The Ultimate Champion

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 10:15 PM) "Downsides of carrying an extra DH". Hey, just wondering, say the Sox trade sale & sign another 1B/DH without trading anyone, you wanna pool together some resources and go live in the mountains and build bombs?

QUOTE (chisoxfan310 @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 08:08 PM) Still would rather take someone who is already played A Ball. Like I said earlier, I could see them taking Perez with their first pick if they don't acquire or aren't close to a deal for a catcher by draft time. As far as it relates to being a Major League player, the hitting skills of a Rule-5 eligible minor league catcher who has played above A ball probably aren't too much better than the hitting skills of a Rule-5 eligible minor league catcher who has *not* played above A ball. Either way it's a stretch. Also didn't the Padres get a "no-hit" A-ball SS out of the Rule-5 who immediately became a regular just a few years ago? It can happen.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 08:06 PM) And if you offer him back, it means he failed and you don't want him. Also at that point you can still workout a trade. Not necessarily, it just means you & your scouts have you've had your chances to watch him up close & you are convinced he's not as far along as you hoped he might be. In which case maybe you do want him so you offer enough to keep him.

I read on MLBTR earlier this AM that the brokeass Marlins are looking to move Greg Dobbs, probably because he's making over $1M and that's too much to pay a player these days. They have the #2 Rule-5 slot right ahead of us, and supposedly Hahn's maybe looking at a bench bat that can play 3B. Maybe we send them a relief prospect or something for Dobbs salary and their Rule-5 pick. That Mateo guy from the Cubs sounds interesting. Take Perez/Nieto with one and Mateo with the other, or some other pitcher if the Astros take him.

Any reason is good enough to dump Keppinger, however bringing in Uribe at a market value contract seems to indicate a desire to swap one bad deal with another. Don't understand. Hopefully the Uribe news is bulls*** and we've found someone crazy enough to take Keppinger.

Also I still want Wade Davis. Coop will fix him and that contract will look like an absolute steal. Dayton Moore isn't done acquiring mediocre players & we have a few for him to consider.

We'll make some kind of trade with the Blue Jays & probably another one with the Padres just because we always do. We already got our customary trade with Arizona done, but maybe if we're active we'll get another one there too. I bet it's likelier we make 4 trades with one of the above 3 teams within the same offseason than it is we trade with any one of about 15 other teams in baseball.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 07:00 PM) This has been quite the amusing thread. Jake f***ing Elmore is not going to be a .300 in the majors. He couldn't even hit .280 in A or AA and only hit over .300 in AAA because of a BABIP about 70-80 points higher than his career average prior to the 2012 season (thank you Pacific Coast League!). Maybe he can be an adequate backup due to his versatility and ability to get on base, but using him as a starter would be a complete f***ing joke. It's not going happen though, so this all a pointless discussion. There's a turd floating in Lillian's Cheerios & I sure hope you're proud of it.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 01:24 PM) Deal De Aza, Viciedo, Reed, Beckham, and Ramirez for the best returns possible regardless of position. Take out Viciedo & I wholeheartedly agree.

QUOTE (Jillian Michaels' Abs @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 01:14 PM) Heh. I hope you could tell by the level and tone of insult that I was being a jag for comedy's sake. So the vomit wasn't real is what you're saying? If this is true, might you possibly consider hopping aboard the "Trade Reed" bandwagon? I'll be driving - stupidly and drunk, but not like it matters, it's only oxen for f***s sake. When they stop to drink you just bust an empty bottle over your head & stab one of em with it.

QUOTE (Jillian Michaels' Abs @ Dec 11, 2013 -> 12:15 PM) Your idea is the equivelent to vomit that was eaten by a ferril animal, subjected to a digestive cycle, and then shat back out. Thanks man. I appreciate that a lot.

I figured my idea would immediately get crapped on. Instead I get vomit. Close anyway. Different holes though.

My ideal framework: Reed + maybe smaller piece/prospect for Large 1-2yr remaining salary we can fit into payroll + 4 guys in A+ or below all of which have real ability.

^Here I'm, proposing buying a prospect or 2 with payroll space rather than a FA BTW

I will first propose the idea (which will immediately be crapped on) that the Sox check in on a Reed deal where they acquire prospects and take back a good player on a large salary but short-term deal in order to gain a better package. Charge a team for Reed + payroll flexibility. I also think with Reed you have the potential (especially if you're taking back $$$) to get back 4-5 guys who aren't on any top-100 prospect lists but do have lots of ability/are lower in the minors. When we sent Hudson to AZ we sent Holmberg too, and I'm thinking you ask for something like a Holmberg type, a Montas type from the Peavy deal, several players like that. That's one thing Beane likes to do, I think he got Chris Carter from us after playing at the A+ level.

He's probably the highest value piece that we should actually want to trade. Please discuss.

On the flip side of all this, a solid 2014 which seems to point to a bigger 2015 and beyond could lead to a contract extension with his past underwhelming performances serving as leverage for Rick Hahn, OR it massively ups his trade value which then gets to the point where maybe you would feel comfortable dealing him. There's a lot of upside for us in giving him another year. If OTOH Viciedo stays pretty close to what he's been then his value shouldn't be a ton less than it is now. And should he decline, fall off a cliff, whatever, it's not like we'd be missing out on some major haul because that's not what we'd be getting if we dealt him. Viciedo is pretty much the exact sort of player we should want to target if he played in another organization. He's a buy low guy with a ton of talent, and the main reason you want to acquire and not trade those types is that if you're the Sox you simply can't afford to acquire such a talented MLB-ready player at all with what you have on the farm, unless of course he's struggling. There's a thread on Dominic Brown. Okay. Let's just keep Dayan, he doesn't cost anything, and then we'll see what we can get with some of our prospects & maybe another pitcher should the right deal come along.

We should trade DeAza and Rienzo to the Royals for Wade Davis. Coop would fix him. Royals are ghey. That would really hurt them but they might do it.

I see that we added Jacobs, nice. Is it too late to add Joe Borchard Jr. to this one too? They can have him also. The more bustpects we add to this thing the smarter we'll look when they all fail & Eaton is doing great.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 10, 2013 -> 05:51 PM) Single A prospect, Pitcher This one sounds like it could come true. To get ceiling out of DeAza you'll probably have to drop down to levels below AA, and when you're dropping down to the low minors, if you're the Sox, you almost have to take a pitcher.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 10, 2013 -> 03:36 PM) I hope, if he's still doing this, the White Sox get him to stop. No reason trying to bait runners from the OF. It will backfire. Just get the ball in. Wasn't a good part of Brian Anderson's benching a result of frequently overthrowing the cut-off man and throwing to the wrong base? I seem to remember him doing that a lot & actually that was my first thought watching him make that throw to first. That play could easily go very wrong and end in a few dadgummits.

Well I love Q but with Santiago gone now maybe you throw him out there for a lesser-than-Price deal. Some exec was quoted saying the Rays want to make the Herschel Walker deal, also Seattle doesn't want to give up Walker, etc. Maybe Hahn can get 4-5 guys who have some very nice ceilings but aren't those huge names. I think Q is pretty close to a finished product now & his numbers will stay pretty much where they are. The league will improve against him, but he'll adjust accordingly. I think Johnson can be a #3, and Danks will be one too if he makes it back. If you can get a haul for Q you have to think about it, because getting say 2 SP with #3 or higher ceilings plus a couple other prospects might actually result in replacing one #3 now with another one in the future while adding further value.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Dec 10, 2013 -> 03:09 PM) I like Eaton for Santiago straight up. What is Arizona thinking? Trumbo is Adam Dunn. They could have gotten him from us for a lot less. The Lord giveth Mark Reynolds, the Lord taketh away Mark Reynolds. Lord reconsiderth, Lord reacquireth Mark Reynolds, moveth to OF

WTF where are the 2 PTBNL coming from?

Ugh. Hope this Eaton guy turns out. I'm surprised Santiago didn't bring more given the pitching market, but with Hahn & KW they will pull the trigger on a small-looking package if they feel they get their guy. Eaton is probably their guy, and I hope they're right.