caulfield12

Aoki might be the best option...unless they go with the worst defense in baseball/anti-Royals approach and stick Morse out there. I'm still hoping for Rasmus but growing skeptical...if two years and $20 million could get it done. The other approach is finding two Keppingers/Holts/Navas/Bonifacios to go with LaRoche/Gillaspie/Viciedo. Zobrist?

Outside of trading half of the farm for Upton, we are a .500 team right now. While I'm pretty sure most would trade Anderson and Montas for a guaranteed playoff appearance, we would still be just one significant injury to a top three starter of being knocked out of contention. Even Melky Cabrera doesn't get us beyond 84-85 wins...assuming the superior version of him was/is sustainable. Rock and a hard place. I'm guessing the feeling is that they need to wait until June or July instead of committing to another $15-25 million now.

See Esteban Loiaza.

QUOTE (ChiSoxJon @ Dec 12, 2014 -> 09:34 PM) Next Move: Shop Danks for some prospects, clears cap, dead weight, and adds prospects to our system to which we just lost a few low level guys, add a veteran OFer, and look around for a young cather Who would be the fourth starter?

The equivalent of Kotsay and A.Jones five years later.

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Dec 12, 2014 -> 08:18 PM) With our current bench situation, and with Hahn acquiring a LFer (FA or trade ) , am I crazy for thinking that if no one offers anything that can help this team, for viciedo, that were better off keeping him as a back up OFer/dh? Because someone invariably will get injured and JR isn't going to sit through 350 Jordan Danks ab's.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Dec 12, 2014 -> 07:25 AM) Dombrowski says that they aren't talking to Scherzer, but I wouldn't be surprised if he returns to Detroit. That's another reason why I want the Sox to sign him. If he joins our rotation, the Sox would be consensus picks to win the Division. If Detroit signs him, they are still the team to beat. The Sox don't have a single big long term, expensive contract. That's the one that would put them over the top. Not according to war projections (see Dave Cameron article).

http://www.blessyouboys.com/2014/12/11/738...2015-al-central Manaea's not the #4 starter for the Royals. It's just impossible to put someone who started important post-season games behind him. With the Royals, it's probably Ventura, Duffy, Vargas, Guthrie and then there are about 5-7 possibilities for 5th starter, among them Manaea, Finnegan and Zimmer (if healthy). The Indians would probably list it Kluber, Salazar or Bauer, THEN Carrasco at this point. Minnesota would be Hughes, Santana, Gibson, May and Millone. No Nolasco...or, at best, he's 5.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 07:50 PM) Well first off, they aren't even remotely close to the same type of player, so putting them on the same projection path is odd to say the least. Second off, you indicated that maybe he was going to attempt the same thing Conor did, not "he won't improve because it is not likely". And that is even more odd when you read it the way you put it. And this is because what Conor did was sacrifice power for average, which i certainly dont see Martinez doing. I dunno man, sometimes your streams of consciousness in these threads are a bit out there. Both players were acquired for next to nothing or garbage. Both players were originally pretty highly-regarded. Both players had career "outlier" years in 2014. Both players are not expected to repeat their 2014 performance in 2015. Maybe it would be better simply to have said both had arguably flukey seasons (for altogether different reasons) and the chances of seeing the same results in 2015 are arguable at best. I was never intending to delve so deeply into the particular reasons for their success, offensive approaches, etc. Just a general statement.

QUOTE (Knuckles @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 11:06 PM) Why on earth would Mariners even want Vicideo? If they don't have enough money to sign Melky and need more power than what they're likely to get with Jones and Ackley in the OF.

LIFE ITSELF (Roger Ebert biopic) was excellent. Lots of cool tidbits for Chicagooans. Halfway through The Maze Runner and liking it more than I thought, compared to The Giver and Insurgent. $325-350 million for the next Bond (Spectre)? Just wow. Sony's taking hits right and left this week. http://insidemovies.ew.com/2014/12/11/gold...minations-2015/ Golden Globe nominations

Rasmus still has the biggest potential to outperform his contract if he's only paid $8-9 million. There's just no way we're bringing back Rios. And Aoki, while solid, is a lesser version of Markakis and similar to DeAza. That's not worth $7 million.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 10, 2014 -> 02:04 PM) There's also margin of error when calculating pythag W-L. Wikipedia says the latest formula has a root-mean-square-error of 3.99. So the pythag W-L might be calculated as 90-72, but you could think of it more as predicting a team record somewhere between 86-76 and 94-68 (this is probably not the 100% accurate way of describing the detailed statistics but it at least gives a 'feel' for how accurate a prediction might be). Trying to say a team over- or under-performed their pythag is tricky enough, and trying to tie it to a single variable like "manager" is just ridiculous. Phil Rogers is not happy. Nor is Ron Gardenhire.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 05:00 PM) Eh? Do any projections have JD Martinez improving on last year? Or Conor? Obviously, the Tigers weren't willing to trust Rajai Davis to repeat his 2014, especially the first 3-4 months. They also weren't able to stomach a defensive black hole in CF manned by the likes of Don Kelly.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 07:24 PM) Not just that, but subtraction of semien and replacement with Johnson as well. Bring back Keppinger! Just think that Micah Johnson and Rodon starting the year with the Sox would be a complete shock.

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 07:17 PM) I remember seeing on now network I think it was, a projected sox lineup for next year and it had danks as a starting ofer, so maybe he was thinking danks and eaton are starters That news would immediately wipe out another 500-1000 season ticket holders on the spot.

So despite the fact that Hahn said since Day 1 they were looking for a LH outfielder (that was the main reason that Tomas was crossed off the list), the signing of LaRoche now forces us back in the other direction? Doesn't make much sense.

Giants? Tigers? Yankees (with Tanaka and Sabathia already onboard, would be a bit of a shocker)? Orioles? Mariners (if they could trade Iwakuma)? Rangers? Padres (all-in crazy spending)?

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 04:43 PM) I believe they've stated publicly that they see Cruz as full-time DH. Could be wrong Hart is gone, right? They still have Logan Morrison? We heard the M's were targeting Melky for LF until he got too expensive. Saunders is gone, along with Kendrys Morales. Jones was their primary CFer down the stretch, but that didn't go very well...too young and inexperienced.

QUOTE (AlSoxfan @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 05:28 PM) I was under the impression that Aoki was a very good defender. What am I missing? He's average to a notch below average. Takes very unorthodox routes but usually gets the job done. Getting older and slowly losing his range, which was never Dyson/Cain-like in the first place.

Or 3 or less ER in at least 7 IP, but that won't happen with the increased focus on the bullpens today around the majors. I'm sure you'd have agents complaining their clients are being forced to pitch "an extra inning" to qualify for a new statistic that would be used in arbitration hearings.

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/12/11/737...e-rumors-grades Marlins (Gordon deal) and Padres (Kemp deal) come under fire....seemed to be slightly positive about Cespedes/Simon being an improvement over Porcello/Suarez Clearly, White Sox hopes of getting Kemp AND a cash subsidy and giving nothing of significance back to the Dodgers simply wasn't in the cards to happen. There's at least a 50/50 chance Grandal ends up being their starter at catcher the next two seasons. On the other hand, the White Sox were in position to throw Tyler Flowers into a deal for Kemp, essentially replacing AJ Ellis.

Can Gose hit? Can JD Martinez do the same thing Gillaspie is attempting or was it a fluke? Will Castellanos take the next step? What happens at SS between Suarez and Iglesias? How long before Victor and Cabrera fall apart? What happened to the "real" Alex Avila...or is this the version they're stuck with? How long before that bullpen completely implodes again? Most importantly, which Verlander are they left with for the remainder of that contract? Can Anibal Sanchez remain healthy? They've traded Smyly/Porcello/Fister, lost Scherzer and replaced that with bigger question marks. Bottom line...still the favorite because the Royals haven't done anything yet other than sign Hochevar and Morales. Dyson in the OF over Aoki's probably a wash at best.

By the end of the year, the 3B rankings might be upside down. Still don't believe the Royals will go into 2015 with Dyson as a full-time starter. We'll see. Suarez isn't going to be easy to dislodge from SS by Iglesias in DET. (Edit: Just woke up here in China and realized he's gone. Big gamble by DET to put all their eggs in the Iglesias basket.) There's no way Hunter plays CF. Impossible. It could be Hicks or Buxton if he's 100%. Willingham was on the Royals at the end of the season.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 12:23 AM) You sound like a real happy guy.. What would be a good move to you? Roy Hobbs