caulfield12

You have to be able to put up a 750-775 ops or be a LH platoon bat/DH with exaggerated splits against opposite side to be a useful piece. Viciedo and Avi have a lot in common, other than Avi having much better acceleration after the first 2-3 steps. Both big outfield arms, but erratic/inconsistent. Lots of flashes, but no consistency. It feels like scouts just fell in love with Avi's foot speed (for that size) but forgot about the defensive routes, baserunning foibles and couldn't believe someone that size could put up lesser XB power numbers than Adam Eaton.

Good post. Success breeds/attracts more success. Excitement/energy/hunger is a good thing. Bringing in more Latin American prospects like Moncada, Lopez, Diaz and Basabe will make it just a bit easier to bring in other kids from those same areas/regions (see our Cuban success). We talk about the Sox not being the most attractive free agent destination, but that's counterbalanced by money and the fact that "open competition" for a lot of positions in the organization in the next couple of seasons will bring the cream of the crop to the top, especially in terms of the young pitching prospects all competing with each other.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 13, 2016 -> 09:18 AM) I can't find anything recent on what his current support levels are, but I'd be interested to see if he generally has the backing of the people still. My understanding from a Filipino customer I was working with this fall is that there's a lot of class and ethnic/regional divides within the Philippines. 65-75% roughly...for now. And the Philippines is 90% Catholic, which makes extra judicial killings all the more startling.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Dec 13, 2016 -> 04:39 PM) As I recall, the Sox lost out on Cabrera because they wouldn't take Dontrell Willis. That was one part of it, but we also didn't have a combo of a LHP pitcher and CF as highly regarded as Miller and Maybin at the time of the trade, either.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/12/opinions/tru...nley/index.html When Russian appeasement under Trump blows up, we should refer back to this naive opinion piece.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/common-core-an-u...-210400098.html You couldn't make up this stuff if you actually tried. Tillerson blasts Texas for not adopting Common Core and handicapping Exxon in its ability to find suitable workers in the future. Leading Texas for much of that time in the Federal/national standards battle...of course, Rick Perry. I'm pretty sure even wearing the glasses isn't going to fool anyone.

Yes, we have enough alternative sources for talent with our remaining MLB roster (trade bait) and the next two June drafts. Go for it.

You need Paul...McCain...Lindsey Graham, etc. to cross over. DeVos wants to wipe out the Dept. of Education and was for, now against Common Core. EPA head wants to dismantle that. Dr. Ben Carson doesn't believe in public housing/assistance but is HUD's leader. Perry now. It's almost laughable. The only thing tolerable about this whole fiasco is the stock market run-up, but that won't be sustainable if the Fed keeps raising interest rates. Of course, Trump will probably jawbone that back down too despite complaining numerous times about the "easy money" policy under Obama.

Only 5,900 killed since July, but who's counting? But still pales in comparison to Pol Pot.

See 2013 and 2014. Also hit the DL in 2012. http://thebaseballcube.com/players/profile...&Page=Tranx If you think Eaton's going to be one of the most durable players (especially playing CF instead of RF), I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell to anyone interested. Predicting his style of play will likely lead to an injury at some point in the near future isn't exactly earth-shattering analysis. It's one of the many reasons Hahn sold him before the season started.

http://therightscoop.com/beholden-to-no-on...-goldman-sachs/ One wonders if one of the Chinese "concessions" in theoretical future trade negotiations will be Bank of China forgiving a $650 million property loan? Is he really that brazen? If he gets it in his head he can cost companies millions or billion in market value with a 140 character tweet, god knows what else is possible when he actually is president.

QUOTE (Con te Giolito @ Dec 13, 2016 -> 12:15 AM) Correlation/causation and all that, but the Sox fell off the face of the earth after they DFA'd him. TWTW is off the charts. But we could make the same argument/s about Latos and Rollins, even though Anderson put up better numbers. Easier to blame it on the infamous Rangers disaster on May 6th.

The argument always made was that almost none of our prospects came back to bite us. The problem with that line of argument is that it led to a continual erosion of depth, to the point where we never had the right pieces after that 1998-2001 cycle to get someone like Miguel Cabrera via trade. We were always on the short end. The one exception was Reed/Morse/Olivo for Freddy Garcia. But the big trades, such as Todd Ritchie, Javy Vazquez, Nick Swisher, Edwin Jackson...we almost always seemed to come out on the losing end, one way or the other. Not to mention the targeting of "second tier" players like Keppinger, Teahen or Bonifacio, where it was hoped they could provide more than they were actually capable of producing on paper. Williams always excelled in the "under the radar" deals for guys like Loaiza, Contrera, Jenks, Santos, Alexei Ramirez, Bochard/Thornton, Carlos Quentin for Carter, Gavin Floyd, DeAza, finally Quintana. Finding all those guys, unfortunately, was JUST ENOUGH to keep the White Sox competitive, and kept us drafting 12-18 instead of high in the first round or late (with a playoff appearance).

Just that the odds of Eaton's body holding up until 2019-2021 are 50/50 at best. His borderline reckless type of game just leaves too many possibilities for injuries. We saw it already with Rowand and how quickly he broke down in his 30's. Shane Victorino, another example, although not as close as Aaron. He's a lot more multi-dimensional than Pods as well, because of his arm and RF defense...once Pods lost his stolen base aggressiveness, he lost 50% of his value. And Eaton's had a lot more pop to his game than most expected, simply looking at him physically. That said, when he got "homer happy," it took him away from his infield hit/BB OBP mode, which arguably was even more valuable to disrupting the opposition.

Let's not forget Hickman from University of Iowa/Chicago Public...he has a lot of potential/ability too, if he can get past the injuries. At one point, he was looked at as a 2nd-3rd round draft pick, with some even looking at him as a late first rounder.

So, off the top of my head, we have Linebrink, Greg Walker/Scott Fletcher, AJ, Tyler Flowers, Bonifacio, Beckham, Danks all going to ATL after the Sox...who else?

But does Bregman really improve the team's future outlook? How? For this to work, you need to get TWO 3-4+ war players out of a trade (and obviously Moncada has the potential to put up bigger numbers than that)...you can't make 1/1 trades like the examples of Urias, Turner and Bregman and come out on top. It's a numbers game, quality/quantity. For every breakout star you get, you're going to have 10 Gordon Beckham's. Q is consistently putting up those WAR numbers. Imagine if you'd traded him for the likes of Carlos Quentin (after 2008), Puig after 2013, or Abreu after 2014. You'd be kicking yourself. And those are all players who put up MVP type numbers at the major league level, not unproven prospects. The ONLY way this would start to make some sense is if Bregman was going to be a Lindor or Seager level of impact player at SS. But can anyone state this with 100% confidence? Based on?

It feels like we're almost too fixated on the Astros, at the moment. Better to take a step back and take a deep breath. While the Sox have lost some of their "bluffing" leverage (we REALLY need Q to compete this year), they still don't have to trade him, in the sense that finances are close to an issue for the organization. We also know the pieces that come back in June/July are likely to be ones who won't or aren't impacting the major league roster in the heat of a pennant drive. Ideally, we'd be finding pieces that will give us the look/s of the 2014-15 Cubs where everyone in baseball could project what was coming...that gives us back some leverage in the broadcasting rights deal negotiations, which are still arguably even more important than the trade return for Quintana/Jones/Frazier/Robertson.

He's not going to end up in CF in all likelihood as he fills out...from the one game I saw him in person, he's definitely impressive and has the swagger of a first round draft pick, but that can erode very quickly in AA. Probably better off holding out for THE #1 piece in a deal they're targeting, unless that happens to really be Tucker despite his ETA and they can also jam Reed into the deal...so their scouts would have to make that determination. Early season injuries (or spring training) or trade deadline pressures will also provide the Sox leverage. Of course, he could get hurt in the WBC if you hold onto him, too.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Dec 12, 2016 -> 09:17 AM) Duffy is a flyball pitcher that gives up a lot of hard contact and saw his velocity decline this year as the season went on. It might actually be smart for the Royals to sell high on him. If his strikeout improvement doesn't hold he'll likely not be worth the price the Astros would need to get him. Quintana just makes too much sense. Pony up. Because he started the season as a reliever and then had to ramp up in the first six weeks. He went 155 ip (2014) to 145 in 2015 to almost 180 last season. Fatigue. He'll be fine, but KC won't give him away since he's their best starting pitcher right now. But yeah...KC plays much bigger than Minute Maid or whatever that stadium is called these days.

The link to Victor Diaz is wrong, too. Interesting to hear the names of the "brain trust" listed out in terms of all those actually diagnosing and discussing the videos. Do we have that kind of brain trust on the hitting side? Who are the Hasler and Richard 280ZX Dotson on the position players like Moncada and Basabe? What does Jeremy Haber do? Fabian's name came up...just curious about Haber's role, currently. Hostetler didn't address Spencer Adams when his name was brought up...was that more because Hostetler chose to rave about Stephens instead or is there something else there? Btw, Tumminia has a really cool non profit project related to teaching kids in poor countries about the game (supported by JR and MLB scouts)...pretty sure they've gone to Central America/Honduras, Kenya, India and China on mission trips, for lack of a better description. His daughter was a minor league GM and is married to former GM of the Red Sox Ben Cherington. Interesting sports-driven family.

https://www.yahoo.com/tv/partial-list-winne...-011954352.html Golden Globe nominations...

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/china-flies-nucle...&yptr=yahoo Can a president-elect declare war on Twitter before he's even been sworn in? Can't wait to see how Trump responds to being called a child. http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/12/politics/chi...tion/index.html

QUOTE (greg775 @ Dec 11, 2016 -> 11:41 PM) Cmon. I am an American. I wouldn't vote for Trump, but now that he's in, I hope my wallet expands. I mean I don't think it will; he probably will be a disaster, but I can hope. I'm not rooting for his failure, that's for sure. It's kind of rude of you to suggest I'd move to Russia. I am an American through and through. I love our military and love this country. Yes I despise Hillary. I'm human and she rubs me the wrong way. Sorry I don't follow all issues. The election is over. Forgive me for taking a break from politics. Yes I despise Hillary. Yes I think Trump is evil one percenter. Yes I love Bernie. So shoot me. Haven't watched much political stuff at all since the election was over. Not following all the headlines regarding Trump/Hillary/Bernie. I showed Obama respect. I even voted for him and I'm Republican. Rather than look up Duterte to respond I'll continue to tell you I haven't studied this issue. If he's a brutal dictator no I don't like him. If Trump invited him here ... I told you I don't like Trump. If he invites a dictator who kills people to the USA, perhaps we should try to impeach Trump. No killer should be invited here. Look I responded to the guy who said "crooked Donnie" cause I thought I almost got banned for saying Crooked Hilly. But I guess I was almost banned for just being generally a dick not that one post. I wouldn't mind if Trump got impeached, even if the electoral college refuses to put him in. I'd take McCain as a compromise pick. I don't know how that works, who gets voted in if the electoral college refuses to put in Trump. I'd assume it's not Hillary by law. Pence would become president, then Paul Ryan would be next in the line of succession. You can't just choose someone else.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/11/opinions/tru...nney/index.html Guest article written by Republican Congresswoman Tenney about Trump's possible China policies