caulfield12

That's the problem, there aren't any perfect candidates left right now. We spent weeks debating how imperfect Gordon, Cespedes and Upton were, and whether any of them could even be considered "superstars"/impact bats/difference makers, etc. So it's no surprise we can pick apart all of the remaining candidates: Jackson=Boras client, terrible offensive slumps the last two seasons, no clear or obvious reason for decline Bruce=too expensive, defensive liability, strong downward trend offensively Saunders=injury prone Ethier=too expensive, shouldn't play much against lefties, not a great defender but certainly capable Crawford=only in the case of the Dodgers eating almost all of his remaining contract, injury-prone Markakis=too expensive to pay for high OBP with no power and declining defense Victorino=old, injury-prone, could be a quite productive player for the right price but ONLY if healthy Alex Rios=just put here to annoy Greg with the possibility Guyer=Rays rarely trade their "platoon/supersub studs" for anything less than full value and often see declines outside of TB system

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/royals...reds/ar-AAdwrBZ http://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansa...le29118175.html Ben Zobrist made $7.5 million last year, so the Reds paid $2 million and KC $500,000 for the last two months of the season. At any rate, I never said they didn't pick up any money last season, I said that it wasn't picked up for Zobrist and Cueto. If you want to argue about 20% vs. 80%, have at it. If you can find where I expressed this idea in relation to anyone besides those two, have at it. As for Cueto, the Rabbit/Bucket of Suck who writes about their internal issues claimed the money coming from Cincy nearly covered that contract as well. If you want to argue about financial subsidies and "actual" payrolls vs. what's reported, have at it.

QUOTE (shakes @ Feb 23, 2016 -> 01:14 PM) Why do you keep insisting the Sox should sell the team if funds are tight? Their projected opening day payroll is roughly $120 million. That's higher than 20 teams opening payrolls in 2015. Should teams like the Cubs, Mariners, Astros, Royals and Orioles have to sell their teams last year? Because their payrolls a year ago were less than the Sox will be this year. And I'm not sure you understand the Tilting at Windmills idiom. http://wtop.com/sports/2015/12/2015-final-baseball-payrolls/ The White Sox are 16th here at the end of 2015...almost exactly the mode. Part of the reason was not adding anything at the trade deadline or in August. There are another six teams within $10 million or so just below the Sox. You also have the Mets, Pirates and Astros making the playoffs with lower payrolls. Interestingly, that 16th-22nd/23rd spot (3rd quartile) and beyond in payroll has seen only one World Series team in the past 23 years.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 23, 2016 -> 12:13 PM) Because different players make different impacts on teams and the box office. It's a big deal if the Sox sign Cespedes, not so much if they sign Fowler. Take Desmond. I'm sure the Sox wouldn't mind having Ian Desmond on their roster, but apparently not at the cost of a draft pick and the money difference for Jimmy Rollins. I am sure they wouldn't mind having Fowler on their team either, but apparently not at the price he is asking even though they could pay it without the checks bouncing. I think one thing you are missing is there are a lot of teams that could use these guys. But Gordon and Cespedes liked where they were. Upton went to a team that doesn't care how much it costs. No one has signed Fowler. No one has signed Desmond. No one has signed Jackson. How are the White Sox cheap but not the rest of the league? Who have the Yankees signed this offseason? If they don't make a run at Harper, Machado, etc., after the 2018 season...everyone will be shocked. While that's a long window to wait for a player, when you're going to make a $400-500 million investment in a player, you have to plan it out ahead of time and budget accordingly. The Yankees might have gotten the steal of the offseason in Chapman because the charges were dropped, and they also have some pretty nice looking prospects coming up in their system. Finally, I would imagine no team would be all-in with so much riding on the likes of Sabathia, Tanaka, Pineda, etc. They just have to cross their fingers all their veteran hitters like ARod, Beltran, Tex, McCann, Ellsbury, Gardner, don't all crumble at the same time or there won't be much they can do.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--jay-...-055142108.html because of concerns about one the Angels' prospect/s going to the Reds Reds at least one prospect, according to multiple sources. The players, one of the sources said, had been agreed upon and the deal was contingent on a review of medical records. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--jay-...-055142108.html

Saying something like that is pretty out there. If he had said 90 win floor, that would be at least bordering on non-controversial, although some would certainly make cases that with major pitching injuries, defensive problems, sophomore slumps that ending up in the 83-87 win total wouldn't be completely out of the bounds of reality.

As a Democrat, the feeling must be something similar to Republican sentiment regarding the candidacies of Romney, McCain and Dole. Clinton's a very flawed candidate, and it's very hard to get excited about her potential presidency, but she is the very clear favorite right now. https://iemweb.biz.uiowa.edu/quotes/Pres16_quotes.html 65% to 34% odds, "winner take all" at the moment.

Yes, Greensox, in the overall scheme of things, that's true. It's just that we've heard over and over again about them attempting to dump LaRoche to create some "free" money, "three year max contracts," etc. It's also been mentioned repeatedly how those two deals are off the books at the end of the year, so the only REAL issue in terms of immediate payroll concerns is getting through 2016 without losing too much money. (Obviously, for all we know, they could put out a $135 million payroll and still not take a loss...so we're just best guessing it right now.)

Largely because they never have the depth or quality with exceptions like Santos, Reed and Santiagoon the pitching side. We all know the story on the position player side of the ledger.

Sitting behind Brandon Crawford/Panik vs. facing Saladino and the injury possibilities with Lawrie to get time at 2b as well...pretty obvious choice, despite the league change.

Everyone would have us as the favorite with Upton in the outfield. That said, we were the big winners last year at this point, too. More than likely, the 2014-15 offseason and the repercussions of carrying Danks, Cabrera and LaRoche has forced the front office into a more "year by year," risk-averse position. Upton was the one clear "huge" improvement that in hindsight was realistic, but if he wasn't interested, it probably would have been an unmitigated disaster to still try to bring him onboard. Nevertheless, we still have Jackson to argue about, and probably Fowler/Desmond (one of them, at least) in June too...

The other problem with Nate Jones is the harder he throws, the flatter it gets...while it makes the slider more effective with the velocity differential, his fb becomes much more hittable, especially behind in the count.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Feb 22, 2016 -> 05:29 PM) Rollins had a .2 WAR last year. Saladino had a .2 WAR last year. But suddenly the SS hole is filled. But by all means, let's go with the 37 year old, instead of the 2nd year player. He's "proven". Still far better to at least have two options rather than one, Saladino has the best skillset to be a superutility guy (compared to Sanchez)....Saladino will always be the fallback option, and so will Ian Desmond in June if the Sox are getting good results everywhere but SS and have no major injuries. It's also going to test how much Saladino and Sanchez want it...and pushes Leury Garcia one more step from the MLB roster.

QUOTE (shipps @ Feb 22, 2016 -> 05:14 PM) Seeing this might of rattled him a bit maybe its exactly what Anderson needs and not so much just something to light a fire under Saladino. Watching what has previously happened with Semien, Micah, Trayce, Sanchez/Saladino, Erik Johnson, the pressure on Garcia and him getting booed at a fan fest...must give a Sox prospect pause. You'd hope it has a positive effect, and it should for the best players. And, all that said, Anderson's a tremendously talented and quietly confident kid, and hopefully has a career arc more like Rodon than any of those aforementioned names.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Feb 22, 2016 -> 04:51 PM) There were fewer of those as I recall. Either way, Rollins was better than Alexei last year and by all projections is expected to be better this year. It was more shock/surprise we were finally turning the page...and partly the Abreu comfort factor, which is now less important two years in.

Good move. Shane Victorino is in the BSOHL and will be the final piece, haha. What would amaze me is if they don't at least bring in the equivalent amount of competition for Garcia. We found Sanchez/Micah lacking, Trayce is gone, Flowers, Alexei, Beckham finally...Garcia and LaRoche are next. Latos puts some pressure on Johnson and Danks, etc. All things considered, a better team than a year ago, but still at least one player away, in all likelihood. Seems the KW influence with Hahn on the contract side.

QUOTE (southside hitman @ Feb 22, 2016 -> 08:58 AM) Either via trade or just depth for inevitable injuries/under performance, it is always a smart idea to have as many live arms you can. If you look at our options if something happens to our incumbent LOOGY's Jenning/Duke, the Lamb trade makes a lot of sense. As for Kahnle, there just isn't that many humans who can hit the upper 90's consistently. Coop will fix em' Mr. Cleto says hi. There are actually a ton of relievers now consistently hitting 96-98...not nearly so rare as a decade ago.

QUOTE (coco1997 @ Feb 22, 2016 -> 09:24 AM) Why is that? Because he's not even cleared yet to sign and the timetable usually ends up 2-4 months longer than speculated...then he would need a minimum of 6-8 weeks to get his timing. Since he hasn't played a regular schedule of games for nearly a year, it might take even longer. We're talking something like the 16th ranked of the remaining Cubans...so the projection is probably more of a fourth outfielder than an impact player/regular. http://www.baseballamerica.com/internation...north-carolina/ He wouldn't be bad as an option for 2017, but he won't be a savior this season. The elder Gourriel brother is the only true instant impact position player on the market right now. And he's yet to be cleared as well.

Or the Angels...

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 22, 2016 -> 07:19 AM) There is nothing that says he needs it drained again. Andre Dawson probably leads the world in having knees drained, had fluid on his knees almost his entire career, and is in the HOF. While it would be better there wasn't excess fluid in his knee, we have no idea the cause, we have some idea of the severity. He is participating in spring training. As someone who does get fluid from time to time and had my knee drained once, it could be a big deal, it might be nothing. He worked with a physical therapist this offseason strengthening the area. Perhaps they overdid it. But we don't know. Draining the knee isn't the only way to get fluid out of there. And it hurts a lot. Hahn said he hoped the injuries were behind him. If this was a big issue right now, he probably would have mentioned it. Why would it be helpful to lower your negotiating position with another team or free agent until you have to....? I guess the better question is why is the Daily Herald seemingly making a bigger deal out of it than the Trib or Sun-Times?

Okay, he had surgery two years ago, fluid drained last year and needs it again...that's probably not the most positive indicator from a physical standpoint.

Three new Todd Frazier articles appearing almost simultaneously... http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0221-story.html https://www.yahoo.com/sports/news/3b-frazie...45509--mlb.html http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox/todd-f...&ocid=yahoo

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Feb 21, 2016 -> 09:01 PM) There's a reason the Sox got him at the price they did -- his medicals. Fluid in the knee is just a symptom of structural damage and is the body's response to injury so in itself it tells us nothing other than something isn't right in his knee. Now, pitching isn't exactly golf but it's not basketball either. Can they manage the pain and swelling and can he pitch through some soreness and stiffness? Who knows. He probably will be skipping starts left and right so Johnson better be ready. Some would argue golf, with all the torque on the back/hips/knees (see Tiger Woods' body falling apart in his mid 30's)...is getting to be pretty comparable to a pitcher throwing or a batter swinging violently, but your point is well taken. When Contreras went down with his lower body injuries in 2006, he never was the same pitcher again.

Political tradition...although Nevada being added earlier in the schedule was a result of that, at least from the Democratic side, where they wanted a more "inclusive" state with an array of ethnic/minority (Hispanic as well instead of primarily African-American/white) groups that was more comparable with some of those more diverse swing states. And yes, you could make a legitimate argument that the primary season in 2008 stretching out for so long gave the Obama group a huge head start as they contested primaries in many of those later swing states in March/April against Clinton and already had their ground game well organized for the fall.

I think recurring fluid problems related to cartilage (and we have zero idea if 90 cubic centimeters of fluid drained two years ago is particularly significant or not) that are ongoing for two years now aren't completely minor because of 1) his size, 2) the fact that he's seen a decrease in velocity of roughly 1.5 MPH from his prime years with the Reds, although we'd have to look month by month last year at the fangraphs charts, as there were indications of velocity coming back a bit more the 2nd half, 3) the fact that his injury treatments/prognosis and readiness to pitch have caused issues in the past with at least one training staff.