caulfield12

QUOTE (beautox @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 05:17 AM) Go look at what Semien just produced at the same age at the same level as Williams(1990), I'm not the originator of that comp, Matt Garrioch from Minor League ball is. God forbid sox fans dream a little bit about an offensive product from their system. That's fine. But you're talking about an outfielder (CFer) that had 2,336 career hits and is a borderline Hall of Famer because he played for the Yankees. I would love to have a middle infielder who could hit 19 homers per year for 15 years, but I wouldn't be counting on it. The latest position players we've produced from our system....are? Chris Young. Chris Carter, who's really a DH masquerading as a 1B. Gordon Beckham. Brent Morel. Josh Phegley. Chris Getz. We can dream about Viciedo, Davidson, Eaton, Abreu and Garcia. That's enough for me, for now. And hopefully a catcher to get excited about someday, too.

QUOTE (beautox @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 03:05 AM) I think Semien will be an above average defender at the keystone and hopefully he can deliver on his comps of Marcus Giles / Ray Durham / Bernie Williams as a hitter. Eaton and Semien back to back at the top of the order excites me. Bernie Williams? REALLY? C'mon, that guy and Semien don't belong in the same conversation. And this was written by Dan Hayes before the Davidson move...with Davidson, you're going from 26 (Gillaspie) to 23, and Flowers to Phegley 28 to 26. That's something like another .5555, so you'd be around 26.66 as the average age, not counting the possibility of trading Dunn or Ramirez. Then, you add in a Semien/L. Garcia/Sanchez for Beckham, you're very close to having the same average age of team as the Astros coming in 2013. All youth can lead to a long season for a manager. A lack of experience similar to the Houston Astros, whose average non-position player was 25.8 years old in 2013, can lose to 111 losses in a heartbeat. Last season the average age of the players in the White Sox opening day lineup was 30.22 years. That figure slipped by the end of the season after Alex Rios was traded and Keppinger began to see less playing time with Conor Gillaspie, Marcus Semien, Leury Garcia and Avisail Garcia taking over. But the White Sox have managed to get even younger this season. With the additions of Eaton, who will be 25, Avisail Garcia (22), Abreu (27), the White Sox would have an average opening day age of 27.22 assuming Tyler Flowers (28) and Dayan Viciedo (25) get the start.

QUOTE (beautox @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 03:38 AM) If Hahn can get Grandal from the padres that would be huge, Hedges should make it to the show later this year and the projections expect Hundley to produce roughly the same WAR as last season. looking at the padres roster and farm it would appear they need MLReady starting pitching, and a solution at 2B/3B shortly. I think Headley fully intends to test the FA market seeing how thin third base is around baseball. Gyorko can slide over to 3B or remain at second depending on what they do. Their farm has a lot of nice arms and Hedges a few older OF bats in the low minors and Jace Peterson a good looking albeit old for his league SS that should be starting AA this year. I would think the sox would have to offer up something like E & M Johnson or Sanchez, flowers or phegley and maybe someone like Barnum. Or prospects the sox acquire by moving De Aza and Beckham. You can't afford to trade Johnson since he's most likely your #5 starter and seems to have a much higher upside than Rienzo. Flowers or Phegley won't do anything in terms of sparking an interest, and neither will Micah Johnson or Carlos Sanchez. Trading Barnum coming off a disappointing/injury-plagued year would be silly. In the long-term, you still need big LH bats to replace Dunn, and he's one of the best bets, at least in our system (at the moment). If it was Rienzo, and Semien, you could get it done, but that's going to be considered an overpay by most. However, if you made it Rienzo, M. Johnson/Sanchez and prospects acquired from a DeAza deal, you might have a chance, but taking Semien off the board would probably doom that trade.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/16/showbiz/....html?hpt=hp_t3 Critics' Choice Awards Looks like it will come down to 12 Years a Slave, American Hustle and Gravity for Best Picture.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 01:51 AM) I thought Christmas wasn't until the 25th. That would be if they signed Tanaka and somehow traded for a catcher. With three homers in the majors last year, Davidson, who has big-time raw power, reached the 20-home run plateau for the first time in his career. His long swing and inconsistent contact rate will keep his average low, however. He still has work to do at third base, but scouts have faith that Davidson has the tools to become an average defender in time. Along with Eaton and Davidson, the White Sox now boast a young core of outfielders Avisail Garcia and Dayan Viciedo, second baseman Marcus Semien and first baseman Jose Abreu. www.baseballamerica.com Interesting that they listed Semien with those other five guys.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,7474137.story As far as evaluating trades the day or week of the trade, that's beyond dumb.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Dec 16, 2013 -> 11:45 PM) Try on Your Brand New Sox and one old familiar One. Yeah, that's not bad. Your new Sox (Abreu, Garcia, Davidson, Eaton) and your favorite old pair (Konerko) that you just can't motivate yourself to throw away. Maybe they could do without the pictures/graphics for the 2nd part. Or a dirty old car being driven into the car wash with the team's record on the side and then coming out with Abreu, Davidson, Garcia and Eaton inside, freshly rinsed. Or a play on "Young Guns," where instead of pitchers, the four new position players would show up on the horses riding into the foreground. Maybe pose them on a battleship (and keep Taylor Kitsch out of the shot)...

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 12:51 AM) Here at SoxTalk, there is no such thing as a mutually beneficial trade. It is asking too much of people to understand how a trade can possibly benefit both sides, or how two teams match up to become perfect trade partners by dealing in areas of excess. Trades can only be won or lost. And outside of this trade (and MAYBE one or two others in the last decade), the Sox generally "lose" all their trades. Trades are only "won" by the Sox when the player(s) they acquire become All-Stars, while the player(s) they trade away must also simultaneously become complete garbage. I think a lot of that perception is due to the two Swisher trades and the Javy trade to the Braves, as well as Santos/Molina and Teahen/Jackson for Zach Stewart and finally Daniel Hudson/Jackson (Jackson pitched very well for the Sox, he just didn't quite put us over the top). And, early in the Williams regime, the Wells/Fogg/Lowe for Ritchie move that turned out to be a disaster since we didn't develop another 5th starter until 2005. You have lots of great small trades, like Miles for Uribe, Quentin for Carter, Loiaza for Contreras, Thornton for Borchard, getting Gavin Floyd for Freddie Garcia...and lots of examples of picking up useful pieces from the scrap heap like DeAza, Jenks, Santos, Phil Humber, JJ Putz, etc. Or signing Iguchi and Alexei Ramirez. Even getting Youkilis, Liriano and Myers, all those moves made sense at the time and you had the feeling it might be enough to put us over the top. It's just the fact that the big headline moves like signing Dunn and trading for Swisher have backfired so spectacularly.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 12:52 AM) If writers weren't suggesting that he will get $100M+, I would have predicted someone would sign him for 5 yrs/$80M. Which is still about $35 million than the White Sox have ever paid a pitcher, including Buehrle. It's one thing to sign Iguchi for two years off a video, but you better have a lot more scouting support and due diligence from Hahn, Williams and Cooper to make this big of an investment.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 16, 2013 -> 11:26 PM) The problem with Tanaka is that it's likely going to take a $100-120 mill commitment over 5-6 years. I think he'll be fine, but the track record on Japanese pitchers has been skittish at best. Darvish has been phenomenal, but Matsuzaka was overhyped and Kei Igawa was absolutely brutal. There are others too, primarily relievers, and they've been hit or miss too. I think they'll probably bid $20 mill, but their overall interest will be tepid, and he'll end up elsewhere. Japanese pitchers tend to do better outside of the spotlight. Irabu ended up killing himself, Igawa was a disaster in NY, Hideo Nomo was successful for a couple of seasons until hitters figured him out. Then you have the Dice-K fiasco. The under-the-radar guys like Iwakuma with the Mariners have tended to fare better. Of course, it helps to pitch at Safeco or in the NL West. Kuroda's been decent, but the only contract that has worked out (so far) was Darvish, and it's not like he's single-handedly led the Rangers back to the promised land, either. One thing he has done was improve...instead of starting off well and then nosediving or getting injured.

No! Because it would probably take at least Eaton and Davidson to acquire him, then they'd turn around and have to sign him to the same kind of contract extension that Tanaka's going to get as a free agent coming from Japan just to be a #3 or #4 starter. Doesn't make any sense.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 16, 2013 -> 06:34 PM) Hell if Jones has a solid year closing and piles up 40 saves we might be able to get a big return for him next year too. See Oakland A's for about a decade. Unfortunately, the Santos trade didn't break well for either team, but at least we got out from under that contract. I wouldn't even be surprised if it ended up being Paulino...like Grilli with the Pirates last year.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Dec 16, 2013 -> 04:33 PM) That team would probably get you about 70-75 wins NEXT YEAR. I don't think they would break out until at least 2015. I think right now we're comfortably looking at a 73-77 win team without any major injuries, maybe .500 if everything breaks right.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Dec 16, 2013 -> 09:53 PM) Dunn has no value to us. Also, being that it's the final year of his deal, I'm not sure Reinsdorf would get in the way of anything Dunn-related due to his salary. Hahn has his numbers & I don't see why Jerry would step in to say anything other than "Please Ricky boy get this sorry sack of s*** out of here already." I'd say the Mariners who just traded for Logan Morrison would like Dunn a lot more than we do. Send Adam there, pay his salary, take back one of many busts or some halfway interesting prospect, and call it a day. Well, having Hart, LoMo and Smoak all for the same two positions (unless Hart can play RF at Safeco, which is doubtful after the knee injuries doesn't give them much of a need for Dunn. There's just no way they play Morrison in LF, he might be worse than Dunn out there.

QUOTE (beautox @ Dec 16, 2013 -> 09:38 PM) Don't move Ramirez for the sake of moving him, Semien projects more as a 2B. This year is going to be a lot of fun to watch. Lots of question marks but Hahn has put us in a much better position for a quick turn around. If Viciedo breaks out he can be moved to DH in '15 and maybe Thompson supplants eaton and pushes him to LF or the next crown jewel of Cuba comes to the south side in Alfredo Despaigne, he's the same age as Abreu and equally as talented and a very solid defender in the outfield. Ramirez, Viciedo and Dunn have more value to this team than any other I don't see Jerry paying Dunn to play some where else, Viciedo is still so incredibly young and will help Abreu's transition here and there is no one thats ready to push Ramirez off SS. Hahn should focus on moving De Aza and Beckham, and ideally flowers as well. All though i feel if they're looking to '15 as the year there is no need to let Semien waste away in the minors let him take his lumps at the major league level and catch up to the speed of the game. There's also Carlos Sanchez, who's supposedly having a great　Ｖｅｎｅｚｕｅｌａｎ　Ｗｉｎｔｅｒ　Ｌｅａｇｕｅ　ｓｅａｓｏｎ．

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 16, 2013 -> 01:11 PM) I had no issue with trading Addy but I wanted the right return. This may be just a little less than I was hoping for but it also is at a position where this franchise could seriously benefit from an upgrade. He's also exceptionally young and, assuming he makes the roster this year (which I'm not sure about right now) he's under team control through 2020. Compared to Nestor Molina, it's a great haul. That's if he can stick at 3B. As a 1B, he has something ranging from average to quasi-negligible value. As with Fields, Dayan and Teahen, they're going to try another offense-first player at the hot corner and see if he can hold his own. So who's next to go? DeAza？ Gillaspie? Keppinger?

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 16, 2013 -> 08:40 AM) Rumor is Cubs want to start their own network similar to YES, I believe partnering with Comcast And Comcast is 40% owned by Reinsdorf/Sox/Bulls. This would be fine if they had a good product to sell, but they should be targeting 2014 or 2015 (especially) when they would theoretically have more leverage and pent-up demand. On the other hand, maybe there's concern that the losing will go on for a long time and that they should strike while the iron is hot financially (with all the new tv deals the last couple of seasons) rather than waiting it out for another year or two.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Dec 16, 2013 -> 08:22 AM) I heard that Middlebrooks had a little bit of a big head before being sent back down to the minors. Maybe he was humbled. I don't like the strike outs, but maybe he'd straighten it out here. I wouldn't give up Alexei Ramirez for him though. How much more is Santiago worth than Ramirez? It's not like there are a ton of other 3B options out there. Lawrie? Everyone keeps saying Headley and Sandoval, but Sandoval carries huge health risks and both players aren't ones we would typically go head to head for/with the rest of MLB on the free agent market.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 15, 2013 -> 09:38 AM) The director of Fast and Furious 7 is considering using Paul Walkers brother Cody as a stand in for his part. I see that as an epic fail http://hollywoodlife.com/2013/12/14/paul-w...-and-furious-7/

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 09:40 AM) The first stanza says it all and this is the cubs beat writer. "Two days into the winter meetings, and the Cubs pulled off an improbable feat. They are actually in worse shape than when they started."----Chicago Sun times, 12/11/2013 Another nugget, That's a far cry from the vision Epstein expressed last week when he said the Cubs will be "dictating all those big moves" instead of watching and waiting for prospects to hit.---Chicago Sun-Times, 12/11/2013 http://www.suntimes.com/sports/24302219-41...-drying-up.html Interesting about the new t.v. contract. It can't be for Comcast, because that one expires in 2019 (along with the White Sox deal). WGN? When do the White Sox come up for a new deal with WGN?

QUOTE (raBBit @ Dec 15, 2013 -> 11:13 PM) Neither of these guys are corner stones or starters for years so in my mind age doesn't really factor. An instance where they were 35 & up would be different. It's really, what is the better option, 4 years of Bogusevic or 3 years Ruggiano? Ruggiano has shown to be the option much more likely to provide a positive contribution. Especially if used properly, Ruggiano could be great as a 4th OFer murdering LF handed pitching. He has an .834 career OPS against LHP. And that's including his 3 mediocre years with Tampa Bay. As of now, Cubs win this trade easily. He'll probably have a lot better time hitting at Wrigley May-September rather than Miami's Met-Life Stadium. Imagine if the White Sox added him...someone would undoubtedly be saying he's not going to be part of the next White Sox playoff team. He's a great bench addition for a playoff team, but he's not an everyday player.

QUOTE (mataipaepae @ Dec 16, 2013 -> 12:21 AM) there is talk of boston resigning drew and moving boegarts to 3B. it is said this would make will middlebrooks available for trade. what do you think about him in chicago? and do we have enough to get him? http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/12/cafa...yo-morales.html If the Red Sox re-sign Stephen Drew, that would bump Xander Bogaerts to third base and make Will Middlebrooks a trade candidate. The Marlins, who are looking for a third baseman, would likely be interested. Well, with Napoli at 1B, Ortiz DH...there's no other place to move him. I think they would be crazy to resign Drew, but they might feel it's better to have Bogaerts' bat at 3B. The natural trade to make would be for Alexei Ramirez (not keeping Drew), with Middlebrooks the new White Sox 3B. That would open up SS to a competition between Carlos Sanchez, Leury Garcia and Marcus Semien.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 15, 2013 -> 01:29 PM) I have zero interest in adding a "4-5th starter" right now. I like the 5+ we open the season with, it's structured exactly as it should be for this team. Bring the young guys in an d play them. We actually have them in the rotation...play them! When I say 5, I meant someone like Josh Johnson, if you could allocate that money across 3 players instead of 1. That's the obvious direction to go. Now it makes sense to give Erik Johnson and Rienzo a shot, and have Paulino waiting in the wings as Option B, but my thought was more along the lines of veteran depth. You could probably argue just as easily to put that money into a veteran LH reliever, but if we were in quasi "win now" mode and were actually able to upgrade catcher and 3B, you would have to argue that the back end of the rotation and LH relief are probably the two biggest concerns...once again, if you're actually trying to compete in 2014. If you're not, then it really doesn't matter. They might as well throw Snodgress or Beck out there....but then signing Paulino doesn't make a whole lot of sense, unless they're going to try to spin him off for prospects as well, hoping on a recovery. It seems the only way he can make his incentives for his 2015 option to kick in would be for Johnson/Rienzo to fail or another injury in the starting rotation.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Dec 15, 2013 -> 04:11 PM) The Sox went for "Major League ready" prospects which gives them an older core so they should consider using the discount that the 2nd round pick will give them on Jimenez. Given their future salary obligations there's no reason why they should not make a serious run for Tanaka though. Jimenez is a lot like Greinke. He was "decent" this year, but that's in comparison to pretty bad the last 2-3 seasons, and certainly underperforming his contract and the value of the players the Indians gave up at the time of that trade. When he was pitching for the Rockies, he had nearly electric stuff and looked like a perennial Cy Young candidate. He's no longer a #1 and probably closer to a 3 than a 2. As far as the "young core," Eaton, Garcia, Viciedo, Abreu, Beckham, Gillaspie and Semien are all 27/28 or younger. Dunn and Konerko will be gone. Flowers/Phegley and whoever their eventual replacement is will likely be under 30 as well. Once Ramirez is traded and Dunn/Konerko/Keppinger are gone, you'll have the definition of a young core. DeAza's around 29 or 30 and he will be out the door soon enough.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Dec 14, 2013 -> 10:21 PM) Can't believe Gessel joked at the line. He's normally automatic from the line. Bummer. Great game though. Both squads are good. Marble has had chances to knock out Villanova and ISU and whiffed both times. Last year, he was over an 80% foul shooter. This year, he's in the mid 60's. One thing's for sure, they can't keep losing these games to ranked opponents...they've got to win 2 or 3 at home and at least once on the road against Wisconsin, OSU and Michigan State.