Princess Dye

For the Sox to be really pursuing this, things must be at a total standstill with Pods' people. If the price is right this could be a good idea. You can go after a real DH then.....and keep Beckham as the fallback plan for leadoff hitter. Pagan versus righties...over the last three seasons .308/.364/.456

Looks like he had some fairly impressive #s playing part-time last year. Impressive for what he's been in the past at least Maybe due to lack of sample size he's someone who can be had affordably

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 3, 2009 -> 10:54 AM) I still don't see where this philosophy makes any sense. You want to invest the biggest dollars in the bullpen, which should be at least decent next year as is, and then go to the scrap heap for both OF and DH? Pods wants a multi-year deal, you want to take that risk? Bullpens are dicey propositions always, and the very few truly consistently solid arms are very costly for a guy who pitches 3 innings a week. I'd rather invest in the two positions that play every day, and where we can have a better read on future success. You're right, but I guess I just see next offseason as the one where we really make our splash. If the Sox really are strapped, then I'd rather get really good on one side of the ball (pitching). I would only bring back Pods or Thome on a 1-year...and I choose them specifically because I'd assume they'd give a hometown discount. If the Sox have more to spend, then definitely scratch all that. But bullpen is more chaotic to predict,yes...but sometimes because of that fact.... you can get a free agent that has an impact for relatively cheap. I do remember our recently posted list of failed FA relievers, so I'm aware of the dangers that treads on....but it could be a lot better than paying for a Willy Taveras the multiyear $ he got. Basically if we are spending 5M I'd prefer one of our Pods/Thome and the rest on a proven reliever, as opposed to all of it to Vlad and nothing to the pen. Who knows though.

If we really are low on cash, part of me just wants to acquire a great bullpen arm and then just go to war with what we have (I suppose with Pods or Thome). Would be really nice to let the starters have some security.

free agency i guess

http://projectprospect.com/article/2009/12...ching-prospects FWIW, newly posted catching prospect rankings

If we wait til we can move Mitchell........... could send Hudson, Flowers, Mitchell. Then yr giving up a young guy that still K's a lot......and two mysterious players. I would bet the problem we're running into....is other teams arent valuing Flowers enough yet. Hopefully the Sox did a good enough job of getting word out on his improving catching skills.

The Todd Ritchie trade still had us all scarred. At least in what we got back. I disliked this trade but liked Danks/McCarthy.

my prediction which is worth nothing - we trade three top farm guys for Gonzalez..then to offset costs we trade away Jenks.... then use the remaining money to sign Saito and Pods

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Nov 30, 2009 -> 11:12 AM) Sorry I missed it. Can't find the Podcast on the 670 site. Could you nudge the boys to be sure to upload those shows in the offseason? I believe The Score Chimp is in charge of said uploading, and generally you do not want to bother the Score Chimp

I feel like Vlad has always been bad facing the white sox. Though maybe i'm just thinking about 05 postseason.

Agreed. Carrasco is ready for an expanded role. No question he was good in his role last year, but we cant wait to see if the guys who are supposed to get late inning outs...will.

We should make it painless whatever it is

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 04:21 PM) I'd also take Jenks closing for $7.5M and a kid taking Dotel's job for the minimum than Dotel at $6.5M, some huge question mark at closer and an extra half-assed prospect you got for Jenks. As I said in the original post, the scenario makes sense if you already have a new closer ready for next year. Before jumping all over me people should read what I actually wrote. The reason I bring this up is an organization with large reserves of farm pitching talent can do things like this. Keeping Dotel over Jenks frees up a million and arguably gives you the reliever of greater worth. Arguably--as in it would create a ton of arguments here. But if the Sox really are on a tight budget this offseason, they could use that extra million. Dotel has a live arm and has been steadily what he is. Jenks has been changing as a reliever every year, less Ks at first........ and last year,frankly, less outs. I think Dotel is the kind of reliever we'll only miss once he's gone..but that's me.

QUOTE (qwerty @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 04:14 PM) Dotel would have accepted in roughly less than one second. You do not make a move just because you feel it will be fun to do so. I should probably be banished from all White Sox front office meetings then. Done.

As a side note, that deal for Peña sure looks necessary today. At some point you have to figure out not every power hitting 1B can be held onto. I guess.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 04:08 PM) Damn, looks like no compensation draft picks then. If there was someone on the farm who could close, it would've been fun to do the following: Offer Dotel arb. If he gets paid elsewhere, take the compensation pick and keep Jenks If he does not get picked up by another team, you keep him and then trade Jenks for a prospect.

Just dawned on me that the Sox would have to overpay a decent backup catcher to come here. They'll always feel threatened by Flowers as far as playing time. Olivo has been brawling with us a few years now it seems, I wonder if he hates us at this point.

We already know they want Pods to come here cheaply. Does this scream championship aspirations? Pods would get one of our two open spots. I personally dont think they have Kotsay and Jones both here to be bench guys.... plus you have Ozzie's comments about a rotating DH. But we'll see I guess. I bet if they do get a guy like Matsui it will come at the cost of someone who was here in '09 (Jenks?). I think when KW got Rios, it was with the thought that he'd come here and hopefully get 35 doubles and .350 OBP in a full year. What we hope is that it was a precursor to a real XBH guy being acquired, but my fear is that they want to address that issue with a full year of Rios, Beckham and rotating RF/DH (with Pods in there).

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 01:36 PM) I kept being told that all the moves we made last year were for 2010 and if we happened to win the division in 2009 that was supposed to be gravy. Now we're pushing it another year? I think it's an elevated version of that. I mean, the staff the way it is now gives us one side of the ball where we can be championship level....and then the offense, which is an x-factor. The moves we're making now are: "a few guys pan out and we can win a playoff series or more, otherwise wait til '11" They couldve not gotten Rios and went for it this offseason. But then what if you miss out on Holliday? You overpay for Bay? It's a weak FA crop.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 01:20 PM) Then we were lied to. All you have to do is go back on previous owner and GM comments about putting money out there on salary spending. Obviously finances are a concern for all teams unless there is collusion amongst team ownership as has been put out there by agents. I am hoping we are working on a new master plan to win The Sox have been pretty consistent about being one of the respectable payroll teams each year. I'm glad they're waiting this offseason out. When Konerko comes off the books then you'll have enough money to address the middle-of-the-order problem in a legitimate free agency way. You can tell when Kenny sets his mind on filling a spot during an offseason. He made plays for Torii and Fukudome before settling on Swisher. This year is a wait-and-see, and part of that will be seeing if they can get by a year with scrap heap guys that could pan out. But with Peavy in place I think they're seeing '10 as a maybe-we'll-contend year...with '11 as an aim-at-contention year.

We can do so much better at first base. Love Paulie for his past with this team, but even in his comeback year in 09 he was still pretty darn average for that position. If he's coming back at a discount that lets us afford a great FA, then fine.

The Sox wont make a big splash right now via trade unless it saves money (like Gonzalez). The money saving deal that makes you better.....not easy to do. I'd expect more scrap heap type signings...Pods Thome still not out of the question. There's too much upside to doing it that way. You can keep your prospects and then have all this cash freed up next year with a better free agency crop. The only downside is the possibility that Hudson and Flowers are at their peak trade value right now......

•The Sox were second-to-last in manufactured runs (137), which should come as no surprise. Only the Royals were worse (130). •At .370, Alexei Ramirez had the second-highest batting average against left-handed pitching. Derek Jeter hit .395. •Scott Podsednik (5.58) and A.J. Pierzynski (5.90) finished sixth- and seventh-worst in percentage of plate appearances resulting in an RBI.

I'm going on a second day of reproducing soxmachine.com stuff...but some of this is just so interesting..and honestly I think the board needs a wealth of new topics http://soxmachine.com/soxmachine/2009/12/0...-handbook-2010/ Jermaine Dye was the worst right fielder over the last year (-28), and over the last three years cumulatively (-81). Chris Getz was the only infielder to show up on the plus-minus trailers list, finishing 10 plays below average, sixth-worst among major-league second basemen. Ozzie Guillen used the second-fewest relievers of any manager, five more than Don Wakamatsu. Gavin Floyd has the least-hittable curve in terms of OPS (.410). Also interesting is Quentin's defense being perhaps something we arent critical enough of...............and something I've thought about for awhile now....that it may be time to increase Carrasco's role. Especially with Hudson being ideal for long relief....and with Dotel potentially out.