GreenSox

It would really be selling low on Beckham (who showed some improvement with the bat) to trade him for one of these backup catchers, none of whom is a top prospect. Keppinger? Fine. It would also hurt our D a lot for Keppinger to play 2B.

I'd like to see Dunn bat 7th or something. Let Abreu clear the bases.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 22, 2014 -> 01:32 PM) Looking at Mitchell, Walker and Thompson stats aside, it's conceivable that any of the three could be a 4th outfielder. They all have speed, defense and a semblance of discipline at the plate. Obviously their contact issues are horrid, but if anyone of these guys could hit .250 in the bigs they belong a 25 man roster. Mitchell is an absolute gazelle in CF. He could feasibly be a late inning, defensive replacement/pinch runner. Walker could be the same type of player but with more speed and lesser but still strong defense. Considering the two abortions of a seasons these guys had last year, it's easy to forget they weren't too far under .800 OPS guys in 2012. I consider 4th outfielder from any of them a failure. Don't really care if they make that or not. If Mitchell looks like a 4th OF, as I suspect he will, give him more time to develop into more. He was a raw college player and had injuries.

I follow C-USA baseball, and HOffman didn't look like a top 5 to me. I know his peripherals are good and he had a great post-college season summer, but I hope to see him put it together this spring (except when he plays the Green Wave).

My main hope is for Thompson to continue to improve and develop and for Hawkins to catch up from what seems like a lost year and get back on track. I suspect we'll see Mitchell look okay - 4th outfielderish.

This team will be a contender if Garcia and Abreu hit like all stars, and Danks pitches like a #3 and Eaton gets on base at a .350+ clip. I hope Dunn gets off to the start suggested above...regardless of where we are in the standings, he should be dealt preferably for low minors prospects with good upsides (we'll never get a top near ML ready prospect for him, so I'll go with low minors with potential).

The Rule 4 draft is 40 rounds, so teams must jettison 40 players from the minors each season. Now some will move to the majors, others will just decided to find a new profession, some AAAA players won't be offered new contracts...but there are still a lot of cuts to be made. Where do most of the cuts come from? Is there a big fallout rate after the summer Rookie League? Or guys who can't get past low A?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 18, 2014 -> 02:55 PM) I'd personally go with what they have, but if they can find someone available that's worth it for a guy like De Aza or Gillaspie, I have no problem with said move. That's what they could do if available. It's not time to trade real prospects for a catcher yet.

I wouldn't mind him in the pen, working with Coop and getting some middle innings. That will help his development. I certainly wouldn't give up on him as a starter either but major league pen work is good prep for eventual starting. Charlotte would be fine too. I do hope we have a couple of young guys in the pen this year.

Declining veterans while we're trying to rebuild. Good lord. We aren't winning this year, with or without these mediocre available free agents. Build.

I don't want to spend the money, I don't want to lose the pick and I don't want inflated win totals that hurt our draft position next year, because we aren't contending this year. And I don't want inconsistent pitchers paid big salaries.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Feb 12, 2014 -> 01:42 PM) lol If that actually happened it would make DeAza an elite offensive contributor to a ballclub especially when comparing what his defense in LF would be to the average LFer. So then you would want to keep him, not dump him off for players who would be unlikely to ever match that production. No This would be the time to trade him realizing that it's a complete and utter fluke, and the odds of him matching that production ever again are ridiculously small. Giving way Viciedo at that time would just compound the problem. This is exactly what the Sox should be trying to achieve this year with Dunn, Keppinger and De Aza and Ramirez. Dress them up, hope they get hot, and then dump them. Sell high, not low.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Feb 12, 2014 -> 08:14 AM) DeAza plays LF and leads off. Hits .300, steals 30 bases , hits 25 HR and drives in 75 runs. Hahn then trades Viciedo mid-season for a young catcher. This is the scenario in which you trade De Aza. Sell high.

DA offers pretty compelling examples of our horrendous evaluation of prospects over the years. I did't realize it was that bad. Hopefully, that changes. Money can't overcome poor evaluation.

Sure, trade De Aza or Lindstrom for him. No young players, please. I'd rather Delgado than Arroyo.

Just checking out his stats, when did the injury happen? Looks like he played at the end of the season in 2013. Had a great season in Rookie Ball. Good luck this year.

This thread also shows the need for having a top flight farm system. Every GM makes bad trades or at least no-help/ho-help trade (which is a loss). If you have prospects, the opportunity cost for making a trade is much, much less. I beat on Kenny about some of his trades, but, honestly, he hasn't had a lot of ammo. Red Sox make a lot of bad trades; they trade a lot of prospects. Just rarely notice that they're gone, because they have an unending flow coming in. Hopefully we'll continue to draft better and to be more active internationally.

I don't think he hates young players; but nor do I buy he couldn't rebuild because we were always in it. We were off of a dreadful season when he traded 3 of our top 7 prospects, incl #1, for Nick Swisher. Same year he trades Carter, who wasn't ready, for more ML ready Quentin. Then one day when we are kind of playing mediocre, he trades our 2 top pitching prospects for Edwin Jackson. Then he gives both Jackson and Quentin away in salary dumps. Too much zigging and zagging.

QUOTE (beautox @ Feb 7, 2014 -> 03:10 PM) I think Thompson has a break out year with the bat and the sox sell high on him ala Carter and Aaron Cunningham We sure as hell didn't sell high on Cunningham.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Feb 7, 2014 -> 06:04 PM) I hope he signs with either KC, Minny, Cleveland, or Detroit.

We do need more pitching. We can sign one of these guys, spend a lot of money and use a big % of the budget, give away a draft choice, and we'll still need more pitching.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Feb 6, 2014 -> 04:08 PM) Kenny knew the Cards weren't going to trade Rasmus without getting EJax in the deal, so he held up the Jays with the demand of taking on Teahen's contract, and it worked. In that deal everyone won: Jays got the player they wanted without having to give up top pieces from the farm, Kenny dumped Teahen and picked up a quality (back then) prospect in Stewart plus Frasor who turned into Jaye & Webb, and the Cards of course won the World Series. Rarely do 3-ways benefit all 3 parties, but that one did. He "held up"....meaning what; we were going to trade E Jax for a declining prospect and a middle reliever we didn't need, if not for holding out for something of at least some semblance of value? That trade would have been an utter giveaway, if not for throwing in Teahen's salary. We should have traded for Rasmus ourselves, truth be told. We didn't have a decent CF. Stewart was already well into decline when we picked him up. We recouped well dumping Frasor for 2 prospects who look interesting. (one does, anyway). Hope we can dump more guys this summer for interesting prospects.

Gillaspie isn't a proven stiff yet, so no use selling low. If he has a good year, we'll have more currency. If not, then that will be that. Things are looking good for the new team so far, except at C and probably SP where we are thin (I hope we put some young guys in the pen, and they develop and can start in a year or 2). Not bad for 1 year into rebuilding. No use using assets for mediocre players at this point. Lobaton hit .249 with 7 homers. That sucks. Yes, not as much as Flowers, but it still sucks. You can't give talent for that. I will also note that the Nats are considering this guy...more reason why I believe Nieto will be on the ML roster, as making a trade will be difficult.

Asking prices are still high because they include a first round choice (2nd for us) and always will. Those choices are high currency. We do need probably 2 starters, but we aren't ready yet.

QUOTE (rowand's rowdies @ Feb 4, 2014 -> 09:37 AM) Just read on rotoworld that Ervin Santanta's asking price has dropped "significantly", maybe even to 3 years. At worst he's a trade chip that could be very valuable, especially in year 2's trade deadline. My top offer if I'm RH to him probably still isn't enough, but maybe at this point it could get it done. I don't offer him any more guaranteed than 3/33, but at $11/year, or 10/11/12, at worst he's a bloated contract #3 guy who some team with lots of added TV revenue will look to add at any time of need. Arroyo is not an idea pitcher for the Sox and the Cell but a very ideal pitcher for what we need. A RH innings eater. He may even go to 2 years, but is most likely looking for 3 to get a deal done. He is older but durable. I wouldn't go more than 3/24, but at that price I would bite, again for a most likely solid trade chip this year or next with a stable RH option in the rotation. Thoughts and max offers you would give? We aren't in a position to give up draft choices for an inconsistent pitcher. Arroyo is a mediocre innings eater..don't need that. The Sox need to get into a position to compete for many years. Stockpile prospects and draft choices...don't give up draft choices or trade away every ready prospect who we have to keep in AAA to plug some hole with a mediocre/declining veteran.