Chisoxfn

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jul 27, 2014 -> 07:57 PM) Andrew Mitchell and Braulio Ortiz are immediately over him, two guys who have way less of a chance of contributing at the MLB level. It's not completely positional either, they have Keon Barnum at 15. No way Barnum is a better prospect than Ravelo. Dykstra and Saladino unlucky to miss out too I would have thought. Kevan Smith arguably low at 20. Mitchell has a big time arm and I wouldn't write off his ability to pitch at the big league level.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jul 27, 2014 -> 04:48 PM) I'm not against trading Danks, but for me the price needs to be hefty. They have shed enough salary that they don't have an urgent need to dump his, and he can be a #4 starter on a contending team in 15-16. Need at least a Top 50-75 prospect for him. Look at his WHIP and ERA. Nothing about that is getting you some elite prospect.

I pencil Eaton in as a big part of our core players going forward. Just hope he can stay healthy.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 03:18 PM) No he is not. He used to be. He is now a below average defender after getting worse at 2b each season of his career. Both by the eye test and the statistics test. Only thing he does above average is turn the double play and that is primarily driven by his above average arm at 2B. It is why I firmly believe no one would even put a waiver claim in on him.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 03:03 PM) Would have been a nice return for Beckham. As in anything would have been. Or Jared Mitchell. He was literally just bought. I don't even know if we could have got him for Beckham without sending cash, to be frank.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 01:45 PM) I think what people feel is that he's one of the biggest busts relative to what we thought we had. He was supposed to be the best 2nd baseman of the decade. Guy exploded onto the scene and you take away that year and he would have been out of the majors a couple years ago so that I totally understand.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 11:58 AM) Those of us advanced stat haters laugh again. If there are advanced stats that say Beckham is anything but a C-minus grade type player then I say, cmon. All you do is have to watch the games and track season after season to know Beckham is lousy. I mean are we all in agreement Beckham is a C or D player? He's no A or B. I don't think there is much any stat out there to support Beckham being anything but C- or below. I think Wite was just saying to call him one of the biggest busts in White Sox history is pretty weak, given how the draft works and the fact that he was one of the most productive players taken in the 1st round of his draft. Bottom line, it is those reasons why I will always root for on the field performance because I really don't think accumulating top 5 picks does much to speed up a rebuilding process, not in baseball, where the reality is all picks are a crapshoot. Better odds in the top 5, sure, but not to the point it is worth losing a bunch of games (which is an indication that your current talent isn't getting better).

On a sidenote, it sounds like it was Claussen, not Palmer who threw the picks.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 09:32 AM) He used to be so good, its amazing the drop off. but seriously, the guy turned 30 and it all went downhill. He experienced a pretty significant lower body injury and given his shape, probably had a pretty hefty impact on him.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 10:28 AM) I think the right way to say it is this...if his bat plays, they'll find room for him. I meant people think he could actually be a league average defender in a corner outfield position and that he is a decent athlete. Meaning, you don't need his bat to completely outplay his defensive abilities, which is what you'd need if he were to be an atrocious defender at any position other then 1B. I fully expect that they will change his positions in time, but right now, they are focused on his bat and his development there, which to your original point, if it plays, you find room regardless of defensive skills. However, for that to work, he'll likely need to show the power potential some think he has.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 10:30 AM) I think if you looked at just those two instances and laid them next to each other, yea it could be annoying when presented every fact. When you look at the league wide varying punishments for violence and drug use, you see a very strange inconsistency that is driving everyone crazy. I think they have consistently been lenient on first time offenders. It has been the repeat offenders they have been harsher with.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 10:21 AM) Same dude who said Melo was going to Chicago? I just can't buy into message board rumors I guess. Rumors are just that. Rumors. This person is supposedly legit but that doesn't mean 100% is going to be accurate. That is always the case. Look at what happens with proven posters. I mean, Rock, is not always going to be right. That doesn't mean he's full of crap or his source is wrong. If it was a complete done deal, it would be public, everything reported has uncertainties to it and might be misinformation released, etc. You never truly know. Now some people are just full of it. But you can usually spot those and pull them out. I find it laughable that people think some insider is going to be 100% accurate. Take it for what it is worth and it can give you potential hints into at least the thought process, etc. And in this case, I really don't see the Bulls working towards a 3 way trade, not if they want Love. However, if Minny finally moves that route, I could see them trying to get talent but if it were me, I'd be trying for Wiggins.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 10:15 AM) I'm sure people felt the same way about Josh McCown being the backup. McCown was a long term player in the league. And yes, I had similar feelings but despite my feelings of Josh, at least he had a history of playing in the league, etc, and being a legit back-up. My fears were that he was too old, etc. Palmer has never been a legit back-up and now all of a sudden he is. Totally laughable and this "QB" whisperer stuff is overrated. You can't just take total hasbeens and make them good. McCown was smart and efficient and at one time a guy some people thought had some legit upside, early in his career.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 10:07 AM) I'd probably try to swing Thompson in another deal should it go down(which I'm doubting, kinda think Steve is just "trolling" for reactions). Really wanna see Niko get a good chunk of minutes this year. Steve is posting a rumor from a Real GM poster.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 09:57 AM) Actually I wouldn't mind that. Losing out on Love would suck, and helping facilitate the trade to move him to Cleveland would suck too. In the end though they significantly upgrade the SG position, both starting and backup. That allows Jimmy to move to SF to replace MJD. With the addition of Pau and Niko, losing Taj wouldn't hurt that bad, and TT isn't a bad player. Yep; Our wings are much better, offensively, not sure how they are defensively. I don't know if Tristan can play defense. That is a big wild card for me because if we are going to give Cleveland Love, we better make sure we got a slew of guys we can put on him and also make sure we can take advantage of his defensive issues.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 09:57 AM) Actually I wouldn't mind that. Losing out on Love would suck, and helping facilitate the trade to move him to Cleveland would suck too. In the end though they significantly upgrade the SG position, both starting and backup. That allows Jimmy to move to SF to replace MJD. With the addition of Pau and Niko, losing Taj wouldn't hurt that bad, and TT isn't a bad player. One major issue I have, is if we are going to help Cleveland get Love, we better be certain we are getting extra value for our players, not just standard value, imo. There is a huge risk is helping Cleveland get Love. I still think if Minny does want to contend, Bulls have the best package out there.

Also had another great start. Happy the change of scenario between AZ and NY is helping him.

QUOTE (PorkChopExpress @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 09:50 AM) I take it he wasn't too good at 3B since it looks like they switched him from 3B to 1B in 2012, but does anyone have any insight on his defense? It doesn't look like he's ever played OF, but could he be a possible LF someday? Some think he could potentially be playable in the outfield.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 09:29 AM) Palmer is earning that #2 job It will be a disaster if he is our #2. I can buy Claussen as the 2 as he never got a shot with any talent around him but Palmer, LOL.

Snell / Taj / MJD is a steep price to get Martin, Thompson and Waiters. However, it does significantly upgrade our wing play (Martin / Waiters is upgrade over MJD/Snell). Thompson is a nice young low post player, not sure how his defense is. Bulls clearly get younger (at PF and SG) and add a lot of quality assets for a trade (not sure what it does for our cap situation a year from now). However, I overrate Taj as I feel he is such an elite defensive player whose offensive game doesn't hurt you. If Thibbs thinks he can get defense out of the guys, I don't mind. Waiters made some strides last year, not sure what his long term upside is. Martin is older and kind of reminds me of a poor mans Rip Hamilton. Probably an awful comparison but I'll go with it.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 09:04 AM) I'm too young to remember the hype for Maggs but looking at his minor league numbers, there was no reason for him to be hyped until 1997. His numbers till he hit AAA were very pedestrian. Then he had a great year as a 23 year old in AAA, was considered a top 100 prospect, started the next year with the White Sox where he had a solid rookie year and then he was terrific from year 2 on. I literally remember watching him in September and going who is this guy and wow he can hit. Then the next year he hit more and kept getting better and better. Totally came out of nowhere so bad comparison to Ravelo whose consistently been productive but he's probably one of the least hyped stars I can ever remember (based upon minor production, hype, etc). Yes, guys like Pujols and Piazza were late round picks but when they were coming up through minors, you had heard about them, etc. Edit: And by watch, this was before the MLB extra innings days (or at least when I had it) so it would consist of my weekly white sox game on TV and reading the box scores every morning going, wow, who is this kid. I think I read the box scores every day for like 9 consecutive years from the time I was like 6 to 15 or so (and then moved to the internet).

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 09:18 AM) They need to completely blow up their team. I would be basically trying to trade the entire starting rotation, Papelbon, Rollins, Utley, Byrd, Ruiz and Howard. That team is really bad, really old, and expensive. There isn't a single player on that roster who is under 30 that is good (other than a couple of relievers). They need a team to really want Hamels who will take on other bad contracts without sending over cash. Basically, they need a team like the Dodgers to do what they did a few years ago when they got Crawford, Gonzalez, and Beckett and completely bail out the Red Sox. Unfortunately for the Phillies that is unlikely to happen. Hamels and Utley are the two guys with much any value and even Hamels value is limited in the fact that he's signed to big money until he's like 38 or something. Lee is a solid pick-up for a contender, except for the fact that he has a huge buy-out, something like 12.5M so Phils would have to at least send that type of cash over to get a halfway decent prospect or two. Stuff like this is why I'm totally fine dumping Danks and having all of the flexibility we can. Danks isn't a bargain and while he isn't a bad pitcher, he isn't going to be key when our core matters and that money can be invested in other areas, imo. I feel same way with Alexei and that is mainly because I believe we'll see pretty significant declines in his defense which will totally limit his value going forward.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 08:53 AM) Ignore salaries for a minute. Who is most likely to be the most productive hitter between now and the end of the 2016 season: Ryan Howard Adam Dunn Andy Wilkins Probably Dunn but I wouldn't think it would be a wise strategy to pencil any of them into our lineup.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 08:51 AM) If you got them for an effective cost of say $5 million annually, would you rather have Howard or Dunn going forward. Absolutely neither of them. I certainly don't want Dunn to play another game with the White Sox.

Phillies have a lot of guys who make a lot of money that are going to get traded. And will likely have to eat a lot of cash in these contracts. Will be interesting to see what they do. Hamels, Lee, Utley, etc. Howard is just awful so I don't know who would pick him up. Hurt the last couple of years and just signed to an awful deal.