Sox trade John Schreiber to KC for minor league right-hander David Sandlin
- Thread starter soxhop411
- Start date
I’m referencing your post, which indicated you were dismayed. What do you mean by “selling off”? And what is “unbelievable” about it?
Someone posted an article in the ST thread suggesting that Whitlock will begin the season as a starter, and that this finally makes sense b/c (not just in his own opinion) Whitlock is in "the best shape of his career" owing to working out all off-season.
p.s. I always liked Schreiber, who at least previous to last year always gave me a relaxed feeling when he came into the game, but what do I know?
Last edited:
Regardless of where they are going this year, this trade makes great (not just good) sense, especially given that there's no shortage of RH RP.
It’s the kind of trade you want to see your team make in a rebuilding year. Schreiber had all the makings of someone who offered a different look out of the pen and could dominate for a stretch so long as he threw strikes, but who would lose his value the more he was exposed. After acquiring Weissert, Campbell, and Slaten, the bullpen was getting full to the point where Schreiber's role wasn't even clear. Good guy but he was more than replaceable.
I’m intrigued by Sandlin, but just as much intrigued by what Breslow plans to do with the open roster spot, if anything.
Not really relevant but I was amused at the tweet saying that KC was foolish for trading for Schreiber because they weren’t good. This is KC’s most active offseason in a long time. Getting Wacha, Lugo, Smith, Schreiber is pretty much their version of going for it.
I’m intrigued by Sandlin, but just as much intrigued by what Breslow plans to do with the open roster spot, if anything.
Not really relevant but I was amused at the tweet saying that KC was foolish for trading for Schreiber because they weren’t good. This is KC’s most active offseason in a long time. Getting Wacha, Lugo, Smith, Schreiber is pretty much their version of going for it.
This is unnecessarily negative. They have 4 arms that can likely replicate Schreiber's impact on the current team, 2 of which they lose if they don't roster them. This was they control how they lose one of those arms.
KC is trying to buy some extra wins while they convince voters to approve a new stadium tax. Smart to take advantage.
KC is trying to get the public to fund a new stadium, they have to give the illusion of trying at least.
Slandin is a helium prospect with a wide variance in rankings. Baseball Trade Value sucks at valuing players with that profile
If you’re an organization that lacks quality pitching prospects, you trade for them. Whether Schreiber is an overpay or not remains to be seen but I like the idea.
Lou just share this on x. For those who wont add to X eyeballs, I apologize, I don't know how to pull videos off that platform. Its a video of Sandin throwing to a batter in some indoor facility... they claim he hit 100.
View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1758901302510096784
View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1758901302510096784
I won't pretend to be an expert, but Schrieber was listed above as projecting .3 WAR. How can that profile be $9M+ in "excess" value? BTV makes zero sense to me.
Well, two things going on here. BTV is fine for assessing major leaguers but very bad at minor leaguers, but also FG underrates the projected WAR of most relievers. They have only 22 relievers in all of MLB projected for over 1 WAR, which might be a function of inconsistency from year to year, but also will likely end up being much lower than reality.
https://www.fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=RP
Exactly.
Especially when the asset you’re trading is something the organization has droves of (rhp middle relief arms) for something it has basically nothing of (good SP prospects).
I think the perception will change when SoxProspects updates and people quickly can see that Sandlin is the 4th best pitching prospect in the system and likely top 15ish overall and not just some guy for KC.
When you can get a top 5 (in your system) SP prospect for a middle relief pitcher, and your MLB team isn’t likely to be good in 2 of his 3 years of control, you make that move every time.
0.3 WAR is for one year, $9M is over his remaining three years of control. Still, they’re probably a bit bullish on him to reach that number.
Edit: then again, he was worth more than that in surplus just in 2022.
Also, I hope this puts to rest the notion that the offseason is certainly over. There may or may not be more moves of any magnitude, but the rosters aren’t set until the rosters are set.
4th best is probably his floor. I’d rank him as second behind Fitts purely based on level.
I’m not a believer in Winklemans ability to be a starter because of his strike throwing issues. In fact, I wouldn’t be shocked if a team like him he was moved. Breslow likes strikes
I think he’ll be somewhere between the 10-14 on Soxprospects.
I wonder if there is any way to find out if Kyle Boddy has any familiarity or experience with Fitts, Sandlin, Slaten or any of the other young pitchers Breslow has acquired from his time running Driveline Baseball? Since there are so many great researchers on here, it'd be nice to know if anyone can get more info on this.
I'm cool with the risk/reward of this. Schreiber had one great year. Maybe he bounces back to elite, but based on the volatility of the position and lack of pedigree - dude was claimed on waivers, designated for assignment, etc - who knows if he even ends up being a positive contributor for a (likely) below average roster.
LOL. Yeah, I expect another reliever is heading out, and possibly an outfielder. I hope they are replaced by at least one more starting pitcher.
As per chance I am in the midst of my first BB Fantasy draft and here is what Yahoo Sports says about Schreiber
"Advice: Though he missed nearly two months of the season due to a shoulder strain, Schreiber instantly becomes one of the top relievers in Kansas City's bullpen after posting a 3.86 ERA and 1.41 WHIP across 46.2 frames in 2023. The 29-year-old right-hander often served in high-leverage situations over the past two years and could be in the mix for save opportunities with his new club."
"Advice: Though he missed nearly two months of the season due to a shoulder strain, Schreiber instantly becomes one of the top relievers in Kansas City's bullpen after posting a 3.86 ERA and 1.41 WHIP across 46.2 frames in 2023. The 29-year-old right-hander often served in high-leverage situations over the past two years and could be in the mix for save opportunities with his new club."
I like this. Schreiber hasn't really been the same since his initial burst onto the Sox scene. He went from "what Martin was in 2023" in 2022 to "close to fungible" by the end of last season. Maybe he was still recovering from injury or guarding against re-injury, but he was pretty much Forrest Gump's box of chocolates last year.
That's properly understood as an indictment of the Royals' bullpen, which is well below average, than a glowing endorsement of Schreiber.
And also its fantasy. Even the worst team will win 55-60 games; someone's gonna get "saves." Doesn't mean he's actually good.
They need an ace really really bad but they’re pretty set at 2-4 and have a few options for 5-6. But they really need that ace to be competitive this year.
I’m honestly more interested in how they position for ‘25 and ‘26.
Wow, those tweets read like a AI Bot wrote them. It’s not ruining baseball, but things like this are why some people think analytics have gone too far.
From MLBTraderumors:
“ ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel recently ranked Sandlin as the fifth-best prospect in the Royals’ farm system, while The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked the righty seventh.“
I liked Schreiber but this seems like a big win to me. Especially given the lack of pitching prospects in the farm system.
“ ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel recently ranked Sandlin as the fifth-best prospect in the Royals’ farm system, while The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked the righty seventh.“
I liked Schreiber but this seems like a big win to me. Especially given the lack of pitching prospects in the farm system.
I don't know anything about Sandlin other than what I've read here, but it is kind of amusing the way that Schreiber went from "integral part of the pen" and "evidence of Bloom's ability to find cheap talent" to "fungible guy who has had one good year" the moment this trade went down.
You speak as if these are mutually exclusive viewpoints when they are not. All of what you said is true. Simple as that.
With this tweet, we've heard his arsenal includes fastball, slider, curve, change and now splitter.
What does he actually throw?
The first reports suggest that he has two plus pitches in his fastball and slider, and some show me other pitches that have potential.
Maybe Breslow thinks he can improve one or more of his secondary offering pitches?
Some of us. I know plenty of people disagree with me, but I think if you operate in a budget (which FSG clearly does, even though it’s a damn fine budget), I think pretty much all non closer bullpen arms are fungible (and extremely volatile), at least once they make more than league minimum.
Fungible encompasses more (or better) pitchers, doubly so if the team is not going to be good.
I‘d trade Martin for this return in a second, and he’s much better than Schrieher. I’d trade Winckowski for this as well. If I’m missing anyone else in the pen (minus the three listed below), I’d trade them for this too. What, maybe Bernardino I guess…
Whitlock I’d be tempted, due to the salary and injury history, but probably hold out for more bc I think he‘d be (has been) a very good closer before (but if Boston could get someone like Jordan Wicks or Ben Brown from ChC, I’d trade Whitlock for them in a second).
Jansen and Houck are the only ones I’d certainly not like trading for this return.
I really hope Martin is traded in the next week too, same with Winckowski if you can get anything close to this.
Bailey may be trying to develop Winck as a starter though, we don't really know yet.
Can they hurry up and vote? Not sure Schreiber will be rallying the electorate once the season starts.
The Sox still have 9 right-handed relief pitchers on the 40 man. Schrieber is probably somewhere in the middle of the pack after Jansen, Martin, Wink, and either Whitlock or Houck. This trade is worth the risk even if Sandlin doesn’t make it.
I like Schreiber, he’s a good right handed reliever. They have that spot covered. Two of their top pitching prospects have a high likelihood of ending up in the role. They need starting pitching prospects and Sandlin’s a good one.
I saw changeup/splitter and assumed that he just threw a forkball.
“He’s going to an organization that has done some things in the offseason, adding some veterans in the rotation,” Cora said.
https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2024/02/john-schreiber-flustered-after-red-sox-trade-but-has-only-good-things-to-say.html
https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2024/02/john-schreiber-flustered-after-red-sox-trade-but-has-only-good-things-to-say.html