Frank_Thomas

SD close to signing Alexi barring sudden change. Be weird seeing him in a different uni

And didn't Desmond get a QO? If we signed both guys would we lose two picks? If so which picks?

QUOTE (Al Lopez's Ghost @ Jan 14, 2016 -> 11:38 AM) Again, the draft pick does not "go to the Cubs" Oh I didn't know that my bad. So where does the pick go?

QUOTE (bear_brian @ Jan 14, 2016 -> 11:36 AM) I thought we were looking for a power hitting OF. The only way Fowler makes some sense is if we are also doing a deal with Desmond to provide more power in the infield at SS. And am not sure that Desmond does anything for us defensively. As I am unsure what Fowler does for us defensively in CF. What a let down ... If we also sign Desmond it makes more sense but with Desmond your sacrificing defense at a important position with a majority of our pitching staff being ground ball pitchers I don't see the logic. I love the bat but the D worries me.

I'll be the first to admit in the heat of the Gordon/Cespedes/Upton hoopla I wanted nothing to do with Dexter Fowler. And honestly I still hate the thought of having to give the comp pick to the Cub (it would suck watching the player they draft turn into some star). But I think he would be a decent addition to the lineup. I'm not sure what his splits are, and I have heard through posts here his D isn't great. But I think he would be a good two hole hitter and maybe the D improves if you shift him to right field. The one thing that worries me and I'm sure I'll get roasted is I don't know if it's worth the pick and money to displace Avi from the lineup for a guy like Fowler. Cespedes, Gordon, Upton are no brainiers they impact or could impact every game they play especially Cespedes and Gordon defensively. I don't know what to think anymore, would I like Fowler (sure) but I just think he isn't enough of a game changer to pay the money, pick, or shake up the roster for.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 14, 2016 -> 11:07 AM) Agreed. Not like we're talking about a kid looking for a twitter cult following. Mancuso has been a sports writer for a looooong time now and not the usual bulls***ter like what we've seen on twitter with Sox/Cespedes rumors. I'm not saying the guy is BS but his information is BS. I don't buy it for a second. We also has a guy on Twitter saying he heard from a source in Roc Nation signed with us for 6 years a few weeks back. A) no way Cespedes woke up today and said "you know what after months of turning down short term deals and holding out I think I'll sign with the Mets on a 1-2 year deal. B) if it were a two year deal I doubt another team wouldn't jump in and offer more than the broke Mets could. C) the guy didn't even claim they signed him just heard they were meeting. D) I'll believe it when someone with actual credibility reports something. This whole Cespedes and OF thing has really soured on me. It's gone on for too long and it may even seem the Sox were never serious about Cespedes. I just find it odd that since we traded for Frazoer you have gotten 0 comments from the FO or Hahn. I have to imagine they've been working on something but at this point who knows if anything happens.

I think the sox are out of Cespedes and Upton just working on plan B now. More twitter junk... https://mobile.twitter.com/ChicagoSports17/...727379893530625

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jan 11, 2016 -> 01:36 PM) Detroit Tigers Buzz ‏@tigersbuzztap 18m18 minutes ago http://blessyouboys.com >> J.D. Martinez is recruiting Yoenis Cespedes http://buzztap.com/-5KYE5e No where does an article say Martinez is actively recruiting Cespedes even the tweet said he hoped JD was recruiting. That picture is from a celebrity golf outing they both attended. Everyone needs to relax, I have read more about Detroit not being in Cespedes unless his market drops significantly. We have heard basically zero out of our FO. I think they are confident and your seeing other teams moving on to other players or stating publicly they are out. I think all the DET bs the past day or so is an effort to drive the price up. We shall see

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Jan 11, 2016 -> 11:34 AM) If the White Sox were to go with someone like Fowler, etc over Cespedes & Upton, with the possibility of improving at SS or a back of the rotation guy, would people be happy with that or not enough? Pretty sure people have stated Fowler is not worth the draft pick compensation. This board goes in like waves. When there is positive rumors out there people are on top of the world but any negative tweets or rumors people start to head for the ledge. We have been in this thing from the start I have to imagine we have a good gauge on what Cespdes and Upton want and what would take to get one of them on the south side. I wouldn't be surprised if the Tigers are starting to put stuff out there to drive the price up for the Sox. I'm more confident we are signing YO than I have been all offseason. Just be patient guys the dam is going to break mid week this week or next week, we've waited this long already.

Yes, #Tigers have talked about and with Ryan Raburn. Have heard nothing to suggest the Yoenis Cespedes discussions https://mobile.twitter.com/TonyPaul1984/sta...584941736497152

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jan 10, 2016 -> 09:55 PM) What movement has there been on the Uptpn front? He signed with the Springfield Isotopes tonight 6/175 according to my Twitter source.

I gotta imagine we see some action this week with the Of market. I read on MLBTR the Os may have a date set for Davis before the contract is really off the table. Even with that said I gotta believe you see guys like Cespedes and Fowler signing sometime midweek.

FWIW SOURCE: @Yankees and @RedSox both meet with #YoenisCespedes over the weekend! #Cespedes "...no problem" taking a 1 year deal #Powerball @ https://mobile.twitter.com/LErikRenne/statu...302426756939776 Another random Twitter tool I assume.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jan 10, 2016 -> 01:40 AM) Wins Above Replacement is WAR, the "f" refers to Fangraphs. Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference calculate that same statistic two different ways. http://www.fangraphs.com/library/misc/war/ "Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is an attempt by the sabermetric baseball community to summarize a player’s total contributions to their team in one statistic. You should always use more than one metric at a time when evaluating players, but WAR is all-inclusive and provides a useful reference point for comparing players. WAR offers an estimate to answer the question, “If this player got injured and their team had to replace them with a freely available minor leaguer or a AAAA player from their bench, how much value would the team be losing?” This value is expressed in a wins format, so we could say that Player X is worth +6.3 wins to their team while Player Y is only worth +3.5 wins, which means it is highly likely that Player X has been more valuable than Player Y." The calculation is... "WAR = (Batting Runs + Base Running Runs +Fielding Runs + Positional Adjustment + League Adjustment +Replacement Runs) / (Runs Per Win)" Basically how much value they add with their bat, running the bases, and with their glove, also considering adjustments for position (A SS or CF with the same offensive statistics as a 1B will always yield a higher WAR, due to the boost in difficulty of position. They are more valuable because they can play premium positions, regardless of other abilities) and the league (aka, era) they play in. That last bit allows describes how a player's WAR is relative to the rest of the league. A Mike Trout season in 2015 would not yield the same WAR as that same season placed in the year 1930, is the idea. Damn. Thanks man. I always knew what WAR stood for but for the first time learned how it is calculated. What about for pitchers?

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jan 10, 2016 -> 12:54 AM) Well not only are we not discussing the merits of a "perfect metric", I also referenced fWAR specifically. I choose not to acknowledge bWAR in almost any instance. The title is misleading, within my first post I said stat or stats. What is fWAR? And out of all stats why it is the best singular stat?

I was just talking with some buddies over a few beers while watching the NFL playoffs about which player we would like to see the Sox add out of the remaining FAs and those rumored to be available via trade. We are basically all under 35 years old and most of us debated the value of players over the normal stats (atleast in our day; Avg/HR/RBI/SB/OBP). But as we continued to debate the discussion evolved into a discussion of saber metrics. And I'd be the first to admit I'm a mental midget when it comes to saber metrics. I'm not hawk and believe TWIW is the most important stat (but an important trait none the less)but I feel looking at a players history of "normal stats" you can get a good gauge of a players output but the majority of baseball minds break down trades or players value in terms of saber metrics a lot more often. Anyways I can one learn some things from the "stat heads" on the board and thought this would start a good discussion of what is the most important stat or stats in baseball. But could also double as a soxipedia for people to learn and discuss what the new terminology in baseball means, why its is important and why it's a upward trend in most MLB Fos.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Jan 9, 2016 -> 09:29 PM) I saw a post on Twitter that was interesting and could possibly be true. It said something along the lines of that the Sox are waiting until SoxFest to announce an acquisition to try to garner more interest in the event itself. I don't know if it's true or not, but it does seem like the Sox usually announce something big at that time. Who posted it just wondering

QUOTE (Frank_Thomas35 @ Jan 9, 2016 -> 09:42 PM) I'm raising money for Help Jerry get Cespedes!. Click to Donate: http://tw.gofund.me/9d3dcr9w via @gofundme Lets all donate to help Jerry 😀 Pony up boys.... For the record not me who started this saw it on Twitter.

I'm raising money for Help Jerry get Cespedes!. Click to Donate: http://tw.gofund.me/9d3dcr9w via @gofundme Lets all donate to help Jerry 😀 Pony up boys....

QUOTE (CWSpalehoseCWS @ Jan 9, 2016 -> 09:30 PM) I'd be shocked the Sox would be able to keep a tight lip for 2 1/2 more weeks if they signed a player like Cespedes. Honestly I wouldn't. There has been a ton of movement on OFs which makes me think teams know where players are going. Unlikely but not impossible.

Boras pitching Davis as a regular Corner OF: https://t.co/AB8woKXQMU

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 9, 2016 -> 10:12 AM) "MLB hot stove: Los Angeles Angels 'still not really involved' with Yoenis Cespedes, report says" http://www.nj.com/mets/index.ssf/2016/01/m...lly_involv.html Some potentially good news for Sox fans on cold, dreary Saturday morning. I feel the levee has to bust soon. There has been tons of movement this week and a lot of teams are either getting information which leads them to believe they are out on certain people or they themselves have said they are out on a certain player. Now this could be posturing and what not, but after the ardgeaous process of this market where handfuls of teams have been in on these players. But I believe the market is finally defining itself and teams have an idea where each guy may land. By this time next week I would be shocked if Cespy hasn't signed.

Not sure what TOR is up to. I see the Revere trade as trading for the sake of opening up a spot in a crowded spot on the depth chart. However saw that RA Dicky may be available which leads me to believe they are looking to cut payroll. Either because they aren't comfortable at the spot they are at now or they are trying to add payroll and thus are looking at places to save. "Blue Jays making R.A. Dickey available? | HardballTalk" via http://TeamStre.am by Bleacher Report http://teamstre.am/1UEUFbW

Personally I think J UP fits better than Cespy in Toronto. No one knows how this will shake out but it's promising to see guys coming off the board to teams we thought were competitors. Who knows who and if we end up with anyone but so far the FO is playing their cards right and I'm cautiously optimistic.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 10:36 PM) That is probably what's happening. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, though. Me either