Jake

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Jun 16, 2013 -> 02:41 PM) Limited playing time but made the bigs quickly. Last year he didn't show a lot in less than 40 at bats. I see he had 5 hitsd and 5 RBI's so that might be encouraging Look at his #'s in AA last year. Some believe he could be a corner OF'er if need be, as well. He has been hurt for part of this year and is just getting started, so don't read too much into his early season stats for this year.

My plan as Hahn is to get this team back on its feet again ASAP. No extended rebuilds. We'll assume that not much is different around mid-July, which is when we'll be dealing. Step 1. Crain: He's a must-trade. I think you could really steal from someone who wants Crain, but even if you don't love your offers, you have to pull the trigger on something. Step 2. Peavy: Try to see the market. You should be able to get a lot for him, and this is a case where I'd be willing to wait until the offseason to move him if he needs to prove he is healthy or whatever else. He is the most replaceable star we have, in that our pitching depth is pretty damn good and we have a good track record of developing starting arms. Step 3. Rios: Similar story to Peavy, but even in the offseason I would demand a king's ransom. He could be on this team until 2015 if we want him at about market value and if you want to rebuild quickly, this is an option. However, if you can pry away a Mike Olt type of player then you do that and be okay with the fact you will lose production in the short term. No A-ball prospects of any pedigree for Rios. Rios can still be a part of your next winner and you make the point clear to trading partners. You can always trade him next year, because again he is not blocking any prospects. Step 4. De Aza. See about his value. He's a good player in a premium position and you might be able to get something nice for him. We just have to accept that we don't have a good way to replace him and if you want to compete in the near term you will probably have to buy a centerfielder. Again, I wouldn't be forcing the issue to trade him but if you can get a good player at any level I would probably go ahead and do it. Step 5. Alexei. This is a tough one. He isn't the same player he once was and his contract is long but not fabulously expensive. With that said, a team in need of an SS will probably pay something nice for him. In this case, you're making Gordon your short term SS. Kep is your 2B and you hope Carlos Sanchez pans out in the next 12-18 months. If you go into the offseason and want to add parts to make a competitive team, you may end up frustrated that you don't have a half-ass decent SS. Part of the deal, though. Offseason plans: you give PK the finish to what is likely to be a "meh" season, pat him on the ass, let him walk. He probably retires, I would guess. You stick it out with Dunn. You're not going to get anything for him and after dumping some mixture of Peavy/Rios/Crain/PK/Floyd, you really don't even need to save more money. Dunn may very well hit 40 bombs again and is just the type of guy that can add a little excitement to a team that may be in a transition year. In the final year of his contract, if he still looks like a 40 bomb guy, he may actually become quite valuable in trade. He isn't blocking any prospects at this point, either. Bring in one major FA piece. You have some choices and you'll try to get one that the market doesn't overvalue. My primary target would probably be Kendry Morales to give you a middle-of-the-order bat for the next 3-4 years, but it is important not to overpay. Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury, Curtis Granderson, Nate McLouth, James Loney, and several others will be worth looking at as well. You don't have to get a top-top guy, but bring in a veteran that can fathomably be on your next playoff team. If you get good value, get another one. It's fine to accidentally win. Tyler Flowers will either be good enough to be your starting C or you hand the keys to Phegley. Tank gets another year, but his position is negotiable depending on your other moves. No need to look at adding pitchers. You can bring in a Matt Lindstrom-type, because again sucking isn't fun so it isn't a problem to spend a million or two on a guy that will keep you from losing some games. In the very worst case, these guys get valuable at the deadline. You should be in a position where a couple things can go right and you win and at worst you should be another productive offseason away from winning.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 16, 2013 -> 02:18 PM) I don't remember a week where I've seen as many angry bat flips by Konerko as I've seen the past few games. He's seeing the end of his career rapidly approaching

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 16, 2013 -> 02:17 PM) He threw his bat on that grounder farther than the ball went in the air. He had nice form on it. He's gotten very good at that

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 16, 2013 -> 02:15 PM) Rios continues to not hustle out of the box. Learning from the master, Paul Konerko

What a play by Pena, don't see many 1B doing that.

Offensively, I just wait anxiously for Dunn's ABs because I at least know there is a decent chance I get to see a bomb.

QUOTE (staxx @ Jun 16, 2013 -> 02:12 PM) No phegley the last 2 days... Is he on a plane to chicago??? Would be weird timing as Flowers has batted about .370 over the past 10 games

LOL that field setup just blew Dayan's mind. Tough play, but hilarious to watch

QUOTE (Noonskadoodle @ Jun 16, 2013 -> 02:05 PM) You guys are right. I thought his contract was a little longer than it was. He should def bring in a solid piece as well. I think teams will love that option year, as they may wish to use it.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 16, 2013 -> 02:02 PM) Supposedly other teams were upset they didn't know Santos was available, as they would have tried to acquire him. Probably wouldn't have wanted to deal with us again if we traded them a guy with a bum elbow. Hard to know what was going on behind the scenes.

Also, Nate Jones is worth a ton more to us than he'd be worth in a trade. I wouldn't trade him unless someone made an incredibly stupid offer.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 16, 2013 -> 02:00 PM) Why wouldn't Rios bring a good package in return? Yeah, look at the Texas outfield. Now, imagine it with Nelson Cruz on the 50-day suspension list. They would pay a king's ransom for Rios.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 16, 2013 -> 01:59 PM) That Molina recommendation alone is enough to question him. He should thank his stars for Santos' elbow. Seems to me that all sides involved knew that was a trash for trash trade

If we do start trading guys, though, I want guys excelling in the high minors and/or major league baseball players. We don't do Cubs-style rebuilds around here. We need to get pieces that will help within the next year or two, at most. Think of a guy like John Danks who was not going to get a shot on his club for whatever reason but was a guy we felt we could have on our big league club.

Off the top of my head, who has he requested other than Nestor Molina? Zach Stewart? viva la Teahen!

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 16, 2013 -> 01:55 PM) If this season continues the way it has, there's no chance IMO that Flowers is given the opportunity to be a full-time starter again. Well, Flowers being the starter would be assuming he continues his recent upward trajectory to some extent. Maybe batting .240-.255. Otherwise, I agree. He won't have an all-around bad season and ever sniff the starting lineup again. He's lucky he gets a one season trial run, he won't get a two season trial.

If we trade Alex Rios, I demand Mike Olt

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 16, 2013 -> 01:52 PM) Personally, I don't think the starting catcher for the Sox in 2014 is in the organization right now. I feel the complete opposite. I don't think we'll get one from outside of the org. unless it is a Brian McCann kind of guy, who is obviously a major piece. I don't see us picking him up...so I figure we'll either have Tyler looking like a legit catcher or go in planning to have Tyler backing up Phegley

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 16, 2013 -> 01:51 PM) More like Cooper is a moron if he doesn't work night and day with Santiago on a 2nd and 3rd pitch every chance he gets. The changeup looks like his best offering for now, but we know it is far from perfect. It does seem to make his fastball better, though, which is a bonus.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 16, 2013 -> 01:48 PM) Dan Hayes said before the game that the Sox are "married" to the idea of Flowers being their catcher this year, so they'll give him this entire year most likely. If you're trying to build, you're going to have to be willing to take some lumps with Tyler. This gives Phegley plenty of time to marinate down in AAA instead of being pushed up at the first time of a good run. Let Josh put well over half a season together before we start worrying about putting him on the MLB club. If Flowers still sucks, you haven't lost anything. If Flowers looks like an everyday big leaguer by then, you have the happy problem of too many bats.

Cooper is a moron if he is the one that called for him to start throwing more curveballs to righties.

Pretty good AB by Crowe, but it seems the occasional walk-filled inning will be a part of the Hector experience. Gotta get this guy, now.

At least Flowers' bat has started to show some life and his throwing has really become excellent as of late. He has a little time to get his head on straight when it comes to blocking balls.