witesoxfan

Since a few people seemed pretty determined that the Yankees were going to make an offer, here's this and why would they? Gardner is a monster, they just traded for Granderson, and Swisher has been a damn nice bat for them. They like to keep that DH spot open to rotate some players WHO ARE ACTUALLY GOOD OFFENSIVELY, so I don't see where Crawford would have ever fit into the equation.

QUOTE (TomPickle @ Nov 4, 2010 -> 09:38 AM) I don't really consider a .727 OPS to be good. He's also been worth negative runs throughout his career, and his defense, though overall apparently good, has fluctuated. Sweeney wouldn't be the answer to this team's problems, especially since the Sox have someone similar offensively in Teahen.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 4, 2010 -> 07:57 AM) Marquez got hurt. He's been healthy for a while. He's just never been a good prospect and Williams was, at the very least, intrigued by him enough to have him included in the Swisher deal.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 4, 2010 -> 07:55 AM) And this move will be an experiment in their technique of aggressively pushing people upwards. The Twins had Danny Valencia basically where Morel is now as a 23 year old, upper minor league levels, and they kept him in the minors for another year and a half for seasoning. The Sox are going to push Morel hard and see what he does in the bigs. I can live with that...kid ripped every type of pitching he saw last year...but it's a contrast I'm going to spend the offseason highlighting because I think it's important to watch. I also think Morel is more talented than Valencia. I don't think Valencia is much more than a .270/.330/.420 type hitter in the majors and that he is due for a huge step back next year.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 4, 2010 -> 07:56 AM) And the numbers he put up in Tampa...the Kotsay-like .221 average and sub .700 OPS in 2009...kinda suggest some issues don't you think? That he doesn't like DHing or he didn't adjust to playing in the AL.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Nov 4, 2010 -> 06:52 AM) If your assessment is correct, then the Sox may be better served keeping Quentin, in which case it doesn't make much sense to try to resign Konerko, because that would leave them with too many right handed hitters. It would be better to spend the money that it would require to resign Konerko on a left handed hitter. What other left handed hitter might be available in a trade for one of the Sox' starting pitchers? The Sox don't have to trade anybody to get a left handed bat considering the amount of left handed bats on the free agent market. I could see Carlos Pena being a guy the Sox target in the free agent market...guarantee him 2/$16 with a $12 mill team option or $2 mill buy out and see if he bites. I do think they have to trade a starter to free up some money, but they don't have to acquire a left handed bat in return. Hell, acquiring a package of minor leaguers wouldn't be the worst thing.

I do too, but you can't overspend for him. AJP at $7 million is too much, but $3-4 million is much more reasonable. He's going to look at Vizquel getting $1.75 and say "and I'm only worth $4 mill?" I think it could get messy.

QUOTE (J.Reedfan8 @ Nov 4, 2010 -> 06:07 AM) I might have to ask people to predict the game where Rajon Rondo actually gets less than 10 assists. Hell he hasn't even gotten less than 15 yet in a game early on. He had 9 in their loss to Cleveland

The Cardinals will not trade Colby Rasmus for Carlos Quentin and a minor piece. Colby Rasmus has made amends with Tony LaRussa, is cheap, is under control his rights for 4 more years, and he plays a solid CF.. Carlos Quentin is injury prone, is about 10 times more expensive than Colby Rasmus, is only under control for 2 more seasons, and he is horrendous defensively. I also don't think it really matters that there isn't a huge book out on Rasmus...the dude was a top 5 prospect 2 years in a row for a reason. He's going to be a 25-30 homer guy for a long time. The Cardinals trading Rasmus now would have been like the Indians trading Grady Sizemore after his 2005 season. If the Cardinals actually decided to trade Rasmus, they could center a package around him and acquire pretty much any player they wanted (with some exceptions, of course). Honestly, if the Cards offered Rasmus straight up for Zach Greinke, I think the Royals would consider it (they'd need more, but they would consider it). Can you say the same thing about Carlos Quentin? Carlos Quentin has little trade value right now and any team acquiring him would be bringing him in as a flier hoping to catch lightning in a bottle. He is not going to be traded for Colby Rasmus.

Go f*** yourself San Diego

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 07:37 AM) Niether could Pat Burrell. uh, Pat Burrell has atleast 437 plate appearances in every year he's played. Nick Johnson's done that 4 times in his entire career.

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 09:02 PM) What signs? I'd like Morel to start, but I don't see it. Help me. Mark Teahen games played after injury (there will be some overlap due to position changes) 2 games at 1B 8 games at 3B 9 games at DH 10 games in RF I think it's pretty apparent that Ozzie saw Teahen at 3B and saw the Sox struggle, then saw Vizquel at 3B and saw the Sox go crazy, then again saw Teahen at 3B and again saw the Sox struggle, and from there he connected the dots (justifiably or not) and won't have Teahen be the starter at 3B.

A, B, D, C, waiiiiit

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 05:55 PM) Careers in the NFL are shorter than most pro sports including superstars. Look at how many top RB's sustain production over more than 5 years. I was just looking at the fantasy drafts a few years back when Larry Johnson was one of the top guys, now he can barely make a roster. Its amazing. Shaun Alexander won the MVP in 2005, and by late 2008, he was out of the league for good.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 02:15 PM) You don't like the bunt much do you? Do you ever see a situation where the bunt is called for? It's in everybody's playbook and has been used for decade upon decade. The White Sox bunted a lot in 05 and almost swept the entire postseason. How bout just credit Edgar and credit Boche? Boche just won the world series. He's a genius right now leading a franchise that never wins WS to a WS title. The big bad bashers the Rangers scored one run at home in the final 2 WS games. Small ball can be a nice complement to long ball sometimes. Bunt with a runner on 2B and nobody out with a weak hitter at the plate late in a game where you are trailing by 1 run. There can be a runner on first in that scenario too. I also don't mind when players intelligently bunt for hits. That's about it. It is an archaic practice that has been statistically proven to cost teams runs.

Williams was also impressed with Jeff Marquez in the AFL. I think his track record for acquiring AFL players is actually pretty bad overall at this point.

I've seen guys hit quads on the river to beat a higher set. It's a call I wouldn't have made, and I think you can argue a pretty irrational call, but he had quite a few outs still.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 02:06 PM) Great post about buying into the company line about our starters being the group that should not be broken up at any cost. Baumgarner??? WS hero? We need some new bats and trading Jackson or Mark would be smart to get the right bat. I disagree Mark has no trade value. I just don't see that being the case. He'd have to be dealt to one of the teams with money though. Yankees, Boston, Mets don't want him?? Yankees continue to throw a lot of aging ragarms out there. Well that limits his tradeability then, doesn't it? For all intents and purposes, Mark Buehrle is a league average pitcher who is going to be due $14 million next year. If the White Sox want to trade him, they will either trade him for nothing, or they will take on someone else's bad contract.

That nickname works

QUOTE (Fantl916 @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 02:24 AM) Just for fun... Move #1: Buerhle + Morel for Rasmus and Penny - Buerhle's contract is nulled by the fact that we take one of their worst contracts in Penny, and with Buerhle St Louis would still have 6 starters without penny (wainwright, carpenter, garcia, suppan, and lohse). Morel would have some value for the Cards as another potential young piece at 3b, letting him battle it out with Freese. This would give us a nice LH OF whom is young and talented. hefty price to pay but one that should be worth it. Buehrle has virtually no trade value, not with the season he is coming off and due $14 mill next year. He's more attractive than Barry Zito...that's about as far as I'll go. On top of that, Brad Penny is a free agent. If the Sox were to acquire a mediocre starter from the Cardinals, it would be Kyle Lohse. Lohse is worse than Buehrle and has another year on top of his current contract. The Cardinals can also go with David Freese at 3B, or any other number of cheap alternatives, and really have no reason to deal Rasmus considering he has stated that he has mended fences with LaRussa. If Buehrle can get $14 mill a year, Danks can get atleast that too, and probably more. Danks signing a 6 year, $90 million deal really isn't unfathomable, especially considering that his worst injuries have been blisters. Konerko is probably going to cost $12 mill a year again, over 2-3 years. Garcia pitched himself to atleast one more solid payday, probably around $5-7 mill. Offering Pierzynski arbitration guarantees him around $7 million, and with the Type A status attached to his name, that makes him far less attractive on the free agent market and even likelier to resign with the White Sox, especially considering that Pierzynski doesn't have any (known) bad blood with the White Sox organization like Orlando Cabrera did. Even though the Mariners may want to get out of the Figgins contract, they aren't going to take junk for him. Jenks is going to end up getting around $8 mill next year if he were to be offered arbitration (he won't be), so Seattle wouldn't see any short-term savings. Lillibridge, as fun as he is, is a terrible player who has no trade value. Santeliz is a fringe prospect. Seattle would keep him, even if they hated him, as opposed to getting an $8 million setup man, a utility player, and a minor league arm. That is very gross. Texas did it because they have about 50 million arms in the minor league system, wanted to get him pitching at the MLB level, and could afford to do it, especially when they had a solid rotation. Sale needs to be in the minors next year stretching out his arm, because he is going to be a starting pitcher in 2012 and could make some starts in 2011. The Sox have about $88 million tied up with about 14 players next year, and that doesn't include the $20 or so that would be due to Jenks and Konerko, nor the $7 mill due to Pierzynski. Resigning Vizquel bumps that up to about $90 mill between 15. Swapping Lohse for Buehrle is a loss of $3, leaving them at $87; swapping Jenks and junk for Figgins is a gain of $1, but is also unaccounted for initially; that puts the Sox at $97. Add in the $12 you have to Konerko, the $6 for Garcia (to be a freaking mopup reliever), and the $7 for Pierzynski, and you were looking at about a 25% increase in payroll up to $122 million guaranteed to about 17-18 players. Add in the additional raises to other players the Sox currently have, and that total is closer to $125 million, and perhaps closer to $130 depending on how much Danks would make in that extension. That's not exactly a slight increase, is it? and I'm still not sure that team wins the division, especially with that bullpen.

Even though FanGraphs said he wasn't worth the money last year, it's pretty much a straight up guarantee that Vizquel is going to be worth everything you pay for him. He still gets it done defensively, he's OK with the bat, and he provides excellent leadership. Honestly, with the amount of hits that Vizquel takes away, I really don't think it's a bad thing. I also think he will be here to ease Morel into the 3B position instead of putting everything on his shoulders right away.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Nov 2, 2010 -> 09:48 PM) What do you think Alexei's arbitration numbers are going to look like? Depends on the season he has next year, but if it's similar, I would guess around $4-5 mill. The next year he will be due about $6-7 mill, and then beyond that he's a free agent. That's what makes Escobar all the more likely to be traded. Ramirez is the closest infielder the Sox have to being a free agent, and he's 3 years away. That is a time where dealing from a position of strength absolutely makes sense. Assuming Williams finds someone who values Escobar, I don't think there is any chance he is in the White Sox organization next year.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Nov 2, 2010 -> 01:13 AM) 2 yrs/21 M, player 3rd yr option for $8M Baseball contracts are hardly ever weighted less at the end (most that are are long term deals, like ARod's), and an option never would be. That contract simply isn't feasible.

Favorite mustaches, in commemoration of No-shave November

The state of Texas is now 1-8 all time in World Series games.