nitetrain8601

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 7, 2015 -> 11:01 PM) Cubs main target is Heyward now. We aren't outbidding them and the Cards for him. Which is fine. I'd go with Cespedes or Upton to go along with CarGo. Or hell, sign Cespedes and Upton while only giving up one pick and keeping your prospects. Cespedes has a great arm in the OF. Upton is decent defensively. Thompson or Shuck end up off the bench. Cabrera as DH.

I'd prefer CarGO over Frazier as he has a longer history of doing it. If you got him and one of Heyward, Cespedes or Upton. I'd feel way more confident.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Dec 7, 2015 -> 10:27 PM) I know everyone wants to model the franchise after the Astros, Royals, and Cubs now, but honestly, with the core they have in Sale, Abreu, Q, Eaton, and Rodon, it makes more sense to me to try adding more pieces to that and give this another whirl. If you add a Justin Upton along with a Frazier or Lawrie, what's stopping that team from being a playoff contender? I think I'd much rather ride out the next couple of seasons with a team that can do some real damage then wait for prospects we don't have in our system to arrive and waste the primes of all of our staff. Either of those lineups to me look good: Eaton Cabrera Abreu Upton Frazier/Lawrie Laroche/Thompson Avila/Navarro Sanchez Saladino I'd be ok with trading anything outside Anderson for Frazier and if he's tearing up AAA in June, replace Saladino and either have him hit 9th or lead him off and move Eaton to the 2 hole and roll with that lineup the next 2 years. I don't really think this is the time to be cautious as an organization, they should be aggressive to add offense while improving defense (Upton, Frazier, and Lawrie would improve both). If it blows up in your face and goes nowhere, you can trade all players of value near the end of their contracts and get a massive rebuild started. No half measures though please. IMO, the Sox are too many impact pieces away. Unless you are able to acquire two power hitters at least, this team will have a hard time competing.

I think if the Sox were to re-work a Sale contract, it would be next offseason and it would be to buy out more FA years.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Dec 7, 2015 -> 10:09 PM) Sure, derail the thread back on topic why don't ya. Seriously. I'm curious what the Dodgers do now. Do they wait and see with Chapman or move on and trade for another arm? I'm thinking moving on would be the smart move. I don't like this trade for the simple fact that you're going to have to do something again next year. I think they're better off sacking up and making a trade for Q, Sale or Fernandez. Trade Pederson and/or Puig and/or Urias if that's what you need to do. There's still OF talent out there for you too in Heyward, Cespedes, Upton, and Gordon.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Dec 7, 2015 -> 10:12 PM) Do you really think that Hayward is a #3 hitter? I'm sorry, but I can't get enthused about that. I think he's of a #2. Only time he's a 3 hitter is if Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols are batting before and after him.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Dec 7, 2015 -> 10:01 PM) Heyward has decent pop and gets on base at a good clip. He could bat 3rd with Abreu being the cleanup hitter you're looking for. QUOTE (Dunt @ Dec 7, 2015 -> 10:05 PM) Eaton Heyward Abreu LaRoche Cabrera ? I imagine your 3B would be in there somewhere I hate that lineup and any lineup that depends on LaRoche or Cabrera as your 4th best hitter.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Dec 7, 2015 -> 08:38 PM) Perhaps, but I think that a cleanup hitter remains the biggest priority. Therefore, the guy they get better fill that hole. If you get a guy who is going to hit somewhere else in the lineup, who bats cleanup, behind Abreu? I agree with you. Abreu needs protection. I think the defense can be mixed and matched once you have some type of offense. Sox have defensive players in their system, but their offense is beyond putrid besides Abreu and maybe Eaton. I'm fine with CarGo and Heyward(which is least probable). I'd be happy with CarGo and Cespedes or CarGo and Upton. Whichever is cheapest I suppose. From there, I'm fine with filling in the gaps with defensive first players.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Dec 7, 2015 -> 02:01 PM) You can't lose games 0-0 either. If you backup the strength of your team (SP) with a top flight defense, you can win a lot of 2-1; 1-0 type of games. The problem for the Sox is that they are losing those games 3-2 and 2-1 because they can't make the defensive plays to support the strong starting pitching. If your team is giving up only 1-2 runs and still losing, especially at the Cell, maybe defense isn't your biggest problem. Maybe its your last or close to last place offense.

My counter is you can't win games 0-0. You need to score some runs. Right now the Sox have no protection for Abreu. They are putrid offensively. In addition, the Sox have guys on their team who project to be very good defensively, but they also need to fill in the gaps of offense. Typically money goes to the offensive player, and little money goes to the defensive player.

QUOTE (Al Lopez's Ghost @ Dec 7, 2015 -> 10:02 AM) Didn't say horrible, I say he didn't get the most out of them. And yeah, if you think Dusty is better than Maddon, I gotta say I disagree strongly. But he did. What was that team predicted to do before he got there?

Royals close to inking Joakim Soria on a 3 year deal. Finances unknown at this point. Dodgers, Diamondbacks and a third team have had discussions with the Marlins about Jose Fernandez. Nothing is close. Fernandez hasn't been happy with the Marlins from what I've heard.

Nightengale simply said he thinks Upton ends up with the White Sox, but he didn't say they were talking at this time or anything really. He was just guessing where each FA ends up.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Dec 7, 2015 -> 12:04 AM) Why aren't the Reds "going for it?" They had Cueto, Chapman and Leake. They had the great Bruce (see earlier threads fawning on this guy), Votto and the speedy Hamilton and the elite, the super duper, the best of the best Todd Frazier. They had Marlon Byrd and Brandon Phillips, both of whom outhit Melky. Why did they suck so badly with all of this elite talent? Seems like 1 or 2 pitchers would have put them over the top. Once they let go of Baker, it all fell apart. You can say maybe that team proved it cannot play up to its talents, but Dusty, for all the s*** he gets, got the most out of them like he did for the Cubs and Giants.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Dec 6, 2015 -> 09:17 PM) Would Upton, trading for Lawrie, re-signing Alexei be enough? It feels like we would still need to make one more addition to put us over the top. I rather go after Cespedes to wake up this sleepy lockerroom. Upton is a nice player and I think only 2 years older than Heyward.

Bob Nightengale predicted the Sox sign Upton.

MLB Tonight is broadcasting live form the Winter Meetings for those of you who can't get enough. It just started.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 6, 2015 -> 05:50 PM) Completely disagree with about everything in your post. OSU last year is definitely better than this MSU team but Bama is much much worse. Agreed.

Yesterday was the first day I watched Iowa all season long and they definitely looked deserving to be in the Final Four. I'll catch them in Pasadena though live.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 6, 2015 -> 06:40 PM) You said every player is far from a sure thing, then when someone points out why 4 of these are far from sure things you call it a cop out. That doesn't make sense. Yes I did. He sarcastically pointed out why Pederson, Seager, Urias and Puig would be such a throwing darts at the board in the dark move.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 6, 2015 -> 05:47 PM) Do GMs arrive in Nashville tonight? If so, we could have some late night activity. Yes they do. MLB Network will have a live special in about 20 minutes from Nashville. Also, I wonder if Sox and Cubs would agree upon a Q & Robertson deal for Wilson Contreras, Jorge Soler, Javier Baez and filler.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Dec 6, 2015 -> 05:32 PM) Especially players that have barely sniffed the bigs (Seager), finished their rookie year with a .210 average (Pederson), not been called up yet (Urias) or are in legal trouble after a tumultuous year that involves his own team disliking him (Puig). That's such a copout argument, it's ridiculous. And very shortsighted at that. Pederson made the all-star team, still had a .346 OBP and .417 after slowing down in his ROOKIE CAMPAIGN. He also had a 2.3 WAR and 112 OPS+. Urias is only 18/19 and is not requirement for such a discussion to take place. Puig is not in any legal trouble. And Seager is considered the #1 prospect in baseball as of midseason IIRC. I guess no veterans should ever be dealt for prospects or even young MLB players...BECAUSE WE KNOW WHAT THE VETERANS ARE!!

Frazier, Phillips and Bruce are all available.

QUOTE (LDF @ Dec 6, 2015 -> 06:18 PM) soooo many options will be at their disposal. I don't forsee it. Their GM has been on LA Radio the past two weeks. They want bullpen help. Plus it doesn't make sense to acquire Chapman just to dump Jansen contract wise.

Dodgers want to finish off games early. Jansen was the only really reliable guy all year. Cubs want to go ahead and do the same thing along with the Astros.