Balta1701

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 9, 2013 -> 02:03 PM) Linebrink, too. MacDougal, they just ate the whole contract, what was left of it in that final year. Excellent additions, thank you.

QUOTE (MuckFinnesota @ Jul 9, 2013 -> 08:35 AM) Why would they give another former Sox player the chance to manage the team? Guillen won in 2005 but was brutal otherwise, and Ventura is too passive. It would be elbetter to bring someone outside of the organization...but you suggest Baines? The dude is a mute! Evidently.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 06:28 PM) A fair number of these guys have been seen as gods since the age of 16. They can get anything they want. They learn to think they're above the rules, because for a lot of their life they have been. It makes sense that that would lead to higher arrest rates. The actual "arrest" rate took a little more searching but people seem to say its' closer to 4% nationwide.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 06:24 PM) I could see a Viciedo for Smoak or B. Wallace type deal (just based on the Sox liking Wallace in the past). Viciedo is better than both of those guys, so maybe they'd get more in return as well. (I keep pointing out that Smoak is a 1st year arb guy next year. There's a moderate chance he's non-tendered, although he's having a slightly better year this year than in previous ones.)

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 06:06 PM) It's a product of numbers. There have been 27 active players arrested this offseason. That's 1.6% of the league in one offseason. Not exactly the same number, but the incarceration rate in the U.S. is 0.74% of the population.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 05:44 PM) But the Patriots erased him from their records the day he was charged. Some of that stuff wasn't even public knowledge yet (unless I missed the news reports about it). The Patriots cut him for the murder charge, that seems fair, particularly given that it seems he's had off the field "issues" in the past. Did they immediately start the jersey exchange or did they wait a couple days?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 05:34 PM) What I find most amazing about all of this is the amount of dirt that has come out with strings attached to Hernandez after the fact. It's just amazing that one alleged murder can unbury this many potential skeletons. His 2 friends rolling over on him quick and the apartment full of evidence probably did that.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 04:49 PM) He's a really bad baseball player. There's a whole lot of talent in there, but you're right with this. And he's getting worse every day it seems, so worth trying the doghouse format.

Good poll. I'm in the "Should be considered but too raw to make list" camp. You could probably find me the supremely talented, high-experienced 17 year old who I'd put on a list like this, probably a Bryce Harper type. But my usual rule with levels is to factor in a high bust rate for guys at lower levels...and he's not just at lower levels, he's below them. He's probably got half a decade before he's in the upper levels. If people were calling him polished and saying he could make the big leagues by 20, then he'd be really high up on the list. Until then he's "far off potential".

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 03:28 PM) Why couldn't they get anything for him? That has nothing to do with Wells. I think it was his numbers declined a little bit and he was getting the reputation of not really caring. The 2010 BP when discussing Rios mentioned "the gaggle of scouts who think he just doesn't give a damn". I think they spent all their time trying to trade Wells, put Rios on the waiver wire expecting no one to claim him, a team claimed him, they did the math and decided to save the money.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 03:14 PM) Overall, I wouldn't agree that Rios has earned all the money the Sox have paid him since 2009. It hasn't been a coup by Kenny Williams, by any means. And, going forward, it's not a contract you want on the books unless you also bring back Peavy, Danks and Ramirez, among others. Rios is close to having earned that money. The problem is the mysterious "one of the worst seasons in baseball history" in 2011 that really is a marvel in the middle of his career. If he'd been just "Bad" that season rather than "among the worst in baseball history" he'd have fully earned what the Sox have paid him.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 03:20 PM) That was a good deal at the time though. Josh Donaldson is 27 years old and had two very bad years in the A's system. Cubs were trying to win a World Series that year. And I believe Harden was 5-1 down the stretch with an era under 3 One of the lessons there is that if you are selling off players...don't just settle for 1 guy, get yourself a couple A-baller throw-ins as well just to give your team a few more rolls of the dice.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 03:10 PM) If he is worth the contract now, he was worth it back then when the average per year was even less, and he was entering his prime. It is interesting Gonzo had that quote from a scout, because the same thing was being said at the time the Sox acquired him. Maybe there is something to the theory he is bothered by trade talk, although he has loafed when he was untradeable. Frankly, yes he was worth his contract at the time. Here's Fangraphs about him when they were trying to move money away:

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 02:37 PM) Besides he should have just as much trade value in the winter, as he does at the trade deadline. Maybe more if he were to relax and start hitting again. It also might help if Ventura starts giving him some time off. 85 games played by the team, 83 for Alex Rios. That's an extra offday for him once every 1.5 months. It's not quite Alexei bad, but that's a pace to play 158 games this year.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 02:17 PM) Obviously the Sox don't have to get rid of him, but regardless, it isn't likely they will be able to get a significant prospect for him now. They eventually did find the complete idiot, and he is no longer a GM. If the White Sox can't get a significant prospect for Rios I wouldn't trade him. He still produces up to the level of his contract and no one from the minors is pushing him at that position. If we need salary relief to come up with money for FA's and extensions I'd target the 2 expensive guys in the starting rotation first.

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 01:45 PM) How many times in the last 10 years have the Sox included money in a deal? I can remember only once and it was the exact amount they were receiving from a team from another deal. IIRC they ate some money when Thome was sent to the Dodgers and Iguchi was sent to the Phillies.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 01:46 PM) When Rios came to the Sox, he was basically having the same year in Toronto that he is having now, and all the Blue Jays got for him was salary relief. The question will be do the Sox want to pay him to play here the rest of this year or next, because the return probably isn't going to be a highly rated prospect. Part of the Blue Jays motivation to do that though was that they were having to cut salary due to the enormous extension they gave to Vernon Wells and the fact that any other GM in the league would have to be a complete idiot to ever take that contract on.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 10:23 AM) How many are dead so far? Let's see, Ramirez's defense at short and a few of the pitching staff arms are dead so far... Plus Robin Ventura deserves to be a dead man walking.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 10:20 AM) Heck there is even a small chance that a guy like Tyler Flowers could end up at 1B if he loses at the C spot As long as someone hits well enough to earn the position I'm game. Lack of production from 1b is literally killing the White Sox this year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 10:13 AM) I'm talking about guys already on the major league roster like Paul Konerko, Adam Dunn, and Dayan Viciedo. At this point, there's actually a nonzero chance that all 3 of those guys could be off the Sox roster by the start of next season.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 09:49 AM) Looks like the backlash has set in, and Puig might be splitting votes with Gonzalez. This has the potential to seriously backfire for MLB...if Puig doesn't get in, 50% of the interest in the game will evaporate and you'll lose 75% of the LA viewers who were going to tune in just for him (as opposed to Clayton Kershaw). WTF? You're serious, you think that the audience in L.A. for the All Star Game will multiply by a factor of 4 if he gets in?

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jul 7, 2013 -> 08:54 PM) I love arguing the morality of anyone involved in football. At this point to me, if there's smoke there is fire. Also, my favorite part of this coverage is the headline ESPN ran about how Tebow told Aaron Hernandez to avoid a barfight in college. Tebow is the savior! Maybe he should also have told him not to kill people.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 06:31 AM) Ramirez also wasn't/isn't a homegrown player with the Dodgers. You never see him with daring (sometimes ill-advised) adventures negotiating his way around the diamond either. how many times have we heard that success buy guys like Alexei or even Sale don't count for the White Sox system because they were only there for a few months?

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 7, 2013 -> 05:47 PM) 14.25 this year as well as the rest of the deal. After only $2 million and a signing bonus the first season, right?

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 7, 2013 -> 05:41 PM) There are reasons to move Danks based on the likeliness of him being a good value for his contract, but moving his contract for payroll flexibility is not a good argument because we already have that. When we enter the bidding for Cano and add on Morales and Hunter Pence, then we can start stressing about Danks' contract. Of course, if we move him beforehand, then going after additional ones of those guys becomes a realistic option. Let's not forget how back-loaded Danks's contract is.