witesoxfan

QUOTE (ChiliIrishHammock24 @ Oct 11, 2017 -> 11:23 PM) Of this list though, Clay Buchholz, Jamie Garcia, and Drew Storen are my 3 most wanted of the buy-low guys. McGee or Minor would be wise just to use as trade fodder in July. If Clay Buchholz is back up to 92-95, he might be worth a shot. He was barely hitting 90 this year. He's done if that's all he does. Jaime Garcia put up a 2.1 WAR. He's not much of a buy low. He'll probably get like a 2/$26 deal or something along those lines. Drew Storen had Tommy John surgery 2 weeks ago. He's not going to pitch at all in 2018.

This is kind of how I've felt about Garcia after seeing him do it all year. There is a real change in talent there, but I wasn't able to contextualize it until now. He's for real, even if he's not a .330 hitter.

No loud tool but lots of capability. Looks like he could be a solid 4th outfield type or, if he still can handle the infield to some degree, and interesting super utility type.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 6, 2017 -> 04:50 PM) It wasn't me who questioned the guys I mentioned. I was talking about posts on Soxtalk. I've already read some 'concern' about Rutherford, Collins, Lopez and Burger. And of course Fulmer. And Rodon bless his soul is a ? mark now cause of injury. I'm not the one expressing the concern. I'm feeling concern after reading the post or two wondering about those guys. You can worry yourself to death on every possible fault with every prospect or just be happy that the White Sox actually have the best farm system in the majors with actual talent up and down the system. Either works, but one is a hell of a lot easier on the soul.

My only question with Peter is if we buy the increased power in AAA. If it's a function of the park, which has historically been a hitter's park, then I don't think you put much stock into it and he's a singles hitting utility infielder with no discernible skills other than an ability to play multiple positions and hit singles, which lots of guys can do. If you do, then there is value in him as a potential utility player with a little pop off the bench. Whether they protect him or not really doesn't bother me. I see the merits for both sides.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 5, 2017 -> 08:22 AM) Actually, before he goes through the Japanese posting process, the MLB and NPB have to AGREE to a posting process, as the current one expired with the end of our season. This is an underreported component of this story. One of the reporters on a Japanese baseball podcast I follow said that Yomiuri (the newspaper) published some leaked proposals from the MLB, and they all look substantially worse for the NPB than the previous system, which is right on line with the way the trend has gone. The consensus opinion over there seems to be that these proposals are simply not good enough and the NPB should push back, but the podcaster specifically opined that he wasn't sure the NPB has the backbone to do so. But, based on Manfred's public opinions about non-draft eligible new players, if the NPB DID push back much, the MLB seems unlikely to cave, even if it meant there was no system in place for the foreseeable future. If no agreement is in place, the only way Otani (this is the correct spelling, despite the fact that his jersey says 'Ohtani' -- according to a Japanese intern here at work, Japanese baseball takes the correctness of the name on the jersey much less seriously than American baseball, meaning that the players choose whatever they want to be on there, with many choosing first names or even nicknames. Several players have added an 'h' after a stressed 'O' apparently to encourage foreigners to actually pronounce their names correctly. Yos***omo Tsutsugo(h) is another example of a star who adds an 'h.' The correct way to pronounce 'Otani' is with the emphasis on the first syllable \OH-tuh-knee\ as opposed to the way we all seem to want to say it with the emphasis on the second syllable \oh-TAH-knee\) can come to America this offseason is if the Fighters decide to grant him unconditional free agency with no compensation at all. This, obviously seems extremely unlikely to occur, BUT That same podcaster personally believes that the Fighters WOULD grant him free agency, because they are specifically trying to brand themselves as a place for young superstars to choose to play specifically because they can be trusted to be lenient when said superstars want to jump to the MLB. Furthermore, those leaked proposals all call for posting fees to, essentially, equal about 15% of the contract that the player ultimately signs. So, in Otani's case, where the absolute maximum he could earn is something like $8mm, and likely far less, the Fighters don't stand to gain much anyway -- almost certainly less than a million bucks. It's all very interesting. This is a good post.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 4, 2017 -> 05:10 PM) I don't see Collins being anywhere close to a good enough hitter where you're happy with him as a corner OF on this roster, especially not with Jiminez already coming up. When people were talking about Collins as a 30-40 HR hitter that might have made sense, but he wasn't anywhere close to that this season. If he can't come up as a catcher then he needs to hit vastly better than Delmonico, for example. I think he's a much better hitter than he showed this year.

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ Oct 4, 2017 -> 04:35 PM) Bailing the Tigers out of Verlander is the biggest deal to me. I'd've gotten over the failed trade talks, and had once the Sox got Eloy, but then they turned around and gave the Tigers yet another out on yet another huge contract that was supposed to financially cripple them for years to come. Verlander's deal extends through 2020 at the longest, and that's if the vesting option is hit. That wasn't that big of a hit. Cabrera's is the big one. Making $30 million in 2018-2021, and $32 million for 2022-2023. That's another 6 years and $184 million for a guy who was worse than a replacement level player this year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 4, 2017 -> 04:12 PM) Eh, them not wanting to pay up for a trade with the Sox isn't really that big of a deal to me. It actually turned out win/win for both clubs.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 4, 2017 -> 02:09 PM) I have doubts that Collins can play OF even as well as Schwarber. All accounts were that Schwarber was a better athlete than Collins. That's a rough report. It is, but it's why I don't care that he didn't hit well. They have obviously been focusing almost exclusively on his defense and improving it. I don't know how much they can really improve the quick twitch abilities necessary to improve that, but if he can get it consistently in the 1.9s, he should be OK. By all accounts, he is working on correcting his swing plane, he has good power, and has among the best eyes in the entire minors. He'll make it in some manner, and I actually trust the Sox minor league development team to get him to where he needs to be as a catcher. We had these same concerns over Tyler Flowers, and he's among the best defensive catchers in the majors now.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Oct 4, 2017 -> 02:07 PM) Schwarber caught 7 innings at catcher this season, that's far below "now and then". I hope Collins can stick there more than that. I saw something that implied he caught more than that, my bad. Still, if he's a decent hitter and can act as the backup catcher, in a less than ideal scenario, is something I can live with.

If the White Sox lose Cody Asche I quit the rebuild, 0/10

Longenhagen says Burger was struggling with throwing accuracy, but took good at bats and made loud contact. Also said Collins' pop times were well below average, which, 2.05-2.10 seconds, yeah, those are bad. But on the plus side, Collins still takes great at bats. https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/hunter-gree...ctional-league/ I wonder if Collins doesn't become the Sox version of Schwarber, basically just fills in at catcher now and then and ends up either in LF, 1B, DH, or C on any particular night.

Something that hasn't been brought up but is important - Stanton would have to approve any trade that would be agreed upon. He has full no-trade protection. I would also imagine that transfers if/when he is traded too.

QUOTE (Latilleon @ Oct 4, 2017 -> 05:36 AM) How different would the world be if George Bell wasn’t obtained? Sammy Sosa and Manny Alexander are never teammates.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Oct 3, 2017 -> 12:30 PM) Why? Same reason they still have Covey, although Ynoa's velocity was way down this year. If he can get back to 94-97, he's got an arm, and sometimes that's all you need are guys who throw hard to have one stick to the wall. Plus, someone's gotta pitch out of the bullpen in Charlotte.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Oct 3, 2017 -> 04:35 PM) I think a lot of people think his walk rate will dry up in the high minors and MLB. I'm not really so sure. Look at a guy like Narvaez, he's hardly a slugger, and yet he has great strike zone judgement and in general isn't afraid to go deep into counts. It's not like pitchers are afraid to throw him strikes he just has a good eye. We'll see what happens with Collins but if he's a decent defensive catcher just hitting 230/300/400 puts him around 2 WAR. Exactly, and if the pristine walk rate and solid power translate to the majors, he's an incredibly valuable, if unsexy, catcher at the MLB level. He ran an 18.5% BB rate this year. Even with a strikeout rate of 27.4%, that's great plate discipline. I think he's a guy who could explode next year and possibly make his debut if they're comfortable enough with his development behind the plate.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 3, 2017 -> 04:21 PM) I was intrigued by this idea on an Avi swap, but I'm out. This guy could easily turn into an Albert Pujols in his 30s situation. Not that you're wrong to be skeptical, but Pujols didn't really hit a wall until he was 33, which would give the Sox a theoretical 5 years of plus production. Also, until this year, Pujols was still a good hitter, so that would be 8 years of production. And, not that I have any definitive proof, but despite the old player skills, I have a feeling Stanton will age better than that, but that's mere gut feeling.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Oct 3, 2017 -> 04:11 PM) Why not? Not for Giancarlo Stanton. And it's because he's a viable catcher who can hit for power and draw walks. As I said, a slight tweak and he can improve his hitting. If I knew what the tweak was, I wouldn't be here. And if he's hitting .230, he's probably a 2-3 WAR player as long as he isn't absolutely terrible behind the plate, because his power and eye will play at the big league level. Zack Collins is a valuable prospect for the White Sox despite a down season with regards to his batting average.

QUOTE (cjgalloway @ Oct 3, 2017 -> 04:02 PM) No one wanted Fulmer 1 month ago and Collins had a bad year. I think that's fair. Remember I did say I'd like money back too. I think that's about what it would take to land Stanton and I'd be willing to do it for those two. I think Fulmer at BEST CASE SCENARIO is a 7th inning guy. Collins had a bad year but still has some projection so he's harder to peg but his terrible K% is extremely serious since he was supposed to dominate the minors with the bat.. He couldn't even handle A+ ball.. This is a fun topic! I don't think Collins had a bad year by any stretch of the imagination. He's been in the system for one full season, and showed good power and plate discipline. A small tweak here or there and he's a .230 or .250 hitter, and he provides plenty of value to the MLB club as such. Fulmer has been with the Sox for a while now and it seems we know what we have with him, so I understand that. Collins doesn't make any sense.

QUOTE (cjgalloway @ Oct 3, 2017 -> 03:04 PM) I would be willing to do a Fulmer and Collins package ASSUMING they eat some of that money. There is no way in hell I'd even think about trading Collins.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 3, 2017 -> 02:49 PM) All right guys...don't be shy, add a name. Are you willing to give up Robert for him? Rutherford? Someone lower? Gotta elaborate on what you mean by the right price. I wouldn't trade a top 15 prospect for him right now, and if insisted on someone between 16-20, I'd probably only be willing to include another small piece. There is little margin for surplus value within the current construction of the deal, so his value is fairly low right now despite coming off a great season.

To be fair, one of the reasons Stanton missed the end of a year was because he was hit in the face by a 95 MPH fastball. That's not injury prone, that's bad luck. He has been prone to lower body injuries in the past, primarily quads, hamstrings, and groins, which are not good. I would trust the Sox training staff to take care of him. For the right price, I'd absolutely consider it. I believe he has an opt out in 3 or 4 years, and I imagine he'd use that to get one more long-term deal, but maybe not.

QUOTE (ron883 @ Oct 1, 2017 -> 11:04 AM) The Sox have been 26-27 in their last 53 games. Add in Kopech and eloy, and thus team competes for the 2nd wild card next year. That's assuming those two hit the ground running. They wouldn't be the first rookies to struggle out of the gate. I think they'll be much better next year, but I still think they end up around 78-81 wins.

QUOTE (Soha @ Oct 1, 2017 -> 10:56 AM) I thought they did away with giving up your 1st round pick for signing free agents? Did I hear this wrong? And if I'm the Sox, the teardown mode should be over. Whether they wait a year to start building it back up from outside sources (like free agency) is another question. You're right it did, they will now give up a 3rd round pick if they are under the tax threshold, which the Sox will be. My apologies. https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2016/11/30/138...ails-luxury-tax Let 'er rip then!