cabiness42

Even though I knew it was Japan, the first name that popped into my head was Dusty Baker.

UPS plane from Louisville went down near Birmingham this morning. I know a couple UPS pilots, and know several other people who have family members and/or close friends who are UPS pilots, so this is going to be a rough day.

My definition of "exciting" isn't necessarily restricted to major leaguers, it just happens to pan out that way in the Sox system. I don't see one guy in the minors right now that seems likely to have a long-term impact in the majors. There certainly are guys who are very young and worth keeping an eye on (like Hawkins) and there are guys closer to the majors that are performing well right now but don't have the extended track record to suggest that they're likely to succeed in the majors (like Semien and Garcia). There's nobody you can put down in ink that's going to be in the lineup in 2015.

I found at least part of it here: http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/lofiversion/...84158-1200.html

I got an error message because I didn't choose at least one from the second list, so I just threw Dunn in there, but the five Sox players I'm most excited about right now are: 1) Sale 2) Santiago 3) Quintana 4) Reed 5) Jones Garcia certainly has a chance to get there. So does Siemen if he keeps hitting. The other prospects have quite a bit to show me before I get excited about them.

Oh, well I'm sure the shift has affected his AVG (and thus his OBP and SLG), but at this point in his career, his HOF ticket is more or less his home run total.

I did some very thorough statistical analysis and determined that the shift has not had any impact on his home run totals.

Nobody is saying that Paulie doesn't deserve tons of credit for what he's done for the Sox nor that Dunn doesn't deserve to be bashed for how terrible he was, but this discussion is about the future and suggesting that Paulie will get a two-year offer for $6M a year or whatever and at the same time saying nobody would take Dunn at $14M is ludicrous. Nobody besides you is going to base their 2014 offers on how good or bad they made you feel back in 2011.

FYI: Maybe too late for this case but saw my cousin at the Sox game Saturday and he has been suing quite a few landlords recently, so if anybody needs further help with this, let me know.

Agree completely, except that he will also have an interception.

Oh, the stupidity of others at the poker table can cost you as well. Playing $1/2 blinds I raise to $10 with KK, stupid retard re-raises all-in for $60 with A8. Player in the big blind with $300 behind folds what he later claims to be AQ. I call and board runs out Q72 T 3 and I do win the idiot's $60 but would have had the entire $300 from the AQ if the idiot doesn't force him out pre-flop.

Some guy named Tommy Manzella has been signed and assigned to Birmingham. I guess you can never have enough light-hitting middle infielders.

They would have to get on base for this to work on them.

Alexei's walk rate is 5.0%, and while you can justify that because of his defensive value, you can't have a lineup full of guys who walk 5% of the time or your offense is going to really suck.

It's not quite that simple. Remember that the waiver claims process involves all 30 teams putting players out there at roughly the same time. Any given team that might be interested in Dunn has to weigh claiming him vs claiming other people on waivers at the same time. While an individual team may have an interest in 3-5 guys on waivers, no team can afford the payroll hit (or the roster spots) to claim all of them and risk being stuck with all of their contracts. The fact that Dunn made it through waivers has something to do with his contract, but also his position, and if teams are going to risk waiver claims, it's more often going to be for a pitcher or at least a player who can play more than one position (such as Rios). There could be teams out there who were more interested in Rios (or other players) so they didn't put in a claim for Dunn but now they didn't get those other players they're willing to consider Dunn. However, with the underwhelming return the Sox got for Rios, I'd just as soon keep Dunn.

If the Sox are going to offer this guy anything, he better damn well walk more than our other two Cubans combined.

The Sox don't dabble at the top end of the free agent market because those guys usually get 6+ year deals, and the Sox are right never to offer that. Thus, the suggestion to insanely front-load a contract to try and convince a top end free agent to take a shorter deal. Loading all the money into 2014 does not take away the Sox payroll flexibility for 2015-17, which is their best window for winning as things stand. McCann might be the best target because as a catcher he's less likely to get other offers for more than 4 years.

Got to see both in person last night. Both hold a fair amount of promise.

McCann yes, but not the others.

I suggested this in another thread: Go very hard after one big name free agent from this list: McCann, Cano, Choo, Ellsbury (there may have been one or two more I listed) Offer them a 4 year deal that is insanely front-loaded, as in $25M or more for the first year but then only $10M or so the rest of the years. It might convince them to come here when other teams will inevitably be offering longer deals, but it handcuffs the payroll in 2014 when there's a lot of money to spend and little hope of winning anyway. Then, the Sox still have plenty of money to spend in 2015 and beyond to lock up younger players and/or sign another free agent.

I wonder if the Sox might consider front-loading a free agent offer in the first year. The Sox are going to have a lot to spend for 2014 and not much to spend it on, so their #1 target like Choo, Elsbury, Cano or McCann could conceivably get offered something insane like $25M for the first year and then $10M or so for the remaining years, to leave more salary flexibility for when the Sox will be looking more to contend.

For selfish reasons, that's great, as then I get to see his first White Sox start in person.

Especially since he's a middle infielder and that's the one spot a prospect isn't likely to get much playing time with the Sox this year anyway.

It's a pretty common practice, but new to the Sox since this is the first time in a long time they have been trading established players for prospects mid-season.

Right, but I think they realize that most of those guys are going to get pulled back, and if not, then they just keep the best 40 and send the rest back through waivers. The point is that even though the Sox have second priority, anybody worth getting from Texas is not getting past Houston.