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QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 09:28 AM) That's what I'm talking about!!! Rasmus can also play CF which we will need when Eaton runs into a fence that doesn't agree with him. We wouldn't need a LaRoche then and there's just no upside to LaRoche like there is for Rasmus .

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 09:24 AM) You want to hold on to the money for five more years? Will that money at least gain some interest while the Sox wait for Otani to be posted? Anyway. Anyone know what's up with the link? I clicked it and it would appear the article is gone now. What were Rogers' suggestions? Works for me . Try it again http://m.whitesox.mlb.com/news/article/101...-to-do-for-2015

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 09:16 AM) No faith in Avi Garcia? He's thinking 4 good OF's so we can rotate 1 a day at DH instead of aquiring a DH. Getting Rasmus semi affordably would be an option since his defense is better than Avi or Melky's with hitting upside could work out and certainly his power is a major plus. They all get rested hopefully keeping them fresher by playing DH once a week.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 08:20 AM) These are very valid concerns. How much do we think a guy like Putnam or Guerra would get on the open market right now? It wouldn't be be 3/$15, but their years weren't quite as good and they aren't left handed, so those influence it as well. The small sample size works the other way too. How do we know he didn't just get hot and that he is going to lose his command? Perhaps he's similar to Donnie Veal. It's hard to know the true talent of a guy like that based on 50 some innings. The Sox believe in his talent. All we can do is hope they're right. The last sentence is basically how I feel about it. I can't even begin to guess how the guy will do next year. I can't wait til we sign Duke's RH counterpart Pat Neshek with his delivery and past history .

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 08:17 PM) Hey fun with selective endpoints! His 2nd half xFIP was 2.76 his 1st half was 1.72. He was pretty damn good in both. The big difference? His strand rate went from 90.5 in the 1st and to 59.5 in the 2nd half, that and he walked a few more guys. He had a very good year overall, splitting it up is fairly useless for such a small sample already. He only pitched 20.2 after the ASB. It's a fine signing I have no idea how anyone could be against it. They have money to spend and the pen was awful. This move hardly breaks the bank for additional signings. I was just stirring the pot a bit since no one else checked his splits. Guess I stirred it too much since the thread got closed for a bit. If I had to draw any conclusions from what I see there it would be this. When you completely reinvent yourself by changing your arm angle drastically maintaining command would probably be pretty hard. He struggled with his control with a walk every 2 innings and 3 wild pitches . This was Downs problem. He just couldn't throw strikes. I am satisfied they addressed a need with this signing. Another point. When talking about relievers you live in the small sample size world. A successful set up guy or closer makes his living on small sample sizes. If you can manage to not give up runs just 1 inning per appearance you are a great RP. The reason RP numbers fluctuate so much from year to year is small sample sizes where a few bad outings can ruin your stats for the whole year. A starter like Quintana can overcome bad outings stat wise by piling up good innings ( 6-9 innings per appearance ) to offset the bad. A RP can't.

Don't think anyone has looked at his splits yet to compare his 1st and 2nd half of 2014. If you think the league may have caught up to the changes then you may have a point. 1st Half 38 IP 29 hits 1.18 ERA 0.947 WHIP 7BB 0 WP 2nd Half 20.2 IP 20Hits 4.79 ERA 1.452 WHIP 10BB 3WP

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 06:45 PM) Um...........I see one problem with your statement............ Ha ,oops ,well could be done later .involving someone else .

If Alexei gets moved to the Dodgers you can bet your ass we're getting Kemp back somehow. When Hahn says he wants a LH middle of the order bat he isn't screwing around. Wish Kemp wasn't such a lousy fielder. A move will be coming wether it's soon or later that will convince one and all that Hahn is serious about contending this year and trading Alexei doesn't suggest otherwise.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 06:22 PM) There's only one done. He couldn't make it too obvious unless he wants to be known as the Headbanger GM.

QUOTE (TheTruth05 @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 12:37 PM) Dan Hayes ‏@CSNHayes 52s52 seconds ago Rick Hahn: "We're on to the next one now." Says they're going to address other needs, including more bullpen help. #WhiteSox Is Rick giving us a little Foo Fighters here ?

So Zach Duke is " Trading Places" from the Brewers to us. Randolph and Mortimer Duke would be proud. Obscure old movie reference brought to you by Eddie Murphy and Dan Akroyd, Don Ameche, Ralph Bellamy and Jamie Lee Curtis.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 06:29 PM) You could comfortably play Van Slyke in LF or RF, and back-up/occasional CF. The problem is that adding a Snider, Lambo, Bourjos or Van Slyke isn't going to do much other than upgrading the bench over Jordan Danks. They could be platoon pieces, but one would HOPE Hahn/KW/JR are shooting higher than that. You never know Van Slyke could be ready to bust loose. Those kind of numbers he put up would be All Star caliber if in 600 AB's ( specifically the SLG, OPS OPS+ OBP )

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 05:47 PM) I will admit this, I know nothing of Van Slyke. Age 27 season in 2014 : PA 246 AB 212 HR 11 BA .297 OBP .386 SJG .524 OPS . 910 Bats RH (OK so he's not LH) OPS+ 157 Slightly above avg. defense in RF Average defense in CF. Pedigree Son of former MLB OF Andy Van Slyke

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 01:59 PM) I just don't see why the Dodgers would do that. Why are they going to pay $20 million for Ethier to play elsewhere in 2017? I think Danks for Ethier makes a lot of sense, but if the Sox want the Dodgers to eat some of that 2017 salary, they're going to need to include another body or else the Dodgers could likely find someone else with whom to trade. The Dodger are the one with a glut of overpaid OF's. They can keep them and never get Pederson in the lineup or bite the bullet and eat some salary . No team should want to pick up those full salaries based on Dodger desperation to move those bad contracts.

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 05:38 PM) damn, wasn't there an article on Pederson, he may not be ready next yr??? I may be wrong here but I can't remember the details. with the other OF'ers. as I have said, the dodgers need to move at least two of what they have, and they might be in a mode of urgency. I wonder what kind of package they can put together for the sox to bite and bail them out. http://www.truebluela.com/2014/10/13/69663...odgers-outfield from this article sounds like he's damn close to being ready. Pederson was the Pacific Coast League MVP in 2014 with Triple-A Albuquerque, hitting .303/.435/.582 with 33 home runs, 30 stolen bases and 100 walks. He was the first 30-30 player in the PCL in 80 years, and earned his first major league call-up when rosters expanded in September. He played in 18 of the Dodgers' 25 games in September, starting three games in center field. He was just 4-for-28 (.143) at the plate with 11 strikeouts, but also walked nine times and put up a .351 on-base percentage. Maybe the Dodger OF the Sox are interested in is Van Slyke. He had a really good year in limited AB's.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 05:20 PM) Haha, no kidding. I probably missed that with so much talk surrounding Salty. I like the idea and prefer Navarro over Montero/ Castro. http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?sh...89099&st=15 post #19 second page. I also had, Loney at first, Iglesias at SS, Josh Reddick in RF ( he still might be a good acquistion). Of course this was all before Abreu , Eaton and Avi since the thread was from late June 2013. I was on the right track with Iglesias ,just picked the wrong prospect but he was traded along with Avi ,by Boston ,in the Peavy deal. I remember when that trade was brewing and everyone thought at first we had got Iglesias and I was like "Oh yea nailed it " !

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 08:07 AM) I hate to disappoint, but the dodger want to try to free up 2 spots in the outfield b/c of Pederson and Schebler. they already have him earmark for their OF of the future. this was already stated in a article about 2 weeks ago. I'm not disappointed because the Dodgers will have trouble moving Ethier, Crawford or Kemp unless they eat big money .If they want to move Ethier and Crawford have fun biting the bullet Dodgers and then Schebler still wouldn't be in their OF unless he passes up Pederson because of Joc's massive amount of K's. Considering Pederson was rated 34 of the top 100 prospects Schebler moving ahead of him isn't likely and as Chili said Verdugo rated higher also.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 03:29 PM) I'd go 3/51, if we're playing that game. But yes, the 4th year is a much bigger deal than the amount per year. And I really like the idea of Melky. I want this to happen. I've been saying Melky since the VMart signing calling him VMart -lite . Guy could get 5/$65-70M considering his age so be ready to pony that up. 3 would be best ,4 maybe ,5 and we're out of it.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 04:41 PM) I think Dioner Navarro will be available since the Jays likely keep Thole due to his ability to catch Dickey's knuckleball. A Flowers/ Navarro platoon sounds good to me. I was saying to get him last yr. when he was a free agent in that predict the Sox 2014 lineup thread.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Nov 16, 2014 -> 10:43 PM) Yeah, but a trade with the Dodgers and their expensive OF would probably be a lot harder to make than a Santiago-Eaton type deal for a team's extra AAA/MLB OF. If I were to trade for a Dodger OF, not necessarily for 2015 (unless he dominates spring), I would target Scott Schebler. The dude had 65 XBH last season (28 HR, 23 2B, 14 3B) in the AA-Southern League, which I believe it a pitcher's league. The power hitting lefthander just turned 24 and he's the Dodger's 3rd best OF prospect behind Pederson and Verdugo. I'm sure it won't take much to get him considering he's about 7th or 8th on their organizational OF depth chart. I'd like to throw him in to AAA Charlotte next season and see how he does. EDIT: I should also mentioned that from A+ to AA, he increased his walk rate, home runs, SLG%, and cut down his K rate. A 19% K-rate is pretty nice for a 28 HR guy. He hit .280. Then he played in the fall league that just ended and batted .310 with 5 HR in 23 games. Good find on Schebler. Any idea how his defense plays since that should also be taken into consideration ?

I'm sure many of you have seen similiar videos but its so much fun to watch especially when you get to 500+ feet. Dunn really hit some monster shots when he was young with the Reds.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 13, 2014 -> 09:59 PM) Agree with everything you say. I think Gillaspie is still young enough to continue improving but how much is the question. I'm hoping the Sox try to grab Headley and use Gillaspie as a backup at1st and 3rd base as well as batted in the DH slot. I like Gillaspie's versatility and bat. Defensively I think Flowers can handle ground ball pitchers but pitch framing is a different story. I agree that Flowers needs to work on pitch framing but I'm concerned about finding a different catcher and then find out that catcher lacks in another area. Flowers will continue to get better so unless an obvious upgrade comes along, he's the guy. Hopefully the Sox figure it out before Danish makes his debut because that kid induces a ton of ground balls. Sox have time as far as Danish is concerned though. My problem with trading Alexei is replacing his defense won't be easy. IMO, the Sox best bet is Sanchez at SS and Semien at 2B, or at least with the players the Sox currently have anyway. Here's the link to what I was talking about with video. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/investigati...14/#more-158004

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 13, 2014 -> 11:38 AM) I watched video of Greene last night on mlb.com and noticed he does miss location a bit more than a starter should. Kid has a nice two-seam he throws 93/94 with downward movement, a nice little slider that fooled batters and thought I had seen a few cutters as well. I would gladly take Greene but the Yanks should send another player with him in a trade for Alexei. Any chance the Sox could get the Yanks to bite on John Danks. One thing we have been noticing with Hahn is that he prefers ground ball pitchers which is great when you play in the cell. However what hasn't been adressed is a catcher who can help those kind of pitchers out. I saw something on fangraphs where they were talking about the most pitches missed by an umpire that were in the strike zone but called balls. The ump might 've been Cederstrom but it was Carroll pitching and Nieto catching and the pitches missed by the ump were all really nice pitches with downward movement which Nieto didn't handle very well. Maybe Flowers would've got a few of those calls but I really think a defensive catcher who can handle pitchers with sink is a must wether its the backup catcher or the starter. Maybe that's a good pitch framer or a guy who gets down low so he doesn't have to stab at the pitches with a downward motion . As much as I think Gillaspie has improved and may continue to improve I'm coming around to the idea of Headley because of his glove and the importance of as many good infield gloves a possible to help the pitchers. If Hahns going to continue to get groundball pitchers then he also must remember that those types are even better when they get great defense behind them and catching them.

QUOTE (Bigsoxhurt35 @ Nov 13, 2014 -> 09:12 PM) How about Greene and Betances for Ramirez? Not a chance. Betances is more valuable than Greene .

QUOTE (Rooftop Shots @ Nov 13, 2014 -> 03:43 PM) As I mentioned in the V-Mart signing thread. I know that it makes for fun conversation and speculations (and I am guilty of it as well) ...But geeeez thats all we here from EVERYWHERE about how we are showing INTEREST in someone. Can we actually count HOW MANY times we have heard that on big name guys but never sign them? Sure Abreu is an exception. But all the hype of Smardjiza, Panda, V-Mart, Kemp,Miller, Scherzer etc tc etc Forget it. We have a HISTORY of when Key people in their prime are on the market that somebody ELSE always ponies up and we alk away with squat. I don't mean to be a nay-sayer......but geez this goes back to the KW days of hearing about getting aggressive with Cabrera and Hunter and coming up empty. Then when the PRIME Candidates are all signed with someone else, then we try and get the leftovers and HOPE like heck that they have a good year to GET BY WITH. SELDOM do we ever do nothing more than HEAR of showing INTEREST by ("the human caskets with arms and legs such as Levine and Phil Rogers) but in reality seldom make signings (plural) where we can be looked at as ("WOW do the Sox look impressively lethal"). Sorry about my attitude right now. But geeeez ...ONCE again we hear from sox front office in the media about how they are going to be aggressive in the off season....and watch more key people go by the way side. Plus, still a littled pissed about V mart. I dont care about his age. Julio Franco wasnt NEAR the hitter Vamrt was and played well into his 40's. V Mart seldom strikes out and is a CONSISTENT contact hitter and a good clubhouse guy, and would be a LETHAL 1-2 punch with Abreu and put a huge dent in Detroit as well. So... Mr Hahn........ don't be like your predecessor KW and TALK about being agressive and competitive. Shut the mouth, open the wallet and use the pen....and BACK up with "action" the hope that you give the fans through your media hypes. ( I may be ay out of line with some of my comments......but at the same time...look at out history and some comments have some real validity to them. HYPE/INTEREST/PURSUING year in and year out while we watch others turn lethal and we struggle to break 500 every year . I feel "almost" the same way. I temper it by telling myself it's early in the off season and there's a long way to go with a lot of money to spend . There are a lot of bad contracts out there given out by teams who over pay with resources the Sox don't have. It's wait and see time but if Feb. rolls around and Hahn's done squat then I'll let 'er rip . But yeah not thrilled with the idea of guys like Rasmus, Aoki , Butler and some of the other names out there. The best will always cost the most and most likely we'll be settling once again for the middle level pieces.