caulfield12

Yeah, pretty surprising "modern day" Chicago baseball writers are still referencing total error totals after the infamous Valentin/Clayton debates of 15 years ago. Back then, much of the argument was about total chances and non-errors when runners were safe because of the way Clayton fielded or (usually) threw the ball with little on it.

In all fairness, Alexei Ramirez was compared to utility guys like Ramon Santiago coming out of Cuba. So he and Abreu are two huge reasons that Cuban market is now overscouted and analyzed compared to ten years ago. And no doubt there has been a lot of high expectations for guys like Viciedo, Rusney Castillo, Alex Guerrero and Tomas who haven't delivered...at least not as projected.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 08:23 PM) And Juan Gonzalez even had a history of being that good. It's hard to know, but maybe his body started breaking down much earlier due to steroid use...? Of course, typically players are able to extend their careers, but a lot of them started juicing in their late 20s or early 30s. At any rate, it's not a coincidence that Ruben Sierra, Gonzalez and Sosa all came out of the Rangers' organization in that same generation of players.

So we're supposed to believe they only offered four years to Gordon primarily due to the White Sox? What evidence is there to support that? After all, KC gave $20 million more than any team in the majors was willing to bid on Ian Kennedy, and they gave him five years, so why would it be a surprise their own homegrown player who they're even more familiar with ended up with four? Heck, Ben Zobrist is 3-4 years older and still received four guaranteed years from the Cubs. Can one argue the whole plan for the offseason after mid December was just to raise years and total FA dollars for other teams? Sounds like a strategy of sorts, except the Indians and Twins aren't spending and the Tigers especially can outbid everyone when they choose to do so. And, in the end, the Royals will be terrible in 2018 and 2019 whether they have Gordon or not.

Was it the Orioles or Nats trying to defer a significant part of that salary on the back-end for Cespedes?

Not getting how now we're retroactively saying the talent to begin last season was so bad and that we're also simultaneously well more than one more player away from contending. Can't be both. Pick a lane and stay with it. With all the parity in the AL, muddling through is not going to get it done. Waiting for the obvious rebuilding teams or Astros/Dodgers to make trades in July is also riskier because more mid-market teams are willing to take two month financial risks and/or have the talent in the minors to part with (let's say the Twins go out and rent a stud starter to put them over the top). If we're in a situation where we can add 2-3 war quite affordably NOW and that's still not enough after all the moves we made, why start down that road in the first place? So we can argue for another 2-3 months that White Sox fans are more responsible than the front office for this state of affairs? Are there are any AL teams that we couldn't imagine strongly contending by adding Desmond/Fowler/Gallardo (two of the three, based on need)? In our division, with two teams 100% going for it over the next two seasons and two more teams with better farm systems and the ability to be patient one more year (especially Minnesota), this plan is just pretty dubious. I guess if it's a similar situation to anyone, it's probably Cleveland. The primary difference is we have 25-30% more budget leeway than the Indians because our ability to generate revenue is that much higher due to the Chicago media market. Once again, though, being in the middle and 500ish is not the place to be...where it still feels like constant rebuilding (rather than contending consistently) without admitting that semantic fact openly.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 08:47 AM) They don't need Ethier. The Dodgers also have Thompson, Van Slyke, and Hernandez out there. One of them has to go. I wonder what the asking price for Puig is. Would you trust those three if you're Friedman? Probably more than Avi, but how likely are the Dodgers to subsidize his salary and create a parallel hole at the same time? Better to eat even more of Crawford's deal, probably.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 08:14 AM) I was hoping they'd trade Soler and bring back Fowler. Soler is the x factor for them in my opinion, as he has the potential to become a dominant offensive force for them in the 6 spot. They might be better off with him hitting 7th ahead of Russell and after Montero. Take all the pressure off and let him relax.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 08:11 AM) I really think they should just go back to the Dodgers about an Ethier trade and platoon him with Avi. Even that would be a big upgrade for this team. The Dodgers need him as insurance for Puig, Pederson and Crawford. He was their best all-around outfielder the second half of the season. Plus, he's very expensive...and aging. Too much to pay for a platoon bat.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles...213-column.html Basically, the Orioles are/were in the same situation the White Sox are in...although the key difference is they have the best record in the AL over the past four years. By bringing back Davis, Wieters, O'Day and now looking to add two more big pieces in addition to Trumbo and Kim...they're also sending a huge signal to Machado in terms of signing him to a huge extension. Payroll for the O's would be around $150 million, pretty close to where the White Sox would have been adding Fowler and Desmond.

https://www.yahoo.com/politics/if-trump-win...2603880502.html How Christie might have inadvertently cost the GOP both the 2012 and 2016 elections...

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 07:29 AM) The only silver lining I can find with this is that he isn't going back to the Cubs, thus making them weaker. Unless Soler puts it all together with a one year reprieve...or Baez steps into Soler's spot and lights it up. On paper, Fowler's the more reliable/predictable option but Soler hitting 7th with little or no pressure might help him to relax. Not to mention the Cubs would have more financial flexibility at the trade deadline. Just depends on Heyward and how well he can handle CF with two defensive liabilities flanking him.

There are going to be lots of roster moves the final two weeks of spring training...and Desmond and Jackson are still out there unsigned, to name two. Austin Jackson being the most obvious choice.

As the Angels already learned...

The other thing that sucks is while Baltimore's not in the Central, a lot of experts were picking them 4th or 5th in the AL East even with Chris Davis. Basically, the competition just got even more fierce for the wild card spots. Other than Oakland, Minnesota (maybe), the Rays (maybe), Angels and Mariners, it's quite difficult to find the bottom team in the AL. It's amazing that it very could well be LA despite having the best player in baseball and only being $20-25 million away from the luxury tax threshold.

Sure, if we went all out like the Braves or brought in a player with the upside of Moncada...

I really can't believe the Rockies are adding veterans with the main goal being to compete this year? (Didn't work so well for the Padres, for example.) Just accumulating assets to trade them off doesn't make sense if they have legit prospects in the high minors. I get McGee, but Parra and potentially Desmond are a bit riskier unless the price is just too much of a bargain to pass up.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Feb 17, 2016 -> 01:50 PM) Divert some of that bloated military budget to this. How many times over has the US outspent the world in military spending and for how many years? What Republican other than Rand Paul would sign off on that after all the Obama criticism for softness and not projecting power around the globe effectively? Not enough bombing runs in Syria, etc. I suppose Trump will make some proclamation our enemies will pay for the increases, or we'll use the seized oil assets. Still, more likely to see military budget increases, if anything.

How many schools offer Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, Portuguese, etc.? I learned Spanish, and that's quite practical inside the US and abroad, but there needs to be a serious rethinking of what languages will be the most important in the future...not the world of 1945. As far as getting rid of liberal arts courses, being able to communicate effectively verbally (and written) is still a critical tool for future success. Where will that foundation come from, especially with courses like history and debate also fading?

And then you have the Fulmer is a reliever, Adams' velocity was down camps. I guess there are also Guerrero and Stephens, but you would hardly say the system is loaded with future MLB-caliber starters. Let's just hope we can get one breakout performance to add another guy into the mix at high A or Birmingham.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Feb 17, 2016 -> 11:17 AM) I think Latos ends up the Sox #3 starter to break up the lefties. I'm thinking we'll see an opening day rotation of Sale, Q, Latos, Rodon, Danks. I admit that I'm optimistic Latos will be healthy to start the season and Cooper will be helpful to Latos. Latos has some nasty stuff and I think a pitching coach like Cooper is the kind of coach a guy like Latos needs to get back on track. Plus, the Sox are good at keeping players healthy. As for Jackson, his CF defense would be a huge improvement. Even if the Sox stuck with Eaton in CF, Jackson's glove in RF is light years better than Avi's. Samardzija? Liriano? Paulino? Let's not be too optimistic until we see where he's at physically. Fwiw, pretty sad we're arguing about guys like Shuck, Sands and Raburn after all the excitement beginning in December.

QUOTE (LDF @ Feb 17, 2016 -> 09:48 AM) good question, i say no, i think they have one eye on the golden ring, but the other eye on the salary and team salary. Not with the way they also spent on Zobrist, Lackey and carrying Hammel on the roster as well. They did succeed in shedding Castro's salary at least.

Guess we'll never know. Probably, because raiding Lackey and Heyward from the Cardinals was like a double-win at least in the present. Presumably they really would have been forced to trade Soler or Baez if they had both guys.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Feb 17, 2016 -> 07:20 AM) I agree that some form of financial planning/responsibility class as well as other real life prep classes should be offered (if not mandatory) in high school. I do disagree with cutting things like language. As someone who's lived and traveled through Europe, it's kind of embarrassing that Americans are so culturally ignorant and inept compared to most Europeans, who often speak 2, 3 or even more languages. As for the JSF program and any other military program, well I don't think people realize how many people these programs keep employed. My company will supply around $20M of product in support of this program this year. But we're not supplying it to Lockheed Martin. We're supplying it to an integrator, who will then go to another subcontractor who then supplies to Lockheed Martin. At the other end, we will need to buy a sizable amount of product to help us from our own contractors this year. The military budget funds so many jobs. I don't think people comprehend that. I know I didn't before I worked in the military aerospace industry. When even one large government contract gets cancelled or program gets de-funded, the result is thousands of lost jobs. And usually good paying jobs at that. Do you mean more than it is currently? College is already offered to veterans for free. I'd support something similar for Americorps type organizations, but I don't know what making these mandatory for any sort of financial at all would accomplish. Just the idea of doing some form of service for your country instead of expecting something to be given to you...building character and citizenship simultaneously. Another argument is practical experience in the real world before learning theory in college would be quite helpful for many.

Yep, at Nate Silver's site, where they were also debating the merits of the Angels trading Trout. As far as the Dodgers go, all that spending hasn't won them a World Series, nor the Mariners, Angels, Tigers, etc. The Red Sox, for three of four years now, have been a complete disaster. If the Cubs do win, hopefully the lesson won't be spending on Heyward, Lackey and Zobrist rather than a wide swath of trades breaking their way for 3-4 years.