jacksonianmarch

If the trade goes through and the sox truly only add Graterol to the rotation mix, the sox will be worse than 2019. The big thing about this rebuild is going to come down within the week. If the sox lose the top pick in 2021, then their place in the standings will be crushing as they look to be worse and will not benefit from it in the draft positioning. Right now, the sox have the 7th or 8th best odds to make the WS out of the AL and that's pre-Betts deal. Without Betts and at least the hope of Price, that team suffers especially without a big addition to the rotation. Add in Brian Johnson to the already anemic rotation (I would expect Graterol to start in AAA if they plan to try him as a starter) and you've got a team about to get bludgeoned on a daily basis. There is an outside chance that a team post Betts trade without major additions ends up in the 8-10 range in the draft. Top 10 picks have an enormously higher hit rate than picks outside the top 10. To lose that would be devastating and truly make 2020 a lost season

Reason why I said rumor. A buddy of mine loves a random Sox website and he texted me. It was on the believe in boston sports website. Clearly, it hasn’t been reported anywhere else, so it looks like it’s not true

Balazovic is more a starter. Less power than Graterol, deeper arsenal. He’s also further away

Rumor is that Jordan Balazovic is replacing Graterol as the prospect coming from the Twins

I read the story. This is a nothing for Verdugo. They need to move on

Of course they did. Manfred took the easy way out. He knew punishing players under their union would be very tough to do. So he decided to pin it on the leaders, who he could punish with impugnity

Exactly. The "lifetime ban" would be enough for the smoke to blow over. And then he can quietly be reinstated and be someone's bench coach

MLB pitchers found a Grand Canyon sized hole at the top of the zone in Chavis' swing. It will be difficult for him to fix that with his current swing mechanics. He will need to rework his swing and take away some of the upper cut, which will likely limit some of his power. Once teams found he couldn't hit a high fastball, it was over for him. He is a breaking ball masher and crushes everything down. Most batters you don't want to leave anything up to, but this guy you need to go up with power and he is an auto out

I think it is VERY possible he gets a "lifetime ban" with a chance at reinstatement after 2 seasons. The precedent has been there. Jennry Mejia says hi

First off, there's no need for mea culpa. None of us are culpable in their scheme. Second off, the only thing I have said is the sox got a cheater manager from Houston (nobody refutes that), 3 witnesses came forward that the sox were stealing signs, and that the punishment would be worse than Houston's. The only thing I will post about that is an about face is if the Yanks are implicated and punished for malfeasance post mid 2017. Then, I will bury them

We don't need the minors beyond Estrada and Frazier to fill in the position player holes right now. This team is exceptionally deep. By the time some of these kids rise to the upper levels, they should be needed. We go 3 deep in depth in some positions

MLBTR is breaking this news now. No official word. Surprised they didn’t wait til the punishment was levied. Heck, if RR is implicated, they might need a third manager this offseason

Chapman is pretty damn good when the hitter doesn’t know the slider is coming

They’re more the exception than the rule. I’m also looking at the stuff. Overpowering fastball. Middling slider. No clue on his change. That type of overwhelming power works better in short stints.

I saw him pitch a few times on extra innings. I also saw him throw an inning vs the Yanks in the ALDS. Phenomenal power. But he’s 6’1 and heavy. He’s a power sinker guy. Slider is good enough to offer a change of speed, but not a big breaker. Didn’t see a single change up. His style is essentially “Here is my sinker, good luck”. That works as a reliever. That doesn’t work as a starter. And his secondary stuff isn’t good enough for him to be a mix guy. Add to that his arm issues and you’ve got a guy who is destined to close

Outside of health, there was ZERO likelihood that Graterol was headed towards being a starter anyway. His build, his delivery, his stuff all scream bullpen. The idea that he was planning to take a clear pen guy and stretch him out is pretty dumb and maybe they are seeing that now and hanging onto some minor health issue to hold up the deal. If I was Bloom and I needed to fake 2020 being relevant, I'd have taken Maeda myself and cut the Twins out of it entirely. Maeda is an upgrade on Price and Verdugo is a good OFer, enough to not leave a hole in the lineup. That at least gives you a moderate upgrade in the rotation and a moderate downgrade in the lineup, with the lineup being the one place you can downgrade and still be elite.

Offloading $16 mil AAV of Price and the entire contract of Betts is important to Bloom. The Padres deal may have had more players and some upside, but the need to take Myers back and not send off Price makes it an inferior deal. Also, Verdugo is a real prize here. I get that Bloom likes Campusano, but it’ll help save face for the Sox if they get someone they can plug into Betts’ spot from day 1. The Dodgers need to offload Maeda. They also need to offload Stripling and Pederson so they can stay under the cap. I don’t expect the Dodgers to stay under the cap forever, but once Buehler and Bellinger get pricey, they’ll need to not be repeat offenders. Far too many moving parts for the second guy to be nixing the deal. If Verdugo failed his physical, so be it. But they can work with Graterol

I’m just saying positive regression exists. I’m not saying whether it’s the best phrase to use

The Dodgers wouldn’t deal May, Ruiz or Lux for 2 years of Lindor, what makes you think they’d off them for one year of Betts?

Regression can mean returning to a prior level of performance. In math, it’s called regression to a mean. If you’re above the mean, then it’s just regression. If you’re below the mean, it’s positive regression.

Positive regression entails returning from a down performance to something more standard

My guess is the Twins will have to eat some of Price’s contract. But I’m rooting for the trade to be nixed. I don’t want the Sox to offload Price at all. I’m hoping for a catastrophic collapse to where he’s entirely worthless and then Betts goes to LA as a FA after playing out a lost 2020 season in Boston I also don’t want to see the Sox get a guy like Graterol or a probable stud like Verdugo

Verdugo is a plug and play guy. I think he will have a ceiling of a 4-5 WAR guy, one who would be really useful. Reminds me a bit of Victorino

You are pretty funny Kimmi. 2020 will be the year of the Yankee. We have enough big league depth to absorb German AND Paxton missing the first two months of the season. We also have enough minor league depth to absorb further injuries. With our bullpen and our offense, we will be able to bludgeon teams when the starter doesn't go well. We have a two headed monster better than anyone in baseball (outside of maybe Washington) with Cole and Severino. Tanaka is a damn good mid rotation guy. Montgomery has to have the inside edge to a spot. Happ wasn't exactly good last year, but finished with increased velo and performance. Interestingly enough, our schedule is pretty balanced this year. Last year, we seemed to feed on the O's early and the Jays late, but it seems to be a bit more equal. Over the first 2 months, we face Orioles 7 Rays 7 Jays 6 A's 3 Rangers 3 Reds 3 Tigers 7 Guardians 3 Pirates 2 Red Sox 3 Astros 3 Brewers 3 Mariners 4 Twins 3 Angels 3 That is 60 games, 26 of them vs the Mariners, O's, Tigers, Pirates, or Jays, all teams expected to be at or near the bottom of the entire league in wins. While we see the Jays and O's more spread out, we do get our Tigers 2 series and the IL series vs the Pirates out of the way early, lending towards a nice coast into the season.

No, the Sox won’t announce anything until medical are done