bruni

Ok - what does WSox nation think of this one: WSox give Milwaukee Kopech, Kimbrel, and Aldolfo. Milwaukee gives WSox Woodruff (3 years of control left) and Joey Wiemer

I'd pass at paying a kings ransom for a (current) elite closer and, instead double down on a quality 4th starter. The White Sox are blessed with young, impact arms, including one (Crochet) who has the stuff to be THE elite closer in the AL within the window of contention. If then rookie reliver Bobby Jenks could close for the World Series winning '05 White Sox, so can Crochet backed up with the young and effective pen. The greater need for the White Sox is another 160 - 180+ effective innings eater that can keep the team in games and give them a fighting chance to win every time they take the mound. The season is a grind - a war of attrition. Three proven starters is not enough. Expecting Cease to make the leap and sustain quality innings season-long and through the playoff run is not realistic, in my opinion. Nor is counting on Kopech, who will be lucky to be allowed to throw 100 innings between the minors and majors this year for arm health. If one of the 'big-3' starters goes down for any reason, they are really in trouble. How many games can we survive, let alone have a chance to win with Lopez starting? Anyway, get that proven, quality 4th starter. Then find some spare change under Uncle Jerry's couch and, come Feb/March pick up some DH/bench insurance from the plethora of free agent bats that will be begging for a major league deal by then. Wait it out - there are always passible bats available as spring training nears. Don't rush/over pay for that.

Or they sneak in the Nova announcement along side a major overpay for Encarnacion to bury the lead...

I can't wait until Ryu and Keuchel get snapped up and the WSox sneak across the announcement that they've resigned Nova late on a Friday in late January when most have stopped looking for any news. Followed quickly by an announcement concerning 2nd half of the year promotional bobble heads etc... Clip and save...

While we are all still seething over the miss on Wheeler, the savvy clubs have been busy and productive grabbing plug and play 3/4/5 starters at (relatively) affordable rates. For all the madness over the contracts given to the big 2 plus even Wheeler, we've watched as Porcello (1/10), Lindbloom (3/9.125), Roark (2/24), Pineda (2/20) and Gibson (3/30) among others go to our rivals on relatively team-friendly deals that would have fit well with Uncle Jerry's mid-market budget mentality. It's past time to wake up, front office! Go get Alex Wood for 2/22, Miley for 2/24 or even Gio for 1/8 with an option for 9 in year 2 or a $1 buyout. And if, somehow the market for Dallas K. is softer than anticipated (highly unlikely), grab him too. We do not need to be trading away our premium minor league assets for SP. Quit spending Manny's money on 1st class plane tickets and let's get some reasonable pitching in here before the remaining viable options get snapped up. Otherwise a reunion with Nova becomes increasingly inevitable. Weigh in on which of the remaining options is most viable/attractive at this point...

Does anyone have the terms of the potential Pederson to the WSox deal that was leaked back in Feb? I remember seeing Fulmer’s name tossed around, but do not remember seeing what was specifically leaked that possibly helped nix the deal?

Had season tix for 24 years and cancelled them in November. Had little to no faith then, and even less now. My issue both then and now was the truly terrible drafting record. SO many crap pics in the last 5+ years, squandering high draft positions year after year... Rodon (fragile and mentally weak), Fulmer (terrible control and no plus offerings) Burger (are you kidding me - a beer league softball player with a top 15 pick?) and on and on it goes... They trade away blue chippers for a glut of AAAA outfielders (Rutherford and Basabe) or bust worthy (Giolito) pitching and strike out plagued Moncada - our new 3rd baseman - ugh... They over pay for a prospect (Robert) who can't stay healthy... And now, after having 2+ years to prepare by clearing roster $$, they swing and miss on Machado, but not until they blow over $10 mil on his buddies/family Jay and Alonso (and helping the Indians in the process)... Incompetence rules and the common denominator is Jerry. They better hope and pray that Cease and Jimenez don't implode or there really is nothing left to hope for. Vote with your $$ WSox fans... no need to support this crap until Jerry sells or croaks.... Be thankful for 2005 - - it's not ever coming back under this ownership.

"There's no downside for the Machado camp to hold out until someone meets their price, they don't have to agree to the best offer until February. " Actually, I think there is. If Philly meets with Harper Saturday and flash the "stupid money" ($350mm+++) and Harper bites (unlikely perhaps, but who knows...), Manny suddenly runs out of deep pocket suitors to play off each other and create a faux 'bidding war'. Suddenly, Machado's leverage is gone and his best reasonable offer will likely be the WSox package. It becomes a game of Chicken - who blinks first, Manny or the WSox to finally pin him down and sell some SoxFest and Season Tix?

Red Sox say he's now available. He's 26, under team control through 2022 and can be a Swiss army knife type player. Buy low on him (yes, I know the terrible batting average) and ship Shields to the Red Sox who need to fortify the back end of the rotation? And remember, before I hear from 50 of you claiming Shields is current 'worth' more that this, may I remind you that he's not. Have at it, White Sox nation!

I'll take Mateo (mmmm... grade 80 speed...), Rutherford, Andujar & Sands please and thank you. Get 'er done Rick!

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 15, 2016 -> 01:56 PM) This. The Dodgers are not trading Corey Seager. Everyone please stop talking about it. It's like Mookie Betts all over again. The veracity of that report is unclear and it was ambiguous in nature to begin with. Also, Urias was called up right after the deadline and put up a sub 2 ERA over 37 innings. He improved his stock and showed he can hang in the MLB right now. As many of us have been saying since he was 18. Urias is a stud. He doesn't get the respect he deserves around here. The Sox need position players and fans are fawning over Benintendi, Bregman, etc. and that's all good and fair, those are great prospects/players BUT... Urias is a better pitcher than they are hitters. Pitchers come with more risk and Urias isn't even six foot so there is a rationale to prefer aforementioned players but Urias is an animal. He'll have three plus pitches at maturation and he has the composure and inventiveness of a guy who's been playing for years and he's yet to have a legal drink in the states. I love Urias and have ever since I've first heard of him. He's one of a kind. Excellent post as typical from you Brian, but if there WAS any veracity from the report in July, and the WSox make a deal with the Dodgers that does NOT include Urias, many on these board will go banana's over 'missing' the optimal window last July to strike and essentially pick up Sale's true replacement plus other prospects. Why can I envision KW pacing in the WSox offices muttering to himself a la Blago, "I've got this pitcher here and he's golden - GOLDEN!"... Too bad I can't trust the 'brain-trust' to get this one right... Time will tell...

Why do posters keep talking about the Dodgers reluctance to include Urias in a package for Sale when even since July it was reported that Urias was dangled as part of a return for Sale? For Sale alone the deal must include Urias plus 2 top 50 prospects and at least one more top 100 guy. Throw Frazier into the mix would likely require another top 100 guy and 2 lottery picks. This is why - to me anyway - the Dodgers should have the ammo to pull off the deal.

Watching the underwhelming starting pitching from Texas and Boston and thinking the WSox just HAVE to exploit this in the off season. What say you, WSox nation - do you even trust that we would get a sufficient return??? Other than Rodon, Fulmer and the young pitching all can go if the price is right: Abreu, Eaton, - anything with a chance to return back better than what you give up. Time to start over.

Simple - I have been a part of a 4 ticket season ticket block since 1994. One guy is already out after this year and if I pull the plug, the whole thing goes away. If/when he gets this one year lame duck extension, I walk and the White Sox lose a 22 year season ticket block... And I know I won't be the only one saving the $$ after this latest insult to the fans. I was there last night...crickets...upper deck closed due to lack of interest...

Yankees take the entire haul received from Cubs for Chapman, add #2 overall catching prospect Gary Sanchez AND Pineda (Coop will fix him!) for Sale. Sox immediately solve long term catching issue with Sanchez and most recent #1 Collins, get stronger up the middle in time with McKinney and Rashard Crawford, acquire stud middle infielder Torres (who I would convert into a 2B) and have both Warren and Pineda to bolster starting pitching staff. As you see above, I told you about the Yankees being in play back on page 30 of this thread... I agree that the package is light, but the WSox have underwhelmed before. I have zero faith in the ability of this front office to pull off a Miller-esque heist a la Atlanta's fleecing of Arizona. I believe unfortunately that despite the posturing, the league knows that they want to move Sale and/or Jerry is sick of the repeated embarrassments and distractions from Sale's behavior. I still think Sale is the guy that gets moved before the deadline on the 1st. We shall see...

Yankees take the entire haul received from Cubs for Chapman, add #2 overall catching prospect Gary Sanchez AND Pineda (Coop will fix him!) for Sale. Sox immediately solve long term catching issue with Sanchez and most recent #1 Collins, get stronger up the middle in time with McKinney and Rashard Crawford, acquire stud middle infielder Torres (who I would convert into a 2B) and have both Warren and Pineda to bolster starting pitching staff.

Frazier will provide able back up at first, with Lawrie shifting to 3B on those days...problem solved. I too would like to see another starter and then keep trolling for cost effective rebound candidates. Acquisition of Jackson perhaps creates redundancy, but I always wanted the WSox to explore the still under 30 year old Jennings from Tampa as an option. One of the better defense outfielders in the game and he can run and hit for modest pop.

The White Sox love for flawed NL hitters knows no bounds...

The Wrigley 'cool factor' hit nationally with the release of Ferris Bueller's Day Off making it the 'go-to' place to be. That was the icing on the cake following the 84 season and Harry finally gaining traction as the Cubs mascot of the 80's. Couple that with the WGN 'superstation' and you get that daily influx of thousands of out of town fans who suddenly needed to check Wrigley off their respective 'bucket lists'.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Dec 18, 2015 -> 12:38 PM) Robertson was a top 10 reliever last season. He put up a 1.8 fWAR. He isn't going anywhere. He also blew 7 saves last year and is owed another $36M over the next 3 years. While very risky in terms of where it leaves the remaining bullpen and the potential stress it places on Jones, I have to think this $$ savings plus the $39M off the books next year (Danks/LaRoche/Robertson) would at least give Hahn/the FO another potential avenue to improve the team while staying at/under Jerry's budget. As Hahn has said repeatedly, you have to give to get and, instead of trading our prized assets in the Minor League's, listen and quietly make it be known that Robertson could be available for the right package. The Jones signing is cheap insurance in case they go this route. Whatever side you fall on, no doubt the Frazier signing (and 2 year window he represents) to me creates a tighter sense of urgency to max out the current roster, even if it means you potentially weaken/thin out one area to improve another.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Dec 18, 2015 -> 12:00 PM) I think the chance is bigger than small to be honest but I don't see it as a salary dump. The most obvious salary to move in order to get one of those big OF bats is Robertson, Danks, Melky or LaRoche. Robertson has the most value and would be the easiest to trade. Hahn has been saying they would need to get creative in order to sign one of those FA bats. THIS!

Now we wait for the other shoe to drop: the trade of Robertson. Trading Robertson shed's $36 million in future commitments and gives Hahn an extra $10.1 million this year alone (Robertson $11M - Jones $.9M) from his closer role. Take the $10.1 and use it to put on a down payment for the 1st year of a stud OF like Upton or Cespedes and then back load the contract with the extra $27.5 M saved from the expiring contracts of Danks and LaRoche. Better yet, if you can trade Robertson for a young cost controlled OF w upside (think Soler type) and remove the financial burden and then take the money saved for another FA OF then you solve for both corners and move Cabrera to DH and dump LaRoche on anyone that will have him while even paying 80% or so of his remaining $13M. Make it happen Rick!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 8, 2015 -> 11:22 AM) The Sox have control of Sale though 2019. With the nagging fear of serious injury, and the regular nagging injuries keeping that have followed him around annually, I wouldn't be looking to extend him unless it was incredibly team friendly with options. This! No way WSox committing any more to Sale when they have him under control through 2019. The model of drafting high floor college pitching each year serves to add the depth and quality necessary to withstand the inevitable Sale loss in 2020 etc. The model only breaks down when they repeatedly fail to develop difference making hitters and over pay for mid level free agents (Melky, LaRoche etc.) in an attempt to find some offense given their repeated failure to groom their own in house. I am a bit concerned that Sale's 2nd half ERA was over 4 and with his violent motion and skinny frame and agree that the best time to unload him will be either at the 2016 deadline (presuming we are out of it) or the 2016 off season when the depth of FA impact starting pitching will be a fraction of what it is this year.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Dec 3, 2015 -> 10:29 AM) If we are going into rebuild mode, sign him up and hope he realizes some of the potential that made him a top 10 prospect. If he fails its not a huge risk and if he succeeds you either have a long term piece or a trade chip to help reinforce the farm when Trey is ready. He is at least passable defensively, offensively he is a train wreck, but so were guys like Arrieta, Donaldson, and Grandal at one point as top prospects that flamed out and then a light went on. I wouldn't get in a bidding war for him or anything, but given the state of the team he is worth a flyer. This

Well if the Dodgers lose out on Grienke and the Cubs don't come away with a top of the rotation starter, perhaps they will be more anxious to grossly overpay for a WSox pitcher, but I doubt the WSox go that route esp now unless it is a Hershel Walker-esque, Vikings-Cowboys deal in terms of lopsidedness...