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QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 10:10 AM) http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/instagraphs...comment-4821345 This is a great read from Kiley McDaniel again and it really drives home a few points. I think this is a very good thing to read especially when we consider guys like Matt Davidson and Erik Johnson. For Davidson maybe, but for Johnson I think it's different. There's a difference between getting lit up when you put out your best stuff and you get knocked around because you lost your stuff. With a pitcher, if you lost your stuff you might never get it back.

Was hoping we wouldn't go the LaRoche route as the lefty middle of order bat until Headley is off the market. I think he's an OK signing, not one to get too excited about. 36 year old Konerko was better than 35 year old LaRoche. Would 36 year old LaRoche be better than 37 year old Konerko?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 12:34 PM) DRose is standing and walking! Like Rory Calhoun! Hilarious! Had to. You meant Snoop Dogg, or Bob Barker?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er1zvNiYr48...eature=youtu.be Anyone get the irony in this commercial?

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 09:57 PM) This day and age everyone is going to be getting more then we think they deserve. Just the nature of free agency and the MLB We are talking about a sport where a $100 million payroll puts you at the bottom half of the spending list, and many young players are paid 1/20th of their worth in open market. There are plenty of money to spend around the league, that's why I am not too caught up by the Zach Duke deal.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 09:58 PM) Not sure about that....Butler is 29, and other than Rasmus and Sandoval, there aren't many free agents on the right side of 30. Of course, LaRoche can play 1B well, so he has THAT advantage, but you'd have to swallow hard to guarantee three years and $39 million to what amounts to a declining platoon 1B. (And the problem with this line of thinking is that we're probably going to use him as a DH even though he's a better defender than Abreu...we all know that he's not going to be forced to sit like Frank Thomas at this point in his development). We've started to see so many players "lose it" in their mid 30's that it's becoming increasingly risky to sign anyone over 31 or 32. For every Torii Hunter who keeps on trucking along, there are 10-15 counter-examples. The consensus is LaRoche is a better overall player than Butler and is a lefty bat. I will take him for a 2 year deal over 3 years for Butler. I think he will end up getting 2/$26 mil

Pretty much guarantees LaRoche will get $13 mil+ AAV

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 10:33 AM) I would love a Danks-Ethier swap just because our rotation potential gets so much more interesting purely from a fan point of view. 1.) Sale 2.) Quintana 3.) FA righty 4.) Noesi 5.) Bassit/FA project/eventually Rodon Those with baseball OCD's is very uncomfortable with having too many lefties in the rotation, or having Danks penciled in as a #3 when he is now a #5, or that we are paying him $14 mil for nothing. We all want to get rid of him in a pipe dream scenario, but it won't likely happen.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 03:33 PM) I think I alluded to an Alexie / Danks deal earlier. I think it could make sense but am very intrigued at the possibilities hear. A lot of potential match-ups that could be beneficial for both organizations. I also think it will likely drive Soxtalk to have very unrealistic packages of what the package would be if in fact a trade is agreed upon. We should maximize our return for Alexei. From the Dodgers standpoint, how much they are willing invest give up ABSOLUTELY depends on what they see out of Seager. The kid's bat should make him a regular as early as 2016. If they see him as an SS for at least a few years and only wants Alexei as a stop gap, then they wouldn't be willing to part with valuable assets for Alexei. And that's where discussion from Hahn should end.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 03:14 PM) Then they can enjoy not having Alexei. The Sox have zero need to move him, and would be completely stupid to take on a bad contract without getting a star potential young players for him. QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 03:16 PM) No. If we're not getting a top flight talent back, do not trade Alexei. What exactly is the point of clearing Danks's contract out if it leaves us without one of our best players and 2 more holes as a result? We save $23 million by clearing Danks and Alexei, great, but now we have only $23 million to spend to find a replacement starting pitcher and a starting shortstop. That's a completely lateral move at best and quite possibly a move that makes the Sox worse. I wouldn't advocate to trade Alexei to the Dodgers for one of their outfielders anyways. Taking away our best infield glove and replace it with huge question marks in the outfield will most likely make us a worse team in 2015. If we trade Alexei, we should look for good defense + prospects in return, or least knowing we can get the gloves in a separate trade or in the FA market.

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 01:10 PM) Right, but Boozer at C would have been a nightmare, Gasol at C is not. But his rebounding is not as good as Noah's. But this may be premature, as Noah was basically rebounding unchallenged yesterday. I don't understand how Blake/Jordan could be so bad. (edit: at rebounding) Unless it's broken don't fix it. Noah's D at C has been amazing the last couple of years. Our D and rebounding has took quite a hit trying to implement the news guys into the rotation. In the long term, I too, would like to see more of Noah at C. Then again, part of our struggle up to this point could also tie back to Noah's knee issues.

Unless Dodgers is ready to make Seager a full time 3B, it does not make sense for them to trade a top level prospect like Pederson for Alexei. The only way this makes sense for them is unloading a bad contract like Either or Kemp, plus a couple of mid level ML ready prospects for Alexei and Danks.

QUOTE (TheTruth05 @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 01:10 PM) Miller would also cost at least $25 more. Point is, Miller is better, and could be 5 WARs better according to WAR

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 01:01 PM) It's largely to protect Gasol from the P&R which he is notoriously horrendous at guarding. He couldn't be worse than the Carlos Boozer

Playing devil's advocate to raise a point here. Is it double standard that we constantly use WAR to grade players nowadays, but when it comes to actually paying the players, we aren't thrilled to pay $10 mil for a 2 WAR player but are fine with $5 mil for a 1 WAR player? Even without looking at WAR, Miller is still a 8th inning/ closer material while Duke is more of a 7th/8th inning guy. If you want to argue about years here, Miller will be 33 at the end of a 4 year deal and Duke will be 36 at the end of this deal.

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 10:33 AM) He also looked so much more comfortable with playing C again. I realize noah at PF is better than Gasol at PF defensively, but I feel like Noah at C is so much stronger at C that it's worth it. Also, in the first five minutes, what I was allowed to see, Loved when Jimmy took Chris Paul matchup right away. I haven't been paying close enough attention to get the breakdown of how much Noah has been playing at PF. But I agree that it makes no sense to constantly take your DPOY away from the basket to guard the PF, who's usually a stretch 4 these days. I know Gasol can protect the rim, but Noah does so much more around the rim than Gasol could.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 12:04 PM) yeah i saw that too. messed up wording by Dan Hayes. I think he meant that Duke allowed 20% to score, which the Sox allowed 68%. I think he meant 32% for Sox. If you allow 68% (2/3) of the inherited runners to score, you're the worst bullpen in history.

I also want to note that Noah has notched exactly 6 assists for 5 games in a row. If he gets 6 assists for 6 straight games, we might be at some sort of records here.

Was mad other dudes picked up AP in both of my leagues before I did. Glad to see I didn't miss out much.

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 07:45 PM) both?? maybe 1 and a regular starting pen guy who is healthy. 2 will put the sox behind the 8 ball. esp in the first month of the season when it is cold and windy, the team will need healthy arms and also remember the sox will not go with the 5 man rotation until 2 or 3 week of the new season. Agreed for the most part except for the bold. Morrow had only a finger injury this year and recovered fully. He was actually pitching for the month of September. If the Sox think they can fix him, he should be ready to go right out of the gate. Hochevar had TJS early this spring, and should also be ready to pitch right away as well. While it might take him a while to get back into form, he's well worth the risk. Considering the $40 mil contracts Robertson and Miller demands, this guy can provide the same results at a fraction of the cost. QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 10:52 PM) Good to see, I thought I was getting annoying suggesting Hochevar over and over again. You aren't getting annoying until you make a new thread about the guy.

I like how we spend more time debating on Rose headlines than discussing the actual game! Anyways, Jimmg is now averaging over 41 mpg on the season. I guess their plan is to run him to the ground this year and let him become someone else's problem next year? Would have like to see Dougie, Snell or even Nazr get some burn in the 4th.

Reclamation projects like Hochevar and Morrow hasn't been mentioned a lot around here. I think both can be had for around 1 year $5 mil deals. I think there is a good chance that either, if not both, will bounce back with the Sox. Hochevar, if comes back healthy from TMJ, can be a low cost option at closer. Morrow brings mid rotation stuff to the table, worst case he could be a useful piece in the bullpen.

No more than $15 mil on a 4 year deal. It's either Melky or Tomas for me in terms of outfield help, where I would go 7/$84 mil for the latter.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 16, 2014 -> 12:48 PM) That was a sweet play by Cutler.he has so much ability, but obviously his brain will always hold him back. I've said many times and I will say it again. Cutler is a much better QB when he rolls out of pocket and buys more time with his feet. But often times he forces a throw on his back foot when staying in pocket. That play was Rodge-esque.

Now we are just getting bullied. They know we couldn't stop them for s***, so they can run any trick play in the book and get away with it.