caulfield12

Being a fan of Iowa is similar to being a fan of the White Sox... Whenever things are going really well, the bottom seems to fall out. This happened two years ago, although at that time fans probably believed with Aaron White and Marble on the roster that that particular squad was superior to this year's. Uthoff is the only player who has a future NBA career on the roster right now. Oh, well. The runs in football and basketball were nice while they lasted. After starting out 9-3 and losing to Iowa State (granted, we were up 20 in Ames), Dayton and ND (two more pretty good teams), most Iowa fans were expecting to barely eke out a tourney appearance and more likely the NIT. Just goes to show how much momentum, confidence and only having two consistent scorers in Uthoff and Jok can allow opponents to game plan and adjust. Iowa could find their 3 point range and smothering defense again, but it feels like it will be hard to reverse this trend. 2-3 weeks ago, McCaffrey was National Coach of the Year. Now we're in danger of finishing behind Wisconsin and Ohio State. And it's not like we're getting blown out, we had OSU and Wisconsin both down 6 late but couldn't close. There haven't been any terrible losses, other than at Penn State, but the collective psyche of the fanbase is a bit of a mess right now. They've gone from getting #1 votes for the first time since 1986-87 and a Big Ten championship to also-ran status, seems they just couldn't handle the pressure of expectations.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Feb 28, 2016 -> 02:39 PM) Desmond or the 27th pick, Latos, and Rollins... Pretty even but I think I'd side with the route we ended up taking and still have faith that we'll be adding another OF bat vi trade. Who do we realistically have to trade outside our top three that will net an impact bat? Sure, there are obviously many Jay Bruce, Carlos Gonzalez and Ethier types out there...and problem is they all bump the payroll up $12-18 million. About the only real 3-4 war "younger" impact bat on the market was the Marlins' Ozuna...and that acquisition isn't going to come from Tier B/C prospects cobbled together.

QUOTE (venom4789 @ Feb 28, 2016 -> 02:28 PM) So how have the last few players worked out for us that we got from the nationals. Plus its only a one year contract, you lose a pick and are hoping he can adjust to a new league and new position. Appears i am in the minority but i am glad we didnt offer the one year deal to him. We should only trade for DBacks' players because of Eaton and Quentin, by that argument. The other factor is the need for that superutility type of player who can fill in all over the place like a Zobrist. It's hard to say Rollins/Saladino, Garcia and LaRoche are all foolproof plans for the coming season at those three positions, and Lawrie has been injury-prone as well. If the Sox are so tight with finances, sell it to the fans as only a $6 million impact on finances, saving that $2 million and more than likely getting it back again next year. Overall, I'd still take Desmond over the combination of Latos and Rollins because we just don't know how Latos' knee is going to hold up. If someone could guarantee 25+ starts from Latos at a sub 4.75 ERA, then my argument starts to become much more debatable.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Feb 28, 2016 -> 02:18 PM) Yes but spending money on free agents and losing draft picks is one of the primary causes of the poor farm system. If you truly want a good farm system then you don't want them to sign free agents. Except it's a little bit late for that philosophy change after addressing quite a few of the issues on the major league roster...and also not having the position player depth (other than Anderson) to realistically fill those remaining holes over the next two seasons. At that time, we'll have to fill even more holes without buying free agents at the highest prices and/or running into budget limitations.

http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/texas-rang...s-josh-hamilton For what it's worth, Desmond will play LF for the Rangers. That configuration for the Sox probably pushes Cabrera to RF and Garcia off the field. The last paragraph is the key point. Fowler and Desmond will be playing with renewed determination to secure a big payday after missing out this year. How will Avi respond? From another perspective, the real cost of Desmond is only $6 million because they're saving $2 million on the draft pick and are 100% in win now mode with the Angels leaving an opening by whiffing on the offseason.

Ian Desmond > Injured Latos, last legs Rollins We'll find out soon enough who was right. And, yet another AL team has improved their positioning. We have the injury-prone nature of Josh Hamilton to thank for this one. Not too late for Jackson, but since he just turned down $5-6 million and Boras is his agent...

Alex Rios is still available...Brian Anderson or Mackowiak? ErstUd?

QUOTE (LDF @ Feb 28, 2016 -> 08:16 AM) this is a great question. i never in favor of signing any of the top 4 elite fa's. i wanted or hoped that the sox could have use or max the money they would have spent, to fix this team. i believe i have stated this several times before,i also hope that the sox would spend to the limit of 140-150, with the idea of 28+ mil coming off the books at the end of the yr. now the acct part of the owners budget is or will be done by the experts that they hire, accountants. i had a hard time approving the idea of signing fowlers, but if the price was right, go for it. the idea was to improve this team. while at the same time let the farm improve as well. this would have been a steep price b/c of the comp pick and the yrs it would to make him happy. now part of this is hindsight, i thought something like 12-15 yrs for 3 yrs, and opt clause after 2yr. i am also adamant on blowing thru the int'l signing and get as many prospects in the system for future use. the sox needs backup players for players with the idea of "what happen if they do not develop as hope" now i use the reason of the horrible managing by the FO that got the sox in this state, esp in the draft picks. remember the draft picks are prospects and up to several yrs ago, this farm is vacant on elite prospects. back to your question, i really like a jack as the final piece, i also would sign sminon-sp. those are the only 2 left that i would love to be on the team. so far hahn as done a great job of fixing this team, all i am saying is finish the job. They're not going to add both Simon and Latos, but there is definitely an argument for Parra as well as Denard Span and of course Jackson still...none of those three came with draft pick compensation attached.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Feb 28, 2016 -> 08:08 AM) Pods, Contreras and Vizcaino weren't second or third tier free agent signings for what it's worth. Contreras was, in the sense that we felt he was vastly undervalued...received a significant financial subsidy over a multi-year commitment and sold high on Loiaza as well. It worked exactly like a second tier signing for a first-tier talent. Pods was coming off a disappointing sophomore season and they simply wanted to dump Lee's salary and redistribute it over multiple players. Or you could just argue Politte and Contreras came from the scrap heap...since Cashman dumped him largely because of the Red Sox owning him in some key head to head match-ups in 2003 and 2004.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 27, 2016 -> 10:06 PM) The Clintons have it made. As you pointed out they have the black vote. Just like Barack had it, she's got it as much or perhaps even more. Bernie's beaten and once it's Hillary vs. Donald, Donald is gonna get smoked. I wonder if his ego will be able to handle a very very difficult task vs. Hillary. Is Donald in it for when the going gets tough? I know I constantly express my disdain for Hillary. Seriously though, could her advisers tell her to work on her delivery? Screaming into the mic is very annoying to me at least. http://www.salon.com/2016/02/25/im_not_a_s...ina_fundraiser/ You will enjoy this at least...

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Feb 28, 2016 -> 12:36 AM) Second or third tier free agents: Jermaine Dye AJ Pierzynski Tadahito Iguchi Orlando Hernandez trash heap: Bobby Jenks You forgot Pods, Hermanson, Contreras, Vizcaino, etc. F. Garcia is the only one we really paid a seemingly "high" price at the time of acquisition...and Politte was yet another scrap heap deal. The problem is we've gone eight years without that combined amount of success that we had over those 18 months.

If the White Sox finish in 3rd place with between 81-84 wins and the team makes a $5-15 million profit, would that be considered a success? Or would it come down to disappointment with being told we have/had "VW resources" and can't afford to add that final player or two? Good thing KW didn't compare us to a Buick, Pontiac or Oldsmobile. I guess there are lots of different definitions of throwing money around...whether it's Cabrera, LaRoche and Dunn, or Bonifacio/Keppinger on the low side. Deliberately spending crazy money on Cespedes for one year wasn't a reasonable expectation for most fans coming into the offseason. Taking advantage of a buyer's market, especially to kill two birds with one throw, undoubtedly was...although the counterargument is that many didn't expect 3b, SS, catcher, 2b and the rotation depth to all be addressed. It's mostly frustration with, for now, stopping one player short when that one player theoretically improves offensive and defensive production in RF and offensive production at DH.

Maybe you will find out soon enough. Zobrist is no spring chicken. Baez might end up getting more playing time than anyone expects. Can he perform on a team expected to run away with the World Series? Can Soler? Can Schwarber keep from getting injured shuffling between left and catcher? How long before Arrieta breaks down? Can Lackey and Lester stay healthy in their mid 30's? Can they rely on Kendricks for another season?

Rodriguez was one of the first of the twitter crowd pushing Cespedes to the Sox rumors two months ago...

The Belle deal was unique and one of the biggest in baseball at the time...and it actually worked that one time to the team's favor. We'll see twenty years later if they're willing to give them out. It seems there's little interest in doing so for players on three year or less contracts with qualifying offers attached. We also don't know exactly what Cespedes was offered...if the Sox ever made a one year offer.

One wonders if Haley actually accepted VP spot under Trump if she would be forgiven by establishment faithful...whether they would try to influence her to turn it down? Or would she still be seen as a "good soldier" for trying to help Rubio in SC?

Duquette was outspoken about never giving opt-outs. I guess that can end up as another Sox "line in the sand" that makes it seem they're in on players and making legitimate offers when realistically the new market will leave the Sox and Orioles behind...unless they give out insane long-term deals like the Chris Davis one. One wonders why Casey Close even bothered, being as smart as he is, although obviously it ended up pushing the Cubs to finally make an offer.

Wonder why we didn't at least consider Span...three years for him must have been too much. Then again, no pick attached. I guess we should have an outfield tracker with all their results at the beginning of the season. Cespedes Gordon Upton Fowler Span Jackson Coghlan Parra Bruce Ethier Crawford Puig Reddick Guyer Rajai Davis Saunders Alex Rios Victorino Travis Snider B. Gardner Desmond Jennings Ian Desmond Trayce Thompson Van Slyke Guerrero Hernandez Marisnick Carlos Gomez Tucker Carlos Gonzalez Dickerson Blackmon

What would we have to give up for Michael Saunders?

Two year plan is going to be just as popular three year window...and it's quite consistent with recent offers to Fowler and likely Jackson as well.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Feb 26, 2016 -> 11:42 AM) Exactly. 1 Anderson 2 Fulmer 3 2016 1st pick (#10) 4 Adams 5 2016 supp. pick (#27) Why would you trade your #5 prospect for one year of Dexter Fowler? You wouldn't. Which is why Hahn, a sane man, didn't. Yeah, but if he was in a deeper farm system, he might not even be Top Ten. The fact of the matter is looking at that long list, there aren't many high impact MLB careers. Of course, one area we can't easily prove is whether another player signed somewhere else in the draft because of the overall amount of money available.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles...#nt=oft03a-1la1 http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles...5-42-story.html

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Feb 25, 2016 -> 06:22 PM) Ya, once again we can all make excuses why this team still hasn't signed an outfielder. Every outfielder ever just wanted to stay with their current team, Upton would have been an overpay but the fact remains that Avi is still a starting outfielder on this team. If they really wanted all of these guys they should have been able to land one of them and if they actually want Garcia as our starting rf then there's more wrong with this organization than I thought. This is the first time I can remember that a team has been able to grab that many guys on discount whether they're the favorites or not. It's not just that they're the favorite, it has a lot to do with the culture that Maddon, Theo and Jed have created. Which makes Zobrist the one clear outlier/overpay. Guess they thought it was worth it with his comfort level with Maddon and the trust to take care of him with playing time at this point in his career...veteran leadership/clubhouse presence...positional versatility, etc. You'd have to think though, with Zobrist originally being from the area and the possibility of returning to the Royals not a realistic one (they prioritized Gordon), that the Cubs wouldn't have had to give him so much money. Does anyone know the closest bid? It happened so quickly there wasn't much information out there on the process with him.

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Feb 25, 2016 -> 08:12 PM) If you are trying to take an employee from a competitor you don't offer them the same salary they can get where they already are. This is, unless they're complete unhappy where they are and might even be willing to take a salary cut to change their environment. But yeah, coming off a productive season, the point still stands.

Well, right now, there's arguably two guys in Stephens and Hickman that a lot of scouts are very high on. Of course, the same types of things were said about Beck when he was drafted, that he was once viewed as fairly high first round draft pick. At any rate, with Danish/Guerrero and then Stephens and eventually Hickman pushing up...that helps to rebalance the system pretty quick if any of those four guys along with Adams can make it.