moonslav59

The idea would be to get a valuable player added to the deal to offset the negative value of Odor, and if Odor wins the 2nd base job, we get a slight gain there, too.

Once we acquire a CF'er, and we will, Wilson should be DFA'd. I've never been all that high on Chatham, but I think he has trade value. To me, there are dozens of Mazzas, Brewers and Valdezes out there on the waiver wires almost constantly. In fact, all but Brewer were acquired that way and have done little to prove they are better than replacement level.

I'm not sure they see in Brewer.

Beni is still young enough to have a career year in the next few seasons.

I think it is close to 50-50. Many players have bad stretches, and the shortened season was shorter than some of JBJ's epic slumps.

There are a few, like Devers, who catch my eye in single A, but by and large, you are right.

It was a tree trunk!

We know we are going to be cutting 4-5 players, but maybe Bloom is trying to work out trades before letting them go. I seriously doubt any team has clearly worse players than ours in their 36-40 slots, but who knows? I think Walden needs to prove himself in the minors, assuming there is one, next year, and then maybe get another shot at the bigs.

He did look good in 2019, but it may have been a fluke. He may be one of those guys that can be DFA'd, go unclaimed and return to our minor leagues as a non 40 man roster player. I must admit, I don't know much about Payamps, so maybe Walden belongs ahead of him, but who on my list would you DFA before Walden?

Wonder what a Lance Lynn & Odor trade might have looked like.

I think Merrifield is over-valued.

Maybe one year was too long.

Eaton $8M vs Beni $6.6M (not that we had a choice, this year)

Some signings... Carlos Santana signs with KC for $17.5M/2 ($1M in incentives) Adam Eaton signs with CWS for $7M/1 with club option for $8.5M for year two ($1M buyout)

Certainly, their pen was their strength, but they only had the third best RP fWAR in the AL. They were 15th in Blown Saves at 20 (56 Saves). They were 11th in xFIP- (95) & 14th in K/BB (2.63).

The famous 2004 Sox who had just 5 GS'd by anyone beyond their top 5 starters. Record in GS'd: 25-7 Schilling 19-14 Pedro 18-15 Lowe 17-12 Arroyo 16-14 Wakfield All 5 starters had team winning records in their starts. In those 5 starts from others, the team went 2-3.

Then, there is always the exception that is found: the 2015 National Championship Kansas City Royals: SP (listed by most GS'd) 33 Volquez 13-9 3.55 28 Ventura 13-8 4.08 24 Guthrie 8-8 5.95 24 Duffy 7-8 4.08 18 Young 11-6 3.06 13 Cueto 4-7 4.76 Team SP'er 65-53/ ERA 4.34

Part of the decision making is based on who they think they can sneak through waivers, which normally you'd think is based on skill level and value, but there are other factors, like age, options remaining, years of team control and positional needs. I would think that because Brice is out of options, he'd clear waivers. Most teams are protecting their 40 man roster slots, right now.

So, you switching to the Mets or Sox?

I'm thinking we roll the dice with what we got, and if we are in the race, we may make an Ian Kinsler type move, next summer. Nobody excites me, but the sheer quantity of second baseman on our roster could produce someone who is not a net minus. Arroyo Chavis Munoz Chatham Arauz

Closing the window, when bargains should be plentiful is unforgivable for a team like the Yanks.

He was tendered a minimum contract ($870K). It's not like we lose a whole lot, if we DFA him, and nobody claims him for a ML roster slot. I could certainly be wrong. Maybe Bloom sees something I'm missing. There are 3-5 players on my "bubble" list of 10 players that are pretty close to him, so he could certainly be on the 40 man roster come opening day. The bottom 10-12 players are pretty interchangeable. We will likely keep at least 2 from Wong, Plawecki and Grullon. (If we trade Vaz, we'll keep all 3.) We will probably keep at least 2-3 from Brewer, Mazza, Bazardo & Valdez. If we don't sign an OF'er or two, we will likely keep Wilson. I think we trade Chatham or Arauz to make room for an addition. I see Springs and Walden as obvious casualties, but I was wrong on Brice, so who knows.

Assuming Pedroia will not be on the 40 man roster come opening day, we have 37 players in total, as of now. 23 No chance of being DFA'd: Devers, Verdugo, Bogey, Sale, D Hern, Vazquez, Dalbec, ERod, Houck, Mata, Pivetta, Eovaldi, Barnes, Seabold, Groome, JD Martinez, Brasier, Arroyo, Potts, Chavis, Rosario, Beni, Taylor RED= No Options 10 Bubble (maybe traded): Wong, Mazza, Bazardo, Brewer, Valdez, Chatham, Arauz, Payamps, Grullon, Plawecki 4 Likely to be DFA'd (or traded assuming anybody will give something for them): Brice, Springs, Wilson, Walden

17 players to watch in Thursday's Rule 5 Draft (per CBS): 1. Lake Bachar, RHP, Padres The last time we saw Bachar, he was nearing the 50-career appearance mark in Double-A. He's since turned 25 years old, and it's fair to say that he's big-league ready physically. Bachar is a good athlete with a solid arsenal that could allow him to latch on as a back-end starter over the long haul. He has plenty of bullpen experience as well, which is where he's likely to spend 2021. 2. Paul Campbell, RHP, Rays Campbell has turned out to be a heck of a find by Tampa Bay area scout Joe Hastings. He was originally a 21st-round pick who suffered through three lean years at Clemson en route to a 7.85 ERA in 30 appearances (three of them starts). Now, Campbell is a legitimate back-end starter prospect thanks to an arsenal that teems with average or better offerings. There are some nits to pick here, of course, otherwise he wouldn't be available in the Rule 5 Draft. Campbell is on the smaller side, and he's never seen his strikeout rates align with his above-average spin rates. He also had some forearm issues earlier in the year. That might not make any difference, as the perverse truth about the Rule 5 process is that it's easier to retain the rights to an injured player. 3. Brett de Geus, RHP, Dodgers As a general rule of thumb, there are worse ideas for rebuilding teams to embrace than picking up players deemed to be expendable by the league's most talented clubs. The Dodgers, for their part, have an embarrassment of riches, meaning that someone with big-league potential was going to be left exposed. To wit, de Geus is an interesting relief prospect whose velocity has improved since he moved to the bullpen on a permanent basis. In addition to the heat, he has a pair of usable secondary pitches, in a cutter and a curveball, and he issued just 13 walks over 60-plus frames split between two levels in 2019. De Geus hasn't yet pitched above High-A, but he seems certain to get plucked. He has a fair chance of sticking, too. 4./5. Danny Dopico, RHP, White Sox; Will Kincanon, RHP, White Sox We're pairing two White Sox relief prospects. Dopico counts a nasty splitter among a big-league-ready arsenal. The catch is that he walked more than five batters per nine innings during a 2019 stint in Double-A. Kincanon has a promising sinker-slider pairing, though he hasn't yet pitched above High-A despite turning 25 years old in October. 6./7. Parker Dunshee, RHP, Athletics; Brian Howard, RHP, Athletics We're also pairing Dunshee with Howard because they have similar outlooks. Both are ready or near-ready starting prospects who attempt to make up for so-so stuff with deception. Dunshee has an abrupt arm stroke that can short-circuit timing. Howard, meanwhile, is built like a power forward (6-foot-9, 213 pounds) and gets nearly seven feet of extension on his release, creating an angle that hitters aren't accustomed to seeing. It's probable-to-likely that each ends up on the minor-league-depth side of the ledger, but there's just enough here to envision either going. 8. Omar Estevez, 2B, Dodgers Estevez has primarily handled shortstop during his minor-league career. While he has soft hands and a tolerable arm, his lack of quick-twitch athleticism is likely to push him to the other side of the bag. (A bold team might even ask him to take up catching in a hail-mary attempt to improve his versatility.) The real draw with Estevez is his bat. He hit .291/.352/.431 in 336 Double-A plate appearances in 2019, and he won't turn 23 years old until February. 9. T.J. Friedl, OF, Reds Friedl is what he is: a 25-year-old with more than 500 above-average plate appearances in Double-A who can be reasonably slotted in as a fifth outfielder. He'll walk a bit; he'll put the ball in play and hit for some average (especially against right-handed pitching); and he'll provide value on the basepaths and across the outfield. He isn't going to grow into more power, so there is a chance he falls on the wrong side of the Brett Gardner-Sam Fuld continuum -- meaning the opposition force-feeds him strikes because he can't punish mistakes. That risk is easier to stomach when one realizes this life is but a pile of beans on the roadmap to eternity. 10. Ever Moya, LHP, Rockies The least experienced player on the list, Moya has appeared in just 23 games on American soil. (He spent his first three seasons in pro ball toiling in the Dominican Summer League.) Moya is on the radar because he's a 6-foot-5 left-hander with a 93 mph fastball and an approaching 22nd birthday. He needs to develop his breaking ball and his command, but there's high-leverage upside here if a team is willing to play the long game, a la the Blue Jays and Elvis Luciano. 11. Packy Naughton, LHP, Angels The Angels liked Naughton enough to acquire him from the Reds as part of the Brian Goodwin trade, just not enough to put him on the 40-player roster. That's fair. Naughton's stuff makes Ryan Yarbrough's look like Clayton Kershaw's; he has one pitch (a plus changeup) that grades as better than fringe; otherwise, he gets by on deception, location, and gumption. The upside with this kind of profile is limited, but not every pick in the Rule 5 is about reward maximization; sometimes, it's enough to take a big-league ready utility arm -- even if his name and fondness for legerdemain grants him a greater upside as a street magician than as a starting pitcher. 12. David Parkinson, LHP, Phillies Parkinson is a well-built left-hander who struck out a batter per inning in 22 starts at the Double-A level in 2019. His appeal here is as a reliever. Parkinson has a pair of solid secondaries, in his changeup and curveball, and could in theory see his velocity tick up in spurts. He's not likely to become more than a middle-relief type, but he might be worth the look. 13. Riley Pint, RHP, Rockies Pint is the closest thing this class has to a pig in a poke. He has a recognizable name (the byproduct of being drafted fourth overall in 2016) as well as big-time stuff and late-inning potential. "Potential" is a spectrum and not a binary, however, and the chances of Pint reaching his ceiling appear remote. He had 55 combined walks, hit batsmen, and wild pitches in 17 2/3 innings in 2019, or more than one command-related oopsie per recorded out. Pint isn't able to repeat his release point, and his delivery imparts some nasty torque on his head that causes his neck to twist in a fashion previously imagined only by William Peter Blatty. He's almost certainly more than a few weeks with a different organization away from putting things together. 14. Jose Alberto Rivera, RHP, Astros Rivera didn't sign until he was 19 years old, making him ancient by international amateur free-agent standards. More than four years later, he's yet to throw a pitch above A-ball. Nevertheless, his arm strength and his multi-inning capacity make him a solid bet to go early (industry speculation has connected him to the Orioles, whose executives are familiar with him from their shared days in Houston). Rivera can chuck his fastball into the 100s, and he complements the heat with a promising splitter and a slider. The Astros used him in a tandem role in 2019: while only 11 of his 18 appearances were "starts," he worked at least three innings in all but one of them. He's probably not a legitimate starting candidate -- his extremely long arm action could lead to platoon and command issues -- yet a team who believes in his promise as a seventh-inning type could use him in a mop-up role for the duration of the 2021 season. 15. Trevor Stephan, RHP, Yankees Stephan has been on the radar since he was drafted in the third round in 2017. The Yankees have allowed him to develop as a starter, but he seems like a good candidate to join another team's bullpen and contribute either in a traditional role or as a multi-inning type. Stephan's mechanics are deceptive, as he combines crossfire action with a low and deep release point. He also has two above-average offerings: a high-spin fastball that plays up in the zone and a sweeping slider. His changeup and his command have lagged, stalling his starting career, though it's possible a selecting team could afford him another crack at the rotation down the road. 16. Garrett Whitlock, RHP, Yankees An 18th-round find, Whitlock had already achieved success in Double-A before succumbing to Tommy John surgery in July 2019. He has a big frame and the making of a starter's arsenal, as both his fastball and slider are average or better offerings. (His changeup has the potential to be as well.) It's unclear if and/or how the pandemic impacted Whitlock's recovery, but he seems like a fair bet to come off the board, perhaps within the top 10, with an eye on him turning into a back-end starter. 17. Tyler Zombro, RHP, Rays The Rays seem as taken with vertical and horizontal approach angles as any organization in the league. A team wanting in on that sweet, sweet deceptive action could do worse than snatching up Zombro, a lower-slot right-hander who relies on a low-90s sinker and a slider. He seems unlikely to develop into more than a middle-relief type, at best, but he has a track record of success and he appears to be a total pitching nerd, which is always a plus.

CWS trade Dane Dunning & Avery Weems to Texas for Lance Lynn.