Vandelay is sitting outside his house in an old beat-up Lazy Boy. With a beer can in hand and his iPhone in the other, he's wheeling and dealing his old goods.
It's good to see the energy.
Perhaps the Outs' championship from last fall has him looking toward a rebuild that mirrors what his brother did.
If that's the case, his first two trades certainly set himself up nicely for such a rebuild, and I'm sure there's more to come. In fact, I was under the impression there'd be another deal, so that's why I waited so long to react to the deals.
And, I waited.
And waited some more.
And then I got tired of waiting, so I watched the Patriots pull off the most amazing comeback before returning to the baseball world to find Jason Hammel signing with the Royals.
Finally, tired of waiting, I woke up Monday morning declaring to myself, "Tonight, the Jargon returns."
(Lily looks at me weird in the mornings when I make such proclamations.)
(Lily looks at me weird in the mornings when I make such proclamations.)
I'm sure I'll be back soon with another Jargon review of a trade, but let's work with what we have, and that's the mother of all trade chips going out for some Ol' Country Breakfast — Chris Sale and his jersey-cutting attitude is off to the JLB's American League.
In real life, he brought back a monster return for the White Sox, and in the JLB, it wasn't much different. I'm still trying to figure out who made out better, the White Sox or the Vandelay.
Alex Reyes, in my mind, will be just as valuable, if not
more, than Sale very soon, and Gregory Polanco will make for a strong LF option in 2017. His move to LF was announced Sunday with McCutchen going to RF and Marte to CF. For Vandelay, he also gets Lewis Brinson, who is a prospect that could have an impact down the road.
For Old Country, who gets Sale, he also hauled in Mark
Trumbo and Cameron Maybin, who I’m sure will be released at keeper deadline.
He’s clearly making a push to win this year with Sale and Trumbo.
That's not to say Vandelay can't win with this squad, but we’ve seen this
before. The rebuilds look good, but with all the “ifs,” you’re likely a year or
two off.
That’s the early take, though, as the Sale deal wasn’t the
only deal he made.
Soon thereafter he traded Buster Posey, one of his original
franchise draft picks, for Wil Myers and Brandon Drury. The latter is a bit of
a long shot, but I love Wil Myers. I’d still have him if it wasn’t for the fact
I had a packed lineup heading into 2016.
More to come, he says, so we’ll wait anxiously to see how it
impacts 2017.
OUTS LINING THEM UP
As if his lineup wasn’t strong enough already, Outs
bolstered the squad with Buster Posey. That will take care of what is truly his
only hole in the lineup, catcher.
Still a big question on what guys from that lineup land in
the draft because simple math says he can’t keep them all — and we’re all
thankful for that.
OTHER DEALS
A fairly even deal took place a few weeks ago between Crox
and Panthers which swaps Justin Turner for Drew Smyly is nothing too exciting
for the offseason, but both could play pivotal roles in season for their new
squads.
The other deal that landed a week ago was Pirates prospect
pitcher Mitch Keller for Cubs oft-benched million-dollar blunder Jason Heyward.
For new owner Jason McGuirk, the Dude, it’s a big win
grabbing a young prospect to fulfill that seventh minor league spot. Plus, as
he has quickly learned, getting young pitching is quite expensive in the JLB.
This gives him a pitcher before he becomes too expensive.
For the Slammers, it’s a flier on a player who has been
working hard all offseason to shorten his swing.
If he doesn’t look like he’s turned it around in spring, it
will cost the Cubs millions of dollars again to bench him; and only a prospect
for the Slammers to bench.
Oh, and Old Country traded for Tyler Glasnow, somehow pulling away the Pirates pitcher away from Steroid for Ozzie Albies.
... Wait a second. ...
Steroid wouldn't bite on Keller and McCutchen, and now he trades Glasnow?
Is he still a Pirates fan? Maybe the South and his boy Dansby Swanson has him eyeing up the Braves as a new favorite team.
Comments