 3rd, also that they’ve wanted to move on from DJL. Either Jake or Jazz start at 2B/ 3B. Jake is excellent defensively. His contract isn’t as bad as what they would be paying for someone like Bregman or Arenado.

Padres get younger. They have Ornelas and Alcantara platoon and hope one stands out more. They have Caissie make the transition back to 1B. After next season, they have a lot of money off the books with Stroman, King, Flaherty, Arreaz. They can resign King and fill what’s needed. Musgrove comes back from Injury. If DeVries is ready, Bogaerts slides over to 2B, and if not, Peraza or someone else plays 2B for a year. The money to Hosmer also comes off the books. It also keeps them afloat if they’re in contention, to make deadline deals.

07 Feb 2025 12:59:21
"If Wicks is absolutely not for grabs, Assad would be consolation"

If I can't get a Ferrari, a Datsun Colt will be fine, too.

Javier Assad might be one of the worst starters in baseball. His Statcast is bluer than most Bay Area congressional districts. But I admit, it'd be hilarious to watch the Padres go from Dylan Cease to Javier Assad in that rotation.

27 Nov 2024 15:33:17
Yankees Ideal Offseason (2nd Edition)

Trades

Trade #1

Cubs get Marcus Stroman and George Lombard Jr.

Yankees get Cody Bellinger

Trade #2

Rockies get Will Warren, Everson Pereira, and Caleb Durbin

Yankees get Ryan McMahon

Trade #3

Brewers get Ben Rice, Chase Hampton, and Nick Burdi

Yankees get Devin Williams


Free Agency

Resign Juan Soto for 14 years and $630 million

Resign Tommy Kahnle for 1 year and $5 million

Resign Jonathan Loaisiga for 1 year and $2 million

Sign Roki Sasaki for Max International Bonus Pool money allowed

Sign Tanner Scott for 4 years and $56 million


Roster

Lineup

2B Chisholm Jr.
LF Soto
RF Judge
1B Bellinger
DH Stanton
3B McMahon
CF Dominguez
C Wells
SS Volpe

Bench

C Trevino
Utility Cabrera
1B/2B/3B LeMahieu
OF Grisham

Rotation (6 Man)

Cole
Rodon
Sasaki
Gil
Schmidt
Cortes Jr.

Bullpen

Weaver (Multi Inning Fireman)
Loaisiga (Middle Reliever)
Effross (Middle Reliever)
Leiter Jr. (Middle Reliever)
Kahnle (7th Inning Setup Man)
Scott (8th Inning Setup Man)
Williams (Closer)

09 Dec 2024 13:33:37
My condolences on Soto.

Hug a Yankee fan today, folks.

22 Nov 2024 16:01:45
Free Agent Predictions (players in alphabetical order within position)

Catchers
Kyle Higashioka, Padrses, 2/16
Danny Jansen, Cubs, 3/27
Carson Kelly, Athletics, 1/5
Christian Walker, Yankees, 4/64

1st Basemen
Pete Alonso, Mets, 6/160
Paul Goldschmidt, Astros, 1/16
Anthony Rizzo, White Sox, 1/6
Carlos Santana, Twins, 1/10

2nd Basemen
Gleyber Torres, Angels, 4/60

Shortstops
Willy Adames, Dodgers, 6/165
Ha Seong Kim, Giants, 5/70

3rd Basemen
Alex Bregman, Yankees 7/200
Yoan Moncada, Brewers, 1/5

Outfielders
Michael Conforto, Royals, 2/30
Brandon Drury, Tigers, 1/5
Teoscar Hernandez, Dodgers, 4/72
Max Kepler, Giants, 1/6
Tyler O'Neill, Nationals, 3/39
Joc Pederson, Reds, 2/36
Anthony Santander, Blue Jays, 4/70
Juan Soto, Mets, 12/600
Alex Verdugo, Athletics, 1/10
Jesse Winker, Phillies, 2/30

Starting Pitchers
Shane Bieber, Guardians, 2/35
Walker Buehler, Braves, 1/10
Corbin Burnes, Giants, 7/224
Jack Flaherty, Angels, 4/72
Max Fried, Cubs, 6/150
Jake Junis, Nationals, 2/18.5
Yusei Kikuchi, Astros, 3/45
Sean Manaea, Braves, 4/88
Charlie Morton, Tigers, 1/15
Nick Pivetta, Padres, 4/56
Max Scherzer, Royals, 1/20
Blake Snell, Red Sox, 4/140
Justin Verlander, Tigers, 1/20
Trevor Williams, Red Sox, 2/24


Relief Pitchers
Aroldis Chapman, White Sox, 1/6.5
Jeff Hoffman, Angels, 4/44
Clay Holmes, Red Sox, 3/33
Kenley Jansen, Phillies, 2/30
AJ Minter, Giants, 2/22
Jose Leclerc, Cubs, 2/20
Tanner Scott, Rangers, 5/70
Blake Treinen, Rangers, 2/25
Kirby Yates, Blue Jays, 1/10

22 Nov 2024 16:10:56
Walker is a 1B, oops.

03 Dec 2024 17:14:03
Who disagreed with Christian Walker being a first baseman?

18 Nov 2024 23:21:27
White Sox 2024-25 Mock Offseason

Free Agents:

1. RHP Jakob Junis - 2/$20 million
2. OF Max Kepler - 1/$7 million + 2025 club option
3. LHP Jose Quintana - 1/$11 million
4. SS/2B Nicky Lopez - 1/$2 million
5. 1B/OF Mark Canha - 1/$5 million
6. RHP Ryne Stanek - 1/$4 million
7. C Elias Diaz - 1/$5 million

Trades:

Red Sox Get: LHP Garrett Crochet, RHP Steven Wilson
White Sox Get: DH/OF Masataka Yoshida, 2B/SS David Hamilton, 2B/OF Kristian Campbell, OF Braden Montgomery, RHP Jedixon Paez

Marlins Get: OF Oscar Colas
White Sox Get: C Paul McIntosh

Lineup:

1. David Hamilton 2B (L)
2. Masataka Yoshida DH (L)
3. Luis Robert Jr. OF (R)
4. Max Kepler RF (L)
5. Elias Diaz C (R)
6. Andrew Benintendi LF (L)
7. Bryan Ramos 3B (R)
8. Nicky Lopez 2B (L)
9. Miguel Vargas 1B (R)

Bench:
- Mark Canha 1B/OF (R)
- Lenyn Sosa 2B (R)
- Korey Lee C (R)
- Dominic Fletcher OF (L)

Rotation:

1. Jose Quintana (L)
2. Jonathan Cannon (R)
3. Jakob Junis (R)
4. Davis Martin (R)
5. Drew Thorpe (R)

Bullpen:

- Ryne Stanek (R)
- Justin Anderson (R)
- Prelander Berroa (R)
- Gus Varland (R)
- Fraser Ellard (L)
- Jared Schuster (L)
- Ron Marinaccio (R)
- Penn Murphee (R)

19 Nov 2024 12:22:22
You're literally suggesting the White Sox will add nearly SEVENTY MILLION in salary in 2025, after all the reports that the White Sox are seeking to reduce payroll in 2025?

"We're not going to be working heavy in free agency" is a direct quote from Chris Getz himself (NBC Sports Chicago) . Adding seven (7) free agents is the definition of "working heavy in free agency.

After all the haranguing you did about how the White Sox would turn down Paul Skenes himself because he isn't a hitter, because of the "reports", certainly you should take the White Sox GM at his word regarding payroll/ free agency, no?

19 Nov 2024 15:06:33
This puts them $18 million below last season.

19 Nov 2024 18:16:47
Uhh, no it doesn't.

Let's try some simple arithmetic. The running total will be in parantheses. Arbitration are estimates from MLBTR.

Yoshida- 18.6 (18.6)
Benintendi- 15 (33.6)
Robert- 15 (48.6)
Quintana- 11 (59.6)
Junis- 10 (69.6)
Kepler- 7 (76.6)
Canha- 5 (81.6)
Diaz- 5 (86.6)
Stanek- 4 (90.6)
Lopez- 2 (92.6)

Arbitration Players
Vaughn- 6.5 (99.1)
Sheets- 2.6 (101.7)
De Los Santos- 1.8 (103.5)
Lambert- 1.2 (104.7)
Anderson- 1.1 (105.8)
Foster- 0.9 (106.7)
Murfee- 0.8 (107.5)

Now we got to add in buy outs, which work against the 2025 numbers:
Moncada- 5 (112.5)
Brebbia- 1.5 (114)
Jimenez (CHW agreed to pay the buyout in the trade) - 1.5 (115.5)
Stassi- 0.5 (116)
Maldonado- 0.25 (116.25)

So at first glance, it looks like it's under the 125M number, by about 9 million. But unfortunately, we're not done.

The White Sox also have to factor in benefits and pre-arb players, as well as MLB Bonus Pool money (all of which was factored into the 2024 payroll) :

Per RosterResource, he's the estimates:
Player Benefits- 17.5 (133.75)
Pre-Arb Salaries- 18.25 (152)
Bonus Pool Share- 1.67 (153.67)

That's $28 million MORE in payroll than 2024.

19 Nov 2024 20:50:53
Why are you factoring in Vaughn, Sheets, De Los Santos, Lambert, Foster? They're not included in the plan. You can't just add $13 million lol. Let's slow down and read bud.

The pre arb salaries are 760k x 15 players, so $11.4 million, not $18.25 million. Then 18.25 by RR is assuming the roster they currently have.

If you're going off RosterResource, they were at $150 million last year, so even if you factor in the player benefits & bonus pool share, we're at $135 million, so 15 million under, not 18. You found $3 million.

Happy to help you with the details.

20 Nov 2024 11:02:57
"If you're going off RosterResource, they were at $150 million last year"

Cots has the CBT payroll at $131M
Spotrac has it at 125M

I have no clue how Jason Martinez/ RR found 19-25M more than those two, but it's pretty clear his number is much higher than the rest. If we go by the consensus, the White Sox are spending more money in 2025 than they did in 2025.

EVEN IF you desire to use the highest payroll you can find to defend the spending, we still have a problem, and it's the pesky little quote from Chris Getz:

"We're not going to be working heavy in free agency"

Adding seven free agents kind of goes against that, now doesn't it?

21 Nov 2024 15:54:57
"EVEN IF you desire to use the highest payroll you can find to defend the spending"

My guy, you're the one that used RR to break down the Sox payroll, and you were way off with your "simple arithmetic". I'm just referencing your point of reference.

Spotrac and Cots are not factoring in the buyouts they paid last offseason (Liam Hendriks, etc. ) . Point is, if you're consistent as to what exactly is counted (from last year to what I have proposed this year), I'm at least $15 million under.

You're also taking that Getz quote out of context. He was asked by Steve Stone on air about big names like Juan Soto and how their largest all-time commitment is Andrew Benintendi. Stone knew the answer, but he just wanted Getz to say it.

Sure, 7 Free agents is busy, but they average $6 million AAV. Quintana and Stanek were admittedly late adds - they could be purged here to bring '25 commitments to just $29 million.

This could also be what I would do (realistically) as White Sox GM, not necessarily a prediction. Getz may have a mandate to keep the payroll well under $100 million. That doesn't make me wrong, it's just not how I (or maybe even Getz) would go about this rebuild.

You're getting big mad about finances, but clearly don't understand the details of an MLB payroll. You've not included buyouts, included non-tendered players, added too much pre-arb money, etc. Don't worry, I'm here to help.

21 Nov 2024 18:05:04
"This could also be what I would do (realistically) as White Sox GM, not necessarily a prediction. Getz may have a mandate to keep the payroll well under $100 million. That doesn't make me wrong, it's just not how I (or maybe even Getz) would go about this rebuild. "

If I'm not mistaken, you got big mad about me proposing a completely fair, but hypothetical trade idea all because it doesn't give the White Sox bats, mostly due to it going against what Getz has reportedly stated he was looking for.

But now, you go on and ignore what Getz actually said, in a real quote, and create your own hypothetical and I'm not allowed to call you out for it?

I applaud your commitment to inconsistent standards on this forum. It's about the only thing you do well around here.

21 Nov 2024 18:16:44
"Spotrac and Cots are not factoring in the buyouts they paid last offseason (Liam Hendriks, etc. ) . I'm at least $15 million under. "

Liam Hendriks and the White Sox agreed to pay the buyout over the course of 10 years, which amounts to 1.5M per year.

So you're actually only 1.5M under.

Don't worry, when you need more factually correct information, I'm here to help!

21 Nov 2024 21:41:39
"But now, you go on and ignore what Getz actually said, in a real quote, and create your own hypothetical and I'm not allowed to call you out for it? "

Having trouble reading? I said you took it out of context (shocker) . This is one of your main issues. You don't really know how this stuff works, so important context goes right over your head. There's a difference in me saying that the Sox will looking for hitting headliners for Crochet, per Getz's comments (which, by the way, also makes complete sense when you slow down & think given their current farm system), vs. you taking a Chris Getz quote out of context and thinking it means the same thing. I know we usually have to keep things really simple for you to understand, but my goodness, lol.

"Liam Hendriks and the White Sox agreed to pay the buyout over the course of 10 years, which amounts to 1.5M per year.

So you're actually only 1.5M under. "

You now splicing together what I said leaving out the important context in the middle. Holy hell, this is like talking to a 2nd grader. As long as you're consistent with what is actually included in the payroll (we've demonstrated that the sources vary), I have not spent more money in my plan than the Sox spent last year. Are you able to understand that at this point, or are you still getting confused by all the big, complex numbers that you have to add together? I know it can be hard for ya.

You asked where RR got the extra $. They have Hendriks at 15M, not the 1.5 per year structure. I was providing you an answer to your question. That's not where I'm under though. You didn't understand the concept of what a non-tender is or how pre-arb numbers are calculated, that's where your initial math was off, that's all.

You spent the time listing out the entire Sox payroll from my plan. The only problem was that it was flat wrong.

21 Nov 2024 21:50:31
One other thing you should also know - the benefits & bonus pool allocations are part of their Luxury Tax payroll for league compliance. That is NOT the same value that is reported at the top of the Roster Resource page on FanGraphs ($150 million) . Payroll and luxury tax payroll are not the same, and it may be where you're getting confused across sources.

They were actually at $150 million WITHOUT those benefits paid (or $136.5 million if you correct the Hendriks situation) in 2024. I'm at $115.95 million in my plan (again, no benefits) .

Hopefully you're able to wrap your head around this ultra-complex math I was able to do. I have not spent more money.

22 Nov 2024 15:20:35
"They were actually at 150 million without those benefits"

Shot.

" (or 136.5 million if you correct the Hendriks situation"

Chaser.

That's a difference of 13.5M, which isn't insignificant. Why not just say "they were actually at 136.5M"?

Oh, that's right, because it makes your "they are way under 2024 payroll" when that payroll is reflected at 150M, and not 13.5M less.

22 Nov 2024 16:48:12
Ok, so we've established that my plan at $116 million is less than both 136.5 million and 150 million!

Glad we could finally get you there!

22 Nov 2024 18:16:05
"My plan"

Nice of you to concede that you're not dealing in reality at all.

Glad you finally admit it to the world!

26 Nov 2024 09:10:07
Why do you two like each other so much?

02 Dec 2024 12:13:09
Look at the way Chi Sox talks down to others.

Then go look at how awful and unrealistic her own ideas are.

Now ask yourself: would I like someone like this? (The answer is no, you would not) .

28 Mar 2025 12:49:05
The WHite Sox spent less than 20M on free agents.

Don't worry, Chi Sox, you were only off by 50 million. And their payroll isn't even close to 100M.

Yeah, turns out either a) no one wants to play for that gawd-aful franchise, b) they are massive cheapskates or c) both. I'm gonna go with C.

What an absolute joke of a team. It's altogether fitting that YOU are a fan of them.

12 Nov 2024 13:12:48
Let's find the Giants a pitcher via trades:

Idea #1:
Giants get: RHP Chris Paddack
Twins get: RHP Landen Roupp, SS Walker Martin

Paddack is owed $7.5M and is a free agent after 2025. Minnesota is looking for some salary relief, but also guys they can build with. Roupp gives them 6 years of team control.

Idea #2:
Giants get: LHP Garret Crochet, INF Nicky Lopez

White Sox get: SS Marco Luciano, OF Rayner Arias, RHP Hayden Birdsong, 2B Brett Wisely

I have no idea how the White Sox would feel about this (I'm sure Chi Sox will hate it LOL), but the White Sox would be getting a former top 50 prospect who needs a change of scenery (Luciano), a budding OF prospect in Arias, a solid young pitcher (Birdsong) and a super-utility player to replace Lopez. I think that would be one of the better packages offered for Crochet, honestly.

Idea #3:
Giants get: LHP Jesus Luzardo
Marlins get: Same package as above.

The Marlins may be more willing to take on such a deal as Assistant GM Gabe Kapler would be more than familiar with the Giants team. As would new hitting coach Pedro Guerrero. The names might change, but I think it'd be something similar. Luzardo's health is going to be a serious question mark, still.

Idea #4
Giants get: RHP Sonny Gray, OF Lars Nootbaar.
Cardinals get: LHP Taylor Rogers, RHP Trevor McDonald, OF Rayner Arias, OF Wade Meckler

The Giants would be saving the Cardinals around $50M here, after all the salaries clear, but that's going to cost the Cardinals something in the form of Nootbaar. The Cardinals also get a slew of young talent to help in their soft rebuild.

Idea #5
Giants get: RHP Brandon Woodruff
Brewers get: OF Dakota Jordan, RHP Mason Black

Woodruff is only paid $5M in 2025, but he has a $20M mutual option (a mutual option hasn't been exercised since 2015) with a $10M buyout. That's $15M for Woodruff, a guy who hasn't thrown a pitch in the majors since 2023. The Brewers may like to have some salary relief there.

New Giants GM Zack Minasian would be well-familiar with Woodruff, as he was in the Brewers' front office while Woodruff was making his way through their system.

The Brewers are shedding a lot of salary, so the return is minimized, as well as the risk of what Woodruff will be post-surgery, but they could do a lot worse picking up someone like Dakota Jordan, a phenomenal athlete (also played WR at Mississippi State, along with baseball).

13 Nov 2024 00:35:13
Well, I guess the Giants can just sign Nicky Lopez. I think the White Sox could have received *something* for him.

13 Nov 2024 02:47:05
This is a solid troll.

13 Nov 2024 12:17:15
Sorry, I didn't include a trade where the White Sox get Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and eleventy billion dollars for Justin Anderson.

I'll do better next time.

13 Nov 2024 12:22:36
But if you think that the White Sox getting a 50 FV MLB-ready pitcher, a 45 FV outfielder, a former 50 FV SS (who probably needs a change of scenery) plus a super-utility infielder with 5 years of team control remaining for Garrett Crochet is "trolling" then I think you're going to be super disappointed with the return the White Sox get for him.

But hey, speaking of being "brash" and "off-putting". Hello, pot, please meet kettle.

13 Nov 2024 17:23:40
I don't know, wild concept, but maybe one of the bats the Sox get back would be coming off at least a league average season in return for their ace pitcher?

Marco Luciano needs a lot more than a change of scenery. Learning how to hit in the upper minors and at least put up competitive MLB at-bats would be a good start.

Giants don't really match up well for Crochet. Eldridge would need to headline, but they'll likely seek an up-the-middle-bat. If the best asset coming back is a "50 FV MLB-ready pitcher", that's not what the White Sox are looking for.

That fact that you think Luzardo and Crochet have the same trade value currently is laughable.

13 Nov 2024 20:00:37
I didn't expect you to agree with the trade, and I'll vehemently disagree both about the return and about Luzardo & Crochet's values.

That we disagree on a player's value doesn't make one "trolling" it just means you disagree. You've become even more unhinged.

For the record, I seriously doubt the Giants are remotely interested in giving up Hayden Birdsong. He showed he has frontline starter potential in several games last season. But I also recognize for a player like Crochet, it'll take a legitimately good prospect. If they can turn 2 years of Crochet into 6 of Birdsong (plus others), they probably win that trade long term.

13 Nov 2024 20:18:09
I think we also have a very recent trade comp for Crochet: Dylan Cease. Crochet will also have 2 years of team control, but Cease had a longer track record of sustained success as a starter.

The trade proposed above is better in almost every way than what the White Sox got for Cease last year. I also think teams who wanted Cease had far less leverage last winter, with the SP market being a whole lot weaker.

Teams that don't like the asking price for Crochet have a dozen equal or better options to turn to this winter. They didn't have those options last winter, and the White Sox still didn't get a tremendous value for the better pitcher.

Do I think the trade happens? No. I don't think the Giants let go of Birdsong. But I think it's pretty similar to what you'll see the White Sox get for him, and realistically, it'll probably be less inspiring than what I suggested.

I would be very surprised if anyone gave up an MLB-ready power hitter for 2 years of Garret Crochet. Maybe someone overpays, but I think it's best you temper your expectations.

13 Nov 2024 20:24:37
And looking back at what you thought the White Sox could get for Dylan Cease is really, really funny. You legit thought the White Sox would get Coby Mayo AND Joey Ortiz for him.

Or Jasson Dominguez AND Luis Gil.

As a bit of friendly advice, you have no right to tell people their trade returns are "laughable" or be insulting/ condescending about it.

Those were awful, and frankly, not even remotely close to the reality of what the White Sox got. So yeah, maybe dial it back a bit, eh?

14 Nov 2024 00:10:44
I know publications are different, but the Sox got 2 top-100 prospects, an OF that put up a 140 wRC+ stateside at 18 years old, and a solid MLB reliever for Cease coming off a 3.70 FIP.

Crochet has the same control and is coming off a season that was more than a FULL RUN better than that - 5th best in MLB (min. 100 IP) .

"The trade proposed above is better in almost every way than what the White Sox got for Cease last year. "

See this is why I say that you're trolling. You can't honestly believe this, can you? Crochet is objectively better than Cease was with the same control. Even if Crochet only matched Cease's package (he will beat it), who are the 2 top-100 prospects in your Giants package?

The Baltimore package was an over shot, Yankees package for Cease pre Gil's '24 wasn't too bad. The Sox went with 2 back half top-100 arms instead of a stronger headliner (Dominguez) and a wild-card (Gil) . In hindsight, Cease was easily worth both of those packages in 2024.

"Teams that don't like the asking price for Crochet have a dozen equal or better options to turn to this winter. They didn't have those options last winter, and the White Sox still didn't get a tremendous value for the better pitcher. "

What? Goodness, lol. Who are 12 starting pitchers better than Garrett Crochet that are reasonably available this offseason? The average fWAR of the top 10 FA SP was 3.4 in 2023. This year it's 3.0. The only comparable SP that has a good shot of being traded is Sonny Gray, who you'd have to pay $65 million over the next two seasons of age 36 and 37 vs. something like $15 million TOTAL for Crochet for his age 26 and 27. C'mon man, the SP market was literally better last year.

Cease's "track record" does not outweigh the disparity between him and Crochet in terms of the season they were coming off of.

And yes, saying that Jesus Luzardo has the exact same value as Crochet is flat-out laughable. That's not being brash or condescending. Just look at like, literally any stat/ metric and you have no argument. Be serious.

I don't doubt Birdsong could be a very good player, it's just not what the White Sox have publicly told us they're looking for. They need bats. I also had the misfortune of checking Brett Wisely's Statcast page. Ouch.

14 Nov 2024 15:01:04
Do your calves hurt from all the backtracking you're doing?

"But, but they were Top 100 prospects"

A 22-year-old MLB who logged 72 innings with an 11.00 K/ 9 is more valuable than both Thorpe and Iriarte, probably combined. Iriarte was incredibly high variance.

Zavala and Arias are probably similar, but you're looking at Arias' numbers with a pretty rough wrist injury that caused him to miss a decent amount of time.

FWIW, the scouting reports clearly like Arias' upside a whole lot more, with literally 50+ upside at every major tool (hit, game power, raw power, speed, fielding) . I'd be curious to see what he does now that his wrist injury is supposedly healed up.

14 Nov 2024 15:32:55
Let me ask this:

Which elite, middle-of-the-order bat do you think a team would ACTUALLY give up in a trade? I'm curious to see what kind of value you think Crochet has. Let's see your trade idea, since you know, you totally nailed Dylan Cease's value last winter LMAO (defending the value in hindsight, by looking at his 2024 numbers has to be the worst, laziest argument you've made yet, which is really impressive, honestly. )

I'm eager to see your: Samuel Basallo and Coby Mayo, or Matt Shaw and Owen Caissie for Crochet trade ideas LOL.

14 Nov 2024 15:38:45
Again, Birdsong is a good prospect, but it does not matter in this context. It's not what they're looking for. They're also not looking to headline the trade with a guy that just put up a 98 wRC+ in the complex league with a wrist injury that we're banking on getting healthy. Getz will simply take the handful of better offers that he probably has on his desk right now.

K/ 9 is also a fantastic stat to use for someone that also walked 43 in those 72 IP.

14 Nov 2024 16:53:03
Yes, everyone is aware of what the White Sox desire in such a trade. They also said they were looking for "three premium prospects" last year for Dylan Cease. (Source: Joel Sherman, Jan 5, 2024).

According to Jon Heyman, it was the "sun and the moon" (Source: Jan 25, 2024)

They did not, in fact, get "three premium prospects" for Cease. They also did not get the "sun and the moon". They got one premium prospect and some interesting players with upside, which is still a good trade.

So yes, I'm aware of what the White Sox want in such a trade. I'm just proposing that they will not get what they fully desire in any such trade, as was also the case in the Cease trade and literally any trade in the history of baseball. I expect Getz to set his sights high and then come back to reality.

I would wait for you to do the same, but sadly, I'm learning that day has still not come, nor will it ever.

14 Nov 2024 17:04:25
"K/ 9 is also a fantastic stat to use for someone that also walked 43 in those 72 IP. "

Yes, because you know, the K-BB% for Thorpe and Iriarte is so great LMAO.

Thorpe - 2.1 K-BB%
Iriarte - -6.7 K-BB% (Yes, that's a negative) . A 12.2% in AA.

But yes, Hayden Birdsong carrying a 14.3 K-BB% rate in his first stint of Major League Baseball isn't good. I mean, it certainly wasn't the same number or better as Dylan Cease, Zack Wheeler (for, like 3 seasons), Cole Ragans, Logan Webb, Corbin Burnes.

I used K/ 9 to denote that a guy walking into the league and striking out batters at such a rate is pretty solid, and Birdsong would immediately be a top 2 pitcher in that team.

Again, I agree, such a trade wouldn't happen, mostly because I don't see the Giants giving up Birdsong in that deal. I think they'd prefer to pay for a pitcher in FA and keep Birdsong, but I think it's more than a fair deal for Crochet, even if it's not what Chicago claims they want initially.

14 Nov 2024 18:11:32
I'd note that attempting to set Cease's value/ asking price through the media is much different than saying "we are looking for hitters in exchange for Garrett Crochet".

14 Nov 2024 21:24:49
I'd note that I literally gave the White Sox three hitters in exchange for Garrett Crochet, along with one very, very, very good pitcher (who, without Crochet in their rotation, would probably be the White Sox #1 or #2 pitcher immediately) .

If you don't like those specific hitters, cool. I don't care. Your track record of assessing hitters isn't exactly great, so you shouldn't be surprised that I've largely ignored them. Have a greater track record on that front and maybe you'll be worth listening to.

I should also note that I even pointed out you wouldn't like the trade. As is the case, you don't really like trades that don't involve the White Sox getting 150% more than the max value of a player, so yeah, I knew you wouldn't like it.

But as was the case with the Cease trade, I told you, matter of factly, that Cease wasn't going to get anything close to the offers you predicted. I'm telling you: prepare to be disappointed in the return for Garrett Crochet.

I suspect you'd be wishing they even get the return I proposed for him when all is said and done.

15 Nov 2024 07:21:13
"I'd note that I literally gave the White Sox three hitters in exchange for Garrett Crochet"

Yeah, so the thing is, my sources tell me that the White Sox are in fact looking for *good* hitters in exchange for their bonafide ace, super cheap young SP with multiple years of control. Shocking, I know.

Your package was a high ceiling, low floor SP that some project to wind up in the bullpen due to a lack of control/ command (not sure how we've gotten all the way up to a "very, very, very good pitcher", but I digress), a former top prospect that's done little-to-nothing above high-A (albeit still young, has mightily struggled on both sides of the ball in MLB), a guy who just put up a 98 wRC+ in the complex league that has solid looking tools but no record of those manifesting into on-field production - banking on an injury healing in 2025, and finally a AAAA utility guy.

If you're confused as to why this would get Buster Posey's number blocked if this was his offer for Garrett Crochet, then I'm not sure you have even the slightly idea of what you're doing here (the years of evidence is certainly growing to support that) . It's not about getting 150% of Crochet's value, but this is something like 25-50%. It's not close.

"I suspect you'd be wishing they even get the return I proposed for him when all is said and done. "

Oh sure, we will revisit this.

Lastly, I was very directly told by you that K-BB% was not a great stat and that it was bad at predicting YOY progression in regards to Craig Kimbrel. You even discounted it's usefulness because Craig Kimbrel has a similar K-BB% to Hoby Milner, Scott Effross and Jason Adam - who all hilariously broke out the next season. You literally owned yourself. At least you've learned though! It's now apparently a useful stat for ya.

17 Nov 2024 06:43:27
omg, I am just now noticing the Cardinals trade.

What in the world?

18 Nov 2024 12:41:13
"Your package was a high ceiling, low floor SP that some project to wind up in the bullpen due to a lack of control/ command"

Nice of you to quote Eric Longenhagen without citing him. Not that it matters, because that was something Longenhagen wrote about him back in April, something he offered a sort of "mea culpa" about later on, stating he's proven he can be effective against a Big League lineup. He was so good that Longenhagen jumped him from 40 FV to a 50 FV prospect, literally overnight.

Or take Eno Sarris' word for it:
"On the other hand, he has two really good breaking balls, a feel for spin and sits 96 on the fastball. This is the kind of package you can dream about, with elite upside"

If Buster Posey dangled Hayden Birdsong around other front offices, I'm sure he could begin a package for whatever he damn well pleases.

Wanna know why the White Sox would absolutely take a package featuring Birdsong?

Because Brian Bannister and Ethan Katz would push for it. They literally have dudes on the White Sox changing their pitch grips and leg kicks to the way Birdsong does it LOLOLOLOL. (Source: Eno Sarris on X/ Twitter, August 17, 2024) If you don't like Eno's word, you can take the words of Davis Martin himself.

So yeah, I'm not the only one who thinks Birdsong is "very, very, very, very good. " Even the White Sox own pitching coaches think so, as evidence of them using Birdsong as the model for their own pitchers! (Hey, speaking of someone emulating someone. )

Bottom line: no, the White Sox would not be "blocking Buster Posey's number" for them headlining a pitcher they literally model their own pitchers after.

18 Nov 2024 17:24:04
Hitters Nate - the White Sox need hitters in their system.

Hayden Birdsong could be Paul Skenes.

The White Sox are very openly seeking hitters to headline a deal for Garrett Crochet.

Hope this helps!

18 Nov 2024 18:07:36
Yes, we've established what the Chicago White Sox have publicly stated they are looking for in a Garrett Crochet trade.

We've also established that they sought a specific return for Dylan Cease and they did not, in fact, receive it.

"Hayden Birdsong could be Paul Skenes. "

If the White Sox turn down "Paul Skenes" because they are prioritizing hitters (by the way, they aren't going to get "Jackson Merrill" in any such trade, not even close), they are far more incompetent than even I suspected.

The White Sox will take the best deal they get offered. If that's a couple solid pitchers, they will take that return, ten times out of ten.

Hope this helps!

18 Nov 2024 18:09:02
You've still not answered my question. I suspect, at this point, it's because you don't want to look foolish like you did with your Dylan Cease trade ideas:

What hitting prospect (s) do you think the White Sox can reasonably land for Crochet? Let's see those Mayo + Basallo + Gunnar Henderson ideas!

18 Nov 2024 21:59:59
Again, your Cease comparison makes zero sense. It's not a question of whether or not they receive the quality of prospect that they seek, it's literally the type of player. They already have a bunch of major league-ready starting pitching. They want/ need to supplement the system with more bats, that's the whole reason why they're looking to trade Crochet instead of extend him. If the best hitter they could get is Marco Luciano, then they'll just extend Crochet.

It's mind boggling that this is hard for you to comprehend.

"The White Sox will take the best deal they get offered. If that's a couple solid pitchers, they will take that return, ten times out of ten. "

lol, this is 100% false. You don't know what you're talking about here.