GreatScott82

After consuming all this payroll going forward, I highly doubt KW trades away one of his cheap talented players.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 02:04 PM) Pierre will earn $7.5 million next season, $8 million in 2008, $10 million each in 2009 and 2010, and $8.5 million in 2011. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2672676 Interesting that it's descending from this point on, and also surprised to learn Pierre is three days away from being 32. Thought he might be slightly younger. I really do think that last Thome or Dye spot will be replaced (whether in '10 or '11) by a power hitter. Thanks for those Pierre #'s. I guess if you could swap bad contracts i would do it. However, is Pierre that much better than what Pods has given us? As far as the 5th starter goes. . I would like KW to go out and get a young starter via trade. We have enough depth in the farm to make a deal for a guy like Zach Duke, Ross Ohlendorf, Johnny Cueto or Homer Bailey. Why not add to our strength which is the starting pitching. .

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 01:49 PM) It wouldn't surprise me to see KW try and trade Linebrink's bad contract for Juan Pierre's bad contract this offseason and put Pierre in LF Whats the current status of Pierre's bad contract?

Whose our 5th starter? Who will leadoff? If there will only be 15 million left to spend, then to me you have keep Thome because he will be shorter term and cheaper than Dye. If you could get Thome to sign for 5 million- spend the rest of the cash on Figgins. There is no way Figgins will earn more than 10 million/season. Unless a team out there is very stupid. Another area of concern is our bullpen. Tony Pena has show me nothing so far, Scott Linebrink is regressing at a rapid pace, Jenks appears to be slowing down. The only 2 consistent arms out of the pen this season has been Carassco and Thorton. How come Aardsma figured out how to pitch in Seattle and couldn't do it here?!?

Another thing we need to consider is positioning the OF. Left field is the easiest OF spot to play- and honestly Quentin isn't the best fielder out there. So to me Quentin should be in LF. That leaves RF open. Is it possibly that Dye AND Thome return to sigificantly less pay? Thome signs a 1 year deal and Dye signs a 3 year deal, meaning he'll play RF for 2010 then move to DH in 2011? Who will lead off then? KW has a lot of thinking to do. .

If JD decides to take pretty significant pay cut i'll take him over Thome for sure. The advantage we have with Thome is that he'll likely accept a super low salary $3-5 million just to end his career here and reach that 600 HR plateau. It will be a tough decision for KW to make. Do we want a long term DH with Dye for like 3 years or do we sign Thome to a 1 year deal giving KW more flexibility financially. .

The bullpen of a .500 team. The defense of a .500 team. Hell we are a .500 team!! If we don't improve in those areas we will not make the playoffs. With or without Peavy and Rios.

Come on Pierogi king! Lets tie this b**** up. We need a comeback win!

SHIBBBBBBY!!!!!!!!! Hell yeah! A real CF!!!!

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 01:07 PM) With the risk of being stuck with $60 million over five years, this simply isn't just a block. Sure, it might be a secondary reason, but the primary reason is the Sox wanting Rios. Although, I have a strong feeling tomorrow passes and we don't have Rios. Riccardi is clearly in a bind, he wants to dump him, but he also wants to get a prospect. My best guess is that he simply holds onto him, hopes he finishes off the year strong and builds up his value into an off-season trade. If Riccardi does what you are guessing he does, then the Blue Jays would likely have to include a nice chunk of money back in such a deal. Toronto simply does not want to do that. I'm guessing Rios is a member of the Chicago White Sox come tommorow at noon.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 06:45 PM) I would guess the odds are about 85/15 against offering Dotel arbitration, so we won't get any picks there. Contreras and Thome will definitely not be offered arbitration...and JD's situation is the biggest question mark for 2010. Figgins will undoubtedly be a Type A FA, correct? So that would mean two lost draft picks...depending on the team that signed him, other FA losses for the Angels (Vladdy, Abreu, etc.), the cost alone for the contract is a huge risk, then figuring in the loss of a couple of higher draft picks, it's just not worth it. If it was Chone Figgins at 26-27 years old and coming into the prime of his career (like Rios), you pull the trigger. In this case...no. All good points. . What about leadoff? Do we dare to bring Pods back? I guess he's a good 1 year stop gap while we are waiting for Jordan Danks or Jared Mitchell.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 05:56 PM) Even if you grab Rios, you still only have 2 obvious starting OF's. With the 3rd hopefully being Figgins to round off our lineup.

Ken Rosenthal's take "Yet, the teams that like Rios — and the White Sox have had a longstanding interest in him — are enamored with his 30-home run, 30-stolen base potential and ability to play center field." 30 SB's, 30 HR potential? where have you been!!! "The Jays cannot look at this opportunity in the traditional sense. They will be criticized in some quarters if they receive a minimal or no return for Rios, but who cares? This would be a "trade" with a different kind of gain" Like I said, Riccardi cannot botch this oppurtunity.

Were stuck with Contreras the rest of the way. I hate to say it but it is what it is.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 05:00 PM) That's what I'd do if I were in that seat. Or at least, when Tuesday rolls around, I'd drop my asking price for Rios to something KW might accept. There is no way Riccardi botches this oppurtunity to clear that much payroll. Esspecially after the Halladay embaresment. I'm guessing Rios will come here for 2 middle level prospects. Get this done KW!! Finally a CF who could play solid defense and actually hit the ball!! Oh how we've been craving this for far too long. . .

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 12:43 PM) It’s bouncing around the net (Baseball Prospectus has a mention about it) that the Jays are strongly considering just giving Rios and his salary over, without any moves in return. Apparently, they’d like to work something out, but haven’t ruled out simply making it a straight waver claim. So, nothing really new to report, but the story has legs. Call me crazy but i think Rios will be a member of the Sox by Tuesday.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 11:44 AM) Both sides have to agree to pick up the $12M option. If Dye is willing to come back for 1 year at $12M and the Sox think the same of him then the option can be exercised and he'll be under contract for another year at $12M. However, this almost never happens since usually one side doesn't agree that the player is worth the exact value of the option on a 1 year deal. I really can't see how Jermaine Dye is worth $12M in this economy given that he's pretty much a DH at this point in his career and someone like Thome is probably looking at ~$6M next season and is outproducing Dye right now and Bobby Abreu (who it also can be argued is a more valuable player than Dye) just signed a 1 year, $5M deal this past offseason. The more i am reading this thread, the more i am leaning toward keeping Thome over Dye. Thome would want nothing more but a 1 year deal for like 5 million. You could use that extra 7 million to sign Figgins for LF. I'd take Thome AND Figgins over just Dye. If we get Rios this year we have an OF of Figgins, Rios and Q which isn't too shabby. You would have Thome, PK and AJ off the books after 2010 leaving even more flexibility for KW.

QUOTE (black jack @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 11:00 AM) Didn't the Sox save a ton of cash last offseason with the dumping of Javy(10), Swish(6-7?), Joe(5), the crazy SS(8-9?)? That in itself has paid for Peavy and Rios (if he comes). Then with the departures of Dye, Thome, and the Count there's still lot's of money to sign a lead off man and a quality 5th starter. Yep there is finally some spending cash. Lets not forget that AJ and PK are off the books after 2010 so thats another 18 million. If KW doesnt aqcuire Rios, he could definitley go after one or even two top tier free agents this winter.

QUOTE (kev211 @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 02:55 AM) He isn't allowed to say he made the claim, or if he didn't make the claim. Your not allowed to speak about it to the media. KW is doing what he has to do just tip toe around the questions. Ding Ding Ding! We have a winna!!! Here is what i think happened. KW knows he needs to find a true CF (im sure he's tired of all the CF criticism.) He looks at the Free Agent market and doesn't really see a true CF that would help our team. KW woke up one morning saw that Detroit claimed Rios. He said "I dont think so. . we need a CF!" So KW claimed Rios. This solves our defensive CF issue for 5+ years. We have potentially 40 million off the books after this season. So most of that 40 million would be going to arbitration players such as Q and Danks as well as newcomers Rios and Peavy. But it could definitley work and i expect a deal to get done by tuesday. We would still have enough money to bring in Figgins or even re-sign Pods.

QUOTE (WSoxMatt @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 10:57 PM) His contract is worth LESS in Canada, he should want to come here All he has to do is approve a trade . And i highly doubt he would reject a deal where he goes to a hitter friendly ballpark.

QUOTE (Hanky Panky @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 05:06 PM) To tell you the truth, I want Thome. I like Dye a lot, but I think Thome serves better as an on base machine when he's not hitting HRs. Plus, he's left-handed. I would love Thome to get his 600th HR here but honestly we need to think more long term. Dye fits that bill better. He could still play a decent RF which would give Ozzie more flexibility. I expect Dye to sign a 3 year deal worth about 6-8 million/season which would be a bargain with his production.

QUOTE (AWhiteSoxinNJ @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 07:44 PM) Doesn't sound like we are getting him. KW always plays the middle ground. Reading his quote it could go either way. In fact looking at his contract status, Rios seems to be a player KW would pursue. 2009 remains: 2 million 2010- 9.7 million 2011- 12 million 2012- 12 million 2013- 12.5 million 2014- 12.5 million I'm pretty sure he will be 32 when his contract expires. So we would be getting him at the prime of his career. Take that with Beckham, Quentin, Ramirez, Getz we would have a stellar new core going forward entering their primes.

Looking ahead: If the Sox do aqcuire Alex Rios on tuesday. Here is our new 2010 outlook- LF- ?? (Pods/Figgins?) KW loves Figgins. I'm guessing Figgins is our new LF next year. He'll sign a 3 year deal worth about 7 mill/ season. CF- Rios RF- Quentin DH- (Dye/Thome or Abreu?) I think KW brings Dye back as a DH at a restructured low cost. 6-7 mil for 2 seasons plus a 3rd year club option. 3B- Bacon SS- Ramirez 2B- Getz 1B- Konerko C- Pierzynski That would give us a lineup of: Figgins LF Beckham 3B Dye DH Konerko 1B Quentin RF Rios CF Pierzynski C Ramirez SS Getz 2B Rotation: Peavy, Buerhle, FLoyd, Danks, (Torres, Hudson?) Let them battle it out in ST.

Wow what a crazy thing to see this afternoon. Thats a lot more money added to payroll but he would definitley solve our CF issue for many years. I'm guessing if this happens we will see a rotation between DH and OF position players between Dye, Thome, Quentin and Konerko. This move would end the Thome era and perhaps the Dye era as well. Unless Dye accepts a really cheap paycut to be our DH. Anytime you can add a guy with a career .285 average, above average speed and pretty solid defense- you have found a very good thing. The only thing i worry about is the money situation, but KW seems to be figuring his 2010 team in the middle of the 2009 season. . I trust him.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Aug 5, 2009 -> 11:11 PM) Out of all the spots you could throw Figgins at, I don't see the what's so bad about having both. Assuming the price is right. I could see KW having both. I could also see KW shopping Alexei for a cheap young starting pitcher this offseason to shift Beckham to SS and have Figgins play 3B. . .