harfman77

This may have been just smoke to get Liriano to re-sign and to quit holding out for more money.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 12:13 PM) Crawford wouldn't be the worst if LA will pony up $30 million along with him. However, the guy's always hurt and when he does play, he's an alright player. I'd much rather have Kemp, but I have to imagine he'd cost a lot more. I disagree, his game depends a lot on his athleticism and speed both of which are declining at this stage of his career, couple with that his injury history and the risk factor is too high given his contract.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 12:54 PM) I've finally been unleashed (Thanks Jeremy, whoever you are on here).... Everything I've wanted to say the past 24 hours has pretty much already been said but I've got this to add... Something that may be of interest in the acquisition of Ynoa is that the Sox had been connected to his brother Huascar back in July. From what I can see he never signed with anyone so maybe getting his brother here will also help bring him in. He signed with the Twins. http://m.twins.mlb.com/news/article/821544...ct-huascar-ynoa

QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 12:55 PM) I'd prefer Sanchez start, he's slappy enough to be effective at the bottom of the order and his glove really impressed me last season. Micah off the bench, pinch hitting and filling in when at 2B when Sanchez moves around the IF. As far as I'm concerned we are really just waiting for Anderson. Micah should not be on the bench, if he is not starting, he needs to be playing everyday in AAA. Saladino is your backup off the bench. Micah needs more seasoning in AAA this season, but could be valuable as a mid season call up or trade chip to get the Sox over the hump/

Not to sounds like a broken record, but I wouldn't write off the possibility of them pursuing Cuban Jose Hernandez to fill that spot once he is declared a FA.

Great trade, I like the pick up of Ynoa as he has good raw stuff a la Frank Montas. Could end up as a rotation piece or a solid high leverage reliever. MLB has updated their org prospect rankings: Chris Bassitt at 19 for the A's Ynoa not ranked, but was ranked as Oaklands #2 prospect at the end of last season. " Ynoa's promise has been clouded by injuries, including one that resulted in Tommy John surgery in 2010, that have limited him to just 39 2/3 innings in the four years since he signed. His fastball sits in the low-90s and he gets a good downward angle, thanks to his 6-foot-7 frame. He also throws a sharp curveball and changeup. Despite the problems, Ynoa still has the potential to be a frontline starter." Hes only thrown a total of 161 innings over his career and looks to have moved to the bullpen this season.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 10:52 AM) Sanchez (if he's not the starting 2B) or Saladino. This.

Eew...No thanks. Crawfords profile does not fit the Cell well at all.

I like Semien and think he will be a very solid ML player, but you have to give up value to get value and Semien was in third place in the 2B race behind Sanchez and Johnson at this point. They have Saladino to provide value as a UTL and so Semien was more of a luxury for the team.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 09:13 AM) The big difference is that Sale didn't. Bassitt has said it multiple times. Bassitt? I thought we were talking about Danish. I agree Bassitt likely is a bullpen piece.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 06:28 PM) Danks + $10M for Travis Snider? That's a 2 year $10M per year gamble on Danks for their 4th OF and we get a fairly young LH corner OF who was once a top prospect. IDK, makes some sense to me.... I would not be surprised to see the Pirates take both Danks and Viciedo. They can match DV with Alvarez as a platoon at 1B and use him as the DH in their interleague games.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 09:06 AM) Pretty much everyone thinks the writing is on the wall for him to be a reliever. There were a lot that thought that of Sale too. I would be disappointed if we gave up Danish in addition to Bassitt, one or the other makes sense to me along with another position player. Hopefully whoever the third person in the trade in is on the 40 man roster and opens a spot there for another move.

Keep him on a tight inning cap in the minors for the first half of the season, then bring him up around the all star break to finish the season with the big league club. If the club makes the postseason, he could slide into the bullpen to limit innings and give an extra LHRP.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 08:08 AM) The rotation wouldn't be 2 lefties in a row, and Shark is better than Quintana anyway, he'd be #2. Not sure that Q is on the roster in the spring anyway. There was a rumor on here last week that he might be moved to upgrade the OF in the form of Jay Bruce. I still think Jose Hernandez could be in play at 2B when he is declared a FA.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 09:20 PM) Some here may not like the package sent.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 03:50 PM) It worked out well for Liriano. That and the NL effect. I have a lot of belief that Danks will be a very successful pitcher in the National League.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 03:43 PM) If 2B were so easy to find, there would be a ton of really good ones out there. That's not the case. http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=...=&players=0 There are maybe 8 or 9 guys on there that I think you could safely say are very good. It's impossible to deny that the Sox have depth at the position, but if it were that easy to fill, we'd know who it was moving forward and they wouldn't have had a blackhole there over the last 5 years. There aren't that many good infielders out there in general. They had it filled, they drafted a college SS that could not stick at SS, tried him at third and then settled him in at second. He hit really well through the minors and in his rookie season, so it seemed to be an issue that was not an issue. Then he regressed and they waited for him to rebound before cutting ties with an asset that had been very valuable that had lost all of its value. We don't know who it is, but we have a pretty good idea that its going to be Sanchez to start the season unless Alexei is dealt.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 03:22 PM) It is possible someone comes in and makes an offer for Smith that seems worthwhile and they take it. But barring that, it is almost assuredly going to be Phegley. First, look at the signals the team has sent. Phegley has been, multiple times now, sent to minor league camp early (spring training), benched for undisclosed behavioral reasons (twice during last season), and the team has multiple times had quotes out in articles talking about his shortcomings. On the other hand with Smith, they haven't said much of anything, but the did invite him to the special pre-spring hitter prospect camp last year, did send him to AFL, and did just add him to the 40. All the signals say they prefer Smith for value. Second, they are actually similar as prospects in many ways. Both are bat-first guys with some power, both are seen as weaker defensively, but both have a strong arm. It's just the "other catching stuff" that is key here, and Smith gets better grades for pitcher handling. Third, simply put, Phegley has had two shots. Smith none. So unless a team offers a significant prospect for Smith, which isn't likely, I am quite confident Phegley is the one who will be gone. In all likelihood, it is both Phegley and Smith. Given the Sox current roster composition, Smith will be repeating AA as a 27 year old while Nieto is starting at AAA, Phegley has no spot now that there is a platoon partner to back up Flowers.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 03:34 PM) Well, the positional adjustments aren't based on defense, they're based on mean offensive value. So really what it's saying is that it's just as hard to find a good hitting 3B as it is to find a good hitting 2B, which "feels" weird because 3Bs were all like Vinny Castilla during the steroid era, but when you look around the league, seems more normal. The defensive contributions are then thrown on top, and those vary greatly because of the different types of plays each makes, as you alluded to. The 3B position has really been an offensive blackhole for much of the league over the last decade as well, so that makes sense.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 03:20 PM) People keep claiming that 2B is one that is the least impactful or least important. Why? I'd like to understand the reasoning behind that because I sure don't understand it. And then I'd point out that Robinson Cano signed a 10 year, $240 million deal. I believe the Mariners overpaid, but that was a franchise that surely felt that 2B was not the least important position on the field and they almost clinched a Wild Card spot last year and are in great position to do so this year. Because second base is usually the easiest position to find. Lots of teams end up acquiring high ceiling SS's, 3B's, and OF's through the amateur selection process, and usually if a guys bat is good, he is relatively athletic, but glove is there to stick at a spot, he will end up at 2B. Its the place where you stash a guy with a solid bat and average defensive skills. Anderson could be a high end offensive 2B still, we will see what happens with his defense, if not he will end up on the other side of the IF.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 03:22 PM) He's better than Jose Bautista was too but are you going to trade him for Brett Lawrie? Donaldson came up late and is older than people realize, but if he's not a superstar, he's pretty damn close and he has like 3-4 years of team control remaining. Meanwhile, claiming that Lawrie has been anything but a huge bust to this point is crazy. Donaldson was a huge bust at the same point as well, and thats why the A's got him as a thrown in from the Cubs. Donaldson is going to be very expensive in arbitration and the move allows the A's to put a quality player out there at a lower cost, pick up three additional prospects, one of which has a very high ceiling, and continue to re-tool. This was pretty much inevitable when Beane traded all of the quality depth in the organization this summer to make a run for the pennant. After they trade Shark they will dangle Kazmir out there to whoever misses on Lester and Hamels.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 01:08 PM) Well I don't But really, I just want it resolved so we can figure out how the A's take way too much from the White Sox again while they seemingly give away guys like Donaldson and Moss to the opposition for jacksquat. Jacksquat? Lawrie has been a much better player to this point than Donaldson was at the same point in his career.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 01:12 PM) It doesn't seem like Oakland is looking to win now with trading their best players away so I don't think they would be wanting Ramirez back They are trying to re-tool with less expensive guys with more years of control. They are taking a big hit in free agency this year and have a lot of holes to fill and a bit of SP depth. Beane went all in this summer and now needs to retool his roster after losing his entire IF and needs to upgrade his OF.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 12:45 PM) I was referring to 2B and utility IF. Those are literally the last two positions I fill on a squad. Agree, Marcus seems like a guy without a role in the long term. The Sox seem to really like Micah as the guy at 2B and Anderson at SS, so that would relegate Semien to 3B where Gillaspie has put up acceptable production. Keeping a guy as a backup is not more valuable than adding a legitimate 2-3 starter to your rotation. If Shark leaves after next season you get a draft pick to select a prospect that probably has more long term value to the Sox than Semien does. If not you have a very formidable top three all signed through a period of time when the team should be very competitive.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 09:51 AM) "closer by committee" is code for "my bullpen sucks". Or code for, our planned closer is out for they year.