Is Adam Eaton Underrated or Just a “Good” Ballplayer?

The following post was written by Sean Morash of Off the Bench Baseball. Check out their website and be sure to follow them on Twitter, along with Sean.

The Chicago White Sox posted a 78-84 record and really lost pace after the All-Star break, finishing 16 games behind the division-winning Cleveland Indians. This was a poorly constructed team that had serious flaws on the roster.

They addressed exactly one of the five needs I outlined last December by shifting Adam Eaton to right field. However, that effectively shifted their problem over to center field.

Chicago’s logic for doing this was nuanced in the belief they’d extract more value by pairing Eaton with a replacement-level center fielder instead of the other way around. Fair enough, but what did it do to Eaton as a player?

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Chicago White Sox In Desperate Need Of An Outfielder; Could Jay Bruce Be A Fit?

The Chicago White Sox started the year as one of the hottest teams in baseball, but they are sharply declining. In their last 10 games, they are 3-7 and they now find themselves in third place in the American League Central. If the White Sox want to compete in this very tough division, they are going to need to add an impact bat near the trade deadline.

 

The White Sox are currently ranked 21st overall in run production, and a big part of that is because of their lack of power production. They have hit 49 home runs this year, which ranks as the 24th overall team in Major League Baseball. For that reason, they must trade for a power bat near the deadline to stay afloat in the American League Central.

 

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Re-Drafting The 2010 MLB Draft: Bryce Harper Remains Elite

As the 2016 MLB Amateur Draft approaches, it is time to take a look back on previous draft results. With that said, I am starting a new segment where I will give you my personal redraft of previous MLB Amateur Drafts. Today I will focus on the 2010 draft, which had some of the best talent in the past few decades. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to tweet me @dynasty_digest. If you enjoyed this article, please follow my blog for more updates on other drafts, fantasy baseball, and other baseball topics (dynastydigest.sportsblog.com).

1. Washington Nationals: Bryce Harper (Actual Pick: Bryce Harper)

2. Pittsburgh Pirates: Manny Machado (Actual Pick: Jameson Taillon)

3. Baltimore Orioles: Chris Sale (Actual Pick: Manny Machado)

 

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MLB Power Rankings 2016: Week 2 – April

Hunter Stokes (BBBA Featured Writer) Follow @stokes_Hunter21

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Disclaimer:  We based these rankings on best strength to win the World Series.  Therefore some teams that have an easier division to play in, with the least path of resistance to the postseason overall may be ranked a lot higher than a club who is equally talented, yet may play in a juggernaut of a division.

The Cubs will top our list for a second straight week despite losing 2 out of 3 games to the Rockies at Wrigley Field this weekend.  The biggest reason is the pitching.

Jake Arrieta is 3 – 0, and has picked up right where we he left off in 2015, and Jon Lester has thrown awesome too.  The Bullpen has also been good.

The bats are too solid not to come around and gel as the season moves along.  They are playing .750 baseball after a 4 – 2 week still.

Bryce Harper is the best player on the planet, and has homered in 6 straight contests at Citizens Bank Ball Park (4 overall in a row for the MLB this year.)

Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg. Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy are their top players – and all performing like it, the rest of the club is following through in their secondary roles.  This team is scary.

I have the Royals as the top American League club.  This squad is 8 – 1 in games that are not started by back end of the rotation man Chris Young.

The reigning 2 time pennant winners have company on the top of the Division to make it interesting, however this team has the better pedigree the last few years.

Some may say with a weekend series win – that the Dodgers should be put in front of the Giants, yet they are still only one game ahead of San Francisco.

With the Giants – there is no real weakness, while with the Los Angeles team, the Bullpen is not giving everyone confidence in the back half of games.

The Dodger Blue is still in the top 5, so I am high on them. Kenta Maeda could be the steal of the winter with how this guy is throwing so far.  Reinforcements are starting to come back.

Chicago White Sox State Of The Union For 2016

The White Sox should be decisively better in 2016, however to lump them in with the Royals right now for the Division is just not practical yet. However the team could hit on all cylinders and then add players as the year goes on. Chicago only stands to lose four player to Free Agency after 2016 in John Danks, Adam LaRoche, Al Avila and Dioner Navarro. The latter 2 were brought in on one year deals to provide the Catching tandem in 2015.

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Chicago has finally thrown their hat into the ring for the AL Central Race.  They have pulled off a trade to acquire Todd Frazier in as 3 way deal with the Reds and Dodgers.

The end result is they get 2 years from the former Reds, while parting with Trayce Thompson, Frankie Montas and Micah Johnson away from the club. It is a quality versus quantity deal.

This comes on the heels of the club picking up Brett Lawrie for 3 years worth of service for a couple of Minor Leaguers.

Before these deals, the club really only hand secured a tandem of Catchers with Alex Avila and Dioner Navarro for the offense.  Now they have much more depth, and are asserting themselves with one of the better lineups in the AL Central.

If Adam LaRoche can bounce back with his usual 25 HRs and  80 RBI power, you could have 3 Infielders and the Designated Hitter all crack 20+ HRs in the 2016 campaign.

Jose Abreu also stands to benefit with bringing in a hitter like Todd Frazier.  You could see a lineup that goes Adam Eaton, Melky Cabrera, Jose Abreu, Adam LaRoche, Frazier, Lawrie, Avisail Garcia, Avila or Navarro and Tyler Saladino.  This looks a lot lengthier than a few days ago.

By the moves they made, they could also trade LaRoche to another club if they were so inclined.  There is no reason to think the Avila and Navarro couldn’t see some DH action for their roles in the 2016 club.