caulfield12

QUOTE (longshot7 @ Feb 4, 2009 -> 02:50 AM) Doubt it. He has lips on his latex mask. That's nipples on Batman-level bad. It will be Van Helsing-bad. And my prediction is........ so will Star Trek. At least the vampires were hot in Van Helsing! Star Trek remake conjures up images of the Dumb and Dumber remake with younger actors....or Dukes of Hazzard. I think Starship Troopers even beats those.

QUOTE (Pumpkin Escobar @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 11:38 PM) It looks like the thread on mlbtr has been downsized but someone was suggesting some outrageous deal for Washburn. People think Sox fans have pipe dreams but this guy was talking a Delmon Young or Carlos Quentin for him. One of the funnier things I've ever seen. Anywho, out of that list I'd peg Sheets, Pedro, Marti and Mulder as targets. Not sure what is available in the trade circles but I can't imagine much. If the Mariners are another team seeking a bat, along with (Cin, LAD, LAA, SF) then I wouldn't mind taking a risk on a guy like Bedard. I know Seattle has interest in Abreu so I doubt they'd bite but if Abreu signs here, they don't have much of a choice. I think they'd want any of the three (Dye, Thome, Konerko). If not obviously Bailey/Adenhart/Figgins/Jon Sanchez would be other targets from those teams. I hope there is something positive which comes out of this. If not positive, at least something exciting. Guess it depends on Cooper's thinking...lots of rumors about Bedard's work ethic and coachability are out there, although you could say the same thing about many pitchers we've looked at in the past. For every "Cooper will fix him" comment, there's the likes of Masset, Sisco, Aardsma and many others that are counter-points. Still, if the talent's there (like with Thornton/Contreras/Danks/Floyd), then I trust Cooper as much, if not more, than any other major league pitching coach to maximize the ability and translate it into results. I think Mulder, with his Chicago roots and his even higher reward/low risk pricetag, would be an appealing get, although Bedard obviously can have much nastier stuff. Supposedly, Mulder has really been working on his arm angle/slot all off-season, and that's seen as the determining factor about whether he can be an above-average pitcher again.

Do you really think Jenks could jump to that high a number in 2010? From between $5-6 million this year...I know Ryan Howard got a ton of money, but I can't imagine the White Sox having much interest in paying any closer $10 million per season. I would think $7-9 million would be more realistic, but I haven't studied recent jumps from year 4 to year 5 and year 5 to year 6 in recent arbitration decisions (in terms of the numbers expected)...and how, if any, the current economic climate will affect the arbitration process as well.

Does MLB include those signing bonus numbers in their payrolls though, in terms of the official numbers? I mean, Beckham's arguably closer to the big leagues than Viciedo and is 3 years older, and yet I've never heard of a player from the draft having his signing bonus included in the payroll the following season. I guess it doesn't matter, if KW considers Viciedo to be making $5 million this year and to be essentially replacing Swisher...but then that money for 2010/11/12 would definitely shrink, along with losing Thome, Contreras, Dye and then Konerko the following year. That's $45-50 million for those four players, or half our current payroll.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 09:09 PM) Well the Sox are responsible for $98,125,000 for the 2009 season at this time and that's only 15 players, 14 of which will be ready for opening day so you can add on another 11 players at a total of about $4.75M to make that number $102,875,000 heading into opening day. I can't imagine they have much more money to spend at this time, I wouldn't get my hopes up. Does that include Viciedo's signing bonus or just his base salary for 2009? Has anyone confirmed if we are getting any money from the Phillies for Thome (supposedly $5-6 million, the infamous "handshake" agreement with Gillick) and/or if we have any insurance for Contreras (although it looks like he COULD be back as early as May and that would negate the insurance payout)??? I noticed that Jenks' one-year salary hasn't been added to the payroll resource. So that's included in the $98 million as well...? And I'm assuming nothing about the relocation/Tucson/ST payout either, logically...even though it could be yet another factor in the overall bottom line.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 08:56 PM) Really curious who this mysterious pitcher is. And I know this has essentially been the slowest moving offseason ever, but why now? Glavine (doubtful) Rogers (same) Mulder (maybe) Looper Yadel Marti Sheets R. Wolf Pedro Martinez K. Benson (doubtful) Paul Byrd

According to John Hickey of the Seattle Post-Intellegencer, the Twins have "some interest" in dealing for left-hander Jarrod Washburn. Hickey writes that the Mariners and Twins discussed a deal last week that would have sent Washburn and catcher Jeff Clement to Minnesota for 23-year-old outfielder Delmon Young. It's not known whether that particular deal fell through, but it's likely. The pieces just don't seem to fit. Washburn, 34, went 5-14 last season with a 4.69 ERA and the Twins already have a young, All-Star catcher. mlbtraderumors.com This is a real head-scratcher. The Twins already have five young starting pitchers. Why would they take on Washburn's huge/ugly contract, which is almost as bad as that for Silva? Unless they really, really want to get rid of D. Young (and that would be coming from Gardenhire obviously). I can see a trade of Beltre for Perkins/Blackburn and a second-tier prospect (or someone like Buscher, Tolbert or Harris to replace Bloomquist). This one is makes very little sense. Unless they see something in Clement nobody else does. But you can't move Mauer to 1B and Morneau to DH because Mauer's still pretty young and that would leave them with Kubel (essentially a DH with his knee problems), Cuddyer, Span and Gomez fighting for 3 spots. Bottom line, many teams would be able to put together a more attractive package for D. Young than a superfluous, aging veteran pitcher in Washburn who's not even going to improve them and will provide them even less financial flexibility moving forward. For that contract, you could have Dunn, Abreu and/or Hudson, maybe even two of them when it gets even closer to spring training.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 07:10 PM) Why don't you look at that roster and tell me who can run? That was a full ten years after Mantle blew out his knee in the 1951 WS thanks to DiMaggio calling him off too late on Mays fly ball, and he got caught on a sprinkler head. No doubt, Mantle or Bo Jackson were probably the greatest athletes of their generations...and if Mantle hadn't abused his body so much, who knows what he could have accomplished in terms of overall numbers.

That $8 million baseline is very appealing. The Yankees would have had to pay him a minimum of $12.8 million this year, but there would have been no guarantees of winning had they gone to arbitration...the risk is much, much less offering to Abreu (assuming he doesn't get injured or fall off the map) than it was to Cabrera. Cabrera was all about pride, ego, the showdown with KW/OG against his Cabrera's best business interests. The last MLB TR story about him had the A's picking him up after the June player draft (nixing the comp. to the SOX) for around $2-3 million, then him heading into the offseason as a Type B or C Free Agent and much more attractive to other clubs. Right now, it's killing Juan Cruz, too.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 01:34 PM) You're missing the point. The idea wouldn't be to use the guy as a starter. Gonzalez is the only contract they have that they've added prior to Jocketty taking over that would fit as far as making salaries work. The Reds have said that they don't have the money to take on a contract the size of Dye's. That means something has to happen to offset that salary if a deal is to be done. Obviously Lilli is better. We have Beckham who I believe Ozzie just said will likely have to switch positions. He'll be at 2B with Alexei at SS, then there's Dayan and Fields for third. Lilli might be available in the right deal, same with Getz, if the Sox are a lot higher on the other guys. The point is, it's like an NBA salary cap thing. You take one garbage player on an expiring contract and then add him to a bunch of very good players and then you deal for a star when you get the salaries to come out the right way. Dealing Gonzalez would represent a savings for the Reds only, not something good for the Sox. In return the Sox would then want enough in the prospect department to make taking on the contract worth it and to also offset the value of Lillibridge's talents. Again, just an idea that is probably a longshot, but the Reds don't have a SS and Lilli could be a guy they'd target in a deal with us anyway. If we didn't have Betemit, maybe. But the fact is, Uribe, in this market, isn't even worth a major league contract or anything over $1 million. We'd be adding a negligible player on to our payroll in these tough economic times that wouldn't be too far off from Nick Swisher's contract numbers. There's got to be a better fit from larger market club that doesn't have the same salary concerns. The Dodgers just had $25 million for one year to Manny Ramirez turned down, if they don't bring in Dunn and Hudson, that might be a perfect fit, as JD's a native Californian and they have $30 million in available payroll space right now. I just can't think of a time we took a garbage player/extra contract on in a deal...MAYBE Vizcaino coming with Pods, but that's as close as you get in KW's regime. And I think Vizcaino was still more valuable in that 2005 bullpen then he was given credit for.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 12:59 PM) That sounds possible. Another scenario, and it's admittedly a longshot IMO, is Alex Gonzalez coming here. I thought that when we picked up Lilli it might be a precursor to a Dye deal because the Reds need a SS who doesn't suck. Gonzalez makes $5.375M with a $500K buyout. If the Sox did something like Dye + Lillibridge ($11.8M) for Alex Gonzalez, Homer Bailey, $1M cash, and about 2 good prospects then the salary would work (about $4.8M). The Reds would add $7M while the Sox would clear $7M. It seems like the Sox really like Lilli though and it seems like Bailey is just enough alone to get Dye, so those prospects would have to be really good, and I don't know what the Reds would be able to offer. Dickerson certainly doesn't fit that description. Alexei Ramirez/Beckham >>> Gonzalez (better and cheaper) Lillibridge >>> Gonzalez (cheaper, upside potential) It makes not a whole lot of sense....neither does Encarnacion, although at least we theoretically have more of a hole there (3B) than at SS. If it was going to be anyone, I would have thought Freel would be more of KW's type of player than Gonzalez. But I don't even think KW would pick up the phone to trade Gonzalez for Lillibridge straight up. Some team in need of a bat like the Dodgers, Reds or Angels will come calling with a better deal. KW can wait until Abreu/Dunn and Manny Ramirez are off the market. There's even talk of Griffey, Jr., signing with the Mets for less than $1 million...

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 12:54 PM) We have a 3/4/5/6 in our lineup with immense power. Speed is extremely overrated. It's not QUITE as balanced as the 2000 juggernaut, but it's close. AJ and Ramirez aren't exactly chopped liver, particularly Ramirez, with his power potential. Then you've got the likes of Brian Anderson, Fields/Viciedo and Beckham that all have lots of power potential. Theoretically, you could have 20-25 homers from all 9 positions on the diamond. Beckham 2B Ramirez SS Quentin LF Thome DH Dye RF Konerko/Allen 1B AJ/Flowers C Fields/Viciedo 3B Anderson CF

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune....-sox-agree.html Rosenblog thoughts...a few things not mentioned yet on this thread about the Abreu situation. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?...;name=Neyer_Rob Another recent article debating the merit/worth of an Abreu acquistion for any team.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 12:45 PM) Agreed with your logic, but that hasn't kept Swisher, Griffey, Erstad, and Mackowiak out of CF in recent years. My guess is that Figgins would probably end up playing 3B, but history suggests that Ozzie would make room for him in CF if Fields had a good ST. Or they're going to bring in all reputed sinkerball pitchers and hope/pray that Ramirez, Lillibridge (I picked him because he has more upside defensively at 2B than Getz, but Beckham has to fit in somewhere, too) and Viciedo/Fields can keep any ball from getting to the outfield.

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 12:04 PM) Where does everyone play in that example? Thome-DH, Viciedo/Allen/Betemit-1B, Quentin-LF, Dye-RF, Abreu-? I guess you go out and offer Dye to any team willing to give up their best AA/AAA starter that currently needs an OF bat. Reds/Angels/Dodgers/Braves/Nationals. Take your pick.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 12:03 PM) To be fair, we have seen guys like Jr, Everett, and Makowiak play out there. They don't seem to value defense out there too much. Swisher Wise Owens washed up Erstad Brian Daubach (I think that happened once, or maybe it was Magglio)

Another variation/permutation: Konerko for Figgins (net $7 million) Dunn signed for 1B (lose $7 million?) Abreu signed (lose $8 million) Dye traded for young pitching (Bailey/Adenhart, saving $11.5 million) Marti/Looper/Wolf signed as 5th=$3.5 million The only problem is that you overweigh with lefties almost....strange, after we've been such a righty-dominated team for so long, to think of a line-up that goes out there with as many as five or six (if you include AJ and Getz). That would also save the White Sox money. Arguably, you might even have enough left over to add Marti/Looper/Wolf as your 4th/5th. ($3.5 million) Net payroll addition=ZERO

QUOTE (Want2Repeat @ Feb 3, 2009 -> 11:48 AM) First off, I suspect that this is just another garbage rumor that has no merit. Also, you would have to question if Abreu would even sign such a deal. If we read "Sox sign Abreu to a 1 Year Deal", then we can get carried away. With that said, this has been such a boring offseason, that I too welcome any opportunity to speculate on Sox moves. In regards to Figgins for Dye or whoever, remember that KW would not necessarily see that as a one for one trade. At Soxfest, he preached about how he always looks at the money saved in a deal and what it leads to next. For example, he claims that they were able to sign the Cuban 3rd baseman, with money saved from trading Swisher. I don' t know how all of the salaries would net out, but he may see trading Dye for a minor leaguer, and then signing Abreu, would net $3MM to $4MM on the plus side, which would then allow us to sign the next Cuban star, or whoever else. I think adding Figgins and Abreu, then subtracting Dye, would leave the Sox with more net salary, however. So, if they were to sign Abreu, I see Dye being moved for a minor leaguer, allowing them to net a plus on the salary side. I also have this vision/fear of them thinking Abreu could play CF as well. He couldn't be much worse than Swisher out there. This certainly would be counter-intuitive to everything KW has preached over the last three months, however. Here's another option: Konerko for Figgins (CF/3B and leadoff) Abreu signed Viciedo/Allen/Betemit share 1B Yadel Marti/Looper/Randy Wolf signed as 5th starter Wouldn't that be an arguably stronger team (as long as you're not convinced Poreda/Marquez will win AL ROY)? The one disavantage is you have a lot of pressure on Fields, Viciedo/Allen and Getz/Lillibridge, but that's the bottom 3 of your line-up.

No need to trade for Figgins when they can sign Orlando Hudson more cheaply (and without giving up Konerko/Dye)...and be even better. The only consideration is the draft pick, and we might not even get anything out of Cabrera (article today speculates he could wait until mid-season to sign)...but bringing in Viciedo and Danks was pretty much like having two first/second rounders along with Beckham. They can also do a Porcello and chase after an "unsignable" non-Boras client late in the first or in later rounds. If we did sign Hudson, the draft picks available at that spot aren't close to being sure things anyway. And there's no reason we can't pull a Detroit and throw a ton of money at a high upside pitcher in later rounds...because we'll free up all that money in 2010/2011.

Some have Dunn ONLY getting $5 million. Anything is possible...Wigginton got desperate and signed recently, coming off a good season. What I would love to see: 1) Trade Dye for young pitching (Angels/Reds, etc.) 2) Sign Abreu for two years at $15-18 million (convince him that lower money for this year will allow them to sign O-Dog) 3) Sign Orlando Hudson for one year at around $5 million and stick him in CF as the leadoff hitter. Or start him at 2B and play Lillibridge/Anderson in CF as the 9th place hitter. Dump Owens/Wise from everyday line-up consideration. (This also allows Beckham to make an impact in 2010 at either SS but more likely 2B). This allows the White Sox to stay payroll neutral, address CF/leadoff, add two quality veterans AND a young starting pitcher with upside like Bailey or Adenhart with no pressure for them to produce in 2009.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Ak27...o&type=lgns Just thought I'd repost this Viciedo article for those who didn't see it the first time...

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Feb 2, 2009 -> 02:25 PM) I'm gonna watch the Last King of Scotland tomorrow. Can't wait. F. Whitaker is one of the most underappreciated actors of his generation, maybe because of his weight/color and the fact that he's not an attention seeker. (I would add J. Wright, Felix Lyter in the 2 new Bond movies to that list as well). And McAvoy has done some really impressive work in Atonement, this movie was really good....even big budget Wanted with Jolie.

Viciedo's situation is more interesting because of his age, and the fact that many don't expect him to contribute much in 2009. That's a pretty risky investment to make...because there's always the possibility he does pan out and the White Sox groom him and really blossoms in 2011 or 2012 and then a really big budget team scoops him up when he's only 23. That just doesn't happen in baseball, a player like Miguel Cabrera essentially become a FA at that age. Maybe 25-26, but not 23. Drafting college/high school players, you know you'll get at least 6 years out a David Price or Joe Mauer (or maybe 7 with an extension covering the arbitration years and first year of Free Agency). One can only hope that he's happy with Ozzie and the Sox and rewards their loyalty like Dye, Buehrle and Konerko did. OTOH, if Alexei Ramirez has three more seasons like 2008 without ANY talk of a contract extension or tearing up his deal, then I think he would definitely be justified in taking the money elsewhere. I know that $4 million plus should make him set for life, even after taxes, but he's one of the best relative values in baseball, along with Quentin and Danks.

QUOTE (False Alarm @ Feb 2, 2009 -> 04:24 PM) goldstein is not a numbers guy. yes, he works for BP, but if you read his stuff and his chats, he pays little attention to BP's advanced metrics. these rankings are his, and he weighs scouting reports, discussions with scouts, and his own observations quite a bit more heavily than statistics. he was recruited to BP from BA and is kinda the anti-BP in some ways. i guarantee you he's not running any complex formulas or algorithms or anything like that. incidentally, nate silver has done a PECOTA-based projection of prospects for BP the last few years that might be more along the lines of what you're thinking balta. was always kinda interesting to compare em with goldstein's more scouting-based lists. doubt silver'll write those articles this year, though, since he's pretty much abandoned writing about baseball. as for viciedo, it's reasonable to rank him. college draftees who haven't played an inning of pro ball (eg, pedro alvarez) get ranked all the time on these types of lists. i don't really see how viciedo's case is so different. however, i can understand how people'd have doubts about him too. i consider him our #2 prospect, but cuban prospects've been so tough to evaluate over the years that i can't blame someone for putting allen ahead of him. Back to Viciedo. He received, essentially, a signing bonus bigger than anyone under 21 years old in the history of baseball. Many scouts have said he's a Top 5-10 hitter in ALL OF THE MINORS just based on his hitting ability ("major league ready") alone. He's right now listed as a 3B, which is a more premium position than 1B/LF/DH...or as a a RF, because of his plus arm. So the main negative that any scouting report from his workout details was his being a bit out of shape...which has NEVER happened with a 19 year old before? And it's not like he's a pretty big guy who can be projected at that age to fill out and turn that into muscle, or should he be LeBron James already? That he is listed as a 3 star or outside the top 100 prospects list is a joke. Maybe, just maybe, if everyone wasn't so wrong about Alexei Ramirez, who fared even worse in projections coming into last year, I would give it more serious consideration. But scouts all said he was going to be like Ramon Santiago/Miguel Cairo, some AAAA filler or 25th man type. It turned out he had the quickest bat on the team (Stone noticed this right away) and maybe in the entire AL. How can so many miss that? I mean, the kid's a stick and he almost has Soriano's pop and he can run nearly as well, too. If he was with the Yankees/Mets/Cubs, he would be the most hyped prospect in baseball, just like Juan Uribe's catch would have eclipsed anything Jeter did in the playoffs, even that shovel pass to nail Giambi at the plate, IMO.

I'd just like to see evidence that Anderson is maturing as a player (I won't get into off-field antics or attitude/cockiness for now). Sometimes, I think BA's evil twin William Katt (Greatest American Hero) would have a better chance of scoring with Shannon Tweed in a Skinemax Friday night movie than BA does with the curveball or offspeed stuff off the plate. Maybe you can blame Greg Walker (whatever), but I would like to see some baseball smarts....at least occasionally. The ability to hit to the opposite side and not get pull happy (Rowand fell into this, too). Being able to bunt and give yourself up. Considering he'd probably be the 9th place hitter, the ability to really bear down (like Uribe) and get RBI's when they are most needed. Hitting the cut-off man and throwing to the right bases. While he's a gifted defender, he makes lots of mistakes mentally in terms of fundamentals, and that just drives me crazy. His baserunning could also be better, although he's getting better in that area, and he's one of our few runners that you can count on with his long strides to get the extra base (1B to home on double, 1st to 3rd on single, 2nd to home on single, etc.)