Kenny Hates Prospects

Dye catches most of what he can get to. Beyond that, his range is very limited. If you want to know what a good defensive OF looks like, all you have to do is compare the Sox over the years to the Twins over the years. Bunting and choppers haven't been the only reasons for the Twins kicking our asses in the Dome.

Thanks for posting. Nice to hear something about Morel. I didn't like the pick at all at first, but I'm quickly becoming a fan of his.

QUOTE (VAfan @ Oct 4, 2009 -> 10:38 PM) Nick Johnson and Bobby Abreu. Both lefty high OBP guys. Abreu has the added benefit of still having some speed even as his age. But his defense apparently sucks, and we'd likely have Nick Johnson filling the DH slot. So, it's not perfect. But it wouldn't cost us anything in trade. My lineup would be: Beckham 3b -- yes, lead off, b/c I can't see any of our bottom 3 getting on reliably enough Abreu RF -- Could put Johnson here too, but I like Abreu's speed Quentin LF -- needs a bounce-back year offensively and defensively Johnson DH -- not a classic clean up guy, but you have to put him high enough to take advantage of his OBP Konerko 1B -- if Quentin doesn't hit like 2008, move Johnson to 3rd and Konerko to clean up AJ C -- despite his high average, why doesn't AJ drive any runs in? Pods knocked in almost as many. Ramirez SS -- I'd love to see him hit lead off some day, but he's too inconsistent Rios CF -- hopefully he'll find his bat before next year. I put him here in the speed group. Getz/Nix 2B -- Getz isn't ready to lead off yet, but if he hit as well as Pods, that's where I'd put him Of course, if Kenny wants to spend more money, then I'd go after Matt Holliday, but that's not realistic. Nor is Carl Crawford, or Prince Fielder, or Adrian Gonzalez, or Adam Dunn. I'd happily take Dunn over Johnson at DH, but I live outside DC and the word is the Nats aren't trading Dunn. He's one of the few guys they have who will draw fans to the ball park. Okay, maybe I would make a run at Dunn anyway, because he's a perfect fit at DH for the Sox. He's the power lefty we could really use. He's not that expensive. And if you got him, you could afford to go for a better defensive right fielder than Abreu. Each one of those players individually are more realistic than the Sox adding another $15-20M to the current projected 2010 payroll through free agency. This current team as it stands, minus Dotel, Betemit, Pods, Kotsay, and whoever else is a free agent, is already committed to over $70M in 2010 without counting Jenks, Danks, Quentin, Carrasco, or Pena, all of whom will get big raises in arbitration. Filling out a 25-man roster even with the same arbitration players plus minor leaguers making the minimum will put us somewhere around $90M already, possibly more. Kenny already went on his shopping spree and he'll need to clear payroll if he wants to make big FA signings. That is unless Reinsdorf somehow okays a $100M+ payroll coming off a season where the FO claimed to be hampered by poor attendance.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Oct 4, 2009 -> 10:35 PM) You know what would be both badass and implausible? Doing a Fielder trade with Danks in it, and then trading Paulie for Homer Bailey and Chris Heisey. Sadly, this is both unrealistic and rendered impossible by Joey Votto. If we get that kind of value out of Paulie I'll eat a turd. I'd love to see it, but I think it's very optimistic to imagine getting something decent for him without eating salary, let alone a package like that. At $12M/per, even if we trade him to another team and he finishes 2010 as a Type-A player, it would be doubtful Paulie gets an arbitration offer. So the team trading for him would only be trading for one year of Paulie, not one year of Paulie + draft compensation in 2011 as would be the case with other players. Plus the Reds are going to be paying Cordero for a while and they added Rolen, so I don't know how much they'll be looking to add to the payroll, if they're adding anything. Maybe the Giants or Braves could be interested, and those are two teams that may be able to take Paulie's deal on if we take back another contract or eat money. I've mentioned Paulie for Affeldt before because Affeldt has a bad 1-year deal and we'll need at least one more lefty in the bullpen (2 if Thornton becomes the closer), but I don't know who the Braves would have. The Sox never eat salary unless they're releasing somebody and they have to, as was the case with MacDougal. I would like to take a flyer on Bailey though. The only problem is he'd have to be on our team all of 2010 and going forward or else we'd lose him to waivers. He'd have to start off in the pen and then work his way into the rotation if someone became injured/ineffective.

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Oct 4, 2009 -> 08:54 PM) Read on MLBTR that Ozzie thinks Figgins will be too expensive for the Sox and there is one saying Pods is going to explore FA market. Good. Let the Angels give him 3/$36M or 4/$48M or something like that because I don't want to. I don't want Pods back as a starter either.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Oct 4, 2009 -> 08:48 PM) You want an instant smile after a disappointing season? Well just think of a full season with Jake Peavy in the rotation KW has a few holes to fill, but we are MUCH closer today than we were at the end of the 2008 playoffs. :gosox1: :gosox1: :gosox1: ^If only there weren't a limit to those things...

Don't be sad, homies. The AFL starts in only a couple of days. I REALLY hope the MLB network is planning on televising some of these contests, but I don't know because I haven't checked. But we'll still be able to follow some of our prospects, and we'll be able to see who Kenny's next trade targets are since he loves the AFL players. Through the AFL, and through October, we still get to watch playoff baseball (albeit from home as sore losers). But we'll still get to watch the Twinkies/Tigers get obliterated, and that will be fun. Personally I'm also looking forward to the Angels or Yankees beating the Red Sox. I hate those guys. The day after the WS concludes, which should be about 3 weeks from now because the AL is going to trounce the NL once again, is when players file for free agency and trading season officially begins. The Sox will have likely held some organizational meetings by then because Kenny is ready to get to work. After the short negotiation window between teams and their future free agents, free agency opens. November will be full of Sox articles. In between those the Bears and Bulls are on, so that's good. Some people like hockey too. I imagine sports like golf and tennis run year 'round, but I don't know since the last time I sat on the toilet thinking about one of those sports I still couldn't give a s***. But some people like them so that can be a type of replacement. The Winter Meetings go from December 4th-7th this year, so that's only 2 months from now. Two months is the same amount of time Josh Fields was the starting 3B, so that's not a very long time. Kenny will make a deal then and we'll get to fight each other over it. The Rule-5 draft also happens during the Winter Meetings. We probably won't pick up anyone as per usual, but we can discuss all the players we let go. I enjoy blaming the organization for things around this time of year and I'm sure others do too. About a month after the Winter Meetings are over, in early January, we'll be able to look at our 2010 team and dream about how good they're going to be. That will be fun. Plus if we still have any prospects left, and maybe we'll have new ones, we can talk about them, and rank them, and try to project them into future lineups, and all that stuff. Even more fun. A month after that, in early February, the earliest arrivals to ST will be out playing catch. Then a couple weeks later games will start, and we'll have baseball again, if only Spring Training baseball. Then, just less than 2 months before pitchers and catchers begin to report, we open at home against Cleveland. Cleveland is going to run out Carmona for game 1 (if they don't trade him, he's like 26 or something, he's probably too old to play in the pony leagues) and we all know he gets the ball up early. We'll crush him. They'll start some other crap in games 2-3, and because of our new dynamic lineup and excellent pitching staff, we'll start the season off 3-0 and in first place. So there are steps here, and it's really not that long. It's easily worth the wait, too, because we're taking this division in 2010, and not only that, but we won't even be tested until the ALCS.

QUOTE (GO CHI SOX! @ Oct 4, 2009 -> 07:01 PM) Biddle sounds good, 2 hours after the season ends and we are already focusing on the draft. lol, why not?

^I didn't see that guy on top-50 lists or anything but he sure as hell sounds like the type of player capable of moving up the boards quickly. If he's there for us in the 3rd (because if we sign a Type A we don't get a second) then I want this guy.

QUOTE (GO CHI SOX! @ Oct 4, 2009 -> 05:54 PM) I like Cole as well, Bryce Bentz would be a perfect fit, but Seth Blair would be nice as well. I guess it will depend on who the Sox feel is the best available player since they'll be drafting so high, so we can only guess about that. But I already know who it is I want in the second or third round: http://baseballbeginnings.com/2009/09/22/2...chool-pitchers/ http://www.perfectgame.org/players/playerp....aspx?ID=127889 http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/high...text=lg&c=y

QUOTE (GO CHI SOX! @ Oct 4, 2009 -> 05:44 PM) Doesnt scare me, there's no way he drops to 13th. With the Pirates now spending money on Borass clients, probably not. But if he did we still wouldn't pick him. Since we're talking about players who probably won't get to us anyway, I like the AJ Cole kid.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Oct 4, 2009 -> 05:30 PM) Realistically I can see us picking a good looking lefty pitcher (which we are lacking, though we need pitching entirely) with our pick if we find one we like. But if we pass on Ranuado if he falls to us, I'll be pissed (though I doubt he will). http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index...ame%3dmlb_draft

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Oct 4, 2009 -> 05:17 PM) Oh the Josh Field experiment. This is what bothers me about the Sox farm system. They try to grow a person into a position where a player should know how to catch a ball before they even enter the lowest level of professional baseball. The only thing it accomplishes is creating DH/below average Lamar Johnson type 1st basemen. Fields' problem is his swing. His lack of sterling defense is really unimportant if he's not going to be the power hitter the Sox envisioned, because even if he played a lock-down 3B he still wouldn't be getting playing time as a .220-.230 hitter with almost no power. If you get a guy who can hit .250+ while cranking out 30+ HR every year then you can make a spot where he does the least amount of damage to your team defensively. In hindsight, we should have traded Fields after the 2007 season, and had we done that, we would have gotten a major haul. Supposedly Fields was a centerpiece in the failed Miguel Cabrera trade where we finished as the runner-up to Detroit. Looking back on it now, we should have just shopped him elsewhere after that, but we didn't make a mistake in drafting him because he accumulated enough value to help the MLB team considerably if traded. And had we held him back because of his defensive issues then he probably would have flamed out before he even had a chance to impress in 2007.

Someone posted an interview with Laumann on the FutureSox forum and he says the Sox are going to go after pitching, pitching, and more pitching. I love to hear that. We need it. Bring in another good group of SP prospects (not signing Justin Jones hurts here) and put them behind the wave of guys going from Kanny to W-S next year, then do the same in 2011 and so on. It would be nice to get a couple college arms who could touch Kanny at the end of the season for a game or two if they sign early, because Holmberg, Heidenreich, and Upchurch will all probably start in Rookie ball next year. I dream of the day when the Sox have at least two pretty good, non-fringey SP prospects at every level from low-A to AAA.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 4, 2009 -> 05:05 PM) You don't think the Super-2 deadline on June 1 was a reason why Gordon Beckham showed up on June 3rd? I think the reason Beckham showed up when he did is because Fields was horrible. Beckham came very close to making the team out of Spring Training as our starting 2B. That last 1 week or so where he really started to slump is what hurt his chances. Maybe eligibility played a very small factor somewhere, like calling him up on June 3rd instead of May 27th or something, but I actually doubt all that. I think the Sox wanted to give Fields two months and they did that. Plus they wanted Beckham to make a stop at Charlotte since apparently Buddy Bell is pushing the idea that guys coming up from AA need to make a stop in AAA first. Every minor leaguer we've called up this year has gone through that (Beckham, Flowers, Hudson, Nunez, etc.)

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 4, 2009 -> 05:01 PM) Depends...we could potentially buy another season before he hits FA if we start him in the minors next year. Who gives a s*** about that stuff though? f*** his future arb status and all that stuff, that garbage is for penny-pinchers like the Pirates and Rays. If Hudson gives us a better chance to win in 2010 then he needs to be here, and I think he will be here unless he's traded.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 4, 2009 -> 04:16 PM) He FLEW threw our system, and when he got here, he started walking a lot of guys. I want to make sure that his control is a bit finer, personally. If we didn't have Garcia as a cheap option, I wouldn't mind Hudson starting here, but right now I think it would be better in the long run for him to get his innings. He had a couple high-walk outings in Charlotte too. It has been a long season for him and he's constantly been under the pressure that comes from promotion after promotion. You can see he's got the control, the composure, and the stuff to get it done up here. I have no lack of faith in him all. As far as getting innings, why? If he can help the 2010 Sox then isn't that better than helping the 2011 Sox? It's not like Hudson won't be able to work on things during side sessions while in the pen, and being there actually gives him an even better shot in the future because he'll get to know MLB hitters that way. Besides, it's not like Hudson can't continue to improve the consistency of his secondary stuff as a fulltime starter in 2011. It's not like he's going to lose anything in the meantime.

I love the idea of Hudson coming out of the pen. IMO he's already a better bet than Linebrink and Pena, and aside from Thornton and Bobby Jenks (if we keep him) I can't think of anyone else in our organization right now that I'd trust more out of the bullpen than Danny Hudson. The kid has a good fastball and he throws it for good strikes consistently down in the zone. If Hudson can become an above-average setup man, which I definitely think he can, then our team just got a whole lot better.

This one complements the Milton Bradley trade idea thread very well.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 3, 2009 -> 04:53 PM) Danks told teams not to draft him unless they were going to pay him first or second round money IIRC. I think it was Borass who was making those statements. Danks just plays baseball. He probably lets his agent determine how much he should be asking for. Jordan still got like $600-700K from us didn't he? Either way, Borass misjudged his client's value and it was obvious Jordan just wanted to get started playing professional baseball.

1-0 Twins in the bottom of the 6th.

I hate the Twins, but it would be great to sweep the Tigers right out of the playoffs. Go get 'em Freddy!

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 3, 2009 -> 10:31 AM) So the Sox should trade AJ, trade Konerko, trade Buerhle and just get back a bunch of prospects. Apparently there are people on this board more interested in minor league baseball than major league baseball. What did Minnesota get back for Santana? Is that what everyone wants? I prefer trying to win than having some decent minor leaguers who will bust in a couple of years. The AL Central blows. The Sox should win it every year for a while. I'd trade Paulie if we could put his $12M to better use while still filling 1B, same with Jenks. That'll be about $19M+ for those two players, so I'd definitely be in favor of an '04-'05 offseason-type makeover where we let Maggs go and traded CLee to spread the money around to other areas. Trading Buerhle and AJ is stupid though. Our starting rotation is our greatest strength and AJ is the one we've got handling it. And it would be naive to expect Flowers to just be able to handle a Major League staff as a rookie after playing his first full season as a catcher just this year, much less hit MLB pitching. Talk about setting a kid (as well as an entire organization) up for failure...

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 3, 2009 -> 04:04 PM) While that is true that D1 never said anything like that, actions speak louder than words. Actions like having both D1 and D2 dump Scott Boras right after we drafted D2. Plain and simple, that action should have strongly endeared them to us. IMO, treat them as a package. You move 1, you have to move the other in the same deal. Like it or not, developing D2 is our job. There was also the little issue about Jordan Danks being viewed as a top-100 draft prospect, and in some places even higher, but yet he fell to us in the 7th round, 210th overall. I think even if we don't draft Jordan and someone else does, Scott Borass still gets kicked to the curb. Jordan was DEFINITELY a first day talent and they were shocked to see him still sitting there on the board at the end of it. I believe they went 6 rounds the first day that year, and then with the 8th pick of the second day the Sox took him after the Danks family notified teams they were dropping Borass. If the Sox don't take him in the 7th round he's gone before they pick again in the 8th IMO.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 3, 2009 -> 03:53 PM) If it wasn't for Boras...then going after a guy like Fielder is exactly the sort of surprise move that KW always seems to pull out of his hat. He'll ask about Gonzalez but there's just no reason for the Pads to move him right now unless you overwhelm them. That basically means Beckham has to be involved. Fielder though, he's just about to be expensive enough that the Brewers might move him for less than Beckham. There's just the whole Boras thing. Agree on Prince. He makes sense for a lot of teams, but the agent issue is a huge one for us. I think the Padres will move Adrian. It doesn't make sense for them not to. I've read that some in the Padres organization believe they may be able to compete next year, but I can't see that as a reality. There's just no way, the Padres have way too many holes and their young pitching is just starting to come in now, but they're not ready. Trading Gonzalez would really help that club out as far as 2010 goes. If they let Gonzalez walk they'll get 2 picks in 2012 that likely won't see the Majors until 2014-15. If they deal Gonzalez now they can get a host of players who will see the Majors, if not start, in 2010. I mean, where would you rather be come September 2011 if you were the Padres? Would you rather have a few guys ready to contend as part of your new core while you watch your best player leave, or would you rather have almost a whole team ready to contend the following season? If they dealt with us for example, Flowers would be their C, Retherford/Nix/Getz could start over Eckstein right now, Viciedo would be up midseason 2010, Hudson would help anchor their rotation behind Matt Latos while Chris Young gets healthy, Nate Jones could try to fill out their closer spot midseason when they trade Heath Bell, Jordan Danks would probably be up by midseason if he's healthy, etc. It would probably take that much talent, and in their shoes, I make that deal yesterday provided its the best offer. And I'd definitely make that deal from the Sox point of view because I want to see us get back to the Series.