kwill

I would second what most people are saying in regards to the Cease timetable. He already had Tommy John Surgery and didn't break the 100 inning mark last year. If he can follow a similar path as Hansen did last year with post around 150 innings between High A and AA this year that would be a really great season. I would expect Hansen to be in the minors all of this year with spending the majority in AA. This way he would be ready by Mid-2019 for the majors. In all reality, the Championship window starts in 2020. Maybe they can compete for a Wild Card next year but the pitching staff won't be fully settled until 2020.

I didn't understand the 68 win over/under bet in Vegas because the division is just so bad. The White Sox playing the Tigers and Royals alone will allow them to get over that hump and really The Twins are a beneficiary of a poor division. I do not believe they are a good club at all.

I actually thought that Kemp has made sense for the White Sox for awhile now but only with a trade that would equate to us getting 36 million( what Kemp is owed) dollars worth of young players back. The White Sox could easily consume the 18 million dollars per season on their payroll for the next 2 seasons. I for one do not believe that we will be able to contend until 2020 when Kemp gets off the books anyway. Also, I am not optimistic on the chances of the White Sox getting Manny Machado or Bryce Harper next offseason. What would the trade look like. I would take some combination of the three. Yadier Alverez ( #6 in Dodgers Org) Starling Heredia (#17 Dodgers Ord) Jordan Sheffield (#18 Dodgers Org) Will Smith (9# Dodgers Org) Now as somebody mentioned the Dodgers really don't operate this way but it would be worth exploring especially since the White Sox would not need to grab their top guys rather add depth pieces. Kemp would be interesting as a left fielder/DH with the White Sox.

That is nothing for a guy that had an OPS of 868 last year. First thought is Mike Moustakas is probably going to be very disappointed. Second thought is do you think we overpaid for Wellington Castillo given what has happened to the middle tier free agent veteran market. 2/15 Million contact. I am wondering if Lucroy receives more than a one year contract.

I don’t get the Casey Gillespie love.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 21, 2017 -> 01:19 PM) Definitely -- Ramos is the get there. It could be Ramos straight up and I think I'd be happy. I think the problem is the outfield market is nothing right now. I think Lorenzo Cain will be lucky to break 50 million dollars and he has been a 4 Win player 3 of the last 4 years.

I wonder if MLB steps in here and pressures The Sox to See it through in court. It would set precedent for other athletes to sue stadiums. Imagine if Paul George sued the Team USA for his injury.

Hey Soxtalk Friends, Right now as presently stand this is the current White Sox Rotation: Rodon Shields Fulmer Lopez Giolito. Rodon may not break camp as he is recovering from surgery so their is a possibility of him not pitching until May. Giolito is on the block with the Machado trade rumors so who knows what will happen. But, lets say for this exercise that he remains with the club and is part of the rotation. We would likely experience injuries or under performance by one or more starters this year. I believe White Sox should not pickup a veteran starter. So here is the best case scenario for picking up a starter on a one year deal. You sign him, he has a monster first half and you trade him for a B level Prospect and maybe a flyer. The White Sox would have more to gain using those starts on their own B-Level Prospect Starters like Stephens, Adams and Guerrero to battle it out in Spring Training. All three spent significant time in AA last year and will likely start the year in AAA if they do not make the major league roster. All three have shown some flashes of big league talent and this year is the time to see if they can become a back end starter or more. Shields is likely to be traded(hopefully) midseason and that slot will likely open up. I suspect though the White Sox have correlated Shields leaving with Kopech arriving to the big leagues. I know that they could each stand to gain to have at least half year in AAA but in a year from now are the White Sox going to have space in the rotation to really find out? Wouldn't it best serve the White Sox to know what they have before next off-season?

Man and I was pumped up about the Rule 5 Draft tomorrow morning.

I bet the offer is Giolito and Anderson. This would allow Machado to play SS. How awesome would it be though if it was a three way with the Yankees. AGAIN THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN. Yankees: Machado O's: Giolito Anderson White Sox: Ellsbury-Plus 10 Million Torres- Top 5 Prospect Sheffield-Top 40 Prospect- not updated but I just suspect Frazier- Not the biggest fan but ya know they are shopping him. Yankees: Get their Short Stop of the Future and Rid themselves of Machado. Immediately can sign him to a 10-$300 deal. Get rid of that ugly contract O'S: Get to a short stop to replace Machado and a starting pitcher White Sox: Ellsbury- Is actually a useful player just not start quality. Say we get 10 million from the Yankees. That pay down the contract to 56 Million/3. Roughly a little less than 19 million per season. Torres: Could pretty much immediately replace Anderson at Short Stop. Sheffield- Reports from Law and Longenhagen were extremely high on his AFL. I would not doubt he jumps inside the top 40. Frazier- Probably my least favorite prospect of the bunch.

I know I am late to this party but can a White Sox Reporter please ask Rick Hahn he decided to keep Jacob May instead of Jordan Guerrero? I have to believe their is some other issue that was at play here.

I think STL should really consider moving their chips to the table. Flaherty, Hudson and Bader would be an interesting get for O's. St. Louis has the money to extend Machado. They could really make a run at the Cubs in 18' with that lineup. Also, Put me in the boat unless it is a very minimal prospects the White Sox should just be patient.

I think the best thing the White Sox can do is just chill. Let the madness happen that is the Winter Meetings. Let the young guys develop and take their lumps this year. They need to figure out what prospects will pan out and where they will fit in the rotation and diamond. It is not as exciting as making the big move but it needs to happen. Look at the Yankees last winter meetings. They sat it out and waited for their young guys to develop.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Dec 5, 2017 -> 10:57 PM) No. They would have to give up their 2nd rounder to sign Moustakas. Not happening. Ah. Good point. I actually thought it would be a 3rd but after reading the qualifying rules again you are correct. It would only be a third if they would receive some kind of revenue share.

Does anybody else think they may look at the market on Mike Moustakas? As it stands the White Sox really don't have a 3rd baseman. He is going into free agency on the younger side at 29 years old and won't command a long contract. If the price gets dropped to 5/70 million maybe with some dollars front loaded to add more appeal wouldn't the White Sox have to consider. The last year he would be playing at age 33 which means you should be getting mostly prime years. He was an above average defender until last year when he became just slightly below which could have been an off year defensively. Travis Sawhik wrote an interesting article coming to the conclusion that his power is real and could probably play even better in our park compared to a stadium like Kauffman that is a pitchers park. Next years crop of 3Bs to me is not very good beyond Machado and Donaldson. I never put any stock in us actually being contenders next year for Manny Machado as the dollars and years would scare the Sox off. Josh Donaldson would be going into the following year at 33. I think this would allow Jake Burger to take his time in the minors like we are doing with Collins. The White Sox could see how he develops, move either Burger or Moustakas when Abreu's contract is up.

I really like the guy as a person, genuinely seems like a good clubhouse guy. He just cannot start anymore. I think its time the White Sox bring him out of the pen. He could be a really good lefty specialist as his stuff could play up in one inning of work and he does fairly well against left handed hitters. Splits Below: VS Righthanders: .293/.373/.567 VS Lefthanders: .218/.277/.356

Most people have commented along my thoughts as well which is he was rushed the big leagues and still is rounding into form last year. At the end of last year, he was flashing a plus changeup. You add that along with his slider and fastball and he could be a top 5 starter in the league. Sale has given us this unreal expectations of how quickly a guy can become dominant.

Does anybody know what happend to Matt Cooper? I thought he could get a shot at the big leagues some time this year but he not pitched since late June after a few rough outings.

I think 2017 and 2018 we can expect Top 3 maybe Top 4 for picks. I think next year will be harder though as development paths can be frustrating to watch as points where guy will falter, or settle into a lesser player than we originally thought.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 20, 2017 -> 06:49 PM) http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?playe...itting/2017/ALL Sure, and this guy had a 750 OPS (wow, 0.17 points different!!!) in the Midwest League at roughly the same point in the season last year...prospects don't stay on a linear path. I think this a very good post in terms of understanding its a development process. Sometimes especially a guy who is 20 years old take some time to make adjustments. Hopefully, He still probably has 2.5 years at the very least of development.

Even Sheets has a 6 SO for like 50 ABS at this point. You have to figure that some of those balls are going to start falling for him.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Jul 19, 2017 -> 12:19 PM) MLB is a business in which the owner's goal is to make money, don't lose sight of that. When Hahn can save his boss about $20 million after shelling out $50+ for Robert it really helps lessen the sting. Hahn stated twice in the press conference about how the Yankees paying the entire salaries of Frazier/Kahnle/Robertson did play a factor. Was it the only factor? No, but a factor nonetheless. As fans we sometimes lose sight that ownership can only stomach spending so much money before it stops making sense. $20 million is considerable savings in this case. I guess my point is take back Headley for next season as a positional player. JR can easily makeup for any money loss on Robert next year. The White Sox currently have 26 million dollars worth of contracts for next year. Lets say there is another 25 million in paying cost control guys and arbitration that bring up the total to 51 million dollars. The lowest payroll team this year was the Milwaukee Brewers at 79 million dollars. We could easily afford Headley for next year and JR could save his money. You could easily play the what if game in baseball but lets not act like Reinsdorf is not making a bundle off of this rebuild. In fact, It would make some sense for him to possibly look to sell the team. From a business perspective you have lowest amount committed money moving forward with the same steady revenue. That is part of the reason you may see Stanton get moved at the deadline.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Jul 19, 2017 -> 11:17 AM) Saving $20 million was absolutely a big factor in this trade. Sox shelled out $50+ for Robert, so saving $20 makes that more palatable to ownership I am sure. This is a business after all. This is the frustrating part of the trade as the White Sox will save money next year as they have nothing committed. Good Ole JR could have taken back a piece like Headley. He could be a nice veteran player to play some nice defense at third who knows maybe he has a nice first half and flip him. I am sure if we took him off the Yankees hands they would have upgraded prospect in take or thrown in another player. Don't get me wrong, I am not crazy upset over the trade, just not excited like the rest Hahn has pulled off.

I do love how honest Hahn is with all of his answers. It is pretty refreshing to hear from a GM.

It is really interesting looking at it from the Yankees side of it now having 4 really great relievers for the next 1.5 years. It could very well be the best bullpen in the modern era beating out the Wagner, Dotel, and Lidge trio.