harfman77

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 09:18 AM) I doubt Dombrowski agrees with the assessment of "some success." Three AL Championship Series and one World Series in the last four years isn't "some" success. That's pretty hard to do. Maybe he didn't feel appreciated. Maybe he wanted a mega-deal (at 59, it may be his last big payday). Ilitch said he released Dombrowski in part to let him pursue other opportunities. I'll tell you this: He'll have no shortage of suitors. Plenty of major league teams would love four straight years of playoffs, even if they don't come home with a ring. http://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnis...litch/31146965/ Mitch Albom column I would not be surprised to see him land in Boston as Lucchinos replacement.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 4, 2015 -> 04:36 PM) The guy is in his 80s and he knows the clock is tickng. That is one thing people miss about JR. I think he is 78, and most of his investors are the same age or older. They don't want to invest 3 or 4 or 5 years in a totsl rebuild with no guarantee it will work. I think they wiill be doing a mini Illich trying to get back to contention. I think they are going to try and pump the team in contention, but with the goal of selling the team at peak value more than anything else. JR has said that he prefers ownership of the basketball franchise over baseball, and it is near time that they start looking at liquidating, especially now that JR lost his whipping boy Bud as commish. I think that by 2020 the Sox are under new ownership.

It will be very interesting to see what happens if KW departs for Toronto. If so, I think JR's first call is to Tony LaRussa to try and get him back in the org. If LaRussa is in charge, you would think that McEwing has the inside track. Other than that, it will depend on who is brought in to fill that role. Perhaps JR would make a run at Dombrowski to fill the president role and bring him back to Chicago, that is if he doesn't end up taking Lucchinos job in Boston in the mean time. If Dombrowski is your guy, then you have a much different pool of candidates than you would with KW or LaRussa.

QUOTE (Jake @ Aug 4, 2015 -> 04:15 PM) Just going to annotate these SP FAs with some numbers. Pitcher - 2015 WAR/2014+2015 WAR, career FIP (age in 2016 season) David Price - 3.7/9.8, 3.24 (30) Johnny Cueto - 3.1/7.7, 3.79 (30) Scott Kazmir - 2.6/5.8, 3.89 (32) Mat Latos - 1.5/3.2, 3.40 (28) Mike Leake - 1.6/3.8 4.17 (28) Jordan Zimmerman - 2.4/7.7, 3.33 (30) Yovani Gallardo - 1.6/3.3, 3.73 (30) Ian Kennedy - -0.5/3.0, 4.03 (31) Jeff Samardzija - 2.4/6.6, 3.74 (31) Brett Anderson - 1.3/2.3, 3.54 (28) (note -> last season before 2015 that he threw 100 IP was 2010) Does Samardzija really look like the worst or second worst of those groups in terms of market value? Price, Cueto, and Zimmerman are the only ones who I'd say are a lock to earn more. Let's not forget that Samardzija also has the sort of name recognition that tends to make guys money. I wasn't trying to rank them, only show the amount of pitching that is going to be available each team will have their own rankings and it's doubtful that any two lists are the same. Sharks value is tied to the draft pick associated and is not worth on the open market what it was a year ago.

QUOTE (Buehrlesque @ Aug 4, 2015 -> 03:50 PM) A short contract would be great, but I doubt he'll have to settle for it when he can have his cake and eat it too with a long contract with opt out. I hate to bring up the name CarGo again, but he'll give you comparable (slightly worse) production for a fraction of the price. CarGo for 2 years/$37 mil (plus a prospect or two) or Heyward for 7 years/$140 mil (plus a draft pick). I doubt Heyward does enough to justify the enormous additional cost. I wouldn't touch Heyward. He hits OK in the NL but would struggle in the AL (we have seen this story). A lot of his value is wrapped up in his defense which while nice, isn't really worth paying a premium for. Upton probably gets something like 7/$160M too rich for the Sox blood. Cespedes is a solid player, you probably will have to go 5 years to get him to sign, but in going the extra year you may save a little AAV. There is always the chance that once the Sox can sign Shark they flip Q for Puig taking care of that hole.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 4, 2015 -> 03:42 PM) 3/45, 3/69, and 4/66 would get laughed out the room. The guy already turned down 5/85 from the Cubs, so you know that anything below that isn't worth offering. If the Sox really plan on that, they should just not make an offer so as not to insult the guy. His numbers were better than too though, his value has not increased since he allegedly refused that offer, the AL has not been kind to him. He will go to free agency, but I am not going much more than 4/$66M with the bevy of options that are going to be available on the market. The market is going to be a little crowded with SP: Guys without draft pick compensation: David Price Johnny Cueto Scott Kazmir Matt Latos Mike Leake Guys with draft pick compensation: Jordan Zimmermann Yovani Gallardo Ian Kennedy Jeff Samardzjia Brett Anderson Shark is going to be the ninth or tenth rated SP on the market in terms of value, so he is likely not looking at the contract that he was a year ago when he was considered the Cubs "ace".

QUOTE (AlSoxfan @ Aug 4, 2015 -> 03:37 PM) I think you're correct. I was thinking more along the lines of a shorter contract of 3 or 4 yrs and then hitting the FA market again at 29 or 30 yrs of age. The way things today seem to be, are the opt-out deals. I would love to have him but like you I doubt the Sox will sign him. If they do by chance sign him I can't see them signing anyone else or taking on any other bigger contracts such as Shark or any of our other needs. If the Sox do anything in free agency I think it will be Cespedes. The term of the deal won't be as long and no draft pick compensation attached make him a solid match. Upton and Heyward will be out of the realm of possibility for the Sox.

I think it would make sense to give Shark a deal similar to what Danks got, though obviously more money now as inflation has taken off in the contract market. Something like 4/$66M would make sense. That allows you to look at moving another SP to try and upgrade the offense. There are not a lot of moves that can be made in free agency to help out this offense so it will take some work in the trade market. Most likely it will mean a Quntana trade to try and fill in the holes in RF and at 3B.

While I was disappointed that there weren't any deals made it is completely understandable given the way things shook out. JR is very sensitive about selling off the White Flag deals get brought up to this day and are almost mythic in nature and the organization has been gun shy about selling ever since getting raked over the coals for that. The return on Shark wasn't going to be enough. Looking at the market, Cueto brought about what you would have wanted to get for Shark and that wasn't going to happen. The draft pick will be worth more to the Sox than the pieces they could have picked up at the deadline for Shark, especially considering next years draft is said to be pretty deep. The cost of rental impact bats was too high, while the pitching market didn't develop as expected, a deal for Cespedes would have been too costly, likely something like Spencer Adams, to justify making the move for this season. If the Sox fail to make the playoffs after making that move you damage your future and help a division rival. The Sox didn't have the ammo to shoot for Tulo and other than that there wasn't an impact bat out there (that was actually dealt) that made enough sense for the Sox to weaken the future to try and win now. Also given what else transpired at the deadline with the Jays and Astros, things got much more difficult for the Sox to contend for the WC. I think not making a deal was absolutely the right move and was a tough choice that Hahn had to make to set up a prolonged period of success in the future. KW would not have been as disciplined and would have thrown the orgs top 5 prospects in a desperate effort to win now.

Can the A's put him through trade waivers still since he was on release waivers? Can the Sox still work a deal to get him for A ball prospect? I am not sure how it works once a player has been claimed.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 4, 2015 -> 11:25 AM) How long will KW remain employed by the Sox front office? Until someone strokes his ego enough to leave. Why would he ever leave, he gets free money with no accountability and has lifelong job security. The Blue Jays may decide that they will pass on him especially if they make a run this season and promote AA. If so, the Sox are stuck with KW.

Business as usual for the Sox. Promote a guy thats not very good at his job and replace him with the guy he mentored. The Sox could have been bold and waited until the offseason to make this move and bring in Chris Correa, a guy with a demonstrated track record of success with the best run organization in the sport, but why not just stay in the cycle of mediocrity.

With the inflation of TV contracts, guys like Shark are going to start getting $20M/season. Greinke probably gets $30M+ this offseason and the QO is estimated to be about $17M. The inflation rate around player salaries is through the roof and it is only going to continue to skyrocket. You saw that last season when a guy like James Shields got the contract that he did.

QUOTE (Buehrlesque @ Jul 24, 2015 -> 10:47 AM) I would consider that. But if you trade both Quintana and Samardzija, man, you are decimating this starting rotation. Bright side, I guess, would be that there is a crap ton of starting pitching FAs available this coming offseason. If you are trading both, you would need to get a SP back in return that could step into the rotation in the next year. You can finish out the year with Johnson and a combination of Beck/Drabek/Noesi/Carroll and test out to see if you have piece that can stick and determine whether or not you need to go into FA to grab a SP.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jul 24, 2015 -> 09:44 AM) The Royals should want to get Samardzija too. Besides Moises Sierra, who do they have? Kyle Zimmer?

QUOTE (bulokis @ Jul 24, 2015 -> 09:41 AM) If we do trade Shark, let's say he wants back and Sox sign him. Do we give up a draft pick? No, players traded during the season are disqualified from receiving a QO.

No interest in Pentecost unless they wont to throw him in. The guy may never be able to handle the rigors of catching in pro ball and is coming off his second shoulder surgery in the last year. His bat isn't good enough to play elsewhere so it would really only be a good acquisition in that fans would know him as a former first round pick. A trade with Toronto probably needs to center around pitching as thats where they are the deepest and have an assortment of guys to choose from. It also gives the Sox some depth to deal from this winter to fill holes in the offense. If you get Hoffman, Sanchez, Stroman, Norris, Osuna, or Reid-Foley it gives you some flexibility to move guys like Beck, Montas, Danish, and even Q over the winter to fill in the holes on the offensive side.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 23, 2015 -> 02:16 PM) I believe the freakout had one other major component, this tweet: Jerry Crasnick ‏@jcrasnick 55s55 seconds ago The #Astros also had Jeff Samardzija on their radar, but couldn't afford to wait for #WhiteSox to decide on a course of action. Thats a little vague though, it may mean that the Sox were deciding which package to accept for Shark and comparing them against the value of the comp pick and Houston was nervous that the Sox wouldn't take their offer and moved on. The package that OAK got was OK, but it sounds like Nottingham is pretty questionable to stick at C and the P projects as a RP. Not really a return I would jump at unless you really love Nottinghams bat and think he can place elsewhere.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 03:14 PM) I dont recall Cespedes being labeled a clubhouse chemistry trouble maker. Only that he is more of a .250 hitter than he is a .300 hitter That was allegedly part of the reason that Beane was eager to include him in the deal in the middle of a pennant race. I think the dig on him was not necessarily that he was a bad teammate but more that he was not very coachable and refused to play anything but LF (the A's wanted him in CF I guess).

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 02:06 PM) I really wanted Grandal the past two off-season because he felt like the type of player they could use. High obp, switching hitting catcher whos young. Me too. Too bad we missed him when his value was a little lower.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 12:10 PM) Technically they don't need Barnes. They have an all star catcher who is still young (Grandal). I don't know if they trade Barnes for a rental, but it isn't like we are talking about a top 50 prospect. From what Peter Gammons wrote yesterday, it sounds like the four prospects that Dodgers will not trade in a rental are Barnes, Urias, Seager, and Jose DeLeon. They like Barnes a lot and have and have moved him around the IF to build up some positional flexibility to play 2B and 3B. They are giving him a test out at C now and I would not be surprised to see them sell high on Grandal rather than moving Barnes.

QUOTE (oneofthemikes @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 08:47 AM) Trade Alexei and John Danks for salary relief plus maybe a couple lottery ticket prospects, then either trade Samardzija for a good prospect or give him a QO in the offseason and take the comp pick (whichever looks better). DFA Bonifacio. Call up Erik Johnson and Noesi to fill out the rotation, let Beckham man SS, bring Trayce Thompson up to be a 4th OF. Play young guys the rest of the season, be bad, get another high draft pick. Let KW go take over another franchise. Fire Robin. Fire Steverson. Fire Bell. Spend as much as necessary to bring in a coaching staff that will preach fundamentals and defense and something that resembles a prepared approach at the plate. Danks and Alexei have more value to the Sox than anyone else. Perhaps the Pirates would have some interest in Ramirez if the Sox through in $1m for his buyout and took back some lottery ticket A baller in return. The Diamondbacks just dumped a similar salary in Bronson Arroyo and it cost them a pretty highly regarded pitching prospect, given that precedent I would hate to have to give up Spencer Adams just to dump some money. Trading Alexei gives the Sox a hole at SS, Anderson is at least another year away and in the meantime you would be running some combination of Sanchez, Johnson, Saladino, and Garcia in the IF, which will not net you any more production and will likely be a step back defensively. I think KW is gone to Toronto at the end of the season, Robin will likely be promoted/re-assigned, and Bell will be back in his role as he has naked pictures of JR. Steverson takes a lot of heat, but a lot of that blame should go to the scouting and player development folks. They keep bringing in one dimensional players that do not fit Steversons philosophy and the results are ugly. He will likely be gone in a transition to a new manager, but there is a lot more wrong with offensive approach in this system than Todd Steverson.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 12:51 PM) Please read thread title. Yes, and as I said in my previous I post I disagree with that argument.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 21, 2015 -> 02:24 PM) Move Alexei. Sanchez takes over SS for the year. Possibly shares it with Saladino. Micah takes over 2b. Sanchez moves into either SS or Utility Player role depending on whether you think it's worth it to spend a bit of money on the SS position in the offseason. Johnson works in as your 2b, Saladino and Sanchez see what they can do in a season along with maybe a stopgap, and then whoever is the weaker of the 2 gets out of Tim Anderson's way in 2017 and we see if we can actually produce a decent top of the order/middle infield pair. And then maybe you also find a 3b candidate in a trade this year on top of that. The problem I have with this approach is that it puts fringy defenders at all the IF positions, which is part of the problem with the ML roster this season. Sanchez at 2B is high end defender, but fringy at SS. Johnson is definitely below average in the IF, but could be at least average in the OF. Saladino can play well enough to cover any position at a super utility guy and perhaps can handle 3rd, but has not really put enough work in there to make that determination. Anderson is going to be another guy that is a fringe player at SS, but if the Sox move him off now and get him some work at 3B, CF or RF he has tools to be above average to elite at either of those spots. I think the approach in trading at the deadline this year should be to get a strong gloved SS that can come in and take over for Alexei and solidify the IF defense for next season.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 21, 2015 -> 04:22 PM) Under that scenario you are getting at least one of Pederson / Puig, both of whom are widely considered special talents and who have had major league success. Puig has had historical success over his first two seasons. Pederson not quite the same level but major upside is their. If you get both of them, well that completely rebuilds your outfield (Pederson / Puig / Eaton) is not just a fantastic and athletic defensive outfield, it is a very good offensive outfield. Your top of the order has a guy like Pederson (strikeout issues yes, but good OBP, to go with Eaton who I still believe in) and then you have Abreu in the lineup. You do have an issue of what to do with Avi / Melky / LaRoche as their are only enough at bats (you could live with two of them and keep guys fresh, kind of rotating at bats amongst the 3 OF spots and DH), but that probably doesn't work so well. Of course if the Dodgers were to do that sort of deal (and they wouldn't), Sox would have to give up one of Avi / Melky. Now you add in either Urias or Seager and that is another elite prospect (both which would fill need positions). This type of trade would completely turn the Sox potential almost immediately and the potential upside would be more then worth it. Again, could it all blow up in our faces, sure, but I think the Sox contend immediately if they were able to pull off Pederson / Puig / Urias (or Seager). I think the most likely scenario would be Puig / Urias / Seager and that deal would have a little more potential downside, although you are still looking at filling 2 major needs. If you get a package of Puig / Pederson / One of the Other, OMG, we'd be insane not to. I probably think a lot harder if it is Puig / Urias / Seager, but even then I think I'm in. If they added Barnes I'd be for sure in. Sorry I somehow lapsed over Pederson being in the deal. Yes that is probably too much from the ML roster given a team trying to win now.