harfman77

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 27, 2017 -> 10:40 AM) I think it is lunacy to just assume because we changed in one area, than to assume suddenly this is a franchise that is going to blow away free agency, and international market. History is a much better indication than just because of one thing. By some accounts, the Sox did make the strongest offer to Tanaka in the international free agent market. They would not give him the opt out after three years the Yankees gave him though which was the differentiator. The Sox have shown the willingness in the past to make a big splash internationally (Tanaka, Abreu, Soler) when they felt it made sense. They haven't always gotten their guy, but thats not all because of the money they have offered. So, its not completely out of character for this org to spend big internationally. I think they are going to be a big player for Otani when he comes over.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 27, 2017 -> 10:38 AM) The numbers are adjusted for retained salaries. You're right. My bad.

Its just Yo. You can double it up to add some flavor to it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 27, 2017 -> 09:34 AM) The Padres have a $55 million payroll for 2017. The White Sox have a $90 million payroll. It would be very easy to argue that the Padres should be the early signing favorite for a few reason. #1 they already have gone over the caps this session, and literally have nothing to lose and everything to gain by bringing in every single player they can before June 15. They also have a lot less payroll spent in this period giving them the ability to spend a bit more than the white Sox have. According to the Forbes list, the Padres actually have a slight overall revenue advantage as of 2016, so the $35 million difference in payroll is significant as to their relative spending abilities. The Padres are also paying another $54M to players no longer on their roster, including sending some money to the White Sox to offset some of that $90M.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Mar 24, 2017 -> 11:16 AM) There is nothing about the Cardinals prospects that excite me. I loved Perez in the draft last year and think he has a lot of talent, and it is starting to show. Sierra is another guy with a big ceiling and I think is going to put it together this year and jump up prospect boards. A ton of upside with those two and they could play along side Basabe and deepen that wave of prospects. Kelly is an offensive catcher with solid defense and can hold that position down for the next 10 years. That is extremely valuable in a league where quality catching is hard to find. Probably not an all star level catcher, but a guy that can bring a lot of stability to the position and allow the Sox to devote FA resources elsewhere and let Collins bat carry him.

Not much in the article about how he has turned it around and started to act more responsibly since his issues, hopefully he has leveled out since his early experiences in pro baseball.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 24, 2017 -> 10:56 AM) I don't think they are a suitor at all. Seems to me it's the Astros, Braves and Yankees in that order. I would put the Cards in there too, and maybe some of this Pirate talk is an attempt to pry more value out of the Redbirds. With Reyes down they have a need to stay above the Pirates in the race for the wildcard. I like the Cards system a lot more than the Yankees system sans Torres. Carson Kelly, Delvin Perez, Mags Sierra, Junior Fernandez, and Nick Plummer. If Torres, Meadows, and Albies are off the table, I like this deal better than anything the other teams can put together. One bonafide MLB level player, two prospects that could be top 10 in baseball by the end of the year, a huge arm, and a lottery ticket in Plummer.

I think the Braves step up and make it happen. Would be a huge splash moving into their new stadium. Albies/Acuna/Fried/A. Jackson/lottery ticket

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 22, 2017 -> 01:49 PM) They have a lot of positional talent beyond the top guys too. Fisher, Reed, Davis, and Sierra are guys that stand out to me as well. I am still high on Reed, though very low on Fisher, not sure he ever makes it as a MLB regular.

QUOTE (shipps @ Mar 22, 2017 -> 01:27 PM) There is definitely a lot more chatter on twitter today on this front. Seems like it may pick up some serious steam if one of the big guys reports on this as well. Still could be nothing though. #slownewsday

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 22, 2017 -> 12:20 PM) I find it very interesting that Burdi still hasn't been sent out, and that he wasn't sent out the day that the rest of the top group was sent out, including someone like Fulmer. I wonder if he has a shot? I wonder if they are still evaluating him as a SP option down the road? They talked about his ability to start after drafting him, then put him on a fast track to the majors via the bullpen to try and help the team last season. But now with the organization taking a step back and having the ability to extend his development, I wonder if they are thinking about trying him in the rotation somewhere this year and evaluating whether or not he has a shot and what he needs to work on to be able to start.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Mar 21, 2017 -> 12:14 PM) No way. If he is cleared in this current signing period, I'll put money on the Padres. Theres going to come a point where they don't have money to spend, especially in a small market. I believe they are paying 54% of their payroll this season to players that are no longer on their roster. I don't think it would be as done of a deal as many think. The Cardinals, Braves, and Astros are all just as likely and have money to spend.

The Braves make a lot of sense this summer if they find themselves in striking distance. They have a lot of young high upside offensive prospects balanced with some high floor pitching prospects that can make a deal very enticing.

I imagine Hahn probably turns to Rodon next, but those conversations probably won't go anywhere. Really good move by Hahn to get some financial certainty going forward, which will help the team manage payroll going forward.

QUOTE (Sox-35th @ Mar 21, 2017 -> 09:27 AM) I seriously wonder how agents let Rick Hahn walk all over their guys. Hahn basically says "Don't bet on yourself, take money" Hahn isn't walking all over anyone, this can easily end up being a Jonathan Singleton deal. Anderson gets a nice guarantee that pays him well above what he would make in his pre-arb years and trades that for a little less down the road.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Mar 16, 2017 -> 11:16 AM) Do we want Jo Adell in this scenario? SS Brady McConnell? We already have that guy in Courtney Hawkins. I don't think you can risk the #11 pick in a rebuild on a guy with pitch recognition and bat to ball issues. The power is legit, but it does no one any good if he can't make enough contact to make it play. If the board breaks that way, I think the Sox would be better off finding a guy underslot at this point and getting some more value out of their second and third picks as I believe everything from 11-20 is a tier below the tier from 5-10. Its still much to early to tell how the draft board will look three months from now as there will be a lot of kids that find helium in May while others slide down and the tiers are better defined.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Mar 16, 2017 -> 09:33 AM) Torres and Meadows aren't being moved. The fact that it's March 16th and this still needs to be stated is insane to me. Neither is Quintana then. There isn't really too much there with those teams if those players aren't included. Q has value similar to Sale and a deal without those caliber of prospects is not going to happen. There are other teams that can put together much more attractive "depth packages" than the Yankees or Pirates.

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Mar 14, 2017 -> 09:44 AM) Yeah, I agree with this. I love Rodgers and think he's going to be great, but he's also pretty far away, and Tapia's ceiling seems to be everyday OF but nothing special. If Pint can stay healthy, he's a really interesting prospect, but the Sox are also loaded with pitching prospects. For the Sox's needs, I think a package centered around Frazier and Rutherford is a better fit. High upside bats all day. Rodgers is closer than Rutherford, Rodgers played a full season of A ball this season and dominated Rutherford hasn't played above R ball and is the same age. Pint is a younger version of Kopech, with a huge fastball that needs to refine his command to be successful. With the Sox track record of developing pitching he is very intriguing. To me Rodgers/Pint > Rutherford/Frazier. Rodgers status as an up the middle player is huge and the Pint/Sox combo sets the bar really high. Rutherford is a corner OF with high bat upside but the lowest floor of any of the four players discussed. Frazier has lost quite a bit of luster with his struggles (SSS) in AAA.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Mar 13, 2017 -> 03:49 PM) Melky is a below average LF, Tilson should be average at best in CF, & Avi is pretty horrendous in RF other than his arm. Now the overall OF defense could change depending where Bourjous (or even Liriano) fits in, but I'm not seeing a plus OF at all. I think we'll pretty strong at SS & 2B and solid at 3B, but overall I think we'll be a below average defensive team. Melky is passable is LF and replacing Avi in RF with Bourjos or Garcia makes the defense pretty solid in the OF. If Avi is in the OF, yes the defense is poor, if he is the DH the defense is at least good and can be great. Tilson or Bourjos in CF can help make up for the deficiencies that Melky has moving around in the OF. Melky is really a good fielder, has just lost a few steps over the years.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Mar 14, 2017 -> 09:19 AM) Perhaps, but Benintendi's speed and defense still grade out significantly better than Rutherford's You can't really teach speed, and scouts figure Rutherford's speed will slow down as he fills out, which will limit him to a corner OF spot. He looks like a quality prospect, but is at least three seasons away from the majors. Yeah, I think if you were to comp the guys to current players Benintendi comps to Grady Sizemore (pre-injury) and Rutherford is more of a Matt Kemp or Jay Bruce.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Mar 13, 2017 -> 05:58 PM) I have a feeling Rutherford will be Benintendi-lite in about 6 months time. Meaning, he's gonna crush it and become an off the table asset. There is a stark difference there. Benny never played Rookie ball and Rutherford has never played above rookie ball. I think that Rutherford could get to that status, but it would more than like be 18 months than six. Come July he is going to be a 20 year old prospect that has never played above A ball. The knock on Rutherford in the draft last year was that he was old for a HS player (19) and thats why many of the analysts believe he slipped to where he did.

QUOTE (GermanSock @ Mar 14, 2017 -> 04:03 AM) I think it could be fun to track what happens with the last place candidate teams (trades, injuries...) I start with the reds, their probably best starter anthony de scalafani was diagnosed with a ucl sprain. He will be shut down for a month but often this ends up in TJ surgery. The reds already have a very terrible rotation, if they lose him for the year they become a very serious candidate for the worst record. (Even with him they are projected around bottom 4) The Padres by a mile for me. They have a bad rotation and I believe 3 rule 5 picks that they will carry. I think the only position they have a major league player is 1B. Add to that a really good division and the friars could set the all time loss record.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Mar 13, 2017 -> 03:51 PM) I agree with the Yankees having an overrated system as often as they have a highly touted system but I think that's less true this time around. The guys they got back from Cleveland and the Cubs were highly touted before the Yankees got them. On top of that, the Yanks have objectively hit home runs with their last two first rounders in Rutherford and Kaprelian. Mateo definitely seems overrated though. I am not as big on Frazier as the consensus either but that's splitting hairs. I do like Rutherford, but I like him as the Kopech piece in a framework of a deal. He is extremely raw, but has a great ceiling. Kaprelian has had injury issues that make him questionable as a key piece to a deal. I do not like Judge at all, Frazier has a lot of good tools, but I am not sure he is going to hit enough. I love Acevedo and think he has the stuff to be an excellent high leverage reliever. Sheffield looks to me like he will end up as a MR, I do like Clarkin as he seems similar to a young John Danks. I just like what they would offer a lot less than what I think the Cardinals would give up in a deal. All of the guys the Yankees got last July had started to lose a lot of their luster. Torres is the one guy that turned it around when he got there and actually raised his value to a level above where it was to start the season.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Mar 13, 2017 -> 02:40 PM) I don't see how this team could possibly finish .500 with a 3/4/5 of Gonzalez/Holland/Shields. Those guys are going to lose a ton of games. On top of that, we have some massive holes in our lineup and what should be a poor defensive OF. I'm not sure in its current state we'll be able to challenge the Padres for worst team in baseball, but we should definitely be a bad team and will get worse when we start dumping some of our productive bats & relievers. I feel like Holland is going to be better than people are giving him credit for, Gonzalez should be decent and Shields is probably going to be a Jekyl and Hyde type of season where he has an equal amount of good and bad outings. Every year people talk about the massive holes in the lineup, but they still have above average players at 1B, SS, 3B, and LF. Depending on what happens in RF, this team could be plus defensively across the diamond. I also think with the team composition you will see the team take a lot of extra bases and really grind on offense more than they have in a long time. I think the bullpen will be improved from last year with Robertson recovered and Jones, Jennings, and a bounceback from Petricka. Or it could all fall apart. But this team reminds me of one of those A's teams that you think should never compete, but ends up in the middle of things in July and fades out after that.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Mar 13, 2017 -> 02:35 PM) http://www.minorleagueball.com/2016/12/6/1...spects-for-2017 I'm going to disagree with you on that point. The Yankees have one of the deepest farms in the mlb. I disagree with their assessment, the Yankees perennially have one of the most overrated farm systems in baseball. I like some of their guys like Acevedo, but I have seen their top guys come up (or get traded) and flame out despite having what has been consistently a top 10 system. I know people are high on the Yankees system, but outside of their guys who are considered to be untouchable I do not see much in the way of impact talent, nothing worth a top 10 pitcher in Q.