thxfrthmmrs

QUOTE (spiderman @ Jan 7, 2016 -> 07:00 PM) Wasn't this guy supposedly have to work out for teams? Now he gets a 3 year, 31 million deal? I do like Span, but I was expecting a 1 year deal for 6-8 million a season. Guess I was way off. Makes me wonder if we'll end up seeing much of a discount, if any, for some of the remaining free agents if teams are bidding against themselves. He was injured at the end of last season, so he was probably working out to prove he's healthy to the interested teams. The guy is still a very good player when healthy. He tallied up 10.8 fWAR in the 3 previous seasons leading up to 2015. His defense has slipped a bit because of age, and it might be time to move him to the corner OF. But I see value in a 3 year contract with $10M AAV.

Hmm sounds the E could use some of the magic of the Sox's training staff?? Main roster talent has definitely slimmed down. I hope now they really push the second tier guys like Dolph, Ambrose, Owens and Neville. I think WM still has promises if they bring back Brock to feud with Reigns. Perhaps an Attitude Era match and Rock and HHH would draw some appeal.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jan 7, 2016 -> 02:03 PM) Fun fact: He's played in one major league game...for the Tigers. He replaced....wait for it....Yoenis Cespedes. Another fun fact, this guy has a career OPS higher than Cespedes, Gordon, and Upton. Genius move by Hahn.

QUOTE (CyAcosta41 @ Jan 7, 2016 -> 06:35 AM) I'm certain you're raising this for argument's sake rather than believing his 2015 ISO stops any serious consideration of Markakis as Plan B (or C, D, or E). How about adding these to the brew: * Advanced professional hitter for nearly a decade * Continuing ability to be a left-handed stick * Regularly among OF leaders in OBP * Low-ish strikeouts, plus has a clue about situational hitting * Been a doubles-machine many years of his career * Last year's power numbers (first year in the NL) "MAY" be a total outlier * IS a RF * Passes the eye-test as a good defender (understand that the somewhat controversial advanced defensive metrics are mixed) * $11M AAV for the next 3 years is likely solid value for his likely WAR (likely to age fairly well given his body type) * Cool name Seriously, I can't believe I'm appearing to be an advocate for bringing in 2016 version Nick Markakis. There are all sorts of possible moves I hope we hit on before I go to Plan Whatever. That said, for some of the reasons set forth above and more, he is absolutely a solid incremental addition worth considering if we need to. It's about fit for a particular team. Brute thumping isn't the only gauge of any player, plus what tools can a possible acquisition bring to a team that a certain team might otherwise have in short supply? A football team in need of OL help doesn't forego a prospective lineman because he can't run a sub 5.0 40. I wouldn't go near Markakis unless Braves eat up a good chunk of his salary, and by good chunk I mean one third of it, and I don't think that's happening. His value mostly came from his plate discipline and defense when he was with the Orioles. But after an offseason neck surgery last season where he had a disc inserted into his neck, he has lost a lot of arm strength as a fielder, and it is industry believe that his arm won't come back. I think the surgery is also part of the cause for his decline in power numbers as well. If you get him, you're only getting a 1.5 WAR ish player who's on the decline. It's still an upgrade over Avi, but I wouldn't want to invest 3 years on him.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 4, 2016 -> 06:49 PM) Is Felix referring to Felix Mercedes? Sorry, Feliz. Maiker Feliz. Wouldn't mind if Felix Mercedes becomes an interesting name to follow though.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jan 4, 2016 -> 06:52 PM) Styles, Anderson, Gallows, and Nakamura and one other apparently going to WWE. you suck!! you suck !! you suck!!?? Nah.. just a pipe dream, but would love to see Styles in a WWE ring though.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 4, 2016 -> 11:59 AM) Micah was still eligible as a prospect, barely. Same with Thompson. Yep, thanks for correcting. Strange that they use AB as a criteria instead of PA, so Trayce just fell under the 130 AB rule. Micah was also sent down before the 45 days window in May, so he still qualifies.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 4, 2016 -> 01:39 PM) There's a crowd of interesting LatAm guys who, at least for me, are currently in the 20-40 range in the system - but with potential for much higher if things pan out. Guys like Amado Nunez, Fernando Tatis Jr, Franklin Reyes, Yosmer Solorzano, Johan Cruz and Maiker Feliz are all guys who will be in or close to the 15-30 range in our deeper list coming out soon. Add that to Adolfo, and that's a pretty nice talent pool. Doesn't even include some other guys lower down but also with potential, like Carlos Perez. This is what I mean when I say the "back end" of the list is filling in nicely. Johan Cruz is a guy who may even be in the mid-teens in the system. Cruz, Feliz, Perez, 3 of my favorite guys to follow in the system. It's highly likely that one of the 3 would crack our top 10 next season. Cruz has the highest potential if he moves back to SS and lives up to the reputation of being a strong defender at that spot. I would also add Ramon Beltre to the list, kid just turned 19 and could be moving Stateside this coming season.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 4, 2016 -> 09:39 AM) Would Tracye and Micah have still qualified? Both played in Chicago a lot last year. I pointed out Trayce wouldn't have qualified, but forgot Micah did spend a good couple of months with the big league team at the start of last year. Don't blame me that he wasn't that impressionable when he played ha.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 4, 2016 -> 09:27 AM) I appreciate John Danks more than most, but there is virtually no chance he is on the 2017 roster. While, yes, his rank as a qualified pitcher has left a lot to be desired, if you look at teams' 5th starter position, they use a lot of non qualified guys. I doubt many teams get much more out of their #5 starter than the White Sox. But even if he is better than he is been, he would become a 5 and 10 guy in 2017, giving him full trade protection. The White Sox save that for guys like Buehrle and Konerko and Fisk, not Johnny Danks. He's a goner unless he wants to pitch for total reclamation project money on a 1 year deal. Don't be shocked to see Danks move up at the 4th starter a couple months into the season. I am not sold on Erik Johnson, and not sure if we would add anyone to the rotation before season starts. If he performs well as a 4th starter, I wouldn't mind giving him a 2/$25M deal as a stop gap to the guys we have down in the minor. But he'd be taking a hometown discount in that scenario, which I know isn't too likely.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Jan 4, 2016 -> 09:00 AM) For everyone that bashes our system, I think that's a pretty nice top 10. Pretty steep drop off after the top 3 if you ask me. But of course we lost Montas and Micah who would have been 4 and 5, and Trayce would have been in the back of Top 10 had he qualified. I don't know if May at #5 is a reflection of his potential or a lack of strong candidates for the spot, but I think it's more likely the latter.

Who knows, maybe Danks has finally learned to pitch more effectively without his pre-surgery stuff now that he's 4 years removed from surgery, and he somehow puts up a strong contract year performance. Then there would be a few Danks apologists on this board who wishes the Sox bring him back for 2017 and beyond

Jimmy Butler 2, Paul George 0.

DEFINITELY OUT OF BOUNDS.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 30, 2015 -> 10:16 AM) Wait, he is MORE effective in center? I thought he was kind of a mess in center? Haha less damn it... LESS

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Dec 30, 2015 -> 09:15 AM) Today is Wednesday. That means the White Sox will announce a signing at some point today. Stay tuned! Wednesday December 9th- Brett Lawrie Trade Wednesday December 16th- Todd Frazier Trade Wednesday December 23rd- Jeremy Sands Waiver Deal (Not as exciting, I know) Wednesday December 30th- Gordon or Cespedes FA signing? I mean why mess with the established pattern now? This is probably what goes down at the White Sox FO on Wednesdays.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 30, 2015 -> 09:46 AM) Dumb question on Cespedes, but can someone explain how his defense has graded out since coming here? He obviously had a terrific defensive season in 2015, but it appears he's always been very good in LF. Is it fair to say his overall defensive value over the years has been impacted by how much CF he's played and how well (or bad) he's played it? If so, assuming a drop in his offensive numbers (at least compared to 2015), what kind of player should we expect from a WAR standpoint? He's definitely less effective in CF. He's not the "rangiest" of defenders, and most of his defensive value comes from his plus arm. Assuming he will spell Eaton in CF for ~10 games a year and he doesn't take an Adam Dunn-esque drop in production if he comes here, I think the assumption is 3-4 WAR for the first 3 years of the contract.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Dec 29, 2015 -> 10:45 AM) Unless you've watched his last two games, where he has been more like this. Yea that was refreshing to see last night. I haven't seen that from him since forever ago. He can still get to the rim at times, but I am not sure if he will ever finished at the rim at the rate he did during his MVP year. BR tells me that he's getting the same % of his shots at the basket as his MVP year, but he's only finishing at 50% instead of 60%. And since he's never going to be an efficient 3 point shooter, he's gotta be able to hit his mid range shot consistently to be an effective player on this team.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Dec 29, 2015 -> 03:48 AM) It's a f***ing shame what happened to Rose. RIP It used to be so much fun watching Rose play. But everytime I turn on the TV now he's either standing on the side watching the the play, throwing off ugly shots, or turning the ball over off sloppiest plays.

This recommended video popped up in my Youtube feed, the best video of vintage Rose I've seen.

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 26, 2015 -> 10:23 PM) Those were some awful possessions down the stretch I caught the last 2 minutes of the 4th. Same story all year, poor execution down the stretch, too reliant on one on one ball in which Rose continues to struggle keeping possession of the ball. I'd like to see some plays ran out of timeouts. Jimmy bailed them out with that three, but the sequence before then was awful nonetheless.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Dec 23, 2015 -> 12:44 PM) The Bulls remind of the recent Sox teams of the past few years in the respect that they feel internally that they're good enough to compete, but realistically, they're a good 2 or 3 pieces away from being a real contender. Don't 80% of the teams in professional sports feel like they could compete, but most of them don't end up making the playoffs? The Bulls are made the playoffs in 6 straight years like Jason said, and made the ECF in 2011. Sox never even came close to sniffing the pennant during that span. Don't see much of a parallel there. QUOTE (Brian @ Dec 23, 2015 -> 06:43 PM) Noah expiring and we also send pick. It's Sacramento. IIRC, isn't that pick heavily protected? Like we might not even get that pick?

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Dec 20, 2015 -> 04:26 PM) .315/14/75/.350 with 20 stolen bases. So just a little short of the numbers Dustin Pedroia put up in his 2008 MVP season huh?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Dec 16, 2015 -> 03:58 PM) If you add two outfielders, you are talking a ton of money invested in the outfield (when you factor in Melky). It makes zero sense. Sox aren't making two big money moves and they aren't going to use their other chips to get a 2nd outfielder. It is a delusional expectation, imo. If Sox make a 2nd move, it is SS or a pitcher (pen or starter or maybe even a prospect they like that they think can slide in). I rather us get a bullpen arm than SS. There aren't any good investments in the market currently and Sanchez/Saladino are viable stop gaps until Anderson in 2017. If we get an upgrade at OF, with SS being the only glaring hole in the offense, I think most are fine with. With bullpen arms, we lost the next two guys up in Montas and Wendleken, and I don't think Albers is coming back, it's definitely a more glaring hole ATM.

I also like that we haven't added any major salaries yet (though we lost 6 prospects in at least top 30, and 3 in the top 10). I am pretty confident that we have at least 2 more big moves coming.