Die Hard is a Christmas movie, there's no doubt about it.
(For Choo, FYI, Die Hard is a movie.)
It has Christmas music, it has a wild Christmas party and throughout the movie, there are references to Santa.
There is just no denying it; John McClane is a Christmas gift to the world of action movie fans.
What you also cannot deny is Mr. McLain is a Christmas gift to the world of Cheese Steak fans.
Yes, this is what brings the Jargon out of retirement.
Who would of thought that a Mike Trout deal would be made and the piece that everyone is questioning isn't Mike Trout?
Matt McLain, with an absolutely delightful MLB experience number of 0.140, moves over to the Cheese Steaks along with trade traveling partner, Mike Trout, and it's surely a deal that will set up the Steaks nicely for a few years.
If Trout can somehow play somewhat of a full season, that's already a major step up from Cedric Mullins.
And McLain can be a 1.000 keeper this year, and he'll then be good for 2.099 in 2025 and 3.099 in 2026. Three years of control for a young star who batted .290 last year?! Merry freaking Christmas, JV.
For the Tots, he brings in the aforementioned Mullins, Vinnie Pasquantino, Andres Munoz, Freddy Peralta and Jeimar Candelario.
Vinny P is likely the best player in this deal coming back for Trout, but the labrum tear is a huge concern because it is certainly not an injury that hitters come back from easily.
Freddy Peralta and Andres Munoz are at least good arms to have and a step up from the pitching staff he had prior to the deal, but this will certainly be a deal he will look back on for a while.
This wasn't the only deal to go down over the JLB Winter Meetings. A Mike Trout deal got outshined by the man who has been stealing his limelight for years, Shohei Ohtani.
Choo sent Ohtani packing once again, this time fueling the other NL team that won 270 games last year, the Dude.
That's right, the two teams that set JLB records for wins in a season both got better.
It's OK, though — Butter and I are staying calm and cool during this period of turmoil in the NL.
The Dude paid dearly in this deal, fortunately from surplus, sending Mookie Betts, Jordan Montgomery, Tanner Bibee, Max Muncy and Isaac Paredes, along with a first-round pick and prospect Wyatt Langford.
This is quite the haul, and I'd take time to comment on their impact for Choo, but it's December. We all know that half of these guys will be on another roster come March.
With those trades completed, the Green Draft started and there were no more trades in the Winter Meetings, just a bunch of potential future stars landing on rosters.
ROUND 1
1. Scott’s Tots - Hurston Waldrep, ATL: The man who definitely drinks hot tea with his pinky out was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 JLB Green Draft. He may not have been the best player on the board, but Tots got his guy and that's what these drafts are about. Spencer Jones went No. 1 last year, and that looks slightly better a year later. The former Gator pitcher could be an option for the Braves rotation in 2024 after cracking the MLB Top 100 right at No. 100. He posted a 1.53 ERA with 41 strikeouts and 16 walks last year.
2a. Triple Eh - time expired: Triple Eh? More like M-I-EH.
2b. Gamblers - Shota Imanaga, FA: Parker took the top player on the board when it comes to potential impact in 2024. Imanaga is projected to make an impact for some MLB team this year. The question is, which one? Parker just has to hope that the clock doesn't run out on Imanaga and he has to go back to Japan.
3. Sex Panthers - Jairo Iriarte, SD: The Padres righty was added to the 40-man this offseason and could be starting for the Friars in 2024. The 7th-ranked prospect in the organization reached Double-A last year and combined for a 3.49 ERA with 128 strikeouts and 45 walks last season.
4. Rocky Nutz - Nick Kurtz, Wake Forest: One of the top college bats that will be in next summer's MLB Draft is the first college bat off the board here. Kurtz, a 6-5 first baseman from Wake Forest, was an All-America Second Teamer a year ago, batting .344 with 22 homers and 64 RBIs. He also walked 62 times for a .525 OBP. He has walked more than he has struck out in two years at Wake Forest, so he will certainly have that profile to be a strong bat in the majors as we have seen with players like this in the past.
5. Crox Sox - Tyler Black, MIL: This Canadian baseball player was probably ticketed for that second overall pick, but snooze you lose. Crox gets the Brewers No. 4 prospect, a 23-year-old 3B from Wright State, who batted .353 over 500 plate appearances in college. Last year in Triple-A, he batted .310 with a .428 OBP. He has speed on the hot corner, totaling 25 doubles, 12 triples and 55 stolen bases across Double-A and Triple-A.
6. Slammers - JJ Wetherholt, WVU: The No. 1 draft prospect on MLB Pipeline's 2024 list, Wetherholt is quite possibly the best pure hitter in the draft class. Some scouts have actually said they think he's the best bat they've ever seen. That's some high praise for the Big 12 Conference Player of the Year who batted .419/.517 with 16 homers and 36 steals last season. Another year like that will all but guarantee he's heading to Cleveland as the No. 1 overall pick.
7. Choo - Chase DeLauter, CLE: DeLauter had some hype coming out of college, but a pair of foot injuries have slowed him in the minors, along with the Covid season. Now with Cleveland, he's on the cusp of making the jump to the majors and with the current lineup in Cleveland, he may get that chance sooner than later. DeLauter's highest level has been Double-A, and it was just 22 at-bats. Still, over 214 minor league at-bats last season across three lower levels, he batted .355 with 22 doubles, five homers and 39 RBIs.
8. Steaks - Drew Thorpe, SD: Getting out of the Yankees system is potentially a great thing for Thorpe. The Yankees typically slow-roll their pitching prospects and differ to major league free agents/trade options before giving the young stars a full chance. And when they do get that chance, the leash is short and/or they become a yo-yo from the bullen to the rotation. So this winter's trade may be a blessing in disguise for the 23-year-old righty. He went 14-2 over 23 starts last year with a 2.52 ERA, 182 strikeouts and 38 walks. He only got five Double-A starts at the end of the season, so he'll likely need a half season there before cracking the Padres rotation.
9. Dude - Carson Williams, TB: With Wander Franco's future up in the air, Williams may just have a chance to be a star with the Rays. The 20-year-old played most of 2023 in A+, batting. .254 over 105 games, before moving to Double-A. There he batted .429 over six games before moving to Triple-A where he had 1 hit in 13 at-bats. It's likely he starts in Double-A this year, and who knows, maybe by mid-summer, he's taking over the shortstop spot in Tampa.
10. Breakfast - Robby Snelling, SD: Snelling went 11-3 with a 1.82 ERA, 118 strikeouts and 34 walks in 22 starts across Single-A, A+ and Double-A. He still needs some seasoning, but perhaps the Padres replace Snell with Snelling.
11. Triple Eh - Cooper Hjerpe, STL: He has risen. Erik arrived just in time to make his first round pick, albeit nine picks late. Hjerpe is a lefty starter for the Cards who played at Single-A+ last year, posting a 3.51 ERA over 41 innings. He's the Cards' seventh overall prospect who was drafted in 2022 and was slowed down last summer with an elbow injury.
ROUND 2
12. Scott’s Tots - Matt Shaw, CHC: The Cubs' sixth overall prospect batted .357/.400 over 157 at-bats across three levels last year. He finished the season in Double-A, batting .292 in 15 games. He'll likely be back with the Tennessee Smokies to start 2024.
13. Triple Eh - Bryce Eldridge, SF: Erik got the feel of a snake draft here. He jumped back in to select the Giants' fourth overall prospect, who is listed as a 1B/RHP. The 2023 first-round draft pick batted .294 in 31 low-level games last year. The Giants had him focus solely on right field because they didn't want pitching to distract him, so at this point, it seems very unlikely that he'll pitch for the Giants.
14. Gamblers - Yuki Matsui, SD: Parker's personal international draft continued. The replacement to Josh Hader is the 28-year-old lefty who saved 30 or more games for the Rakuten Golden Eagles six times. Since 2019, he has a 2.20 ERA and a 35.8 percent strikeout rate.
15. Sex Panthers - Jorbit Vivas, NYY: Vivas was one of the hottest hitters in the minors early in the season last year, and there was buzz in Dodger-land that he could be getting the call. But those calls waned as his season cooled off, especially when he moved to Triple-A. After batting .280 over 109 games at Double-A, he fell to .225 in 26 games at Triple-A. Still, his 2023 season was .269/.381 with 25 doubles, 13 homers, 64 RBIs, 25 stolen bases and 98 runs scored. If he can show those skills in the Yankees' system, it's not crazy to think he'll get a chance in the Bronx this summer.
16. Rocky Nutz - Noah Schultz, CHW: Schultz, to my surprise, is the No. 4 LHP on MLB Pipeline. I love how prospects can sometimes get lost like this. He's a big dude at 6-9, but only 220, so he's a tall twig out there. With that height, you'd expect him to be all about the fastball, but in actuality, it's his slider that is his signature pitch. He logged 27 innings in his pro debut season at Single-A, striking out 38 and walking just six. He posted a 1.33 ERA with a 0.85 WHIP. This could be a prospect breakout season for him if he keeps those numbers up in a full season at Double-A.
17. Crox Sox - Ty Madden, DET: Madden pitched exclusively in Double-A last season, posting a 3.43 ERA over 118 innings with 146 strikeouts and 50 walks. The former Texas Longhorn standout has decent size and could be in line to be with the Tigers later in 2024.
18. Slammers - Jacob Hurtubise, CIN: The first Patriot League Player of the Year to be rostered, let alone drafted, in the JLB goes to the guy who covered him during his years at Army. Hurtubise has speed and high contact skills with a great eye at the plate. He has risen in the ranks of the minors with the Reds, and looking at the Reds outfield, it would not be out of the question to think that Hurtubise is starting in center field on Opening Day. He will definitely get a look in camp after a strong Arizona Fall League that was an encore to a fantastic 2023 in the minors where he batted .330 with 10 triples, 45 stolen bases and 102 runs scored. He had 77 walks and struck out 63 times for a .479 OBP. This included a .390/.537 clip at Triple-A.
19. Choo - Jhancarlos Lara, ATL: Lara had a 4.09 ERA with 114 strikeouts in low-A. This is all I'm going to write about him because Choo is already thinking about the size of the Hurtubise breakdown and getting angry about the clear bias I showed when writing that blurb. ... He's now even more mad that 85 percent of his blurb was wasted on this.
20. Steaks - Emmanuel Rodriguez, MIN: For the second straight year, Breakfast got sniped on Rodriguez, but to be fair, this time around, he had plenty of opportunities to add the prospect last summer and didn't. Rodriguez offers a fantasy owner's dream with some power, speed and on-base skills. His .413 career OBP is nice and his homer and stolen base numbers show promise. But the big worry would be the fact that in three seasons in the minors he's only gone from Rookie Ball to A+. At age 20, there's still time to progress, but one has to wonder why he hasn't moved along quicker to Double-A. ... Probably the same reason why Sam didn't add him last summer.
21. Dude - Travis Bazzana, Oregon State: The No. 3 overall draft prospect for 2023 is out of Oregon State, so the Dude is looking for that Adley Rutschman magic. The 21-year-old second baseman is a lefty bat from Sydney, Australia. He won the Cape Cod League batting title and MVP award last year, and this came after batting .374 with 11 homers, 55 RBIs and 36 stolen bases at Oregon State as a sophomore. He also walked 59 times to boast a .500 OBP. ... So like I said, Rutschman magic.
22. Breakfast - Xavier Isaac, TB: The fourth-ranked Tampa prospect batted .285 with 19 homers, 72 RBIs and 64 walks across Single-A and A+ last season. He's still a way out from the Rays, but he has the power/contact potential that will be tested in Double-A this year.
Below is the rest of the draft. The notables from the list include a pair of Steaks in Roman Anthony and Justin Crawford. The latter has looked really good for the Phillies and will be interesting to see how he progresses in 2024. Anthony broke out in the Red Sox system last year and started to make noise down on the farm rising to Double-A with a .272/.403 performance over 106 games. He could be the gem of the latter part of this Green Draft.
But my money on the gem would go to Justyn-Henry Malloy, who Breakfast grabbed at Pick 32. He started 2023 strong in the Tigers system and there were thoughts that he may get the call last year, but he stayed in Triple-A as his season cooled off a tad. He still finished the year batting .277/.417 with 23 homers, 83 RBIs, 89 runs and 110 walks. His vision at the plate is great and if he gets the call this year, as one would expect, Breakfast may have himself a fantasy star added to his already strong lineup.
Scott's Tots also added some nice potential in Samuel Basallo, who has been placed on several top 10 lists for future first basemen, and Vance Honeycutt, who with another strong season and UNC will secure a top-10 selection in next summer's MLB Draft.
Lastly, as Choo would expect, I can't end this without mentioning Ethan Holliday. Some scouts say he may be better than Jackson, so if that's the case, Butter is going to regret rejecting my trade offer of a brother swap. He's still just a junior in high school, and just finished up a strong football season. I'm hoping he does the smart thing and hang up those football cleats and avoid any silly injuries next fall.
ROUND 3
23. Scott’s Tots - Joey Cantillo, CLE
24. Triple Eh - Chase Petty, CIN
25. Gamblers - Charlie Condon, UGA
26. Sex Panthers - Anthony Solometo, PIT
27. Crox Sox - James Triantos, CHC
28. Slammers - Ethan Holliday, H.S.
29. Choo - David Festa, MIN
30. Steaks - Roman Anthony, CF
31. Dude - Joey Loperfido, HOU
32. Breakfast - Justyn-Henry Malloy, DET
ROUND 4
33. Scott’s Tots - Samuel Basallo, BAL
34. Sex Panthers - Owen Cassie, CHC
35. Crox Sox - Orelvis Martinez, TOR
36. Steaks - Justin Crawford, PHI
37. Dude - Nick Frasso, LAD
38. Breakfast - Naoyuki Uwasawa, FA
ROUND 5
39. Scott’s Tots - Vance Honeycutt, UNC
40. Sex Panthers - Brock Vrandenburg, MIA
41. Breakfast - Cole Young, SEA
ROUND 6
42. Scott’s Tots - Roderick Arias, NYY
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