CaliSoxFanViaSWside

QUOTE (whtsoxfan @ Nov 11, 2014 -> 07:46 PM) Red Sox looking to re-sign Lester http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/red-sox/pos...ter-will-return Heard on MLB Network that an unknown tean offered Billy Butler 3years $30M. Any thing on twitter about this ?

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 11, 2014 -> 12:20 PM) a great point esp if there are a mix of lefty and righty. has any team ever use the dh as a rotating position ???? The Sox did when they didnt resign Thome and went with Kotsay instead. Other teams do it I just don't know which ones. But say we sign Rasmus and Melky and we have Avi and Eaton. That's 2 lefties, a rightie and a switch hitter and since you face mostly RH'ed pitching we 'd have 3 lefties automatically in the lineup , Against lefties Rasmus can sit or Eaton depending one who needs the rest more. Keeps them all fresher ,hopefully more productive . It would also mean a defensive upgrade and the end of Tank in a Sox uni to the joy of all.

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 11, 2014 -> 11:51 AM) and if necessary I would think DH as well. thanks That's what I meant for "and the bench" if we use the 4 good OF's approach for DH we wouldn't have to worry about bench depth. not using pinch runners as much , more speed in the every day lineup and no 1 dimensional ( hit only) guy .

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 11, 2014 -> 07:25 AM) then have Hahn walk away. the dodgers need to unload 2 very expensive outfielders contract. if this is not a sellers market and its is not a buyers market, then what is it??? I'd be shocked to see the Sox take on any bad contracts. There are enough guys on the FA market who will provide value that won't break the bank. Lot's of guys who will be 3 yrs around $30-40M and less for most relief pitchers.

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 11, 2014 -> 09:06 AM) big question can he maintain his hitting to strikeout stats. He has his whole career . Good OBP guy, won't kill you on defense. To me he's like VMart-lite, switch hitter who hits LH's and RH's pretty equally but since he's not a DH can provide value in the field and for the bench.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 11, 2014 -> 07:40 AM) The White Sox are not going after Max Scherzer. The last thing they will do is spend the vast majority of their off season money on one guy. I'm coming around to thinking the Sox could sign 4/5 free agents in the affordable category like Melky, Rasmus, Neshek, Janssen, McCarthy , Miller. Most of these guys won't get more than 3 years maybe 4 in some cases. Even Headley doesn't look like his cost will be prohibitive. Surprisngly the Sox haven't been linked to any of these guys.... yet.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 11, 2014 -> 08:08 AM) Heyman said don't over look the southsiders this winter... http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-he...others-on-radar The more and more I look over the list of free agents and their expected price tags the better and better Melky Cabrera looks.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 04:45 AM) Range isn't the problem. It's a combination of his hands, and his arm is probably MLB average or a notch above, but it's not his best tool....if he had the arm of a Valentin, Uribe or Alexei, a lot of his mishandled/misplayed balls could still be converted into outs. I read somewhere that a decent amount of his errors are on throws where his feet aren't set, so that would be mechanics wouldn't it ?

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 01:20 PM) http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/jose-abreu-...outing-reports/ Thanks for that . To the doubting Thomases I say " I told you so " !

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 06:38 PM) He played with Moises' emotions. He is a cad and a bounder !

So bsically if you want him vote for him disregarding if it makes our payroll $200M ? Well hell then I voted. VMart, Scherzer, Melky , Martin, Robertson, McCarty, Miller and Gregerson because that last group needed someone. Hell just should have thrown Lester in there too.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Nov 8, 2014 -> 06:28 AM) Looks like this thread has run it's course. With a late surge by the yeses the final tally is 36 yes 30 no. Ok not quite "final" .

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 06:32 AM) I think his Korean team will get the 20 million fee. It's kind of an unprecedented move but I am sure the Sox have seen him play. A power hitting, switch-hitter could definitely fit somewhere on the roster if the scouts like him more than his market. He's RH not a switch hitter. http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/p...id=kang--000jeo Peter Gammons also mentioned him but the baseball ref. and the numbers Gammons used for 2014 are slightly different.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Nov 6, 2014 -> 10:34 AM) Any other realistic or off-the-wall ideas as we all patiently wait for the first real SOX domino to fall? Thought of starting a new thread but decided I'd try this specualation here. With the price of Cubans becoming prohibitive maybe Hahn has an under the radar International free agent signing up his sleeve such as Jeong-ho Kang . He is a RH 27 year old Korea SS who had a 1.189 OPS in the KBO. He can also play 3rd and OF and is supposed to be posted soon. Doubtful the posting fee will be $20M but you never know. The Korean Jeague is not even the equal of the Japanese league so speculation is rampant with how his numbers would translate. The best article I could find is this. http://beisbols.org/2014/09/08/biggest-x-factor-free-agency/

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Nov 9, 2014 -> 06:44 PM) BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHA

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 7, 2014 -> 07:27 PM) Thanks for posting the link. I enjoyed watching the highlites. As I said in an earlier post, I'd rather trade for Saunders than sign Rasmus. I love the idea of playing Avi in LF too. If the sox for some crazy reason did make a trade for Cargo, the DH spot could be used to give guys a day off from the playing field. Might help keep all four out fielders healthy. Its something to keep in mind anyway. You're welcome. 4 decent OF's and a rotating DH has also run through my mind considering the long odds of landing VMart. I would prefer that and having the flexibility to a full time DH if VMart is unattainable.

Looks like this thread has run it's course. With a late surge by the yeses the final tally is 36 yes 30 no.

QUOTE (ChiSoxJon @ Nov 8, 2014 -> 06:19 AM) I expect us to miss out on V-Mart considering we're the f***in White Sox, which might be a good thing, don't wanna pay that a 37 year old, and grab Morales, other than that just grab me closer and some relief and I'll be happy, maybe some solid bench options The more people object to Martinez the older he gets He won't be 36 until 12/23 .

QUOTE (scs787 @ Nov 7, 2014 -> 07:27 AM) Semien was the one they tried out there so I'm guessing if any of the MIs get moved to LF it'd be him. That's exactly what I was thinking but was rather disappointed after he came back up that he didn't play any OF after he had in the minors. I know everyone is thinking LH hitting OF but maybe Semien could be the full timer out there as long as we get a LH DH or switch hitting DH for the middle of the order.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 7, 2014 -> 11:58 AM) I really like what you say here. Saunders could be a very good alternative to spending money on Rasmus. That money could be spent somewhere else and get rid of Tank and his salary. I hope the Sox explore this possibility. Tank $2.8M in 2014 ,Arb eligible now , 26 on 3/10/ 2015 , Bats RH , Nickname Tank Saunders $2.3M in 2014 ,Arb eligible now , 28 on 11/19/2014 , Bats LH , Nickname "The Condor" I've been championing Saunders for quite a while now as that low salaried , LH, good defense guy entering prime for RF with a move of Avi to left. Wish the guy could stay healthy though . But I know many of us want the defense to improve and thats why I targeted him in the 1st place and for all the other reasons I just mentioned . Seems like many teams want him so doubtful just Viciedo gets him. Saunders video highlights including just about everything you'd like to see http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/search/med...10&c_id=mlb Sales nickname is also "The Condor" in some circles. Don't see it used here much but it is on SSS. There are going to be positions that can have a slim upgrade which I think Saunders is over Viciedo . Better defense is key for me here along with hitting LH but has to stay healthy. He hasn't exactly piled up the AB's in his career yet so it's hard to say what he could produce over a full season.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Nov 7, 2014 -> 04:14 AM) Swinging and missing is only part of the problem. Isn't it also trying to do something with a pitch, which doesn't lend itself to the hitters intent? That's what I mean by the willingness to take an outside pitch, the other way, to the opposite field. No matter how much you want to hit and do something with it you still have to hit it 1st . If it was easy we'd see more . 300 hitters and less K's but its extremely difficult considering even the best hitters fail 7 of 10 times. I'd recommend reading Ted Williams ' The Science of Hitting " which Tony Gwynn read in HS and he idolized Williams or Gwynn's own book " The Art of Hitting . " But this Deadspin article ( http://deadspin.com/how-tony-gwynn-cracked...lege-1591491368 ) on Gwynn should be insightful. Every hitting coach should know these books inside and out and every organization should require every hitter in the system to read them.

Anyone remember when VMart signed with Detroit ? I was reading that back then the Sox offered him more money than the Tigers along the lines of 3/$48M but he chose the Tigers for more years less AAV and that Adam Dunn was actually our fall back signing. Hasn't Hahn hinted that the Sox could be going after someone we have pursued in the past ?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 7, 2014 -> 12:09 AM) This is what I was thinking. If Sox trade him, they are in major rebuilding mode no matter what they are telling us fans. You sure have turned into a debbie downer. And no trading Alexei would not mean that . He's a 33 year old SS and our best trade asset being the oldest member of the core and quite desirable. Depending on Hahn's success level this offseason the rebuild is nearly finished since some of us expect contention as early as 2015 and others 2016. But I will admit that Alexei would be very hard to replace and a stopgap SS for a year isn't very desirable.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Nov 7, 2014 -> 02:31 AM) Isn't a key component of being able to hit "bad pitches," the willingness to hit the ball where it's pitched? For example; going the other way, on an outside pitch. There are a lot of base hits in those kinds of pitches, but not if the batter tries to pull them. I'm reminded of Adam Dunn. It was always very frustrating to me to watch him take outside pitches, which he could have easily hit to the, virtually undefended, left side. A hitter with poor discipline tries to pull that pitch, and rolls over on it, for a ground out, to the pull side. Often, Dunn did demonstrate good plate discipline by taking that pitch for a ball. However, he could have had a double, by simply taking the pitch the other way. Moreover, by not trying to pull the ball, there is more time to recognize the speed, location and movement of the pitch. That extra time helps offset any loss of bad speed, which comes with age. Perhaps that is what Victor does, and at least in part, why he is such a great hitter. The key component to hitting bad pitches as it is with any pitches is to be able to not swing and miss and as we have seen over the years the strikeout rate is rising dramatically which makes VMart such an anomaly. He was the only player in the ML to walk more than he K'ed.

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ Nov 6, 2014 -> 07:21 PM) Signing Victor Martinez is the definition of an all-in move, because not only are you committing a significant portion of your payroll dollars, but you're committing them to a guy who is highly likely to produce diminishing returns over the life of the contract, because players in any sport tend to age like milk after 35, with the rare exception that usually ends up in a Hall of Fame. Further, you're taking assets away from your farm system by signing him. Note that I am not advocating against signing free agents this offseason, nor am I advocating against a strategy that takes assets away from the farm system. My point is that the timing has to be right, and right now is not the right time. My argument was more for signing free agents this year as opposed to next year as you advocated because it's closer to contention whether it's VMart or not. The 3 things I listed are very important as far as when is the right time to make your moves. To my way of thinking way more important then the contention window. And as others have pointed out the Sox have some history of having a bad record the year before they make the playoffs. But VMart does not take away "assets" he takes away a 2nd round pick or later if the Sox sign another QO offer free agent before they were to sign him . I just don't understand what free agents won't produce "diminishing returns" since most are over 30 already or be a signing with multiple warts to begin with. The top free agents might get 5/6 year contracts for over $100M. Others could come from the NL which I am always leery about. At least VMart knows the league , the pitchers and the opponents we play the most since he's from the same division.