caulfield12

Then the real competition is with Detroit, St. Louis and LAA for Fowler, assuming Upton to Texas.

Mets are offering three years and $60 million to Cespedes. The White Sox would have to offer at least $70-75 to get him to leave NY.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 10:18 AM) I know you love random pulled out of mid air made up percentages, sothat clubhouse convo guy said Vargas has about a .1 % chance of pitching for the Royals this season. They're certainly better off taking the insurance settlement and not pushing him to return at all this season.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 10:12 AM) Garcia was the starter last year, so why does Thompson matter? And Trayce got us what's projected to be the largest positional improvement in baseball. I have no idea what your angle is here. If they weren't going to upgrade the outfield, trading Thompson to a team that doesn't even need him made no sense. Fowler would have been measured against a 1.5 war in terms of upgrade rather than Avi. And, if the improvement's so great (Frazier vs. Saladino), then why are we content with that same player at SS?

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 10:02 AM) Marginal improvement over Avi? It would actually be the biggest improvement in baseball from one former starter to the new one, only topping Frazier. Assuming Garcia was the starter and not Thompson...we can't be so sure about that.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 09:52 AM) The farm system sucks now, everyone knows that. With that said, no idea how that was your response to what I posted Simple, Fowler signing means Samardzija's pick everyone obsessed over last year is sayonara for just a marginal improvement. With Fulmer and Anderson graduating, they'll be back to the 24th-26th farm system again.

Ventura Volquez Kennedy Medlen Young Duffy Jason Vargas (back at midseason from TJ) Zimmer Dillon Gee John Lannan The one thing they do have is some depth now...

Surely the White Sox will announce an extension with Danks in the coming weeks... Actually, he agreed not to take one of Hosmer or Moustakas into free agency in return for Kennnedy.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 09:41 AM) There's going to be quite the meltdown on here if he signs with the Tigers before Sox get Fowler, etc All the feel good stories about the farm system/renewed focus on development would be thrown out the window...

If they had signed Cespedes and Latos for much less than Davis, they would have done their fans an even bigger favor...a real chance to compete in the AL East.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 09:29 AM) The only reason was that the orioles threw him a bone to save face because they wanted davis back. All of the boras tatics of marketing him as a OF and waiting for months got him essentially nothing. In the end, the story will be he got the second best deal for a position player (higher aav even than Heyward despite being three years older) and Ian Kennedy double the contract many felt he would get because of the draft pick compensation attached and 16 homers given up in Petco last year.

http://www.royalsreview.com/2016/1/16/1077...ennedy#comments Royals fans pissed they didnt keep Zobrist or use that money on Latos (no draft pick lost) and another outfielder.

QUOTE (CyAcosta41 @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 09:14 AM) I try to generally avoid paralysis through over-analysis and just keep things simple and REAL (there can be so much clutter and white noise) ... no matter the temporary real or staged stalemate on Davis, no matter the exact payment on the finalized deal and how it compared to the deal that had been on the table for months, that Boras was able to get that deal offered in the first place (on Chris effin Davis), that he and everyone could watch the position player/hitter market move as it did, that there could be no other serious landing spot for Davis, and that anything close to that original deal was still available later is classic Boras in every way. The dude is the evil magician. The lawyer in me loves him; the baseball and Sox fan in me detests him. Amazing that he could pull this off, but now that he's out of the way (just his foul air to still breathe), we'll have pretty quick resolutions on Cespedes, Upton, and Fowler. PS ... And Boras being Boras is why there is no effin doubt that the RH is already working on the best exit strategy for Carlos Rodon after getting a number of strong years out of him when the Sox hold all the cards. There's a reason MLB Network has banned his name being mentioned during draft broadcasts, not that every top 100 prospect and his parents doesn't know Evil Corp anyway.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 08:38 AM) Sure it does. He's going back to a team where the fan base loves him and the team really wants to use him as PR boosts. He is not worrth any of that to anew team. A player switching teams doesn't have the same value for him. It's probably not worth that much but remember the orioles iffered this ci tract long before anyone realized there is no money in the market this offseason. The value of a cobtract is not connected to solely his numbers. Even with Davis, they're still short one bat and Chen to compete in that loaded division. It's the equivalent of the White Sox giving six years/$150 million to Cespedes and nevertheless splitting votes with the Indians for second place in the division pre-season. That said, the White Sox would be in a much better spot to compete than the Orioles.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 09:01 AM) So who are actually legit contenders to sign an OF left now? Tigers, Cardinals, Red Sox (if they dump Castillo), Cubs, Mets, Rangers, Blue Jays (maybe), Yankees if they trade Gardner, Indians have need but probably no more money

Davis is at 12.8 combined war over his last seven seasons at ESPN. Whichever war you care to utilize, that's nuts.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 08:54 AM) Are you actually trying to justify the length of this signing? It may help them in their two year window, but that contract will get ugly before the end of it. Nope, they want him to pitch well and leave after 2017 via the opt out. If they guaranteed that much and there was no incentive to leave or earn even more, it wouldn't make much sense. That said, they'll lose Volquez, Duffy and Davis after 2017 and Medlen/Hochevar after next season.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 08:52 AM) This signing is further proof we need to hold onto our pitching depth and add a bat via free agency. Getting two legit starters out of Johnson, Fulmer, & Adams is key to our long-term success. Yes, and hope they made the right call on Montas. If hitters are basically getting 60-75% of what comparable pitchers are earning, it would be insane not to take advantage of the current window of opportunity.

QUOTE (blackmooncreeping @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 08:49 AM) Holy overpay Not any worse than Leake or Kazmir or Chen.... They only want him for two seasons.

According to Team Sports Marketing, you get significant financial and community goodwill benefits for five full seasons after winning a World Series. Getting there two years in a row, probably closer to seven...especially in a market that went thirty years between playoff appearances and no competition from NBA or NHL.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 07:46 AM) The Royals farm system had better pay off in the near future because they are going to lose a lot of their franchise soon, and this would be a horrible deal. They decided that didn't matter when they gutted it to pick up Cueto and Zobrist without paying either of their salaries last July. I think any organization would be happy with a 3-4 year World Series contention window. As far as depth, with Zimmer, Mondesi, Starling and Ashe Russell, it's about the equivalent of the Sox system...maybe a tad lower because of health issues concerning Zimmer.

Fwiw, Dave Eisland was Kennedy's pitching coach with the Yankees. The Royals are now officially all-in the next two years with the lost draft pick, albeit low first round. Duffy probably moves to the pen with Collins. Royals now looking at $140 million and $155 million payrolls the next two years...strikeout/flyball pitcher works well in that stadium. Making basically the same as Alex Gordon, amazingly.

How can a guy one year older who put up a war last year that beats five out of Davis' last six seasons COMBINED and plays a more important role defensively in terms of outfield assists get close to Mike Leake's deal? Doesn't make sense.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 07:58 AM) He only got 1million per year more. No one pushing the bidding. It was just negotiations and he got nothing. For a guy with two negative wars, a 1.3 and 1.8 in four of his last six big league seasons, i'd call that a huge victory even if the Orioles were only bidding against themselves.

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/chris-d...cespedes-011516 That's just an insane contract...and another massive win for Boras Corp. So much for WAR. That's more than the Heyward deal for an older, basically one-dimensional, three outcome power hitter who has led MLB in homers and K's over the last three seasons (combined). "I'm not just referring to how the Orioles and Davis seem to be at something of an impasse. I'm not just referring to how Davis has to this point been unable to drum up much of a market. It's just, this is going to require a lot of money, and it's hard to know what Davis is going to be. He's as much a boom-or-bust player as you can find: Last year, he hit as well as Jose Bautista; the year before, he hit as well as Jed Lowrie. He's been bad and he's been an MVP candidate, and there's a whole lot of space in between. ... And you wonder what else this might indicate. This isn't something that just happens by accident, so Davis has made intentional adjustments. It's not like he's lacking in bat speed, but all-fields hitters tend to be less exploitable. Pull hitters can be easier to work around, and if Davis is gradually losing his ability to drive the ball with regularity to left and center, that could be the beginning of deterioration."