caulfield12

My first reaction was "meh" and I certainly won't be surprised in the game threads when he becomes known as Scott Downs 2.0. He's definitely not KW's pick, since he doesn't throw the ball through a brick wall.

CQ just sold his house in California. Surely he's the next big "value" addition to the off-season...just because it's going to drive Dick Allen crazy when they bring in a bat like Butler, Rasmus, Morse or anyone NOT named Victor Martinez for $8-12 million per season over 2-3 years. Frankly, if Zach Duke's getting this kind of money, I can't imagine what we're going to have to pay for a 3/4 middle-of-the-rotation starter.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 10:46 AM) And he throws 100. As I stated, there is a chance this guy might be great, a better chance he may be OK, but probably about as valuable as a lottery ticket with incorrect numbers. Yordano Ventura signed with the Kansas City Royals as an international free agent in 2008, receiving a $28,000 signing bonus. That was a pretty valuable ticket. Two clutch World Series wins already on his resume. Of course, Colt Griffin also had a 100 MPH fastball and a HUGE signing bonus with KC and he's disappeared completely except in scouts' reminiscences with the emergence of the Kolek brothers in Texas.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 10:38 AM) I have no idea why that would be relevant, but this is a guy the A's gave up for one month of Adam Dunn. The odds are overwhelming that he never plays for the White Sox. To say he is anywhere near Bassitt who has pitched for the White Sox is laughable at this point. Well, Montas hasn't pitched for the White Sox either, and every GM in baseball would take him over Bassit. He was essentially just a "lottery ticket" at the time of the Peavy trade, along with Rondon and Wendelken. To say that ANYONE expected him to be knocking on the door of the Top 100 MLB prospects a year ago would be laughable as well.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 09:59 AM) Yes, the White Sox liked that he wore a baseball uniform and the A's were willing to trade him for Adam Dunn. I get that he's an intriguing prospect, but only like 50% of first round picks make it to the majors and 2nd rounders are less likely than that. The fact that the A's were so willing to give him up throws up some red flags for me. They did give up on Neal Cotts. That worked out pretty well.

Are they trying to control the rights to every single Cuban middle infielder? I suppose it's possible that it's Danks and Ramirez for Kemp + prospects, but not one of their top 3. Maybe they'll throw in one of their 3 Cubans (Arrubuena or Guerrero) who has the best chance to stick at SS long-term.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...1117-story.html Cubs shouldn't be forced by Maddon's "playoff expectations" to overpay for free agents this offseason...spin on not getting Russell Martin, Heyward, etc.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 09:34 AM) Well I think that's ridiculous, but I will let you believe what you want to believe. Nolan Sanburn has yet to pitch in AA while Chris Bassitt has pitched in the majors with some success and pitched extremely well in the AFL. Considering that, you really still believe that Nolan Sanburn has as good a shot as Chris Bassitt? 1st and 2nd round draft picks have a much higher likelihood of making the majors. Obviously the White Sox liked something about him. Before this season, Bassit wasn't even on a Top 10 list for one of the bottom five ranked minor league organizations. He's made a LOT of progress in the 2nd half of this year, but I'd still consider him being a significant long-term contributor to the Sox a sort of winning lottery ticket in the same way Hector Santiago, Quintana, Humber and Noesi have been. I'll put it this way. We've done fairly well when acquiring minor league arms from other teams, much better than most. That means something.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 08:52 AM) He has about as much value as a Mega Ball ticket. It's possible he is worth a lot, even more possible he is worth a little, but highly likely, worthless. I'll say he has just as good a shot as Bassit. If Bassit's a "mega ball" ticket, I think we're more likely to hit on one of these two guys than Micker Adolfo. Nolan Sanburn, rhp Age: 22 An Athletics second-round pick in 2012, Sanburn had the potential to be one of the organization’s best pitching prospects, but he wasn’t healthy enough to show much since turning pro. He moved back to the bullpen this season after working as a starter in 2012 and part of 2013. A reliever at Arkansas, Sanburn signed as a draft-eligible sophomore in 2012 and has pitched just 120 in three seasons. When healthy, he has an electric fastball at 93-94 mph and can touch 96 with riding life. His curveball also shows impressive depth while coming in hard in the high 70s. www.baseballamerica.com

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 09:06 AM) To me, Ethier seems like a LH version of Alex Rios. And you can argue Rios has more value defensively. It's scary, but I'd almost rather have Alex at $9-10 million for two years than Ethier. The problem is that Rios only hit 4 homers last year and that's such a significant drop-off in his mid 30's you don't know when he'll go all 2013 Konerko on you. Same thing with Torii Hunter, who's significantly older.

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ber...40d078a914.html Two takes from StL Post Dispatch columnists.... http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/jef...30abc61fe3.html Seems they will hold on to Piscotty and Grichuk (platoon partner for Jay and Heyward)...with Bourjos on the way out. Don't know if Piscotty can hit for enough power and Grichuk for a high enough average. Comps to Wainright/JD Drew deal back in the day. Cardinals apparently weren't interested in any of the FA outfield options.

Forgot Sanburn from the Dunn trade...he's going to get a long look in spring as well if his stuff is close to as electric as some of the scouting reports. (Of course, how many times have we heard that about relievers we've acquired, only to be disappointed?)

Well, considering the Dodgers want Kershaw, Greinke, Ryu, Haren and Scherzer to be their rotation, anything's possible. They don't need Danks, though. They DO need to clear Kemp's salary, because clearly he has the most value of the three names we keep mentioning.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 08:28 AM) In another thread, i've suggested trying to acquire Ethier, for nothing more than picking up his salary. Putting aside the feasibility of such a scenario, whom would you rather have; Melky Cabrera on a 4 year deal, at the numbers you guys have suggested, or Ethier for 3 years, and $56 Million, taking into account that Cabrera would cost a draft pick. Neither, but with a gun to my head I'd choose Cabrera's offensive upside. Ethier's just not worth that money as a platoon player whose best defensive days are behind him...and who might have already started a downward career spiral. Finally, taking veteran players from the NL always scares me....at least Melky knows the AL and has excelled in one of the toughest divisions in baseball.

Depends on whether you think Howard will outproduce Butler's 2014 and whether Hunter will outproduce Dyson/Aoki. Definitely more of a "veteran" feel like the Tigers have with those two names added.

http://chicago.curbed.com/archives/2014/11...foreclosure.php Rooftop owners $36 million in debt, being foreclosed on by 5th Third Bank

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 11:46 PM) Hammels is $110 million. Teams will give $20 mill easy to save their prospects. I'm trying to figure out who exactly which team pay Scherzer what Boras wants. It's "only" $96 million guaranteed, including a $6 million buyout of his final year. $22.5 million for the next four years=$90 million 2015-2018 Then a $6 million buyout if they don't want to pay his salary ($20 million) in 2019. So when you start talking about a $130-180 million commitment to Scherzer/Lester vs. $96 million, there's still a pretty significant difference.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 12:35 AM) Good point. Its likely Hamel's goes nowhere until Scherzer, Lester and Shields are off the market. Why give 3 or four prospects when you can sign a free agent and give up only one draft pick? As for Scherzer. I have no clue as to who will go 6+ years and 150+M for him. The Yanks have already said no, the Dodgers are trimming payroll, I doubt the Tigers have the money though I could be wrong, maybe Boston? I think its possible Scherzer may have to lower his demands. If they can clear 2 of 3 (Kemp, Ethier, Crawford) off their payroll, then they're definitely in play for Scherzer. Maybe JUST Kemp.

Royals might get Hunter for RF and Ryan Howard (with a huge subsidy) for DH. That would give them an almost perfectly balanced line-up. LH Gordon Moustakas Hosmer Howard RH Cain Infante Perez Escobar Hunter

QUOTE (Benchwarmerjim @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 11:16 PM) Thats a lot of money to a player who has gotten a lot of concussions. Must be frustrating to see Morneau had the kind of season he had for Colorado (finally), but there's no way they could keep paying him with those expectations (performing at near MVP level like five or six years ago). On a personal level, I'm sure fans are happy for him and his family. You just never know how fragile the balance health-wise is until you've witnessed the situations with Stanton, Dravecky, Ray Fosse, Conigliaro, Morneau, Puckett, Heyward, F. Vina, etc. Or Steve Sax, Mackey Sasser, Knoblauch, Pedro Alvarez and Rick Ankiel psychologically being blocked from doing a simple repetitive physical act they've executed hundreds of thousands of times.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 11:28 PM) The problem Philly has is Lester and Scherzer. Why give up players when you don't have to? Because Hamels isn't coming with a $125-175 million price tag and huge long-term commitment that will make nearly every team uncomfortable on its backend with the ages/wear and tear on those two guys (multiple playoff runs to extend their seasons) and the spate of TJ surgeries. Strictly for teams in "win now" mode like the Royals two offseasons ago when they dealt Myers and Odorizzi for Shields and Davis.

Bowden did speculate about Miller, CarGo and Heyward moving.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 08:24 PM) Age 27 season in 2014 : PA 246 AB 212 HR 11 BA .297 OBP .386 SJG .524 OPS . 910 Bats RH (OK so he's not LH) OPS+ 157 Slightly above avg. defense in RF Average defense in CF. You could comfortably play Van Slyke in LF or RF, and back-up/occasional CF. The problem is that adding a Snider, Lambo, Bourjos or Van Slyke isn't going to do much other than upgrading the bench over Jordan Danks. They could be platoon pieces, but one would HOPE Hahn/KW/JR are shooting higher than that.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 08:18 PM) I was with ya on the Lonely/ Reddick idea. I mentioned Lonely once and basically got laughed at, lol. I liked Reddick a few years ago when he was in Boston too. I really think the Sox and Jays could be a match. The Jays are looking for an outfielder and the Sox are looking for a catcher. Viciedo for Navarro fills holes both teams have and their salaries are pretty close too so the Jays would be able to spend money elsewhere. Navarro is a much cheaper option than say, Montero, which allows the Sox plenty of money to be spent elsewhere. Its a good fit. Loney is Lonely in TB these days?

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 02:16 PM) The cubs proclamations of being the best fans in baseball is not that far off and the cubs, when playing well, draw incredibly on the road as do the Bears and Hawks. Really is sad the Sox can not get into this attraction with Chicago sports fans. I thought he meant that about Cardinals fans becoming too irritating to tolerate, although still better than preferring the Cubs to the Cards, presumably.