witesoxfan

QUOTE (gatnom @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 03:11 PM) Antonio Gates or Justin Blackmon for flex? Gates

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 02:59 PM) The Bulls play on Saturday. Could we really see Derrick Rose on an NBA court playing an officiated game? Eh, probably not

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 02:56 PM) Which based on anecdotal evidence so far, is exactly what Rick Hahn is doing now. He is targeting specific guys who he believes can help the team now and in the future. Avi Garcia is example #1. I agree, and taking chances on raw talent like Brandon Jacobs in a deal for a guy they were never going to resign is a great move too. Really, in almost the same situation with the teams reversed last year, the White Sox got Kevin Youkilis for Zach Stewart and Brent Lillibridge with the Red Sox eating most of the salary. Those two didn't even make it to the end of the season with the Red Sox.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 02:39 PM) They'll lose two at least, write that down. But as always, NO ONE CARES ABOUT REAL FOOTBALL!!!! My decision this week is whether to play James Jones or Tony Gonzalez as my flex. I'm leaning towards Jones. If PPR, Gonzo, if standard, Jones I hate the guys in my league (not literally, just how stingy they are). A dude offered me BJGE and Brandon Myers for Julius Thomas. I countered with Thomas and Lacy for Gore and some WR2. He shot it down and his best offer is Chris Johnson and Charles Clay for Thomas. I am actually considering it because my running backs are just awful (Stephen Jackson, David Wilson, Willis McGahee, Eddie Lacy, and Isaiah Pead) and because I can go with either Clay or Greg Olsen at TE then.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 02:32 PM) No I want one more young hitter in addition to the possibility of Abreau. That could be Viciedo or Semien too. Maybe it's Mat Gamel. Rather than attempting to acquire prospects for $30 mill, I think the Sox just need to take more chances on waivers and on failed prospects in general (as well as young prospects who haven't reached the majors). For every Matt LaPorta, Dallas McPherson, and Joe Borchard you get the occasional Jayson Werth or Chris Davis. Travis Snider is a guy I think the Sox could acquire for cheap who absolutely destroyed minor league pitching but hasn't done anything in the majors. Find the next Carlos Quentin. There are guys out there that can be had for cheaper. I don't think putting all of your eggs in one basket is the right idea. I think you narrow your search down to about 10 guys you feel can be impact bats at the MLB level and then you do what you can to acquire them.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 02:27 PM) I want one more core young hitter added to Garcia before considering free agents. That's going to be the difficult piece to get. Except that the core young hitter could very easily be a free agent in the form of Jose Abreu. For whatever reason, it seems that you consistently ignore this point.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 02:13 PM) This team doesn't have enough pieces to build around for that to be a concern as of now unfortunately. Marty, if it turns out to be as bad as you believe, then they will go on an extended rebuilding period and Sale will be traded along with many others. If it's not as bad as you believe, the team spends some money in the next couple offseasons and they are competitive and perhaps even win a Wild Card or Division championship, then everything was worth it and they are still in a position to compete in 2016. You are adament about not spending on guys like McCann and Ellsbury and Granderson, but really those kinds of deals can turn out great for the team - Jermaine Dye was signed at the age of 31 and had 5 pretty great years for the Sox, Thome was brought in at 35 and had 4 good years for the Sox too, so why can't the Sox sign two guys who will turn 30 next year and expect them to be productive for an extended period of time?

/commercial break Madden is still awesome /back to your regularly scheduled programming

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 11:59 AM) No chance. Their two toughest games are going to be the Pats and the Texans. I think Peyton shreds through the Chiefs defense and they win both by double digits.

QUOTE (TheBigHurtIsBack @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 01:09 PM) Personally think this is dumb. It took HOW long to fire Walker? And Manto gets the boot after 1 season? That certainly seems odd. 2 seasons. Walker was kept in large part because Ozzie didn't want to get rid of his boys. Ventura and Hahn obviously were not happy with Manto's job performance.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 12:29 PM) That's where Reyes comes in. A Reyes/Santiago or Reyes/DeAza deal might be enough. Why do that though when they have Mercer at SS now and Henson in the near future? If Polanco is going to be traded for someone, it's going to be a player like Giancarlo Stanton.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 12:14 PM) I disagree. I'll take Reyes over Ramirez. On the baseball field, sure. With the baggage of injuries and contract, I'll take Ramirez. QUOTE (Jake @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 12:16 PM) I would say that this is a thing that Hahn will definitely think about doing, but as Marty admits it may be difficult to pull off, even once. The trading team would have a lot more explaining to do than us. Team X will have a hard time justifying trading their high-priced should-have-been-star player AND some top young players for nothing in return except a heavier wallet. It would work the opposite of including cash in a deal to get better prospects. Typically, you won't just see teams cutting costs like that but instead you'll see them include him as an offsetting factor when bringing in a better player. I suggested the Pirates include Clint Barmes in a deal at the deadline to offset the costs. It works in that sense too. It doesn't work when you trade Alexei Ramirez for Jose Reyes and then eat half of Jose Reyes' contract and attempt to deal him for prospects.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 11:48 AM) I don't get it. I don't believe that Jose Reyes is a much better player. I think their value to a baseball team is a very debateable point, especially when cost and durability concerns are brought into context. What's not to get?

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 11:45 AM) Yes, you object? Reyes isn't going to make the Sox a 90-win team. The Sox need to add to their young core. Then you trade Ramirez. You are suggesting eating $33 million - either this year or over the life of the contract or whatever, but it's $33 million in dead weight - that you then prevent yourself from offering to Jose Abreu. So, instead of offering him 7 years and $70 million, you can only offer him 7 years and $37 million. That's less than what Puig got. Hell, that total amount is about the exact same that Cespedes got, and he only signed for 4 years! It's offering McCann 4/$27 instead of 4/$60 It's offering Jacoby Ellsbury 6/$87 instead of 6/$120 And, if you get lucky, you MIGHT get 2 B level prospects out of it. You are paying $33 million for 2 B level prospects. EVEN BETTER, you can certainly get at least 1 B level prospect for Alexei Ramirez. Then, in essence, we are back to the exact same scenario with BJ Upton except that this time, you are taking on $33 million instead of merely $30. More likely, you can get a B and a C level prospect for Ramirez, if not totally equal value to Reyes, so you are paying $33 million for a marginally better prospect. Do you seriously not understand how big of an obligation that is? Or how inefficient that model of spending is? Or how ridiculous you look continually spewing this stuff?

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 11:03 AM) Reyes is a much better player than Ramirez. I disagree, but that's a matter of opinion. What's not a matter of opinion is the disparity in the cost between the two players. What you are suggesting is absolutely insane and wouldn't even work on an XBox.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 10:39 AM) Ramirez had an 86 OPS+. Reyes had a 113 OPS+. I don't believe in dWAR which is where most of Ramirez' WAR value lies. Alexei Ramirez is due $20 million over the next two years and put up a 3.1 WAR last year. You are suggesting that the White Sox trade him for 2.5 WAR Jose Reyes and $66 million more guaranteed dollars, you eat $33 million of that, and then you trade Jose Reyes because you do not believe in defensive win shares. Think about the logistics of that and how wrong and backwards that is.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 10:21 AM) You don't think there would be a good market for Reyes at 33M?? A 2.5+ WAR SS and a team could get him at 8M per? Alexei Ramirez is due $20 million over the next two years and put up a 3.1 WAR last year. You are suggesting that the White Sox trade him for 2.5 WAR Jose Reyes and $66 million more guaranteed dollars, you eat $33 million of that, and then you trade Jose Reyes. Think about the logistics of that and how wrong and backwards that is.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 10:10 AM) Give them Ramirez in return since they think their window is open, that brings the Sox obligation for Reyes down to $66M. I think the trade market would be pretty good for Reyes at $33M. Yeah, OK, you're still on this kick. See ya

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 10:12 AM) Say they don't get lucky, the rebuild is set back. No. They are signing guys who will contribute in 2015 and beyond. They aren't trading for Derek Jeter, they aren't selling the farm. They are making smart, cost efficient moves with the intention of adding pieces that will be on the team for the future.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 09:56 AM) Define that in wins. 75-85, and if you get lucky, like the Indians did this year, you get hot and win 92 and get a Wild Card birth

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 09:53 AM) Okay then they deal Reyes. Now I'm confused. Are you still suggesting taking on money from his deal to pick up a prospect, or are you suggesting trading for Jose Reyes himself? Because both are bad ideas. He's guaranteed $86 million over the next 4 seasons and the White Sox should want no part of that.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 11:27 PM) When he gets denied arbitration this will show Sox do not value him either. The Sox will offer him arbitration.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 09:28 AM) I think everyone here has different definition of rebuilding than me. Rebuilding is starting over from scratch, by dumping all your high salary players and going young pretty much across the board. You basically don't plan on being competitive for 4 to 5 years so you can accumulate high draft picks and let your prospects develop gradually. Also, just because you lose 99 games does not mean you're rebuilding, it just means your team currently sucks. IMO, Hahn will go into 2014 attempting to compete, even if our chances to make the playoffs are extremely small. I'm guessing he feels it's at least a two year job to fix this offense and become a respectable team. That's retooling to me, not rebuilding. I agree. Rebuilding is a medium to long term project, meaning the 3-5 years of continual suckage before you can even think of being competitve. Re-tooling is rather quick, with thoughts of being competitive in 2 years or so. When I think of re-tooling, I think about the Cardinals. You want a better farm system, but that's going to be on its way up, and in the mean time you can spend some money on short, medium, and long term contracts that make sense.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 09:35 AM) It has been written that Toronto wants to shed payroll in order to have money to upgrade their rotation via FA. What would they give to take Buehrle's $37M off their hands? Buehrle then is a stop-gap replacement for the starter they deal. They want to upgrade their pitching, so naturally they'd trade their best pitcher

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 09:23 AM) You do not retool a 99 loss team you rebuild. But if you lose 93 games, you can go ahead and do so and then end up with the best record in the AL