[2010-11 MLB Offseason Catch-All]

And yet in general...just about everyone would agree we did a much better job from 2008-2010 in the draft than we did the years beforehand, and we supplemented that with a couple major signings from elsewhere.

That's true, the 2008 - 2010 drafts have been much better than years past. However, the main reason for this improvement is due to our new scouting director and a new draft strategy based on selecting riskier players with higher upsides. Avoiding those 'safe' picks we had been making in the past has been instrumental to this improvement.

 

A willingness to sign players above slot (outside the exception here and there) and adding to the draft budget would only make things better. We're probably missing out on a lot of guys our scouting department have identified as potential impact players simply because we have a policy of not going above slot. I can guarantee you there are many occasions in each draft where Laumann can't select the highest ranked player (according to his scouts) at a given draft position because of bonus demands. Obviously, signability concerns must be factored into the selection process. You can't completely ignore this element or you'll end up drafting a bunch of Scott Boras clients with absurd demands that will be too expensive to sign in the first place. However, if you can get a 3rd round talent in the 4th round for low 3rd round money you should never pass that up. The extra money to go over slot in this case is practically meaningless in the larger scheme of things.

 

Unfortunately, JR has a policy of not going over slot due to ethical reasons. As a result, we'll continue to lose out on talent by avoiding many players with signability concerns and wasting draft picks on guys who won't budge from their above slot demands. Until MLB creates a hard slot policy, the Sox will be at a disadvantage to many of their competitors.

[2010-11 MLB Offseason Catch-All]

Until we start allocating legitimate funds towards the draft, will continue to flounder. Though I will concede that at least regards to first round picks, and only first round picks, we seem to have turned a corner.

The White Sox definitely need to allocate more funds to the draft, but they first have to change their philosophy of not paying over slot. With the state of our current minor league system, we can't afford to be throwing away top 10 round draft picks. We failed to sign our fourth round pick in 2010 (Matthew Grimes) and our seventh round pick in 2009 (Justin Jones). Both of these guys were high-upside high school pitchers that would have been great additions to our system. I don't know what their specific demands were, but I doubt they were that outrageous. The slot rates for these draft positions are relatively low, so paying these guys over slot wouldn't have made a huge dent in the draft budget. I honestly believe a minor change in our draft philosophy (a willingness to pay over slot for picks like these two) along with a slight increase in funding (to support these above slot bonuses) could give our minor league system a huge boost in the long-run.

[Alexei Ramirez wins AL Silver Slugger]

Interesting note about Alexei's contract:

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,3099502.story

 

Ramirez will be rewarded shortly. He has until Dec. 1 to opt out of his $1.1 million salary for 2011 and seek salary arbitration. The Sox then can consent to arbitration or pay Ramirez $2.75 million (the latter more likely).

[2010-11 MLB Offseason Catch-All]

I am an insider and I hadn't seen this. I'm calling total bulls***. Braun had what could be classified a 'down' season in '10 and still sported a .380 wOBA and 4.2 WAR, which was all offensively driven (he's a horrible defender). And as LH mentioned, he's ridiculous cheap through 2013 and not really even that expensive in 2014. It would take a minimum of three premium prospects to acquire him.

And the Brewers might as well go into full rebuilding mode, because if they trade Braun on top of losing Fielder at the end of next year, they won't be competing for a very long time.

[Beckham available???]

THe best MLB hitters are those who keep their slumps minimal.

Are you serious? It was his second full season of professional baseball and his first full year in the majors. All this talk about Beckham being a mental midget is completely absurd. The kid had some difficulty handling failure for the first time in his baseball career, but he rebounded nicely in the second half. Trading him because of those struggles would be a huge mistake.

[Offseason gameplan]

I'd bet the Pads would bite at a package of Linebrink and Ozzie Guillen.

So you're implying the only two offers are either our most valuable pitcher, most valuable position player, and a top 3 minor leaguer or arguably the most worthless asshole on the roster and our manager.

 

The only point I was trying to make is that the trade you proposed was completely lopsided in the Padres favor and should never be offered. Whether the Padres would bite on a lesser offer is irrelevant.

[Offseason gameplan]

Danks, Danks, Beckham, Mitchell to San Diego - Gonzalez, Ludwick to Chicago. + 8 Million?

This is an absolutely terrible trade. Our best young starting pitcher, our young/cheap/talented starting 2B, and one of our top 3-4 prospects for one year of Gonzalez and Ludwick? This trade would completely destroy our organization in the long-run.

[Sox Outright Donny Lucy and Ra(aaaa)ndy Williams]

You're going to miss on players. I think what it shows is that its a total myth the Sox draft position is what keeps them from developing great players. There are plenty available every season. They just haven't been very good at recognizing them over the years. Sure they haven't had the top pick slam dunk selection for years, but even when they had that incredible run with Himes, they were eyeing other players. They really wanted Harkey instead of McDowell but the Cubs picked him. They really wanted Jeff Jackson but the Phillies picked him and they had to take Frank Thomas. For some reason the Cubs selecting in front of the Sox and looking for a 3B for decades pass on Robin Ventura, and Alex Fernandez was a no brainer but Milwaukee drafted him in the first round 2 years earlier and didn't sign him.

I disagree wholeheartedly. If you take a look at the top 10 spots in the draft historically, there is a significantly higher percentage of impact players selected there than anywhere else in the draft just like there should be. Drafting in those spots doesn't guarantee you anything, but it does greatly improve your odds of drafting an impact player. Therefore, if you don't ever have a chance to draft in the top 10 spots, like the White Sox missed out on for a long period of time, you've greatly reduced your chances of getting such a player. Of course there are impact guys later in the first round and the rest of the draft, but it's exactly like Balta said, it becomes much more of a lottery. To be honest with you, I think the Sox have done an ok job with their later picks. Chris Young, Brandon McCarthy, and Chris Carter are just several that come to mind. It's the early picks that have killed us and I'm certain we'd have a few less misses if we were picking in the top 10 on a regular basis.

[Sox Outright Donny Lucy and Ra(aaaa)ndy Williams]

Casey Rogowski a few picks before that Pujols dude?

Are you serious? You're including a 13th round draft pick as one of the worst in White Sox history? We selected 16 players before Rogowski in the 1999 draft, which means we passed on Pujols a total of 17 times. We had 6 picks in the first two rounds of that draft and practically have nothing to show for them. Maybe you should be bringing up Rob Purvis' name instead.

 

All things considered, Rogowski was a pretty solid 13th round pick. He had a couple good seasons in the minors and was supposed to be included in the original Ken Griffey Jr. trade. It shouldn't be held against him that we and every other team in baseball passed on Pujols 10 times or more.

[Yankees asked for permission to talk to Coop]

I can tell you with 100% certainty that I have never, in the hundreds of games I have been to in my lifetime, bought a ticket because of who the manager was. Never. I'd love to hear from anyone else who has, but I have never heard anyone say that "Hey I want to get up and see the Twins and Sox so that I can see that Ron Gardenhire in action!"

I just said people wouldn't buy tickets to directly watch Guillen manage, but his hiring may bring a level of excitement to the team and generate more fan interest, which could indirectly sell tickets. I don't know why that seems so far-fetched. Teams go after "big name" managers all the time. Why do you think guys like Guillen and Sandberg have been legit candidates for major league manager positions without a lot of experience?

[Yankees asked for permission to talk to Coop]

Who in the hell buys tickets because of the manager?

You're telling me fan interest in the White Sox didn't increase by hiring Guillen? I'm not saying a fan would buy tickets just to watch Guillen manage, but a big name manager can drive interest in the team and get more people to the games. If I had to guess, the Marlins are pretty low on the sports team totem pole in Miami. Hiring Guillen could help change that, especially with the size of the Latino community in Miami.

 

Let me ask you this. Do you honestly believe that Loria wanted Guillen strictly because he thinks Guillen is an elite manager?

[Offseason gameplan]

I think he works like any savvy investor - he makes the best decision available at the time (extending Danks is probably that), but after the fact, he does not hold onto that asset out of anything other than continuing value proposition. If trading him a month later makes sense at that time, he won't hesitate.

 

But really, if he's extended, he'd have to be blown away by an offer to trade Danks.

But he would hesitate and hopefully never make such a move. Signing a player to an extension and then trading him a month later would be horrible for KW's reputation. It would also make future extensions much more difficult. Players would be less willing to sign extensions in general and would never accept a home-team discount. More players would also request no-trade clauses. I don't see how you can think KW would be able to treat a baseball player like a stock and not face repercussions.

[Yankees asked for permission to talk to Coop]

You don't bring in a manager because of name value. You bring in a manager because you think he's good.

Unless you're moving into a new stadium and are trying to sell tickets. I'm not saying that's a good reason to hire a manager, but everything I've read is that Loria is the one that wants Guillen. I've got to think that's for marketing purposes. He'd be a pretty popular figure in Miami and would bring a lot of interest to the team.

[Sox could be looking at 4 year offer to Danks]

Yeah, I think that would be a bargain. I'm not sure about double, but I would have expected $7 to $8 million per year. If they can lock him up for 4/$20 mil, I'd be quite happy with that.

I'd be very happy with a four year $30 million extension.

[Yankees asked for permission to talk to Coop]

And yet all four of them had other franchises looking at them very seriously to lead their franchises to one degree or another.

Does the Marlins' interest in Guillen make him a good manager? I feel like the main reason the Marlins would want Guillen is due to him name and not his managerial skills. What other organizations are lining up for Guillen?

[Yankees asked for permission to talk to Coop]

If Cooper asked for it, they'd probably consider letting him, for goodwill reasons.

I feel like you see that for coaches being considered for managerial roles, but I can't think of a time where a team allowed another team to interview one of its coaches for the same position.

[Yankees asked for permission to talk to Coop]

Twitter: @SI_JonHeyman: #yankees asked #chisox for permission to interview pitching coach don cooper, but were rebuffed by chi. cooper has 1 yr to go on contract.

 

 

So, Joey Cora is in the mix for managerial jobs, Coop is wanted by the Yankees, Hahn was interviewed for at least one GM job. It seems like the coaching staff and front office are pretty well respected throughout the league. I'm not sure what it means for the White Sox, but there's a lot of really good baseball people in the organization.

I know Cooper is a NY native, but why on Earth would the Sox ever consider this?

[Offseason gameplan]

Or that could mean that the team likes having the extra lefty and that Gavin Floyd (or Edwin Jackson) is the likely one to go.

 

Or that could mean that Chris Sale is your new closer.

It simply means Danks is our best starter and we want to lock him up. Why is it so weird that we'd want to sign our young, talented left-handed pitcher to a long-term contract? KW probably realizes he needs to work out an extension now or else Danks has little reason not to wait and test free agency as soon as possible. If a deal can't be worked out, then KW has got to look into moving him now if he wants to maximize his return. However, there's no reason to trade Danks if he's willing to sign an affordable extension. This team needs a couple starters locked up long-term and he's by far the most valuable option.

 

[2010 Minor League Catch-All Thread]

I sort of question their research. First, this about Flowers:

 

 

 

Apparently they haven't seen what we've heard from scouts and other people, that his defense is vastly improved, and that coaches named him best defensive catcher in the league.

 

Then Phegley:

 

 

 

Are they not aware of the reason for his absence? Because that reason pretty much keeps him out of any potential to be a Top 10 guy, even in this system.

Wasn't that feedback from 2009 regarding his performance in the Southern League? I haven't read anything like that about his defense from this past season.

 

Also, I was most surprised about them calling Jared Mitchell an overdraft based on his tools. That doesn't make any sense to me.

[AJ's "intangibles"]

I do too, but you can't overspend for him. AJP at $7 million is too much, but $3-4 million is much more reasonable. He's going to look at Vizquel getting $1.75 and say "and I'm only worth $4 mill?"

 

I think it could get messy.

Exactly, it's all about the price and years. I'd be very happy with A.J. back on a one year deal at $3 - 4 million, but if he wants a two year deal or a higher annual salary, then we pretty much have to pass on him. We have way too many needs to overpay for A.J.

 

In a perfect world, you'd bring A.J. back for one last run with our current pitching staff (at a reasonable price), give Tyler Flowers one more year in AAA to see if he can fix his swing, and then figure out your long-term plan at catcher next offseason. If Flowers improves this year, then you can consider making him the starter in 2012. If not, you're probably going to have to look outside the organization for an everyday catcher.

 

Regardless, I think it would be a huge mistake to count on Flowers to play a significant role this year. He will be most valuable for us an our emergency catcher down in AAA, where he keep working on his game and improve his long-term value to us or another team.

[Offseason gameplan]

The Sox aren't going to sign anybody too noteworthy.

 

But I think going after somebody like an Austin Kearns as a RF might be a safe move. A move that might be one step up from that is trading for Ryan Ludwick.

 

TBH, I think one of the most important positions that needs to be addressed is right field. We can't have Quentin hobbling around out there. It devalues him a lot, both as a hitter and a fielder. Stick Quentin at DH or have him platoon there with somebody else (he can't hit right handed pitchers).

 

I think a lot of us feel that Paul Konerko is number one priority and I will have to strongly agree. Retaining Konerko is huge. However, if we don't get him back, we can always try somebody like Carlos Pena, who after a pretty bad year, could come at a similar price to Konerko. Aubrey Huff is also an option. The left handed options at 1B are aplenty.

 

Out of all our free agents, A.J. is the least of my worries. I think Tyler Flowers can produce what he did last season. The defense might not be the same and Flowers will have to adjust to calling games, but offensively, the two can't differ by much and Flowers actually does have upside.

 

Jenks needs to be non-tendered, paying him nearly $10 million when this team is short on money would be absolutely crazy. Instead, give some of the money to Putz (his struggles late in the year might help us get him back at a decent price). Have either Putz or Thornton start off as the closer. Eventually, that might be a role for Chris Sale to settle into. Either way, you have three solid guys at the back end of the bullpen in Sale, Thornton, and Putz.

 

The Sox don't need that many new additions, they just need to spend whatever cash they have wisely. A majority of that cash should be spent on Konerko and Putz. Whatever's left should be focused on getting a full-time right fielder to move Quentin to the DH role. And if they can, maybe go after a 3B option that can backup Morel in case he fails (Felipe Lopez, maybe? Just throwing a name out there off the top of my head).

I disagree on the A.J. part. His bat may be expendable, but losing his game-calling ability would be significant. With the amount of money we're paying our rotation, I want our everyday catcher to be a good game-caller. I definitely do not want to thrust Flowers into a starting role without him having some time to work with our staff beforehand.

[Vizquel Back]

Does anyone else think this means Morel is a lock to be the starting 3B in 2011? I would think if we were considering a more expensive and proven option at 3B, then having Vizquel would be a bit of a luxury. I know $1.75 million isn't a lot of money, but we do have several big holes that need to be filled.

 

At least this should mean no more Teahen at 3B. Unfortunately, I don't see how he fits into the equation now. The only value Teahen provides to the team is a solid bat against righties as backup at several positions, but I'm not sure how much usage he'll really get now. Hopefully we sign or trade for a left-handed power bat for 1B/DH/RF, so that's one position where his value as a backup is minimal. Also, if Quentin remains on the team, that's another spot where Teahen has limited value. At this point, it probably makes the most sense to eat half his contract and see if someone will bite or try swapping him for another over-priced player that fits some need.

[Will Konerko be in a White Sox uniform come 2011?]

I don't think Paul will be back in 2011. Based on his comments at the end of the season, I feel like he either wants to be closer to his home in Arizona or with a team that he thinks has a better chance of contending.

 

I also feel that KW wants to use the financial resources on a younger and/or different type of impact player. This could simply be a left-handed power bat like Dunn or a younger, highly-skilled player like Kemp.

[Will Konerko be in a White Sox uniform come 2011?]

WHere have you heard that Arizona will go after him? I really don't think they will...they've gone youth/savings this year with the Jackson and Haren trades, tried to load up on young pitching, and they've got options at 1b (LaRoche, who I know they've talked about resigning, and Brandon Allen).

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=5745666

[Sox @ Indians]

can't burn two players like that in a close game.

Normally I'd agree, but with the state of our bullpen, I'm going for the W in the 9th.