Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Oct 28, 2015 -> 03:47 PM) I actually have offered many ideas of my own. The sad reality is that this is a relatively weak FA class and the best position available happens to be our strength, which is starting pitching. I'm not saying that the Sox shouldn't bring in anyone who has a bad history in the clubhouse, but come on, Papelbon is a cancer and A-Rod would bring so much negative publicity to the team. You want me to suggest an alternative, so I guess I will. That would be not trading for Papelbon (simply because we don't need to and LaRoche is nearly untradeable) and not trading for A-Rod and perhaps going after Martin Prado instead. Is this really that weak of a free agent class? Go check out next year's class. I really beleive people need to re-think what a quality free agent class looks like now that a higher percentage of players are being locked-up early in their careers.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Oct 28, 2015 -> 07:25 AM) I do see them trading Q because they need to acquire a couple of impact young players and I don't think trading Johnson and "some minor league pitching" gets that. If they trade Q they also have to get back a 4-5 type starter along w 2 MLB ready position players. If not, you don't trade him. As far as starting pitching goes, The Sox have to go into the spring with 6 starters ( last year Johnson was #6) . Too many pitching injuries occur these days. I see Sale-Rodon-Johnson Danks-FA veteran and Fulmer or Montas or trade acquistion as #6. I think a package built around Erik Johnson & Frankie Montas would be incredibly attractive to a lot of teams. Prospects are at an all-time high in terms of value, especially ones that are major league ready or close.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Oct 28, 2015 -> 07:18 AM) Latos? You want Latos? Gotta be kidding. What's your beef with Latos? The fact he had one bad year? That's exactly what makes him attractive, low acquisition cost but with big upside. He very well might suck again, but he's exactly the type of pitcher we should be targeting. There is no reason to sign a starter for more than one or two years given our pitching depth in the minors.

I don't see us trading Quintana, because that creates a hole in the rotation that will be difficult to fill. A 1-2-3 of Sale, Rodon, & Quintana is critical if we want to compete in 2016/2017. I could see us trading Erik Johnson in a package for a young position player and then going out and signing a veteran free agent like Latos or Fister to fill the #4 spot. Fulmer potentially being a mid-season call-up gives us the flexibility to go with a couple of veterans in the back of the rotation and trade some minor league pitching for offense.

Hopefully the Royals lose in four, lose Gordon in the offseason, and quickly because irrelevant once again. Never want to hear the words "successful" and "rebuild" in the same sentence again when discussing the Royals.

Wouldn't bench coach be considered a lateral move? If so, wouldn't the Indians have to give him permission to interview? Honestly, if I had to guess I would say the Indians simply denied the Sox's request for an interview.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 25, 2015 -> 04:27 PM) LMAO. I am one person who has never bought into the Theo hype, but he isn't trading Baez. If you claim Theo wouldn't trade Baez straight-up for Quintana then you definitely have.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 25, 2015 -> 02:01 PM) You aren't getting Russell, Baez, Schwarber, or Bryant if you offer Q. their guys still in the minors, Soler, and Castro are their trade pieces.. Russell & Bryant are untouchable, but you're completely over-valuing Baez if you include him they group. You do realize that GMs will occasionally exagerate their opinion or even lie to help give them leverage in negotiations? Castro is clearly the guy they want to move, everybody knows this, but he has almost no value to due to his contact and lack of performance. Theo can and will continue hype him as a significant piece, but there's a reason other GMs aren't biting. Baez is the guy he'll end up moving in a package for a front-line starter (along with Soler and/or prospects). And guess what, Theo will be ecstatic because he'll have greatly improved rotation and still have an offensive core of Rizzo, Bryant, Schwarber, & Russell (amongst others) to build around. I'm not sure if you're simply under-valuing Quintana or doing your best Jed Hoyer impersonation, but you are way off base on this subject and have officially bought into the Theo hype machine.

QUOTE (whtsoxfan @ Oct 25, 2015 -> 01:20 PM) Any of these make sense? http://chicagostylesports.com/2015/10/25/c...series-in-2016/ That article had to be written by a Cubs fan. Almost all those deals greatly favor the Cubs. I know Hahn would hang up immediately if Theo offered that package for Sale.

Flip Saunders has lost his battle to cancer.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 25, 2015 -> 10:22 AM) The Red Sox won't have to give up that talent for Quintana when they can buy it on the FA market without wiping out 1/3rd or 1/4th of their top prospects. Not necessarily directed at you, but when did buying starting pitching on the free agent market become attractive? I've seen this idea thrown out a lot in Cubs-related discussions as if it's a no-brainer. Sure, teams sitting on tons of cash can go out and sign a top starter to a monster deal, but how often have those signings worked out for the club? IMO, there's nothing riskier than signing a frontline starter in free agency and most organizations know this. Doesn't mean they're betting giving up half their system for a cost-controlled alternative, but it does clearly demonstrate why a guy like Quintana is so valuable.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 24, 2015 -> 01:54 PM) Based on the fact he is 22 and they think he is going to be a stud. When he was 21 he was considered one of the top 5 prospects in the game. If the Sox want Cubs prospects who played this year, Castro is the guy they would dump, maybe Soler. It is just fantasy to think the Sox could get Schwarber or Baez. Maybe if they traded Sale. You can tell me I am wrong, but when you see the Cubs 2016 roster you will see I was right. I had to blink three times to confirm this wasn't a caulfield post. Why are you undervaluing Jose Quintana so much? He was 14th in pitching WAR this year, has a strong track record, & is under contract for the next five seasons at $8M per. He's without question one of the most valuable SP assets in baseball. The fact that you think Theo wouldn't trade Javier Baez, a guy who hasn't proved anything in the majors and has a history of contact issues, straight up for Quintana is beyond mind boggling IMO. Are you actually suggesting Baez is the more valuable asset of the two? And are you actually suggesting they might not trade Scwarber or Baez for Sale? If so, wow is all I can say.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 24, 2015 -> 01:26 PM) Neither would Theo. Based on what exactly?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 24, 2015 -> 12:44 PM) I was watching something yesterday where they said there are people with the Cubs that think Baez is a better SS than Russell. The Cubs aren't going to trade him in a trade where Eric Johnson is the headliner. They probably wouldn't even trade him for Q You think the Cubs wouldn't trade Baez for Quintana? I'm really hope you're messing around, because it's Hahn who would reject that trade not Theo.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Oct 24, 2015 -> 10:23 AM) I'm trying to be realistic this offseason. I think those are realistic options. I want to think big but I'm just not sure if we'll be able to land one of the OFers. Freese would be a decent option if we can't land an impact bat at third. Wieters I'm not sure he's going to cost a ton right now. I'm all for being realistic, but if Freese is one the big moves we make, we very likely won't be competing next year and might as well give the playing time to Saladino. Having said that, I'm not sure the front office agrees with me and I could them just plug a few holes with low ceiling guys like Freese and hope for internal improvement at other spots. Hopefully I'm just being pessimistic here and Hahn has grander plans. IMO, this team can compete next year if we add two big bats.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Oct 24, 2015 -> 08:12 AM) Frazier had a second half OPS of .664. His home/road splits are large He has 2 years left on his deal. Bring on the hero-worship. But I'll pass Build with young talent, please, like most of the winning organizations. Don't take this the wrong way, but you seem to be missing out on the big picture here. You constantly scream out "hero worshipping" at anyone who wants to add veteran talent to the team, but completely ignore that we have several incredibly valuable assets that lose value every season we don't compete. Trading for prospects pushes back our timeline further and is counter-productive given our core. Therefore, either you add veteran pieces and try to win now or trade away all these pieces and do a complete rebuild. "Selling high on Eaton", which I've seen you propose in multiple threads, is pretty much the worst type of move we could make unless comes with selling high on Sale, Quintana, & Abreu. I would actually love to here you spell out a long-term plan on getting us back to the post-season rather than shooting down every idea that doesn't involve acquiring or giving playing time to a young player.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Oct 24, 2015 -> 03:46 AM) I look for two new starters here. My predictions are Freese and Wieters. Honestly, I want nothing to do with Freese. We need to think bigger and/or more long-term at 3B. That means a significant upgrade like Todd Frazier or acquiring a young major league ready 3B like say Javier Baez (I see that as his eventual landing spot). I don't see any reason to tread water at the position when our only minor league option is at least two years away. I've always been a Wieters fan, but am somewhat reluctant to commit big dollars to him. I'd much rather use our financial resources towards acquiring an impact bat for the OF (Upton) and target a young catcher via trade. If the Mets lose Cespedes this offseason, I could see a Avi for Plawecki swap make a lot of sense for both clubs. Derek Norris is another guy caught in a numbers game that will likely be available this offseason.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Oct 20, 2015 -> 10:01 AM) http://kotaku.com/konami-denies-hideo-koji...acat-1737501388 I finished Phantom Pain - not only was it brilliant, but it made that company a lot of money. Kojima can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned. I know it's all about the profits, but the direction Konami has taken is pretty sad. Without going into spoiler territory, how does the story compare to previous installments? I know it's toned down, but is it as bare bones as some publications suggest?

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 08:25 PM) Defense and he gets on base more. He's also four years older than Upton. I'd love to add Gordon, but I don't want to be paying him $20M+ in his 35 & 36 age seasons and I don't see how he gets less than a 5 year deal.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 07:57 PM) Unless you mean $200m for Heyward, you're going to be committing a ton of money to yet another bad defender with a declining bat. Gardner is a plus defender with young-player skills that's already shown he can develop more power as his approach evolves. Those guys tend to age really well. You really think Upton's bat is declining despite turning 28 a month ago? I mean, he had a slightly down year but was still basically a top 40 hitter by wRC+. I guess I don't see how one year makes a trend, especially for a young player.

If you trade Eaton, it better be in a package for a star position player at a great position of need. We can't afford to gamble on prospects if we're trading our second best hitter.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 11:49 AM) Adam Russell, Andy Sisco, Addison Reed, Horacio Ramirez, Gavin Floyd, Gio Gonzalez, etc. Kyle Schwarber, Jeimer Candelario, Pearce Johnson, Tommy La Stella, Javier Baez and Billy McKinney. Thoughts? While I agree with the above, I'll counter with Augie Ojeda.

Justin Upton please, he should come a lot cheaper than Heyward & Cespedes and fits our offensive needs better. What do you guys think it would take to land him? 6/$130M?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 21, 2015 -> 09:19 PM) Bartolo Colon in 2009 with the White Sox. Actually, a 4.19 ERA and 1.44 WHIP. Not quite as bad as I thought it was, but nothing like how he has pitched in 2012 and 13 with Oakland. It seems pitching in that stadium makes almost EVERY pitcher (see Shark as well) look a lot better than they really are... I'm referring to your comment about Garica & Contreras.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 21, 2015 -> 09:10 PM) Too bad we didn't have the 2003 version of Colon or the post medical enhancement version... We got the one in the middle who sucked, same with Garcia and Contreras at the tail end of their careers. What are you talking about?