Chicago White Sox

While Sierra is such a small piece that we probably shouldn't draw any conclusions from letting him go, I can't help but think this means we plan on adding two starting-caliber OFs this offseason and going with a rotating DH. In that event, having a strong defensive-minded 5th OF that can play all three positions makes a lot of sense. I see the role being late-inning defensive replacement, pinch runner, occasional pinch hitter, and Adam Eaton fill-in when he inevitably gets hurt. Sierra simply doesn't fill that role as well Danks does.

Dude, if you're the commissioner of course you let that trade go through. Denying a trade because you're bitter someone didn't accept your s***tier offer is some real cowardly s***. And going to the other trade partner and trying to convince him to make a trade with you instead of the deal he's already agreed to is probably even worse. I hope there is no money involved in your league, because I know I would straight up leave over a stunt like you're suggesting, even if I wasn't one of the two teams involved in a trade. A commissioner that abuses his power will always destroy a league, especially if it's f***ing with people's money.

Shields will definitely get four years from someone, possibly even five, with an AAV in the $17M to $20M range. So realistically we're talking about it taking somewhere between 4/$70M and 4/$80M to get him. Way more than this 3/$45M speculation. I was pretty high on targeting him this offseason, but I've been convinced by some on this board it's a bad idea, especially with this long post-season run.

The one guy who should be up for top 10 consideration but is missing from every list is Jacob May. He had an excellent 2nd half putting up a slash line of .288/.374/.469/.843 with a BB:SO ratio of 25:27. Throw in solid defense in CF and excellent speed (37 SBs last year) and you have one of the more exciting prospects in the system. In fact, going through the system right now, I'd actually put him at #10. Top 15 Prospects 1. Carlos Rodon, LHP 2. Tim Anderson, SS 3. Micah Johnson, 2B 4. Frank Montas, RHP 5. Tyler Danish, RHP 6. Courtney Hawkins, RF 7. Spencer Adams, RHP 8. Carlos Sanchez, 2B/SS 9. Matt Davison, 3B 10. Jacob May, CF 11. Rangel Ravelo, 1B 12. Trey Michalczewski, 3B 13. Chris Bassitt, RHP 14. Micker Aldalfo, OF 15. Chris Beck, RHP

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Oct 21, 2014 -> 06:02 PM) Interesting and then became head scratching once the Edwin Jackson for John Danks proposal came up. I myself have thrown some s*** out there but that trade proposal is flat out dumb, period. I immediately stopped reading when I got to that part of the article. Sox fans rely too much on the " Coop will fix em" bulls***. Coop is a good pitching coach but let's face it, if Coop could fix everybody the Sox pen would not have been so bad. I will take Danks over Jackson anytime. Jackson was pretty good with us, at least for a portion of his tenure here. I think there is some history in place to suggest "Coop may fix em". Not saying I'm in favor of this move or not, but I can see some logic to it from both perspectives.

My view on the rotation is to add the best RHP you can this offseason (within reason) and basically have Danks, Noesi, & Rodon compete for two spots during Spring Training. In a perfect world, all three guys look great and Rodon can spend April in Charlotte "working on things", which would give Danks and Noesi another month to be evaluated. If Rodon blows them out of the water, then I'm fine with the loser being forced into the bullpen to start the season. What I don't want is to sign a some scrap heap starter that basically is filler until Rodon is ready. Strengthen the top three spots of the rotation by adding a good RHP or at least one with the potential to be like Masterson. Once comes Rodon comes up, I don't want more than one of Noesi or Danks in the rotation or the team will struggle to be competitive IMO.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 19, 2014 -> 09:12 PM) Perhaps you can read the link to find out! I read the link and still don't get it. It was just bunch of stupid tweets trying to be clever/funny.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Oct 19, 2014 -> 07:03 PM) Once again, it's up to Frank Gore for my team. Had that Dez Bryant TD dive not been called back, I'd be sitting pretty good. Instead it comes down to Gore vs. Foster, down by 2 pts. You're f***ed.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 19, 2014 -> 05:47 PM) You've just added on $59 million in salary, more or less. I would be shocked if they doubled the payroll in one offseason coming off such a non-eventful year revenue-wise. Our payroll was $59M this year?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 19, 2014 -> 03:43 PM) Whites riot over pumpkins in NH and Twitter turns it into epic lesson about Ferguson What is your point in posting this? And why does this have anything to do with Ferguson?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 18, 2014 -> 10:01 AM) I think they have to deal him before December 2. Why? Are they unable to trade him for a period of time if they tender him a contract?

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Oct 18, 2014 -> 12:31 AM) So I'm really starting to wonder if I really want Markakis to be signed anymore, at least for any substantial money. I keep asking myself, okay, if I were to offer Markakis 3 yrs/$39M, would I be okay with offering De Aza anything close to that? And I keep telling myself, HELL NO. I feel like I would go 2 yrs/$16M w/ De Aza if I was forced to make him a real offer. The thing is, I wouldn't want to ever offer him anything other than a 4th OF spot for pennies. So it's hard to tell myself that I'd pay Markakis that much more. The player De Aza was for us from 2011 to 2013, is not the player he is today. A lot of his value was tied to his ability to play a solid CF, which is no longer the case. He's now a platoon corner OF, which has some value since he represents the strong half and provides very good range. But let's not use history to gauge his value now, because he's no longer the same player.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Oct 18, 2014 -> 01:14 AM) Ben Zobrist is such an unfathomably weird advanced metric player. He puts up the craziest WAR totals and it never quite seems right. He is like the Javier Vazquez of position players when it comes to advanced metrics. We "should" have to give up the farm for a guy who is 5+ WAR every single season, but for some reason I just don't feel comfortable trading major pieces for Ben Zobrist. It's hard to even come up with a fair trade in my head because everything I'd WANT to give up for him is far less than what his production dictates he SHOULD get from us. He is 33 years old, so that should be noted as well, but....I guess I'll throw this out there..... Carlos Sanchez, Frank Montas, and Chris Beck? I feel like his numbers are worth way more than that, but I just can't bring myself to want to give up more. Even if you believe his WAR figures are accurate, he's 33 years old and has one season of team control left. No way you give up that package for him. In fact, that package might be able to land you a guy like Jay Bruce, who is younger and provides multiple years of control at a very reasonable price.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 17, 2014 -> 03:19 PM) So what? 98% of big free agent pitcher contracts turn out TERRIBLE. Let's take his six best years and let some other team deal with him. That has been the point I've been arguing all along. View him as a six year asset, which is perfectly fine, but don't waste one of those seasons in the bullpen.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 17, 2014 -> 01:02 PM) Media memes die SO slow. Clearly, our team has no problem dealing with Boras at this point. We can all see that now, right? We may not have a problem dealing with Boras like we used to, but that doesn't change the fact that he typically takes his clients to free agency and attempts to get top dollar for them. And quite frankly, he's very successful at doing that. The reality is if Rodon is as good as advertised, he's likely going to get a contract in free agency that will be above our risk tolerance. I'm actually quite astonished this many people are finding this notion hard to believe.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Oct 17, 2014 -> 12:07 PM) 1) Rodon is just as likely to stay here as he is to leave. If you honestly feel this way, then you're completely ignoring history. Both in terms of what Boras clients have demanded (signed for) and the size/length of contacts the Sox have given to pitchers. Sure there is a small chance that Rodon fires Boras or forces him to agree to an early extension, but if he does reach free agency he's pretty much as good as gone. Therefore, you manage the asset accordingly and derive as much value out of it as you possibly can over the next 6+ years.

I can't comprehend why anyone would want to waste an entire year of Rodon in the pen. We're talking about a guy that most likely (say 90%) will be leaving our organization as soon as he can test free agency. On top of that, it's not like we have 5 quality starters preventing him from being a productive member of our rotation next year. Furthermore, he would fail to build up arm strength and would unlikely to provide us with an innings jump in 2016. The whole idea is absolutely mind-boggling to me.

QUOTE (LDF @ Oct 17, 2014 -> 07:22 AM) what will the sox do if all 3, Sanchez, Johnson and Semien have a good spring? QUOTE (SCCWS @ Oct 17, 2014 -> 07:28 AM) DEFENSE-DEFENSE-DEFENSE.. Probably Sanchez gets the nod. I seriously doubt all three guys will still be with the team come spring training. My guess is Sanchez is moved as part of a deal to land us a left-handed bat.

Offseason Moves: 1) Sign Melky Cabrera to 3 year/$45M deal 2) Sign Justin Masterson to 1 year/$10M deal 3) Sign Andrew Miller to 3 year/$22.5M deal 4) Trade Danish, Sanchez, & Ravelo for Jay Bruce ($12.5M AAV) 5) Trade Viciedo, Davidson, & Beck for Yasmani Grandal ($1M) **Total payroll added about $46M 1. Adam Eaton, CF 2. Marcus Semien, 2B 3. Melky Cabrera, LF 4. Jose Abreu, 1B 5. Jay Bruce, RF 6. Asivail Garcia, DH (rotating) 7. Conor Gillaspie, 3B 8. Yasmani Grandal, C 9. Alexei Ramirez, SS IF: Luery Garcia IF: Tyler Saladino OF: Moises Sierra BC: Tyler Flowers #1: Chris Sale #2: Jose Quintana #3: Justin Masterson #4: Carlos Rodon #5: John Danks CL: Andrew Miller SU: Chris Bassitt SU: Jake Petricka MR: Daniel Webb MR: Eric Surkamp/Scott Snodgress MR: Zach Putman/Javy Guerra LR: Hector Noesi/Scott Carroll

QUOTE (BaconOnAStick @ Oct 17, 2014 -> 12:24 AM) Giving up Viciedo, who hits 20 HR a year, for Grandal (PLUS WEBB) is silly. That would be a great trade for us. And I'd be more worried about Webb coming back to bite us in the ass than Viciedo.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 08:25 AM) I would call him up after 5 starts in Charlotte, assuming he's throwing fine (which I think he will be). He'll be working on command or stretching out his arm or something, but the reality is just that the Sox want to extend their time with him. I could not care less about his Super 2 status, but I do care about maximizing his service time with the Sox. 100% agree with this. Get the extra year of service time, but don't worry about the Super 2 deadline.

I'd have some interest in CarGo, but the proposed offer in the OP would be a huge overpay. We're talking two legit top 100 prospects, another former top 100 prospect coming off a very solid season, and a pitching prospect that has a greater than zero chance of becoming of a back of the rotation starter. Add in CarGo's insane contract and health issues and it would be a very bad trade IMO. In today's environment where teams overvalue prospects, a package that includes Johnson, Montas, Hawkins, & Beck should get you a much better asset in return. That player may have the same ceiling as CarGo, but should be much safer bet of reaching it and without the incredibly large salary.

People need to accept the fact that there are few bargains in free agency and filling needs by trade will be costly in terms of talent. Melky is a guy who has posted wRC+ above 118 in three of the past four seasons. There aren't many of those guys available in free agency and those that are available will cost significantly more than Cabrera. His past baggage will ultimately reduce his price. Sure there is risk involved in signing him, but if his contact is limited to three years, then I think that risk is pretty small given our financial situation. Also, we have a huge opportunity right now to fill needs without giving up tons of minor league talent. There are guys out there that I'd much rather have than Melky, but when you factor in the cost of acquisition those deals end up making a lot less sense for us IMO. The other alternative is to wait for all these magical bargains to appear out of thin air while wasting the production/surplus value that guys like Sale, Quintana, Abreu, & Eaton are currently providing.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 10:48 AM) All I am saying is that this is fine and that should be the target level. Why in the world should that be the target level? We should looking to add the best RHP that we can afford within reason. A back-end starter may be the only option that ultimately makes sense, but limiting ourselves to a #4 caliber starter for whatever reason you're coming up (too much pitching depth?...lol) is absolutely stupid way to approach this offseason. Our goal should be to add as much talent as possible, not worrying about who goes 2 to 3 months into the season if Rodon is as good as advertised.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 10:40 AM) And you're not breaking up the rotation if the team is near 1st place, and you're not taking the big money guys out of the rotation. Something's gotta give. Conveniently, there's a way to make this work if we target the right type of guy in FA. Dude, your over-valuing of Hector Noesi is incredible. He may be a solid #5 starter, but he's more than expendable if Rodon is as good as expected. We're talking about one of the best minor league pitching prospects in baseball. Hahn will find a spot for him if it makes the team better. A guy like Noesi should have no impact on the decision unless he flat-out exceeds expectations, which very unlikely IMO.