TheFutureIsNear

We have a chance to have something very special in the rotation as soon as next year...don't ruin it. Beck, Micah, Danish, Avi, Hawkins...those are the 5 I would be looking to package for a bat, preferably 3B. And I think some kind of package involving at least 3 of those guys can get us a pretty good hitter. Combine that trade with 1 smart free agent signing and I think we will be in a much better position to compete with a bounce back year or 2. My suggestions in the "my offseason plan" thread was to use some form of the 5 guys I listed to trade for Todd Frazier and then make a signing like Daniel Murphy. CF- Eaton 2b- Murphy 3b- Melky 1b- Abreu 3b- Frazier Looks like a pretty good top 5 imo and completely feasible. Trading a guy like Q would be a last ditch effort if we aren't competing by the ASG next year. I don't think we are far enough away to do that at the moment though.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Oct 8, 2015 -> 09:16 AM) I'd love Peralta or Inciarte, but they'd require a huge haul in return. They'd probably need Q plus prospects for either one. Tomas is too expensive for what he is, so I'd pass on him. Surely you have to be referring to some other Q, because there's no way you think it would take Jose Quintana + for 1 of Peralta or Inciarte. Jose easily has more value than either 1

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Oct 7, 2015 -> 07:25 PM) That would be a steal for Van Slyke. I fully expect some major hero worship on Todd Frazier this fall and winter. And the Reds will probably have him on the block. The reality is that, despite(or perhaps because of) his performance in the HR Derby, his 2nd half OPS was a dreadful c. .670. Not that I suspect this to dissuade the Sox: bad 2nd half splits never have before. He's also a bad defender (much worse than his metrics suggest). And if the Sox get him (and I dearly hope they don't), they'll pay more than you suggest for 2 years of his greatness. I don't see why you're so worried about a 2nd 1/2 split of a 29 year old with a career .784 OPS. And that's including his horrendous 2013 which is a pretty clear outlier. I'll take the chance that his career isn't going to fall apart at 29. Frazier is far from a perfect player, but I can't see why you would be upset if we acquired him. If he plays a decent 3B(I haven't watched him enough to suggest he's worse than his metrics)and can hit .265/.315/.475 with 30 bombs I would be very happy with the trade.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Oct 7, 2015 -> 06:46 PM) Don't know if the Dodgers or anybody would want Danks without the Sox paying a major portion of his final year's salary. Don't know if they'd do that. Mark You don't think he could go to the NL West and be a serviceable 4th starter (4.2-4.4 era over 180 innings)? You're probably right, we would likely have to eat some money, but I don't think it would be a huge amount. I think Danks for 2 years 20M (we eat $10M) could appeal to a SP needy NL team and net is a utility guy like Van Slyke. Idk, maybe I'm undervaluing Van Slyke? The

Not going to attempt to calculate any #'s or guess salaries, but I think it should be fairly realistic salary cap wise Decline Alexei's option Tender an offer to shark DFA LaRoche (maybe some one takes him if we pay some $?) Trade Danks to Dodgers for Van Slyke and a low level minor leaguer Trade Micah, Beck, Avi, and Danish for Todd Frazier and JJ Hoover Sale Q Rodon Johnson Bud Norris Robertson Jones Duke Petricka Hoover Putnam James Russel Montas (starts the year in the pen as the long man, ready to take over if the Norris experiment doesn't work) C- Flowers/Soto 1B- Abreu/Van Slyke 2b- Daniel Murphy SS- Sanchez/Salidino 3B- Todd Frazier LF- Melky CF- Eaton RF- Thompson/Van Slyke/Shuck

Is Avi in pain...or is he just weird? Can't tell

Can we get Bassist back? Clearly better than shark

Nieto (never going to be able to hit enough), Guerra (he stinks), and Carrol (beck/drabek can do his job) are all guys I would have no problem leaving off of the roster. Drabek should definitely be kept

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Aug 22, 2015 -> 10:26 PM) Are you saying Micah should be in RF? LF and only as a last resort

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 22, 2015 -> 09:09 PM) There is zero reason to think Micah is a lost cause at 2b and if Micah is a lost cause at 2b there's every reason to think his arm will make him a bigger failure in the OF given that he's already had a major surgery on a fairly weak throwing arm. If Micah Johnson can't be a 2b then it's extremely unlikely that Micah Johnson can be a big league regular. Tell that to the likes of Juan Pierre , Johnny Damon, Ben Revere, ect...if Micah can run and catch in the outfield and hit .280+ /.330+ he'd be fine. Avi is pretty bad himself in RF anyway so it's not like it would worsen the overall team D. I just don't see how we shouldn't be trying to get Anderson, Micah, and Sanchez all in the lineup at the same time in the very near future. Those 3 + Eaton all hitting up to their potential with their athleticism and speed would be tough to deal with. We'd need to make up for some power at 3B and DH, but we should be tying to do that anyway.

I really don't want to trade Micah as much as most here. I'd much rather move him to LF and trade Avi if he really is a lost cause at 2B (although, i don't think he is) . Eaton and Micah at the top of the order should be a lethal combo for years to come. Avi + a young pitcher like Beck should be able to net us a useful piece that fits I assume.

I'm marginally confident he will eventually stick as a decent utility guy somewhere. May or may not be with us

Young, left, relatively cheap for an extended period of time, slots into the top 3 of pretty much any rotation in baseball. Schwarber, Starlin Castro, and Pierce Johnson would be my asking price. Might be crazy, idk, but Q's value to our team is extremely high in my opinion.

I still like Allard over Fulmer from a talent and upside view, but Fullmer is by no means a bad pick. He's going to need to simplify his delivery a lot to be a starter at the next level imo, but dominant bull pen arms are by no means something to be viewed lightly. Robertson, Fulmer, and Duke could make games real short in the near future

QUOTE (LDF @ Jun 5, 2015 -> 10:18 AM) allard and his back injury concerns me. I agree that it has to be somewhat of a concern, but it's always harder for fans when we have no idea what the medical staff has to say. Could be a huge deal, or could be a minor issue. All I know is that a 17 year old lefty who can already touch 95 with a good hard breaking ball, and a very smooth delivery is really difficult to pass on. I think we'll know how big of a concern his back is based on where he gets drafted. I don't see how he's not a top 5 prospect in this draft class if fully healthy.

Allard is my #1 guy and Happ would be my #2 fallback option. A lot of these college arms being projected in the 6-10 range are way overrated in my opinion just because they are "safer" options.

I've seen local high school pitchers with better stuff than Danks. He has no business being in a MLB rotation at this point. Cut your losses on a terrible contract and get him out of here.

I'm still sticking with Ian Happ. I think he can hit .300 with 10-15 home runs very soon in the big leagues. Plus he has position flex in the IF and OF with above average speed. And did I mention he's a switch hitter?

Well looks like I might be waiting a bit longer to pay for my mlb.tv subscription...this team clearly wasn't prepared correctly for the start of the season. Not time for gloom and doom yet obviously, but can't give up too many games to start the year.

I'm starting to really like Ian Happ from Cincy....athletic switch hitter with position flex. Can't ask for much more than that in a prospect. If not him than I would probably go with 1 of the SP that falls not named Aiken. Bickford, Kirby, or Matuella.

I think Avi is going to absolutely rake this year. Whether he's going to hit behind, bewteen, or in front of the Abreu/LaRoche duo he's going to get a lot of pitches to hit. My bold prediction.... .290/.330/.480 with 18 HR's 85 RBI's and 10 steals. So what do you guys think? Crazy? Or Agree

Mehh I'd rather not even bring back Beckham honestly, but its not worth complaining about a cheap bench player. I just hope it's been clear that he isn't here to be a starter in any way shape or form.

I think there seems to be a really good chance Dayan ends up being the RH platoon to Laroche at DH and an occasional spot start in LF/RF. Having a guy withhis power on the bench isn't a bad thing, especially if we don't have to see him field much.

IF Micah wins the 2B job I can definitely see us keeping Tank. A bench of... Sanchez-SS, 2B Bonifacio- CF, 3B, 2B Tank- LF, RF, DH Shuck/Campana- OF Brantley/Kottaras- back-up catcher Pretty good and covers pretty much all of our needs in my opinion.

Perfect signing. Backup at CF, 3B, and even 2B. Wonder if this leaves the door open for Dayan to stay with the team though? He could be the LF/RF/DH platoon and backup with Bonifacio, Sanchez(if Micah wins the job), Viciedo, and Shuck/Danks as the bench? I'm sure most would complain if he's still on the team but it wouldn't bother me at all.