Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Feb 18, 2017 -> 10:05 AM) Ah, but be careful. The question was would ownership pay for "premier" free agents the next time the Sox are a few pieces away. That exact opportunity presented itself about as good as it could last offseason when Yoenis Cespedes was available, and the team failed to make it happen. You expect a different outcome the next time around with the same ownership and management in place? I hope you are right, but color me skeptical right up until that time when I see it happen. Completely different situations. In your scenario the Sox were approaching some theoretical payroll threshold, whereas the Sox should have minimal payroll commitments entering the epic 2018/2019 free agent period. What exactly do you think Reinsdorf will do? Not allow Hahn to sign free agents above a certain AAV or for a certain amount of years? I just don't see it unless Hahn is looking to sign an elite pitcher to a crazy long-term contract. Otherwise, I expect Hahn to a fair amount of autonomy on how he spends his budget.

QUOTE (WBWSF @ Feb 18, 2017 -> 09:04 AM) I agree with your assessment of the 2018 White Sox. You could have the worse offensive team in MLB. Does anybody really think that JR is going to spend big money on premier free agents? He hasn't done that since he signed Albert Belle. I think he will, but it won't be until the following year most likely. Hahn made it clear at SoxFest that the money will be there when the Sox are a few pieces away.

Honestly, 2018 could be worse than 2017. Our offense will be losing at least two key contributors in Frazier & Melky and maybe even Abreu. The only prospect worth a damn replacing them at the moment is Moncada. That could be a really ugly dropoff. The pitching side should be better with Giolito, Lopez, Fulmer, & Burdi all up, but they'll all have their growing pains and will have to offset any potential contributions from Quintana, Robertson, and possibly Jones this year. That's not a guarantee by any means. We're going to need add a few more near major league prospects and see some fast development for 2018 to be an improvement. This is all assuming they don't plug some holes with legit options in free agency.

Thanks for posting! This list shows me our Latin American operations still need a ton of work. Tatis would have cracked the top 20, but it's a bit scary that no one else did. Marco Paddy's early returns have been pretty poor. Really need one of Adolfo or Nunez to break out next year.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Feb 14, 2017 -> 09:42 PM) You may see some make it out of ST. Hopefully the coaching staff makes good decisions but if Moncada has a solid spring he could go north. Moncada has no chance of going north out of camp and Rick Hahn has made this perfectly clear. They will not be giving up a year of control on any of their key young players that aren't already on the major league roster (i.e. Rodon & Anderson).

Not overly surprising, but four Sox prospects ranked in the top 150 on at least one writer's list, but didn't crack the overall top 100 list. They are Basabe, Burdi, Fulmer, & Hansen.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Feb 13, 2017 -> 09:14 PM) Seems very odd that the players we think the Sox have targeted have moved up on a lot of these lists ( Meadows, Tucker, Marte, Keller )while the guys they acquired are moving down (Moncada, Giolito). Well it's been somewhat of a mixed bag. Kopech & Lopez have both moved up quite a bit over the past 12 months.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 13, 2017 -> 08:27 PM) Especially with as cheap some some of the free agents are out there. Exactly, the fact we didn't add a legit DH on the cheap should be proof to all.

QUOTE (pablo @ Feb 13, 2017 -> 08:16 PM) This is a complete side note but have found it funny ever since the winter meetings. What is up with RH always saying "if we had our druthers..."? It's got to be the fourth or fifth time I have heard him use it since the Eaton deal. Can he come up with something new? It's getting to the point where it's a tad bit annoying for me. Lol...he has definitely been using "druthers" quite a bit. Am I wrong or is that a term KW used quite frequently in the past?

QUOTE (iamshack @ Feb 13, 2017 -> 07:25 PM) Wasn't he a #1 overall candidate at one point? If that's the case, I think it's pretty clear a return to form means the sky is the limit (and obviously for his prospect status). Yeah, there was definitely talk about it leading into his junior season. Having said that, it's rare to see someone jump from being outside of most top 100 lists to suddenly being a top 30 overall prospect. It can happen, but you really need a situation like Hansen's, where people are still overvaluing his poor college performance (and rightfully so for the most part). If he can dominate A ball and maybe reach AA by the end of the season, I fully expect him to be amongst the highest rated RHP prospects in the minors next year. To your point, the sky is really the limit and these lists will quickly reflect that if he can keep it up.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Feb 13, 2017 -> 07:49 PM) I actually thought it was the first move. I don't think they are this petty. What would be the point of trading those two and then just holding serve? Wouldn't we have a Napoli signing? A Wieters signing? Exactly, they would have replaced these guys with legit replacements and not Derek Holland & Avi Garcia.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 13, 2017 -> 07:43 PM) He said you would know the direction after the first couple of moves. There actually were a couple of moves before the trades, and he clearly has said time and time again they are closer to the beginning than the end of the rebuild, would like to make 4 more of these trades, and has said other teams ownership has nixed 2 deals. The LaRoche connection conspiracy is crazy. It just worked out that the first 2 were Sale and Eaton, could have been Frazier and Q. It's beyond crazy. And I think people will realize this very quickly, as I fully expect the Sox to very active on the trade market all season and not just wait until the deadline. I'd be absolutely shocked if Quintana, Frazier, Melky, & Robertson were on this team come August 1st and wouldn't be surprised if a move or two were made between now and May. Moves are coming, we all just need to patient despite how painful that may be.

Hansen could realistically be a top 30 prospect by the end of next season. I can respect why people are skeptical right now, but a strong year in full season ball will make a lot of believers.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Feb 13, 2017 -> 06:22 PM) I'd imagine Q, Robertson, Frazier and Jones. I'd say Melky over Jones. Honestly, I don't they are very motivated to move Jones right now, they probably figure he can greatly improve his value with some closing experience.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Feb 13, 2017 -> 05:35 PM) My guess is Washington For Robertson due to money and Q /Cutch/NY due to who the f*** knows. Yeah, that seems to make sense to me. I could have seen the PIT/NYY three way also falling apart due to money.

Wow, two deals fell through at the ownership approval stage...wonder what deals those were?

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Feb 12, 2017 -> 09:45 PM) LOL. GMs never posture! Kind of running out of time here...

Sounds like an Astros trade is unlikely based on this tweet from MLB Network Radio:

I saw an article from over the weekend at a Nationals fan site that suggested Kieboom & Voth for Robertson. Honestly, I'd take that deal in a heartbeat and give Nate Jones four months to close up until the deadline.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Feb 12, 2017 -> 09:10 AM) Yes, but you have to be flexible and have some finesse when doing so. There are a number of ways to get value. What is "too little" today becomes "market value" soon enough if the Sox hold onto him. Last July, Benintendi was "too little" and by December he was too much. And there are risks attached with any pitcher; I think hesitation until after the WBC is plausible and understandable. Q has always seemed to me to be a better winter trade candidate than July. Much of his value is in contract amount and length. These things are most important and valuable to teams as they plan out their organization and team for the next year and in the future. In July, the priorities shift to someone who can pitch well, not for 3 years, but for 4 months. Contract and length aren't as important. Q needs to be moved. I agree that it makes sense to move Quintana now, but if the Astros won't even give a prospect like Kyle Tucker then we really have no chance but to wait. Apparently the desperation factor just isn't there yet.

I guess I don't get insane Reinsdorf hate around here. Was he really that bad of an owner for most of his tenure? Without spending a lot of time on this, the Sox had the 4th best record in the 90s & 9th best record in the 00s. I get we didn't have a ton of playoff experiences during that stretch, but does that mean Jerry was a bad owner? I guess I don't see it. Having said that, I do blame him for our struggles during this last half decade. His direction to "go for it" each year without giving the organization the proper resources to win falls on him. His unwavering loyalty to his front office despite extended stretches of underperformance falls on him. I for the most part think Jerry has been a solid owner, but for whatever reason (possibly age), he's really fallen offer as of late. I do think it's finally time for a change in that department, but I don't think having a different owner in charge would have radically change things in the 90s & 00s.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Feb 11, 2017 -> 11:51 AM) I think one of you is talking about JJ Cooper and the other Don Cooper. Yeah, my bad.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 11, 2017 -> 11:47 AM) No, JJ Cooper. Well I'm an idiot, carry on.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 11, 2017 -> 11:36 AM) Was not surprised to see Giolito ranking as Cooper often says he likes Lopez more than him. ? Maybe you mean Kopech, but I'm pretty sure Cooper has said he's less familiar with Lopez than the other big name prospects they've acquired. And I know he said he wasn't sure if Lopez was a starter or a reliever yet.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Feb 11, 2017 -> 10:51 AM) I said way back that Q would not be traded this winter and several educated fans on this site said I was wrong. "Just look at all the rumors" they said. Well I will predict Q will be still w the Sox when spring training opens this week. He also will be with the Sox when the season ends as well. But you're arguing that Quintana is still here because the front office doesn't want to move him. And honestly, all their public statements and pretty much every rumor suggests the Sox would like to move everyone not named Anderson & Rodon. Just because they haven't moved someone yet doesn't mean they wouldn't like to. Takes two sides to make a deal and it seems that teams aren't willing to pony up for Quintana. That being said, why do you think the Sox want to keep Quintana exactly? What's their end game with him? Why are you predicting he will be here at the end of the season 2017 season?