Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (Frank_Thomas35 @ Jul 27, 2012 -> 04:15 PM) This also reiterates the point Bucket made yesterday. Seems his sources are a little more ahead of the curve than Mr. Heyman. He doesn't sound like much of an insider when they have him on the Score.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 27, 2012 -> 02:43 PM) Still better than Nestor Molina Way too early to write off Molina. I have a feeling he's been hurting all season due to the amount of innings he pitched last year. I don't think we've seen the real Molina yet. As for Travis, best case scenario he's a NL #4 starter. I'll take my chances on the guy KW, his scouts, and Paddy have scouted extensively and were very high on coming into the season.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 27, 2012 -> 10:07 AM) I'll be irritated if the PTBNL is Walker, Johnson or Snodgress. I have a bad feeling it will be Johnson or Snodgress. I'll be happy if it turns out to be Soptic.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 27, 2012 -> 01:33 PM) In this day and age, that contract is an asset, not a detriment. He is probably underpaid by at least $10 million a year based on what other guys are getting. If Hernandez is underpaid by $10 million, then Sale is underpaid by $28 million. The fact is Hernandez makes $18 million more than Sale. I don't care about the injury conerns, four years of Sale at a fraction of the cost is worth a lot more than Hernandez's two years of control.

King Felix would be awesome, but he's already making a ton of money and would still cost us a ton of talent. Probably Viciedo, Quintana, and at least three top prospects. If he was making less money and was under control for 3-4 years, then I'd definitely pay a ton for him. The problem is we can bring back Peavy next year for a fraction more and keep all our young talent. Not worth the price IMO.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jul 27, 2012 -> 03:10 AM) What about Padres RHP Luke Gregerson? Local boy who is a real solid reliever, albeit he has pitched in Petco park. Arb eligible and under team control until 2015. He'll cost way too much and we don't really need another RH reliever unless we move Reed or Jones.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 26, 2012 -> 10:51 PM) Holy s***! 98 OPS+! HOW DOES HE MANAGE THAT?!?!?!?! Holy s***! 23 YEARS OLD?!?!?!?!

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 26, 2012 -> 12:25 PM) If he keeps playing like he's played this year, he's going to be a bargain for several years. I'm not advocating trading him, but De Aza will probably only be a bargain for two more years.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 26, 2012 -> 12:29 PM) The downgrade from ADA to JorDanks is much greater than replacing someone like Floyd with Greinke. Let's be honest, if we were to trade away De Aza, then we'd have to acquire a replacement. There is no way KW would go with Jordan as his CF.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jul 26, 2012 -> 11:05 AM) I could see it being one of Johnson, Soptic, or Hernandez, none of which are guys that are going to kill you. Walters and Heidenreich would most likely not be in the top30 for most organizations, and that's pretty much saying they are borderline prospects and don't have much value at all. Johnson has a nice arm and could make it as a starter. He would be a tough loss IMO, but not the end of the end of world. The other guys I don't care much about. As long as the PTBN isn't Walker, it will turn out to be a pretty good deal.

One thing to consider about De Aza is that he's arb eligible next year. So unless you think he's still going to improve a lot, this is probably his peak value.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 26, 2012 -> 12:05 PM) That is an awful lot to give up for a guy that is going to walk. I'd give that up for Josh Johnson. I'm not doing it for Greinke. That really hinders the club in the off-season. I don't think they have enough internal arms to replace Peavy and Floyd in next years rotation (albeit, they obviously could make another move). I still think Peavy will be back. I've said it numerous times, but if I'm going to overpay for something on a one year deal it's a legit #1 starter. He and Sale have been critical to our success this year and I'd prefer not losing that combo next year because Peavy will overpaid by a couple of million dollars. If we do bring Peavy back, then I think you plan on replacing Floyd with Castro next year.

All things considered it was an ok movie, but it was by far the worse in the trilogy and probably my least favorite Nolan movie. Suggesting it's the "best move ever" is just insulting to those who make and appreciate good movies.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 25, 2012 -> 12:50 PM) There are a couple position players at GF that are a little interesting to me: Justin Jirschele and Micah Johnson. But that's about it, and Jirschele is an NDFA and probably won't keep it up in A ball. Micah Johnson should be the starting 2B for Kannapolis next year. I really think Hawkins will be in CF and Barnum will be at 1B. Other than that, nothing would surprise me. I could even see them push Ayala, since they drafted two high school catchers this year.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 25, 2012 -> 11:51 AM) That's my thought as well. His defense is reported to be solid, and he's hitting A- pitching fairly well, but he's old for level. If he can hit in AA, he may jump up the prospect charts. I'm less concerned with age for catches, but I think it was time to move him up. BTW, that Kannapolis roster is starting to get ugly. I think we'll see several guys from Bristol, at least Hawkins and Barnum, make the jump straight to full season ball next year. Not much position playing talent on Great Falls' roster.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jul 25, 2012 -> 12:20 PM) I think it's safe to say that Cameron Bayne has absolutely NO CONTROL. Wow. I think it's safe to say Bayne is only in the rotation to eat innings. He is pure garbage.

Two of our top 10 prospects are middle infielders and both are currently at AA. Saladino and Sanchez each probably need another full season in the minors before they're ready though. I really think one of these guys will end up being our starting 2B in 2014. The real question is what do we do for 2013? If we can keep the rest our offense in tact, I'm cool with giving Beckham one last shot. If we lose Youkilis or AJ, then it might be hard to risk his bat in the lineup.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 25, 2012 -> 08:18 AM) Quintana for Buehrle. Do it. Wow, that would a terrible deal when you consider the money. No thanks.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jul 25, 2012 -> 07:16 AM) While they all have solid walk rates, they equally have horrible contact rates. If you can't make consistent contact in the minors, you will have no shot in the majors. I think they are all graded accurately. All could be solid MLBers, but all have serious flaws that could easily make it that they never make the majors or have bench careers. For comparison sake with Thompson, Chris Young was 21 years old in AA (a bad hitter's park, too) and hit: .277 AVG, .377 OBP for a .922 OPS. He added 26 HRs, 70 BBs and 129 Ks. Young had more power, a better contact rate, a better walk rate and more speed. He also was a GG-caliber defensive player. And he never really took off in the majors like people thought because of his contact (or lack thereof) skills. He had a couple good years initially, but then never could improve as pitcher's learned how to handle him. I fear Thompson is a poor man's Young. The tools wow you, but he just hit the ball consistently. No doubt all three guys are high risk, high reward prospects. I just like that all three are demonstrating a strong ability to get on base and along with some signs of plus power and/or speed. These guys are still extremely raw, so rapid improvement could happen at any time as they continue making adjustments. They still have time to cut down their strikeout rates. All three could easily flop, but I've liked what I've seen from them this year.

QUOTE (Wedge @ Jul 25, 2012 -> 07:51 AM) I'd personally rather spend Floyd's $9 million on Youkilis's option, but that's just me. Losing Peavy sucks, but we'd be getting back Danks. I don't see why we couldn't bring back bother if we bump up the payroll a little and replace Floyd with a cheap, internal option like Castro. I'd be happy with a rotation of Sale, Peavy, Danks, Quintana, and Castro next year. From a payroll perspective, it can't be that much more than what we're paying our staff now, even with Danks' raise. Obviously the tricky part would then be fitting Youkilis in the budget, especially with AJ an unknown. If I had to, I'd trade Thornton to a team like the Yankees to clear his salary. I think it can be done with some maneuvering, but we'd definitely need to increase payroll by $10 million or so.

Here's why I think our trio of OF prospects are underrated: Mitchell - 62 BBs (3rd in Southern) Thompson - 41 BBs (9th in Carolina) Walker - 54 BBs (top 10 in SAL before promotion) Also, Thompson is currently 2nd in the Carolina League in HRs & TBs. So while he has a low BA, he's getting a ton of XBHs. Plus his BA has actually been .283 since the all-star break, which is a great sign for someone young for the league. He's a very slept on prospect.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 24, 2012 -> 05:49 PM) If we're more worried about Jake Peavy's feelings than the welfare of the ballclub, someone's got to man up. I really don't think this is the case at all...and Jake has to realize it would be insane for us to pick up that option. He's getting paid like an ace, and he's been close to an ace this year, but gambling on it happening two years in a row, with how he's been a lot more hittable in the 2nd half, it's just not a logical move. I would rather have Youkilis, Floyd, AJ and Simon Castro rather than one Jake Peavy (maybe you can erase one of those names of Floyd/Youk/AJ), but the point still remains, if the only other option is Morel, Flowers and Peavy or Castro, Youk and AJ, no way do I think about retaining Jakemeister. What's more insane, taking on the $18 million (the marginal cost) for an ace or trying to replace said ace for less in free agency or via trade?

11 of our remaining 66 games are against the Twins.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 23, 2012 -> 09:12 PM) Morel's hitless so far, and you'd be losing a ton of range at 2nd. If the choice is Beckham or Morel at 2nd, give me Beckham. Totally agree.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Jul 23, 2012 -> 08:20 PM) Josh Johnson likely gonna cost Viciedo+Jones+quality prospect right now. No thanks.