witesoxfan

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Mar 24, 2014 -> 11:35 AM) I like the deal and wouldn't complain, but I will point out that this kind of deal does not come without risk. If Quintana suffers a career-ending or career-damaging injury, or just flat out starts to suck, the Sox are on the hook for the entire contract anyway. The thing is, that risk is spread out over 5 years, and it'll be insured anyhow. This is not the same as resigning a guy with 4+ years of MLB service on his arm a 5 years, $65 million deal at the end of his contract.

I absolutely love this deal. It's amazing the value a contract guy can do for a front office.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 22, 2014 -> 02:49 PM) If he was in any other organization, they'd already have given up on him. I say this as one of his biggest fans from the time he played at LSU in the College World Series. What reason do they have to give up on him? They still have options, he still has minor league service time, he's not blocking any prospects, and even as a busted prospect, he's apparently been a good influence on other young players.

I believe the Cubs have better talent, but I understand the differentiation that is going on here, and I too agree that the Sox have a better, more stable core in place. That said, people continue to reference Baez as a virtual can't miss prospect. Prospects like him CAN miss. Brandon Wood, as a 20 year old at High-A, put up a .321/.381/.667/1.047 season with a 134/48 K/BB rate. He continued to put up good numbers as he progressed. He has been absolutely brutal in the majors. Those are very similar numbers to Baez. Until they are producing at the MLB level, prospects are always suspects.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 24, 2014 -> 10:05 AM) Yes, because I was responding to the post that said even if he was below average, it was a good trade. Because the value will be fair. As I stated, it would be a disappointment, but if puts up a .750 OPS with below average defense, that would essentially qualify him as a below average player. Getting 6 years of that versus 4 years of a 3.25 ERA from a closer to me seems worth it, even if Davidson was a bit of a disappointment. I don't believe that's far fetched or hard to understand.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 24, 2014 -> 09:02 AM) So if he is a RH Conor Gillaspie and Reed has a productive career, the deal was worth it? Seems to me it would have been a waste of an asset. As long as the guy is good, years of "control" are nice, but if he isn't so good, who cares? Most of this board is very upset over the years of control the Sox have over Adam Dunn. Technically, yes, but it'd be a disappointment. However, Davidson is a better prospect than Gillaspie and is more highly thought of. Beyond that, Gillaspie was out of options. Had he had options remaining, I can guarantee you that San Francisco doesn't trade him for Jeff Soptic.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 08:37 PM) Okay, Southsider, I'll bite. Please explain. I think I know what you will say, just want to hear it. Regardless, I still don't like the trade. Matt Davidson could absolutely play in Chicago right now, but Gillaspie has experience and a lot of times guys who play their first full season in the majors come back the next year and perform better. It's worth seeing if Gillaspie improves. However, that's only the surface and the only aspect to which Ventura and Hahn will admit. See, the real reason is that if the Sox wait until June - for Davidson to "work on his fundamentals on defense" (because he couldn't do that at the big league level, obviously) - is that they'll be able to save a year of service time for him. However, if they were to admit that exact thing publicly, the player's union would be on their ass so fast and so hard that they'd probably be forced to give up that year of service time regardless of how long they had him in the minors as they'd be suggesting that he's the best player but they want him to hang around a little longer. And here's the skinny on that trade: Addison Reed is a reliever, one that got touched up quite often over the past two years. He has good stuff, but he's a fairly average closer type, which is to say he'd be a fantastic set up man, but he's still just a reliever. He also only has 4 years of service left before he reaches free agency. Meanwhile, the White Sox will control Matt Davidson - a position player - for 6 full years. If he is even a below average regular at 3B over that time frame, he will have been worth the deal. If he is average or above average, the Sox win that deal in a landslide.

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Mar 21, 2014 -> 04:24 PM) I see you, Vols. This is the team I was expecting all year. Pomeroy loves them.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Mar 21, 2014 -> 03:28 PM) It's cool how they peel the skin from above to get access to the forehead to put the metal plates in. I've had a few soccer players who needed it and got to watch a couple of the surgeries. God, that sounds awful.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 21, 2014 -> 04:13 PM) Weel see if that was a good return for Peavy, Santiago, Rios, and Reed. I know, but fangraphs says so. The value of what they project to be and their talent level is sufficient. All prospects can flame out Marty. What would you have preferred they do, keep the same team that lost 99 games another year?

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 21, 2014 -> 04:00 PM) I believe if there was a post in September of last year that predicted Dunn, Konerko, Keppinger on the roster with Flowers and Paulino as starters and the Sox payroll at ~$85M this board would be up in arms. The only thing people would have been upset about is Flowers. People, including me, want Dunn and Keppinger moved, but we realize the extreme difficulty in doing that and actually adding value to the team. I was upset about Konerko initially but ultimately that's a very small gripe. Paulino is a guy I would have been happy about and still am. It's funny how you didn't mention Abreu, Eaton, Davidson, the pursuit and interest in Tanaka, Downs, Boggs, and Belisario. (I can't believe I forgot Abreu out of all of them)

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 21, 2014 -> 03:49 PM) How do we know that. Fangraphs slapped a few articles up, I guess. Because I paid attention, Marty. They made a lot of really good moves to get younger. If you judge everything in hindsight, you're destined to stagnate and do nothing.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 21, 2014 -> 03:25 PM) It's interesting the Sox are getting raves for their offseason and definitely better than the alternative, but keep in mind, Toronto won the offseason last year. These guys still have to play when it counts. The Blue Jays did have a really good offseason last year, but they also happen to play in the toughest division in baseball. I just don't understand the need to nitpick and point out the downside of this. Yes, guys can fail and yes, the rebuild isn't complete. These are things people from Hahn to the beer vendor to you and I all know. The Sox still did a lot of really good things between July 1st of 2013 and now.

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Mar 21, 2014 -> 03:01 PM) Great post. One nitpick..is Reed really 'soon to be expensive' ? I suppose in the sense that any closer could be seen as that, but with 'expensive' i think of $-figures that prevent you from doing a bunch of other stuff to great degree He's no where near as good as Craig Kimbrel - then again, who is? - but Kimbrel signed a 4 year, $42 mill deal last June. Reed is probably an $8-10 mill a year guy in his prime and on the free agent market, so you are looking at about $15-18 mill over the next 4 years. That can definitely prevent you from making moves.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 21, 2014 -> 02:42 PM) THAT SOUNDS LIKE A CHALLENGE #hewhoshallnotbenamed #hewhoshallnotbesigned Ervin Santana or Voldemort? Serious question, have you ever seen both of them in the same place? DIDN'T THINK SO.

His stapled head. GAH

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 21, 2014 -> 02:16 PM) Aside from the Davidson trade, what has Hahn done that was not expected? By most accounts, the Cubs got a better return for Garza than he did for Peavy and he got nothing for Rios. As far as rebuilds taking time, yes they do. However, by trading for near ready prospects, they've chosen a shorter timeline for this rebuild than your run-of-the-mill one and judging by that I don't think enough was done over the winter. I don't think Hahn has done a bad job, just not enough given the timeline. I was unaware that Leury Garcia was nothing. I don't believe the Cubs got more for Garza at all - the Sox got a player with a higher ceiling and 3 solid, if underdeveloped, prospects as well. If you do not believe Hahn has done enough, what more do you feel he could have done given his resources and what was available?

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-most-in...cago-white-sox/ Fun little read, and it's pretty impossible to disagree with his take. I'm very excited for the regular season to start.

Organizational arm. Hopefully he does well with Arizona. Speaking of, Hahn must really, really like dealing with Towers. I would too though I think.

Suck it Duke

University of South Dakota women. First 15 seed to ever win it all.

Do you think they will play Macklemore at his funeral?

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Mar 21, 2014 -> 09:10 AM) But a 22 year old who is in his 3rd stint in the majors. He's not pitching like a stud, so you don't pay that kind of price, imo. Boras client; near arb eligibile. That's certainly not who I would look for for Semien or Johnson - their value figures to go up a lot this season anyway. He hasn't even thrown 200 innings at the major league level. For Christ's sake, he threw 12.2 innings in 2011. Yeah, if I can get him for Viciedo (another Boras client, mind you), you bet your sweet ass I'm going to make that trade every day.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Mar 21, 2014 -> 06:55 AM) Not waking up for it, but if tonight's poker game is still going we'll probably put it on. That sounds awesome and I hate you.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Mar 20, 2014 -> 11:21 PM) Damn. Our defense is looking lousy again? Still debating whether or not to get mlb.com. I don't think I could stand watching a season where we are owned by those Central Division teams again. If we can hold our own with those Central bums I might buy. Do you want to see a team that has a chance at winning the AL Central? If so, buy it and watch the Tigers. The Sox likely are not going to be competitive, and it's likely going to be ugly. If you want to see a rebuilding team with a ton of young talent and one of the best young hitters in the Central, then buy it and watch the White Sox.