Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Oct 17, 2013 -> 01:03 AM) He is well worth $8M a year if he repeats his 2013, but the question would be if he can repeat it, and the other question is whether any of that will matter to a team that just lost 99 games. I don't see us being a playoff contender for 3 more years, which is pretty much the entirety of a deal Salty would get. What's happening in 3 years? If we don't start adding pieces right now, it's going to take a lot longer than that. Catcher in particular should be a high priority spot, as having a veteran catcher can only help develop our young pitching. And it's not like we have any catching prospect that will be ready anytime soon. I also don't think Salty is going to break the bank. He's roughly the same age as Russell Martin was last year but has been a less productive player, and Martin only got $15M over two years. I think Salty will get more than that in this free agent environment, but $25/3 or $33/4 both seem reasonable to me. A Salty/Phegley platoon will get us way more production than we got out of the catcher's spot in 2013. Using our excess cash to improve the offense is the smart way to quickly become competitive again, especially when sound opportunities present themselves at key positions. I honestly really like the Salty idea if Hahn plans on adding a legit hitter at 1B and improving one other position. Make those three moves and a couple more deals next offseason and suddenly 2015 seems like a real chance to be competitive again.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 14, 2013 -> 06:18 PM) Sale's contract only increases his value. 25 next opening day, $3.5 million next year, $6 million in 2015 $9,150,000 in 2016, $12 million in 2017, $12.5 million in 2018, and $13.5 million in 2019. Not only that, but each of those last 2 seasons has a $1 million buyout, so even if he did get severely injured, it wouldn't be that expensive. You would have this guy for $57 million over 6 prime years. I can't think of anyone with his success and that little of guarantee over that long of time(considering today's pay) being traded, but the package would have to be unprecedented IMO. Fangraphs had him worth $25.6M this year. If you believe he can sustain that production, he's worth at least $153.6M over the life of his contract. That's nearly $100M in surplus value over the next six years and doesn't account for player costs going up significantly with the addition of new TV money (MLB & team specific deals). If he can stay healthy, I'm guessing his contract is the best potential value in modern baseball history, especially when you consider that at this point his deal doesn't include any pre-arb years.

Couple things on the trading Sale front: 1) Prospects flop at a high rate, so don't expect 4 good major leaguers if we acquire 4 top prospects for him (the Teixeira deal is the exception, not the rule) 2) Sale's potential surplus value is insanely large if he stays healthy, very few major leaguers are signed to such team friendly contracts so it's going to be hard to get a player of "equal value" 3) There are few true "aces" in baseball and the impact these select players can have a short playoff series is incredible, this value while difficult to measure needs be considered and reflected into any potential price a team pays for Sale I'm against moving Sale because I don't think any team would meet the asking price it would take to get him but it can't hurt to listen to offers.

I've never understood the special treatment athletes get when it comes to tragedies. In the past couple months, in Chicago alone we've had a woman kill her own baby with scissors to the face and another woman kill her own grandchild with a sledgehammer, but all of a sudden an NFL's player's child is killed and it's the greatest tragedy of all time. s*** like this is happening on a daily basis, let's not pretend otherwise until it happens to someone "important" like AP.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Oct 8, 2013 -> 06:16 PM) Wait, Abreu has signed with someone? No, but Eminor is saying a move can't be announced until after the World Series, so it's possible he's already picked a team and we simply won't find out for a few weeks.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 8, 2013 -> 06:05 PM) I've heard both arguments. The Sox would be crazy to pay for a prospect and the Dodgers (or Pirates) aren't going to give prospects up for money. What IS crazy is paying a 4th OF'er like Ethier $72M. Because paying $30M for a B prospect is a horrible use of resources for the White Sox and the Dodgers are one of the richest franchises in baseball and don't need to get rid of young talent to free up cash. Your proposed move makes no sense for either side.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 8, 2013 -> 05:10 PM) It won't be announced until after the playoffs, but that's because the MLB doesn't want big news taking away from the games. What moves can be announced during the playoffs? The Cubs just signed Ryan Sweeney to an extension. I guess I'm a bit surprised MLB would have a rule against announcing international free agent signings during the first round of the playoffs, given how few there are nowadays. That really sucks if we have to wait a couple weeks to find out who won the Abreu bidding.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Oct 8, 2013 -> 05:17 PM) I guess I could do this all day. When you have the worst offense in baseball and the worst defense and slow footed creatures all over the bases you don't look to hit HR's with your moves. You look to improve in all areas with every player you acquire. As usual all I keep hearing about is offense. Did Konerko hit .299. Did Konerko have the range of Loney ? Did Konerko run the bases with any speed ? Yes I want Abreu but failing that I want a better team in more areas than offense. I want improvement at positions , multiple positions. Don't like 3 years ? Have you looked at the dearth of quality 1st basemen around baseball lately ? You could do a lot worse than Loney by far. Don't act like you can get his kind of production out of just anyone. You don't pick guys up off the scrapheap you can hit field and run the bases at 1st the way he can. If he was good enough for TB in the playoffs he's good enough for the Sox . I don't want a fast, defensive 1B when I play at the Cell. I want a guy that's going to hit a ton of HRs, especially given the lack of power with the rest of our infield. And if we can't acquire a better 1B than Loney this offseason, then we're better off accepting 2014 is a lost cause, because we aren't going to improve enough with him at a critical offensive position. And what works for the Rays isn't automatically going to work for us. See Jeff Keppinger's numbers in 2012 and then take a look at Loney's this year. Both are clear outliers and I don't want get stuck with another mediocre player signed to a multi-year deal coming off a fluke year.

Any chance a decision won't be announced until after the playoffs? I could imagine if the Red Sox had the winning bid, they might not want Napoli to find out he's being replaced mid-playoffs.

Signing Loney to a 3 year deal would be a horrible move. When you have arguably the worst offense in baseball, you don't sign a below-average offensive player to a multi-year deal to fill a position that is naturally offense-oriented. If you miss out on Abreu, Morales, and Hart then you might as well check the non-tender list or try to acquire a minor league that's blocked. I don't see any reason to go with James Loney unless it's a cheap, one year deal and even then I'd explore other options first.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Oct 8, 2013 -> 05:35 AM) Abreu will have a better chance of producing numbers like that, at his age, than Pence will have, when he is 34, 35. Moreover, Abreu's upside is much higher. He could be a monster, which can not be said of Pence. If some team did not bid at least $84 million, I'll be shocked, and it shouldn't be surprising if he gets $100 million or more. Abreu is a compete unknown. Sure he's faced some major leaguers in international competitions, but he very well could get exploited here with with regular at-bats. What we do know is he's doesn't have the tools that Puig & Soler have and he's restricted to 1B/DH. Those two factors hurt his value. I will be shocked if he gets $84M and any GM that would give him $100M is basically playing Russian roulette with his career. I see 6 years, $60M being close to the top bid for Abreu, which is is still a huge gamble.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Oct 7, 2013 -> 09:28 PM) No penetration = slightly. Fair enough.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Oct 7, 2013 -> 05:04 PM) Miley slightly NSFW. Who cares how long her hair is? You work for a drug dealer? I have no idea how that's "slightly NSFW".

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 7, 2013 -> 04:55 PM) It is worth asking whether he'd do that in the heat of a pennant race though. At that point of the year, he just wants to get a look at the guy. I agree, he probably should have hit 9th though. Honestly, from what I've seen Ventura seems pretty old school with his decision-making. I'm still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now, but I haven't seen many signs that he's using statistics or advanced logic when filling out a lineup card.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Oct 7, 2013 -> 04:44 PM) I realize it was garbage time, but the manager would put the worst hitter on the team, L Garcia, at lead-off when he played. A classic Guillen move. If your regular leadoff hitter is out of the lineup, then you must bat your fastest player leadoff regardless of his ability to get on-base.

I'm cool with Granderson if he gives us a home-town discount and the years are right (3 max, 2 ideally). Obviously the age is a concern, but his bat would help a ton against RHP (if healthy) and he would be the ultimate role model for some of our younger players. No matter when we target being competitive again, I do think we need to add some veteran leadership and energy to the clubhouse. I think the team may have been a little too relaxed this year. Not sure how much Granderson would change that, but I honestly feel we need mix up our chemistry a bit.

http://www.suntimes.com/m/23002028-773/sou...granderson.html

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 6, 2013 -> 10:42 AM) And guess which one has demonstrated he has a clue at the plate. And can make contact regularly. Oh, wait, that's definitely NOT Viciedo. MLB Averages: O-Swing = 31.0%, Z-Swing = 65.5%, Z-Contact = 87.0% Anthony Rizzo: O-Swing = 30.0%, Z-Swing = 66.5%, Z-Contact = 89.1% (102 wRC+) Dayan Viciedo: O-Swing = 42.5%, Z-Swing = 73.5%, Z-Contact = 82.9% (96 wRC+) One of those lines looks like a Major League hitter, the other looks like a minor leaguer being challenged by stuff way above his skill level. Who is arguing that Viciedo has demonstrated better plate discipline than Rizzo? I know Rizzo easily wins in that department and always will. Doesn't change the fact that their offensive production hasn't been much different over the course of their young careers.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 6, 2013 -> 10:24 AM) Just from the comments in the last 24 hours....but then, look what happened with the A's shocking the world and winning the bidding for Cespedes. Still, I would put the odds at 5-10% but I would love to be pleasantly surprised and see that's we posted the highest bid. But I haven't seen any comments that state specific dollar amounts, so I'm not sure what these "insiders" are basing their speculation on. I personally think that everything out there right now is misdirection. Only Abreu and his agents really know what everyone team offered. Hopefully he makes a decision soon to give us all something to talk about.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 6, 2013 -> 09:48 AM) And it looks like we're on the outside looking in as far as the Abreu deal goes. I'm not sure how anyone would know where teams stand other than Abreu's agent. It's a blind bid process and I'm pretty sure bids were all due at roughly the same time. This thing is ultimately going to come to the money, with other factors like Cuban presence (players or fanbase), weather, and ability to win serving as possible tie-breakers. So if the Sox weren't planning on making an offer in the $50 to $60M range, they never had a chance to begin with. Will be interesting to see what he ends up getting and where the Sox came in (assuming that figure leaks).

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 5, 2013 -> 05:37 PM) I wouldn't be too enthused about the sealed bid process if I were the Sox. Why? Not disagreeing, just trying to understand your point.

I wouldn't believe any rumors regarding Abreu. Teams aren't going to reveal their hands, so anything public outside of general interest is misdirection IMO.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 4, 2013 -> 10:18 PM) For perspective sake, Rizzo has 24 less MLB PAs than Dayan Viciedo. (1235 vs 1211) And guess who has the higher career OPS yet is considered a bust.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Oct 4, 2013 -> 06:15 PM) You are right but those players are going to make up the next great core of the Cubs going forward. And Anthony Rizzo is going to be fine, it was his first full year in the bigs. Lol...of course they will as prospects never flop!

I laugh when I see posts complimenting Theo for all he's accomplished. All he's done is purposely lose to accumulate high draft picks and large international bonus pools, which any GM can do with ease if they so desire. I'm sorry, but until some of these prospects turn into productive major leaguers, he's really accomplished nothing IMO. I haven't really seen any creativity or risk-taking to accelerate their small market approach to rebuilding with the exception of the Edwin Jackson signing, which has been a huge diaster so far. Not very impressed with what I've seen so far out of Theo.