Vance Law

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 31, 2014 -> 02:02 AM) Nothing except Lind is younger and will cost SOME amount or level of talent to acquire. OTOH, this team needs some playoff-experienced veteran leadership, and LaRoche checks off that particular box. Yeah, I just think you'd have to trade away some reasonably valuable young player(s) to get two years of Lind.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Oct 29, 2014 -> 12:40 PM) Trade for Adam Lind. Trade who? He's affordable, the Jays aren't going to give him up for nothing. What's the difference between him and Adam Laroche, for example, the next 2 years?

QUOTE (oldsox @ Oct 25, 2014 -> 07:41 AM) I know; neither do Mitchell or Thompson. Hence my question. Why would they prefer losing Sierra to either Thompson or Mitchell? He's obviously a better hitter, probably a better fielder; is it Sierra's histrionics on the bench? I don't think the Royals would have claimed Thompson or Mitchell. Still don't get it. I'm pretty sure Mitchell has one option remaining and Thompson has 2. Correct me if I'm wrong, anyone?

QUOTE (oldsox @ Oct 24, 2014 -> 10:02 PM) Why expose Sierra while keeping Trayce Thompson and J Mitchell? Sierra did hit .276 for Sox. Don't get it, not that it's the most important transaction of the year or anything. Roster now at 37. Sierra doesn't have any options left.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Oct 24, 2014 -> 12:28 PM) Its the innings, age combined with being 5'11" and 154 lbs which does not scream durability. That is the conventional "wisdom." I know I've seen a lot of tall skinny guys, fat guys, all body-types with arm/elbow/shoulder problems. Has anyone ever done a legitimate study of injury history and shown smaller pitchers get injured more?

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Oct 24, 2014 -> 07:48 PM) Guess Moises isn't part of the core . Makes sense for KC who already have Cain and Dyson to play CF. If they keep him around, a Dyson/Sierra platoon could be their plan with Aoki leaving in free agency.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 24, 2014 -> 08:19 PM) Apparently we don't need a right handed hitting backup OF as much as we need the roster spot. I'm ok with that, but interesting. Yeah, interesting this is some of the first news of the offseason. Does it hint that they plan to offer Viciedo a contract?

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Oct 24, 2014 -> 05:47 PM) My comment is why Danks over Sierra nothing more. Can play center field, perhaps better than Eaton. Is left handed. Righties make up around 77% of pitchers.

QUOTE (woods of ypres @ Oct 23, 2014 -> 10:02 PM) Lind has had a 2.9, and 2.2 oWAR the past two seasons. If he was strictly a DH, that would be a good pick up. Lind is only control for his age 31, and 32 seasons, and only owed 15.5 over the next two seasons. Exactly. Why would Toronto let him go?

QUOTE (hi8is @ Oct 20, 2014 -> 06:14 PM) Here's the rationality behind Danks, for me at least. 3.) If we ate a good amount of his contract or traded him as a part of a package for another player with a bloated contract... we could indeed get him off our books. Andre Ethier for example.

QUOTE (LDF @ Oct 20, 2014 -> 07:22 AM) interesting reading on players who may be non tendered. from pit - davis and snider http://cheapseatanalytics.com/pirates-offs...der-candidates/ I am wondering who else may be avail Travis Snider for Tank. Hahn, this trade writes itself. Do it.

QUOTE (LDF @ Oct 17, 2014 -> 07:22 AM) what will the sox do if all 3, Sanchez, Johnson and Semien have a good spring? I'd think Johnson in AAA, Sanchez starts most games at 2nd hoping to show off his good glove and some improved hitting while building up his trade value. Semien platoon at 3B with Gillaspie and gets some time at 2B, SS (like 1 game), maybe LF and even DH. Not knowing what the offseason acquisitions might be, I'm honestly most excited to see what Semien can do next year based on his September in Chicago and season in AAA. The BB/K rate is impressive and what kind of gets overlooked is that between the minors and majors he hit 21 homers in each of the last 2 years.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 07:27 PM) I know. I mentioned in an earlier post that Pitt designated Tabata for assignment, which he accepted and is now apart of their AAA affiliate. Thing is that Tabata will still make 4M next year regardless and that likely makes him trade bait which is why his name was brought up in the first place. The idea was to throw his name into the mix to relieve Pitt of his salary in an effort to try and nab Snyder. Ah. Missed that.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 07:08 PM) Some times I really hate advanced stats, because there is no way those two are in the same stratosphere offensively or defensively. Though those numbers are distorted by going two years instead of one. That's not using any advanced offensive stats. De Aza's had 200 fewer plate appearances and they have both hit 51 doubles, De Aza has 11 more triples and one more home run. Markakis has hit for a higher average. I would suggest that the reason a Sox fan would have the perception that "there is no way those two are in the same stratosphere offensively or defensively" is precisely because he/she doesn't watch Markakis on a daily basis and doesn't care/is not emotionally affected by what he does well or not so well while every De Aza miscue is the end of the world. If you told the average Sox fan Markakis had 200 more plate appearances than De Aza over the last 2 years and asked which you thought had more extra base hits, somewhere around 100% would say Markakis. Their reasoning would be "not De Aza." More years distorts the comparison? When you are offering a player a multi year contract, how much of their recent performance should you consider? Exactly one season? How about half a season, that way it's not distorted by being a full season?

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 11:58 AM) So does Dayton Moore get a movie made about him now, or is his one pennant above the maximum allowed for a film subject? Has anyone written a book about him?

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 04:42 PM) From the Pirates POV, it makes more sense to move Alvarez and keep Snyder so what you say makes sense. In that case they can keep Tabata and his contract and the Sox keep Sierra. Pirates DFA'd Tabata

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 03:54 PM) Markakis isn't a bad fielder. His range is starting to decline a little bit, but he's steady out in RF. He is a guy I'd be on board with bringing in. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $13-15 mill a year for 3-4 years. I am surprised to hear (read) you say this.

Markakis is basically a maybe slightly more reliable De Aza for way more money. See, for example (assuming it happens), the Orioles letting Markakis walk, plugging in De Aza for lots of million dollars a year less. OPS over the last 2 years Markakis .707 De Aza .716 Don't know where he's getting this "gold glove caliber" reputation. Fangraphs has him with negative defensive ratings in each of the last 6 years. UZR does in all of those other than 2014 (fluke?). He's got a better arm than De Aza, probably makes fewer boneheaded plays, and has notably less range. In any of the next 4 years he's a decent bet to be a less valuable player than De Aza. Would it make much sense that the plan was to trade away De Aza making $4.2 million a year in order to sign a similarly valuable player in his 30s to a multi-year deal worth (my guesstimate) more than $10 million a year?

If the team isn't actually going after Vic Martinez, Adam Laroche would make some sense. He'll be cheaper in $$ and probably years, and will not receive a qualifying offer so won't cost a draft pick. There's relatively few likely landing spots for him, with Milwaukee probably being the most likely, and perhaps Detroit if they lose Martinez.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 13, 2014 -> 03:35 AM) Desmond Jennings and Eaton in the OF, find a LH DH (maybe Adam Lind), buy one of the best "second tier" starting pitcher options and finally add your two relievers (both with closer's stuff, but not overpaying for the likes of Miller or Gregerson). Lind's team option is just 7.5 million. Would assume Toronto picks that up.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 9, 2014 -> 02:58 PM) How was Conor Gillaspie a better hitter than Pablo Sandoval this year? CG: .282/.336/.416, 7 HR, 108 wRC+ PS: .279/.324/.415, 16 HR, 111 wRC+ They were remarkably similar offensively, actually, but Sandoval comes out a touch ahead. Even if you assume it's roughly the same, (1) Sandoval's longer track record suggests he's a better candidate to repeat, and (2) Sandoval is a way, WAY better defender. I'm not saying we should get Sandoval, but he's unquestionably better than Gillaspie. I only looked very quickly at OPS & OPS+. Yes they were pretty much the same hitter. I don't know the league adjustments made for wRC+. Is Sandoval getting an advantage by being compared to some pitchers attempting to hit? Sandoval is a better defender, but he's also been up and down. I personally think Conor can/will improve. I don't know that fat dudes like Panda maintain their defensive prowess as they age though. But most importantly, the difference in salary will be insane Some players whose track record suggests they should be better. They were better. They're not that old but are going into free agency with trends that look like this: (wRC+ 2011 to 2014) Sandoval 149-118-116-111 Headley 121-145-114-103 Markakis 105-126-88-106 Butler 120-139-117-97 They'll get big multi-year deals. Gillaspie for less than a million dollars looks amazing compared to what they'll get. Especially since he does you the favor of concentrating his best hitting against the 72% of pitchers who are right handed and you can easily erase his biggest flaw. When you note that these are some of the top hitters on the free agent market, likely to get big multi year deals

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Oct 9, 2014 -> 01:13 PM) Pablo Sandoval is only 28 and I think he's unrestricted. Switch hitter, plays 3b. Two birds with one stone. Conor Gillaspie was a better hitter this year and costs zero dollars.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 10:05 PM) If I remember correctly, he was in the last year of his major league deal in 2013. However, this past year he was not yet arbitration eligible, which means we could pay him whatever we want as long as we didn't reduce his salary by more than 20%. Ahh, thought he was arb eligible last year.

A question about Viciedo's contract: How did he end up with the same salary in 2013 and 2014? Doesn't that virtually never happen in arbitration? Even if a player absolutely sucks, they generally get some kind of raise if they're actually put in the lineup to play the games.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 02:27 AM) I'm not the only one. But you're the only one who just wrote this "it sickens me that it looks like DeAza is good. Is it the environment on the South Side that made him such a stiff in Chicago?" After coming out of a bad slump, the guy plays excellently his last 65 games with the Sox. The guy continues to play well in 20 games in Baltimore. Then you say "why did he only start playing well after he left Chicago?" You can see why this is strange, right?