Marty34

QUOTE (ScottyDo @ May 2, 2014 -> 11:10 AM) I agree that Masterson would be a great target for us for all the reasons you mentioned, depending on how this year's development turns out. The arrow is pointing up right now, but we haven't played a game in May yet, so that may change. Masterson is the mid-rotation starter that people are clamoring not to sign. How much are you willing to spend on him?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 2, 2014 -> 08:58 PM) How many teams have let their entire draft not be signed to sign one player? You were comparing apples to oranges.

QUOTE (flavum @ May 2, 2014 -> 08:56 PM) He's 34. He doesn't have much time left. That's the problem with you people who are anti-rebuild, you expect a guy to have his stuff together when he's 34.

QUOTE (flavum @ May 2, 2014 -> 08:47 PM) Frank Francisco is doing well in Charlotte. Cleto is garbage. He needs more time.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 2, 2014 -> 08:49 PM) It is ignorant of history to think that you can just give away your draft. Even the great Ditka failed there. Because the NFL draft is similar to the MLB draft.

The way the big league staff looks right now, the Sox will have no choice but to deal with Boras if Rodon is there at three. No way they can justify taking a high school arm over him.

Too early to shut Sale and Q. down?

QUOTE (fathom @ May 2, 2014 -> 07:30 PM) Rodon might be the 3rd best starter in the organization the day they draft him, if he is available. You're not kidding.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 2, 2014 -> 07:27 PM) Like watching the Bears being unable to stop anyone. Yes, but that's only once a week.

It's tough watching a team that can't get anyone out.

Beckham's approach looks closer to what it was his rookie year than it has in a long time, I'm glad he stopped that severe crouch he had last year.

When a team has the worst pitching in MLB they should only have to get two outs in an inning.

4 hour 8.5 inning game tonight?

QUOTE (fathom @ May 2, 2014 -> 06:28 PM) Is Danks ever going to get anything close to his fastball back Was assured he would.

QUOTE (Charlie Haeger's Knuckles @ May 2, 2014 -> 04:01 PM) Let's use Common Core to solve Marty's riddle. Of the last 17 World Series winning teams, 12 of them had farm systems rated in the bottom 10. Of the last 15 World Series winning teams, 9 of them had at least one veteran contract that wasn't on the post season roster. Over the past 10 seasons, the 50 teams in that time span to be placed in the top-5 in farm systems based on Baseball America rankings - have combined for a 2430-5670 record. The White Sox were in seventh place in the Baseball America farm system rankings when Sally took her brother to the Walgreens to buy Gummy Bears. If Rick Hahn promises Sox fans to improve the farm system seven-fold in five years, how many Gummy Bears can Sally and her brother eat before the White Sox have a top-5 farm system while winning the world series and not having any bad veteran contracts? I love it, keep writing you are a star.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 2, 2014 -> 03:32 PM) Did you even read what I just typed? If you did, how did you come away with the notion that I think we shouldn't fill holes via free agency? That's right Paulino was a free-agent. Funny aside, I don't see how a bad contract hurts a team more than having an awful farm system.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 2, 2014 -> 02:59 PM) lol Marty. Are denying that you've been calling for us top sign practically every major free agent that has been on the market over the last few years? As we've all explained nigh 8000 times, no one is against the concept of acquiring elite free agents in general. Our problem with your recommendations is (1) that you tend to want to buy whoever is available, whether they're really worth it or not. All free agent classes are NOT created equal, and (2) that you are ignoring the fact that signing someone to a multi-year deal today means they are still on the payroll in the future. Yes, you can sign more than one big one, but really only a few. Ubaldo Santana wouldn't kill us this year, but when you want to add another couple players next year, all of a sudden we're getting close to maxed out for the next 5 or 6 years -- hopefully they are all defying aging curves and hopefully we guessed right that we'd need them. The reality is that FAs pay their maximum value upfront, and so you need to time their acquisition with when you need them most. Sign them when they are the final pieces. The thing you don't get is the alternative to not filling holes via free agency is just as risky as these killer contracts.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 2, 2014 -> 01:38 PM) Prior to the 2013 season you were all about signing Josh Hamilton, for example, and that was prior to the removal of contracts like Peavy and Rios as well as removal of guys like Reed who were closer to arbitration. Provide a link, Balta. You're know all about context.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 2, 2014 -> 01:13 PM) Nice revisionist history there. You were calling for big signings long before the 2015 to 2019 range, even when our payroll obligations where much higher. When?

QUOTE (ScottyDo @ May 1, 2014 -> 08:19 PM) Keeping draft picks, using them well, signing international FAs, investing in your scouting/development team, analyzing potentially undervalued assets using advanced metrics and scouting, signing low-risk high-reward guys, signing the occasional and very targeted FA acquisition, and saving your bullets until you can make them count. This isn't exactly revolutionary thinking. In fact, I'd venture to say its the preferred method since the moneyball days, but you know stuff happens that makes teams have to deviate from this master plan. QUOTE (ScottyDo @ May 1, 2014 -> 08:19 PM) EDIT: Totally agree, the above is the extremely hard part. But Marty's wish for a blank check is a pipe dream. Only two teams have really made it work, and they're two of the richest teams in baseball. Even LAD has 0 recent championships to boast about. $100M payroll per over the next 5 years isn't a blank check. They can easily take a top 3 free agent pitcher next year and have plenty of room to spare,

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 1, 2014 -> 07:08 PM) I probably would now, but I had to sit and think about it for a second. This is given our relatively low salary commitments and the fact that the Sox would probably NOT re-sign him to a mega-contract if he stayed this good and opted out, meaning we'd get him at 3/60 or whatever, with a real chance to compete in that third year. Still a big risk, though. An injury over the next 3 years could make him a massive albatross overnight. His age at least makes him less of a risk to lose velocity, though, and thus simply become ineffective like so many older SPs on long deals. The alternative to signing a top-tier free agent starter is just as risky. There's nothing in terms of starters on the farm that's going to give this team a chance to compete in two years.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 1, 2014 -> 06:44 PM) I know WHY they did it, I'm just saying that it's not hard to believe the Sox FO when they say they were a legitimate player on him, because the richest team in the sport had to bend over completely to win the bidding. I would not have expected (or even wanted) the Sox to have BEAT that offer, especially before we knew if he was for real. Would you take Tanaka on the Sox right now for what the Yankees paid for him? If not, why not?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 1, 2014 -> 05:42 PM) When have the Cardinals traded their franchise players, ever? I don't think they ever have. They also never hired a farm director who is serving time for skimming bonuses.

QUOTE (ScottyDo @ May 1, 2014 -> 05:30 PM) It's much smarter to use the Cardinals than the Yankees as a model organization. The principle that "the White Sox should behave like the Yankees" is a recipe for disaster. You haven't seen the Cards overpaying in free agency very much lately. Rather, they have benefited from sustained intra-organizational success. How about we get that going instead? Then maybe our big city status will let us behave more like the Yankees in, say, 30 years after we've won a handful of championships. If you want to be like the Cardinals trade Chris Sale.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 1, 2014 -> 02:25 PM) The thing to remember about the Tanaka contract is that it's a very bad contract. He gets $20m/yr up front and then has an opt-out after three years. If he pitches well at ALL then he's gone or you have to give him a bigger contract, if he's hurt or sucks, the Yankees are on the hook for an elite-level salary. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't blame the White Sox for not beating that contract, especially considering what an unknown he was then versus now. It was a desperate play. The Yankees don't care because they have more money than they know what to do with and they know the best way to increase franchise value is to win. Besides, the damage a bad contract can do is vastly overstated.