Quin

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Jan 21, 2014 -> 11:36 AM) Why is MLB radio saying it's down to LA, Cubs, D-backs and Yankees? Who the hell are the White Sox?

QUOTE (hi8is @ Jan 21, 2014 -> 01:54 AM) I think that people are underestimating Johnson. His ceiling is a number two starter. If we don't sign Tanaka, it'd be hard pressed to ship out Johnson. We're pretty much set for this initial phase of the rebuild in 2014 if we lose out on this free agent signing. Garza doesn't fit the plan IMO. The starting pitcher class in 2015 is stronger. It's most possible we see a DeAza trade - though I now won't be surprised if it comes mid season along with some other moves. Tanaka is an important move and when you take the big picture implications into mind, it's easy to see why the front office has placed such a high priority in the negioations. Adding another big RH arm next to Sale really kicks the rebuild into 6th gear overdrive. Bottom line, any moves going forward this offseason will be supplemental IMO. We're going to give everyone else time to build value or put it together. EJ stays unless we sign Tanaka. Even with Tanaka, I'd be sad to part with EJ because with both I see the Sox having a rotation of two aces (Sale and Tanaka) with 3 #2 starters at their ceilings (Q, EJ, and Danks). Fortunately drafting Kolek or Hoffman would ease EJ's loss.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxLifer @ Jan 20, 2014 -> 09:12 PM) Its a sign. Watching Major League 2 on Mlb network and Tanaka is in it. But we traded him for a catcher.

It's like people forget that this team's best pitcher of the 2000s had well below average stuff. It's also like the same pitching coach is working with Q.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 20, 2014 -> 08:31 PM) Anyone with half a brain should be guessing LA. Thats not insight, thats just not being marginally retarded. It may not be LA, but I could post "My sources say LA" and be pretty confident Im going to wake up right Weds. I think LA will offer the 4th highest contract. At some point you can't just keep spending and extending mega deals.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 20, 2014 -> 04:04 PM) Banned. What about homophones? And homonyms? Like "Because the band wore bands on their wrists, they were banned." Anyone who uses the second letter of the alpha*et will be *anned

QUOTE (Baron @ Jan 20, 2014 -> 04:01 PM) You are now banned for talking about people being banned You're now banned for saying banned twice in a post. Edit: s***.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 20, 2014 -> 03:50 PM) It's fact. We actually got into a bit of a feud with Joe Cowley at one point too. And got in Sports Illustrated! http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/art...10304/index.htm And Cowley is no longer a columnist and has nothing to do with baseball. Rongey used to post here as well.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 20, 2014 -> 02:11 PM) Chances are we are going to be disappointed, but if he doesn't pick the Cubs or Yankees, how is the blogger going to explain his BS? "My sources were wrong"

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 20, 2014 -> 02:09 PM) It would be an absolutely devastating blow to the Cubs front office and would be a huge victory for the Sox. And yes, the reason this matters is because of fair-weather fan draw. The Cubs would still get some, but the Sox would go a long way towards evening it out this year alone. If the Sox signed Tanaka and then did something like trade for Castro, a couple things happen. 1) Sox likely make the playoffs. 2) The rebuild is over. This would prompt Cubdom to ask "Why didn't we get Tanaka? Theo said these rebuilds take 5 years? They had bad contracts and it didn't hurt them? Weren't they worse than us last year?"

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 20, 2014 -> 02:03 PM) Seriously, why would teams back off? Nobody is backing off this late in the game. Tanaka might have it whittled down to 3-4, but there are going to be late minute pushes and frankly, he probably has his mind made up already. "You know, I didn't decide until this morning. I'm taking my talents to the South Side." *Cubdom implodes*

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jan 20, 2014 -> 10:07 AM) Personally I don't think it's realistic to envision Castro here without including at least 2 of those guys. If there's no Q in the deal then it's going to have to come out of the farm. Just think, if YOU had that guy and then looked at our system, what would YOU demand? You probably aren't going to accept walking away with a couple Trayce Thompsons and a Mitchell or two. IMO Hawkins/Johnson/Beck/Danish/MJohnson/Semien/Barnum - you're probably looking at 3 of those guys and then something like Snodgress or Webb getting added to it. Right now that would be tough to swallow, but if there happens to be a Tanaka deal.... that changes things considerably. You're looking at 2 draft picks coming up, one #3 and the other as high as your typical supplemental first used to be. We'll get a third pick in the top-100 also. AND we're going to max out our INTL budget. AND if Danks comes back to full health, we'll likely be trading him for quality as well. We could afford to make a deal with Houston and replenish what we'd take out assuming Houston likes our guys enough. It's always hard to give up talented prospects, but what are the chances that anyone we'd give up would become as good as Castro is now, and what are the chances the guys we'd give up would even be regarded as highly as those which will be added to the system 5-6 months from now? You always have to give up something good to get something good. If the Sox sign Tanaka, I'd easily give up a Beck/Danish/MJohnson/Barnum Hell, I'd be willing to bite on trading Anderson. EJ and Semien are just the ones I don't want to trade. But if it comes down to EJ for Castro, straight up swap, then I might do it. Then I'm praying Beck/Danish fly through the system and can be ready for call-ups.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 20, 2014 -> 01:44 PM) I see, but I still don't buy that these leaked numbers are really coming directly from the teams. Does Tanaka know that for certain though? What if the leaked reports match the contract offers and he goes "Well, this is exactly what I didn't want them to do."

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 20, 2014 -> 01:39 PM) Weren't the Sox the only team that publicly recognized their meeting with MT? Yes, but they didn't discuss anything afterwards. They said it was exploratory and would provide no further comment to respect Tanaka's wishes. Meanwhile these other franchises are having numbers leaked, discussing what happened, etc.

If Close and Tanaka really wanted teams to keep quiet, you'd have to imagine they'd appreciate what the Sox (and Dbacks to a similar extent) have done to keep tight lipped.

Who the f*** is Tom Loxas?

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Jan 20, 2014 -> 01:33 AM) FWIW, ...told "anyone that calls the Sox longshots in this Tanaka thing are just wrong". Awwww yeah.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jan 19, 2014 -> 04:18 AM) Some random poster on MLBTR's discussion says a "little birdie told him" that the Sox offered 4 yrs/$100M, and thus are the 1 team that "nearly" offered OVER $100M like the report said. It makes sense too, as you'd figure the Yankees/Dodgers/Cubs would be bidding a lot, the DBacks are apparently at $120M, so that leaves the Sox and Slick Rick trying to get creative with a deal. 4 yrs/$100M with maybe 2 player options, or vesting options, or something. I thought before it was highly unlikely the Sox would ever win this bidding war, but if they did, it would have to be with a creative deal. I stick by that. No way we outbid, but maybe we outsmart. 4/100 with two options possibly? Or voiding his arbitration rights?

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 19, 2014 -> 01:47 AM) This is true. Vince with Kobe's attention to detail and work ethic would've been devastating. fortunately we've got LeBron. LeBron isn't what a Kobe-Vince hybrid would be. s***, a Kobe-Vince hybrid is the GOAT.

ESPN just said that PG's dunk > Vince's Dunk Contest dunk. While similar, VC's was smoother. I understand his was in a dunk contest and not a game, but at best it's a tie.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jan 19, 2014 -> 12:25 AM) I don't get jokes. What is the significance of "Cox"? Penis jokes and it's spelled like Sox.

"Speaking at the Cubs Convention today, Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein said the team erred in promoting Brett Jackson to the majors in 2012, commenting that the outfielder may have required more minor league seasoning (via MLB.com's Carrie Muskat). Jackson struggled to a .175/.303/.342 line in 142 plate appearances, and returned to the minors in 2013 to hit just .210/.296/.330. Epstein explained that then-manager Dale Sveum wanted to work on developing Jackson's swing." Don't worry guys. Baez/Bryant/Almora/Soler are all gonna be stars!

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Jan 18, 2014 -> 10:44 PM) Not to get my hopes up, but there's not been many strong denials of the Sox being the team. That could very well mean nothing, but it's better than someone saying we were blown out of the water. Only stuff about the Sox has been said by the Sox. Stealth Bomber Kenny and CIA Agent Rick

QUOTE (Baron @ Jan 18, 2014 -> 07:49 PM) I've heard all sorts of price points for the Cubs today. 8 for 200 and now 6 for 160. For that, no thanks.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 18, 2014 -> 07:28 PM) Qqqqqq! Yes?