Knackattack

HP Ump must have Millone on his fantasy team

The whole issue with LaRoche this year is that he is a platoon player. Its unfortunate that it took an entire season for Robin to realize it but the emergence of Thompson bodes well for LaRoche being used strictly against RHP next year, which greatly increases his chances of success.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 31, 2015 -> 04:19 PM) If you go to the Baseball-Reference version, they've got just under $90 million committed to 9 players in 2016. They have 2 guys, possibly up to 4, who are likely to be offered arbitration: Jones, Garcia, Jennings, and Flowers. The first 3 guys all probably would come in around under $2 million while Flowers probably would be close to $4 million. If all 4 of those are offered arbitration that's close to $10 million, maybe a tiny bit less but close enough. Offering arbitration to those 4 thus puts the White Sox at $100 million. If, as some have noted, the White Sox pick up the option on Alexei Ramirez, which I think they will personally, that's $110 million for 14 players. Filling out the roster with minimum salary guys takes the roster up to $115-million ish with 0 additions, which is almost exactly where the total payroll was this year. If the White Sox decline Alexei's option, they will have about $9 million to play with to get back to this year's payroll-ish. Seeing these 4 names combine for 18M would make me sick. Garcia and Flowers should be DFA and offered 1M a piece, Ramirez can go somewhere else and I'm sure Jennings can be easily replaced through the system. See if you can pay 50% of LaRoche's salary to give him away and try the same with Danks.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 31, 2015 -> 11:09 AM) Avi is actually a really good hitter when pitchers accidentally throw him strikes, and on the rare occasions he actually makes them throw him strikes. There is really no reason to throw him a strike at this point. If he figures that out at all, he can be a force. I feel like he is a good mistake breaking ball hitter but I've seen many pitchers beat him up and in with fastballs. Not to mention all you gotta do is throw 6 inches off the plate and he will swing through it every time

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 31, 2015 -> 10:57 AM) Seems that way, yes. The White Sox could in theory put him on irrevocable waivers and try again, but they're not going to do that. Yeah I agree. If there was value coming back it could make sense to trade Robo, but his contract isn't a bad one on this team IMO.

So they have 5 minutes to do something or it's just a block right?

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Aug 31, 2015 -> 06:56 AM) Better option than Avi? Maybe, but a team is going to have a very hard time winning with a .650 OPS corner OF, regardless of how good he is at defense and baserunning. Avi is the 2nd worst defensive RF in baseball according to UZR and he can't hit. I'd rather have an strong defender that can at least crush lefties.

Take LaRoche and Danks and you can have him

Man Avi is bad at baseball

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Aug 30, 2015 -> 11:32 AM) Not with his contract His contract is pretty fair for a good third baseman (hard to find), he makes 10.5m next year, then it shoots to 19m for the next 4 seasons. The guy has hit 20+ homers every year since 2012 along with ~30 doubles and a positive UZR every year but 2012. At 28 years old going into next year it's not a bad contract. I don't know if the Mariners would shop him but I'm sure they'd kick in around 12M to bring his averages down to about 16M per year.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Aug 30, 2015 -> 11:37 AM) I really hope Avi can improve his O game. Like why the f*** is he always hitting ground balls. Because he is a s***ty ML player

Seager sure would look good batting behind Jose

Sanchez is a f***ing bum with the bat

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Aug 28, 2015 -> 01:07 PM) I would like to see them shift him around the outfield and see how he handles all 3 positions. That will give plenty of opportunities to see him hit as well. Then go to SP w some insight to his hitting as well as the position he most helps the team out in. I think CF profiles as his best position. Would be nice if he could be a league average bat there with above average D. Eaton would probably profile as a good defensive LF and it would allow us to jettison Avi and LaRoche and replace our RF with a free agent... perfect world scenario here again but jeez that would be nice.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Aug 28, 2015 -> 01:03 PM) Low OBP, bad defense, ton of mental mistakes? Ya, it does sound like a match made in heaven Cespedes has been one of the premier defensive LF (according to uzr) every year but 2012. The OBP is low but he has hit 20+ homers and doubles every year since he entered the league. I think he profiles as a .275/.320/.480 guy in the Cell with 25 homers/doubles and 10+ steals. I think he has a rep as a bad defender for some reason but stats prove he is a very good outfielder.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 27, 2015 -> 04:26 PM) I keep seeing the names of Upton and Heyward, but Cespedes is a better option IMO. He wouldn't require losing a draft pick, and he's proven he can hit in the NL. Cespedes is pretty much the perfect player for the Sox to go after, but he will probably get a 6-7 year deal, same as Heyward, and the last 2 years do you trust a 36/37 year old Cespedes in right field or a 32/33 year old Heyward?

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Aug 28, 2015 -> 09:21 AM) I just don't understand this logic. Trayce is older than Avi and put up inferior numbers in the minors. Why do people all of the sudden think he's the answer? Because he's played good for the few games he's played? He put up low .700 OPSs in AAA. The odds of him just suddenly figuring it out at the ML level are not that high. I need to see at minimum another 200 PAs before I even consider beginning to make any sort of judgment on him. Well Avi is the 2nd worst defensive RF in baseball and Trayce could hit .250/.300/.400 with good defense and be probably worth 2-3 more WAR than Avisuck

It's also always possible that the Sox use Sanchez in a trade for a 3b and have been showcasing his ML readiness this season.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Aug 27, 2015 -> 12:51 PM) Pass. I would much rather have Trayce when you take contracts into account and the step back Heyward will take in the AL. Trayce can provide top level defense in the OF, he will K a lot more than Heyward but also will give you a lot more power. Giving a guy like that $20M a season would cripple this franchise. Giving a young, outstanding defender with a solid bat 20M would cripple this franchise? Heyward is entering his best years and you assume he will take a step back in the AL why? The past 3 years he has about an average 9% BB to 16%K, has posted OPS over .700 the past 5 years and can steal a nice amount of bases. If anything a left handed hitter coming to our park that doesn't suck ass and K every other at bat has a good chance to hit 20+ homers. This is the type of player we should have been prioritizing and searching out instead of the Dunn's, LaRoche's and Avisail's of the world

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Aug 27, 2015 -> 12:19 PM) It is? Even if offense is what the White Sox need the most and he doesn't really provide a ton of it? He is probably going to be a 5 war player 2 years in a row at the end of the season, hits for solid avg/obp/slg and can swipe 20+ bases a year. He's got 39 XBH this year (compared to Avi's 27) and his UZR/150 is 18.4 right now with a 15 DRS (compared to Avi's -10.4 and -11), at 26 years old he is a guy that should continue to improve over the course of the contract and even if his bat plays at the same level as it has this year, his defense is elite enough to validate his contract. Replacing Avi with Heyward would be a difference in 4.5 WAR to this point this season. Eaton Cabrera Heyward Abreu This top 4 next year could conceivably steal 40-50 bases and hit 60-70 HR and 100+ doubles

We need to take into consideration that Heyward has been the best defensive RF in baseball and is going to be entering his physical prime over the course of this contract. If there was ever a guy to hand 150+ mil too it's him.

Rodon for Arenado straight up, who hangs up? Would you be happy with that?

The only thing that sucks is that Micah looks like he'll be far and away the best offensive player out of the bunch, why does he have to be the guy that can't field?

But will there be playing time is the question

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 26, 2015 -> 11:34 AM) I really think you should stop and go look at the average numbers for 2b/SS around the league. They're worse than you think. SS is a very weak position but I count 16 2nd basemen with an OPS over .700, Sanchez is okay to have as a starter for his glove but can you really deal with a long term solution of Saladino/Sanchez?