TheFutureIsNear

This discussion is ridiculous....what if we can't afford a pitcher who hasn't thrown a pitch in the MLB yet in 5-6 years because he's really good? Really? This is what some of you guys worry about? Unless you have a crystal ball nobody has any clue what will be going on at that time so there's no point in worrying about. If Rodon earns a $100+M contract it can only be a good thing for the White Sox organization, any other thinking is just flat out unnecessarily negative. Heck let's be honest, we don't even know if we will have the same owner in 5-6 years. Anything can happen so relax and just cross your fingers Rodon lives up to his hype.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 09:27 PM) I want nothing to do with Rasmus and I don't want him near this team. Never liked his attitude or work ethic. He had some "issues" with a former manager and his dad kinda seems like an idiot, but I don't think he's a bad guy. I don't believe he had any problems at all in Toronto. He was a young kid that butted heads with an old coach, worse things have happened. I really don't think Colby Rasmus is the type of person you have to keep away from your clubhouse. Obviously you'd rather not have that blip on the radar, but I'm sure Hahn, KW, and even Robin could make a few phone calls and get the scoop on whether Rasmus is worth having around attitude wise or not....as long as they don't call LaRussa lol

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 09:02 PM) People are also worried about Cargo cause his home/road splits are pretty one sided. Bingo. I wouldn't touch Cargo with that contract. Not when he has a career .258/.314/.437 away from Coors. And we are talking a 1385 AB sample size. That's really hard to ignore.

My plan keeping it as realistic as possible.... Viciedo, Erik Johnson, and Chris Beck for Dom Brown and Jonathan Papelbon. Phillies include $4M this year and $4M next year if/when Papelbon's option vests. FA Signings- Colby Rasmus (3/34.5)- On the right side of 30, left handed, good pop, and will play a good LF. Andrew Miller (4/28)- He's a flat out beast. Will be a fixture in the pen for all 4 years and be a dominant presence in the backend for all 4 years Justin Masterson (1/10)- He needs to have a bounceback year and we need a RHP. And he seems to be good every other year so it should work out great for us C- Flowers 1b- Abreu 2b- Johnson/Semien SS- Alexei 3B- Gillaspie/Semien (L/R platoon) LF- Rasmus CF- Eaton RF- Garcia DH- Brown SP- Sale SP- Q SP- Masterson SP- Danks SP- Noesi/Bassit (ST battle) RP- Webb RP- Putnam RP- Jones RP- Snodgress RP- Miller RP- Petricka RP- Papelbon

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 11:42 AM) 35 players had an OPS of .800 or better this year. The law of averages suggests you should probably only expect one per lineup. I'd gladly pay $15 mill a year for Cabrera so long as he can remain even a 110 wRC+ player, let alone the 125 he put up this year. If Melky is easily worth $15 a year what is V Mart worth? $20M a year? More? He put up a 166 this year and his career average is right around 125. Melky is a good player, but I think signing him to a $15M a year contract is forcing a signing just because we have a hole to fill. I'd much rather wait and find the right OF, not the 1st one available.

3 years 45 million for Melky Cabrera is "outstanding" and a "no brainer"? Wow, I'm not opposed to signing him, but I guess my value of Melky is way different. $15M a year just seems like too much for a LF who will struggle to keep his OPS above .800 and plays below average D.

I just don't see Markakis leaving Baltimore. I see them declining the option and keeping him at a home town discount long term extension. He just seems like that type of guy. And I still think Rasmus is a more sensible option over Melky. I like melky and think he's a good player, but I see him getting something like 3/42 if we have to outbid multiple suitors + lose our 2nd rounder. Just seems like a pretty steep price to pay for a LF who likely won't hit 20 home runs and isn't all that great in the field either.

If I'm being realistic I'd be happy with.... Rasmus- LH with pop who is still on the right side of 30. Would provide above average D in LF and can fill in CF when Eaton inevitably ends up on the 15 DL at least once (3/36M) Romo- probably the best reasonably priced back end of the bullpen arm that isnt ancient. (2/15M) And I'd say a vet RH like McCarthy, but its hard to say what we are doing with the rotation at this point.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Oct 14, 2014 -> 07:44 PM) Hadn't thought of Snyder but if the cost was reasonable I would not object. 13 HR in 359 plate appearances is not bad at all.If the Pirates lose Martin, I wonder if they would be intrigued by Phegley? Snyder for Phegley cannot be too far off base. The only hangup I see is Snyder is only under team control for 2015/16 and a FA after that. If he hit well in 2015 he could be extended. I like your thinking here. Sign Melky and now the Sox have four OF's to rotate into the DH role to keep legs fresh. Ehh I think it would take a bit more than Phegley...maybe Phegley and Snodgress or some decent arm like that. Either way it would be a small price to pay for a young left handed hitter that could hit 25 HR's in the middle of our lineup. As far as him being a free agent, I had no idea. Good call. I still don't think it should hinder us from trading for him though. If he earns a new contract its a big plus...But now that you bring that up it actually does make sense for the Pirates to trade him. They should definitely get something for him now while they can because the odds of him resigning in Pittsburgh are slim with the talent they already have. My s*** throwing just became realistic, who woulda thought lol

Again, didn't read the 1st 14 pages of this thread so don't know if he's been mentioned yet, but what about Travis Snider? He doesn't exactly have a ton of MLB success yet, but he's still 26 and has some great pedigree as a top prospect not that long ago. His slash of .264/.338/.438 wasn't exactly bad for a part time player and his 13 HR's is 359 AB's is pretty good. I'm sure the Pirates aren't exactly in a hurry to trade him as he's still fairly cheap, but with McCutchen, Polanco, and Marte in their OF already I'm sure they can be convinced....As to what it would take to get him? No clue, its tough call on what his value is (he wasn't trade for much originally) and what the Pirates need.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Oct 13, 2014 -> 10:06 PM) For one season, I would take a chance on Lee in a trade that involved Danks. There are some potential upsides to consider... 1- a healthy Lee is a huge improvement over Danks, granted that's an if. 2- Lee has to pitch 200 innings for his 2016 option to vest. If the Sox contend, he pitches and if not they can shut him down and let him walk after the season. 3- Lee would only add roughly 10M more to the payroll leaving plenty of room to get higher salary players to fill holes. 4- Since its likely Lee would only pitch for the Sox in 2015, Lee not only helps the Sox to contending but helps bridge the gap to one of the young Sox pitchers that will hopefully be ready for 2016. I see Lee as a one year commitment kind of guy and a chance for the Sox to rid Danks contract. I admit, its the optimal plan but given the pitching FA market, its not the worst plan either. As for the Papelbon/ Brown proposal. I think you're offering too much to be honest, maybe try substituting Bassitt's name with E.Johnson?I know Papelbon had a statistically good season but 13M for a 33 year old closer is a lot. Isn't Papelbon another guy Philly tried to unload at the deadline and couldn't? High asking price? Lost value due to high salary? Maybe Philly would kick in a few bucks to help offset the expense... It's just my personal feeling that Lee is done. I could be way off on that, but he just looked and acted like a guy who knew he was done at the end of last year. He had nothing left even after spending like 30 days on the DL in August. Plus, the track record for 36/37 year old starters succeeding isn't exactly great. Like I said, it's my personal gut feeling with nothing to really back it up, but I wouldn't take the chance on wasting the $10M on Lee.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 13, 2014 -> 09:36 PM) Johnson has absolutely no trade value based on his performance this season. None whatsoever. He's a DFA candidate in the eyes of every trade partner, if someone really liked him they just have to wait a few months. Lol no. Not even close. 120 bad innings can't erase several very good years and a top 100 prospect status. Plus if he's healthy and his head is right he's MLB ready. He has some value, not a lot, but some value.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Oct 13, 2014 -> 08:50 PM) In the scenerio you speak of , it makes more sense. I'm not sure how interested Philly would be in Johnson though. His stock took a huge hit in 2015. Might have to offer up someone like, Beck to go with Thompson? From what I've read, Philly is desperate to shed payroll. I wonder just how much value Lee actually has given a recent injury, his salary, his age, only one year left on his contract and the fact Philly is desperate to open up some payroll. I would take a chance on Lee for year if the Phillies expectations were reasonable. I'm only curious due to the Sox desire to contend and the fact its likely Lee becomes a FA after 2015. I just think Johnson still has to have SOME value. There's no way his stuff that made him a top 100 prospect just vanished in 1 year. He's too young for that, some team would take a gamble on him just like we would on Brown after the year he had. But Beck is expendable imo so if he got the deal done I would do it. Ehh no thanks on Lee. That elbow scares me. Now Papelbon? Yeah I think it would make a whole lot of sense for us to listen. The fans hate him there too so there's even more reason for the front office to move him. They were trying pretty desperately to get rid of him at the deadline to no avail. No idea what a Papelbon and Brown package would be though. Carlos Sanchez, Chris Beck, Trayce Thompson, and Chris Bassit? IDK that doesn't really seem like enough, but this is s*** throwing at its finest.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Oct 13, 2014 -> 06:45 PM) Agreed. I am not expecting Danks to be traded. I think the best Sox fans can hope for is that Danks pitches well and is traded in June/July next year or that he pitches well for a contending White Sox team and could be traded after next season. As for Brown. I just read an article that projected Brown to make between 1.25-2M in 2015 while Tank is projected to make around 4.4M so given the Phillies payroll situation, that trade might not be all that realistic. Plus, in AL honest I think Tank has more value than Brown seeing as how bad Brown's numbers were last year. Uhgg were they bad. Might be better off not even looking into Brown to be honest. I really like the idea raBBit has of Brandon Belt. Not sure if he will be available or at what price but the idea is a good one to ponder. Well he wouldn't be very easy to get if he was good last year now would he lol? He was the #4 prospect in all of baseball just 3 years ago and hit .270 with 27 HR's last year in his 1st full season in the majors...he's for sure not perfect and I'm not even saying he's a sure thing, but I'd say he's definitely worth a shot. This is why my original offer of Johnson and Thompson works a lot better, they are 2 pieces we can definitely do without imo and make sense for the Phillies who have absolutely 0 young talent.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Oct 13, 2014 -> 04:04 PM) I didn't know/think about Rollins NTC so your insight from living in the area is very helpful and I appreciate it. Back to the s*** throwing drawing board I guess. Now your idea of failed prospects swap makes far more sense than trying to dump John Danks and his salary onto a team that's pretty much tapped at this point. Im thinking that since Brown is about to hit arbitration and get raise, his 2015 salary will be closer to Tank's so maybe a Tank for Brown could be a possibility seeing how neither has lived up to expectations so far. I don't know if Philly would have interest in Tank or not? You would have a better idea than I would. Yeah people need to realize that no one actually wants Danks, we are most likely stuck with that contract. I wish I could tell you what Ruben Amaro is thinking, but I'm fairly sure he doesn't even know. That team and farm system is such a mess. The only thing I could say that would make the Tank trade make sense is that the Phillies are indeed LH heavy at the top of their order, so its possible that a new face that hits RH would make some sense for them from that standpoint.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Oct 13, 2014 -> 12:32 PM) You guys are missing the point in all this. 1- I said from the beginning that I was throwing s*** out there. 2- a deal was proposed by another poster that suggested both Danks brothers be sent to Philli. The Phillies payroll is pretty well maxed last I read so in order for Philli to take on payroll, they would have to trade payroll as well. That's why I threw the names of Rollins and Lee into the mix. The proposed trade of John/Jordan Danks for Domonic Brown just isn't going to happen. I could see Danks and Tank as a possibility IF the Sox were willing to take on a higher salary player or two from Philli. Let me stress again, just throwing s*** out there. There are better players out there to go after than Brown, I'm just entertaining the possibility is all. I hear you on just throwing s**** out...that's what the off season is for. Although to crush your trade just a little more I'll throw in that Rollins has a no trade clause and I don't think Chicago is where he wants to end his career. When I suggested Brown I was thinking a failed prospect for failed prospect type of deal that is always popular in the MLB. Like a Dom Brown for Erik Johnson and Trayce Thompson type of deal. Idk, maybe the Phillies laugh at that deal, but it just seems to me that the organization and coach are over him and ready to move on. Or at lest I can assure you that's the fan bases mindset from listening to sports talk radio here in Philly.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Oct 12, 2014 -> 11:58 PM) Rollins is a defensive upgrade. Easier to trade than Danks? Not sure what you mean by that... If by indicators you Scott Merkin declaring Johnson the 2B of 2015, I'd take that with a huge grain of salt until ST is over. As I've already explained, Rollins instantly improves the defense and gives the lineup a number two hitter while allowing Johnson to improve his defense at Charlotte for one more season. Rollins is a FA at the end of 2015 so hopefully Johnson, Sanchez or even Anderson ( if he doesn't stick at SS) will be ready for the 2016 season. Again, as someone who is local to the philly area and gets stuck watching a good amount of Phillies games I can assure Rollins sucks and we shouldn't want anything to do with him. Why would you want an expensive 36 year old who struggles to hit .250/3.20?? That and he is a bit of a diva, he'd probably have an attitude if he came here and played 2B and hit at the bottom of the lineup.

QUOTE (LDF @ Oct 12, 2014 -> 10:33 AM) unless it was for discipline matters. just throwing that out there. I am prob wrong. edit: according to cbs sports, he is out due to a hand injury. Nah I'm local to the philly area and he lost a ton of AB's when they signed Grady Sizemore. As silly as that sounds....Brown was healthy enough

Didn't read the whole thread so I'm not sure if he's been mentioned yet, but I'd definitely see if the Phillies are giving up on Dom Brown. His value is pretty low at this point so I can see them holding on to him, but they more or less benched him at the end of the year so it's entirely possible.

Missed the entire 2013 season after knee surgery and stunk in the 250 AB's he got with the Mariners this past season....However, he's not yet 33 and hit 87 HR's while maintaining a .270+ avg and .330+ obp the past 3 years he was on the field and healthy. He is now an outright free agent after being released by the Mariners and doesn't have to wait until after the WS to sign. So....is he worth buying low on and hoping he can get healthy next year and return to form? Personally, I'd take the shot and do it what it takes to get him committed to our team next spring and see if the knee is healthy and he can bounce back.

Pretty straight forward....and by future I mean beyond next year.

Didn't post much, but I followed the game threads on pretty much a nightly basis. Great work all around

4 years $60M(my guess) and lose a draft pick for a 34 year old having a career year? No thanks.

I have my eye on DJ Stewart from FSU. Big lefty who can mash and play a decent corner OF. Hit .351/.472/.557 with 19 doubles and 7 hr's as a sophomore to earn ACC player of the year. Another big year this upcoming year and he could easily find himself in the top 10. http://bigleaguefutures.net/1/2014/02/19/p...ile-dj-stewart/

No idea what this board's love affair with Gillaspie is....he's a fine UTL guy to have off of the bench, but no idea why anybody thinks he's a long term solution for this team. I fully expect him to be replaced by the time we are serious contenders. May or may not be by Davidson, but he's below average in the field, average at best speed and has little to no power. And then there's his wildly unrealistic to repeat .350 BABIP this year....again, Davidson may not be the answer, but other options should definitely be explored. Same with 2b and DH