daggins

Are these Tweeters reputable? If they don't think Dayan will ever lay off the slow stuff getting Saunders back would be a major coup. The trade makes no sense for either team though, they are just swapping disappointing assets without solidified positions.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 9, 2014 -> 04:17 PM) Erik Johnson is going to make a lot of money. Not for a few years, thank God.

Under I feel like this is a safe bet.

Start of season: Eaton CF Ramirez SS Abreu 1B Dunn DH Garcia RF Viciedo LF Gillaspie/Kepp 3B Beckham 2B Flowers/Nieto C End of Season Eaton LF Semien 2B Garcia RF Abreu 1B Viciedo DH Davidson 3B Thompson CF Ramirez SS ???? C That is hoping development / markets go as planned, which is hoping for a lot. Catcher is a total wildcard at this point and there is no clear direction yet.

FWIW Trayce Thompson will be 23 opening day, not 24.

We must really be starved for rumors if a single tiny blurb about one of probably many possibilities is causing this much fervor.

The world in which we live in, a world where Cashman is not an idiot. He might not make the roster but he is 22 and can be stashed in AAA for a season or two until McCann can't catch anymore and one of him or Sanchez is able to take over. He won't move for just Gillaspie. Maybe Gillaspie and Petricka, but even that seems a little low. I wouldn't give them Jones though, thats our closer.

Beckham would basically have to be a utility guy for them, backing up Roberts, Jeter and Rodriguez during their inevitable time off. Actually with those guys he might get 600 PA just being backup.

Gillaspie is not an inspiring choice, no. It would obviously have to be Gills plus a prospect. That said, he does have value, and I would say its pretty unlikely the Sox would release him outright.

Maybe Gillaspie?

Murphy would be an ok get. I have no idea what they'd want for him tho.

I think you would have to seriously overpay to get a Grandal or Castro. Since Hahn seems averse to overpaying in trades (rightly so) Lobaton makes the most sense. The Rays probably want too much for him, which is their M.O. But I can see that trade happening eventually. As an aside, it would be neat to have two switch hitting catchers on the roster, but getting Lobaton would likely mean the end of Nieto.

I was sad when Dusty Harvard was released. Really hope Storm Throne sticks around.

Matt Davidson Erik Johnson Tim Anderson Carlos Sanchez The Sox have some really boringly named prospects.

I think Erik Johnson might be even more generic.

That's why you don't just look at stats. Taillon is nearly two full years younger and strikes out more batters. I've read some conflicting reports on Anderson's defense, but given his speed and athleticism, my guess would be if he hits enough, he will be fine, "modest arm strength" or no.

1. Jose Abreu 2. Erik Johnson 3. Tim Anderson 4. Matt Davidson 5. Courtney Hawkins 6. Tyler Danish 7. Marcus Semien 8. Trayce Thompson 9. Jacob May 10. Scott Snodgress 11. Micah Johnson 12. Chris Beck 13. Jefferson Olacio 14. Carlos Sanchez 15. Trey Michelczewski

Personally i'm glad he will be on hand to balance out Konerkos and Dunns gloomy gus act.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 10, 2013 -> 07:14 PM) Ultimately, regardless of the return, I come back to this thought - the Sox had 4 MLB starters with 2-3 more coming up the pipeline. You aren't going to deal Sale without a monstrosity of a package and, frankly, I don't think the odds of a deal for Sale have changed all that much. If the Sox are overwhelmed, they will move him; otherwise, there's no need for it at this point in time. That leaves you with Quintana, Danks, and Santiago. Quintana has been a revelation, but he also took steps forward last year. His ground ball rate went down slightly while his flyball rate went up slightly, but they are both still within solid, acceptable levels. His strikeout rate increased by 2 per 9 IP and he actually decreased his walk rate, so his overall K/BB increased by 1 (from 1.93 to 2.93). That sort of efficiency led him to strand a few more runners than he had the previous year while allowing him to throw more innings, averaging just more than 6 innings a start. The other nice thing about that is that his IP/GS increased in the second half, going from 6 exactly to 6.14. It's not a significant increase, but it's an increase. Further, his K/9 and BB/9 both improved in the second half as well. On top of that, his velocity increased across the board last year except for 1 pitch - his changeup, which lost half a MPH. I don't think people are going to complain about that. Quintana seems to be rapidly evolving into a #2 type of pitcher. He has significant value on the market, but probably moreso to the White Sox. He wasn't going anywhere without 2-3 legitimate prospects being included. Danks is coming off an injury-recovery season. He's owed something like $13 million per season over the next 3 years. Frankly, the idea of getting anything other than a team taking his contract off the Sox hands is ludicrous. He's also a nice bounce back candidate. He showed respectable velocity on the year (89.3), featured fantastic control, and exhibited a good ground ball rate. If his HR/9 regresses to the mean (16.8% HR/FB, up from 10.8% for his career), that immediately cuts runs from his ERA and adds outs. Further, if his stuff continues to recover, we could be talking about a high 3's ERA kind of guy with an increased strikeout rate. Considering you are going to get no value for him, keeping him is the right call with money in the budget. Rienzo isn't going to get you any sort of value - he's not that valuable of a prospect - and Erik Johnson and Hector Santiago probably have similar ceilings, but Erik Johnson has the advantages of a. throwing from the right side and b. having 6 years prior to free agency as opposed to 4. It doesn't make sense to trade either. That brings up Santiago. Santiago exhibits the ability to miss bats, as he throws multiple off speed pitches but shows off good velocity. That velocity is what throws hitters off. On that note, it's worth mentioning that his velocity this year decreased by one to one and a half MPH. If the Sox believe that to be a trend, that's reason enough to get rid of him. Beyond that, even when given the ability to start full time, in the minors, Santiago still did not pitch deep into games - he made 23 starts in the minors in 2011 and averaged [drumroll] 5 and a half innings per start. When starting in the majors, he has not been able to get to 6 innings. That is an incredibly vital number to get to because it cuts down on the usage of your relievers by an incredible amount - getting out of the 6th with ease means they aren't warming up or coming in during the 4th, 5th, or 6th innings when you get yourself in trouble. I'm sure this was something both Ventura and Cooper preached ad nauseum to him, and there were just no drastic changes made. Consider that he made 11 starts in the second half and threw 61.2 innings. His strikeout rate decreased in the second half from 9.38 to 6.71. His walk rate increased from 4.08 to 4.88. He started allowing more hits. His WHIP was 1.62, yet somehow, some way, he managed to put up a 3.94 ERA in that time frame. Tell me, do you want to sit here and tell me that a guy with a K rate under 7, a BB rate near 5, and a WHIP of 1.62 deserved to put up an ERA of 3.94, or do you believe he got lucky? I know my answer to that one. If the Sox wanted to get value for a starting pitcher, all roads led to Santiago. I like the kid and think he's going to be a good middle of the rotation guy, but I think your talking about a guy who compares favorably to guys like Jorge De La Rosa, Jonathan Sanchez, and Oliver Perez - good stuff, suspect control, and if they can reign it in, they're good; if not, it will unravel. Getting a guy with the type of contact, patience, and speed of Eaton for Santiago is great for the long-term prosperity of the White Sox. A+ Would read again This trade is a big win for a team looking towards the future.

Santiago for Brown almost makes too much sense. Both players are young with upside, both have significant warts, and both are controllable thru 2017. The Phils need pitching and we need lefty bats. He's a lousy defender but so is our current option.

I'd put it at like 5% chance Sale gets moved. Teams are pretty hesitant, generally, to give up young, very talented guys, and there is simply no need to trade Sale yet.

not a bad stopgap, no draft pick required, can be moved midseason assuming he doesn't totally suck.

Ok so we expect to carry - Konerko Gillaspie L. Garcia Some catcher JorDanks / other 4th OF Ok, plus the starting 9 is 14. That leaves 11 spots for pitchers. So either you carry one less reliever, or you ditch one of those bench guys. My guess would be Gillaspie, but all of them are excellent bets to out-produce Konerko in 2014. Now at this point you could fall back on it being early in the offseason. Normally this would be the case, but the market has progressed unusually fast this year and the Sox don't have any players that are going to draw much of a return.

They have marginally upgraded the DH position. This does nothing to help the Sox compete and it eats up a spot that could be used for a more versatile, young player. It's blush used where major reconstructive surgery is needed. My hypothesis, and i'm sure i'm not the first to say it, is that Hahn is trying to insulate the team from poor attendance, at least somewhat, during what figures to be another miserable campaign.

I think it is a dumb baseball move from an organization that desperately needs a plethora of smart baseball moves. In my mind it is akin to the Mariners signing Bloomquist. It isn't a huge investment, but it is a poorly conceived and wasteful one.