caulfield12

How are they planning to spend the money on international free agents if there's a clear cap? Solely on Cuban players (Abreu)? Another Cuban? Japanese or Korean? It's a bit misleading to act like we're suddenly going to be targeting the likes of Tanaka...I guess it just means we're actually going to start spending the maximum on Dominican players for a change (and we've already done that this year).

QUOTE (Jake @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 01:17 PM) LOL, as our resident adult ADHD'er, I can confirm that there is no such thing as ADD class. Some people do hire ADHD "coaches" to consult with, but we're usually getting "coached" on things like arranging a daily schedule, how to remember to do basic things like brush our teeth and feed our pets, etc. IF De Aza had ADHD, the only thing that would help him on the field is medication. With that said, I highly doubt that that is the problem and as you said, to diagnose it over the TV is ridiculous. He was a fairly conscientious player in 2012 and came off as simply a tad aggressive rather than airheaded. I think he came unprepared last year and continued to lose focus (focus in the sense of motivation) as the year dragged on. It's nice that his problems aren't physical, but sometimes you can't fix dumb. You can never fix a lack of talent, though. Will be interesting to see what he does this year. Would be even more interesting to know what the FO thinks about him right now. I can see it now. 2014, The Will To Be Conscientious (TWTBC) ot TWITBAC, we can combine twitter and being conscientious. I'm sure Hawk will find a way to measure it...

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 11:52 AM) While all of your proposals are inherently silly, my favorite is ADD classes. Is there such a thing? Can you diagnose a mental health issue from watching a guy play baseball? I wonder what happened from '11-'12 to '13 that made ADA get an attention deficit disorder... Perhaps this type of thing is contagious Greg? Maybe our own '13 draft pick Nick Blount can pass over some of his amphetamines to De Aza now that he got busted? What do you think Greg? I'm assuming he was being facetious, since there's no such thing literally as an ADD/ADHD class. We saw it a lot in the inner city schools, where the solution was just to overmedicate and give all those so-called "crack babies" Ritalin to turn them into zombies except they weren't the "fast zombies" of World War Z. They moved about as fast as Konerko or a Molina brother. Therefore, I don't think we need to start prescribing drugs to DeAza, Viciedo or Ramirez.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 01:07 PM) Per Buster Olney, the Yankees have made a qualifying offer to Granderson And they pretty much have to keep Cano as well if they want to have enough offense next year.

AL Ranks in runs scored and ERA from 2003-2011 2003 RS 8 ERA 4 =-4 2004 RS 3 ERA 12 =+9 2005 RS 9 ERA 3 =-6 2006 RS 3 ERA 10 =+7 2007 RS 14 ERA 10 =-4 2008 RS 5 ERA 6 =+1 2009 RS 12 ERA 2 =-10 2010 RS 7 ERA 8 =+1 2011 RS 11 ERA 6 =-5 AVG 8th/14 6.8/14 =minus 11 If you average WHIP and ERA, it brings the average down to about 6.3 out of 14 teams So basically, the difference isn't nearly as large as those WAR numbers would indicate between the hitting and pitching.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 12:33 PM) You judge him by major league success as a whole and as evident by this thread, it has been pretty damn good Although if you simply lined up AL Runs Scored and ERA or WHIP during those years, it would be a lot closer than it appears. The main point is that playing 81 home games at USCF, you have to get at least average offensive production...it won't matter how good your pitching staff is.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 08:35 AM) #23 in C WAR - 13.1 #22 in 1B WAR - 13.8 #29 in 2B WAR - 6.4 #14 in SS WAR - 21.3 #30 in 3B WAR - 1.5 #28 in LF WAR - 8.6 #30 in CF WAR - 17.7 #28 in RF WAR - 16.9 What would those rankings be if you screened it for 2004-2008? The craziest thing of all is that we had more outfield prospects such as Rowand, Borchard, then Chris Young/Anderson/Reed/Webster, then in the last couple of years, we invested all that time and effort into signing developing Mitchell/Thompson/Walker/Hawkins and finally Jacobs with almost nothing to show for all our efforts after Rowand. So it's a bit ironic that he failed in the two positions Kenny Williams himself failed at the most in his two positions at the major league level, CF and 3B (57 games in 1988). One thing those numbers do is make me appreciate Juan Uribe even more. And Jim Thome. Then there's the disappointment with Gordon Beckham and the inability of Teahen or Viciedo to play 3B.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 08:24 AM) I find it silly when people complain about Bush's vacations or Obama's golfing. It's the 21st century, I'm sure the President is in constant contact with all important people. At a moment's notice, he can jump into a plane and fly to DC or wherever be needed. It's not like Bush is out on a ranch where the closest contact is a post office 5 miles away via horseback. Let them have a little time to relax their mind, I'm sure the job is a 24-hour s***show. It's like all the people complaining about C. Rice being on the FBS selection committee or ripping Obama for filling out NCAA brackets. Everyone needs hobbies or ways to relax. For Bush, it was his ranch and hunting/hiking/pretending to look busy and like an everyman. For Obama, it's basketball, smoking and watching sports on television. The Clintons, for example, were consumed by watching movies in the White House theatre, Bill in particular.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 11:35 AM) Really? You dont know? Im being serious too, Im actually quite surprised you didnt know he had season ending shoulder surgery I didn't pay attention to the team after the trading deadline...except what the Garcia's and Viciedo were doing. Couldn't take it anymore.

Wait a second. What happened to Flowers' shoulder? Was that an "all season long" lingering issue or has he had surgery? I just knew he was having back problems and/or conditioning issues in terms of playing 5-6 times per week at the beginning of the season. If that's the case, sigh, they probably should give him one last chance, because spending money on Salty or AJ doesn't make any sense where we are right now.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 11:12 AM) Bad teams are lose games - that's why they're bad teams. More telling is the 7-21 record in blowouts. This team needs a lot of work before they can become competitive. Beyond that, they really weren't unexpectedly bad in 1 run games. They went 24-36. Even if you reverse those and say that they get really lucky, instead of really unlucky, they are 36-24 and win 75 games. Is that a team you believe is close to winning? More likely would be that they'd finish near .500 in 1 run games and that their record in those is closer to 30-30...do you believe they are close to being competitive at 69 wins? Right now, they are mediocre to weak offensively at C, 2B, 3B, SS, LF, CF, RF, and DH. Some of those could improve, but counting on any sort of vast improvement is asking for too much. This team could be competitive. Counting on it and making moves as if it was competitive last year is wrong. Granderson is not a guy the Sox should have a lot of interest in. And even scarier that your "certainty" in those projections is at 1B, which might end up being the most uncertain position of all in terms of knowing what to expect from a rookie who has never set foot on a diamond in a major league uniform.

QUOTE (Frank_Thomas35 @ Nov 3, 2013 -> 11:55 PM) Not very sure of his prediction but says Sox will sign the 15th overall FA, Salty. 15. Jarrod Saltalamacchia - White Sox. Salty had the best overall year of any free agent catcher, and he won't turn 29 until May. He's a switch-hitter with good power. Drawbacks include a poor line against southpaws and lots of strikeouts. Saltalamacchia was benched by the Red Sox in the World Series in favor of David Ross. If Salty fell out of favor enough to avoid a qualifying offer, it will be to his advantage in the marketplace and could allow him to top my predicted four-year, $36MM deal. I don't love the White Sox prediction, so other possibilities include the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rangers, Phillies, and, to think outside the box, the Angels and Marlins. Other interesting predictions: - Choo to DET - Grandy to NYM - AJP to NYY - Tanaka to LAD - C. Young to Cubs - J. Johnson to K.C. Link to check out the rest: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/11/2014...dictions-1.html So the Dodgers are going to have a rotation of Kershaw, Greinke, Ryu, Tanaka and Josh Beckett?

Of course, the last couple years have not been so kind. You have Danks, Floyd, Peavy, Septimo, Bruney...not that Brian was a major contributor, Omogrosso also, that article was kind of a jinx...with the overall health of the team suffering, including Konerko, Dunn, Viciedo, Beckham, Flowers, etc.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Nov 3, 2013 -> 06:50 PM) Yes! I think a nice surprise can really rejuvenate this fan base. Viciedo, Abreu and Ramirez recruit Yuliesky Gourriel to come and play 2B/3B and eventually replace Alexei when he leaves. That would be a good one.

They need to find another version of CoCo Crisp...except who fits that description this offseason?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 3, 2013 -> 01:52 PM) Who murdered those poor people? Did he get off on technicalities or ? I'm sure he was completely exonerated by RNA/DNA evidence or the example wouldn't have been chosen to support the position.

Likewise, Ausmus operates on Epstein's level intellectually in a way Sveum didn't. A Dartmouth graduate who caught 1,938 major league games, Ausmus assembled a data base of opposing hitters on his home computer as a player. His favorite book is "A Schopenhauerian Critique of Nietzsche's Thought'' — written by his father, Harry, a retired professor of European history. Ausmus, 44, became known for a sense of humor every Cubs manager needs. When Ausmus, who is Jewish, sat out on Yom Kippur in 2001, he explained he was "trying to atone for my poor first half." Joe Torre thought so highly of Ausmus that he let him manage the Dodgers for one game at the end of the 2009 season. Still, Ausmus lacks experience Epstein said he preferred and represents a riskier hire for a rebuilding team such as Cubs than he would for a winning team on autopilot like the Tigers. If I were ranking candidates for Epstein, Ausmus would fall behind the smartest choice, Lovullo, and Renteria. Maybe losing him to the Tigers isn't so bad. Haugh, chicagotribune.com We need to start a thread with a book discussion, haha. Also, hadn't realized Torre let Ausmus manage the Dodgers, kind of like the White Sox allow Cooper to manage at the end of 2011.

If the Cardinals hadn't won in both 2006 and 2011, they undoubtedly would have been a bit more willing or open to trade for Ramirez. StL is typically thinking more long-term than short-term, the antithesis of the KW philosophy. It was just way too much pressure on Wacha to expect him to be perfect in the post-season. Kelly's probably not even going to be in their rotation in 2014. From the time that Ortiz rescued the Red Sox with that 6-5 win over the Tigers, it seemed like it was their trophy to take.

The issue for the Cardinals was the young talent more than Ramirez's contract. You could probably say 80% talent surrendered, 20% financial concerns. It's not like they were going to go out and spend Ellsbury or even Choo money for CF or RF. It's not their operating procedure. They believe they're fine with Tavares and Allen Craig for CF and RF.

QUOTE (Jake @ Nov 3, 2013 -> 12:35 PM) The Sox are in a much better place next year. We have many more real MLB players on our team. Their bullpen and our bullpen are completely different. Ours has several young, established players that have experience in high leverage situations along with several more really talented guys. Don't pat them on the back for trading Soriano, they're paying literally almost all of his salary. That was stupid. What relievers do we have for the 5th-6th-7th innings? Are you really convinced that Lindstrom's a good option? Will the real Nate Jones stand up? Is Addison Reed any better than Santos from 2011? The save percentages for the closer from 11/12/13 are pretty similar, low 80%'s. Decent, but hardly irreplaceable. If you're counting Webb as young and established, but I don't think you are... And we have massive issues from the LH side right now.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Nov 3, 2013 -> 11:46 AM) There are numerous ways the Sox can go about this rebuilding and that's a big point in their favor. I think we'll find out which way they are going by what they do with Quintana and/or Santiago. 1) Trade Santiago/Quintana/Johnson/Rienzo (depending on how Hahn and Cooper feel about the chances for the latter two) 2) Trade Ramirez (if they can get a useful piece back) 3) Trade DeAza (if they can get a useful piece back) 4) Trade Addison Reed (if they can get a useful piece back) 5) Trade Beckham or Dunn (if they can get a useful piece back at midseason) Plus, there's always the possibility they sign Josh Johnson, Dan Haren, Phil Hughes or Edinson Volquez to a one year contract and flip them at the ASB.

They obviously weren't willing to part with Wacha, Martinez, Kelly or Shelby Miller....and/or Wong. Or Taveras, etc. Or Adams. Or Lynn. You can argue after the fact with how the Cardinals' offense performed in the post-season that they could have used every little advantage they could get, but it still might not have been enough. Let's face it, if they get much anything out of Jay, Freese, Kozma/Descalso and Craig, they're sitting pretty. Alexei really could have made a difference, but I have a hard time imagining Mozeliak feels he lost the World Series because he didn't make that trade, or the Pirates, for that matter, feeling like they would have advanced past StL.

We could put together a list of all the former HOF players on the Sox. Griffey, Jr. Thome. Vizquel. Seaver. Carlton. Pudge Fisk. Roberto Remember the Alomar. Michael Jordan (BB). Bo Jackson (CFB). Frank Thomas.

Since the Cubs' thread is closed now, and this sort of fits into the Hahn/FA discussion, thought it was worthwhile to include. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...,7811259.column Do you think Haugh's being fair? Other than Edwin Jackson and Ian Stewart, it's not like Epstein has made a ton of obvious mistakes, either. He's gotten rid of all the bad contracts like Marmol, Zambrano and Soriano. Some will take him to task for the bungled Dempster negotiations. Others, for little moves like Ryan Sweeney (his version of Jeff Keppinger, since he's now acquired him twice) that won't inspire the fanbase. It's hard to fault him for dealing Garza if they didn't believe 100% in him going forward. In a lot of ways, the White Sox and Cubs are in similar situations, with the Cubs' being outfront with their minor league system by quite a bit and the Sox with the much better starting pitching depth and better overall talent in the starting line-up with the addition of Abreu now. Lake LF Castro SS Schierholtz RF Rizzo 1B Donnie Murphy 3B Sweeney CF Castillo C Barney 2B That's a pretty terrible line-up. At least they have a catcher, but Darwin Barney is basically a mirror image of Gordon Beckham at 2B, Rizzo is their Viciedo, Castro's a mess and who knows which ND long-haired/golden-locked pitcher will show up to start the season. Some are suggesting Daniel Murphy for LF over Lake. Others want to repair the bullpen (same issue the White Sox currently have, among others) with Logan/Javier Lopez/JP Howell or Scott Downs. The big signings would be Ellsbury/Choo for the OF or Tanaka for the starting rotation. Their back-up options in terms of pitching targets are Phil Hughes and Danny Haren. Others want to bring back Jeff Baker as a utility INF/PH, or Brayan Pena to split time with Castillo. Finally, concerns about Pedro Strop as a future closer suggest the possibility of bringing in someone like Joaquin Benoit as closer. Other than bungling the managerial search so far, do honestly think he should sign any of those seven most expensive players? Who, if you were the Cubs' GM, would you sign to "fix" your team and inspire your fanbase, looking with your golden ball into the future with Bryant at 3B/LF, Soler in LF/RF, Almora in CF, etc. Maybe Olt at 3B, if he ever figures things out again, with Bryant in LF. Are the Cubs in a place where signing an Ellsbury, Choo or Tanaka even makes sense? Don't you have to find an anchor for your starting rotation to build around...or trade for one and trust your scouts?

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Nov 2, 2013 -> 09:43 PM) Garcia>De Aza>Viciedo>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Sizemore.... Lillian is the only one investigating Sizemore...