Kinda random that he would get popped for this so late in his career. Makes you wonder when he started and why. He's got his mega contract, he was on a Hall of Fame trajectory... it's a head scratcher.
I love how the Cubs gave away Gleyber Torres and Eloy Jimenez for s***. Those trades could legit be worse than Syndergaard for Dickey when the final WAR and $ numbers are crunched. Certainly the Torres trade is worse already.
There was no way Machado was re-signing in Baltimore. That franchise is a gongshow, and however much they would have given him, other richer teams will offer more.
I was scrolling through Fangraphs leaderboards to see if I could find the last teenager before Vlad who combined a sub-10% K rate with a .200+ ISO in AA, but I gave up and I'm pretty sure it hasn't happened in decades, if ever.
What's to acknowledge? He is actively assisting in the tank effort for next year's draft while suppressing Michael Kopech's service time by a year. Sounds like a win-win to me.