caulfield12

The other thing to consider is deflation or disinflation...with world economies today, we have no way of knowing the future. Had he signed that deal in Japan in 1998, it would be considered simply brilliant.

http://nypost.com/2016/01/16/how-chris-dav...spedes-suitors/ White Sox behind Angels and Tigers, ahead of Cards and Mets but obviously more speculation. "They already upgraded their lineup this winter with trades for Todd Frazier (from Cincinnati) and Brett Lawrie (from Oakland), so they’re in compete mode, and Cespedes would present a significant upgrade over right fielder Avisail Garcia. For now, the Chisox are playing the “We’ll strike if the market drops” card."

Speaking of Mets, Ricketts family making lots of friends in NYC this weekend... http://nypost.com/2016/01/16/cubs-co-owner...ious-mets-fans/

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/i...s-city-rotation. Crasnick's take "For sake of comparison, San Diego’s Petco Park was the 10th-friendliest home run park in the majors last season, while Kauffman Stadium ranked 25th." http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/i...for-ian-kennedy "Since the beginning of the 2010 season, when Kennedy broke into a major league starting rotation, he ranks 14th in the majors in innings pitched. That workload indicates some level of performance, although his Wins Above Replacement during the past six seasons (9.6) ranks 27th among 35 pitchers with at least 1,000 innings. He hasn’t posted a WAR of more than 2.3 in a season since his 21-4, 1.09 WHIP, 3.6 strikeout-to-walk showing of 2011." Fwiw, Keith Law was a huge skeptic of the deal as well. ROYALS PAY STEEP PRICE FOR IAN KENNEDY "There's more downside than upside here for the Royals, and even with the big revenue boost they should receive off their 2015 World Series win, they will have a hard time carrying a contract like this if it goes south and they need to spend more money to fill the same need," Keith Law writes. Analyzing Kennedy, Davis deals (Insider) In the end, it was all about insurance/protection for Medlen, Young and Duffy...

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 17, 2016 -> 08:14 AM) Good grief I can only imagine how badly this thread will blow up if Cespedes signs with another team. We'll be right back to the " JR is cheap" , "who's running the Sox, KW or Hahn?" , " Sox are stupid for not going beyond 3 years" , " team is doomed for eternal suckdom" type of comments. On the other hand, it will be a funny thread to read, so there's that. No more energy left for that... It will be more resignation to the fate of being a White Sox fan. In all seriousness, though, if they don't make anything more than cosmetic changes over the next month...this whole media fixation will have perhaps done more harm than good. Rick Hahn..."It was just an elaborate ruse to light a fire under Avi. Our scouts always believed in him."

More like all these posts to prove or disprove something that might never have been realistic... I suppose if both Cespedes and Upton end up in the AL, someone will argue we raised the contract value enough to damage those franchises n terms of their financial flexibility.

Lamb is excellent but difficult to watch... Beyond the Lights, don't know how it was possible to miss that one.

Greg, it shouldn't require a Leonard Pitts album...we've been saying this for weeks. Cruz or any GOP candidate will lose NY and probably NJ. He knows that...it's political calculation. The point of his criticism (of NY values) is that it will play better in Iowa, NH and South Carolina...but especially for that all-important third primary. Trump used 9/11 wisely to fight back, and one of the best debaters in Harvard history should have anticipated that coming a mile away. Cruz will probably win Iowa, and god knows what will happen in NH. Trump loses all three states, it's going to be impossible to recover, despite all that national polls and surveys that have him leading by10-13 points.

You can guarantee their financial position with no playoffs the next two seasons would make it even more difficult after 2017 to add talent, or next year for that matter...with more dollars chasing even less talent. If the Royals can spend $135-140 million with a regional rights deal that pays them $50 million less per season than the White Sox...and go up another $15 million the following season, they need to figure out some way to increase fan interest and excitement. Dexter Fowler is not it.

Fathom might be right...he might be wrong. The obvious problem is the White Sox are always in this same situation of bringing in almost all of their position players from other teams. Saladino is really the only homegrown (drafted/developed) starting player on the roster (and the one whose position is most tenuous). You constantly lose that huge advantage in terms of assessing your own players since you are naturally much more familiar with them...but the White Sox can't profit from this like other organizations. Therein lies the rub....everything working out perfectly in 2005 is almost impossible to replicate in today's game which places even more emphasis on developing your own core of players and then supplementing with pricey free agents.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball...ticle-1.2406497 That story wasn't reported by Levine. It was everywhere in the NY media. We can do the same with Fowler. "Dexter’s a great kid and he knows that we all feel that way about him. But I think he’s got to get tougher. No doubt. He’s got to show up and play with an edge every day, not just when he thinks he has to. It’s got to be that edge that he brings every day. He’s got to be a passionate competitor in the game. He has to love the game. He’s got to compete because he loves the game and he loves his teammates and he wants to win. It can’t be for anything the game provides. It’s got to be for those reasons." Dan O'Dowd "Rockies manager Walt Weiss is nobody's puppet. This is his baseball team. It will win or lose his way. And that's why Dexter Fowler is no longer in Colorado. After five seasons with the Rockies, it seemed obvious Fowler could not be a centerpiece in a winning franchise. He simply isn't tough enough. Fowler is gone. The Rockies are tougher." Mark Kiszla, Denver Post http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article....articleid=23227 One of the most interesting recent discoveries in sabermetrics is Matt Swartz’s finding that players who stay with the same teams tend to perform better over the long run than those who sign elsewhere. The implication is that organizations know more about their own players than outsiders do, and Luhnow admitted as much when he acknowledged the risk inherent in trading for someone from outside the org. We don’t know exactly what form the longtime team’s information advantage takes, but it seems reasonable to suggest that psychological evaluations are part of the picture. However, we know that not every accusation of a lack of toughness turns out to be on target.

Still surprised they didn't go with Latos. The connection to Dave Eisland from his NY days, the elevated K (9+) and missed bats rate, the outfield size and defense (compared to the SD trainwreck) behind him...those were the 3 main reasons. Still waiting to see how front or backloaded the deal is...will have a lot to do with how long he ends up in KC. Backloaded, more flexibility for additional moves this season and next...frontloaded, much better likelihood he opts out after 2017.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 07:39 PM) http://m.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/m...NSports+Twitter Some very interesting comments in this article about Buck not wanting Cespedes and concerns about his attitude. On the other hand, the White Sox also have a long history of risk-taking on players with more questionable reputations. That's the nature of not having enough talent on the farm, especially position players. Jenks Everett AJ Adam Eaton Javy Swisher Orlando Cabrera Belisario Melky Cabrera Alex Rios DAngelo Jimenez Wil Cordero Albert Belle Jaime Navarro Kenny Lofton Some have worked out wonderfully and others (thinking of Keppinger) have completely blown up in their faces. Almost nobody in baseball had anything bad to say about Adam Dunn or LaRoche as far as being good teammates until their production imploded. Jake Peavy had all the talk and competitiveness in the world but never delivered. Shark was a complete bust. If you have the right coaching staff in place, you can take on more risk, imo...Buck Showalter, Scioscia, LaRussa...they're classic micromanagers who don't have much tolerance for free spirits on their team.

QUOTE (ozzfest @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 06:29 PM) If your biggest FA signings have been Ben Wallace and Carlos Boozer, you suck at your job. Depends how good you are at drafting and development. And, with the salary cap, GM's are often handcuffed financially. If your gold standard is San Antonio, sure. Depends on one's expectations.

At least the Bulls consistently make the playoffs. They're almost like the Atlanta Braves of the NBA Eastern Conference...and Rose's injuries are analagous to the White Sox losing Chris Sale and his effectiveness upon return declining. You can't expect to beat the 2nd best player in NBA history, superteams (Heat w/ James), the Warriors or Spurs without an MVP level Rose. Another way of putting it...being a Bulls' fan now is like being a Cavs fan when the Celtics, then Pistons, then Bulls were so good, although in general the Eastern is a LOT softer than back in those days.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 14, 2016 -> 05:59 PM) You are the one who said Cespedes wouldn't sign with the White Sox, and who would, unless they paid a significant premium. It is easy to understand you. Whatever the current White Sox rumor is, you take the other side. Dexter Fowler would be terrible, wouldn't be able to adjust to the AL, but he made perfect sense for Dayton Moore, who was going to copy KW but only much smarter. Where did I ever say sign Dexter Fowler? Not once. I said the only thing that makes sense is waiting into the season and not surrendering a draft pick. Since most don't believe Desmond or Fowler will get to Opening Day unsigned, that pretty much removes them from consideration...although I'm more on the fence about Desmond because he would be buying low compared to Fowler and is a nice rebound candidate. Still younger. I have said the last two weeks when the rates came down to more reasonable numbers they should go after Cespedes instead of lesser options who won't raise the bar enough. That's the opposite of what? The new philosophy never to give anyone over a three year contract? I thought that was all subterfuge and negotiating tactics, otherwise the only reason to be involved in the first place was some elusive marketing benefit that "at least we were trying."

Yay, Duke sucks again...

QUOTE (Condor13 @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 05:44 PM) Just read on rotoworld that Baltimore is still in on Cespedes if he will sign a short term deal. Just grow a pair and give him a 4 yr contract so the fans will finally enjoy a full season of baseball, not just the first month. We don't even usually get to enjoy the first month recently...just opening day.

Scott Walker was another candidate who seemingly got exposed intellectually...along with Rick Perry. Alan Keyes? Michelle Bachmann? Otoh, you won't find many Dems who believe Newt Gingrich isn't a supersmart guy, just a misguided one. Finally, I'm starting to wonder how Bobby Jindal can be almost as smart as Bill Clinton but almost the polar opposite in terms of political instincts...

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 12:27 PM) Yes, Bernie has a chance. As of right now, he has a real good chance to win Iowa and New Hampshire he absolutely should win, it's his home turf. Winning both of those could provide a boost that carries him through the next few states. However, Hillary also has a strong organization in Iowa and it's incredibly difficult to accurately poll a caucus because the process isn't simple. It's a multiple hour commitment so anyone who has to work that day is excluded and people can talk and be convinced by activists on both sides. If Bernie Sanders wins the first 2 states, he still has an uphill battle because South Carolina and Nevada are up next and neither of those states are nearly as pale white as Iowa and New Hampshire and Bernie's strength is more among white voters. As of right now Hillary still remains a statistical favorite. It's usually 6:30-8:00 or 7:00-8:30 pm. Clinton and her husband alienated a lot of South Carolina voters and the Congressional Black Caucus in 2008. Still tough territory...maybe he can go to his more ambivalent gun stance there.

That's almost what a small market team has to do...maximize the contention window and then bottom out and rebuild with high draft picks for 3-5 years. It makes more sense than trying to spend your way into contention every season.

Tickets, parking and concessions count much closer to 20-25% for the typical team now than the previous 30-40% a decade or so ago. HOW THE CHRIS DAVIS DEAL GOT DONE MASNsports reporter Roch Kubatko says initial discussions were contentious but ultimately no other serious bidder emerged. Espn.com

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 12:17 PM) Hosmer and Moustakas are Boras clients correct? No way they'd be able to re-sign them if that's the case. Yep. Most KC fans feel Hosmer will leave because he will be near to Heyward's age at the time of free agency and that Moustakas has a very slight chance of sticking around and not wanting to be closer to the West Coast.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 10:22 AM) This contract makes literally no f***ing sense. Why not use that $70 million to try to lock up one of their stars (Hosmer, Moustakas, Cain, etc) rather than signing an aging NL pitcher? I don't get it, but more power to them. Cain just signed a two year extension but not into free agency because of his relatively older age. Boras will take both those guys into free agency no matter what...especially Hosmer since he will be Heyward's age.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 10:33 AM) Again you are just making up numbers I guess if the Post and Daily News are just making things up, too. I'm just following the three year nonsense we keep hearing over and over again.