Eminor3rd

Looks like Morales just went to Seattle for Vargas. Bad news -- one more Floyd suitor off the market.

QUOTE (Lamar Johnson 23 @ Dec 19, 2012 -> 02:38 PM) Oops! And Flowers to Karkovice! I'm fairly certain Flowers is better than Karko ever was. My bad. Kark couldn't hit, but wasn't he an elite defender? Cannon for an arm. I'd take Kark over this version of Flowers in an instant.

Viciedo was not a good player last year, offensively or defensively. However, the reason he's a a bad player offensively is because he has worse plate discipline than the average high school player. His hit tool and power tools are star-level. Some guys bust because they don't have the ability to recognize pitches, but more often they find that plate discipline is the easiest thing to learn because it is about approach and not innate ability. This skill, which comes with maturity, is the only thing separating Viciedo from being prime Carlos Lee, and so his upside is tremendous. It's also just so awesome that he's able to cut his teeth like this at the major league level. There are tons of big time prospects fighting this same battle in AA and putting up similar numbers. The fact that Viciedo can be above replacement level at the major league level with the hitting approach of a tee-ball player is extremely encouraging. We just have to hope that his eye isn't the problem and that he isn't uncoachable. He's either going to become Carlos Lee or Delmon Young, and I think, at this point, he's more likely to be Lee. That's why I like Viciedo: not because he's good right now -- he isn't -- but because he has developed according to plan and is just an epiphany away from being a monster. He's a good guy to be patient with, in my opinion.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Dec 17, 2012 -> 09:05 AM) Can't imagine the answer being anyone other than Gordon Beckham. This is so true.

With Dickey gone, Gavin has to be about the best arm left on the trading block, right? Rangers and Angels -- especially the Angels -- need pitching badly. Unless they want to gamble on Lohse, I would have to think there's a good chance for a Sox trade soon.

QUOTE (spiderman @ Dec 14, 2012 -> 02:20 PM) Are the Cubs going to move Garza? It doesn't sound like it given that they are rumored to be in stealth mode on a few pitchers.... As for the White Sox, I think they are quiet, for now, because they simply don't have money to spend. Other teams are still mostly adding through free agency. Eventually, the dust will settle, and the White Sox will probably then be in position to make a move or two. The Cubs won't move Garza until the deadline because he had a season-ending injury. He needs to show that he's healthy first.

QUOTE (knightni @ Dec 13, 2012 -> 05:36 PM) Probably not Sox news. I bet that there's postings about it in the Diamond Club, however. I just figured it warranted a quick post, considering how much space here has been dedicated to discussing the possibility of Hamilton to the White Sox

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 13, 2012 -> 02:28 PM) Losing Myers is not a big loss, and I don't think Flowers will be as much of a downgrade as you believe. There's still a lot of time left. Be patient. They can also make moves in season too. Flowers won't be much of a downgrade from what AJ will be this year, but that's a ton of offense to replace from 2012. But, you're right, it's early.

Josh Hamilton to the Angels http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/12/ange...aring-deal.html

QUOTE (Lamar Johnson 23 @ Dec 13, 2012 -> 10:54 AM) IMHO, Ackley will never be the fielder that Beckham is, nor will he ever hit as many HRs as Beckham does (will). That said, the Sox are too right-handed, and can definitely use Ackley's bat in the lineup. I would make this deal, especially if the Sox don't re-sign Pierzynski. We would all make this deal -- no one for Seattle would even entertain that phone call.

Beckham for Ackley? Seriously?

The Indians are HUGE winners in that deal, IMO. This looks horrible for Arizona, unless Bauer is a ticking time bomb. Gregorious does not have a ton of upside, from what I've read -- more of an average player ceiling.

Holy s***, the Indians just made out like BANDITS

The thing about Rios is that he isn't really an albatross at this point. He has something like 3/36 left on his contract, right? If he was a free agent this offseason, at age 31, he would do substantially better than that, I would think.

FWIW, I liked Youk. He was a big improvement and I was satisfied with his performance. Made the season more fun.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Dec 11, 2012 -> 05:16 PM) I thought the Yankees wanted to get younger? Youkilis, Pettite, Rivera... hmmm? He's a one-year stopgap. A-Rod injury contingency.

Shields is a good pickup for the Royals -- even if they only win 80 games this year. It's really hard to build a winner from scratch in a single offseason. Sometimes it takes a few years of collecting talent and gaining momentum. The problem is they paid WAY too much. This package would have been a reasonable offer for someone like Felix. Guys like Myers don't get moved for #2 starters making $11m a year for two years. Yes, prospects bust in general, but projectable hitters that rake AAA at age 21 typically don't. It isn't as simple as labelling him a lottery ticket like most other guys. This dude is a consensus top 2 or 3 overall prospect who is absolutely knocking at the door. And, his at bats will go to Francoeur, who was worth a staggering -2.7 WAR last year.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Dec 7, 2012 -> 11:50 PM) I don't know what any of that means. I know they're similar players outside of Rios' awful '11. Upton's slightly better. The idea that the guy still has considerable upside after 3,000 PA's is kind of laughable. Yeah, he was a number 1 pick and a sexy prospect, but he's probably not going to get significantly better. 3,000 PA's is substantial. Upton is substantially better than Rios, and he's like 25, and his down year last year, which was about as good as an above average year for Rios, happened when he was playing through injuries. I'm not sure why you think Rios is as good as Upton -- look at their stats. But, the question, for me, isn't whether or not Upton is better, but whether or not Upton is enough better to justify paying big for him. The marginal upgrade looks like it may not be worth it. Although, the only way I can imagine getting him would be moving Viciedo/De Aza for prospects or in a multi-team deal, so it may not be a question of upgrading Rios but upgrading one of the others.

It would be unprecedented, but it's an unprecedented situation -- when is the last time an elite guy had to settle for 3-4 years when he wanted 7? Nothing ever happens until the first time it happens. Just sayin' Anyway, I don't know how likely it is either, just mentioning that I would very much support paying the guy that much money if I didn't have to do it for his 36-39 seasons. Also, I don't think we want him in CF. To me, it more opens the door for a trade of Viciedo, perhaps packaged with Floyd, or -- perhaps more likely -- a dump of Rios.

QUOTE (GREEDY @ Dec 6, 2012 -> 05:35 PM) i'd like to see the Sox add Stephen Drew to this infield.... plug him in against RH SP for whichever Keppinger/Alexei/Beckham has the worst matchup and/or is struggling. He's gonna be way too much money for that type of role -- the SS market is just as weak as the 3B market.

Rumor has it the Mariners may be front-runners for Hamilton and are offering 3/75. If he signs for 3 or 4 years, I'm much more interested, even at $25m per year.

1 CF Alejandro De Aza* 2 3B Jeff Keppinger 3 DH Adam Dunn* 4 1B Paul Konerko 5 RF Alex Rios 6 LF Dayan Viciedo 7 SS Alexei Ramirez 8 C Tyler Flowers 9 2B Gordon Beckham Projected Bench C Hector Gimenez** IF Angel Sanchez RULE V OF Jordan Danks* OF DeWayne Wise* Projected Starting Rotation 1 LHP Chris Sale 2 RHP Jake Peavy 3 LHP John Danks 4 RHP Gavin Floyd 5 LHP Jose Quintana Projected Bullpen CL RHP Addison Reed BA#1 BP#1 SU LHP Matt Thornton SU RHP Jesse Crain MID LHP Hector Santiago BA#11 MID RHP Nate Jones MID LHP Donnie Veal LR RHP Dylan Axelrod BA#24 BP#19 This is our current setup per mlbdepthcharts.com. You know, I don't hate that team, as-is. One "splash" and I think I might even be excited.

QUOTE (GoGoSox2k2 @ Dec 6, 2012 -> 11:21 AM) quick note.. Revere to the Phills is done. Really surprised to see them move Span and Revere in the same offseason I thought so too, at first. Then I realized they can use Mastroianni there until their glut of 20-year old CF prospects get ready.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 5, 2012 -> 09:27 PM) There's only one player in the entire White Sox franchise that I wouldn't give up for Justin Upton. Yeah, I agree completely.

QUOTE (staxx @ Dec 5, 2012 -> 08:33 PM) Ive been saying all off-season the sox were interested in Upton. However, I dont think we have what it takes to get it done. I'm not giving up viciedo. De Aza + Sanchez + Reed + Johnson/Rienzo/Castro maybe? prolly not even close. We would need to trade for someone else's prospect. Who plays center then? Rios? Why wouldn't you give up Viciedo? He basically replaces Viciedo. I'm not saying it has a chance of happening, but if it did, I would totally give up Viciedo.