Eminor3rd

AA has mind control powers

There HAS to be something else going on here... FWIW, MLBTradeRumors says the Jays are going hard after Wandy Rodriguez as well.

I'm terrified because Alex Anthopoulos is involved...

WTF? Three way, maybe? Who is Toronto's best prospect?

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 26, 2011 -> 02:37 PM) If Sale's future in the majors is as a reliever, that's ok. However, they need to give him a shot at starting to see if he can do it. Anything else would just be symbolic of the short-sighted nature of this organization. This ^ Yeah, if he's the next Thornton, I'm happy. But I'd much rather he be the next top-rotation lefty starter, so if he has a chance at that, we have to give him a try. He can easily just do a Joba and fall back into the bullpen at anytime, but it's much harder to go the other way.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 26, 2011 -> 01:57 PM) Moving a 35 year old MR with 2 more years on his contract (I think) is not a big move. Given his importance to our bullpen this year, I would disagree. That's a big hole for our AAA to fill. I can't see any scenario where Thornton is the only one that goes. If we're giving up, the first guy to make sure you move is Jackson.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/w...sale-look-like/

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/07/card...mus-widely.html

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jul 25, 2011 -> 03:44 PM) So ask for Sanchez Would LOVE Sanchez.

Per FanGraphs, exerpted from the power rankings: Interesting idea. Though it's more likely Ozzie would platoon Rasmus/Rios for the rest of the season.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 25, 2011 -> 02:47 PM) I have to think that if the Sox sell off pieces when they are 4.5 back, fans will revolt. There is nothing stopping you from dealing Quentin in the offseason if that's what the team so desires, but I don't see how they can deal him in season. Hopefully they go 5-1 this week and they sweep Detroit or they go 1-5 and get swept by Detroit. Knowing the nature of this team, they'll go 3-3, losing the series to Detroit but beating Boston, and Detroit will lose their Saturday game and the Sox will go into the trade deadline like 5 or 5.5 back which isn't far enough back to sell but isn't really close enough to buy either. That's the issue, standing pat. We NEED to deal Jackson now. The market is perfect, and we may not even get a sandwich pick from him if they change the CBA. Yes, we can pay Quentin arb and trade him in the offseason, but Jackson needs to be dealt. That's why I like this Jackson+ for Rasmus -- we could do it and actually still contend this year while maximizing the Jackson return.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Jul 25, 2011 -> 02:34 PM) My hope is that money coming off the books, combined with our slight "youth movement" allows us enough cash to re-sign Buehrle. I can't picture him in another uniform. I still think he retires if we don't sign him. STL won't give him enough money because they're saving for Pujols. If they would, they'd give it to Carpenter.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 25, 2011 -> 02:22 PM) So you mean that AJ Pierzynski, Jermaine Dye, Bobby Jenks, Jose Contreras, Matt Thornton, Gavin Floyd, and Carlos Quentin all suck. I don't know if all of them were unhappy, but for whatever reasons, all of those players found struggles elsewhere and, through both the White Sox organization and the major league clubhouse, those players have found sustained success with the White Sox. Beyond that, I don't believe Rasmus is a "mental midget." I believe he has been completely thrown under the bus by Tony LaRussa and it is going to be impossible for him to get out of that. I'm hoping the Sox can make the best offer for him and get him, because he is an incredible talent who I believe would blossom with the White Sox. Exactly. He's showing all the signs of struggling to fit into a mold that TLR created for him. Being a power hitter at a speed position corroborates this. This seems to be one of the better buy-low opportunities around, in terms of the likeliness that he'd improve with a change of scenery. Then again, Ozzie may be no better than TLR...

Jonah Keri FanGraphs chat today:

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Jul 25, 2011 -> 02:11 PM) Who is this quality starter their going to get. Their really isn't much out there. Why would the Tigers adding a pitcher automatically give them the division, but the Sox adding a bat would give them nothing? What's the logic in that. The Tigers have been outscored by their opponents this year, but are somehow 7 games over .500. That kind of trend usually does not last a whole season. Edwin Jackson is available.

QUOTE (Knackattack @ Jul 25, 2011 -> 11:53 AM) You guys remember how "rebuilding on the fly" got us Danks, Gavin and Q!? When Kenny goes after these players he is usually right. I'm sorry but regardless of how good he is, an expensive LH reliever and a propsect or a rental starting pitcher and a prospect (not named viciedo in either case) is absolutely highway robbery for Colby Rasmus is he comes anywhere near his potential. And even if he burns out it is still the type of trade you can't be mad with because of the immense possible reward. LH power hitting speedy Cf'er? Yes please. This is important, not because KW is 'usually right' but because the past has no bearing on the future. Sometimes guys bust, sometimes they don't. They all have talent, and there's a reason they're considered prospects. The rest of Colby Rasmus' career has nothing to do with anyone else the Sox have acquired and busted. Right now, he's a guy with a ton of potential at a premium position, and we'd have to consider acquiring him. The team we have now isn't winning, and you have to make a gamble if you want to change that. Betting on Rasmus' talent and the health of Peavy isn't the worst risk, especially given that you have 4 solid, healthy guys in the rotation, meaning that if Peavy goes down, you only have to BS one spot in the rotation, which a lot of contending teams do regularly already. "But what if Peavy and another pitcher both go down? Pitchers get hurt a lot." Then you lose. That's the crappy luck that happens when good teams don't end up winning it all. You gotta put the best talent out there and hope it does what it's supposed to do. Sure, hindsight is 20/20, but you have to evaluate deals based on what you know at the time. Dunn is another example. I don't blame KW at all for signing Dunn and we all loved it at the time because there was no reason at all to expect this collapse. In hindsight, sure it sucks now, but that doesn't make it a bad move. KW filled our biggest hole with the single most consistent run producer in the majors outside of Pujols. There was always a chance it would blow up but it was very small. If he makes this trade, he's dealing a soon to be FA in a position of depth for a young, cost-controlled asset to fill one of our biggest holes. It might not work out, but it's worth the risk.

QUOTE (FlySox87 @ Jul 24, 2011 -> 11:21 AM) If we trade what I believe to be our best pure hitter since Frank Thomas and a guy who's only getting better (and I am notoriously cynical of prospects) for a guy with a .258 career batting average, I'm gonna quit. Well, no...I could never quit on this team. I'll probably just cry like a b****. But seriously, this is so stupid. No deal for Rasmus should include anything more than Thornton. If Viciedo goes, we're the stupidest team in baseball. I strongly disagree. Rasmus is more valuable, easily, and it gives KW the opportunity to justify keeping CQ, which is really nice considering we need to move him NOW if we don't want to pay him through arbitration. Moving Jackson+Viciedo for Rasmus allows us to still compete this year and set ourselves up well for next year (Rasmus/Rios/Quentin) I do agree that throwing Thornton in is too much.

Someone just told me Betemit to Tigers. Phew, I was afraid they were going to get a serious bat.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 14, 2011 -> 08:27 AM) If the Sox go cheap next year, Erik Bedard as a FA option wouldn't make me mad, esp. if Cooper is still here. Bedard's problem has never been pitching well, it's been pitching at all. Between him and Peavy, we'd need a competent 6th starter to cover 25 games.

QUOTE (mcgrad70 @ Jul 13, 2011 -> 10:58 PM) Excellent post...well done! How is that a good idea? Why would you sell low on players, who you have NO replacements for, and get nothing in return? If you're a GM and you just dump all the players that are having a bad season, you're going to run out of talent. CQ will never have more trade value then now, he's going to be too expensive next year, and we have a ready-made replacement. This team, minus Dunn and Rios, is still horrible. If you're losing, you have to replace players with players that give you a chance to win in the future.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 13, 2011 -> 05:25 PM) Why would we want Lowe over Pierre? Are we dumping Rios' contract on the Braves, too? There's just no way Lowe for Pierre makes sense for us....and some combo of Rios and/or Pierre for Lowe makes any sense for them. I think it would allow us to clear space for Viciedo, dump Jackson/Danks and still actually have a shot at the Central if we got hot. Again, if Dunn/Rios start hitting, this team could lose a couple pieces and still be the best in our division, especially if those pieces are pitchers.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 13, 2011 -> 05:16 PM) Gotta take a look at the contracts before you weigh Lowe against anyone. $15 mil total this year, $15 mil remaining next year. $21 million remaining through the end of 2012. This is true, and I think that would be the only thing that would make it worthwhile for ATL. I would assume that if we took him, it would be a definite goodbye to Buerhle, and might give us the depth necessary to dump Danks for a decent package.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Jul 13, 2011 -> 03:53 PM) I was looking over some of the rumor sites and I see where the Atlanta rumor included the possibility the Braves might be interested in Juan Pierre? Now I know we need a lead off guy, but apaprntly this auithor thinks the Braves do also. His question is whterh the Braves would be willing to give up the young Beachy or the more expensive Lowe for Pierre. Trading JP would open up the spot for Viciedo, who we would all like to see up with the big club. Quentin obviously has been mentioned, but I just can't see that as more than idle specualtion. The rumor mill even says the Sox may not be really looking at any moves. The struggles of Rios and Dunn have pretty much hamstrung our ability to make a trade. Plus if they could ever get it going that would be as good as two trades IMO. I know this is alot of rehash, but the idea of Atlanta maybe being willing to tak Juan Pierre was intersting as I hadn't heard that before. I think the JP thing came up mid-thread. It certainly would be hilarious if they did want him, and I'd take absolutely anything of value to get rid of him. I just don't see Lowe being less valuable to the Braves ROS than Pierre. Obviously we wouldn't get any A or even B pitching prospects for him. If they want to dump Lowe and/or McLouth though, I'm all for it, if for no other reason than it gives us more depth to dump some more valuable guys after our upcoming 8 game losing streak.