Eminor3rd

Man, I hate being in this position. I don't even WANT Cespedes specifically, I just wanted a substantial RF upgrade because the market was so good and fit made so much sense. My heart wants him, but my brain is reminding me that the best course might be Austin Jackson + Ian Desmond. Or stare down Colorado until they give up CarGo for Tyler Danish.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 11:23 AM) Echo your guys sentiments here. +1

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 09:46 AM) Sabermetrics aside: 2B: Lawrie SS: Saladino > Ramirez 3B: Frazier However, overall, I do think the IF defense will be improved. Frazier and Saladino are above average, and Lawrie may be decent with a full season at 2B. 3B was a lot of Mike Olt, too, though.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 09:36 AM) Then why spend over 300 pages discussing someone who doesn't even play for the White Sox if it's so inconsequential? Because we want to discuss whether or not our team is going to win. Not whether or not the Sox marketing team has put together some talking points for the ticket reps.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 09:33 AM) What are the marketing department's three top talking points for today's efforts to drum up season ticket interest? Who cares?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 07:59 AM) Altar... http://nba.nbcsports.com/2016/01/20/forbes...-valuable-team/ Bulls worth $2.3 billion, third most valuable franchise in NBA. If you add up all the NFL teams, with the Rams now doubling in value and third highest after Cowboys and Pats...NFL is worth $64.85 billion. NBA at $37.65 billion. Last year, MLB was $36 billion and that will be updated by Forbes this spring so they will be ahead of the NBA but should jump to mid $40's in March. White Sox were 16th at $975 million. Combined White Sox and Bulls, would be one of the top six in the world along with Yankees, Man U, Real Madrid, Cowboys, Patriots...ahead of Knicks and Lakers. Wtf are you talking about?

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 20, 2016 -> 08:17 PM) What would you pay Cespedes if it was up to you? At this point? Cespedes was the one I wanted least of the big three, but: I'd go up to 5/125. He's a four win upgrade over Avi and I believe in this team as a mid-80's winner with that upgrade.

ihaveafeelingsomethingisgoingtohappentodayTalk.com

QUOTE (captain54 @ Jan 20, 2016 -> 03:46 PM) You are a regular customer at a restaurant.. the ownership changes the menu, the decor.. the quality overall is not to your liking.. You and others decide to go elsewhere..suddenly the restaurant is empty most nights.. The owner or members of the staff go public and rip their former customers.. disparaging them, in some ways insulting them.. placing the onus of their failure to draw customers on the actual customer.. rather than flaws in their operation… Apparently, you would probably agree with this scenario as well... Firstly, that's NOT what happened. It would be more like "one random waitress post some disparaging stuff about customers on Facebook." Secondly, if the food was good. I would totally still go. Thirdly, I literally never have to interact with Don Cooper in my consumption of the Sox product.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jan 20, 2016 -> 03:47 PM) Funny enough, that's the Mets pitch to him. He absolutely loves the Spanish culture of NYC and is reportedly willing to take a big discount to stay there. That's a thing that has been reported, sure. But unless it comes directly form the mouth of his agent, it's more than likely just speculation. Also, every major city has a huge Spanish-speaking population. If that's a priority, than the Angels should be the clear frontrunners.

QUOTE (oneofthemikes @ Jan 20, 2016 -> 03:41 PM) I mean, I would say that at the very least they don't dislike each other... Right. But imagine your most average friend. Maybe a guy who see once every couple months. Don't know him super well, but always got along. Let's call him Fred. Now, you're job hunting, and get offers from two companies -- one of which is the place that Fred works. The company that Fred works for is offering you 30% less money. Do you choose Fred's company? What if Fred was your best friend in the whole world?

QUOTE (peppers312 @ Jan 20, 2016 -> 03:35 PM) if you played in Japan and didn't speak the language, don't you think you'd gravitate towards a fellow countryman if they were on the team? Sure, but not enough to leave tens of millions dollars on the table. Also, literally every MLB team contains Spanish-speaking players.

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Jan 20, 2016 -> 03:35 PM) Renteria and O-Cab were the only two dudes in MLB from Colombia and they wanted to murder each other. lol Seriously, lol. It's weird. When I moved to Chicago and told people that I came from Ohio, like 1 in 10 would immediately say, "OH! Do you know ?!" "No. Why?" "Oh that's my cousin's wife and she's from Ohio." Ok so there are roughly ten million people spread out over like 40,000 miles in the state of Ohio. What are the chance I would randomly know one? The Cuban player thing isn't QUITE as bad because they actually played on the same team -- but what are the chances that they are BFFs to the point that one would leave money on the table to reunite? It's way more likely that they're completely indifferent toward each other.

QUOTE (peppers312 @ Jan 20, 2016 -> 03:33 PM) i guess i'm surprised Cespedes hasn't signed yet just because of the opportunity to team up with a fellow Cuban in Abreu. obviously money is the #1 for all the free agents, and rightfully so because they deserve to get the most money they can. but the next thing that would motivate me would be winning, and maybe that's where the Sox fall short in terms of potential teams to sign with. so that's why i'm hoping that he considers playing with a fellow Cuban important and Hahn can get a deal done before the weekend. Why does everyone assume that all people from Cuba are friends?

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 20, 2016 -> 03:16 PM) Yea, tons of Kumbaya and hand holding here at Soxtalk lol

QUOTE (Jake @ Jan 20, 2016 -> 11:47 AM) I'd see what Jimmy Rollins is thinking for next season. Have to think he's in a position where he'd be attracted to a team like the Sox that has no obvious choice at SS but also doesn't have the bargaining power to demand a promise of a starting spot. I doubt he'd less than $8-10m though, which I think the White Sox expressly DON'T want to pay at SS.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 20, 2016 -> 02:38 PM) It's from WSI. They literally get upset if the guy taking the money in the parking lot isn't smiling at them. I am totally serious. I'm going to have to go check that board out some time. Sounds ridiculous.

QUOTE (captain54 @ Jan 20, 2016 -> 02:42 PM) It's not a question of getting worked up. The bigger issue is: is this an indication of how the organization as a whole views their fans, with Cooper being the only one with the juice to actually express it? When Cooper has ripped the fans in the fast, has the organization ever come out to offer a disclaimer? That's the thing -- why would anyone assume that DON COOPER represents the thoughts of the front office? Don Cooper is the meatballiest dude I've ever seen. Of course he wouldn't be business savvy. Why do I care if he responds like a meatball? I wouldn't expect anything less. I just need him to work on pitching mechanics. The rest is whatever.

I just can't imagine getting worked up about this.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 20, 2016 -> 02:12 PM) They had to in order to open up a spot for Parra on the 40 Oh ok

Interestingly enough -- the Rockies just DFA'd Kyle Parker, which could be signalling a move on their part. Perhaps we could be trading for a Rockies OF instead.

I wish all of this excitement was over a better player.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Jan 20, 2016 -> 10:02 AM) Once again the White Sox are not getting the bargain that people think they will get. At a bargain price teams will jump back in the pool and drive the price up to a realistic number Exactly.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jan 19, 2016 -> 04:42 PM) Desmond is much worse defensively at SS than Anderson. I'm not sure we know that at this point.

Ugh.