Bethancourt has been a breath of fresh air. Some clutch hitting and can actually throw out base stealers. I’m sure the hitting won’t last but he’s been solid.
I like the Bosox position players and prospects. But they have a lot of 2025 holes to fill. Even subtracting O'Neill, Pivetta, Martin and the Jansens, that frees around $40m in tax space and they have to replace the production. Unless they can get the production they're paying for from Giolito, Yoshida and Story, it will be hard to find the FA $$$$ without going over the luxury tax.
The Cubs wouldn’t be “better off” than getting OHoppe, OHoppe is a great catcher, low cost with several years of control. I’m not saying the Cubs shouldn’t possibly attempt to trade with the Dodgers for a catching prospect but you have this delusion that prospects are all magically better than players doing it at the professional level.
It always makes my brain hurt thinking about the RF needing to throw farther when RF and LF are technically the same exact distance to home plate lol....but I get the sentiment
Could also be that teams have decided that from a W-L standpoint, it's better to have everyone go max effort all the time and risk injury. 105 percent of he next guy up is better than 90 percent of the current guy. The goal is to win games, not to preserve careers. This seems foolish to fans, but I wouldn't put it past the Dodgers in particular.
offer us three top 100s and we wouldnt hang up, two top 50s and a not-very-back guy and he might just change uniforms. ohoppe has immense value, as a young skilled catcher with all of his skills on the upswing, but the angels would need to see one of the best returns in recent history to consider a move
That's what I mean, a stronger arm is needed in RF where as the weaker arm in LF because more often than not a fly ball is hit harder to left by Right handed pull hitters like Rundmc mentioned. More time to throw home....I dunno, always grew up throwing the slowest guy in LF. Unless it's softball lol
@martras
I really don't know how warm it's getting for Bauer. The only thing I've seen is that Houston was interested. The Dodgers didn't invite him, it was an open try out and he threw on a back field. Bauer is setting Bauer back. If he had kept his mouth shut knowing what he knew he would have came out smelling a whole lot better. He's a lot like Schilling in that he doesn't know when to shut up. I personally think Bauer has the right to pitch. Baltimore,Both New York teams, The Rangers,and The Twins should all be in on Bauer as we speak but it's not the case. Your absolutely right about players they've let back in. Hell, Tim Raines is in the HOF and he testified in court that he slide head first so he wouldn't crush the vile of cocaine he had in his back pocket. So as far as integrity goes The MLB definitely has 2 faces.
Ortiz numbers would reflect a platoon player with little power at 3rd base. The numbers Ortiz has put up might work for a 2nd baseman. Burnes has been a #1 for years. Brew crew got hosed on this deal
The Cubs had 3 big needs at the deadline. A 3B, A Closer and a C. They got a couple of late inning arms and Paredes. That was a nice get. Pearson was a lottery pick but Neely looks like the real deal. They're not Closers but they're big arms to go with the 6 or 7 the Cubs already have. Someone will emerge but probably not this year. Now all they need is a C and a short term Closer. Should be a fairly easy off Season for Hoyer. As long as he keeps his wallet in Ricketts pants.
At a minimum, the Cubs should sign James McCann as a FA. OPS+ in the mid 70s both years with the Os. Very good defensive and clubhouse guy. Not going to be that expensive and better than many of the FAs.
Where are they going to find a long term catcher? Better organizations than the Cubs have failed at that. Look at the Rays.
Logan OHoppe? Lord. He's comparable to Sean Murphy 2022 and Atlanta gave up William Contreras and 5 OK prospects to get Sean Murphy.
You overpay big time for young catchers with an OPS+ over 110. Realmuto, Contreras and Murphy are about the only ones that have been traded and the teams that traded them were either dumb (the Braves) or were in full rebuilds.
Casas and Story could be an upgrade to the lineup which could give them top to bottom ability. The bullpen needs to get healthy and sorted into appropriate roles for each guy. The rotation is their huge weakness, but if they can squeeze 5-6 innings out of Paxton, maybe get Winck lengthened a bit, maybe go to a six man to try and rest Houck and Crawford a bit more …
This is somewhat a team of mystery with their starters going forward, how much more do they have in them? The bullpen could turn it around and make this a fun team down the stretch.
The interesting thing about the Ortiz/Hall/comp pick for Burnes is that even if Hall flops and the pick doesn’t work out, Ortiz alone makes the trade a definite win.
If they made him available i could see boston being interested..among others
.but you wont get 2 top 100 prospects for him ..sight unseen..if they want that return they need to hope he returns to ace form then move him at next years deadline
I don't know about that, Chris from NJ. I get the feeling the market is warming to Bauer. The Dodgers invited him to throw to their guys in an exhibition this year.
Bauer's comment about a lawsuit probably set him back. I think if he hadn't said that, there's a fair amount of likelihood he'd have gotten the call this year. Time mellows things out so long as the player can keep their mouth shut. For those players who can't, it's just re-opening the wound over and over (Curt Schilling).
There have been plenty of players who kept their jobs or gotten new opportunities after causing uproars over the years.
As for the stats... Fenway makes any offense look better than it really is. While they happen to be second in the AL in OPS and/or wOBA, they are seventh in MLB and 11th in park-adjusted wRC+. Against RHP they are second in MLB before park adjustments and 7th with park adjustments. It is a pretty significant gap between the two.
In late innings (7th onward) they have a .694 OPS against LHP, just 13th in the majors, with a MLB-high 29.2% strikeout rate. Those numbers ought to be intuitively obvious from watching the games?
The platooning is the reason that their overall performance against LHP holds up as well as it does. Both Refsnyder and Romy have done great work. But the platoon starts to break down in the late innings, and you end up with key left-on-left matchups against relief specialists. And the Red Sox have NOT handled those well.
Part of why their W-L is weaker against LHSP is that they use up their RHH in the middle innings, leaving the remaining lefties exposed in the later innings. It's a real issue, though I agree it doesn't exactly show up in the numbers you were citing.
Also worth noting that the Red Sox have 1356 PA against LHP, the highest in the AL. (There are more LHP in the NL.) The Yankees have 1220, the Orioles 1207, the Rays 1053. Part of the reason why the Red Sox numbers vs. LHP aren't worse than they are is that opposing teams stack lefties (and lefty relievers) against the Red Sox to a greater degree than they do against other teams. While there are plenty of teams which hit RHP better than LHP, the Red Sox numbers get dragged down more than most.
If you look at the split OPS relative to the overall OPS (Baseball-Reference reports that on their splits pages), you see that the Red Sox have the fourth lowest tOPS+ vs. LHP in the AL The team that loses the most against LHP is the Yankees, but I'm not going to cry for THEM. Just wish the Red Sox had more LHP to throw in those series.
Typically someone would be considered for left field and not right field because they don't have a strong arm. A right fielders needs to throw out runners at home from a farther distance so he needs a stronger arm.
I'd think it makes other players happy. He doesn't compete out of the gate so the fringy guys get a more opportunity. Roger Clemens did the same thing at the end of his career.
The Cubs should have went after Diaz from Colorado. So what if he's a free agent after this season. The Rockies didn't even end up trading him probably wouldn't have costed too much.
This article is a little untimely because Logan has struggled in August. However, on August 1st, he was hitting .280 with 16 HRs and 46 RBIs. Many here on the left coast were pushing for him to be an all star. His numbers matched up favorably.
O’Hoppe, Neto, and Schanuel are a decent core for the Angels moving forward. No way was Logan going anywhere.
And were completely justified in going " Are you out of your mind? It's fine. The Cubs will get somebody to pair with Amaya next year until Aliendo gets here. We'll be OK. With Rendon, Trout and no pitching, The Angels are still in " The Twilight Zone" For years.
Well let's start a GoFundMe for these poor struggling MLB players trying to squeeze by on a minimum of about 800k while we working people are living the high life. Some of you wankers on here are just unbelievable and have no grounding in reality.
@unclemike1525 he only had 168 at bats last year, and had 14 homeruns. He was best catching prospect was blocked by realmuto. The offer would've to be substantial because he's only 24 with control, and hasn't experienced hiccups besides his shoulder injury last year. I also agree it wasn't going to happen just seems like it was leaked as a see we tried.
I think Dom is better than Valdez or Dalbec. Not much of a role for him once Casas returns, as long as Casas and
Yoshida remain healthy. But if Smith is released, and Casas aggravates his injury, that would leave the team in a bad spot.
Not sure what being "satisfied" means in this context? He is both literally and figuratively a replacement level player, a guy who was free for signing at the point they realized they needed somebody better than Dalbec.
Another guy who fires up way too often. You're saying 5 Top 100 prospects for a .260 hitting C is a fair price? I can see how the Angels have been so bad for so long with fans like that. Wow. You keep your C and we'll keep our guys and you'll still be in last place for the next ten years. Pathetic.
Left field at Truist is larger than most ballparks and requires more athleticism. Right field there is no harder to play than left field. At least, that’s what I’ve read.
He was mostly in CF until Laureano. I'd guess that b/c most of the league is right-handed pull-hitters, so LF would get more action than RF. However, Truist RF is trickier than most because of the wall, and I believe, a little bit more room to cover. Soler's play in OF recently has been awful with a flyball hit to short RF (called off by Whit) where no one went after until Soler dove and it fell in between 4 players. I believe he hit the grand slam in the same game -- so, just like they're hoping, offense negates defense....smh.
Oh, the irony of not being able to call up Harris II, who seems ready, b/c they put him on the 60-day IL to clear up a spot for one of the band-aids. Make it stop.
@mlbfan
Ohtani hasn't pitched. He hasn't played the field. While he has played, "thru everything" is hardly accurate. Like Arraez making the All-Star team, much was based on past performance and expected future performance. Nothing wrong with that.
That was more for the guy who said the Cubs should of traded for Thaiss. I just put it in the wrong spot. My bad. Besides the Cubs could make a deal right now for one of the Dodgers C's who are never going to see Chavez Ravine anyway and been better off than with O'Hoppe.. That might even still happen because Will Smith is there forever. You can still trade Minor Leaguers.
@mets6986 doesn't even look like he read the title or the article. O'hoppe isn't a bum, and it would have to be a haul to get him. I feel like it's a pr piece. They called on O'hoppe and the angels hung up
gbs - Regarding your last paragraph, because the players agreed to it in their contract.
Why shouldn't interns and apprentices get fully compensated?
I'm a salaried worker not on a contract, I was required to fly out of state for migration training. No additional compensation given, and I haven't a legal foot to stand on if I demand compensation.
Many servers make below minimum too .... and also farm jobs, where I'm from most kids 14 & 15 harvest tobacco for below minimum pay. It's the law. If you want to make an argument to change the law, that would basically nullify most existing contracts and other labor agreements. And you know the farm job kids would get replaced with illegals.
Can anyone explain to why Kelenic was never considered for RF? Is it simply b/c he's left handed? Played RF in Seattle i believe. He's a plus defender imo and typically the weakest outfielder plays LF....(I'm sure someone will hit me analytics saying he sux in the outfield or something lol)
You wouldn't want a whole lineup of hitters like him, but one or two helps immensely. I remember Polanco when he was in the Tigers lineup. He was the guy you wanted up with a runner at 3B because you knew he would put the ball in play.
Yes they have a shot--but need to realize that EVERY team ahead of them in the wild card standings as of today (Padres, Diamondbacks, Braves, Mets, Giants and Cardinals_ --- EVERY ONE OF THEM -- own the tiebreaker over the Cubs. So, at this point, the 3.5 that they are behind is actually 4.5. Much like last year, they have put themselves in a little tougher spot than it would have been a few years back. There is no more room to lose any series to any non-playoff type team.
Soto got 3, top 100 prospects. O’Hoppe has 4 years of control left. 24 years old. Now the question is, what it would take, to get the Angels even interested in trading him. For a team like the Angels who are trying to get good young players, and aren’t looking to completely tear it down to the studs. 5 would be at minimum what the Angels would need to hear, to even have a conversation with someone. Anyone can agree or disagree with how the Angels are trying to rebuild or reload. O’Hoppe has already established himself as an everyday player. Most catchers at 24, are still in the minors. Especially when it was a sellers market at the deadline.
JT was not better than Ohoppe at this stage of their career. O’hoope is in year two of control. I guess your point is the reason of why the Cubs waisted their time going down this road.
Considering that it took 26 pitches to get through the 1st inning, 61 pitches through 3.1 IP is comparatively settling in. Granted, still not very efficient.
Speaking of the bullpen, here’s a slick idea for the Phillies FO - hit the Guardians up in November about Emmanuel Clase, before they even have an opportunity to discuss him with other clubs. Clase salary is set to double for 2025 and up again in 2026. The cash strapped Guardians’ worst contract is Myles Straw, who will make about 7 million in 2025 & 2026. He was DFA’s and outrighted to AAA, where’s he’s sported a .200 or so BA this summer. What if DD offers to take Myles Straw and an expensive Emmanuel Clase. Straw can’t hit a lick, but his CF defense is still elite.
Here’s my Guardians trade proposal -
Phillies get:
Emmanuel Clase CL
Myles Straw CF
Guardians get:
Johan Rojas CF
Yunel Marte RHP
Michael Mercado RHP (#30)
Griff McGarry RHP (#11)
Matt Osterberg LHP (#40)
Jordan Viars 1B/OF (#37)
This trade deadline showed that most teams when they trade a big league player, want 2-3 prospects/close to MLB ready players in return for them. So I think these 6 for 2 trades make sense financially and structurally for the Phillies, Angels & Guardians.
bum - I like your thinking on Story, build up his value so he can be traded. With his injury history it's not like he can be the fallback guy if Mayer bombs.
As they say in baseball, the best ability is availability ;O)
Don't pin Sale entirely on Breslow, ownership told him flat out that they didn't plan to contend this year or next year. So from Breslow's perspective, trading Sale was not a horrific decision .... however it was the timing, the return and the $17M cash that made it a horrible trade.
Just imagine how much the Sox could have gotten at this year's trade deadline for Sale!!!
Spring training games bring in lots of revenue, and players certainly are working, so I don't know why they don't all get paid.
The trivialities of extra-inning and shortened games over a 162-game season pale in comparison to a six-week spring training.
Paying minor leaguers less than minimum wage, regardless of whether it's "for the completion of a job" clearly was a violation of labor law. It's why MLB got Congress to pass a law specifically allowing it and why the league and new minor league collective bargaining arm negotiated to prevent it...for now (MLB is working to undue that).
Players are required to attend this "free training" as part of their job, so why shouldn't they be compensated?
That’s a valid question? maz, however if Cherington is still the GM, and with the current player development system, will those prospects mature into major league caliber players or ruined due to incompetence?
Granted Cruz was obtained by way of a trade when he was a top prospect, but he has too many deficiencies that by now should have been worked out and hasn’t
And for a .260 hitter that is probably going to be his career best. The Cubs were looking for a better C. He's better than what they had but at the time so was used toilet paper. And Amaya was always a threat to get better. So we'll keep our #2 ranked Farm System and you can keep you're 32 nd ranked one and your .260 C. And yeah, I counted a couple of Korean Teams that have better Farm Systems than the Angels. Too funny.
gbs - With all due respect, major leaguers don't get paid for spring training either. Their paychecks begin in April. Do they get paid extra for extra innings played? Or for games that get rained out after 1-4 1/2 innings are played? I think you are confusing contract/salary labor with hourly labor.
Players are not hourly, they get paid for the completion of a job ... not by the hour.
As for the low pay, they are receiving free training and exclusive opportunities for advancement to the majors .... that has a lot more value. Unpaid and low paid training is not that uncommon in other careers besides baseball.
With regards to Mike Trout - truly believe he played his last game as an Angel. But stubborn Arte Moreno will not trade Trout AND eat a large portion of the salary. He just won’t. So the margin realistically reduces down to 5 teams: The Phillies, Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and maybe the Giants. They are the only teams that could, or would even consider to absorb a contract that large. If I know the Angels, they will want at least a couple of decent prospects to save face and look like they got something in return. And in lieu of eating big chunk of Trout’s salary, could see the acquiring team sending back a high paid player or two. That way it was also make it appear as if the Angels aren’t going into a complete rebuild. The Phillies have a good working relationship with the Anaheim Angels, and Mike Trout would relish the opportunity to play on the East Coast for a World Series contender.
Here’s my Trout trade proposal over the winter:
Phillies get:
Mike Trout RF (37mil)
Reid Detmers SP (1mil)
Angels get:
Nick Castellanos RF (20mil)
Taijuan Walker SP (18mil)
Mick Abel RHP (#5)
Christian McGowan RHP (#14)
Carlos de la Cruz 1B/LF (#13)
Jose Rodriguez SS (#28)
The Trout salary for 2025 offsets, which will keep the budgets of both clubs in tact, without hamstringing either.
In 2026, Kyle Schwarber will be off the books, and probably will not be resigned. The Phillies have to keep the DH open for guys like Harper who are signed long into their 30’s, and now Trout (in this hypothetical). This balancing act would also keep the Phillies below the 3rd luxury tax tier, still allowing them to make modest additions to the bullpen over the next two winters. The Angels for their part, received a fringe top 100 MLB prospect in Abel, plus another AAA arm. A 6’7” hitter that’s harnessing his raw skills and natural power, plus two solid veterans in Castellanos & Walker. Castellanos would hit cleanup behind Nolan Schanuel, and Taijuan would slot in behind Tyler Anderson in the rotation.
Makes sense for both teams, for Mike Trout, and for Major League Baseball and all of MLB’s fans!
Five top 100 prospects would be an unprecedented return. That is insane. And the Marlins got that many prospects because JT was A) better than O'Hoppe and B) much more established than O'Hoppe. I think O'Hoppe is a great talent but no one would decimate their farm system for one player.
I hope Story is back for September. I want teams to see he can hit so he has trade value in the off-season. He's just too injury prone at this point to be reliable. As they say in football, your best trait is availability. We'd have 6 or 7 more wins if we didn't trade Sale. To be fair I think Breslow thought this team was going to absolutely suck so he thought he'd move salary while filling a need at 2nd. We needed rotation help more than bullpen help though. Is James Paxton better than replacement? Meh....I am excited to see a middle of the lineup of Casas, O'Neil, and Devers. That has the potential to be a lot of fun.
ROTFLMAO. This guy is the reason I keep saying drugs are bad. Please learn to just say no. Juan Soto didn't even get a return like that! Haaaaa Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa
They really have only two challenging series remaining (home against the Yanks and road vs. Dodgers.) Phillies too but who knows what their situation will be the end of Sept. Sneaking into the WC is completely realistic.
@The Name, you need to include Dana in that group.
@Logjammer D, at minimum 5 top 100 prospects. More likely 6 or more. The Marlins got 3 top 100 prospects for JT. And Logan has more control than JT did
Casas has looked good down at Worcster his swing is aggressive there doesn’t appear to be any holding back in the games I’ve watched. He looks ready to come back. I’m not real sure why Story needs to rush back he would be a defensive upgrade like he was last year but he’s likely to need a lot of time to get his timing back offensively and will probably really struggle. I think they should just let him fully heal over the off-season.
There is a nice base forming for this Red Sox team. Boston is going to need to get some pitching in free agency this off-season. They really need a horse to front the rotation that guy is not Lucas Giolito. I expect that all of Mayer, Anthony,Teel and Campbell will be in AAA Worcster to start next season unless any of them are moved for controllable starting pitching. Mayer should be ready to step in if anything happens to Story next year at short. This would keep Rafaela in center where he belongs.
There’s a real nice team forming here for next season Breslow has a lot of decisions to make but the starting pitching needs to be addressed. I do believe that next year we will start to see quality starting pitching prospects arrive in AA Portland but unlikely to be helpful next year.
Since July 1, Smith has hit .264/.323/.505 with 14 R and 12 RBI. Those aren't "Wow!" numbers, to be sure, but he has done a credible job and you don't have to be a suck-up to acknowledge that. It doesn't mean that he has suddenly become a starting player or anything silly like that, just that he has found a nice run of success.
Over that same span, Hamilton has hit .220/.289/.349 with 10 R and 8 RBI in similar playing time. He is a better defender at a more valuable position, and clearly a superior baserunner, but not somebody I would hold up as an obvious improvement over Smith.
I agree that neither should be facing lefties. Smith has hit .256/.289/.419 against lefties this season while Hamilton has hit .238/.273/.333. Abreu is hitting .186/.255/.279 against them. All three have an almost identical number of PA (44 to 47) against lefties this year.
Yoshida has *not* been platooned to the same degree, with 80 PA against them, and has hit .203/.288/.333.
Put the four together, along with McGuire and Valdez, and it is easy to see why LHP do well against the Red Sox. Even the big bats of Devers and Duran are of course stronger against RHP.
These moves were merited in my opinion. Surprised a team hasn’t claimed Darrick Hall though. Understand he’s a bat 1st player that offers nothing in the field or on the bases - but Phillies fans have seen the power display and work ethic. Scratched/clawed his way (as a no-name prospect) to the majors and devotes a lot of time to watching film and working in the cage. There’s a lack of high quality 1B in MLB (compared to the 80’s & 90’s at least), someone should give him a shot.
Why would the Cubs trade for a bum when you can get them for free off the waiver pile? If you're going to shoot for something why not aim for the brass ring? At least Hoyer kept his word and didn't make any deals for 2024 only and it's working out OK since the deadline so far.
O'Hoppe, Neto, Schanuel, Soriano and Joyce should be the Top 5 untouchables. Perhaps the Cubs should have tried for Matt Thaiss instead who seems better this season than any of those Cubs catchers.
Only to a "select" group that has to whine about everything.
Bethancourt has been a breath of fresh air. Some clutch hitting and can actually throw out base stealers. I’m sure the hitting won’t last but he’s been solid.
He’s not getting 5/150 from the giants or anyone else. You’re about 25 to 33% too high.
Time to rebuild and start over for the Braves. Wiithout Soler and Rosario, they would have been eliminated quickly. The core is bad.
I like the Bosox position players and prospects. But they have a lot of 2025 holes to fill. Even subtracting O'Neill, Pivetta, Martin and the Jansens, that frees around $40m in tax space and they have to replace the production. Unless they can get the production they're paying for from Giolito, Yoshida and Story, it will be hard to find the FA $$$$ without going over the luxury tax.
The Cubs wouldn’t be “better off” than getting OHoppe, OHoppe is a great catcher, low cost with several years of control. I’m not saying the Cubs shouldn’t possibly attempt to trade with the Dodgers for a catching prospect but you have this delusion that prospects are all magically better than players doing it at the professional level.
It always makes my brain hurt thinking about the RF needing to throw farther when RF and LF are technically the same exact distance to home plate lol....but I get the sentiment
it would need to be soto-esque, comparable to realmuto, more than burnes, scott and adam got this year.
Could also be that teams have decided that from a W-L standpoint, it's better to have everyone go max effort all the time and risk injury. 105 percent of he next guy up is better than 90 percent of the current guy. The goal is to win games, not to preserve careers. This seems foolish to fans, but I wouldn't put it past the Dodgers in particular.
offer us three top 100s and we wouldnt hang up, two top 50s and a not-very-back guy and he might just change uniforms. ohoppe has immense value, as a young skilled catcher with all of his skills on the upswing, but the angels would need to see one of the best returns in recent history to consider a move
That's what I mean, a stronger arm is needed in RF where as the weaker arm in LF because more often than not a fly ball is hit harder to left by Right handed pull hitters like Rundmc mentioned. More time to throw home....I dunno, always grew up throwing the slowest guy in LF. Unless it's softball lol
@martras
I really don't know how warm it's getting for Bauer. The only thing I've seen is that Houston was interested. The Dodgers didn't invite him, it was an open try out and he threw on a back field. Bauer is setting Bauer back. If he had kept his mouth shut knowing what he knew he would have came out smelling a whole lot better. He's a lot like Schilling in that he doesn't know when to shut up. I personally think Bauer has the right to pitch. Baltimore,Both New York teams, The Rangers,and The Twins should all be in on Bauer as we speak but it's not the case. Your absolutely right about players they've let back in. Hell, Tim Raines is in the HOF and he testified in court that he slide head first so he wouldn't crush the vile of cocaine he had in his back pocket. So as far as integrity goes The MLB definitely has 2 faces.
Ortiz numbers would reflect a platoon player with little power at 3rd base. The numbers Ortiz has put up might work for a 2nd baseman. Burnes has been a #1 for years. Brew crew got hosed on this deal
The Cubs had 3 big needs at the deadline. A 3B, A Closer and a C. They got a couple of late inning arms and Paredes. That was a nice get. Pearson was a lottery pick but Neely looks like the real deal. They're not Closers but they're big arms to go with the 6 or 7 the Cubs already have. Someone will emerge but probably not this year. Now all they need is a C and a short term Closer. Should be a fairly easy off Season for Hoyer. As long as he keeps his wallet in Ricketts pants.
Yeah, that was a good trade for both teams
The beauty of trades and compromises are that both sides can “win” in their respective positions.
At a minimum, the Cubs should sign James McCann as a FA. OPS+ in the mid 70s both years with the Os. Very good defensive and clubhouse guy. Not going to be that expensive and better than many of the FAs.
Where are they going to find a long term catcher? Better organizations than the Cubs have failed at that. Look at the Rays.
Logan OHoppe? Lord. He's comparable to Sean Murphy 2022 and Atlanta gave up William Contreras and 5 OK prospects to get Sean Murphy.
You overpay big time for young catchers with an OPS+ over 110. Realmuto, Contreras and Murphy are about the only ones that have been traded and the teams that traded them were either dumb (the Braves) or were in full rebuilds.
Every player is available for the right price.
I love titty references
Like what I'm seeing from Amaya lately and Bethancourt hasn't been bad. Small sample but the bottom of the order has been doing pretty darn good.
Casas and Story could be an upgrade to the lineup which could give them top to bottom ability. The bullpen needs to get healthy and sorted into appropriate roles for each guy. The rotation is their huge weakness, but if they can squeeze 5-6 innings out of Paxton, maybe get Winck lengthened a bit, maybe go to a six man to try and rest Houck and Crawford a bit more …
This is somewhat a team of mystery with their starters going forward, how much more do they have in them? The bullpen could turn it around and make this a fun team down the stretch.
I guess we’ll find out by the end of August.
The interesting thing about the Ortiz/Hall/comp pick for Burnes is that even if Hall flops and the pick doesn’t work out, Ortiz alone makes the trade a definite win.
But all best to Hall tonight!
His demographic isn't allowed second chances and is guilty until proven innocent
If they made him available i could see boston being interested..among others
.but you wont get 2 top 100 prospects for him ..sight unseen..if they want that return they need to hope he returns to ace form then move him at next years deadline
I don't know about that, Chris from NJ. I get the feeling the market is warming to Bauer. The Dodgers invited him to throw to their guys in an exhibition this year.
Bauer's comment about a lawsuit probably set him back. I think if he hadn't said that, there's a fair amount of likelihood he'd have gotten the call this year. Time mellows things out so long as the player can keep their mouth shut. For those players who can't, it's just re-opening the wound over and over (Curt Schilling).
There have been plenty of players who kept their jobs or gotten new opportunities after causing uproars over the years.
As for the stats... Fenway makes any offense look better than it really is. While they happen to be second in the AL in OPS and/or wOBA, they are seventh in MLB and 11th in park-adjusted wRC+. Against RHP they are second in MLB before park adjustments and 7th with park adjustments. It is a pretty significant gap between the two.
In late innings (7th onward) they have a .694 OPS against LHP, just 13th in the majors, with a MLB-high 29.2% strikeout rate. Those numbers ought to be intuitively obvious from watching the games?
The platooning is the reason that their overall performance against LHP holds up as well as it does. Both Refsnyder and Romy have done great work. But the platoon starts to break down in the late innings, and you end up with key left-on-left matchups against relief specialists. And the Red Sox have NOT handled those well.
Part of why their W-L is weaker against LHSP is that they use up their RHH in the middle innings, leaving the remaining lefties exposed in the later innings. It's a real issue, though I agree it doesn't exactly show up in the numbers you were citing.
Also worth noting that the Red Sox have 1356 PA against LHP, the highest in the AL. (There are more LHP in the NL.) The Yankees have 1220, the Orioles 1207, the Rays 1053. Part of the reason why the Red Sox numbers vs. LHP aren't worse than they are is that opposing teams stack lefties (and lefty relievers) against the Red Sox to a greater degree than they do against other teams. While there are plenty of teams which hit RHP better than LHP, the Red Sox numbers get dragged down more than most.
If you look at the split OPS relative to the overall OPS (Baseball-Reference reports that on their splits pages), you see that the Red Sox have the fourth lowest tOPS+ vs. LHP in the AL The team that loses the most against LHP is the Yankees, but I'm not going to cry for THEM. Just wish the Red Sox had more LHP to throw in those series.
I think they both opt out to sign a long term extension.
Typically someone would be considered for left field and not right field because they don't have a strong arm. A right fielders needs to throw out runners at home from a farther distance so he needs a stronger arm.
Abused ? I wrote this on my phone so it won't let me edit it. I was trying to write that they could have paired him up with ...
Roger Clemens used the same approach a couple decades ago.
I like Chapman and what he has done but that number is high. I could see 5/110
I'd think it makes other players happy. He doesn't compete out of the gate so the fringy guys get a more opportunity. Roger Clemens did the same thing at the end of his career.
Exactly. I know he's not good defensively but he can hit. They could have abused him upbwith someone better defensively and alternated at DH.
Let the Miami fans have something nice and keep Sandy. Unless they can get two MLB top 100 prospects in the deal, I would hold onto him.
The Cubs should have went after Diaz from Colorado. So what if he's a free agent after this season. The Rockies didn't even end up trading him probably wouldn't have costed too much.
This article is a little untimely because Logan has struggled in August. However, on August 1st, he was hitting .280 with 16 HRs and 46 RBIs. Many here on the left coast were pushing for him to be an all star. His numbers matched up favorably.
O’Hoppe, Neto, and Schanuel are a decent core for the Angels moving forward. No way was Logan going anywhere.
And were completely justified in going " Are you out of your mind? It's fine. The Cubs will get somebody to pair with Amaya next year until Aliendo gets here. We'll be OK. With Rendon, Trout and no pitching, The Angels are still in " The Twilight Zone" For years.
The proverbial teams headed in opposite directions cliche. Cleveland is in a 2nd half free fall. Cubs take at least 2/3
teddyj,
What about the billionaire owners who expect the public to build them ballparks? Do you have the same contempt for them?
Red Sox bats got a lot of holes , I would have guessed leading the majors in Ks. Pitchers don't miss many bats lately either
Well let's start a GoFundMe for these poor struggling MLB players trying to squeeze by on a minimum of about 800k while we working people are living the high life. Some of you wankers on here are just unbelievable and have no grounding in reality.
Marlins should probably consider trading Sandy. Only 2 more years of control left and they just traded all the offense away.
@unclemike1525 he only had 168 at bats last year, and had 14 homeruns. He was best catching prospect was blocked by realmuto. The offer would've to be substantial because he's only 24 with control, and hasn't experienced hiccups besides his shoulder injury last year. I also agree it wasn't going to happen just seems like it was leaked as a see we tried.
Hoby already a better career than dad Brian ?
I think Dom is better than Valdez or Dalbec. Not much of a role for him once Casas returns, as long as Casas and
Yoshida remain healthy. But if Smith is released, and Casas aggravates his injury, that would leave the team in a bad spot.
Not sure what being "satisfied" means in this context? He is both literally and figuratively a replacement level player, a guy who was free for signing at the point they realized they needed somebody better than Dalbec.
FPG, did you pay for your training and related travel expenses, or did your company?
I.L. Hall. D.L. is insensitive...
Another guy who fires up way too often. You're saying 5 Top 100 prospects for a .260 hitting C is a fair price? I can see how the Angels have been so bad for so long with fans like that. Wow. You keep your C and we'll keep our guys and you'll still be in last place for the next ten years. Pathetic.
Left field at Truist is larger than most ballparks and requires more athleticism. Right field there is no harder to play than left field. At least, that’s what I’ve read.
He was mostly in CF until Laureano. I'd guess that b/c most of the league is right-handed pull-hitters, so LF would get more action than RF. However, Truist RF is trickier than most because of the wall, and I believe, a little bit more room to cover. Soler's play in OF recently has been awful with a flyball hit to short RF (called off by Whit) where no one went after until Soler dove and it fell in between 4 players. I believe he hit the grand slam in the same game -- so, just like they're hoping, offense negates defense....smh.
Oh, the irony of not being able to call up Harris II, who seems ready, b/c they put him on the 60-day IL to clear up a spot for one of the band-aids. Make it stop.
@mlbfan
Ohtani hasn't pitched. He hasn't played the field. While he has played, "thru everything" is hardly accurate. Like Arraez making the All-Star team, much was based on past performance and expected future performance. Nothing wrong with that.
5? sorry, not close.
3 might be a stretch
Burke looked headed to greatness just three seasons ago.
That was more for the guy who said the Cubs should of traded for Thaiss. I just put it in the wrong spot. My bad. Besides the Cubs could make a deal right now for one of the Dodgers C's who are never going to see Chavez Ravine anyway and been better off than with O'Hoppe.. That might even still happen because Will Smith is there forever. You can still trade Minor Leaguers.
@mets6986 doesn't even look like he read the title or the article. O'hoppe isn't a bum, and it would have to be a haul to get him. I feel like it's a pr piece. They called on O'hoppe and the angels hung up
Rififi, Never on Sunday, Topkapi, Brute Force ... and married to Melina Mercouri. Who wouldn't be a fan?
So the Gurdians aren’t better than them? They should sweep them this series?
I heard that when they took away sticky stuff injuries went up because of the grip.
gbs - Regarding your last paragraph, because the players agreed to it in their contract.
Why shouldn't interns and apprentices get fully compensated?
I'm a salaried worker not on a contract, I was required to fly out of state for migration training. No additional compensation given, and I haven't a legal foot to stand on if I demand compensation.
Many servers make below minimum too .... and also farm jobs, where I'm from most kids 14 & 15 harvest tobacco for below minimum pay. It's the law. If you want to make an argument to change the law, that would basically nullify most existing contracts and other labor agreements. And you know the farm job kids would get replaced with illegals.
Can anyone explain to why Kelenic was never considered for RF? Is it simply b/c he's left handed? Played RF in Seattle i believe. He's a plus defender imo and typically the weakest outfielder plays LF....(I'm sure someone will hit me analytics saying he sux in the outfield or something lol)
You wouldn't want a whole lineup of hitters like him, but one or two helps immensely. I remember Polanco when he was in the Tigers lineup. He was the guy you wanted up with a runner at 3B because you knew he would put the ball in play.
O’Hoppe is a stud. The type of player you build around.
Cool the Cubs wanted him but I’m glad Perry kept him.
Yes they have a shot--but need to realize that EVERY team ahead of them in the wild card standings as of today (Padres, Diamondbacks, Braves, Mets, Giants and Cardinals_ --- EVERY ONE OF THEM -- own the tiebreaker over the Cubs. So, at this point, the 3.5 that they are behind is actually 4.5. Much like last year, they have put themselves in a little tougher spot than it would have been a few years back. There is no more room to lose any series to any non-playoff type team.
Do you even know what your rambling on about?
Soto got 3, top 100 prospects. O’Hoppe has 4 years of control left. 24 years old. Now the question is, what it would take, to get the Angels even interested in trading him. For a team like the Angels who are trying to get good young players, and aren’t looking to completely tear it down to the studs. 5 would be at minimum what the Angels would need to hear, to even have a conversation with someone. Anyone can agree or disagree with how the Angels are trying to rebuild or reload. O’Hoppe has already established himself as an everyday player. Most catchers at 24, are still in the minors. Especially when it was a sellers market at the deadline.
JT was not better than Ohoppe at this stage of their career. O’hoope is in year two of control. I guess your point is the reason of why the Cubs waisted their time going down this road.
That’s exactly the catcher the Cubs needed to target whether they could get him or not. If you are the Angels you have to consider the return.
Considering that it took 26 pitches to get through the 1st inning, 61 pitches through 3.1 IP is comparatively settling in. Granted, still not very efficient.
Speaking of the bullpen, here’s a slick idea for the Phillies FO - hit the Guardians up in November about Emmanuel Clase, before they even have an opportunity to discuss him with other clubs. Clase salary is set to double for 2025 and up again in 2026. The cash strapped Guardians’ worst contract is Myles Straw, who will make about 7 million in 2025 & 2026. He was DFA’s and outrighted to AAA, where’s he’s sported a .200 or so BA this summer. What if DD offers to take Myles Straw and an expensive Emmanuel Clase. Straw can’t hit a lick, but his CF defense is still elite.
Here’s my Guardians trade proposal -
Phillies get:
Emmanuel Clase CL
Myles Straw CF
Guardians get:
Johan Rojas CF
Yunel Marte RHP
Michael Mercado RHP (#30)
Griff McGarry RHP (#11)
Matt Osterberg LHP (#40)
Jordan Viars 1B/OF (#37)
This trade deadline showed that most teams when they trade a big league player, want 2-3 prospects/close to MLB ready players in return for them. So I think these 6 for 2 trades make sense financially and structurally for the Phillies, Angels & Guardians.
bum - I like your thinking on Story, build up his value so he can be traded. With his injury history it's not like he can be the fallback guy if Mayer bombs.
As they say in baseball, the best ability is availability ;O)
Don't pin Sale entirely on Breslow, ownership told him flat out that they didn't plan to contend this year or next year. So from Breslow's perspective, trading Sale was not a horrific decision .... however it was the timing, the return and the $17M cash that made it a horrible trade.
Just imagine how much the Sox could have gotten at this year's trade deadline for Sale!!!
FPG,
Spring training games bring in lots of revenue, and players certainly are working, so I don't know why they don't all get paid.
The trivialities of extra-inning and shortened games over a 162-game season pale in comparison to a six-week spring training.
Paying minor leaguers less than minimum wage, regardless of whether it's "for the completion of a job" clearly was a violation of labor law. It's why MLB got Congress to pass a law specifically allowing it and why the league and new minor league collective bargaining arm negotiated to prevent it...for now (MLB is working to undue that).
Players are required to attend this "free training" as part of their job, so why shouldn't they be compensated?
That’s a valid question? maz, however if Cherington is still the GM, and with the current player development system, will those prospects mature into major league caliber players or ruined due to incompetence?
Granted Cruz was obtained by way of a trade when he was a top prospect, but he has too many deficiencies that by now should have been worked out and hasn’t
Burke has looked over matched and like a indy league player all year.
And for a .260 hitter that is probably going to be his career best. The Cubs were looking for a better C. He's better than what they had but at the time so was used toilet paper. And Amaya was always a threat to get better. So we'll keep our #2 ranked Farm System and you can keep you're 32 nd ranked one and your .260 C. And yeah, I counted a couple of Korean Teams that have better Farm Systems than the Angels. Too funny.
gbs - With all due respect, major leaguers don't get paid for spring training either. Their paychecks begin in April. Do they get paid extra for extra innings played? Or for games that get rained out after 1-4 1/2 innings are played? I think you are confusing contract/salary labor with hourly labor.
Players are not hourly, they get paid for the completion of a job ... not by the hour.
As for the low pay, they are receiving free training and exclusive opportunities for advancement to the majors .... that has a lot more value. Unpaid and low paid training is not that uncommon in other careers besides baseball.
Shouldn’t have let Contreras leave
With regards to Mike Trout - truly believe he played his last game as an Angel. But stubborn Arte Moreno will not trade Trout AND eat a large portion of the salary. He just won’t. So the margin realistically reduces down to 5 teams: The Phillies, Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and maybe the Giants. They are the only teams that could, or would even consider to absorb a contract that large. If I know the Angels, they will want at least a couple of decent prospects to save face and look like they got something in return. And in lieu of eating big chunk of Trout’s salary, could see the acquiring team sending back a high paid player or two. That way it was also make it appear as if the Angels aren’t going into a complete rebuild. The Phillies have a good working relationship with the Anaheim Angels, and Mike Trout would relish the opportunity to play on the East Coast for a World Series contender.
Here’s my Trout trade proposal over the winter:
Phillies get:
Mike Trout RF (37mil)
Reid Detmers SP (1mil)
Angels get:
Nick Castellanos RF (20mil)
Taijuan Walker SP (18mil)
Mick Abel RHP (#5)
Christian McGowan RHP (#14)
Carlos de la Cruz 1B/LF (#13)
Jose Rodriguez SS (#28)
The Trout salary for 2025 offsets, which will keep the budgets of both clubs in tact, without hamstringing either.
In 2026, Kyle Schwarber will be off the books, and probably will not be resigned. The Phillies have to keep the DH open for guys like Harper who are signed long into their 30’s, and now Trout (in this hypothetical). This balancing act would also keep the Phillies below the 3rd luxury tax tier, still allowing them to make modest additions to the bullpen over the next two winters. The Angels for their part, received a fringe top 100 MLB prospect in Abel, plus another AAA arm. A 6’7” hitter that’s harnessing his raw skills and natural power, plus two solid veterans in Castellanos & Walker. Castellanos would hit cleanup behind Nolan Schanuel, and Taijuan would slot in behind Tyler Anderson in the rotation.
Makes sense for both teams, for Mike Trout, and for Major League Baseball and all of MLB’s fans!
Five top 100 prospects would be an unprecedented return. That is insane. And the Marlins got that many prospects because JT was A) better than O'Hoppe and B) much more established than O'Hoppe. I think O'Hoppe is a great talent but no one would decimate their farm system for one player.
olm - Yes Ort throws 100MPH, but striking out a bunch of Red Sox players ain't that big a deal this year!
They have struck out 27 times in just the last 2 games!
And they have the 3rd-most strikeouts in MLB this year, even more than the lowly Athletics, Pirates, ChiSox, and Marlins!!!
I predict a win streak against the Rangers ..... but in Baltimore all bets are off!!
I hope Story is back for September. I want teams to see he can hit so he has trade value in the off-season. He's just too injury prone at this point to be reliable. As they say in football, your best trait is availability. We'd have 6 or 7 more wins if we didn't trade Sale. To be fair I think Breslow thought this team was going to absolutely suck so he thought he'd move salary while filling a need at 2nd. We needed rotation help more than bullpen help though. Is James Paxton better than replacement? Meh....I am excited to see a middle of the lineup of Casas, O'Neil, and Devers. That has the potential to be a lot of fun.
tff - I always appreciate when you bring in stats, thank you!
I think the main question here is, are you satisfied with Dom's overall performance in a Red Sox uniform?
As for your last paragraph, the notion that Sox hitters struggle against LHP is a myth which I can easily debunk.
Ready?
The Red Sox have the SECOND BEST OPS IN THE ENTIRE LEAGUE AGAINST LHP!!!
They have a .758 OPS against southpaws, second only to Baltimore!!!
Just because the W/L record against LHSP is not that great, it doesn't mean they struggle to hit against them!
They also have the 2nd-most HR, RBI and Walks in the league against LHP.
Hi Roger!
ROTFLMAO. This guy is the reason I keep saying drugs are bad. Please learn to just say no. Juan Soto didn't even get a return like that! Haaaaa Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa
They really have only two challenging series remaining (home against the Yanks and road vs. Dodgers.) Phillies too but who knows what their situation will be the end of Sept. Sneaking into the WC is completely realistic.
@The Name, you need to include Dana in that group.
@Logjammer D, at minimum 5 top 100 prospects. More likely 6 or more. The Marlins got 3 top 100 prospects for JT. And Logan has more control than JT did
Casas has looked good down at Worcster his swing is aggressive there doesn’t appear to be any holding back in the games I’ve watched. He looks ready to come back. I’m not real sure why Story needs to rush back he would be a defensive upgrade like he was last year but he’s likely to need a lot of time to get his timing back offensively and will probably really struggle. I think they should just let him fully heal over the off-season.
There is a nice base forming for this Red Sox team. Boston is going to need to get some pitching in free agency this off-season. They really need a horse to front the rotation that guy is not Lucas Giolito. I expect that all of Mayer, Anthony,Teel and Campbell will be in AAA Worcster to start next season unless any of them are moved for controllable starting pitching. Mayer should be ready to step in if anything happens to Story next year at short. This would keep Rafaela in center where he belongs.
There’s a real nice team forming here for next season Breslow has a lot of decisions to make but the starting pitching needs to be addressed. I do believe that next year we will start to see quality starting pitching prospects arrive in AA Portland but unlikely to be helpful next year.
Nice theory, but a contract is a contract.
How about paying minor Leaguers less than minimum wage and not paying them at all for spring training? Aren't those violations of labor law?
He was all over the comments section spamming like this last offseason so that probably is his account just under a different name
What would it have taken for the Cubs to acquire O'Hoppe?
Since July 1, Smith has hit .264/.323/.505 with 14 R and 12 RBI. Those aren't "Wow!" numbers, to be sure, but he has done a credible job and you don't have to be a suck-up to acknowledge that. It doesn't mean that he has suddenly become a starting player or anything silly like that, just that he has found a nice run of success.
Over that same span, Hamilton has hit .220/.289/.349 with 10 R and 8 RBI in similar playing time. He is a better defender at a more valuable position, and clearly a superior baserunner, but not somebody I would hold up as an obvious improvement over Smith.
I agree that neither should be facing lefties. Smith has hit .256/.289/.419 against lefties this season while Hamilton has hit .238/.273/.333. Abreu is hitting .186/.255/.279 against them. All three have an almost identical number of PA (44 to 47) against lefties this year.
Yoshida has *not* been platooned to the same degree, with 80 PA against them, and has hit .203/.288/.333.
Put the four together, along with McGuire and Valdez, and it is easy to see why LHP do well against the Red Sox. Even the big bats of Devers and Duran are of course stronger against RHP.
These moves were merited in my opinion. Surprised a team hasn’t claimed Darrick Hall though. Understand he’s a bat 1st player that offers nothing in the field or on the bases - but Phillies fans have seen the power display and work ethic. Scratched/clawed his way (as a no-name prospect) to the majors and devotes a lot of time to watching film and working in the cage. There’s a lack of high quality 1B in MLB (compared to the 80’s & 90’s at least), someone should give him a shot.
Why would the Cubs trade for a bum when you can get them for free off the waiver pile? If you're going to shoot for something why not aim for the brass ring? At least Hoyer kept his word and didn't make any deals for 2024 only and it's working out OK since the deadline so far.
Receiving full paychecks that aren't earned is theoretcly stealing
Left handed people generally don't live as long as righties.
That's true I forgot about those two
O'Hoppe, Neto, Schanuel, Soriano and Joyce should be the Top 5 untouchables. Perhaps the Cubs should have tried for Matt Thaiss instead who seems better this season than any of those Cubs catchers.
Thank you Perry!
Why would the Angels trade O’Hoppe? Maybe the Cubs should have set their targets on realistic trade options.
I'm not high on Story. He really hasn't produced offensively since he got to Boston, strikes out way too much.
Performs with his band at the opening ceremony of the Olympics, and now back to work.