Chicago White Sox

https://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/top-...pfgzrHUro9iD.97 The Sox with only five top 100 prospects: 4. Jimenez 11. Kopech 57. Hansen 58. Robert 82. Dunning I’m actually shocked by how low Robert is ranked and somewhat surprised about Hansen.

QUOTE (ChiliIrishHammock24 @ Jan 22, 2018 -> 01:06 AM) Hahn only gets that deal done with Cashman and Stearn' families tied up for ransom. Let me ask you this. What is the value of taking on a player with $40M to $50M in negative surplus value? I know Fangraphs speculated a guy like Clint Frazier would be the appropriate cost to take on Ellsbury’s contract. To me that’s a theoretical cost based on a simple surplus value analysis and does not account for the premium another team would want to help the Yankees out. I’ll admit Andujar is probably too big of a second piece, but given that Chance Adams is a slightly worse prospect than Frazier IMO, I would expect the Yankees to include another prospect in their 10 to 20 range. The next question is why would the Yankees actually do this? What if they can use the Ellsbury savings to add a SP like Darvish while staying under the luxury tax threshold this coming season? Look, I’m skeptical too that the Yankees would trade talent to dump a contract, but the luxury tax concerns are a real issue for them and they want to be in the best financial position for the 2018/19 free agent class. There’s definitely some logic here, especially if Darvish comes at a bit of a discount.

QUOTE (ChiliIrishHammock24 @ Jan 22, 2018 -> 01:13 AM) My random speculation is a prospect swap of Brinson for Hansen + Fulmer. Or maybe Cease, Fulmer, and Mendick, or some variation of us getting Brinson in exchange for pitching prospects. Milwaukee is looking for a SP & 2B that can help them right now. That’s why someone like Chance Adams might be of interest to them. I think Fulmer is simply too risky at the moment after his minor league struggles last year. And Carlos Sanchez makes a ton of sense for them at 2B. Cheap, versatile, and under control for four more seasons. He’s a perfect transition to Hiura and can shifter over to 3B/SS once he’s ready. Also, filling two big needs with very affordable options allows them to go buy a free agent like Cain to add certainty to their lineup. I think there is plenty of logic here for the Brewers. Whether they think that’s worth Brinson is another story. He didn’t exactly light the world on fire in his first major league stint, so who really knows how they feel about him. The kid obviously has loud tools, but perhaps they don’t want to endure his growing pains as they gun for a playoff spot next year and would prefer veteran in CF like Cain.

White Sox Dave just posted he’s unaware of any trade talks between the Sox & Brewers.

Taking on Ellsbury contact is simply buying a prospect. We just spent $50M for Robert. What would you pay for a major league prospect with star upside? If it fills a need we won’t have to address in free agency, then the financial implications are somewhat negated. Plus we should have tons of payroll space in the next three seasons anyways. The thing I want to know is if we did acquire Ellsbury, do we actually play him in CF and hope to offset some cost down the road or do we simply cut him right away. He does have a no trade clause so I could them cutting him being a requirement for any deal.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 08:21 PM) Highly doubt they would need to trade Brinson just to dump salary. Whatever our part in this I’m going to guess it’s a lot less sexy and minor. And FWIW is take a flyer on Broxton. His 2016 was good. Rather give his power a try then whatever Tilson would be. The trade I’m proposing from the Brewers’ perspective would basically be Brinson for Chance Adams & Carlos Sanchez. It wouldn’t be about dumping salary, as the Sox would always be the ultimate ending place for Ellsbury contract.

I know it’s all speculation right now, but if you connect all the dots this actually makes sense: 1) Brewers sign Lorenzo Cain to discounted deal to play CF 2) Brewers take on Ellsbury’s contract in exchange for Chance Adams + second high end prospect 3) Brewers trade Brinson, other prospects, & Ellsbury to Sox for Carlos Sanchez These moves in aggregate make the Brewers a lot better IMO. Also, I’ll repeat it but I find it very interesting that the Sox & Sanchez haven’t come to a salary agreement yet over $300k. Just seems like a completely immaterial amount to not be able to find a happy median with.

Another update from the Brewers insider:

An alleged insider on a Brewers fan forum had this to say about an imminent trade:

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 07:09 PM) Brewers need to be subtracting outfielders, not adding them. They also have no reason to dump Broxton at his lowest possible value. Santana's the only one they might be able to get a decent return on, at the moment. Brinson's definitely not going anywhere. The MLBtraderumors article says they’d like to sign Cain for CF. If true, I could definitely see Brinson moved.

The only way I can see Ellsbury being involved if it’s a three way deal with us. This would be a crazy ass trade but makes some sense for all teams. Brewers -Trade: Brinson, Diaz -Receive: Sanchez, Adams Yankees -Trade: Ellsbury, Adams, Andujar -Receive: Low level C prospect White Sox -Trade: Sanchez, low level C prospect -Receive: Ellsbury, Brinson, Andujar, Diaz

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 05:55 PM) Eric Hubbs‏ @BarstoolHubbs A little birdy told me Jacoby Ellsbury is heading to Milwaukee. Nothing definitive yet, but keep your ears peeled. I'll believe anything at this point I call BS. The only Barstool guy I trust is Dave at this point. Carl’s Darvish “leak” was an epic failure. And why the f*** would the Brewers take on that salary exactly? They’d have to be getting Glaybar Torres back.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 05:36 PM) Abreu What do they do with Thames then? Doesn’t make a ton sense IMO.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 05:41 PM) Avi. They really don't have a glut of outfielders like their fans claim. All I see are Braun, Brinson, Santana, Phillips, and Broxton (who isn't really an MLB caliber OF). If 4 outfielders is a glut, then I guess every team has a glut. I could see something involving Avi with us taking Phillips back, or perhaps even taking Braun's contract off their hands for additional prospects. The Brewers have a ton of OF depth and aren’t trading for Avi. They want to move one of their OFs to fill other needs.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 05:17 PM) Doubt the Santana tidbit has to do with us, unless it's another 3-teamer. What teams need a corner OF? The Diamondbacks maybe, although they don’t exactly have a deep farm system.

Didn’t Crasnick do this same type of “trade coming but no details” leak when we traded for Soria?

QUOTE (Springfield SoxFan @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 05:01 PM) I really believe that Avi will be traded because of this potential arbitration case. Why would they deal him because of that? Brewers don’t need another OF, they need a 2B and Sanchez could fill the bill.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 04:49 PM) If we're talking position players going to Milwaukee, Yolmer makes the most sense for the Brewers This was one of my Winter Meetings predictions. Would explain why they haven’t come to an arbitration agreement with Carlos despite being only $300k apart.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 03:38 PM) If they're asking for Acuna from the Braves, the comparable ask from us as a centerpiece isn't Robert or Hansen, it's Kopech or Jiminez. That's top 10 in baseball as a starting ask. I’m sure they’d start with Jimenez or Kopech, but my point is they wouldn’t settle for less than Robert or Hansen as a headliner.

QUOTE (Donaldo @ Jan 20, 2018 -> 08:57 PM) How much of the "failure" can be attributed to player development within the organization? I definitely think it’s part of it, but still feel like our scouting and/or approach has been flawed. Not going into the penalty box and stockpiling young talent has hurt us immensely IMO. I’m just not sure I’ve been very impressed with most of our signings over the past few years. Franklin Reyes being moved to 1B from basically the get-go and showing almost no signs for hitting is a perfect example of what I’m talking about.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 18, 2018 -> 08:49 AM) https://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2018...xqlfjTqBoqoI.97 Astros top ten. 5-9 all international signings with 5 and 6 from 2016. It's frustrating to consistently say with the white sox "we won't know for several more years" consistently with our intl guys when the other successful teams we are trying to emulate see returns much faster. This is exactly what I’m talking about. I get Paddy had to build our capabilities from the ground up, but how long do we give him a free pass for that? IMO, we should have already seen seven or eight guys start cracking our top 30. I’m not even talking guys in the top half of the list, but even super young guys with talent/tools and moderate success in rookie ball should be able to find a spot in the 20 to 30 range in our system. Instead we have just one guy in our top 15 (Adolfo) and maybe two others in the top 30 (Martinez & Sosa). Even if you include Tatis we’re way behind the curve (and yes I’m purposely excluding the $50M Robert signing). We definitely need to start seeing some of these kids hit full season ball before I think we’ve made any real progress in this area.

QUOTE (BrianAnderson @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 07:24 AM) One thing about this view... "yet" is the best of both worlds. I don't think you are afforded that luxury. The only way you are afforded that luxury is that you absolutely are in a place where you don't have to make any deal. So you do have the luxury of letting this play out. However, I think we can agree that not all these pitchers or prospects will pan out. if they do we'll be the Astros. So if you trade now Cease and Rutherford may be worthless in a year and you ended up trading _______ for Yelich. Flip side? Cease and Rutherford might be David Robertson and well... Yelich in 3 years. In that case you lose. I'm okay waiting a half year and pulling the trigger. But at that point your package may look completely different. I’m confused here. Are you suggesting the main two pieces would be Cease & Rutherford? Cause if so, the Sox would have made that trade yesterday. The problem is it’s going to cost a lot more than two fringe top 100 types. Rumor is they asked for Acuna from the Braves. And while that was just the initial ask in the discussions, I fully believe the Marlins wouldn’t accept anything less than Robert or Hansen as a headliner from us. That’s a no go for me.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 20, 2018 -> 02:13 PM) Another He's on the House Ethics committee also. How are congressmen allowed to use taxpayer money to settle this type of s***? Our system seems beyond broken.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 20, 2018 -> 06:32 PM) Here's the problem. Convince me that a #7 seed can even get to the 2nd round, let alone win the title. This is the same problem baseball is starting to see. If a #7 seed has absolutely no shot, then they are stuck in NBA Hell - not good enough to be a finals team, but too good to get a draft pick likely to turn into a star. Unless as a #8 seed you can sign a Lebron James, you have a choice - either be happy filling your stadium as a first round exiting playoff team, or lose. As long as the Warriors and a handful of other teams are superteams, this will remain an unsolvable problem. I honestly think if you simply raise the max salary this all sorts itself out. Personally I’d love that and it would bring the NBA to what it once was, but it seems like quite a few people prefer a league with a couple superteams and a bunch of fodder.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 20, 2018 -> 12:35 PM) The White So haven't signed one guy to a contract any of the 3 you mentioned will command, ever. To think they would go from 0 to 3 and one of those being a $300 + million in one off season is a fantasy. I am all for dreaming, but that is just not realistic. The White Sox never spent $50M on a LatAm signing or traded a star player to the Cubs. Can’t keep citing the past as a reason something won’t happen as there have been real changes in how the organization operates. And I’m not arguing they will land Machado and those other guys, I’m arguing that they can fit them in their 2019 budget. What exactly do you think the Sox are going to do with all this payroll space? If they don’t spend it on top-end free agents, we’ll most certainly have an extremely low payroll. Is that really what you think is going to happen? You keep saying you’re the one being realistic, but I think you blind to the fact we’re going to have a f***ton of money to spend in free agency and that we’re going to spend the majority of it one way or the other.