Balta1701

QUOTE (greg775 @ Dec 12, 2015 -> 03:18 AM) Do the Sox have a plan? To me it's so simple. Make the necessary trades to wind up with Frazier at 3rd, Lexi at ss, Lawrie at second and Abreu at first. Is Hahn this dense? That's a winning infield. Then you got Melky in left (ugh, but he could have a better year I suppose), Eaton in center (we all are OK with him) and Cespedes in right (acquire him). Trayce is begging to play which is why we should dump Melky and Avi and sign Cespedes! We have the two nobodys at catcher which is kind of a problem IMO. And we have LaLousy at DH which is a problem. We have GOOD pitching. With these moves I suggest (trade minor leaguers) the Sox would be a team that finishes over .500 and competes for a division title PROBABLY. Without these moves, this team will REEK. Does anybody truly believe the infield of Lawrie at third, Saladino at ss, Sanchez at second and Abreu at first is adequate even?? It's NOT. Then you've got the outfield of Melky, Eaton and Avi which is unacceptable compounded with the DH problem. FIX IT MR. HAHN. It won't take too much. Your own words betray how bad of a setup this is. You trade away the top minor leaguers we have to get Frazier, then you have a $150 million-ish payroll counting Cespedes, Alexei, and taking on salary with Frazier. So, $150 million-ish payroll, and at the same time we have several positions that are still weak, and you call that a team that "finishes over .500". That's not "it won't take too much". That's another desperation heave. That's throwing everything we have on a last gasp, it leaves us still several holes in the roster, it leaves us zero depth if anyone gets hurt or struggles, and you yourself describe it as a team that "finishes over .500". Not "will be the class of the AL". Not "should be a major threat to win the world series". All that, and you're still at best competing with the Twins and Royals and maybe hoping we somehow stay as healthy as last year. Until you have an organization that can support it, that can fill some of these holes on its own, you can keep desperately trying hail mary's and it'll keep working as well as it has the last 6-7 years.

QUOTE (bear_brian @ Dec 12, 2015 -> 11:42 AM) Agree with the frustration. The Sox continue to pay for the Danks contract ($15.8M this year) and the apparent LaRoche mistake ($13M this year), plus apparently misjudging Avi Garcia's overall ability, as well as Matt Davidson's. I tend to agree with the total rebuild idea, but this FO is deathly afraid of a precipitous drop in attendance if they go that route, which the blindly loyal Cub base never exercised as Theo went about his business. My hope is that they figure out a trade for Frazier, spend the bucks to get either Upton or Cespedes, and then hope that team with good pitching can get them into the play-off picturein 2016, with Tim Anderson, Carson Fulmer and possibly Adam Engel ready to step into the picture in 2017, with Danks and LaRoche gone. Worth pondering how they have guys like Anderson left to step in after acquiring Frazier.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Dec 11, 2015 -> 10:42 AM) I think he is already starting the next movie. Anyway, this looks really good. I think a lot of people overreacted to the Entertainment Weekly cover. My reaction was not "this looks really good"...I was unimpressed. However, that was also similar to my reaction to the "First class" previews and I loved that one.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 11, 2015 -> 04:32 PM) Im not denying that the attendance would go up if they made the playoffs. I just dont think it would consistently stay there like it does for many other teams who havent been to the post season regularly. Tell you what, let's turn this mess around, stop trying to "miraculously rescue the franchise with a miracle playoff run", build a solid foundation that can actually make the playoffs a couple years in a row, do that, and if there's no attendance pulse, I promise to apologize?

QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ Dec 11, 2015 -> 04:19 PM) Yes, I believe the year is 2020 though. Who knows if the TV money will still be there 5 years from now. Lots of cord cutting going on. The "Cord cutting" was in many cases actually making these types of networks even more valuable because people watch these games live and are willing to pony up money specifically for them. (I'm genuinely surprised how little MLB.tv used the commercial space).

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Dec 11, 2015 -> 04:00 PM) They have ownership in their own network and that % is about to spike way up thanks to the Cubs. They don't need a competitive deal. Aren't the Cubs planning to do the "Private network" move when their contract is up in 2019?

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 11, 2015 -> 03:01 PM) Yes, there is alimit to what the teams can spend. It's whatever the owner says. The GM needs to work within tnose constraints. Right niw the cubs have an advantage because most of their players are young and inexpensive. If this was 4 years fromnow and scwarber and bryant etc. ars in arbitration, you can bet the cubs wouldn't be in the position to make this deal. Of course, 4 years from now there's going to be a lot more revenue growth, including new local TV deal/local TV channel for the Cubs. If you throw in "competitive every year led by that AS 3rd baseman" and maybe, god forbid, even a WS appearance (I will not type anything farther than that), the revenue growth on the north side could very easily compensate for that.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Dec 11, 2015 -> 03:00 PM) The NL will be much tougher next year. Because Heyward stayed in the NL or because Samardzija is back there?

Just had to post an article about Winter Meetings winners/losers that ends with this delightful quote:

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Dec 10, 2015 -> 03:05 PM) The average offensive output for a RF is much higher than the average offensive output for a 3B. If your RF and 3B are putting up similar offensive stats, then your 3B is much better compared to average. Last year, the average RF put up a .767 OPS, the average 3b put up a .754 OPS, across all MLB.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Dec 10, 2015 -> 03:15 PM) For the cubs offseason moves and how the Chicago media can not praise them enough, at this point in time have they gotten that much better Would you trade Castro, Fowler and $10M for Lackey and Zobrist..... If I do the quick easy fangraphs comparison, Lackey and Zobrist were worth 5.7 fWAR last year while Castro and Fowler were worth 4.0. The "Steamer" prediction for whatever its worth has Castro + Fowler at 2.9 next year, Lackey and Zobrist at 6.2 (Lackey falls off some, Zobrist steps back upwards somewhat).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 10, 2015 -> 01:29 PM) I think you are reading into it to see that. Link

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 10, 2015 -> 01:26 PM) You should be embarrassed but for another reason. That being you posted that article as exhibit A of attitude issues . What does sitting down a few innings have to do with attitude? That wasn't a "he needs a day off", that was a "he's not listening to the coaches" benching, hence why he gave that response. The talk at the time was it was about defensive positioning, the staff wanting him to play farther in and him not listening. If it gets to the point where "coaching staff has to bench you" for an attitude problem...guess what, there's an attitude issue implied by "benched for not listening to the coaches".

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 10, 2015 -> 01:13 PM) Being upset at being benched is having an attitude problem? I don't agree with that at all. Give me that over the guy who is OK with it. I kinda feel embarrassed that I actually have to explain this one....forcing the coaching staff to actually bench you maybe was what I was going for?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 10, 2015 -> 12:57 PM) Really? Do you have any links? Like when they benched him this summer?

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Dec 10, 2015 -> 12:28 PM) Happened with Eaton. Worth noting though that we're still hearing "attitude issues" with Eaton even 2 years in.

QUOTE (Saufley @ Dec 10, 2015 -> 12:31 PM) What about our own David Robertson. I liked the signing of Robertson last year and would not mind keeping him. But, I wonder what his worth is? If Hahn could trade him for another position player who could help why not deal him. Why not look at our own organization and try to develop a young arm into a closer? I'd listen on Robertson but I'm also ok with Robin having one expensive "security blanket" that he can blame when a game falls apart at the end. If someone gave a good offer ok...but a team looking to compete right now still has a better option in Melancon. FA after next year, Pirates will definitely move him for the right package.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Dec 10, 2015 -> 10:56 AM) I think they're referring to his recent domestic violence incident, not just the standard "guy's a d***." I don't know the latest on it so I won't offer my opinion. At this point, the most recent incident is only about 2 weeks old. There's no way to know what MLB's investigative team will do or how they'll treat these - there's literally no precedent since it's a brand new rule. You could very readily trade for him and then lose him for a substantial amount of time to a suspension. Same reason the Dodgers Chapman deal is currently "on hold".

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 10, 2015 -> 12:03 PM) With regards to Fulmer, if you hold on to him, they better no for sure he's going to be a starter and not a reliever. They better have known that when they used a top 10 draft pick on him.

That makes complete sense for both teams.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 9, 2015 -> 11:48 AM) What in the hell are the Mariners doing? Trying to make a 76 win team into a competitor without signing a major FA because they're sitting in the 11th spot and already have several big money deals on their roster. So...for those who wonder what "going for it!!!" would look like on the South Side...

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 9, 2015 -> 02:53 PM) It'll be nice for the Bears game. El Niño means...the Niño!!!!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 9, 2015 -> 03:03 PM) There could be a package built there, the question is would Houston be willing to give up a ton? Have they made any major moves this offseason at all? IIRC they let Carter walk, have they done anything else?

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Dec 9, 2015 -> 02:36 PM) Usually when they are gone we don't bring them back. However, what pitcher are you thinking of? I also have to question Semien's glove after his 35 or so errors at SS last year Link We'll see if that holds for next year, "Defensive stats from 1/2 a season" are obviously volatile, but there's possibly a lesson in "guy goes to another organization and he's had so unbelievably little coaching that it takes 3 months before the team throws up their hands and brings in a specialist to do what should have happened with him 3 years beforehand".

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 8, 2015 -> 01:26 PM) Here are their top prospects in 2012. Several they traded away long ago. Tell me again why being ranked by Phil Rogers and Company in the top 5 within 5 years is necessary to make the playoffs? It would be more interesting if you showed us the players that got them this ranking and how those players actually contributed to their winning. In the Blue Jays 2012 list, they actually helped the Mets a lot more. http://www.minorleagueball.com/2011/11/30/...spects-for-2012 After all, once you trade a guy away, you have nothing to show for it.