Dam8610

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Feb 14, 2018 -> 10:58 PM) As far as Zavala goes: they mention that Sox have him on a program to add strength and weight because he loses a ton of weight in season. He also altered swing path to get ahigher launch angle. They note that he has power and an all fields approach, fringy but playable defense, fringe average arm. They say his ceiling is offensive minded backup catcher. Call: probably ends up in left but profiles as an extra OF with the chance for me if he hits like he always has They seem to think Cease is most likely a reliever. FWIW, Josh Norris did the list and he saw Sheets a ton at Wake Forest. Could have something to do with the ranking. They gave Sheets a Lucas Duda comp. I've never heard anything negative about Zavala's defense until this month. Before that, reports mentioned a good arm and good overall defense. What changed?

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Feb 15, 2018 -> 07:47 AM) Leury can turn himself into an attractive trade chip. A team looking to add a Zobrist type player where he can be an everyday player at a different position. Or maybe a team has a key injury and needs a starting CF, another MI, etc. Not to go Greg here, but I think for the rebuild to be successful, the Sox are at some point going to need to look at these in house options like the Garcias, Delmonico, etc. and start seeing contributing pieces to the next contending team, rather than trade chips. If Leury Garcia is going to develop into a Zobrist type of player, the next contender could probably use that player, and he'll be 29 in 2020.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Feb 15, 2018 -> 07:13 AM) Engel's appeal is not based solely upon his elite defense and athleticism. He is also very fast and possesses legitimate power. It's easy to understand why management might want to give him every opportunity to learn to hit. Whether, or not, he is able to accomplish that is very questionable, but I'm rooting for him. He is one of those guys who probably spent too much time playing another sport. Perhaps if he had concentrated more on baseball and less on football, he would be further along in his development, as a hitter. To me, very fast and power potential is covered by athleticism. His problem is he can't find a consistent good swing and IIRC he tinkers with it constantly. As a result, he can't hit. Hopefully he can miraculously find a swing that works, and I understand why the White Sox want to let him try, but I think the most likely scenario is Leury Garcia plays the bulk of the CF time because Engel can't hit.

I think they want Engel to win the job because of his defense and athleticism, but unless that bat finds a way over the Mendoza line, I think we'll be seeing lots of Leury Garcia in CF.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 6, 2018 -> 05:22 PM) The IRS doesnt even know how the new tax code works and I dont think it will be in place very long anyway. The real estate market is in hyperdrive and building is out of control. Once that crashes I believe we will be in another recession. And its probably a year or two away, so get money while its still cheap. The IRS didn't know how the tax code worked prior to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, they still don't know how it works, and they won't know how it works once that horrible law is replaced.

QUOTE (Quin @ Jan 23, 2018 -> 02:19 PM) It's not time to talk about how to prevent tragedies. We have to wait, like, at least a week. So THAT'S why they never pass gun laws. If you have to wait a week after every mass shooting to talk about it, and there are 5-7 mass shootings a week, you can never talk about it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 14, 2018 -> 02:51 PM) They went out and brought in Arod when they had a Hall of Famer at SS. If they think he will improve them that much, they will bring him in. They planned to move him to 3B, though. If Torres and Andujar are as good as most think, they won't have room for Machado, especially if they also get Harper.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Feb 14, 2018 -> 02:34 PM) It just seems like their OF is more certain than their IF, especially if they viewed Harper as a corner OF where they already have Judge and Stanton. I think the Dodgers end up coughing up the extra few mill a year (dude's already making $35 mill a year for the next 3 years. How much more could he possibly get?) plus the extra years along with going hard after Harper. They're getting under that luxury tax this year for a reason. I see Friedman as more of a "retain his own" kind of guy, but the possibility of the Dodgers getting Harper and the Yankees getting Kershaw is one that I see as plausible. I just don't see Harper and Kershaw on the same team next year, and I think one will be a Yankee, the other will be a Dodger, and both will be the reasons those two teams don't pursue Machado heavily.

Why are they so low on Zavala?

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Feb 14, 2018 -> 03:31 AM) Torres is making the switch to 2B and it's possible they could try to improve over Andujar/use him as a trade chip. I could think of other teams that will likely have interest in Machado like the Cardinals (made a huge offer to Pujols and offered more money to Heyward than the Cubs did) and Phillies (low payroll) to throw two names out there. Then of course Yankees and Dodgers could likely be involved (if Dodgers miss out on Harper, they could get creative and shift Seager to 2B, really not that crazy of an idea as he wouldn't be the first player to shift for the good of the team). I would bet on many teams we wouldn't normally expect to be interested and make offers. The Cardinals and Phillies actually make sense as competitors for his services, I just get sick of seeing people say things like the White Sox won't sign Machado because the Yankees will hand him a blank check. There's many reasons the Yankees probably wouldn't do that, and it seems like overgeneralizing to say the Yankees are going to do that because they're the Yankees. I actually expect their top priorities next offseason to be Harper and Kershaw, and I'd actually be surprised if they don't end up with Harper.

QUOTE (Jack Parkman @ Feb 13, 2018 -> 04:54 PM) I'm not completely discounting those seasons. It does make sense. Normal progression is a possibility. However by the definition of outlier there are 6 seasons of data and 4 are very similar, two are not. I'm taking it literally there. Which is why this season is huge. He was in the bigs, you can't just throw out his first 2 seasons because he was young for the bigs. This is all of the data we have to go on. Maybe I'm just not willing to gamble that much on him being better in the future. It probably won't matter anyway because the jankees will give him a blank check. Why does everyone think this when the Yankees have a potential logjam on the left side of their infield with Gregorius, Torres, and Andujar? Why would they make that worse by signing Machado?

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Feb 13, 2018 -> 12:28 PM) It isn't true that he COULD (meaning it's possible) isn't true? All I suggested was it's possible and I don't need insider info for that. You really think the Sox get Arenado or Machado ? I think the odds are very long that happens. We shall see. Sorry, I read your wording wrong, thought you meant he had signed and so wouldn't be a free agent after 2019. As for my theory on Machado and Arenado, 3B is the area that the White Sox have seemingly left open in this rebuild (I'm not personally a big believer in Burger, I think he has a 50/50 shot of sticking at 3B at best, and he's pretty much the org depth ast the position), and it just seems too coincidental to me that Machado and Arenado will be free agents in the years that lead into the White Sox contention window. I think they planned to make a run at one or both.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Feb 13, 2018 -> 10:02 AM) Arenado is a free agent in 2019 but he agreed to terms with the Rockies before so it could happen Unless you've got some insider information no one else knows, this isn't true. Arenado is still scheduled to be a free agent after the 2019 season, and I think the Sox will get one of he or Machado.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Feb 10, 2018 -> 02:27 PM) Craig Mish‏Verified account @CraigMish Follow Follow @CraigMish Source : Houston Astros have engaged in trade discussions for JT Realmuto. OF Kyle Tucker is the ask by Miami. Astros are considering. 50% chance Realmuto is dealt before opening day. Because of course the Astros would also get a Top 5 Catcher on the cheap.

QUOTE (wrathofhahn @ Feb 10, 2018 -> 12:07 PM) I have very little interest in next years FA. For one they will be grossly overpaid as all FA are. Two, it forces us to go all in when I don't think we will be ready. Signing Machado is not an "all-in" move for this team. Signing Machado for this team is like what signing A-Rod would've been in 2000/2001. By signing him, you're counting on him to be one of your franchise cornerstones for the next 8+ years while you put a team around him. It's a splash move for sure, but it's not a move that would restrict this team's future resources so badly that it forces them to focus solely on competing right now, mostly because of the huge teardown they did just last year.

QUOTE (wrathofhahn @ Feb 9, 2018 -> 12:27 AM) I mean I'd love for them to bring a bunch of guys on pillow deals guys like Cargo, Morrison, and Tillman. Some people are focused on tanking and sure whatever but you can get better prospects via trade. Plus it's more interesting to watch real MLB players. It's one thing to not sign a veteran stop gap because you are worried about blocking them but are we really worried about blocking Davidson at DH? Moving shields to the bullpen? Delmonico is the guy you worry about taking ABs from. Once Eloy comes up, he'll have to shift at least some of his ABs to DH unless they can finally get a good return for Avi.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 8, 2018 -> 04:44 PM) If the Indians win the world series this year, they won't care how hilarious it is. Yes, but why would we care? That scenario means they blew their wad on a year the Sox weren't even trying in, and they'll have neither Machado not Mejia to show for it moving forward.

QUOTE (JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ Feb 8, 2018 -> 10:54 AM) makes too much sense. said this weeks ago. I hope they make the deal too because that depletes their farm system moving forward for a one year run at a title (in a year the Sox are not trying to compete). Yes, hopefully they send the Orioles Mejia to get him this year, then he signs with the Sox in the offseason. That would be the best and most hilarious scenario.

WOW! Between he and Cooper, the White Sox should consistently be at or near the top of the league in pitching, especially once the young talents come up.

QUOTE (Anderdale @ Feb 5, 2018 -> 07:37 AM) Like others have said. Those offensive numbers as a catcher is all star material. As a 1b/dh, he's a dime a dozen type player. So I do agree he really needs to stick to catcher. However, why is the entire white sox organization saying he will catch and trust he can. But everyone outside of the organization doesn't think he can? Are they just not seeing his everyday work improvement? I guess if I was Collins, I'd rather have my own team trust in me than vise versa. As long as the white sox think he can stick, he will stay behind the plate. The positional adjustment alone is worth 2.5 WAR, so a 2.9 WAR 1B is a 5.4 WAR C, provided neither offense nor defense fall off.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Feb 3, 2018 -> 11:18 PM) So that means you didn't care about the policies. Why should any of us care what you have to say about them if you didn't care enough to vote based on them? That's not necessarily what that means. Hillary Clinton had a long history of changing her views for political expediency. She parroted Bernie's talking points because she thought it was what people wanted to hear, but her neoliberal side still showed through in the presidential debates with ideas like corporate tax cuts, corporate repatriation tax holiday, and support of the export-import bank as a few examples. Those were not the policy positions the DNC purported to support at the convention to attempt to win over Bernie supporters, and they're proof that putting her in office would've led to her abandoning every progressive position she supposedly espoused on the campaign trail to "get things done" with the Republicans, likely all things that progressives would've hated. Granted, Trump is worse, but fortunately he's mostly being held in check by controversy thus far, and Trump being worse doesn't mean Clinton wouldn't have gone back on her campaign promises the moment it became politically expedient. Not voting for Hillary after supporting Bernie is understandable, because Bernie and Hillary are in completely different areas of the political spectrum, even if they both ran as Democrats. I voted for Bernie for president in the general, mostly because I live in Indiana and Hillary never stood a chance of winning here, so I chose to speak to the data analysts through my vote. Had I lived in Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, etc., I would've voted for Hillary, because ultimately she was the lesser of two evils, but make no mistake that from a progressive perspective, she was an evil, and Bernie's supporters had no real candidate to vote for that would represent their interests in the general.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Feb 3, 2018 -> 10:37 AM) With all this speculation now coming out, given the anger being felt by the MLBPA and players, about what happens when the labor agreement expires after the 2021 season, if JR is still with us, it'll be interesting to see if his views have changes any since the early 90's (which changed considerably from when he bought the team in 1981.) Of course the current deal expires after 2021. 2022 will almost certainly be in this team's competitive window.

QUOTE (wrathofhahn @ Feb 2, 2018 -> 09:35 PM) It's not like team payrolls aren't going up It actually is like that.

Has anyone considered that the Yankees and Dodgers essentially sitting this FA period out is having a bigger ripple effect than anyone anticipated? Those two not spending in free agency decreases the pressure on other teams in their respective leagues to spend, and this could create a logjam like the one we're seeing. It might be smartest for some of these players to take the Cespedes route and sign a 1 year deal to be available for the spending spree teams are already planning for next offseason.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 1, 2018 -> 08:08 PM) Which candidate do you think took more foreign aid in the last election? The one who