ILMOU

QUOTE (flavum @ Dec 19, 2013 -> 11:27 AM) Good. If Maddux is the only one, they have no choice but to change something about the process. Agreed. Even the monolith of arrogance that is the HoF will not enjoy the withering criticism that will ensue.

QUOTE (Jillian Michaels' Abs @ Dec 19, 2013 -> 11:26 AM) So who is the second lefty/loogy? If they want a 20-win improvement, they will need to replace Veal with a major league pitcher. Well, I had all but given up on Veal as well, but then he performed well at the end of last season (small sample, granted), teasing me into wanting to give him one more chance, and reminding me how good he looked when we first saw him. Leesman, I don't know if he'll ever see more than a cup-o-coffee. I'll go with Donnie. Anyway, I like the deal, as I thought we needed some veteran lefty presence in the pen. Sounds like, if he's decent, we'll have him for '15 as well, when winning may be more realistic. And, please be looking for the next stud, undervalued, Japanese reliever ala Uehara. Looking at Koji's Texas #'s, it is RIDICULOUS that he waited as long as he had to for a chance to close. Hell, even the BoSox exhausted all their other possibilities before coming to their senses. This reflects a clear velocity bias for closers, imo, and the arrogance of conventional wisdom, but I'll spare you the rant. At any rate, there are likely going to be a few aging starters or relievers in the Asian leagues every year who want to try their hand in MLB before hanging up the cleats. Let's get on top of this market.

Tank might be a guy who could really benefit from better conditioning. Not holding my breath, but would like to see a 20lbs lighter version at some point. Bound to improve his defense and baserunning.

If we're going to spend $150M, I'd rather get Choo for 7 years. This would have the added effect (benefit?) of nearly forcing a dumping of Tank, which would make some here happy. Not advocating this, BTW.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 18, 2013 -> 04:08 PM) Grandal for me. Lots of new attempts at measuring C defense have rated Rosario as either one of, or in some cases, the absolute worst defensive C in baseball. I thought he improved a bit in the 2nd half, but definitely a work in progress. Until the Morneau deal, I thought they might move him to 1B, but it seems the Rockies believe he can be adequate. The bat will play somewhere.

QUOTE (CWSpalehoseCWS @ Dec 18, 2013 -> 04:51 PM) This. My view of Viciedo has fallen after this season, but I still think he can be a productive bottom of the order hitter. No reason to trade him when he is 25 and still learning, unless you get a solid return of the same value. Plus it's not like the Sox have anyone knocking on the door as far as OF replacements go. If Thompson, Mitchell, or Walker would have broke out last year, I would be way more willing to move Viciedo, but right now he is a serviceable MLB OF'er with the potential to be more. This is a salient point. Also, we have more to gain from DV potential improvement, however remote the possibility, than anything a trade would get us at this point.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 18, 2013 -> 04:50 PM) It is, and they adamantly and frequently admit that. But it is the most accurate system that exists currently; there are fewer outliers like Javy Vazquez than exist with others. I agree it's the best we've got, for now.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 18, 2013 -> 12:59 PM) Javy Vazquez is my favorite pitcher to look at Looking at Javy's WAR numbers versus what we all saw in his performance will make one question the very concept of WAR. I happen to think the FG method overvalues/assumes luck a bit too much, and that the "truest" performance evaluation is somewhere in the middle.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 08:24 PM) In this order... Castro Lucroy Rosario Jaso Grandal Lobaton Depending on what they'd give I'd be happy with any of them. Agreed, except for Lobaton. He's never put up anything decent numberswise, and was probably used ideally by Maddon, ala Kepp. Lobaton gives us 3 backup catchers instead of 2. Thrillsville.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Dec 18, 2013 -> 11:41 AM) It makes no sense to platoon him with a 30 year old who is on the last year of his contract. Give Dayan everyday AB's in LF for at least 1/2 the season and see if he has put anything together yet. Trading him shouldn't be an option either because you would be selling pretty much at his lowest possible point. And this is coming from someone who doesn't have much hope for Dayan Well, that, and he was equally effective (ineffective) against RHP last year, so the platoon idea made a lot more sense after '12. I'm inclined to give him a full year of AB's - DeAza is the only real alternative, barring trade, and I think Levine is probably accurate on the org's distaste for ADA.

Sure, why not, but this is more in the Nieto acquisition category - we still need a C.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Dec 18, 2013 -> 08:53 AM) Hopefully a Garza-sized hole IMO. MLBTR put something out there before about an exec who wouldn't be in the bidding saying Tanaka will get over $100M. $20M posting fee + $100M or more in salary, for a guy who has never pitched in MLB and supposedly is a significant step down from Darvish? No thanks. Hot name now, but that could be one bad deal in the future. Give me Garza please on a much better deal. Sale-Garza-Quintana-Johnson-Danks going into the season, and when Beck is ready you trade Danks or Garza for a haul. Please do that Sox, and also continue to acquire prospects. Gigantic NO thanks to Garza. Still living off his '08 playoff reputation, imo, and part of the group of pitchers that consistently underperform Fip - therefore making him highly overrated until that stat falls out of favor. Oh, and he's not much of a teammate by most accounts. The window-closing desperation of the Rangers clearly increased his value last year, and I'm sure they already have huge regrets about giving up CJ Edwards for two months of the guy.

QUOTE (Jake @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 11:41 PM) Something about the White Sox, guys underperforming, and personal issues.... Yeah, I'd heard about Lexi's issues last year, but nothing about Kepp. I personally think that Lexi is more likely to bounce back (defensively), while putting up similar offensive numbers.

QUOTE (peppers312 @ Dec 17, 2013 -> 12:42 PM) i'm really hoping Garcia comes into his own this up-coming season, .290-300 AVG, .330-.350 OBP, .775-800 SLG, 20-25 HRs, 80-90 RBI i would be happy with that. That would make him more than adequate protection for "Miggy" Abreu. I have him penciled in to the 5 hole. Beckham will get until July '14 to prove himself, ONE. LAST. TIME., but NO longer. This year, we should have an at least adequate, and perhaps much better, replacement ready by then. With Paulie back on board, I think Leury HAS to be on the bench, regardless of his bat, due to defensive quality and flexibility. Semien and Carlos Sanchez start in AAA and duel for a probable Beckham replacement.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 16, 2013 -> 01:06 PM) Gillaspie makes zero sense on the bench. He can only back up 1 position. That would leave backups for DH, C, and 3b on the bench, and 1 backup covering 5 other positions. Gillaspie's LHness is nice but he's not nearly flexible enough. You may be right, I thought he had played some OF and 2B, but likely confused with someone else.

This hopefully also means the end of Kepp on the bench, Gillaspie makes much more sense, other than that little $8.5 million still owed.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Dec 16, 2013 -> 12:22 PM) I am keeping score. Hahn is doing a outstanding job IMO...........I am stoked to watch these guys develop. Sox future looking real bright. I like this trade a lot better than the Eaton trade. Like the aggressiveness - yes, the K's are a concern. Like most here, I'll evaluate RH based on the effectiveness of the players we've acquired. But, I like this one on paper. Seeing this, I'm going to be an optimist and believe there's a plan in place for a C that just hasn't happened yet.

Somewhat encouraged to see Carlos Sanchez tearing it up in the Venezuelan league after a rough AAA campaign. Perhaps, we'll have a good, healthy competition for 2nd base and SS, considering the possibilities of trades/performance between now and mid 14 season. I don't think Leury's bat will ever play well enough to be an every day player, but we'll get a real good look at him in a major utility role, given our bench situation, while Semien, Sanchez, and perhaps Micah Johnson and Elmore audition in the minors to be somebody's trading deadline replacement, likely Gordo's, imo. Agreed, we will need to get a more powerful bat in one of the non-1B IF positions.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Dec 12, 2013 -> 08:47 PM) This is true, but if the rebuilding leads to sustained success it won't matter. A problem with their rebuild is Baez can't stick at short and I don't think Bryant will stick at third. They also both have borderline K rates, not red flag K rates, but not too far away. They could both be great, but there are no guarantees.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Dec 12, 2013 -> 06:58 PM) Yeah, I envy the Cubs system, although some of it was happening prior to Hoyer coming in. So far I've loved the moves that Hoyer has done bringing in veterans on short deals and then dishing them off for a couple prospects here and there. It's an excellent plan for a rebuilding team that has some salary space to do that. It's essentially buying prospects, which is quicker than waiting for the draft every year and hoping you draft properly. It's hit and miss. They just paid Scott Baker $5.5M for nothin'. That counts too. They spent ~$3M on Maholm and turned that into Arodys Vizcaino, who hasn't seen a mound in forever. They gambled they could flip Carlos Villanueva, but he couldn't stick as a starter, and now they're stuck with a $10M bill for a 2 year middle-relief placeholder. They spent ~$3M on Feldman, turning him into Strop and Arietta, the big win in the Mighty Oz's brilliant flipping scheme.

The Winter Meetings are over, but the offseason isn't. 25 man roster not exactly set in stone at this point.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Dec 10, 2013 -> 11:29 AM) I'm still trying to figure out why everybody is so anxious to get rid of a 26 year old left handed starting pitcher who averages nearly 9K/9, has excellent runner-holding skills, is 4 years away from free agency and has a 126 ERA+ in 224 innings. QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 10, 2013 -> 11:30 AM) +10000000000000000000 X 1000000000000000000000000000000 Enhanced, for your pleasure

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Dec 10, 2013 -> 11:06 AM) No way on Quintana. That would be a huge overpay unless there's something else significant involved. Hell, Santiago is a huge overpay for Eaton. Not excited about this at all. Eaton is an extremely marginal upgrade. WTF. Uribe? Wake me up from this nightmare.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Dec 8, 2013 -> 10:06 AM) Give me Headley and Grandal Have to have a reasonable idea that an extension is viable or no dice. But hell yeah, we need the lefty bat, and maybe he'll regain some of the power he had a couple years ago, playing in our park.