bear_brian

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 27, 2016 -> 09:38 AM) Here's Desmond's 2015 numbers: DRS 1, UZR -3.7, RngR 4.5 according to fangraphs http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playe...amp;position=SS BR has Desmond's RF/9 4.26 and RF/G 4.15 http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/desmoia01.shtml Interestingly enough Desmond had 18 fielding errors and 9 throwing errors in '15. I wonder if his extended range led to more errors since his range enabled him to get to more balls that would have been base hits for the average range SS. Anyway you cut it, this guy made 27 errors last year and 24 the year before that. Alexei made 16 last year, just for comparison. He is not a reliable defender, and therefore not what we need to resolve our problem. More and more I am beginning to believe that either Ethier or Jay Bruce is the best available OF answer, and we stick with Saladino at SS. And that is assuming that : a) we get the Dodgers to eat some money for Ethier; and b) we give up the likes of no more than a Guerrero or Phillips. We could keep Avi to platoon DH with LaRoche.

I just don't see Desmond as a good answer for us. He is not good defensively, struggled offensively last year, and made $11M last year so is probably unwilling to take a giant salary hit even on a short-term deal. He reminds me in some respects of "Joe Love", and although we need offense, I do not think we can afford to have a poor defensive SS. Plus, he costs us a draft pick.

The more I think about all of our needs, the more my head hurts! If we agree that Avi needs to replaced to get a better defensive right fielder and one with more power - and preferably a LH hitter - then it would seem that the best available choice would be Jay Bruce. I know he has not done well the last couple of years, but he still hits for power, is only 29, and is far better than Avi defensively.

QUOTE (LDF @ Jan 25, 2016 -> 11:19 AM) dang, it is not going to be enuf, even if the yanks are doing a salary dump. i would hope to give offer EJ, Beck and Davidson.... power hitter in the yanks park, that might be enticing. We may disagree on Eric Johnson's potential, but who would replace him if we make that type of trade? Gardner makes over $13M this year, and is 32 years old. He is a nice player, but does not seem worth that kind of deal.

Is there any possibility that this signing is a prelude to a trade? Before signing Albers, the Sox had Jones, Jennings (or Phillips), Putnam, Duke, Petricka and Robertson, with either Jacob Turner or Scott Carroll in the spot start/long relief role. Adding Albers seems to make one of those others expendable ...

Does Mike Rizzo (GM of the Nationals) think that Williams and Hahn are just too stupid? First he dangles Adam Dunn out to Kenny, who trades for Edwin Jackson, only to find out that Rizzo doesn't want Jackson. then, after Dunn becomes a FA, we sign him and watch a lot of futility, followed by our next free agent ex-Nat Adam LaRoche. And now they swoop in seemingly last minute to take Cespedes off of the market and out of our hands. Wow, maybe we should hire Rizzo - just like we should have hired Dombrowski ...

QUOTE (Saufley @ Jan 17, 2016 -> 08:12 AM) I like your post. I have said it before and will say it again. After acquiring Lawrie and Frazier, for the next two years, the future is now! Amen to that sentiment - either the Sox are "all in" or they need to strip out anyone making more than the minimum and totally rebuild the team. The arguments about "over budget" are all crap. The money is there, period. If the issue is total unreasonableness from his agent - six years or nothing - that is one thing. But if we lose this guy because we would not budge from the artificially created three year maximum contract, then shame on us. As to the comments about his character: would it not be extremely helpful to him to be playing alongside a friend and fellow countryman who has an outstanding attitude and work ethic? Where Renteria can also provide support? I guess my frustration is starting to show. We need one more power bat in our lineup, and he is probably the best solution.

Although Fowler has his warts, he does bring a high OBP, speed, switch hitting (would be the 4th for the Sox), and some ability (certainly more than Garcia) to play adequate defense in any OF position. It really huts to be giving up a pick for him, but if they could combine a Fowler acquisition with a RH starter, then we would be substantially better than last year, and would certainly be able to contend within the division. Maybe I am just rationalizing at this point ...

I thought we were looking for a power hitting OF. The only way Fowler makes some sense is if we are also doing a deal with Desmond to provide more power in the infield at SS. And am not sure that Desmond does anything for us defensively. As I am unsure what Fowler does for us defensively in CF. What a let down ...

QUOTE (CyAcosta41 @ Dec 24, 2015 -> 10:39 AM) Good info. Thanks. Without stirring up the too frequent crap you take about the "Royals fan" thing, your specific info simply buttresses what the industry wide feeling seems to be about the Royals. They love Gordon; they'll pony-up (to a point); but there's only so far they're going to go, given his age, and given their overall situation. Put simply, they have bigger fish to fry. That's why there is something of a unique opportunity here. The Sox (or someone) can swoop in, better the in-house offer by a significant margin, while still getting an excellent all-around player at something close to the market-price for his WAR. Yes, they'll pay a premium above the Royals price. Fine. Pay it. He'll still be a relative bargain (even if you have to go 5 years -- if it makes you feel better, think of it internally as the first 4 years of the 5 year deal at the higher 4 year price, invest the savings, and the 5th year price for a diminished performer somehow is less offensive to our delicate sensibilities). I say go for it. Market inefficiency there to be exploited. And it's all the better because Gordon's overall basket of skills is better for what THIS team, OUR team, needs. Maybe not the high ceiling in one or two categories that Upton or Cespedes might provide, but strong scores in so many areas. I'm here many years as Cy Acosta and have only posted ~150 times (lurked from 2002/2003 with no account as well). Don't post that often because (a) I prefer reading other's opinions, and (b) I generally only offer my opinion if it's something I feel strongly about. I'm not going to keep flogging this horse, you know. It's personal opinion, armchair GM'ing. If I were Hahn, I'd do X. Well, allowing for the factor that RH certainly has access to a lot of hard info that I'm not privy to that might better inform his subjective opinion, I know that if I were Sox GM, I'm all about locking-up the all-around player Gordon -- reaping the benefit of his defense, left-handedness, all-around strong offensive game, fire on the field, supposed quality in the clubhouse -- then pocketing the savings over an Upton or Cespedes signing for more moves later this year or next year. Well said. I would still like Cespedes because of his power, but Gordon does indeed bring a lot to the table. And you cannot discount the fire and clubhouse presence with WS experience.

I get the feeling that it will take a minimum of $18M AAV to sign Gordon, and probably (although not as certain about this) a 5-year deal.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Dec 23, 2015 -> 09:26 AM) Hey "Bear Brian", to your point: I remember that it was about the time that the Sox were desperate for a decent bat, to hit behind Abreu, that they moved Melky to the middle of the order, and he took off. He is a good run producer, and although he won't hit many homers, he could indeed bat between Jose and Frazier, if the Sox acquire Gordon and put his good OBP in the 2 hole. In any case, I will be very disappointed if the Sox start the season with La Roche in the middle of the order. I would be an advocate for your position, if he were the only other LH bat, besides Melky. I'd rather see them have 6 right handed hitters in a row, than put La Roche in the middle of that lineup. La Roche has to be in the bottom third of the lineup, if at all. I do not disagree with you at all regarding the usefulness of a LH bat in the middle of the order. I just do not think that Gordon has shown he is comfortable there. Ideally (but doubtful) having the pre-2015 Adam LaRoche would be ideal. Failing that I think, if we do get Gordon, that Frazier behind Abreu (with Eaton and Gordon 1-2) and Melky 5th would work just fine.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 23, 2015 -> 08:34 AM) Didn't the 2005 white sox bat Carl Everett 3rd most of the season to break up their righties in the upper part of the order? Everett had career OPS of around .800 hitting either 3rd or 4th. My point is not that we would not want to use a LH to break up the lineup. It is that Gordon is not that guy and therefore the rationale for acquiring him should not be that, but rather that he could give us OBP at the top of the lineup.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Dec 23, 2015 -> 08:14 AM) Hahn already tipped his intentions to rid the roster of La Roche. A willingness to eat 3/4 of his remaining contract is a pretty strong indication that they want him gone. It also appears that they are not ready to give up on Avi. If they can clear the DH spot for Melky, then it makes sense that they would acquire Gordon. He would take Melky's place in LF and Avi would stay in RF. It helps the lineup, as Melky is probably the best 2 hole hitter on the roster. But if he hits second, and La Roche is gone, they have no LH bats to break up the 3 through 7 hitters. Gordon provides that, and balances the line up. He also adds the OBP that Cespedes doesn't, and will require fewer years and less money than Upton, or Cespedes. I see the lineup vs. RHP like this: CF Eaton DH Melky 1B Abreu LF Gordon 3B Frazier 2B Lawrie RF Avi C Avila SS Saladino Like it, or not, I think that's what is coming. In Gordon's career he has an OPS of .653 and a career BA of .226 hitting 4th. He is not a cleanup hitter. Sometimes the feeling that you HAVE to have a balanced lineup just does not work. I will again go back to the 2005 Sox, where the majority of that lineup was RH. Unless we trade for CarGo (doubtful), I think Cespedes is the best alternative, since he can play RF and has legitimate power. That does leave Melky in LF (not good) but moves Avi out. I believe they also will keep LaRoche and hope for a bounceback - there is your LH bat.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Dec 16, 2015 -> 03:23 PM) I don't think we see a Cespedes or Upton move. More like a LH OF who isn't terrible defensively along the lines of Parra, Inciarte, Corey Dickerson. The team would be terribly right handed with Cespedes or Upton. Actuually Cespedes hits righties pretty good. Maybe don't need a lefty if we get him and his OF D is considered good, though I'm not convinced of it. I'd like the OF to be a core piece but Sox running low on bullets unless they go for Parra who is a free agent. I wanted to agree with your point about all of the RH hitters, until I remembered 2005. We had Konerko, Dye, Crede, Rowand, Iguchi, Uribe as every day RH players, and we also had Frank until he was hurt. That left us with AJ, Pods and Everett as our LH's. If we picked up Upton or Cespedes, we would have Eaton, Melky, LaRoche and one of the catchers as our LH's. Perhaps too much at times is made out of the platoon. I think it might be as important to get good OF defense.

Last week, after acquiring Lawrie, heard the Oakland beat writer talk about him. She said that she thinks 2B is his best position, that he can really do well there. Says his defense was impacted by being moved around so much.

who would you rather have?? Saladino and Sanchez or Frazier and Lawrie in your lineup????

QUOTE (Knuckles @ Dec 16, 2015 -> 11:45 AM) Jeff Feyerer ‏@jfey5 This move is so White Sox. Most similar batter to Todd Frazier through age 29 via @baseball_ref Joe Crede 25 retweets 22 likes Reply Also: Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista.

If we are going to go "all in", then I would think that signing Justin Upton to replace Avi in RF, and figuring out how to trade for Todd Frazier makes the most sense. It does not get us the big LH hitter, but we did not have that hitter in 2005 (unless you want to count Carl Everett). It does give us a much more productive lineup with better defense than last year. Yeah, we still have to keep LaRoche - but it is quite possible that he bounces back, at which point we have a very productive bunch of power hitters. The downside is obvious - sacrificing the rebuild for questionable short-term success. But we do have the starters to make that possible.

Was listening the ESPN1000 Fred Huebner's show today. His partner - whose name I did not catch - is an avowed Cub fan. the conversation was about the Sox, and what they should be doing to improve their team. At one point Huebner's partner offered up the idea that the Sox "would jump" at a Cub offer of Baez and Soler for Quintana and Eaton; though he then said the Cubs "would never consider" such a deal. I almost drove off of the road. In my mind, that thinking epitomizes many Cub fans. They are beginning to believe the hype. There is no way, at least IMO, that the Sox would be interested in that sort of deal. It certainly undersells Quintana's value, and almost disregards Eaton. Just thought I would share.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Dec 12, 2015 -> 12:26 PM) Sign OF Justin Upton 6 years/128 million Trade 1B Adam LaRoche (eat 8 million), OF Avisail Garcia, SP Frankie Montas, 2B Micah Johnson, and SP Jordan Guerrero to the Rockies for OF Carlos Gonzalez and 2B D.J Lemahieu Trade RP Zach Putnam to the Diamondbacks for their competitive B draft pick Lineup: CF Adam Eaton (L) 2B DJ Lemahieu 1B Jose Abreu LF Carlos Gonzalez (L) RF Justin Upton DH Melky Cabrera (S) 3B Brett Lawrie C Alex Avila (L)/Dioner Navarro (S) SS Tyler Saladino Bench: 2B/SS Carlos Sanchez, OF J.B Shuck, C Alex Avila (L)/Dioner Navarro (S), 1B/3B Mike Olt Rotation/Bullpen: SP Chris Sale (L) SP Jose Quintana (L) SP Carlos Rodon (L) SP Erik Johnson SP John Danks (L) RP Jacob Turner (long man) RP Jake Petricka RP Dan Jennings (L) RP Tommy Kahnle RP Zach Duke (L) RP Nate Jones CP David Robertson Thoughts? It's a far-fetched dream, but would make us a play-off team, with a power-filled and balanced lineup, good defense throughout and keeping all of our pitching The problem is it would put our payroll obligations up where I don't believe Uncle Jerry would approve. And therein lies the problem ...

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Dec 12, 2015 -> 12:31 PM) ^^^ I like that plan, but I don't understand the purpose of the Putnam trade and I really have no interest in LeMahieu. LeMahieu was an All-Star last year, and hit .289 on the road. He is very good defensively and appears he would be an improvement over Sanchez.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 12, 2015 -> 10:28 AM) With the Cubs getting Heyward, the Sox may need to expand the payroll a bit and add a big piece or two for the fanbase to have any interest in this team. I know it's very early, but it's incredibly frustrating watching us hang in the middle (small moves that make us appear like we're trying). If this ownership group isn't willing to spend what it takes to make this team competitive, then we trade off valuable assets and go the rebuilding route. Watching the Cubs continue to make our beloved team less and less relevant in heart of Chicagoans is getting painful. I think over the next four weeks we should get a better sense if the organization has a real short-term direction or if they'r simply continuing to roll the dice with small-scale moves. Agree with the frustration. The Sox continue to pay for the Danks contract ($15.8M this year) and the apparent LaRoche mistake ($13M this year), plus apparently misjudging Avi Garcia's overall ability, as well as Matt Davidson's. I tend to agree with the total rebuild idea, but this FO is deathly afraid of a precipitous drop in attendance if they go that route, which the blindly loyal Cub base never exercised as Theo went about his business. My hope is that they figure out a trade for Frazier, spend the bucks to get either Upton or Cespedes, and then hope that team with good pitching can get them into the play-off picturein 2016, with Tim Anderson, Carson Fulmer and possibly Adam Engel ready to step into the picture in 2017, with Danks and LaRoche gone.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Dec 9, 2015 -> 06:09 PM) A lineup with Frazier & Upton & a trade of LaRoche while eating some money LF Eaton (L) DH Cabrera (S) 1B Abreu RF Upton 3B Frazier C Navarro/Avila (S) (L) CF Thompson 2B Sanchez SS Saladino If we only knew that Laroche would bounce back - to at least 20+ HR's - he would make that lineup more balanced with the addition of a LH power bat. Probably just more wishful thinking, though ...

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Dec 9, 2015 -> 06:02 PM) If you trade Anderson to get Frazier. Sox MUST SIGN Upton. Totally agree - or Cespedes or trade for CarGo. Frazier by himself does not do enough to warrant losing top prospects. Frazier and Upton - assuming we don't lose any of our starting pitchers - would allow us to compete.