Dick Allen

I thought people want to be like the Cardinals. Don't they sign over 30 hitters as free agents? The thing is, most players when they become free agents are at about 30 or over. For every good addition Hahn makes this next offseason, it will mean one less is needed to win it all. He needs to take what makes sense, and if the Sox think they will compete in 2014 or 2015 some of these guys make sense. To totally ignore them is totally against their policy of trying to improve the team. They probably won't get Ellsbury or McCann, but I would be shocked if they didn't make an attempt at Morales. And for all those who think no one wants to play for the Sox, that couldn't be farther from the truth.

I know Bonds hit a foul ball in BP that went through the last opening in the RF upper deck.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Aug 10, 2013 -> 11:27 AM) Choo doesn't make the Sox a playoff team therefore they should not sign him to the big money deal he will command. Yet you mentioned Andre Ethier.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Aug 9, 2013 -> 03:52 PM) Marisnick and Sanchez are both substantially better prospects than Hechavarria, and that trade was ALL about salary relief anyway. Garcia might turn out better, yes, but he's never been considered a better prospect than those two. I agree that they've never done it like that, I'm just saying it's frustrating. Hahn keeps feeding the media this BS line about how the money is going into draft and international spending -- really, the $50m he just saved? When International signing is capped at ~$2.5m and the draft pool will be ~$7m? If you won't earmark that much money into amateur talent acquisition already in today's MLB, you're not seriously even trying to build a winning organization. The only place to put it is in free agency, where there are two to three impact talents at most these days, and even signing two of them wouldn't put this garbage team over the top. I am awaiting the fruition of the master plan -- I understand i need to see what happens in the offseason -- but it looks really underwhelming thusfar. There are players that are not subjected to the cap.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Aug 9, 2013 -> 03:40 PM) It seems very unlikely that Hahn couldn't have got a substantially better prospect if he was willing to pay even half of Rios' contract. And for a team currently scheduled to have a $46m payroll next year, that is frustrating. The Cubs have been doing this for two years and already their future looks extremely bright depsite having way more tearing down to do than us, and yet our front office won't spend a dime on minor league talent. The CBA won't let us spend this $60m payroll disparity on young talent, so where is it going to go? Kendry Morales and the like? Whatever -- that's a recipe for a middling AL Central team for the next eight years. Throw every dime you spend on Morales at getting some actual impact talent from teams you trade with and we may actually have a shot at winning in the next 2-3 years. Which Texas farmhand was available for $8.5 million? If you are going to post these outrageous claims back them up. Texas" farm isn't the greatest right now either. The Sox did pay $1 million for this prospect and a lot of publications seem to like him.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 9, 2013 -> 03:00 PM) Nah, I don't mind. People think Theo Epstein is the Cubs' GM too. Only in title is Theo not the Cubs GM.

Who was the poster that called Flowers an on base machine?

BP really liked this guy as a SS coming into this season. Said he has easy range a plus plus arm and is not short on premium tools. Said he lacks pop but scouts think he could hold his own enough to be an everyday SS.

I think this was the inevietable conclusion. No one else in the AL was going to claim Rios. Texas claiming him was probably thinking the Sox would basically give him away for nothing. I also think Hahn knew if someone claimed Rios, he was going to be a goner no matter what. The Sox traded Carlos Quentin, a guy I would rather have for a few million less than Rios is making in the winter and got Simon Castro. Would paying Rios $4 million for the rest of this season just so you may have a shot at someone Castro-like make any sense?

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Aug 9, 2013 -> 01:15 PM) If true, Hahn has turned two of our three best best players on the opening day roster into Garcia and cash. Talk about rookie abuse, lol. And freed up about $37 million to spend elsewhere.

QUOTE (Butter Parque @ Aug 9, 2013 -> 12:08 PM) It doesn't seem as if management is all that concerned over that aspect of it or they would have given him away already. Why wouldn't they wait until the clock struck zero to see what they could get?

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Aug 9, 2013 -> 11:42 AM) Viciedo has been scratched in favor of Danks though. All the beat writers said they'd know what happened prior to Game 1. Strange. He either showed up late, is sick or hurt.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 9, 2013 -> 11:35 AM) Crappers Rios is in the lineup for game 1 He always was. I heard an interview with Robin, he doesn't know what is going on with Rios' situation and doesn't want to know unless he is being moved. If the line up wasn't posted it could have been because of Viciedo who was scratched, and the team said there would be an explaination at game time, whatever that means. It would be interesting to see where Garcia was at the moment. That would be the indication about what was going to happen.

QUOTE (Butter Parque @ Aug 9, 2013 -> 11:25 AM) Not all that worried about. Hahn will surely shop him over the winter. The odds of Rios being here in April 2014 seem slim. If he trades him over the winter instead of just letting him go, the Sox will have paid $4 million for the prospect or prospects they receive. I hope they actually have a shot of being successful in the big leagues.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Aug 9, 2013 -> 11:20 AM) It is interesting that the lineup hasn't been posted for a 1:10 start time today though. Robin said he is batting 3rd. Maybe she doesn't know where to look.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Aug 9, 2013 -> 09:34 AM) If you give up Rios you will pay more to replace him. Make the Rangers take 85% of the salary and the Sox get a Top 5 player and another Top 20 prospect and it is a deal. Look at what Swisher got this past offseason. Not sure why the Rangers would claim him, they knew the asking price nine days ago and it should not go down. Isn't Garcia the replacement?

QUOTE (hammerhead johnson @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 06:15 PM) He got slammed today, right? Well, his xFIP in the game was actually 2.90, which is actually an A+ level xFIP. He came into the game with an xFIP of 3.58, which was good enough for 27th overall in baseball. He's now in the top 25. Disregard the 9 runs and 11 hits he gave up in 3 innings. The golden domer has a great xFIP. If a team would give Theo a package as if this guy was an ace, Theo should jump on it.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 06:50 PM) Except we're going to be limited to around $9-10-11 million next year, in that area. (Unless it's the rare exception like that Cuban pitcher, Miguel Gonzalez, who was a free agent available to any club...but the White Sox aren't the type of organization that TYPICALLY goes out and bids $30-40-50 million on the Puigs, Solers and Cespedes of the world. Viciedo was a big exception, along with Joe Borchard back in the day.) We can't just go around throwing money at Viva (Micker) Zapata's, because there are a limited number of them, and fewer "hidden gems" than in the days when scouting wasn't collectivized and there was no internet with everyone becoming an amateur scout/talent agent/buscone. Dumping Rios gives the Sox more cash to bid for the next Puig. The White Sox historically haven't bid on these types because historically they haven't had the flexibility to do so.

QUOTE (Baron @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 05:54 PM) Good post....doesnt make sense at all what some people are suggesting. Just have to wait for tomorrow. What kind of prospect do you think would be the Sox minimum price to let Rios go?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 05:51 PM) In the end, we'll get a very good idea in the next 24-48 hours how serious Mr. Daniels is about getting back to the playoffs THIS season versus preparing/reloading with a healthier starting staff for 2014. I don't know, it isn't like it's Rios or bust at this point. Maybe it eventually will be, but I would have to think he will have another shot at a bat in the coming weeks, especially since they will take on money.

QUOTE (southside hitman @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 05:49 PM) It means value in the trade market, at the very least. Just because Garcia is available and he's being paid well doesn't mean we should give up something of value for nothing. Rios is being paid fairly for his level of production, we should be compensated in prospects to let that production leave our ball club, period. Its not for nothing. Its for financial flexibility. For some reason, I don't think the Blue Jays are kicking themselves for letting Rios go for nothing. Have the Rangers throw in a couple of their lesser prospects maybe one with real good stats so people can get excited and call it a deal.

QUOTE (Baron @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 05:36 PM) The clubhouse thing was debunked by Jon Heyman about 2 weeks ago. Just people continue to ignore it. I don't think he is a bad guy. He is probably liked in the clubhouse. I just don't know if you want his inconsistent effort as a veteran around a young team. Stone was on a radio show last week which got no pub, but they asked him about Rios getting benched for loafing, and he said Alex was probably surprised because he hasn't hustled since he's been here and for the most part, gotten away with it.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 05:29 PM) That $17 million is unlikely to give the White Sox better performance than Rios if it is spent on the FA market in the next offseason or two. And if the Sox are genuinely in a pinch for having too many outfielders, fine, move Viciedo to 1b next season and it's not the worst thing in the world. They aren't forced to do this if the Rangers won't give up something useful. I don't know about that. Are we all looking at the same Alex Rios?

QUOTE (Baron @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 05:26 PM) That would be fine if the player we were giving up was playing poorly and contributing very little. As much as I want to see Garcia up on this team...I'm going to be displeased if its just because we did a salary dump. The last couple months, Rios hasn't been all that productive. I think if it is a dump, it would be very similar to the time the got rid of Carlos Lee. You have to count what they do with the freed up funds as part of the return. Best case scenerio, what does Rios net you this winter or at the next deadline? For a team that probably won't comtend next year, is that better than the added financial flexibility?

QUOTE (Baron @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 05:19 PM) Remember when Hahn said we dont need to make anymore trades unless it makes sense and improves the team. Does that sound like letting Rios go for salary relief? Sure. They have his replacement in AAA, and that is $17 million that could be spent on other players. I wonder if Hahn tried setting teams up before the deadline, knowing all along they would take salary relief but asking for the moon so teams would think he wouldn't give him up without a huge return.