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QUOTE (CyAcosta41 @ Jan 23, 2016 -> 09:05 AM) Exactly. Determine his reasonable value. Then, if circumstances demand it, even stretch beyond reasonable. But, if the Mets deal is as reported, that's looney tunes territory (for a team). You do that for a Mike Trout, or 2-3 others, but no way for a guy with Cespedes's track record. I'd bet Greg's newest house that the Sox were trying until it got crazy (and sure sounds as if it would have taken even crazier to take him away from his NY preference). I think we learn a lot about Hahn by seeing whether we strike quickly with Plan B. Plan A1-A3 were always unlikely, at best. This would be fine if our core players didn't age but this patience will just guarantee a lost decade of white sox baseball. They could have decided to reload with Q but, this is the corner they backed themselves into.

Smart organizations don't force themselves to improve through free agency and then complain about the market prices being too expensive.

Rick Hahn the poker player. Playing chess while everyone plays checkers. Harvard means a lot folks.

I think you are being a little dramatic and putting a little too much power in the presidential position. I think Trump Cruz are insane, but nothing about Clinton, O'Malley, Sanders, Rubio, Bush/etc scream anomaly to our political history.

I hope its an incredibly verbose call "And That's...INTO THE AIR OVER THE WALL AND INTO THE SEATS OF DOZENS OF PEOPLE AS THEY CHEER AS THE SCOREBOARD MAN CHANGES THE NUMBER TO ACCOUNT FOR THE AFOREMENTIONED BALL CLEARING THE STANDS INTO THE PEOPLE AS WE CHEER" I"d wear that shirt.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Jan 22, 2016 -> 03:36 PM) Why? The Royals hit three more HR's than the Sox last season and they seemed to do OK. People have to let go of their obsession with HR's, usually the guys that hit the most also create the most unproductive outs which makes it more of a negative than a positive. The Royals had 116 more hits and 102 more runs while the Sox gave away 258 more K's and despite having what most consider a superior pitching staff the Sox gave up 60 more runs mostly due to shoddy defense. People don't have to get rid of their obsession with home runs. The Royals have worked 2 times, power teams have worked a lot more. There are a lot more players capable of hitting a lot of home runs and good defense than "high contact rates with enough power to be passable". The Royals are a unique team, it's a lot easier to not recreate them.

Yes, Thibs locker room was such a mess compared to Hoiberg's.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 22, 2016 -> 01:19 PM) Comcast SportsNet ‏@CSNChicago 13m13 minutes ago Bob Costas: #WhiteSox made 'right choice' with Jason Benetti -- http://bit.ly/1nE22pN (@CSNHayes) #WhiteSoxTalk That's nice of him. I continue to hear that MIke Tirico is a world class guy when it comes to helping out people starting up on the career (tirico also mentioned in article).

QUOTE (Disco72 @ Jan 22, 2016 -> 06:52 AM) Definitely Sao Paulo. We're still figuring out the rest. We'll probably have to do mail or use a service, as I don't think we'll be able to get down to Atlanta to do it in person. If in person is absolutely the best way to go, we'll find a way. Sorry, didn't realize you were in Knoxville. You'll be fine. One thing that's helpful is reading the yelp reviews of the consulate you are applying to for tips. If you are there for some time, I really recommend going to a smaller coastal town like Ubatuba (2 hrs away)? Buses are a great way to travel in Brazil.

Wow, Navarro's beard is truly terrible.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 22, 2016 -> 12:49 PM) Seems like the Sox are really positioning themselves to beat positional averages. There were three middle infielders in all the AL that hit 20 HRs or more in 2015. If the Sox got 40 from Desmond/Lawrie (very possible if both stay healthy) they would likely have the most thunderous middle infield in the AL. Really agree with this. I believe even ahead of big three, desmond and Jackson (and span) were only players that had a good probability of outperforming their contract. Desmond costs a pick, but if you sign him for a 2 year deal and he has a dynamite year, you can get good value out of trading him. OTOH, if he's himself last year, this is likely to be an affordable contract which we could still move for the same reasons we signed him (somebody will think he'll bounce back). That said, would like if we tried Saladino plus Jackson. But Desmond, considering the lack of market, seems like a good value candidate.

Yeah perfect guy for Brewers in a rebuild. I really have warmed to Jackson, if no Yo. I think he's exactly the guy that's smart to sign absent a big move.

QUOTE (peavy44 @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 05:21 PM) Are the white sox in this still or mets vs NATS. Hold on, let me consult my twitter...er, sources.

My god, I'm sorry I gave LaRoche too much credit, he had a .634 OPS. So you are saying that the Pedro Alvarez backslide at age 29 to a .720 OPS is still worse than Adam LaRoche at age 37 after he looked like a weak, broken man? It is not a question who I'd prefer more at DH, though certainly I understand nobody wants 12 million on the bench and another 6-8 million to play the limited role you paid the former for.

Yeah, at this point hard not to view this as agent drilling up prices.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 03:52 PM) Dude you gotta stop with the Alvarez thing. He is no better than LaRoche. As a DH he is much better than LaRoche. LaRoche had a .687 OPS last year, Alvarez had a .780. He had double the home runs. I would have much rather taken Alvarez as a DH than LaRoche (granted laroche could spell abreu at first better).

QUOTE (BrianAnderson @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 03:54 PM) Although I like the pick ... Gordon Beckham, Lance Broadway, Brian Anderson, Walker .... I'm too tired to think of the rest .... they all called. The Sox don't have a great past in the draft. Very likely the 28th pick wouldn't turn out to be anything. Worth discussing that none of those picks happened under new CBA. Having an additional first allows you to throw additional money at HS players to not go to College, which is only a worthwhile sentence when we are talking about MLB.

QUOTE (bear_brian @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 03:45 PM) Is there any possibility that this signing is a prelude to a trade? Before signing Albers, the Sox had Jones, Jennings (or Phillips), Putnam, Duke, Petricka and Robertson, with either Jacob Turner or Scott Carroll in the spot start/long relief role. Adding Albers seems to make one of those others expendable ... You have to assume some of those will not have great years, and some have options, so no reason to make room. Not a lot of bullpen help in AAA to supplement.

Gammons has really lost it.

QUOTE (staxx @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 03:50 PM) It's about Albers. It's not a good tweet. "Oh, really, when the Sox are showing interest in a marginal reliever that hasn't signed yet and then sign them that shows they mean business?" I like Albers, but...what? That signing isn't indicative of anything from Sox.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 03:13 PM) I agree. I was just asking you if you thought Abreu made up for not hitting on the others. I've been dealing with grad students all day. I didn't really word it properly. No I agree with you. While last year was especially bad, I think Sox are actually pretty good at acquiring major leaguers. But the problem is they do have a budget, so it hurts when they miss out on their cost controlled players because there is never anyone immediately behind them. Last year's free agent class should have been supplementing Davidson/Micah/Avi/Eaton, but 3/4 have brutal flaws.

Oh man, Werth not only is market untradeable he's literally untradeable. Honestly, doesn't that mean if they sign Cespedes they are putting him in CF?

Glad he's back but skeptical he is as good as last year.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 03:10 PM) Does the fact that they struck gold with Abreu offset this? Imagine the team if they were not shrewd enough to sign him. You just can't look at the negatives. No FO is going to hit on all transactions. You need to weigh the positives and negatives together. That's why the teams that are consistently the best develop their own. The true price they are paying is from not developing their own players. I think the rest of my post addresses this pretty clearly.

QUOTE (kwill @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 02:59 PM) So what is plan B. I would hope it would be to add a player like Jackson and another starting pitcher without giving up a pick. I know our rotation is stacked with lefties but Cliff Lee is a very intriguing option to me. I would like to see an improved outfield defense. I hope the White Sox would think about 2017 payroll flexibility as well. I'd prefer jackson/pitcher over jackson/desmond.