iamshack

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 10:36 AM) Well, of course the odds are good but the risk is still there. Regardless of how great he looks right now I see a tremendous difference between guaranteeing an extra $28M to a player in his early 20's and offering that same money in he form of club options. Even great young players flame out and because of this the Rays are in a much better situation than the Brewers IMO. Which begs the following question: Should Beckham's agent refuse to agree to a long-term deal such as Longoria's, instead asking for one such as Braun's, is it still in the best interests of the White Sox to sign Gordon to this type of contract? The White Sox sign Gordon to an 8 year, $39 million deal, the same as Longoria's, except with the 2015 - 2017 option years guaranteed at $7.5, $11, and $11.5 million guaranteed respectively.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 10:12 AM) Well, there's a huge difference. The Rays have 3 option years accounting for $27M that Evan can earn but that money is in no way guaranteed so if some horrible fate were to befall Longoria in the next few years the Rays are out $17.5M compared to the $45M the Brewers would have to payout if Ryan Braun had his arm ripped off by a bear tomorrow (I assume insurance would cover this but you get the point). That's a substantial difference in guaranteed money and monetary risk. There's a $28M difference in guaranteed money thanks to a complete lack of option years in Braun's deal. Well, that is pretty much what I stated in my post about some "catastrophic injury." My guess is, as you stated, such an event could be covered by insurance, making this difference fairly negligible. The more concerning difference, I would argue, would be the fact that those option years are not guaranteed against poor performance. Where would you put the odds that, if Longoria stays reasonably healthy, and avoids some catastrophic injury, that the Rays end up picking up the options? In other words, what do you think the probability is that Longoria's performance causes the Rays (or some other team he is possibly traded to) to exercise those options?

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 09:53 AM) Would Gordon go for this though? Longoria signed his deal before he had proven a damn thing at the major league level and because of this he only got $17.5M guaranteed. Ryan Braun on the other hand had 619 AB and a .970 OPS under his belt when he signed his 8 year $45M deal in May of '08. Now Gordon obviously hasn't proven as much as Braun had when he got his deal but he has shown a whole hell of a lot more than Longoria. The guaranteed money would seemingly have to be more than what Longoria got. Braun's deal: 8 years/$45M (2008-15) signed extension with Milwaukee 5/15/08, replacing 1 year/$0.455M contract for 2008 renewed 3/2/08 $2.3M signing bonus 08:$0.455M, 09:$0.745M, 10:$1M, 11:$4M, 12:$6M, 13:$8.5M, 14:$10M, 15:$12M may earn additional $6M if Braun qualifies as a Super 2 after 2009 season (increasing salaries to: 10:$3.5M, 11:$5.5M, 12:$7.5M, 13:$9M) award bonus: $50,000 for All Star selection no-trade clause 2008-11, limited no-trade clause 2012-13 (may block deals to 12 clubs), limited no-trade clause 2014-15 (may block deals to 6 clubs) The main difference between Braun's deal and Longoria's deal is that the last two years of Longoria's deal are club options, whereas they are guaranteed for Braun. Otherwise, they are remarkably similar in construction and value. Obviously, the fact that Tampa holds club options is extremely valuable for the club in case of some sort of catastrophic injury. My guess is the actual risk of that, however, is minimal. The overwhelming odds are that Tampa will exercise those options, making the contracts not so dissimilar. However, that is an important difference. The best approach is probably to begin with Longoria's contract and negotiate with Beckham's agent. Perhaps a compromise would be one where the White Sox guarantee one of those option years and keep another as a club option.

QUOTE (RME JICO @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 10:40 AM) How many games had Longoria played before signing that contract? I am sure the Sox would be all for that, but I am not sure Beckham would do it. Longoria has to be regretting it now. Longoria had 7 days of MLB service time at the time the deal was agreed to. Andrew Friedman even claimed that they were going to approach Evan with this deal while he was still playing in AAA for the Durham Bulls. It just so happened that Willy Aybar was injured and Longoria had to be called up.

Slow Sunday morning here, so hoping to generate some discussion here. Here are the terms of Evan Longoria's contract with the Rays that he signed shortly after coming up last season: Evan Longoria 3b 6 years/$17.5M (2008-13), plus 2014-16 club options signed extension with Tampa Bay 4/18/08 08:$0.5M, 09:$0.55M, 10:$0.95M, 11:$2M, 12:$4.5M, 13:$6M, 14:$7.5M club option ($3M buyout), 15:$11M club option, 16:$11.5M club option if Longoria otherwise would be arbitration-eligible after 2010, 2011 salary increases to $2.5M after 2011, buyout for 2014 option increases to $4M club must decide by 11/2014 whether to exercise 2015-16 options 2016 option may increase to $14M based on rankings in MVP vote award bonus: $50,000 for All Star selection contract purchased by Tampa Bay 4/12/08 drafted 2006 (1-3) (Long Beach St.) $3M signing bonus agent: Paul Cohen ML service: 0.170 There are obvious advantages and disadvantages to such a contract. The risks involved include performance and injury. Gordon could theoretically prove to be a flash in the pan, the League could make adjustments to him which he has difficulty in turn adjusting to, or he could become an injury-prone player. I believe the risk of any of these things happening is slim to none. Gordon seems to be a player that makes adjustments well, has a seriously impressive learning curve, and has a mental and emotional makeup to be a future all star. The advantages of such a contract are numerous. Should Gordon perform as though he looks capable of, continuing to improve and for the most part, avoiding serious injury, a deal like this would save the club tens of millions of dollars over the term of the deal by locking in what will most-likely be below-market salary figures for Gordon's arbitration years. By paying Gordon more up-front, they can save money on the back-end of the deal. Additionally, adding option years onto the deal which are substantial for the player, yet most-likely below-market in the future protects the Club against Beckham leaving via FA while he is in the prime of his career. My guess is something similar to this contract would appeal to Gordon. Thoughts?

I agree. Despite JD's solid bat, Big Jim is simply more valuable to the White Sox as currently constructed due to his lefthandedness. I'd keep Thome. I just hope Kenny has the stones to make that decision. Thome currently leads the team in OPS at .903. I expect that number to increase as Jimmy has been known to get quite hot around this time of year...

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 08:34 AM) Amazing defense. Except for a couple of my errant Valentin-like throws to 1st. Maybe you guys should take over for our White Sox...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 06:04 PM) It went well. We won 4-0. And for all of you guys who didn't show up and didn't say anything... YOU SUCK!!! We had a great time as usual, and for the first time, the weather really cooperated. Thanks again to everyone who showed up, and to WSI. 4-0? They didn't even score a run? How does that happen in softball?

QUOTE (Lillian @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 06:13 AM) In response to the original thread title; no it's highly unlikely that Dye is being traded for Rios. However, is it possible that there is a waiver deal in the works to move Dye to another team in order to make room for Rios? It has to be pretty clear to K.W. that this team is going to have a difficult time realizing his championship dreams with their terrible outfield defense. Which teams would most likely be in line to make a claim on Dye, and what kind of fit might be there for a trade with them? Honestly, I thought that might be possible as well. However, it's not really in Kenny's character to move any key pieces in the midst of a pennant race. Many of the failed bids Kenny has made to acquire players at the deadline were due to the fact that the other team wanted a player that Kenny viewed as part of the puzzle. Undoubtedly, even players with somewhat superfluous roles, if viewed as part of the puzzle by Kenny, will most likely be kept.

QUOTE (son of a rude @ Aug 9, 2009 -> 07:20 AM) In my 50 years in baseball, he is the best fielder since Carl Yastrzemski. That's OVER 50 years of baseball, buddy.

The dumbest part about the rule is that the runner has to return to first. There was not even a play being made on the runner going to second. How can you make him go back?

Sounds to me like he is just following Ricciardi's lead...

I know that was a piss poor outing by Torres, but the Charlotte Knights pitching staff didn't lose the last two games for us either...All of our starters other than Gavin seem to suck anal warts lately...

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 06:03 PM) Acquiring Josh Hamilton is just asking for trouble. Kudos to him for changing his life around (hopefully), but he's a guy whose career is on the line every morning, afternoon and night. Looks like Josh was having fun with that whipped cream.... Reminds me of Major League, when Jake says to the batter "I know he and your wife are close personal friends and all, but what was he doing with her panties on his head?"

Sure is quiet around here....is that softball game today?

QUOTE (wilmot825 @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 05:06 PM) Question since he isn't playing tonight None of us can rule out the possibility for certain. But I think they just want to give him a day off. He's been struggling pretty badly for 2 weeks now...

Let's get ready to rumble...

From Buster Olney: http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index...%3dolney_buster Some team has claimed Alex Rios on waivers and will know by early Tuesday afternoon whether he will become theirs, and there is lots of evidence that the claiming team is the Chicago White Sox. But to be clear, this is informed speculation that is not yet confirmed. The vast majority of baseball folks that I spoke with Friday believe this development is a gift from the baseball gods for the Blue Jays, who have an opportunity to get out from the last 5½ years of a contract that goes far beyond the current recessed market; Rios will be owed about $66 million for the remainder of his deal, an elite contract in 2009, and right now, he's not performing anywhere close to an elite level. If we had a SportsNation poll of baseball execs, I'd venture to say that 90 percent of them would vote that the Jays should dump Rios.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 12:30 PM) Actually, just thinking about it, if we get Rios we can replace both Wise and Kotsay at the same time. This would open up a spot to (ducks for flying tomatoes) bring up either Fields, Betemit or Phillips (pinch hitter with pop and 1B sub), or Lillibridge (pinch runner and backup SS because Nix is f***ing atrocious), or if we want to use Nix or somebody else as a backup at 1B, we could even bring up another pitcher. Or maybe we acquire someone to better fit the bench? I would like to keep Kotsay up to continue to backup Paulie as well as serve as a LH bat off the bench.

No one is going to pay Podsednik $7-8 million next year.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 11:34 AM) Oddly enough, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Dye end up in Toronto in the off-season if Rios is traded..... I think he has earned enough with his performance in recent years to keep him out of Canada... Of course, he does love to hunt...

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 10:28 AM) Considering they play 1/3 of their schedule against TB, NYY, and BOS, and have been decimated by pitching injuries, 6 games under is a lot better than they used to be. They have some pretty good players on that team. I suppose not showing any confidence in your ability would be the way you would suggest a guy approach a GM job. Maybe your way can work. Ricciardi's did. Dick, not only did the guy say he was going to make the team a lot better, but he had the nerve to say he was going to do it on the cheap too! Hah! Then he goes and commits $200 million to two of his outfielders....

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 10:20 AM) With Danks and Mitchell poised to be coming up within a year or two is is worth taking on a long contract with an underachieving Rios? Could this be a knee jerk reaction to the 3 errors per game we've seen the team put up the last 2 weeks? Well, considering we've got 1 semi-long-term OFer, and that's Quentin, I don't see us having a logjam there or anything.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 10:02 AM) Probably why KW called to aplogize to Frank and Ozzie called to apologize to ARod and Magglio, but when White Sox personnel pop off about other teams players its fine. It almost becomes a Jerry Springer Show. Look, I don't think Ricciardi should have said anything, and whether a player has or has not played for you in the past, commenting on other teams' property isn't right. I also feel there are a lot more people in baseball with a lot more inside info than we all have, who agreed with Ricciardi's assessment of Dunn at the time than disagreed. It doesn't make it right and he apologized. It doesn't make him a bad guy. This whole thing started when I said I read he was a very nice guy privately and very smart. It doesn't make him a bad GM, but these days, being the GM of the Blue Jays is almost masochistic. You're setting yourself up to fail. Why do you always do this? Why do you always take statements I make in regards to other teams, or other players, or other FO members or managers, and claim as though simply because I made a negative comment about one of them, I must also be endorsing a similar (or what you believe to be a similar) behavior or occurrence from someone within the White Sox organization? Not once did I claim Ozzie is perfect, or not a big mouth, or not an asshole. Not once did I endorse or encourage KW to speak in regards to other players. And yet, because I am a fan of this team, you assume as though that must means I endorse every breath any member of the organization takes, and therefore, I am further disqualifed from criticizing or commenting on what I believe are the missteps of others. Regardless of what Kenny, Jerry, or Ozzie have done, that does not somehow prevent JP Ricciardi of being a ridiculously arrogant prick. Where you heard he was "a nice guy in private, and very smart," I don't know. I am certain the guy is very smart. You don't get to his position in life by not being very smart. And yeah, maybe he doesn't kick his kid or his dog, or beat his wife, but that doesn't dismiss the fact that from most everything the media writes or says about him, he comes off as a total jerk. As for your comments on him being the Blue Jays' GM, this is what the arrogant ass promised in order to get the job - this is just the kind of over-the-top nonsense this guy spews: "You are spending too much money," Ricciardi reportedly told Godfrey. "I can make you cheaper and better. It'll take a couple of months to make you cheaper and a couple of years to make you better. But you'll be a lot better." Whatever.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 09:43 AM) BTW, his Dunn comments may make him the world's biggest jerk to you, but I don't see the big deal. "Do you know the guy doesn't really like baseball that much?" Ricciardi said to the caller. "Do you know the guy doesn't have a passion to play the game that much? How much do you know about the player? "There's a reason why you're attracted to some players and there's a reason why you're not attracted to some players. I don't think you'd be very happy if we brought Adam Dunn here ... "We've done our homework on guys like Adam Dunn and there's a reason why we don't want Adam Dunn. I don't want to get into specifics." J.P. then said "He's a lifetime .230, .240 hitter that strikes out a ton and hits home runs." Are you kidding? Do you not see how much he stepped over the line there? That could be considered slanderous. That information could have hurt Adam Dunn's employment opportunities elsewhere. It could have damaged him financially. And god knows what Ricciardi's source even is. Because for a guy who doesn't particularly care for playing baseball, he sure as hell does put up numbers. Why do you think Ricciardi had to call Dunn and apologize if those comments weren't a "big deal"?