Kenny Hates Prospects

QUOTE (balfanman @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 12:18 PM) Wasn't Marquez injured most of last season? I would not be suprised, due to K. W.'s comments on him last season, that K. W. sees Marquez as a strong candidate for long relief next season. This would free up Carasco for the later innings. I really don't think Carrasco has the stuff to work as a setup guy. His main value comes in being able to work 3-4 innings while only giving up a run or two, saving the bullpen and keeping us in the game if the offense makes a comeback. If Hudson is still here I expect Hudson to take that setup role and perform rather awesomely. Marquez must still be someone the Sox like. If he does get healthy and stay healthy IMO he's better than Torres at least, but the health question is a big one, and on top of that, cracking the Sox rotation would pretty much be a pipedream for him. I'm sure he does have a shot a LR though, but again, that's Carrasco's duty for now.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 12:20 PM) Santo Luis, but no Shelby? Goofy if you ask me. No surprise with Gartrell though, I didn't know what people were talking about not protecting him. Sox are high on him, it seems. Luis would have been a pretty good candidate to be selected. First, he's eligible for the MiLB IIRC, so if he makes it through the MLB phase - which is no guarantee because when you touch 100mph teams like you - then he'd definitely be selected to someone's MiLB team. He'd be as good as gone basically. Edit: Actually I take that back, Luis could have been placed on the 37-player AA reserve list to protect him from the MiLB phase. But there's still a good chance he'd get selected in the MLB phase as his arm, even for a brief look, is worth the claim fee. If he had been left off and then claimed he would be a likely return candidate though given his lack of control. So maybe they could have kept him in the organization then.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 12:03 PM) Yeah a team like them or the Nationals I could see doing that. I don't necessarily agree with it, but that must have been their assumption. Either that or they have no faith in him ever becoming a regular major league baseball player It's probably a bit of both. Shelby has enough right now with his speed and ability to play multiple OF positions to stick around long enough as an extra on a bad team. I'm just surprised the Sox didn't go with the talent factor here. How many fringe starting pitchers do we need? We've got Ely pretty close. Harrell and Shirek both have higher ceilings and they're not too far away. Hynick is another fringe guy who is close, and in an emergency situation Carrasco is here. Things would have to go very wrong for us to need any of those guys, and if that did happen, we'd be looking for a short-term solution through the trade market anyway and would only need to rely on our guys for a couple of starts. I just don't get it. A guy like Marquez or Torres probably isn't going to end up getting a real shot on this club anyway, and I'd rather let one of those guys go just to give Shelby another chance in the minors next year. Maybe Shelby never turns out, but on talent alone he's a far better prospect than those guys.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 11:51 AM) I bet they just feel there's no team willing to select him and have him on their major roster all year next year. Say hello to your new Oakland A's 4th/5th OF!

JPN is going to be pissed about Marrero not being on there. I too am irked about Shelby. Why not just outright Marquez and Armstrong or Torres? Hynick being added is another 5th/6th starter type and Ely isn't that far away, so we don't need to keep all these fringe guys around. I understand Luis and Santos, but Omogrosso is also confusing. How can you keep a player on your roster if he's not even throwing the baseball?

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 11:37 AM) God, i hope Nix sticks around. I've been tooting his horn for so long, i see so much potential left in him, i would of loved to of seen what he could have done off the bench for us this year. Well he wasn't going to get many opportunities this year with Teahen-Alexei-Beckham 3rd to 1st, so he should end up getting more playing elsewhere then. If Kenny can't get anything for him then the Sox should keep him around to battle for a spot in ST.

QUOTE (Paint it Black @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 11:26 AM) This is just an awful signing if it happens. The "teaching our guys" argument is just another way to say "there is no use for him." Seriously people, Alexei is 27, just about at any defensive "peak" he has. Awful signing, you can't convince me otherwise. Yeah I know, when players hit Alexei's age it becomes difficult for them to stop making mental mistakes. Helpful advice becomes both completely unnecessary and an expensive waste of time.

QUOTE (docsox24 @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 11:23 AM) Personally I have never seen him play live. I am just passing on some inside info I have that he will be moved. They haven't given up hope yet on him at 3b but the consensus is he will be at 1b. They put him on a new diet plan and are working on his conditioning, so I imagine they'll try that first. His bat is a lot more valuable at 3B so they should make every effort to keep him there. With Teahen here they've got at least another year to work with if they start Morel in AA and Viciedo in AAA.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 11:15 AM) Or maybe KW has a trade in place where either NIx or Alexei are on their way out. Or maybe Paulie (praying) and Vizquel is also going to help fill the veteran leadership role? Nix I think will be traded because he's not getting 2B back and this is a sign that they don't think he can handle SS either. Retherford is already an option at backup for 2B and 3B, so Nix is out of the picture now IMO. But Alexei is here to stay.

QUOTE (Paint it Black @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 11:08 AM) The irony that your soxtalk handle is "Kenny Hates Prospects" yet the fact that you like Vizquel coming to the Sox just made my head explode. Omar isn't much of a hitter anymore but he can still play SS better than Jayson Nix. Plus he'll be a great guy to keep in the clubhouse and hopefully another IF instructor as well. Great, smart move by Kenny.

Yeah I'm in no way buying any of this Morel > Viciedo stuff. If that's how other teams view Morel then trade him right now. Dayan is being underrated.

I absolutely love this move. Bye bye, Nix.

I don't know how accurate this is because I don't know if they're counting cash received back in trades, but Cot's has our payroll numbers for the last few seasons as: 2009: $ 96,068,500 2008: $121,189,332 2007: $108,671,833 2006: $102,750,667 So we have been up over the $100M mark before, and if we do some serious winning over the next couple of years I could see it going up to those amounts again if not higher. We could still end up around $95-100M in 2010, and while some of our players will be getting nice raises, we'll also be shedding some significant salary over the next couple of years. Adrian at least offers high production at a minimal salary for the next two years, and after that, who knows? Maybe we try to extend him, maybe we don't. You never know who is going to do what in the postseason, but Adrian is a bat that would definitely help get us there for the next two years, and once we get in, our rotation is going to be very tough to beat.

QUOTE (knightni @ Nov 19, 2009 -> 07:16 PM) Wood/GMJ/Hudson/Flowers to Pads maybe. I've mentioned this basic idea before and I think it makes some sense. Konerko to the Angels Angels prospects + GMJ + cash in 2011 to the Padres Sox prospects + Sox send cash for GMJ's 2010 contract to the Padres Gonzalez to the Sox The Angels basically swap GMJ with Konerko (nearly equal 2010 contracts) and they send prospects to the Padres because the Sox eat a portion of GMJ's 2010 salary. The Angels don't take a payroll hit in 2010 so they can still work with the same amount they have now, except now their DH hole has been filled with a guy who can sub for Morales when Morales needs a rest. The Angels eat significant cash in 2011 just as they would have to do anyway. The Sox pay a significant part of GMJ's deal (let's say $8M) in 2010. Because they moved $4M extra in Konerko, they get Gonzalez for the same price they're paying Paulie. This doesn't cut salary, but it saves the Sox from giving up more prospects because they're essentially buying $8M worth of prospects from the Angels and sending them to the Padres. The Padres move Adrian and get back GMJ on a nice contract plus other prospects as well.

I'd do Linebrink for Lowe + Heyward/Hanson. As unrealistic as that is, that's about what the Braves should have to offer to get somebody else to take on Lowe's horrendous contract. Whoever said he's not much better than Freddy, I disagree. If Freddy is healthy Freddy is a s*** ton better, and younger, and a ton cheaper. Freddy actually has value. The Braves should try to get Helton for Lowe since they need a 1B. Helton: 10:$16.6M/year, 11:$19.1M, 12:$23M club option ($4.6M buyout); guaranteed $40.3M through 2011 Lowe: 10:$15M, 11:$15M, 12:$15M; guaranteed $45M through 2012 Then the Braves could dump Kawakami and use that money to pay for a reliever.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 19, 2009 -> 04:49 PM) Hell, we could really use a lefty. When the list of available Rule-5 guys comes out I think our org will be scouring it for lefties. Of course the same thing applies to almost every other org in baseball, but still, we may actually pick someone up this time around.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 19, 2009 -> 11:46 AM) I felt the news we heard from our source put an end to the conjecture and at least linked the teams to discussions. I personally see Gonzalez as a great fit for a club with a budgeted payroll of 115-120M and since the Sox don't fit in that camp I think it would be hard to come up with a Gonzalez deal that makes sense (since you'd lose him in 2 years). I realize Gonzalez contract is cheap, but even if you acquire him you still have significant holes to fill and an extension to try and figure out, plus you know your going to have to eventually pay Quentin and Danks. Two years is a long time. If we win a World Series in one of those years then everything else is secondary, and BTW according to Cot's Baseball Contracts, the Sox bumped up payroll by $27M after winning in 2005. So IF we were to win it all, or even make a major run where we made the Series, it's not impossible that the Sox could look for some kind of extension. As for raises to arb-eligible players, that all depends on what happens this offseason as far as possible extensions, and the Sox do get help when Konerko's deal expires. Adrian just makes it easier to pay our arb-eligible players because he only makes $5.5M in 2011. I also disagree with having too many other holes to fill. If we deal for Gonzalez then our big lefty bat need has been met, plus we improve defensively as well. Konerko becomes a DH, so that hole is filled, unless we deal Konerko which would be even better because we'd save money and could target a cheaper DH. The only holes left if we got Adrian is a RF and another bullpen lefty, but having Rios and Williams eases the difficulty of those moves. Williams could potentially work as a lefty specialist with the Sox bringing in other options to compete with him in ST, and with Rios capable of playing a strong RF, we could also target a CF on the cheap (Coco Crisp?). Adrian fills our most glaring need and if we can get that then the other pieces can fall into place a bit easier. QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 19, 2009 -> 11:46 AM) If the club could move Jenks, Konerko, Linebrink it would be another story but that will be incredibly difficult to do (especially in the case of Linebrink). Well, maybe not difficult to trade them, but to get value back equal to there value with the Sox would be difficult (in the case of Jenks/Paulie). I still think the Sox would dump both Paulie and Linebrink for nothing if they could ditch those salaries. Since the Sox typically do not eat cash I'd say both of those guys will be incredibly difficult to move unless another bad contract is taken on in the process.

Jose Aldo is a mean motherf***er. What's so scary is that he's a BJJ blackbelt and he doesn't even have to use it. The guy's takedown defense is awesome and he's a ferocious striker. He's also a 135lb fighter if he wants to be, but he felt like going up to 145. What a beast. The next couple WEC mega fights should be Aldo-Faber, Torres-Bowles II, and then after that it might be time to start thinking about Aldo making a run at 135 too. Sucks about Karo because that Karo-Hazelett fight was the one I was most looking forward too of any on the card. It's no surprise about the release though because Karo has pulled all kinds of s*** in the past. He has panic attacks and freaks out. I hope he gets some help, gets on a nice streak, and then finds his way back to the UFC because he's a great fighter and he's always exciting. Plus you don't see too many sweet judo throws in MMA as it is.

The 40-man is at 32 right now and that includes both Cole Armstrong and Jeff Marquez. The Sox can add a few players and if they need more room later it won't be a problem. Marrero, Shelby, and Gartrell should be on there. There are a couple others I'd like to protect but forgot.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 19, 2009 -> 02:55 PM) If you had seen much of Honel in the minors, he really only had one plus pitch. The knuckle-curve he threw was extordinary, but his fastball wasn't a plus pitch and his change-up was solid. BA advertised him having a plus fastball, but the reality is he was a one pitch starter with a mediocre fastball that he didn't spot that well. He also got hurt. I believe people expected him to add velocity as he filled out, but it just wasn't the case. I remember one summer when he was being super hyped BA was talking a bout him sitting in the mid 90's, I go watch him pitch and he's throwing in the upper 80's, while ocassionally hitting 90/91. Oh, I just read about him. Didn't actually get to watch him. I remember there was quite a bit of hype though, especially since he was a local product.

There was another thread here that NSS posted which had the full list plus updates by JPN and others of guys who were gone. I tried searching for the link but it looks like it went down the memory hole.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Nov 19, 2009 -> 02:42 PM) I'm very interested in seeing if Kyle McCulloch gets claimed. I think he will on 1st-round pedigree alone, but by whom? I doubt it. He's not worth the roster spot for any team, especially one that is bad enough to even think about playing him.

QUOTE (docsox24 @ Nov 19, 2009 -> 02:24 PM) Sick upside are two of my favorite words!! At least we have come a long way from the no upside picks of Kyle McCullough, Lance Broadway, Royce Ring, Kris Honel. I hated those days. Honel had terrific upside but he got hurt. I pretty much agree with the rest though. I never liked Broadway or McCulloch and I generally don't like the idea of taking a closer prospect in the first round unless the FO thinks he'll work as a starter.

That's a pretty good list, but I think Jones and Santeliz should swap spots and Ely and Nunez probably shouldn't be on there since it looks like he's mostly going for upside above anything else.

What's Cowley's email address? I'm a blogger too and I'm mad as hell!!!!!