southsider2k5

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 04:40 PM) Well, I disagree. The White Sox had a chance to exceed that offer and did not, and I've seen nothing that indicates our offer was better than Kansas City. I am sure Gordon did want to stay in KC, but offering him a better deal to play with you (your "could help it" scenario) I am confident would have swayed him. Our final offer didn't have to be better. All we had to do was force another team to improve their offer or offers. It doesn't matter how much our final offer was for. If Gordon was only interested in our offers to improve his KC offer, we were being used.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Feb 17, 2016 -> 03:38 PM) Danish has one year of unimpressive results. That plus the stories about his velocity being more in the Mark Buehrle range.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 03:43 PM) This whole "used as leverage" thing I think is weak rationalizing. If we knew the sox truly offered more, then they were used as leverage. If we were just offering "deals" that were comparable or less than what they received, than they chose us because we didn't offer the best deal, not because we were used. If Sox offered 3/90 for Cespedes, he would have signed here. If we offered 4/90 for Gordon (what we all thought he'd get pre-offseason), you'd have Gordon in LF. But just because they went back to their teams does not mean that their FA was an illusion like Lebron to MIA. Not really. If KC was only offering 3/50 at that point, but the White Sox offer came in and forced them to go higher, plus Gordon never really had interest in going where but KC if he could help it, then that is the textbook definition of leverage.

I would have never guessed this. ESPN Stats & Info ‏@ESPNStatsInfo 6m6 minutes ago The Bulls have lost their last 4 gms. They are the only team in the NBA without a 5-game losing streak in the last 6 seasons (@EliasSports) 17 retweets 15 likes

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 03:48 PM) That might be an easier conversation to have than trying to explain how this team is going to compete with Avisail Garcia as it's starting rightfielder. Not really. The bottom line is to put out $30 or $40 million as a "last piece" kind of signing, you had better be able to tell your bosses that it would make the difference.

Vincent Goodwill ‏@vgoodwill 8m8 minutes ago Gar: "There’s no panic in what we’re doing. We’ve had a nice level of success for a long time. We won’t panic through this rough time."

QUOTE (Dunt @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 02:46 PM) Really makes you wonder if they ever even had a plan honestly. I mean, KW sure made it sound like Hahn wasnt prepared earlier this offseason. I have no idea what this FO is doing anymore, and it's really tough to rationalize why I continue to give them so much of my time and energy. I wish the Bears were good so I didnt need to agonize over the Sox all winter. Theo Epstein almost used the exact same words about his front office a week after Kenny Williams did. Again, that statement was read into by fans for way more than what was really being said.

On the bright side, if John Paxson and/or Gar Foreman end up dead, we'll know who did it.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 02:26 PM) Memphis Stevenson and Randolph is a level of crazy that could run ISIS out of Syria.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 02:24 PM) Absolutely. I think Gasol leaves in the offseason and someone gives him like 3/60. Hopefully not the Bulls. I have no doubt someone will overpay Gasol in the off season.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 02:22 PM) They've missed on so many rumored outfield targets that it's hard to comprehend what their actual plan was out there. If they were going to keep Avi in RF all along, then Hahn messed up big time with his comments on the Score after the Frazier trade. I have no doubt they wanted an OF. Who knows what the plan or hope was. I would love to hear that. I would love to hear the details of the big discussions were like for the winter. Was selling off a real option at any point? Did they know their limitations and still buy? Did they expect another deal to happen for an OF that did not?

QUOTE (buhbuhburrrrlz @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 02:06 PM) Hinrich to Hawks for 2nd round pick And there was much rejoicing.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 02:17 PM) If I was Rick Hahn, I would have gone to JR early in the season and said, "I see paths to fill four huge holes (3B, 2B, SP, RF) at bargain level prices. If we fill all four, I think we're arguably the best team in the Central. The downside is that they're all relatively short-term solutions, so if we do one, we should do all four to ensure that we realize the benefits. Here's what I think it costs." And if I couldn't get JR to commit to even ONE significant free agent, even when that free agent was going to cost under $50m, I would not have sold my precious assets for the partial upgrade. Not for 2 seasons, anyway. EDIT: 5 huge holes, including catcher. Except when you have that many moving parts it is nearly impossible to know what it is going to take to fill all of them. It isn't like you can say to each team that they need to wait until you get the other four things lined up.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 01:59 PM) I am the first to say there is more money in a budget to sign a guy like Cespedes or Gordon, than a guy like Fowler. And I will give you they don't have unlimited resourses. But if they can't afford Dexter Fowler or some of these other lesser guys, there is something wrong somewhere. It's the time to stick your neck out. It's not sticking your neck out so far you put the franchise in danger. Not making the move may actually cost you more in the long run than making it. If you are Rick Hahn, are you willing to go to Jerry Reinsdorf and the Board of Directors and tell them that Dexter Fowler is the guy you need to put you over the top?

David Kaplan ‏@thekapman 23m23 minutes ago NBA source tells me it does not look like the #Bulls will make any deals today unless something breaks that is unexpected in last 30 min.

Mitch Lawrence ‏@Mitch_Lawrence 6m6 minutes ago Why Sean Marks decided to take the Nets' GM job after having serious second thoughts...http://www.sportingnews.com/nba-news/4695384-sean-marks-nets-general-manager-gm-new-zealand-spurs-mikhail-prokhorov …

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 01:36 PM) All the more reason to buy one of these guys next season. If they are so afraid they may have to sell off next year, these contracts aren't going to do any damage to them. As Stacey says, if your scared, buy a dog. You want to win, need an OF, and some reasonably priced OFs are available, if you don't jump on them and your guy fails, you failed. Then it's time to bring in someone with other ideas. This half assed going for it hasn't worked. Yes, they are improved from last year, but why stop now? It's like scoring 5 runs in the first, and giving up all of your other ABs. If they are going to go for it, go for it. It doesn't require a superstar or $100 million for a huge upgrade. I have said all winter that I don't think it is fear. I think it is a limitation of resources. They have spent all winter trying to get someone, but haven't been able to. That tells me there is more to the story than fear.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 01:36 PM) They must have watched the few select games where he actually played really well and not the other games where he's mediocre at best. Or they believe that Hoiberg sucks as a coach, and that a good coach could get him playing serviceable again.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 09:31 AM) If Avi is our Opening Day RF, then it has NOT been a good offseason. There has maybe never been a better buyer's market for corner OF in the history of free agency, and corner OF was the single biggest hole we had to fill on the team. We bicker back and forth around here a lot about the team's willingness to spend money. Some feel like the team should spend as much as it can every year to win, while others don't want to see inefficient and sloppy moves being made simply for the sake of spending resources. I've tended to fall on the latter side -- even though I acknowledge that ownership[ is making money and has a TON at its disposal, money should still be treated as a finite resource, because losing money is not a sustainable model. The rub on that line of thinking about falls around where the limit SHOULD be. How do you set a limit when you technically have more to spend than you need? To me, the answer is that you buy when the market is ripe for you to buy. Going into the offseason, no "contender" needed an corner OF more than us, with the exception of the Royals, and there were no less than 8 significant upgrades available (Heyward, Upton, Gordon, Cespedes, Fowler, Jackson, Parra, Dickerson). Pitchers and catcher have now reported, nearly all of those options are off the board, and nearly all of them have cost LESS than expected. The teams that have gotten them have, in many cases, created logjams with the acquisitions simply because the value to cost ratio was so good. And yet the White Sox still have nothing. I loved the Frazier, Lawrie, and Latos acquisitions, but if I knew our front office was going to stare a gift horse in the mouth for six straight months until the OF market collapsed entirely, I'd have rather they gone in a totally different direction. Yes we are a couple of pieces short. So is the entire AL Central. I don't think we are the leading candidate here, but we sure aren't out of it. The team has been improved a lot during the off-season, and it might be enough. Here is the thing though, even if we can't win it this year, the next off-season is probably going to be one of the best sellers markets in the history of baseball. All you have to do is look at the free agent market and know that teams that are willing to trade assets aren't going to be competing against quality free agents. They are going to be going against the worst free agent market in modern history. In a scenario where the Sox don't make it, AND decide to sell, they can decide to sell short term assets, such as Frazier and Lawrie, or they can go full out rebuild and trade from the starting pitcher stash. If they were to do it, they should be able to control the selling market more than most times.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 11:27 AM) Is Hernandez that good? I don't know a ton about him, but I'd rather have him than Avi if nothing else. Last year .369 .509 .535 1.045 7 homers, 51 RBI in 85 games. 77bb to 47k also catches your eye. Career .324 .449 .487 .937 career high is 10 homers, and 69 RBI in 86 games, but 380bb to 285k for career.

Apparently Gasol has been told that he will probably not be traded, and might even be extended.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 09:40 AM) The Tribune website changed its payment/free article structure literally just a few hours ago, if that is the point of contention/confusion New setup or old, it doesn't matter. If you copy too much of an article and post it somewhere else, you can be sued for copyright infringement. There are people paid to troll the internet looking for lawsuits to file. Soxtalk as a site has no interest in being sued, so we don't allow it. You can post a preview or snippet from an article, but that is it. The link is necessary to direct people to the rest of the article.

QUOTE (southside hitman @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 08:14 AM) Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal 56m56 minutes ago Showcase in Mexico City on Tuesday for three more Cuban players - OF Yadiel Hernandez, 28; 1B/3B Yanio Perez, 20; SS Alejandro Rivera, 20. I've never heard of the younger two, but would love it if the Sox signed Hernandez. The younger two would have to fit into the international signings pool because of their age.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 08:23 AM) So, the current rumor is Gasol and Snell for McLemore, Koufos, and lowering the protections of the Sacramento pick to which we have the rights. There is also another deal being discussed which includes Marco Belinelli returning to the Bulls, but the parameters of that are unclear. The 76ers are also gauging interest in Jahlil Okafor. Considering Gasol IS opting out, and the Bulls do still have a non=zero chance to resign him, this is a great deal for the Bulls.

#yeastmode