Dick Allen

Interesting. The Red Sox were out before. Now back in. Once one team caves, expect others to follow. Sale is one of the better established trade pieces of all time if you think about it.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 5, 2016 -> 12:24 PM) Here's that article. I'm not outraged by Lawrie getting 1 more year. I get the point, it bugs me a little - if things with him are bad enough that they even started talking about cutting him there's a reason why and that reason probably isn't just baseball, but he is fairly cheap depth and this deal is movable. What will frustrate me is if Lawrie is playing 2b in April and Saladino is on the bench because you've got to play the vets to win. If he's healthy enough to be playing baseball at that time, he needs to be in the lineup just to see if we can turn him into a starter somewhere. He's exactly the kind of guy we need to be playing - some talent, not sure if he can harness it long term or not. Having a few guys like that succeed is a huge step towards rapidly solving the problem of this organization being so barren in talent. You a have mentioned many times Lawrie ' s tendency to miss a lot of games. Salado who actually is the older player has this same issue does he not? They are trading Frazier, so there will be openings for both.

I would go Moncada, Benetendi, Bregman, Turner , Uriah, Swanson

These rival evaluators said the same thing in 2010, and passed on drafting him.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 5, 2016 -> 08:14 AM) Exactly, we don't have another choice here. At some point we have to figure out how to develop positional talent. Sure, but the more Someome looks at it, the more they could come to the conclusion Robles ranking as a prospect may be a bit high.

I would be leery of Robles. I get that he is 19 and held his own in high A (but shouldn't a top 10 prospect do that), but he hasn't hit with any power, doesn't walk much, and has an OBP inflated by getting HBP 34 times. He is going to require some development, something the White Sox haven't shown they are particularly good at the past several years.

QUOTE (South Sider @ Dec 5, 2016 -> 12:00 AM) I think Sale either gets shipped for Bregman +, or a pretty damn good package of prospects from AA or under from some team. Olmec just tweeted there is no chance Houston trades Bregman.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Dec 4, 2016 -> 11:18 PM) Ken Rosenthal tonight tweeted that the Astros and Rangers are now out of the mix for Sale. If true, it appears the market for him is drying up, not expanding as many said it would if the Sox waited until the off-season. Mark It has expanded. Washington and Atlanta supposedlupy have the best 2 offers. Those weren't reported in July. So there probably was so,e truth in the report Boston's prospects offer didn't include Moncada or Benitendi.

SOURCE: The soon to be Obama owned White Sox are down to one team for Chris Sale's services.

Beltran is a half assed move. They should have ponied up for EE.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 2, 2016 -> 07:31 PM) Donaldson put up a .884 OPS in his second full season which was in Oakland to boot. Turner put up an .897 OPS in his full season with the Dodgers and was still below a 1,000 plate appearances entering that season. Both of these guys provide defensive utility. Encarnacion, a better positional comp, put up a .831 OPS in his second season. Honestly, none of these are good comparisons to Avi's situation. Avi most likely sucks, but when those guys were Avi's age, their MLB stats were far worse. It would take a miracle for him to get to their level with the bat. But the Sox are due for something working out.

Blast from the past, Wimpy. He wasn't any good until his mid 30s. Probably being such a good guy was the only reason he was able to stick around befor he became a really good hitter for 3 or 4 seasons. He also changed his swing.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 2, 2016 -> 07:14 PM) That's probably the best example out there. I honestly can't think of a second player that comes close. Just shows how rare it is for a player to suddenly break-out in their 4th year. Offensively, Moustakis was pretty bad for a while. It is a longshot but changing the swing and approach is key. That is what happened with Bautista, and Nelson Cruz was a guy everyone passed on with the rule 5, changed his swing, now he is a force. If they are rebuilding and not experimenting when trying to win, it is not the most horrible thing bringing him back, although I personally would have non tendered him.. It most likely will be more of the same. Long bouts of cluelessness, with some weeks of looking like a star sprinkled in.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 2, 2016 -> 07:01 PM) I'm all for the age argument if he had shown some progress but he simply hasn't. Look at the stats I provided, he was just as bad last year as he's ever been. 1,500 plate appearances are typically enough time to judge a player who has not improved in the slightest. And I don't buy this 2nd half argument. Below are his plate appearances and OPS by month last year. Apr: 79 / .691 May: 82 / .720 Jun: 87 / .578 Jul: 55 / .585 Aug: 50 / 1.020 Sep: 100 / .656 Outside of a flukey 50 plate appearances in August, he was bad in every other month including July & September. At this point the physical tools don't matter anymore, every piece of objective data suggests he is the same old horrible baseball player he's always been, exit velocity be damned. I'd love you to provide a single example of a player who was a sub-.700 career OPS hitter across three full seasons while providing negative defensive or base-running value that was given a fourth season and suddenly figured it out. Jose Bautista. But it is pretty rare.

They are putting the band back together.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Dec 2, 2016 -> 05:46 PM) This is starting to feel like we're buyers and not sellers. Lawrie wouldn't get you much on the trade market. You aren't paying him a ton. Rebuilding teams get guys like this, hope he has a big year and flip him at the deadline.

He took a $625,000 cut.

I thought for sure he was gone. $3.5 million isn't bad.

QUOTE (Ro Da Don @ Dec 2, 2016 -> 03:10 PM) That's a continuing of the 2016 issues with players clashing with the FO. That needs to end...that's cancerous activity in any clubhouse. Frankly, I'd rather the Sox have a roster full of guys who could play who thought KW was an asshole, vs. guys who couldn't play and thought it was sure damn nice KW gave them a contract.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Dec 2, 2016 -> 02:05 PM) Lol right? I don't get why people think he's going to lash out. Completely different scenario to the whole LaRoche fiasco. And the LaRoche thing people have to remember Eaton is the player rep. He has to have his ass. He said some silly things about Drake, but he probably really liked the kid and felt bad he was caught in the middle of it all.

Why do so many think Eaton would cause problems? My God, he's been fine and been on bad teams his entire career. Oh my God, a player who actually wants to win. How dare he. .

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Dec 2, 2016 -> 12:29 PM) You're talking a 1 for 1 deal(and Brian Skinner I guess) in the Brand for Chandler trade, nobody here is trying to trade Adam Eaton for one prospect. No but the point is the same. The guy has 5 years of control. He is signed at a bargain. He is an effective player. His skills, hitting, getting on base, fielding, are skills this organization has had a tough time developing for years. He will be 32 when his contract runs out. He isn't old. Trading him for prospects has a pretty good chance to blow up it their face. There is nothing wrong with the White Sox having a good player here and there. Even the highest thought of prospects bust/.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Dec 2, 2016 -> 12:13 PM) Zero chance of that happening. Probably not. But it should. 5 years $38 million for a guy who even if you don't think will put up a 6.0 WAR ever again, has averaged 4.3 WAR his first 3 years in the American League. Jerry Krause's press conference when he traded Elton Brand for Tyson Chandler always comes to mind when people are so giddy to get rid of players for really no reason other than making a change. Krause said Chandler had the potential to be a 20 point 10 rebound guy. Great. Elton Brand was a 20 point 10 rebound guy. Chandler never averaged 10 points or 10 rebounds for the Bulls. He has had a decent career, but the trade didn't make the Bulls better. Why trade Eaton unless something has to really go wrong for you not to be better because of it? That sort of guarantee is rarely available in baseball.

QUOTE (iWin4Ron @ Dec 2, 2016 -> 12:04 PM) It's pretty simple with Eaton. He's a great player to have on any team with excellent tools. However, he is getting older and he is likely at a very high selling point right now. So it becomes: a) Get a haul for Eaton, similar in trade status to Chris Sale (although slightly lower) and immediately accept this offer. b) Teams undervalue him and you hold and hope to move him at the deadline or next year. Good player, but not at the right time on the 'Sox. Need to rebuild and he can net you a lot of great pieces and lottery tickets. Why would he be lower value than Sale? He is signed for 2 more years and the money is the same. This is ridiculous value. Fangraphs pegged his 2016 season as being worth $10 million more than he will be paid the next 5 seasons.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 2, 2016 -> 11:51 AM) At least 2-3 years away if ever, and they still underpay and understaff. Thats why someone like Miles or Fleck arent coming The first sign of success, at least Fleck would bolt West Lafayette anyways. Miles is getting older, so he might have hung around.