2nd_city_saint787

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jul 31, 2014 -> 11:59 AM) I am still incredibly interested in why the Sox were scouting the BoSox system. Seeing as they just added 2 OFers I'd say they were in talks for Viceido...As it was reported.

Wow, Allen Craig and Joe Kelly for Lackey

Lackey to the Cards.

Danks has been dreadful in day games. If they were gonna trade him they probably should have already.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jul 31, 2014 -> 10:57 AM) Yeah, stupid opponents throwing their lefty starters on a Thursday when they're supposed to do it on Sunday. This. When looking up Beckhams splits I was somewhat shocked to see he has a .832 OPS vs LHP....Thats gotta be worth something right?

Wow, Sam Fuld hit .358/.476/.410 in July.

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Jul 31, 2014 -> 10:05 AM) Passan said that's it, straight up. Millone is a lefty that was doing good and that's all you get , aaaa/back up of? His "FIP" has been bad the last 2 years so I guess there's that line of thinking...With the Twins big ball park he should do well there.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jul 31, 2014 -> 09:56 AM) Really intrigued to see the Milone return. Hope we tried. Was thinking the Cubs would land him Sam Fuld lol gotta be more than that right?

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jul 31, 2014 -> 09:52 AM) Apparently the difference between being buyers and being sellers is somewhere between a 10% and 5% chance of making the playoffs. They're 8-2 in the last 10 so I guess they're buying this hot streak.

Millone to the Twins....Marlins were said to be interested in him. Could help in Danks/Marlins talks.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jul 31, 2014 -> 09:45 AM) What do the Marlins see in Danks unless we pay for every last dollar? Same things the Yanks do. They're trying to make a playoff push.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 31, 2014 -> 09:35 AM) If they can offer him arbitration, can they make him a qualifying offer? If not, they won't get comp. Twas part of the deal coming from Oakland.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jul 31, 2014 -> 09:28 AM) To a certain degree though, it IS surprising that he's playing as well as he is. He's apparently been dominating all of the guards so far, especially defensively. Ya, he's competing for a spot on a team filled with great players. I think that makes it a little more note worthy than previous reports from previous years.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jul 31, 2014 -> 09:20 AM) Somewhat common Thought it was a 1pm game....4 hours seemed like a bit much...3 hours still seems a bit extensive, but I guess I never really paid attention to when they come out normally.

Put out there 4 hours before first pitch. That seems a bit odd doesn't it? Or am I reading too much into it? EDIT....Thought it was a 1pm game oopsies

Thanks fellas, deal makes a little more sense now.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 31, 2014 -> 09:03 AM) Cespedes is a UFA in 2015. Very reasonable to think that Lester gives as much value in the next couple months as Cespedes does in the next couple months plus season. OAK sheds a big salary too. I'm not sure how arbitration works for international free agents, but B-R says he's Arb eligible in 2016 and won't be a FA till 2018. Perhaps I'm wrong in thinking that's true.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 31, 2014 -> 08:50 AM) Lester and Gomes for Cespedes Wow! If A's don't resign Lester that's an awful deal for them IMO.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jul 31, 2014 -> 08:43 AM) Semien was not very good earlier this year and no one knows what Johnson will do in his first try at the MLB. They are not likely to be much of an improvement. Any improvement helps. Beckham is hitting under the mendoza line against RHP. I'd say the chances 1 of Semien/Johnson/Saladino/Sanchez not being able to offer a "significant" upgrade to that is rather slim. On that note, I had not realized he's been THAT bad, my goodness. The fact the Sox are anywhere close to competing with a 2B who's hitting .192 and an OFer that's batting .230 vs RHP is rather incredible.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jul 31, 2014 -> 08:14 AM) I very strongly diagree with the bolded. We're still a few core pieces away from being at that point. Maybe a couple of them will come in-house, like a 2B for one, but we won't know until they are here showing themselves as MLB ballplayers. For all purposes we're a contender no sooner than 2016, that's how we should approach the deadline & offseason. Danks is a back end starter getting paid like a mid-rotation starter. There are several contracts that are worse, and Danks isn't too much of an overpayment, and Danks *could* even perform up to his deal or even slightly exceed it assuming he continues to develop into a different type of pitcher. But I'm not seeing any leverage here in possessing a likely back-end SP at market value or above that isn't in demand. If there's no real demand where does our leverage come from? No we don't *have* to trade Danks but if we pass this up and keep him we could really end up regretting it. The Yanks are in a tough spot ATM where they need SP and can't afford much, and so maybe the extent of our leverage in negotiations is forcing them to take on at least 90% or more of the remaining deal. Maybe there's a good amount of leverage in that. I of course disagree. Maybe not a title contender, but certainly a playoff contender IMO. Really think adding Avi and Semien/Johnson alone will make a huge difference for the offense and I envision Hahn adding a FA bat, SP, and some bullpen help. I don't mind the whole "Danks is a backend starter getting paid like a mid rotation starter" simply because the Sox have 2 front line starters that are being paid like 3/4s. Even adding a huge SP contract to go along with Danks would not even put the Sox close to the Phillies and Dodgers of the worlds in terms of SP contracts. Like others have said, he has much more value to the Sox than he does any other team. At the very least the longer you keep him, as long as he doesn't get hurt or starts getting hit around more than just a few times a year, the more valuable he potentially becomes.

QUOTE (Baron @ Jul 31, 2014 -> 07:57 AM) Welp take Danks off the list Good.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Jul 30, 2014 -> 11:09 PM) Guys that "eat innings" while not providing a ton of actual value in terms of WAR are available every off season. At this point, Danks is turning into "just a guy" I get that you don't want to give him away for literally nothing, but what I'm saying is, if they are offering some mid-tier prospect, Rick shouldn't be really playing hard ball expecting a lot more considering the pitcher he is now, and the bad contract over the next 2 years. The Yankees absolutely do not HAVE to trade for him either. Leverage can work both ways, pretty easily. No one's dying for John Danks. This is true, there's leverage both ways. I'm simply responding to him saying the Sox don't have any leverage, which I believe is false. Apparently competing teams think they could win with him. Sox could very well be a competing team next year.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 30, 2014 -> 11:00 PM) This month’s Kenta Maeda watch: the 26-year-old Japanese righty is down to a 2.08 ERA in 15 starts. Can't remember the name of the Korean pitcher who was being hyped in the off-season. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1946537...xt-hyun-jin-ryu Here's a story on the Korean pitcher represented by Boras who has drawn interest from at least six teams... Suk-Min Yoon Yoon is on the small side, standing at an even six feet and weighing 180 pounds. He throws in the mid-90s, though, and complements his fastball with a hard, biting slider and a change-up that MLB scouts describe as above average. Though a starter, he has only thrown what we would consider an entire season's work (~175+ IP) once, in 2011. As best I can gather, the average starter in the KBO throws around 150 to 180 innings, making 25 to 30 starts, per season, often supplementing those starts with relief outings here and there. Based on the above video, Yoon doesn’t feature a devastating splitter like Tanaka or a tantalizing breaking ball(s) like Yu Darvish. However, as is the case with most Korean and Japanese pitchers, everything he throws has late movement, which should aid Yoon’s effectiveness as he transitions into Major League Baseball. Yoon has been with the O's all year man...And he's been awful

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jul 30, 2014 -> 09:08 PM) I'm not sure we'll have to eat anything on this. Even the NY people aren't acting as though Danks is a massive overpayment. Sherman called Danks a mid-tier arm & the other stuff is about the Yanks not loving the idea of Danks contract. It could simply be that NY is telling us through the media "Hey look, we'll take this guy but there's no way in hell we're giving you a player, you ought to be thankful we're willing to take on the deal." That sort of thing. It hasn't (at least that I've seen) come out that NY views Danks as a #5 and his salary obligations as unmanageable and a total barrier to any deal as it stands. Heyman is talking about the player(s) coming back as a hangup. Okay, we're not getting s***, oh well. But it's also possible that the Sox FO might view this deadline as a win just by opening up more future flexibility going into the organizational meetings & offseason. Also we really have no leverage at all IMO. The only way we have leverage is if we know there is another team we can dump Danks off on if we want to. I don't think we can assume there is. The only other major suitor it appears is the Marlins and that pretty much has to be a deal where we eat a significant amount of money doesn't it? Maybe the Sox have the Dodgers on the backburner or something, and maybe they would take his deal for nothing or take on a smaller bad deal. But I don't see where we'd hvae any real leverage. We know Danks is what he is at this point physically and really all we have in our favor is the *chance* that Danks continues to evolve/mature as a pitcher and can find sustained success with what he has. But whatever the odds are on that it's certainly not a given, however his salary obligations are a given, and the difference in return between a better looking John Danks with less $$$ owed a year from now and salary relief right now probably is not worth the risk. What happens if we pass up a chance to dump the contract now and then find ourselves a year from now wondering WTF to do when he's getting shelled with an ERA above 5.50 and 3 other lefties are outperforming him every time out? You've brought up leverage a few times here. I disagree. I think the fact that the Sox are seemingly close to being a playoff team and the fact that Danks is under contract for a few more years, thus making him a potential part of said playoff team gives the Sox some leverage. They absolutely do not HAVE to trade him, therefor leverage is there.

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Jul 30, 2014 -> 10:36 PM) Yea I would be kind of surprised if Beckham isn't gone. Just makes no sense to keep him since he's been awful and won't be back next year and there are 3 better options right now. This is where I'm at as well. No one else has to traded unless it's for a deal you simply can't refuse. I don't envision those deals happening.