witesoxfan

QUOTE (Con te Giolito @ Jan 7, 2017 -> 05:30 PM) OK let me put it a different way. The Astros rotation is not capable of taking a team to the World Series, and probably not even the playoffs. They have a pretty good offense too, and their bullpen is solid as well. I think they'd be able to make the playoffs. Quintana would certainly help, but I don't see him as a necessity.

QUOTE (Con te Giolito @ Jan 7, 2017 -> 05:23 PM) Shoulder injury, chronic elbow injury, average starter, below average starter, reclamation project. Color me unimpressed. You don't have to be impressed.

QUOTE (CWSpalehoseCWS @ Jan 7, 2017 -> 04:52 PM) I never said it was bad, but that rotation will not beat the Red Sox or Indians. I wouldn't necessarily say that either. You could have easily said something similar to that about the 2015 Kansas City Royals, what with Ventura, Volquez, Cueto, and Young. That was not a super strong rotation either, but they made it work. Bottom line, they can probably afford to be patient. Quintana will be moved in time. As long as there are multiple teams bidding, one of those teams will blink at some point soon.

QUOTE (CWSpalehoseCWS @ Jan 7, 2017 -> 04:09 PM) I totally agree with you on the Astros. They are idiots if they do not attempt to improve their starting pitching. No organization can win strictly on home-grown talent. Even the Cubs who hit on just about every position player in their system had to buy Arrieta, Lester, Chapman, and now Davis from other teams or the FA market. The Pirates are in between a rock and a hard place though. They have a much tougher hill to climb in that division, so I could see them weighing the cost of someone like Q and whether it truly puts them over the top. I personally don't think he makes them THAT much better that he needs to be acquired - especially if the Sox asking price is as high as it appears to be. The Astros have Keuchel, McCullers, McHugh, Fiers, Morton with Musgrove and Paulino in the wings. It's not the most overpowering rotation, but it's not a bad rotation to enter a season.

Speaking of Hawkins, at what point do you consider putting him on the mound?

QUOTE (Con te Giolito @ Jan 7, 2017 -> 02:22 PM) They should've gotten the deal they got + Devers. Sox wound up atoning for their mistake with Boston by doing so well in the Eaton deal, but they handled the Sale trade pretty poorly. If Moncada achieves his ceiling nobody will care (nor should they really) but if he doesn't the lack of depth pieces in the Sale return will be highlighted I don't think they really could have gotten anything more out of Sale than what they did, aside from maybe one more throw-in. They went with quantity and quality in that deal.

QUOTE (NCsoxfan @ Jan 7, 2017 -> 12:09 PM) It's not a bad answer, but I think it doesn't hold up. In his example you're dealing with a good that is largely fungible and not scarce (a car). Said student does NOT risk being unable to find another car to use when he/she graduates. It is different when dealing with a top of the rotation starter. Should we trade Q today, there's no guarantee we are able to find/have one when we're ready to compete. Obviously, if we're ready to compete in year 4 versus year 3 it changes things a little bit. The point is that in 2 or 3 years, there's no guarantee that Quintana is still a top of the rotation starter either. There is not necessarily a pressing need to deal him immediately, but this is going to be the absolute best time to deal him, so they should do so.

QUOTE (NCsoxfan @ Jan 7, 2017 -> 11:54 AM) Here's an interesting question: assuming Q performs the same going forward, how much would his value decline if you tried to trade him after two more years versus today? Thinking is that we don't know how prospects & other trades & roster players will pan out, and it's possible the Sox are ready to contend in year 3. Thus meaning we'd still have two years of Q! So is it worth keeping him for two more years with the knowledge you'd have the optionality of having a TOR starter? If you're not a contender you could still trade him with 2 years left. We might not be getting Q's full value for his 4 years of control. Dave Cameron put this best, so I am going to blatantly copy and paste what he said and then link to the chat in question. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/dave-camero...aphs-chat-1417/

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 7, 2017 -> 11:24 AM) I don't expect Coats to be anything special. That said, I do find it annoying that his "shot" in the Majors was 58 plate appearances, and many on this board think that's enough to make a decision on him. Didn't Bregman begin his MLB career 0-34? And, my favorite example: Mike Trout's first 60 career PAs: .185/.250/.352 Jason Coats' first 58 career PAs: .200/.298/.340 I don't think anyone has made any decision on Jason Coats. The White Sox are likely making a strategic gamble that Coats will pass through waivers based on his talent. It's probably a safe bet. Like I said, if he keeps raking, he'll be back up eventually.

QUOTE (Deadpool @ Jan 7, 2017 -> 10:56 AM) Honestly, I doubt the Astros are the team the White Sox are going to trick into acquiring Frazier. They're all metrics and numbers to the point where Frazier will be nothing to them. Despite his power, TF had a bad season with us overall. If we got Bregman, I might cry. If 2.4 WAR is a bad season, then I'd hate to see a really bad season. He was down from his peak, but in no way, shape, or form did Todd Frazier have a bad season last year.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jan 7, 2017 -> 06:38 AM) If he doesn't, he won't?? Or, you won't? If he passes through waivers, he will get a chance to make a name for himself with the White Sox. They are going to be very bad for at least 2 years and that could easily be 3 years. If Coats keeps raking in AAA, they'll make room and give him another shot in the majors.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 6, 2017 -> 08:24 PM) I disagree with Bregman. I think they believe he is very important to the roster. Having a good glove at 3B, especially with their staff, who has good offensive potential is important. As for Meadows, the Pirates have been shopping McCutchen because they can't afford him for the next contract. It appears that Meadows is the replacement. The Pirates need to have at least a shot at the playoffs each year to maintain the fan base. From all reports Meadows is the player who can replace him and they are reluctant to lose a player that close to the MLB, they need to replace an MLB player. all of this is JMHO but it doesn't take a genius to see where these negotiations are going. Maybe RH/KW will wear them down but it sure doesn't look like it. This is exactly how I view the situation as well. The Red Sox were ultimately willing to give up Moncada because he is ready midseason 2017 at the earliest, and more likely midseason 2018. If the window isn't opening, it's closing, so they wanted to open it a little more. Bregman is apart of the Astros' current window, and the philosophy in Pittsburgh dictates that they have suitable replacements for current players. My prediction would be that I don't foresee Jose Quintana playing with Andrew McCutcheon, unless some 3rd party ponies up to acquire both of them. I think if the Pirates acquire Quintana, they'll probably send McCutcheon out for prospects and will either fill their outfield from within or have Melky included with the Sox picking up the majority of the tab while the Sox acquire another player in the deal (not Meadows). I would also imagine a McCutcheon deal happens prior to a Quintana deal, so while it may look like a 3 way trade, it would would actually be two separate trades between 3 teams, with the Pirates being the middle man.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jan 6, 2017 -> 08:42 PM) So do I But the Sox apparently don't. They keep an awful lot of throw-hard no-control middle relievers around in his stead. Because throw-hard no-control relievers can turn into throw-hard good-enough-control relievers who become valuable assets to teams in the late innings and on the trade market. Nate Jones was a throw-hard no-control reliever. Now he's the most valuable piece in the White Sox bullpen and probably their best reliever. What is Jason Coats realistically going to turn into? Probably a 4th outfielder at his ceiling. That's a nice player to have in the system as a depth player. If Coats passes through waivers, he's gonna get a chance to make a name for himself, I guarantee that.

QUOTE (TheTruth05 @ Jan 6, 2017 -> 01:34 PM) 50 AB's was enough for the Sox to say "meh, if we lose him no biggie" meanwhile Avi is our starting RF'er... Garcia has a high ceiling. Coats really doesn't. They are entering a rebuild, you may as well go with the guy with a high ceiling to try and build value one way or another. They probably aren't going to lose Coats anyways.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jan 5, 2017 -> 06:52 AM) Do you ever take photos of your creations for Facebook? You should. One of my night cooks took a photo of our New Year's Eve special and posted it on Facebook, but being a chef at a hotel is much more about management and less about specials. And most of our traffic is in house guests rather than walk-ins, so we don't do much for specials. We probably won't run any sort of featured item until Valentine's Day.

QUOTE (Con te Giolito @ Jan 4, 2017 -> 11:46 PM) The issue with Albies is less his position and more his total lack of power. I know he just turned 20 and that down the road he can probably develop some more pop, but right now the Sox need to be focusing more on players with complete offensive games. It's a shame because I love players of Albies' profile, quick little guys with contact swings and great defense are the baseballiest ballplayers around. Maybe there's a way to make it all work with Albies displacing Anderson (do not like displacing Anderson) or Moncada (only worth exploring if they are certain Moncada will thrive in CF), but that seems like a longshot. You collect everyone and anyone that has a high ceiling. Albies is a good player.

Joel Sherman made a point on MLB Now - the Yankees are coming up on a lot of players who will need to be protected while protecting the assets the currently have. There are ways of dealing with that given situation that allow you to maximize your long term value, but you lose current value. The Yanks look like a team ready to spend heavily going into 2018. They'd rather keep their current MLB value, so it follows that logic. I don't know much about the Yankees system other than that Torres, Frazier, and like Severino, but I know they have a good system and they have a strong need. Cashman is the longest tenured GM for a reason. (Sabean and Beane are both probably final decision makers, but they are not GMs. Cashman is)

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 4, 2017 -> 05:36 PM) Yeah said he'd love to stay in Chicago. I think Hammel can find a two year deal though and I doubt we give it up. He can, but any team is going to mitigate risk over a 2 year deal. If you are Hammel, are you going to take a 2 year, $20 mill deal or a 1 year, $12 mill deal? He's made a bunch of money, but if he can prove capable down the stretch, he's making himself even more next year, even if that is still just a 2 year deal. I think he'd rather sign a 1 year deal.

Facebook friends know, so my Soxtalk brothers and sisters may as well know too: I accepted the Executive Chef position at the Ramkota Hotel in Bismarck. So, if you are in Bismarck anytime in the near future, come find me. We serve good food. Also, unlike most promotions, I'm much less scared about this. I'm much more scared of more f***ing snow.

QUOTE (shipps @ Jan 4, 2017 -> 03:22 PM) For some reason reading about the Yankees valuing their prospects more than the big names made me think back to when I was a teenager and that was the complete opposite. Is it because of the metrics that have been established that teams are more confident in prospect success (more valued as future assets to the org) and there is less of a roll of the dice as it used to be when talent evaluators went off of a couple stats and did mostly everything by the eye test? Why havent I connected the dots with this before now?! I am an idiot! I don't know specifically, probably some combination of those, and even then, prospects still fail. Soler looked for all intents and purposes like a slam dunk and he's been anything but. I'd say it's more about risk mitigation while having a better grasp on future value. The Yankees seem like the most likely candidate in all of this though. The Astros have enough young guys they can try and throw into the fire and their top of the rotation is OK, the Pirates seem to be teetering on the edge of competing and rebuilding, and the Braves don't seem like they are far enough along in their process to include the quality assets that the Sox would require. The Yankees have a fairly good team who would value the contract and use it as a way to get under the luxury tax far enough to be competitive for Harper and Machado in the coming years.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Jan 3, 2017 -> 04:12 PM) Meh. Melky's OPS+ was 120 last year. BJ's was 84. They are about the same age and make about the same money, though BJ had 1.5 years still left on his deal and is owed $1.5M more than Melky this year. Not terrible comp, but Melky is a better bat. And a worse defender and base runner. Melky will fetch a talented player or two, but they will almost certainly be highly flawed.

Most comparable player I can compare Melky to who has been moved recently is Melvin Upton. He netted a 20 year old with back of the rotation appeal, and that's after the Padres picked up all by $5 million of Upton's salary. If that's all they can get for him come the deadline, then that's all they can get and is something they will do.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 30, 2016 -> 03:25 PM) C = Ron Karkovice 1B = Frank Thomas 2B = Ray Durham SS = Paco Martin 3B = Greg Norton OF = Lyle Mouton OF = Lyle Mouton OF = Lyle Mouton SP = Jose Quintana SP = Jason Bere SP = Chris Sale SP = Mark Buerhle SP = Lyle Mouton RP = Keith Foulke RP = Lyle Mouton Honorable Mentions: Lyle Mouton That's my guy

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Dec 30, 2016 -> 09:29 AM) It's a clear fit, except that I wonder if Q's FB% isn't a little high for their needs, considering their park. Jose Quintana's career GB/FB is 1.30. He is a neutral leaning towards ground ball pitcher.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Dec 28, 2016 -> 04:45 PM) 4.60 ERA for the starting rotation 3.77 for relivers 21st in the mlb overall middle of the pack offense Zero prospect depth. Things are likely going to get worse before they get better though The White Sox had a team ERA of 4.12 last year, so they'll obviously be right around that again, right? No, because using last year's numbers to try and correlate anything with next year is logically incorrect. They had Garrett Richards for 6 starts last year. He's a huge question mark, but he's a very good pitcher. Jered Weaver threw 178 innings with an ERA over 5.00 - he's gone. Chacin threw 117.1 innings with an ERA of 4.68 - he's gone. They gave 38 innings to Lincecum, who put up an ERA over 9. Using that against them this year when all 3 are gone is unfair. If Richards goes down again, they'll be in trouble, but if they stay healthy, they'll be a solid team. They don't have a lot of depth, but there is no point in them blowing it up at this point. I'm guessing they'll be in the hunt pretty much all year unless injuries hit.