caulfield12

We need starting pitching more than we need Furcal or Abreu at this point. Or are you assuming the Dye deal has or will go through with this post?

I'm pretty sure it's around $82 million. Taking Dye out would make it closer to $70 million...of course, Jenks will go up by $4.5 million, etc. Subtract Cabrera, Crede, Uribe, Griffey, Uribe, Swisher, Vazquez and the money coming from the Phillies for the final year of Thome.

Dick Allen, please sleep peacefully and restfully tonight, your days of fretting and worrying are over... KW is the best poker player in Vegas right now, we called this bluff a mile away.

Well, I'm not sure how I feel now after a couple of hours speculating about our future with Bailey. Everyone need not worry, apparently KW wasn't going to do a 1-for-1...we wanted something else back, and Cincy wanted some of our diminishing by the minute money to subsidize JD.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 7, 2008 -> 09:46 PM) I would have taken Bailey for Dye in a 1 to 1 last season, not so sure this season. And I dont think this is a done deal right now. Just a hunch. But I wouldnt be surprised to see us give the Reds cash and also get another low spect or someone else. Rock Raines, who is the girl in your avatar? It looks like a cross between Rachael Leigh Cook and Alyssa Milano.

The one flaw in KW's moves is our defense: Swapping Ramirez for Cabrera probably isn't an improvement Lillibridge at 2B might be better than Ramirez, but Alexei was pretty solid, especially the first 3-4 months before he wore down RF should improve if Quentin's there 3B definitely will be going downhill compared to Crede/Uribe LF could be a mess... That's not a great way to build the confidence of a young pitching staff! Something has to be done to shore up the middle of the field...Furcal at SS, Alexei back at 2B and Taveras/Lillibridge/Anderson in CF would make me feel a quite a bit more confident.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Dec 7, 2008 -> 09:40 PM) speculation?? yes...that's all we have at this point i sent e-mails to rogers and gonzales hoping the Trib will start digging into the story, cowley's worthless

Fields, Dye and at least $6 million for Bailey and Encarnacion...

QUOTE (SEALgep @ Dec 7, 2008 -> 09:34 PM) Isn't that guy done? I think his eye injury ended his playing days forever... Wrong Encarnacion, the Tigers/Cardinals OF.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=5904 (Encarnacion's stats) How would we get Encarnacion AND Bailey for Dye? That's crazy. It would have to be Dye and Fields and a lot of money going to Cincy.

If you add Bailey and Poreda to Danks and Floyd, we'd arguably have the best young pitching "quartet" in the game...at least major league level or within a year...it would be a toss-up with the Rays I guess. However, Kazmir is already starting to go up in salary, same thing with Edwin Jackson. Garza's sweet, and Shields is as solid as they come. Then you add in Price. Sonnanstine is the perfect 5th.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 7, 2008 -> 09:20 PM) Wow. I really didn't think this would happen after the last couple of trades. The Sox have to have another move up their sleeve, because they can't go into next year with most of their most marketable players gone. They will have a hard time selling this if they don't figure out a way to plug some other holes. And I will be really pissed off if this move was forced by Cabrera coming back to the Sox. I don't think KW would do anything without being apprised of Cabrera's decision. As mentioned, it was "completed" before the WM even started...apparently. We needed another pitcher, everyone knows that, and Bailey is a better risk than Edwin Jackson IMO. This is a trade that KW has had his eye on for a long time, and independent of the SS situation.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Dec 7, 2008 -> 09:18 PM) I was thinking that I'd be satisfied if the Sox ended up getting two of these three: Furcal, Lowe, and Dunn. Even if it's not those guys specifically, I'd hope it would be a proven major league player at those respective positions (Starter, LF/RF, and 2B/SS). Furcal and Dunn are possibilities, no way on Lowe, Burnett or Sheets.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Dec 7, 2008 -> 09:16 PM) I don't buy that. Dye was well respected in Chicago. Referring to Swisher, not JD. I knew him when he played for Macon, class act, nothing bad has ever been said about the guy.

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 7, 2008 -> 09:07 PM) If true, it pisses me off that we traded Swisher. He would have fit in LF, and put Quentin in RF. I think Ozzie told KW he wanted him gone. The fact is that Viciedo might end up a much better player, and we can sign Ibanez, Dunn, Abreu or Burrell for a reasonable contract for 2 years and hold down the fort while the prospects are coming up and maturing in AA/AAA.

QUOTE (Brian @ Dec 7, 2008 -> 09:03 PM) Best free agent signing in White Sox history. Bobby Jenks and Alexei Ramirez weren't bad either, and Loaiza. We'll have to wait and see on Mr. Viciedo.

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 7, 2008 -> 09:01 PM) You must have not watched his performances for the Reds this past season. My brother also saw him in AAA a few times this season, and was shocked at how much velocity he's lost. Didn't Bailey throw in the AFL? If he was in fact injured or throwing in pain, that would explain the velocity drop/loss. If this trade went through, it would have to be based on thorough physical exams first and also the fact that he has re-established his mid 90's fastball. Otherwise, it's too big of a risk.

Hal McCoy is a very respected baseball journalist, one of the best.

Well, Stubbs, Dickerson, Freel....we'll just have to wait and see and not judge prematurely yet. Maybe it will be Brandon Phillips and everyone will jump up and down with glee?

I would rather sign Ibanez to a 2 year deal than sign Abreu or Dunn to 3-4 year deals. That gives us more flexibility going forward. The other question mark is Pat Burrell. Essentially, they could flip Dye for Bailey and then replace Dye's RH bat with Burrell and move Quentin to RF. and maybe end up paying Burrell $2-3 million less than they were going to pay JD.

Depends if we are "subsidizing" the deal with any money going to the Reds. If so, the secondary names like Freel and Dickerson, etc., will certainly come up.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Dec 7, 2008 -> 07:13 PM) Who? The 5 guys who have about 15 MLB AB's between them? Betemit, Lillibridge, Getz, Nix I still feel the long-range plan here is Beckham, which is why you haven't seen the White Sox and Hudson connected in a single story. Which undoubtedly means his signing will be announced tomorrow in Vegas.

And converting a somewhat delicate/fragile thirtysomething player into a CFer and risking a hamstring or other injury (diving into a wall, ala Rowand), isn't the brightest idea in the world, especially at 4-5 years and $40-50 million. Lillibridge will never be the player Hudson is, but we could get something of an approximation of the same or similar results at a fraction of the cost in CF. I think that's KW's thinking on this at least.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Dec 6, 2008 -> 09:55 PM) This dude said that none of Vazquez's offspeed pitches are plus pitches, WTF? Is he talking about the same Vazquez? I realize his bad ERA may lead an uninformed person to believe that, but come on. I guess I should expect that from ESPN. These scouting reports are funny. Boone Logan tops out at 91? Okay, sure. We've seen wildly variant "top speeds" for Santos Rodriguez, from low 90's to well over mid 90's. Comparing Gilmore to Sweeney because they're both from Iowa? Dissecting Flowers' "flawed" swing, just like they were doing with Beckham before he torched the AFL? The funny part is half of these guys have never seen the particular players even play, they just regurgitate what a scout said upon watching that player at some time in the past, and it might have been only based on the observation of 1-2 games. Kind of silly.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Dec 7, 2008 -> 03:00 PM) It makes me apprehensive to sign someone whose speed is a major tool that has been injured the last two seasons (Pods) and will be in his mid-thirties for the majority of the contract. Furcal was a good signing 4 years ago, but I think that ship has sailed, and the Dodgers lack of interest should throw up a red flag, like maybe they know something that we dont. I think our leadoff hitter will come from the CF position, and it may be an acquisition for another young prospect, maybe a package of the pieces that we have acquired for a year of Chone Figgins and Peter Bourjos, Cameron Maybin, or Dexter Fowler they would all fit KW's plan to get younger, be more athletic, and improve the defense. Save the money and get a pitcher instead of spending on a big question mark like Furcal. The Fowler and Maybin trades will be announced the same day we acquire Fernando Martinez.