Jerksticks

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 11, 2010 -> 01:58 PM) Starts with Beckham and goes from there. Perhaps Beckham + Viciedo might be enough. I'd rather have Beckham and Viciedo. Isn't AGon hurt for a while anyway? And he wants a ton of money..pass on that overpay.

Nice move.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 8, 2010 -> 09:18 PM) If Peavy does come back at 100%, I would rather see Edwin Jackson get a shot at closing with Sale in the rotation. I think with Jacksons stuff, he could be one hell of a closer because he wouldn't have to pace himself out at all. No way. Jacks can throw 8 Innings of shut-out ball any given start. I love having Sale in the pen for 2011. I don't see it as wasting the draft pick since our first rounders usually suck anyway.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 5, 2010 -> 06:19 PM) I've been on several White Sox roadtrips over the past few years and have seen Danks around. He always seems really happy. I think he's happy with the Sox. He grew up in Texas so maybe he was a fan of one of the Texas teams, but the Rangers did trade him and Houston blows. The only issue with what you are saying is when you are a free agent and one of the top guys, the players' association isn't going to let you leave a lot of money on the table. So if the Yankees offer $18 million a year for 5 years, and you really want to sign with the Astros but they have 4 years $14 million per, you're really not going to have a choice. Its one reason why I always found the ARod criticism ridiculous. He was offered about $100 million more to go to Texas. The PA wouldn't let him say no even if he wanted. And no one in their right mind is going to take $100 million less. Really? I had no idea that sort of thing existed. I thought a FA could do anything. So say Cliff Lee wanted to sign reasonable 1 year deals until he retired, he couldn't do that if the Yankees offered him multiple years and tons of cash? What are the actual guidelines used by the PA?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 5, 2010 -> 05:39 PM) Its always a bigger gamble for a pitcher. He also might be costing himself a lot of cash, and security by signing an extension. What if the Sox bought out the first year of free agency or even the second and he gets hurt one of those years? Not only is he pitching for a lower wage, he probably costs himself 2 or 3 years of guaranteed money. Its something he will have to decide. The other thing is if he's planning on getting $15 million a year for 5 or 6 years, there aren't a whole lot of teams that will go there. He'd have to weigh whether he'd truly be happy with those teams because if he does sign an extension this offseason, its not like he's really going to need anymore money unless he's just a dope. Agree. Now what if he doesn't look at his free agency through dollar-eyes. Maybe he grew up always wanting to play for a team, or at the very least a contender. He's only 2 years away from being able to sign with ANY team he wants, money aside. Not many guys get that pure opportunity, but he will. And like you're saying, if he hasn't been a dope with his money, then he'll already have made enough these 2 years to cover any injury risk through his remaining arb year.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 5, 2010 -> 04:01 PM) The answer to that is really simple...it's insurance. You sign a 4 year deal right now, you give up maybe $5-$10 million total, but you guarantee that you're walking out of baseball with $40-50 million. Insurance is the simple answer, that's correct. But Danks will already have around 20 mil after the next 2 seasons. If he went to free agency, why wouldn't he be offered $14 per year from any team he likes? He'll be able to write his ticket anywhere. I doubt he's really thinking he'll get injured. Sure it's a gamble on his part but not THAT big of one.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 5, 2010 -> 03:40 PM) Why should he care? Sarcasm? Anyway, in 2 years he can write his ticket anywhere. Why give up that opportunity and that flexibility? For a couple extra million this year and next? I just don't see the pressure on his side to complete an extension.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 5, 2010 -> 08:53 AM) That's what I was saying (maybe in the other thread) about this being the other motivation. You want to know now, what Danks' intentions are. And if you're Danks, would you commit to a team that continually puts no run support behind you? He could easily have 15-20 more wins since he broke in.

QUOTE (scenario @ Nov 4, 2010 -> 08:37 PM) It's a good sign. He's facing better than average minor league pitching. Shows that he's maturing/developing as a hitter. Biggest stage of his life as well; pretty impressive.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 4, 2010 -> 01:59 PM) He'd be a perfect fit for the rotating DH idea He is perfect for Ozzie ball. Switch hitting, 2 positions. If we signed him we could let both Tank, Flowers and VMart start every game for the first 2 months, with VMart eventually sliding to whichever position fails more!

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Nov 4, 2010 -> 10:52 AM) Flowers is still a work in progres and needs to step it up a notch Big time. This should have been the easiest decision ever, but Flowers had to faceplant for a year.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 08:58 PM) When I read this the first time, I seriously thought you were making a prediction on his strikeout total. I'm with you, though. Flowers will probably be a worse blackhole, at least early on, but I can live with that, I think. Haha 2 birds 1 stone. I'm sure Flowers would be worse at first but even if he hits .200 at least we save 4-6 million. Ughh but then we get even more right-handed. I dunno anymore. We have a really young team so maybe it's just natural to let the last few old guys walk and let the kids establish new leaders. I'm only worried about replacing PKs production, not AJs.

QUOTE (sircaffey @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 07:40 PM) Why are some assuming Morel is going to be the starting 3B? The Teahen extension if nothing else, wouldn't have been made if the organization had that much confidence in Morel as a starter for 2011 or 12. Teahen and his $10 mil is going to be starting at 3B, imo. Ahhh, I've decided that Teahen has never proven to be an everyday MLB player. He's not some vet that deserves his position because he lost it to injury. He's a P O S. I think KW should just chalk that one up as a whoopsies and move on.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 05:53 PM) Posey did have some very good mentoring, but he is a Joe Mauer-esque young phenom. Kinda hard to compare that to AJP. However AJ does handle a pitching staff quite well but without his offensive production he become a bench guy to me. Frankly I am willing to cut ties with him based on cost. No, very easy to compare that to AJP. AJ's entire value is based around this idea that he handles a pitching staff extremely well. So if this is something only a few catchers can do, then yea, maybe we should hang on to AJ as long as we can. But methinks differently. If rookie Posey can lead a staff to a WS Title then it places severe doubt in my mind about AJs value. He may just be an old catcher who can't hit or play defense, but he will trot out there 90% of games and not get hurt. Blah...gimme Flowers for 400k if this is the case. Pains me to say it but AJ might be the biggest blackhole on the team now.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 05:28 PM) Actually, that's a fairly long list of options. None of them are spectacular...but all of them could at least cover the position. Yea I'm just assuming that the infield is set for next year except at 1B and C. I think Morel is the guy, live or die, and our resources should be spent elsewhere. Man, Morel sure blew through the ranks rather quickly.

He can't throw a guy out and seems to be getting worse with the bat (although his 2009 makes it impossible for me to come to a real conclusion about his future hitting ability). If Buster Posey just won the world series as a rookie, what does that say about AJ's wonderful intangibles? Does Buster have that rare talent of calling a great game like AJ, or have we put too much emphasis on this trait? We've basically put OBP and defense on the backburner for AJ because of this wonderful "skill" of his. Granted Catcher is a hard spot to find production, so offensive stats need to be comparably weighted to other catchers. Fact remains: he can't throw anybody out, he's getting old, and that 2010 bat of his was pretty useless. He was my least favorite guy batting last year, almost cringe-worthy. I think catcher would be a wonderful spot to infuse some new blood. I'll take him back but I wouldn't prefer it.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 05:08 PM) Do you have any idea how bad the average numbers are for a #4 starter? Your typical #4 starter gives you something like 125 innings, 21 starts, and an ERA close to 5. Exactly. A guaranteed 200 IP of 4.00 ERA (but usually better) out of the #4 is amazing. Plus he's a wonderful change of pace from whoever pitches before and after him. If Buehrle were a pitch, he'd be a changeup.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 04:55 PM) Why would Mark approve that type of deal? No way he does. I only think there's 1 place he'd accept a trade to. He's our boy and he does amazing things sometimes. If I'm KW, there is always a rotation spot for MB; he's an above average #4-#5.

Ultimately I think you are right in that teams probably have little interest in Escobar at the moment. Any GM can look at the same stats we can. All I'm saying is that if some GM has Flowers-like interest in Escobar, there should be no hesitation. We could be looking at his peak value.

I would totally trade Escobar if some GM asked about him. It's like a reverse Flowers. If Escobar's bad bat gets exposed even more next season his value becomes toast. I see your point that he could develop even further with the bat and increase his value, but I wouldn't gamble that way, especially if another GM now covets him. There's absolutely no right or wrong opinion on that. It's a gamble either way.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 3, 2010 -> 12:03 AM) Depends on the season he has next year, but if it's similar, I would guess around $4-5 mill. The next year he will be due about $6-7 mill, and then beyond that he's a free agent. That's what makes Escobar all the more likely to be traded. Ramirez is the closest infielder the Sox have to being a free agent, and he's 3 years away. That is a time where dealing from a position of strength absolutely makes sense. Assuming Williams finds someone who values Escobar, I don't think there is any chance he is in the White Sox organization next year. Now is absolutely the time to trade Escobar if only because Saladino probably passes him sometime next season.

I don't think KW will throw left over money at RF. I'm seeing a significant move there. Or another CF to slide Rios over. I'm totally cool with Rios playing CF for the length of his contract though; I'd actually prefer that because that would mean a stronger bat is in right.

QUOTE (J.Reedfan8 @ Nov 2, 2010 -> 06:56 PM) Well it's not like Alexei is a baby. We'll see in time. I know you love Eduardo though. What do you think Alexei's arbitration numbers are going to look like?

Not saying you said this, but I think it needs to be said: Trading one of our starters for a huge bat does not hurt this ball club or put us into rebuild mode. I feel like I've bought in to the company line that our SP is our strength and we should not compromise it at any cost. While it is nice to have a team with 5 dominant starters, the fact remains that teams win the world series each an every year without 5 greats. Balance is the key to most things in life... What's wrong with trading a SP and just signing Garcia again? I hate that I can't remember any laugher-games from last year. I can remember countless 7IP 1 ER performances that ended in no decisions though. We've had a bad offense for 5 years now.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Oct 31, 2010 -> 02:14 PM) There was no significant improvement in his walk rate the longer he stayed at AA. Whatever minimal improvement there was meant his walk rate was going from non-existent to well below average. AA walks by month (non-intentional) May - 3 June - 9 July - 4 August -4 Taking walks simply is not going to be a part of Viciedo's game, he is and always will be a free-swinger. His status as a prospect is lessened because of that. Agree. His status is also increased because he can hit balls hard that nobody else can even hit.