caulfield12

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 04:45 PM) Wasn't watching Beane's A's. Was playing with my cat, who has also won zero American League pennants. I fell asleep, woke up, and it was already over...listening to despondent A's radio guys. Started at 335 a.m. here. Wanted to stay up and listen but couldn't stay awake. Dodgers had 2 lead and blew it, Werth dropped a simple ball and almost gave the game back to the Dodgers...who didn't score with Gonzalez and Uribe up, bases loaded and two chances to walk off.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 04:44 PM) Give me Maeda depending on cost. Despite the Dice K and Tanaka situations? Hope they've done a lot of due diligence to make that move...and Maeda doesn't seem to move the meter (quite) to be that legitimate frontline starter that can come in and make an impact like Tanaka did with the Yankees before he went down. Agewise, he seems to fit the profile. Are they going to stick with the same posting system again or has it been changed another time? Or same as last year?

Seager and Corey Hart respond with back-to-back homers, A's just in an awful slump and closer now to the M's/Tigers/Royals and being out of the playoffs than the Angels, who they currently trail by 5. Just goes to show when you're on top of the world (seemingly) like Beane and the A's were six or eight weeks ago, completing the Samardzija/Hammel trade, that things never go quite as predicted in baseball. Never thought the M's (or the Royals, for that matter) had enough offense to make the playoffs, but here both are, on the cusp.

Did anyone believe Alcantara would have more homers than Baez? That's been a surprise, although overall his offensive numbers indicate more or less a slightly below average MLB CFer...and he's doing on the job training defensively. Of course, Soler's the new "golden child" of the moment and Baez has been kind of been forgotten about, but his season, were it not for September...is to the point where you'd have to consider sending him back down or shutting him down if that was an option. So he has no choice but to struggle and try to battle his way out of it, which the Cubs ultimately believe he'll be able to do.

QUOTE (chisoxfan310 @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 03:55 PM) How about Markakis, Martin, Maeda? Way too much money. That's going to push the payroll back up to $100 million, at least. Then you STILL haven't done anything to address the bullpen issues, and you're praying for miracles if you think that current group of players is going to be at least average as a pen right now. Petricka and Putnam would have to repeat, and Webb's looking to be headed for more seasoning back in the minors. Maybe Guerra, but I'd hate to rely on Cleto coming into next year as a "reliable" part of the pen. Bassit seems like he could be a great long man, but then you're still short the two or three most important parts of your pen...and best lefty/righty setup guys and closer. Hawk's belaboring the point too much these days, but all those blown games do mount up and tend to demoralize the team after a point. The reverse, is, of course, true...like that 2005 and first half 2008 pens that were lockdown and the team felt like, just get a 1 run lead to the 7th and it's automatic, kind of like the Royals have right now.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015-free-agent-power-rankings You likely won’t find a reliever cracking the top 10, but closers David Robertson, Francisco Rodriguez, Casey Janssen and Rafael Soriano have been excellent, while Luke Gregerson and Andrew Miller have been lights out in a setup capacity. Erwin Santana, Hammel, Peavy, McCarthy, Masterson, Liriano, De La Rosa and Beckett all possible names for the 3-4 slot while waiting on the arrival of Rodon. Mike Morse, Asdrubal Cabrera (for SS), JJ Hardy (once again, if Alexei is traded) and Markakis are the other interesting names.

Does anyone honestly think they're going to pay Mike Stanton $200-250 million? C'mon...there's just no precedent for it, other than Albert Belle, and I think that was actually to make a point to other teams about the dangers of signing that kind of contract, which luckily had the escape clause.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 09:06 AM) Flowers isn't going to be replaced. I think he has earned himself another year or two. Even Hahn has said that himself that he's been happy with Flowers development and how he has been good defensively and how he has handled the pitchers this year. He's earned himself (probably) 2015. That's it. Not 2 or 1 1/2 years. And I'm sure Hahn would definitely listen if Russell Martin expressed an interest in coming to Chicago. Whether we consider Grandal, Jason Castro or Wilin Rosario top catchers right now, those are three who will probably be made available. Upgrades? Hard to say.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 09:00 AM) If the goal for Viciedo is to try to harness some of that talent, then having him get 300 at bats seems silly to me because that's not the setup where I think it would happen. If the goal for Viciedo is to win as many games as possible, you could probably get some benefit from getting him 300 PA's, but are you willing to pay him $5-6 million next year for the opportunity? a couple million this year isn't bad, but the raise next year makes that seem pricey. Also worth noting, he doesn't have strong platoon splits, he's been an equally weak hitter against both sides, so it makes little sense to use him in a platoon based on those numbers, and he's bad and getting worse on defense so it makes no sense to use him as a 4th OF since he's not going to ever play CF or replace anyone for defensive purposes. But the same arguments were made about DeAza and Beckham last offseason and both were tendered...with DeAza originally LOOKING like he would be the one on the outside looking in as the 4th. I also don't think they're going to cut him loose and use that money for Nate Jones to sit out another year with little or no baseball activity. If they do sign Victor Martinez, then he's either gone or you make him your starter for one last season in LF or RF. If you sign a James Shields, then Viciedo can play either RF/LF or split time at DH with Wilkins and in the OF. Nothing is ideal, but I don't think they planned on Garcia going down last year either...another way of looking at this type of decision, were the prospects we eventually got back for DeAza and Beckham worth the money we spent on those guys in a non-contending season? I doubt it. We shall see.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 09:02 AM) Viciedo would be a terrible bench player. He has no speed,and he can't play defense. All he can do is hit for occasional power. We have 4th OFs on the roster in guys like Danks or Mitchell. Listening to Hahn talk, we are going to look at players with big contracts, and might come here for a really cheap price in terms of a trade. Guys like Kemp and Hamilton come to mind. Yuck.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 09:00 AM) That first offer is solid. No way I trade Eaton. However, I only do that deal or any deal for that matter if Hahn can agree on an extension with Stanton before said trade. That first offer won't move the meter enough. Danish isn't throwing hard enough, and Montas was almost a throw-in (albeit quite talented and enigmatic) to the Peavy deal. Hawkins has way way too many question marks, and Anderson has the most upside but defensive issues as well. I'd want at least one, younger, cost-controlled but major league proven player before I'd move Stanton.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 08:55 AM) As of right now we're at about $60 million assuming a couple guys are offered arbitration, $65 million if Viciedo is included. At the very least, a few bullpen signings and a couple of low-level scrap heap buys like we saw this year will almost certainly push that up towards $75 million. How are you accounting for Abreu's salary? Are you pro-rating his signing bonus or did you allocate it 100% into this season? Basically, we could sign Victor Martinez for the going rate and that would be it. No replacement for Viciedo (Cabrera/Rasmus, etc.), for Flowers, and very little or nothing but more scrap heap bullpen help...perhaps ONE veteran guy the next tier down from the closers and guys like Miller, Gregerson....hopefully a better version of Belisario and Lindstrom. That wouldn't even give us the money for much of a starting pitcher, even off the top tier. Personally, I'd rather add James Shields for three years than Victor Martinez. Both are going to be huge rolls of the dice.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 08:47 AM) I think he goes this off season. I predicted both De Aza and Viciedo wouldn't be back next year. So far I am half right. Depends on what they're willing to spend in the offseason, and also whether they're willing to 1) trade Alexei Ramirez, or 2) trade Anderson/Hawkins/Montas/Danish. I still think that Viciedo's going to come into the season as the 4th outfielder/back-up plan/occasional DH and depending on what happens with players like a Garcia or Wilkins or whatever bat they get for DH, he could still end up with 400+ at-bats in one last ditch attempt to see if he can put it all together for the Sox.

AUG. 27, 4:51pm: The Astros are highly unlikely to be afforded any chance to sign Aiken, a source tells Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle. The source also expressed the belief that Selig must have been referring to Nix. Given the present state of confusion, it should be noted that Aiken could at least theoretically be seeking to receive some accommodation from the league that would not be directly tied to Houston’s own rights, obligations, and interests moving forward. That hypothetical possibility would potentially square reports that the club is not talking with the first overall choice with Selig’s comment that a “solution” of some kind is being pursued.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 08:44 AM) That's fine and dandy. He's also 2 years from reaching free agency and he's going to get a mega contract. Jose Quintana is under team control for another 4 or 5 seasons at a very cheap rate and he's putting up a 4.5 WAR season. Their value is similar. Then by that barometer, Adam Eaton's just as valuable as Mike Stanton, almost.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 08:39 AM) If that's true, than "star quality" doesn't correlate heavily with doing what it takes to win ballgames. Call him what you want, Quintana is a top 25 starting pitcher in MLB today whether most people recognize it or not. Lack of an elite tool doesn't change the fact that the total package is highly effective at preventing runs. If we said Top 25, then that makes him close to an ace or #1, since there are only 30 teams. Then you have the Mariners (Felix and Iwakuma), A's (Lester, Samardzija and Gray), Dodgers (Kershaw, Greinke, Ryu), Giants, Braves, Cardinals, Tigers (Scherzer and Price, not to mention Anibal Sanchez), etc., with at least three guys you'd put ahead of Quintana. I'm comfortable with 30-45ish, but still not an ace. He just doesn't miss enough bats, put up games where he allows 0-2 runs, record strikeouts, go deep into games or work around errors and limit damage with 2 outs.

It was also reported that, if he were to sign, Aiken would insist on a sign-and-trade deal. www.cbssportsline.com Dayn Perry

QUOTE (shysocks @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 08:31 AM) This is true, but if you look at a lot of other numbers he ranks right around 40th - ground ball rate, K-BB%, SIERA. And he is 22nd in OPS allowed despite pitching in US Cellular. I wish he could lower his pitch count a bit too, but he's still managed to make it into the top 30 in innings. When you have a pitcher who does just about everything this well and combine it with durability, you have a #2. To pile on here - the notion of trading him is kind of ludicrous. Someone else said this almost exactly: you trade established guys to get prospects who might turn into good major league players who you then might be able to sign long term. That's Quintana already. Maybe we could get Stanton for him, and that's a nice thought, but trades that move two established MLB stars just don't happen that often, Lester/Cespedes notwithstanding. Now we're pushing it with Quintana. Solid, underrated pitcher, sure. Star, no way. Adam Eaton's got more star quality than Quintana, so does Avisail. Heck, so do Anderson and Hawkins, for that matter. Rodon as well. Stanton's an elite player, a superstar, one of the top 10 talents in the game today and still young.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 08:20 AM) In the post steroid era, .250 with 30 homers is a star. Except in the sabremetric world, defensive metrics will always weigh him down close to negative territory. If he could hit close to 800 ops-wise, he has a full-time position despite the issues in the field...or maybe he's DH and they bring in another LH bat who can play the outfield. The problem is how long will the Sox be waiting for that 800 season. 750ish is about the best we've come to expect due to the low walk totals/plate discipline issues. He has, for the most part, at least earlier in the season, figured out a better approach against RHP and he's also done a better job of hitting fastballs at times.

Justin Verlander's starting today, FYI. Wonder how he'll do with all the public scrutiny and humiliation. Knowing the Tigers' announcers, they would never dare bring it up, other than saying something generic about "outside distractions" or the like. Felix Hernandez and Jon Lester as well in a key game for both teams out West.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 07:29 AM) This is Danks's second year back from surgery though. Peavy was absolutely fantastic his 2nd year back from surgery. At one point do we conclude that Danks's talent has changed and he's no better than a #4 starter? You also have to look at the fact that his velocity has been up in the last couple of months (90-91 quite a bit), but he's having trouble commanding it location-wise. The odds of pushing all the back up to 92-93 consistently aren't very good. You just can't pitch up in the zone with the kind of stuff he's featuring right now or you're going to get tattooed. It's not by sheer coincidence that he's leading the AL and probably all of MLB in homers allowed. Maybe if you stick him out in SF, Seattle, SD...he'd be a lot more effective, like Richard and Stults with the Padres.

Let's Be Cops wasn't as bad as I expected...fairly entertaining. Although my idea coming in was something almost as bad as Tammy, and that's the very bottom of the totem pole, so to speak.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/following-haw...-110007054.html

Has anyone seen anything defensively from Sanchez so far (at 2B) to indicate he's even better than Gordon Beckham (stretching to use the term Gold Glove caliber in a league with Robinson Cano)???

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 06:30 AM) Grandal is the guy I really want. Even in a down year, he's posted a wRC+ of 105 against RHP. He and Flower would make a great platoon and give us above average production at the position. Sucks that Austin Hedges had a bad year, not sure the Padres will be motivated to move Grandal this offseason. http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting/_/pos.../true/minpa/300 Unless you had Yan Gomes, Salvador Perez or Derek Norris, you're going to be doing fairly well with Tyler Flowers. He's not hurting the team offensively and defensively as much as LF, RF, and 2B. If you look at all of MLB, he's sitting 15th out of 26. Way ahead of Salty, McCann, AJ, Grandal, Zunino, M. Montero, etc. And we'd be just as likely to get an upgrade if we traded for Wilin Rosario as for Grandal, arguably. Change of scenery candidate who would cost less than Grandal. Unless we signed Carlos Ruiz this past offseason or COULD sign Russell Martin (and he's going to get a bigger deal than warranted at his age, just like Victor Martinez), we'd arguably be a lot worse off with all the money sunk into McCann or Salty, so there's that much.