LDF

here is the first of which I know may be several more coming out. the re-ranking of the org and their system. according to bleacher rpt, the sox now is at 22. btw, any posters have faith on Erik Johnson coming back? http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2202809...-season/page/10

QUOTE (shysocks @ Sep 26, 2014 -> 03:32 PM) His skillset is that he's a catcher, which doesn't age well. What happens if he can only catch 80 games a year from age 32-36? 50 games? It's been known to happen. Then you're paying $60 million for half a catcher and a DH with a career wRC+ of 106 that is greatly boosted by a career year at age 31, when you already have a 1-2 WAR catcher on the roster. If we splurge this offseason it should be on pitching or in the outfield. I would be infinitely happier with a Russell Martin signing than a V-Mart one though. But there's a chance Martin will get more per year, given his position while martin may be a good option, I think the cost is too much. I rather save the money of spending fa money and spending it somewhere else.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Sep 26, 2014 -> 02:53 PM) We got a protected pick, so f*** the rest and give Paulie a hell of a send off. I am in total agreement. he deserve it.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Sep 26, 2014 -> 06:34 AM) Nobody is over valuing talent when it comes to Q. He's just 25, has 200 IP in each of the last two years, left handed, signed very cheap and his ERA has steadily gone each year. He's a very good #3 at worst and a case can be made for a #2, which I lead towards myself. Q has plenty of value and if a team wants to pry him out Chicago, they will have to pay rather heavily. Obviously Hahn and co feel Q has a lot of value to the Sox future contending teams and they are right. Why settle for Sale and Rodon when the Sox already have Sale, Q and Rodon to build around? while I agree with you, I hope to make this minor change. on the sox, Jose is a #2 pitcher and depending on Rodon in the future maybe a #3. on another team, in most teams pen, he is a solid #2 and / or a weak #1.

saw maze runner and equalizer yesterday. they were both great. re maze runner, the good thing about it is, they have this whole group of young actors that is going to make a name for themselves in the future. re equalizer, not a academy award move but a brain dead movie with good action and story line. I wouldn't mind going to pay for a second showing.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Sep 25, 2014 -> 07:02 AM) Baseball America is really down on the overall crop of college players in this draft class. They say all the elite talent, with an exception of a few are all high schoolers. Strengths of the draft class are: HS Athletes and Hs Pitching (Velocity). these guys who makes these list as an easy and enviable position. we are all baseball fans, we also like talking about prospect and draft. we are ranked amateurs who does this as a labor of love. with that, these guys on this site are extremely good at this. so with this draft coming up next yr. it is hard to grade, harder than any in the past that I can remember. but what the hell do I know. this draft, the elite talen 1-4 are college pitchers. the next couple are a mix with hs positional talent and middle of the rd pitchers. then comes a good mix of college outfield and hs pitchers. I really do wish the sox had 2 picks in the 4-8 picks and then another in the 12-16 pick oh well I guess I can wish all I can. now for the sox brass identifying their needs and what is avail. for my thoughts I will probably make a decision some time in Nov.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 25, 2014 -> 04:33 PM) Not to mention if Nate Jones didn't get hurt, he probably would have had at least 60 saves, and had an ERA around 0.00. Lindstrom could have been the set up man, and probably would have made the rest of the set up men in baseball pale in comparison. I am thinking 145-17 or 150-12. you guys are too much. great post so in other words the sox next season should mail it in and make the playoff. btw what was the most win by a mlb team? I guess it should also be with % as well?

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Sep 25, 2014 -> 01:32 AM) What is hard-on obsession that you guys have with Colby Rasmus? I do not want him any wear near a sox uniform. I am in total agreement. esp if his father starts to yap at the coaches.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 25, 2014 -> 06:34 AM) Gregerson's going to be too expensive for another "rebuilding" year. I don't think we're ready to pay top market value for relievers like him, Miller, and some of the closers out there on the FA market. you know I agree with you, except for 1 thing. there is always options, esp with salary spending I do not know any inside info, but if the sox identify a need and can not fill it with what is avail through trades, waiver pickup, I truly think they will go the free agent route to fill it. again if the free agents is / or will fill the need. miller would be a great pick up, esp if he comes without a QO.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Sep 25, 2014 -> 04:29 AM) Well you're pretty much meat when you guess incorrectly anyway. That why even the great hitters fail 70 % of the time. The key is to educate yourself to the point where you're a pretty good guesser. Even guessing right pitch right zone doesn't guarantee you a hit but it makes it a lot more likely. What does Hawk say ? Something like look fastball most of the time and adjust to everything else. You can slow your bat down to hit an off speed pitch but you can't speed it up if you're looking off speed and get a fastball. I guess that you are right and I totally agree with you. but seriously, great post!! ......... I guess. sorry I couldn't resist

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 11:04 PM) I don't understand, why wouldn't they do that deal? If you could just cancel the Danks contract today, wouldn't you do it? not if it mean getting burden with a longer contract with a possible player who may or may not rebound.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 08:01 PM) Ethier is more useful than Danks, and costs about $20m more. I'd ask the Dodgers to split the difference in cash and make the deal today. A platoon partner for Viciedo is way more valuable to us than 200 more innings of 5.00 - 5.50 ERA ball, IMO. if you have to remember that the sox has way better scouts and medical people at their disposal. with that, the idea as some posters have said, Ethier may be on the tail end of his career. so they have to pony up. but lets be reasonable, why would the sox do the deal???? not to just get rid of Danks and his contract,

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 05:58 PM) There a lot of reasons to explain Ethier's downside that aren't he's past his prime. Most of them have to go with inconsistent playing time and overall unhappiness with the situation. I think Ethier is a really nice fit who can play a solid LF and could also fill in at 1B and DH and play match-ups. You then find a right handed bat as well who you can use in the outfield and at DH as well. You still have plenty of AB's to go for Semien / Sanchez / Johnson too. I like that, the only problem I have is to acquire Ethier with a trade off for Danks. nah, the only way is if dodgers will sweeten the deal with dodgers sending a prospect. ok but don't get me wrong, we all know that the dodgers will not include Pederson nor Seager.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 01:05 AM) 2-3 years of Van Slyke at a good rate compared to 6 years of Micah at a good rate, in addition to absorbing a lot of money on Ethier. Van Slyke may have proven more than Micah at the big league level, but he's also going to be 28 next year and he's never played more than the 234 PA's he's had this year. You could convince me that Van Slyke for Micah might be a tolerable move, but I wouldn't like it. Taking on a good amount of money in addition? No thanks. that is a very interesting slant. I like it, at this time, I can't think of a counter. great job.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 12:54 AM) I don't think Ethier in LF, Viciedo at DH is much of an upgrade over Viciedo in LF, Dunn at DH....and spending that money on Santana when we might be able to get similar production out of Bassitt or Beck, for example. If we were getting younger, that would be one thing, but Ethier and Dunn are both closer to retirement than their prime productive years. (Of course, you can also make the assumption that another bat would be brought in to face RH pitching at DH/LF). As far as pitching goes, those were the arguments made consistently last year about not pulling the trigger on Jimenez or Santana....that Paulino MIGHT be even better and for a fraction of the cost. So I'd argue it's better to hedge some bets and spend less money on say Haren or Josh Beckett and use that extra money to patch the bullpen. Finally, there's no indication that teams like the Dodgers or Yankees are even interested in Danks, even with a significant subsidy or bad contract going the other way to compensate. I agree with you. I wonder if there is really a team interested in danks. however I still think danks is going to surprise a lot of people next yr.

if the sox does not address the starting lineup, depending on what they have and their own prospects. fine, they I am sure they will spend on holes the team has. again I will say this again, I need to see which players will get a QO.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 12:26 AM) The White Sox clearly need a starting pitcher right now, I agree with this, but I despise the idea of signing anyone to even a 1 year deal if they think Rodon can appear in the big leagues before the end of 2015. No matter what they do they should know exactly how he gets to the big leagues next year and that can't be "relying on someone to get hurt". I'd rather go with Caroll/Rienzo out of the gates for a month, lose games, and then have Rodon take over, than sign someone to a 1 year deal and then have Rodon spend the year in the minors because of the big money guy we signed. That's why I kinda think Masterson makes sense. After this season he should be cheap enough that we won't feel bad if he's replaced in June with Rodon if pitching poorly. well I agree, I look at the season, the sox need a 4 man rotation in the first month. then the sox extend the bullpen. this is when the sox will need answers at the sp. undecided factors is Rodon, will he have a great spring? Danks is he going to be better? Noies (sp) will be able to put up quality starts?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 23, 2014 -> 11:56 PM) Maybe if you only look at the first 2 years, but Danks has $28.5 million remaining on his deal, Ethier has $56 million. for this discussion only, lets assume danks is not in the equation. Ethier signed a contract that is 6 yrs/$95.95M which ends in 2017. Van Slyke contract is very controllable thru 2020. so for this discussion, it may be a good deal for the sox. the sox have 2-3 more yrs of slyke at a good rate.

I will give way for you guys who are soooo good with the advance stats. saying that, I think the sox does need 1 sp pitchers. whether it is a reclamation project or #4-5 pitcher. the reason is I would not like to have a hole in the starting lineup for pitchers, like they did last yr. I also don't like to put all the eggs in the basket so to speak on Noesi replicating his success. I just would like another arm until Rodon can earn his spot.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 23, 2014 -> 11:09 PM) Again, we gain SO much more to gain by having guys like Garcia and Bassitt taking big steps forward, then we do from moving up a couple of draft spots. The one caveat I wills say is that I don't want them go finish any better than 10th worst, as it could really limit this off season. I would love to have the best possible position for a draft pick. however as you said about Garcia and Bassitt and any other prospects playing, yeah it is great for them to be in the majors. win or loose, they will gain valuable experience. if the decision is to draft a player like Brendan Rodgers a hs ss at #5-11 than Dansby Swanson hs ss at #12-14, the talent is a big drop off. the first one will really help in the rebuild and help the rebuild go faster. (just comparing prospect at the same position) lets look at pitching, again the drop off is just as big.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Sep 23, 2014 -> 10:55 PM) Fair enough. I don't think Danks will ever be anything more than a 5th starter post surgery so I am of the mind to dump him for a bag of balls and find a better 5th starter next year. fair enuf, I am in the thinking that danks will improve, not to a #2 or 3 pitcher but a good pitcher. all this discussion is a subjective point of view.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Sep 23, 2014 -> 09:51 PM) There may be better options. A lot of them will cost more. If we're playing in a lower-level market and we're talking starting pitchers, which is one of the most obvious areas this team needs improvement, I'd rather have Santana than Masterson. Masterson's name is thrown around all the time here but he really doesn't have **** on Santana. you are coming up with a salary that you would like. just b/c he sign for a low amount is not what he is going to sign on his next contract.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 23, 2014 -> 10:09 PM) Not to shed salary, they're rolling in dough. It's to ease the chemistry issues created trying to balance the respective egos of Kemp and Puig, getting enough at-bats for Ethier and Crawford to keep them sharp and productive as well as opening up a position for super prospect Joc Pederson. not for the dodgers as you said, but to entice another team to absorbed that salary. you are right

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Sep 23, 2014 -> 10:14 PM) I just question if John is really capable of being "an innings eater" at this point. He seems more likely to be a guy that rarely gets out of the 6th inning IMO. Even if he makes 25+ starts he's not giving the pen much of a rest because he's constantly knocked out of games early. I guess he could be a decent 5th starter or maybe even a 4th if he can harness his command and control but I'd still prefer trying to move him. Don't think the Sox have room for him in the rotation if they want to contend in '15. except for the yr or 2 around his injury, he was good for a 160+ innings a yr. look at what was being said on the rumor site about Haren and his salary of 10 mil.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 23, 2014 -> 09:56 PM) FYI, I also think Ethier makes a lot of sense for the Sox too. I don't know how they get him - whether it's Danks or not - but it's a move that makes a lot of sense on the surface, especially if the Sox can find a productive way out of the Danks contract. here is the thought I came up with, the dodgers was what, trying to trade 1 of their 3 outfielders at trade deadline. not too many teams would want to pick up that salary hit, esp for a gamble. so let say the sox does, I was hoping in Ehtier, then Kemp and unless the dodgers had more prospect, then Crawford. the 1 thing I like, dodgers really want to add Pederson to the lineup and Seager will be next. the of'ers contract is steep, but how bad do they want to make this happen.