Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 13, 2013 -> 12:03 PM) I think he's worth more to us than to another team. Perhaps, but do you want to sign him to a long-term deal? That's the reality of the situation, either lock him up in the near future or deal him while he still has some value. Quite frankly, even if he bounces back some extent next year, I really don't think he'll age well. Not a player I want to commit at this point in time.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 13, 2013 -> 09:55 AM) Ackley > Beckham simply because he's younger and thus has a better chance to figure it out and improve. I probably wouldn't trade De Aza for him given our glut of half-decent MI prospects, but I'd probably be happy trading Viciedo for him. What's the point of keeping De Aza around over Viciedo? Are you really going to keep him long-term? Is he a piece you really feel comfortable with being part of your long-term core? Clearly we're not serious about competing this year and 2015 will be De Aza's last year of team control, so either you sign him to an extension or move him while he still has some value. I know I don't want to commit to De Aza long-term. Also, I get half of this board hates Dayan Viciedo because he doesn't draw a lot of walks, but he has more offensive potential than all but a handful of players in organization. If we're punting this season, we'd be foolish not to give him 600+ PAs and see if he can turn into a legitimate middle of the lineup hitter. Power is at a premium right now, just look at the Trumbo deal, and to sell low on Viciedo would be incredibly short-sighted IMO. This is a player with four years of team control left who can possibly part of our long-term core, why give up on him in a throwaway season just to keep De Aza?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 13, 2013 -> 04:36 AM) That would be the lightest hitting infield in the majors... He's saying that should be our AAA infield, not our major league infield.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 12, 2013 -> 09:01 AM) Worst case scenario, the Sox keep all 4 and increase their depth on the bench. I don't see that happening, but that's not a bad worst case scenario. Doesn't De Aza only have two years of team control left? If so, you have move him now, because his value will only go down from here and he doesn't appear to be in Hahn's long-term plans. Also, since 2014 is apparently going to be a transitional year, we don't need to pay $4M for extra depth on the bench. I'd much rather give Viciedo 600+ PAs and see if we can turn him into a useful player/asset.

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 12, 2013 -> 05:05 PM) Yep, it's actually shocking how patient the Cubs front office has been. Everyone assumed they'd be in the hunt for David Price and Ellsbury, but it seems like they're holding out another year. Hopefully they don't get Tanaka. What do they have to build around right now? They have very few long-term pieces on their major league roster. It's going to be a while before they can put together a competitive core.

QUOTE (BaseballNick @ Dec 12, 2013 -> 04:58 PM) What is it the Sox have done that the Cubs haven't? I think Rick is doing a fine job and all, but I'm not sure what the Cubs have to do with anything. They're going about their rebuild differently, and in my opinion, it's going pretty well. I would disagree, they really don't have much on the major league roster and the young core they do have either regressed or stagnated last year. I agree they have quite a few interesting prospects, but people seem to assume they'll all pan out. I think they're still years from competing if everything goes right, which is incredibly pathetic for a big market club.

For $25k, I have no problem taking Nieto in the Rule V and giving him an extended look in spring training.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 06:16 PM) Semien platooning third with Gillespie sounds more like speculation on Merkin's part. I can easily see the Sox shopping Keppinger though. If they can dump Keppinger, by all means do so, but do not use Semien as the weak half of a platoon as a result. It's up for debate if Semien should even start the season in the majors, but pretty much everyone here agrees he needs regular at-bats either way. I hope for all of our sake's that Hahn isn't that stupid.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 06:08 PM) There's a turd floating in Lillian's Cheerios & I sure hope you're proud of it. I got no beef with Lillian, but thinking that Rick Hahn has some top secret plan to reunite Eaton & Elmore as our 1/2 because of some inflated PCL numbers is crazy to me.

QUOTE (Knuckles @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 06:06 PM) Merkin now hinting on a possibility of Sox trading Kepp and having Semien split time at 3B with Gillaspie. Sounds about right for our retarded organization.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 01:33 PM) And whatever they save from the posting fee, they probably will have to spend on the player given there will actually be competition. I am surprised the Japanese teams agreed to this. If that does happen, then it will hurt big market teams though. The posting fees don't get included in luxury tax calculations, so if the same dollars simply move over to the player, then a team like the Yankees will start to feel the change.

This has been quite the amusing thread. Jake f***ing Elmore is not going to be a .300 in the majors. He couldn't even hit .280 in A or AA and only hit over .300 in AAA because of a BABIP about 70-80 points higher than his career average prior to the 2012 season (thank you Pacific Coast League!). Maybe he can be an adequate backup due to his versatility and ability to get on base, but using him as a starter would be a complete f***ing joke. It's not going happen though, so this all a pointless discussion.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 12:24 PM) Deal De Aza, Viciedo, Reed, Beckham, and Ramirez for the best returns possible regardless of position. QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 12:26 PM) Take out Viciedo & I wholeheartedly agree. I agree with you TUC. If 2014 is going to be a transitional year, Viciedo is exactly the type of player you give 600+ PAs to. As for the other guys, I definitely think De Aza needs to moved this offseason and that Ramirez, Beckham, & Reed should all be heavily shopped. However, I think you wait until the trade deadline to move them if you don't get solid offers right now.

I absolutely love Adam Eaton. Left-handed bat that can hit for average and get on base, exactly the type of bat we needed to add to our lineup. He'll make a great leadoff hitter and if he can play a solid CF should become an incredibly valuable player. With Eaton & Garcia now locked into CF & RF respectively, that leaves one OF spot open for the foreseeable future. Unless Hahn wants to commit to De Aza long-term, it makes more sense to trade him right now and give Viciedo another opportunity in LF. Hopefully there is a market for De Aza, because he's still a useful player but doesn't really fit into our long-term mix IMO.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 10, 2013 -> 11:05 AM) Troy Renck ‏@TroyRenck 3m #White Sox working hard to get a CF.. Been linked to Dbacks Adam Eaton.. White Sox had some interest in Fowler before he was traded This tells me that De Aza is as good as gone.

QUOTE (dayan024 @ Dec 10, 2013 -> 11:00 AM) Daryl Van Schouwen ‏@CST_soxvan 59s Dback A. Eaton can play CF, bats left, 2 needs for #whitesox. And he's young (25). Santiago rumored in 3-way deal w Angels. #WinterMeetings And most importantly he adds much needed OBP to the top of the lineup.

QUOTE (flavum @ Dec 9, 2013 -> 10:07 PM) Day 1 - boring as hell. Way to blow your wad last Tuesday, MLB. Unfortunately, we may have to wait until some of the big starting pitchers sign before the market for our pitchers develops. I hope I'm wrong though, because it's so god damn boring around here without any rumors.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Dec 8, 2013 -> 10:29 PM) I agree that Danks could be a potential fit for the Yankees, but forget the 30 year old soon to be free agent. Mason Williams and Garry Sanchez are the names Hahn should be looking at. Both could be in the majors next year (2015) and are potential impact bats. I doubt either are in the Yankees plans for the next 2 or 3 years so they could be viewed as expendable. I could also see them liking Kepp. Plays both 2B and 3B and has a better track record than the likes of Brendan Ryan and Kelly Johnson. Danks + Kepp + Jones would be a nice package to offer the Yankees, although I'm not sure it would get us both Sanchez and Williams. Keppinger has basically negative value right now and Danks is pretty much valueless until he proves he's back to normal. The Yankees aren't giving up anything of value for those two guys, especially not a guy like Sanchez, even if we throw in Jones.

Trading Quintana for Headley would be a horrible move IMO, even if he agreed to an extension since you're probably talking about at least 5 years at $15M per season. If you trade Quintana, it's got to be for a young, cost-controlled bat, someone like Castro, where you retain most of your surplus value while filling a major need. Glad to see that Hahn agrees with that logic. I'd still love to get Headley, but the price would have to come down quite a bit for a deal to make sense for us.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 8, 2013 -> 06:48 AM) Jason Schmidt on the Giants days Schmidt comes close to apologizing for the way the Giants treated Pierzynski. "His numbers were great with me, no doubt," he says. "He didn't get enough credit. It's just that when he came in here, we heard all this stuff about him … we just never gave him the opportunity to prove it wrong. I'll always feel bad about that." It would be different if there were some other quotes about what a bad guy he is, you would think there would be several. I am sure he is no angel, but neither is anyone. He has probably been an ass many times, but who hasn't? I will go with Dunn's quote, he is no more an asshole than anyone else. Don't believe what any of his current or ex teammates say. He is a s***ty teammate. If anything, the perception about AJ is he is a difficult guy. Even most of the people ripping concede he is a great teammate. Another random quote courtesy of google. He must be a great teamate, you've found two pieces of evidence on the internet that supports that claim. Again, I'll trust the words of patc and other people with insights to the clubhouse rather than a fan with a bias for the player searching for the truth on google.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 8, 2013 -> 06:01 AM) "A lot of people have this bad image of A.J. in general, it seems around the league, but the guy is one of the greatest guys when he needs to be," Beckham said. "It's something nobody sees. He can be a really great friend. He was there for me in tough situations off the field and was a big-time mentor. So, it's tough to see him go." What a s***ty teammate. Dick Allen to the rescue! Quick, someone is ripping Greg Walker in the general MLB thread! But seriously, not sure how one random quote changes anything. Most guys are going to follow clubhouse rules and not rip their former teammate to the press. For example, you're not going to hear Beckham crying to the beat reporters about how A.J. didn't want to let his girlfriend fly on the team plane. What happened in San Francisco should be very telling. Even more so should be what patc has told us all. He has insights into the clubhouse that the rest of us just speculate about and he's told us time and time again that A.J. is a s***ty teammate. I'll take his word over what any of us can find out through random google searches.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Dec 7, 2013 -> 05:23 PM) Remember how Gordon Beckham put up very good numbers during his rookie season? We were treating him like Semien is being treated now. Then he came out and became the Gordon Beckham we all know today. Beckham got "figured out" just like Semien will. QUOTE (raBBit @ Dec 7, 2013 -> 05:44 PM) They're two different players with two different pedigrees. You should just abort this argument after your initial claim was Semien's minor league numbers weren't any good. These quotes summarize everything. Abreu, your initial claim was Semien's numbers weren't very "attractive", then switched to a "Beckham got figured out just like Semien will" argument, which makes no sense as raBBit highlighted above. Now you're trying to pull a complete 180 and pretending to act like you meant the reason Semien will get figured out is because he's being rushed like Beckham, which is a totally different discussion from the one we were having. Stick to your guns here, you said Semien was "overrated" based on his not very attractive stats. Do you still stand by that claim?

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Dec 7, 2013 -> 12:38 PM) It's one of them. Nobody is bashing AJ. I liked him on the White Sox. He was one of my favorite players on the team. He's not a class act though. And pretending like he is some great person doesn't do anything for me. Great post. A.J. will always be one of my favorites for what he did on the field, but clearly he was/is a s***ty teammate off it. Not sure why some people refuse to accept this.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Dec 7, 2013 -> 04:50 PM) Semien is a nice spect but let's not get carried away. Beckham still has loads of ability at the plate if anyone can ever get it out of him. Semien may be the better player in the end though, who knows. I do however agree with what you're saying in this thread about not wanting to trade for more 2B prospects when we already have a good one in Semien who is close to being ready. I'm only talking about at this point in time. For four straight years, Beckham has been a low AVG, low OBP hitter. While it's possible he finally puts it all together this year, the odds are he is what he is. If that's truly the case, then I think it's safe to say Semien has a higher ceiling. I'm obviously not comparing Semien's ceiling to Beckham's when he was a prospect. And like I said, the reason I believe in Semien is because he demonstrated outstanding plate discipline in AA, and prospects with good plate discipline typically flop at a lower rate IMO. He's really the only position prospect in the system I have a lot of confidence in for that reason. Again, I'm not trying to say he'll be a star or anything, but a 2B with a .350/.360 OBP and solid power is incredibly valuable, which is what I think he's ultimately capable of. Unfortunately, I do feel he gets a bum rap being in our system, which really isn't fair because unlike most of our prospects he actually has some baseball skills.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Dec 7, 2013 -> 02:02 PM) I think that Semien is being overrated on this board. Sure he played well but his minor league numbers are not very attractive, plus pitchers started to figure him out towards the end of the season. I see Gordon Beckham as his ceiling. What the f*** are you talking about? He put up a .903 OPS in AA last year, which lead the Southern League for all qualified hitters. I'm not sure how that OPS is "not very attractive", clearly you didn't really follow him much. And while he wasn't as good in AAA during his brief time there, which should shock no one, he still managed to put up .802 OPS. What's funny is that Semien is completely underrated. In most organizations, a 22 year old middle infielder that puts up a .420 OBP with decent power would be heralded as a future star, but since he's a member of the Sox's farm system he's not considered toolsy enough which is bulls*** IMO. And for what it's worth, I don't think he'll be a star, but I do think he'll be a extremely productive major league 2B because he has great plate discipline and can do a little bit of everything. His potential is way higher than Gordon's as Beckham isn't very good.