Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (Jake @ Nov 22, 2014 -> 01:18 PM) Seems like the problem with Kemp is that he played atrociously, unfathomably bad defense last year. Like, Adam Dunn kind of numbers in the advanced fielding metrics Seems like he's better in RF than CF or LF, which would work for us.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Nov 22, 2014 -> 07:57 AM) Alright, I'll "stop". I realize that it is not a suggestion that fits with conventional wisdom on this board. Although I don't quite understand how regular playing time in the big Leagues "stunts" a player's development. And, I do believe that Rondon is arguably the best defensive SS in the entire Minor Leagues. That said, whom do you recommend for SS, if Alexei is traded? Semien or Sanchez. Both present much better alternatives to Rondon, even if they are defensive downgrades.

And let me point out to everyone, LaRoche was 35th in wRC+ & 28th in OPS last year, despite his significant platoon splits. This guy was damn good with the bat no matter now you slice it. He's not the chump some posters are making him out to be. The guy can really hit RHP which is exactly what we need. I'm still concerned about his age to some extent, but the more I look at this deal the more I like it.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Nov 22, 2014 -> 08:06 AM) You're right. And they didn't. I don't see too many positives with this deal. I would've reached higher and farther. It's weird so many people here like the deal, but they didn't like Dunn. LaRoche was way better than Dunn last year and can actually play some 1B. And other than being left-handed first basemen with significant platoon splits, I'm not sure they're that similar. LaRoche is more than just a three outcome hitter against RHP. These Dunn to LaRoche comparisons are just lazy.

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 22, 2014 -> 07:48 AM) jeeze, I must be missing something here. I don't know why I can't embrace him and for what is est to be his salary. Trust me, I don't want to give Headley $14M to $15M a year, but that's likely what he'll get in this market.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 10:38 PM) I still expect Headley is closer to 5/$75. Yeah, you're probably right. Regardless of the years, an AAV of $7M ain't happening.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 22, 2014 -> 07:39 AM) Oh so the Sox are done for the offseason? News to me. And they got Adam under market value for a short term which fills a need. No reason to not like the deal. Rock, what else are you hearing? Any insights on what may be coming next?

QUOTE (Lillian @ Nov 22, 2014 -> 07:13 AM) I had written earlier, that Rondon could conceivably be pushed up to the Majors, because of his defensive prowess. Defense translates at higher levels. If a SS has great hands, instincts and the arm, there is no reason he can't employ those attributes equally at the Big League level. If anything, the better groomed infields might actually improve his performance. The other point I made was that with a lineup featuring Eaton, Abreu, LaRoche, Kemp, Garcia, and Gillaspie, I think the Sox could handle a weak hitting SS. Moreover, I've been intrigued by the fact that Rondon only recently started switch hitting. I believe that it was "Northsider72" who pointed that out. Rondon has actually been pretty good batting right handed. It might interesting to see what would happen if he just went back to hitting exclusively from the right side. Please stop with this suggestion. Rondon would be so bad offensively that it would negate any value his defense would provide. On top of that, you'd be stunting his development significantly. Just an all-around horrible idea when you consider short-term and long-term goals.

QUOTE (Lemon_44 @ Nov 22, 2014 -> 07:18 AM) Rumors are just that. Was that prior to giving Stanton 3 billion dollars? Plus that's just one team so it's not like there was a huge demand for him, if they wanted to sign him, I would have let them. To me, LaRoche is the final piece on a contending team, a guy that can come off the bench in a pinch a hopefully be productive. I don't think he's a guy you count on as a main weapon. At least not on a good team at his age. The problem here is that you clearly haven't accepted we're in a very suppressed offensive environment. Based on both advanced metrics (wRC+) and more traditional ones (OPS), LaRoche was a top 30 to 35 hitter in all of baseball last year. That doesn't mean he will be that productive going forward, and his age is obviously a concern, but has been a much better player than you're alluding to and has a solid chance of being a very valuable member of our lineup. Also, LaRoche will never be our main weapon as long as Abreu is on the team. And I still think Hahn will another impact hitter for the OF. In reality, I think LaRoche will ending up being our third most dangerous power bat. That would be a significant upgrade vs. last year.

An interesting side effect of this deal is the impact it has on our bench. Between LaRoche & Gillaspie, we're going to need two RH reserves that can platoon with them. One guy obviously has to be an IF, the other preferably an OF. That only leaves us with one other reserve for the IF/OF if you're assuming a four man bench. It will be interesting to see how those spots shake out, especially if they don't keep Tank.

QUOTE (Lemon_44 @ Nov 22, 2014 -> 06:18 AM) This is a nothing move to me. In fact, it's probably an over pay. They probably cold have waited until after the New Year and signed him for 1 year at about 7 mill. I just don't think there was a huge demand for a 35 year platoon DH/backup 1b. Well there was a rumor out there that the Marlins offered 2/$20M, so I think you're pretty wrong here. One way or the other LaRoche was getting a 2 year deal in the mid $20Ms. If anything, the AAV of this deal is a bit less than I was expecting.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Nov 22, 2014 -> 01:45 AM) A trade of Alexei makes no sense after this LaRoche deal, unless Hahn is acquiring another SS from somewhere. The LaRoche deal is a "win now" move. Rebuilding teams shouldn't be signing 35-year-old DHs to $12.5M/year contracts. Honestly, it depends on what you can get back in return for Alexei. If it's a top prospect that is major league ready and fills one of our major holes, say Joc Pederson or Noah Snyndergaard, then I think it still makes sense to deal Alexei and attempt to compete in 2015. Not saying I think Alexei has that much value, but I don't think the Sox will deal him unless they get that type of talent in return.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Nov 22, 2014 -> 12:03 AM) I wouldn't mind Hahn trying to make a Danks and Papelbon swap. Maybe throw in a prospect to coerce them. Have Rodon start the season in the rotation and use the rest of the money on a left fielder. Offseason finished. Even with Rodon, we'll need another starter.

I'll say they add a catcher, most likely Grandal.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 09:48 PM) And extremely low for Headley Yeah, I'd say Headley gets double of what that poster suggested, somewhere around 3/$42M.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 08:31 PM) Kemp, Bruce and Me.Cabrera are all unrealistic at this point. Why is that??

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 08:18 PM) that tweet is hilarious. Yea, it's an impressive list...of guys...that met an arbitrary cutoff. Players credited with more than 3 fWAR over the past two seasons: not Adam LaRoche. He's going to be our DH, so who gives a s*** about his fWAR? If he can maintain his wRC+ against RHP then he'll be plenty valuable.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 08:09 PM) Like I said, not a huge deal. I'm not worrying about it... We'll agree to disagree on a lot of that though, except I'm in complete agreement that we have a great nucleus to build around. In my opinion we are like 3/4 of the way through the rebuild and there's no point in not finishing it. I'd much rather wait it out and build something potentially great than add veterans for a wild card run and cross our fingers from there. If it were up to me this would have been another off season of trying to add as much young talent as possible. But we'll see what happens....its early still and anything can happen. But we really don't have many veteran trade chips that can get us good, young talent. Alexei is really the only guy that fits the bill.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 08:03 PM) 2.2 bWAR and .5 fWAR -- almost all due to variations on his defensive value. Hopefully they've done their scouting on his defense, although judging from how often they trotted Konerko out there at the end they don't really give that much of a f*** about 1B defense. Really hope more dominoes are going to fall. They didn't sign LaRoche for his defense, Abreu is still going to get the vast majority of starts at 1B. The key is making sure Robin actually platoons him, as LaRoche is a negative player against LHP.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 07:47 PM) After looking at his splits and yea, no compensation pick, it's slightly more defensible. That said, still don't like it, unless it's part of many more moves that all make sense together, which could still happen. I think you have to assume more moves are coming. This won't be our big offensive addition, or at the very least there will be one of equal importance. Also, I'm not a huge LaRoche by any means, but he's been damn good against RHP and the price isn't too crazy. I'm cool with rolling the dice and hoping he can maintain his production during his age 35 & 36 seasons if Hahn is serious about competing next year.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 07:33 PM) Keep building for the future. Like I said, it's only 2 years so there isn't a ton to complain about, but I'm just not a fan of stop gap old players at this point. Unless Hahn has something big still hidden under his sleeve that would make us legit contenders... But LaRoche doesn't prevent us building for the future. He costs us nothing but money and is blocking no one of importance (sorry Andy Wilkins). Also, I think Hahn believes a lot of key pieces are already in place. We have legit #1 & #2 starters, one of the best hitters in baseball, and a very good leadoff guy. We are obviously not a finished product by any means, but if Hahn can fill our major holes with capable veterans and a few of our young, non-proven players like Avi, Semien, Rodon, etc. take that next step, we have a decent chance of being a playoff team. Burning cost-controlled years of Sale, Quintana, Abreu, & Eaton by refusing to sign/trade for veterans is by far the worst thing we can do IMO.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 07:22 PM) Mehh not the direction I want to see the team going in honestly....but 2 years $25M isn't going to hurt anything so I won't complain What direction would you prefer?

QUOTE (flavum @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 07:19 PM) https://twitter.com/MLBBruceLevine/status/535965162466185216 Thanks, Bruce. Back to your soup at Max and Benny's. What does the Max & Benny's line refer to?

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 07:10 PM) Despite a lot of message board posters asserting as fact what the payroll will be, they/we do not know. Why $25 and not $20 and not $30 and not $35? I don't know what their payroll will be, but all the writers have alluded to a payroll between $95 and $100M. Based on our current commitments including LaRoche, that would put our available money around $25M. Maybe my math is slightly wrong, but the point is we should have a lot of money to spend. And quite frankly, I think we can probably afford a payroll above $100M, but that's just my speculation.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 06:56 PM) Eh. Hopefully this isn't the big signing of the winter. They have another $25M to spend. I would say the big signing hasn't come yet.