Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 10:07 PM) I agree. People complain about not building a consistent winner but then want them to sign long term deals that willbe awful in 3-4 years. Pick a lane. I prefer the patient uild the team through prudent trades and drafts. Dude, we have Sale & Abreu under control for four more years. We can't be overly patient and wait for all these prospects to fill holes because we don't have them in our system. And most draft picks take years before they contribute. The absolute worse thing we can do right now is waste more cost-controlled of our key players.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 10:08 PM) Well, Upton was the guy I wanted all along. Hurts doubly that he's filling a significant hole on a division competitor. Hurts triply that the contract terms are reasonable. For the first time, I'm really believing that the "three year" bulls*** is real. And it really sucks. If we don't end up with a significant upgrade in RF somehow, this will be the first time since Hahn took over that I legitimately think he f***ed up. This x1,000,000.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 08:56 PM) You mean like they did when they signed Joey Belle to the richest contract at that time. I believe it was 5/55. It worked out well. Are you really using an example from 19 years ago? And while Albert underperformed in his first season, he put up 9 WAR over his two seasons with us. Not exactly the disaster you are painting.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 08:44 PM) 6-125 for Upton. Yeah Sox aren't touching that for Cespedes Cespedes should get less than Upton, but I think 5/$100M becomes a realistic target for him and I don't see the Sox going five years.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 08:39 PM) When did Frazier suddenly become something to sneeze at? When we literally had 80% of our position players with negative WAR last year? Frazier is awesome, but not nearly enough to get us where we need to be by himself, especially not in the AL Central where every other team has a chance.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 08:36 PM) Well Tigers will be tougher the next two years but after that they're completely f***ed. But hey, we got Todd Frazier & Brett Lawrie the next two years! We're more than good to go!

I think it will be Cespedes, but if not him then I'll go with Jackson.

Anyone play Rise of the Tomb Raider? Amazing how much it takes the best parts of Uncharted, but adds some open-world elements to the gameplay. One of the best games I've played in a while.

Fluff fluff fluff.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 05:52 PM) Nope and nowhere did I say that either. No one is taking what he says as gospel and I've been one to criticize Hayes on more than a few occasions. However, I think what Hayes said could have some truth considering the Sox have checked in on all three of Colorado's left handed outfielders, specifically CarGo for his left handed power. Anyone can look at the lineup and see the Sox power comes from the right side so looking for a LH outfielder with pop makes sense, not gospel. Misread your comment on Jackson, thought you were saying he'd outproduce Cespedes offensively in a smaller park. As for this left-handed OF talk, we know the Sox had/have interest in Cepsedes, Upton, & Fowler. Those are all right-handed OFs. The Sox are simply looking for an improvement over Avi. Worst case scenario they probably want a left-handed bat to platoon with Avi. Either way, you're overstating their interest in a left-handed OF.

This "don't pay for an outlier season" s*** is nonsense when it comes to Cespedes. We're talking about paying 3 to 4 WAR money for a guy who put a 6.7 WAR last year. As long as you get 3 to 4 WAR production, which I feel confident about if we don't have to hurt his value by playing in CF, then it's a pretty fair deal. And if somehow he produces at 80% of his 2015 level (possible when you look at his road splits), then the contract becomes a steal. I know Cespedes isn't a perfect player and definitely has some red flags, but we'd be insane to pass up the opportunity to sign this guy if his asking price ultimately falls into the 4/$80M range.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 05:34 PM) Because Jackson is right handed and the Sox are looking for a left handed outfielder. Also, the equivalent OF of the Lawrie trade would be cheaper than a FA veteran. I'm sorry, but didn't Dan Hayes simply say that's what he thought we might do? He's not cued into s***, so I would stop taking what he says as gospel. The Sox aren't going to limit themselves to left-handed OFs.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 05:26 PM) My guess is yes to both. I believe Jackson will have better offensive and defensive numbers in a smaller park than Comerica/SafeCo. Cespedes, to me, looks like a classic example of a player having a career year just before FA and then regresses under the new contract that pays him based on that career year. You think Jackson will put better offensive numbers than Cespedes if both played in the Cell?

QUOTE (shipps @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 05:24 PM) Levine was saying that is where the Sox are looking to sign him at but he didnt say it was an official offer. Got to think that's once again posturing. No reason for our front office to leak what they're willing go up to.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 05:20 PM) I'm guessing Hahn is searching for the outfield equivalent of the Lawrie trade. A solid outfielder with maybe a few question marks but won't be too costly in terms of prospects. Why wouldn't we just sign Jackson if we're going to settle for a question mark?

Who reported we made a 3/$55M offer?

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jan 17, 2016 -> 11:31 PM) Nobody knows what the sox budget is. Every time people thought they were at it last year they kept adding more pieces. Thank you.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 17, 2016 -> 11:15 PM) Yuck. I said this the other day, but if Hahn goes into this season with Avi in RF and the team struggles, he better be fired after this season along with Ventura. Agree 100%. Going into the 2016 season with Avi as your starting RF, after passing on potential hauls for your SPs and then trading three pretty good prospects for a 2 year rental, would prove KW & Hahn went for the Hail Mary instead of having a sound offseason plan. I still can't believe they could be that stupid, so I will retain my optimism until proven otherwise.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 17, 2016 -> 08:56 PM) Something so many disregard is Hahn saying they would have to get creative for upgrades, yet they expect 100 million dollar commitment to be an easy thing to sign off. Honestly even Desmond and Jackson is probably too expensive. A $100M commitment would be over 5 or 6 years, we're talking about $20M outflow this year. That may or may not be a problem for 2016, but it wouldn't be a problem afterwards when Danks & LaRoche are off the payroll.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Jan 17, 2016 -> 07:59 PM) If teams are suddenly willing to give into his demands after all this time, why haven't we heard anything about Upton? It seems like teams would be more willing to throw money at him compared to Cespedes. I don't buy these new tweets at all. 10 teams? Laughable. Unless they're including everyone interested on a 1 year deal. Exactly, I have no doubt there are few, if any teams willing to go beyond 3 years with Cespedes right now. I think eventually some team will bite the bullet and go four or five, but no way in hell is getting his 6/$130M+ contract he's hoping for. I think our biggest risk right now is Cespedes sticks to his crazy demands up to spring training and I don't see the Sox waiting that long to make an upgrade. I fully expect to see some tweets next week about the Sox offering Fowler a contract to try and force Cespedes' hand, just like we saw with Baltimore & Davis.

Astros have four OFs plus Gattis in the mix at DH. Can't rule them out I guess, but I'd be very surprised if they went hard after Cespedes.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Jan 17, 2016 -> 02:09 PM) I really just can't see the Sox being able to come away with Cespedes at this point. 7-10 teams & somewhat long-term suitors don't bode well for them. I hope I'm wrong but this is just not playing out the way most were hoping, IMO. Who exactly are these long-term suitors? If there are 7 to 10 teams interested, the vast majority are probably only interested in a 1 year deal. All these recent tweets are Cespedes' people trying to rebuild his market.

QUOTE (maxjusttyped @ Jan 17, 2016 -> 01:06 PM) I would be shocked if he ends up signing for less than 6 years or 20M AAV. Unless the deal is *significantly* back loaded and gives him an early opt out, I don't think it's realistic to pay him 10M in year 1 of his deal. I think the odds of him signing for 6 years or more is slim to none. He's looking at a 4 or 5 contract IMO.

The trailer for the new Cloverfield is really, really good. I think it's very cool they're going in a completely different direction, as another found footage flick would have felt forced. Extremely excited to see this movie now.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 17, 2016 -> 08:35 AM) The Stephen King adaptation? The short story is better but the movie wasnt bad The ending was incredible though.