BlackSox13

If Devin Mesoraco is the catcher, it better fricken be for LaRoche or Cabrera. Look at his contract. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/...shtml#contracts Yikes that's one escalating contract!

Now I'm really stumped...

Looks like I'm late to the " WOW " party. Like others, I am surprised! Now I'm beyond curious as to who the hell Hahn is bringing back. I agree with those that say Navarro. Or could Hahn have an un-announced trade in place?

Very well written and insightful Brian. I really enjoyed reading this and I think you've out-done yourself. Patience really is the key and as you pointed out, there are signs of this organization heading in the right direction. I'm really glad you wrote this because the narratives you spoke of have gotten to be pretty old and stale around here to be honest. Hopefully your writing will shed some light. Again, well done.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Dec 2, 2015 -> 02:31 PM) The first one should have been in green. The comments section had a guy that was talking about fWAR being useless. I thought that was funny. Then I stated that I prefer fWAR when comparing pitchers. My bad. Ok, I follow ya. I admit that I mostly stick to traditional stats so that's why I was confused.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Dec 2, 2015 -> 02:02 PM) fWAR is useless. Doesn't make sense. QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Dec 2, 2015 -> 02:17 PM) I think fWAR for pitchers is far more useful but that's me I guess. I'm a bit confused here.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 2, 2015 -> 02:07 PM) if Samardzija has a 100M offer on the table, i highly doubt it is the Cubs. I dont think they are gonna offer him 4/84 in 2014 and then offer him 16M more after the season he had last year. Thinking the same thing. Signing Samardzija would chew most of if not all of what the cubs have to spare. Imo, SF is trying to drive up the price on Grienke while looking at a more realistic option like Samardzija. I'm guessing SF made that offer.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Dec 2, 2015 -> 02:02 PM) fWAR is useless. Doesn't make sense. I don't pay much attention to it myself. I'm mainly laughing because the Samardzija supporters are arguing on his behalf saying the Sox defense was bad, which it was and is true. But the Sox defense had nothing to do with the 29 cruise missiles launched off the bats of opposing hitters, that's on Samardzija. But hey, he tweaked his mechanics and is all good now.

Reading the comments about Samardzija on MLBTR was a funny read. Good stuff there.

I'm sorry but Beckham was not rushed by the FO. Beckham hit well in the minors in '08/'09 and hit well for the Sox when he was called up in '09. Beckham failed the Sox. In 2010 pitchers made adjustments and Beckham was never able to re-adjust his game. Bottom line is Beckham's talent topped out at an early age. I will say this for Beckham, he lasted longer than Fields.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Dec 2, 2015 -> 01:23 PM) How in the world did he get a major league contract? The Braves are in rebuild mode so the move makes sense given the price. Bacon buys them a year to develop more infielders in the minors. Anyway, let be the first to say " he gawn " , aaaaagain.

"The representatives of free agent righty Jeff Samardzija are telling teams that the hurler already has at least one $100MM offer on the table, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com reports on Twitter. Needless to say, that’s a huge number for a pitcher coming off a down year, but speaks to his popularity among scouts and executives." Per MLBTR I'll take a guess and say SF made the offer. Anyone else care to guess?

QUOTE (shysocks @ Dec 2, 2015 -> 08:52 AM) I'll contrast him to Victor Martinez. I hated the idea of signing V-Mart at a very similar age and price last offseason. Zobrist is different in that he is not coming off a career year and he is not restricted to one (non-)position. He's the anti-Martinez. I have to wonder if the decline in his defensive numbers last year was real and age-based, or just a blip. But his bat has always been really good and I expect it to stay good. In a vacuum I'd be okay with 4/$60 for him, but the state of the Sox should have them avoiding old guys in general. If the Sox were one or two players shy of contending then Zobrist would make sense but even then, signing a 35 year old to a 4 year deal worth 60M is still a bit steep for me. At some point Zobrist will start to decline and that's the point fans will regret the signing. That of course is based on a 4/60 contract. Less years would be more appealing given his age.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Dec 1, 2015 -> 07:40 PM) Looks like another player is going to Baltimore too. Wow. Seems like a lot to give up for a career minor league catcher. Don't understand the rush to get rid of him. Tender him a contract and work on dealing him between now and Spring Training. I think it came down to a number of things. 1- Trumbo is a 1B/DH ( Seattle had too many) 2- Trumbo had just one year left 3- Seattle wants a better defensive outfield 4- trading Trumbo's projected 9M salary opened up money for Aoki 5- Montero plays 1B with Cruz likely the DH which opens up RF for Aoki 6- Seattle needed a catcher and Clevenger fills that void while coming with four more years of control The Trumbo trade and Aoki signing make alot of sense really.

My opinion is this. I am glad his Sox are red and not White. Imo, its too much money annually but I do think Price will pitch well through the first three years and opt out. At that point Price will be 32 and Boston will be free of his salary which will be a blessing. Price will then sign a long term contract with the Yankees to take CC's place in NY as the next big pitching contract gone wrong. Boston should start praying Price doesn't get injured in year three or they will be on the hook for the long haul.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/12/ben-...60-million.html "Ben Zobrist‘s projected price tag “keeps going up,” tweets Yahoo’s Jeff Passan, who hears from clubs involved in his market that the demand for his services has the price sitting at four years and $60MM currently. That price could still rise, says Passan. That he says the current price tag is about $60MM over four years would indicate that no club has approached that level just yet, although given the sheer number volume of teams that Zobrist could help, it’s easy to see how competition could push his eventual contract beyond that level." So Sox fans. Anyone still interested in Zobrist? I say thanks but absolutely no thanks.

As long as Avi, LaRoche and Melky are still on the team there's no room for Rosario.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Dec 1, 2015 -> 09:57 PM) Why would it effect a deal with the Rockies? They weren't in on Price. Price's contract just upped the value of Q's contract so any team trading for Q has to up their ante.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Dec 1, 2015 -> 08:30 PM) 20M total? I thought they had 30-35M to spend, they need a CF and a SP, 20 won't get you both in today's market. Second tier SPs are still going to get at least 15M/year, and a decent outfielder will probably approach that as well. Yep, the cubs aren't going to be spending as much as some anticipated. That could change but its been reported over the last few weeks they are currently sitting at about 110M and expect to end up around 130-140M. Here's a link explaining more. Sounds as though the cubs really never considered Price much of a possibility. http://www.chicagonow.com/cubs-den/2015/11...add-to-payroll/

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Dec 1, 2015 -> 08:08 PM) This sure worked on David Price! He wanted nothing more but to come bring a championship to the North Side! Money was not a factor at all! According to reports, the cubs didn't make an offer to Price and have been saying they are looking for a second tier pitcher because they only have about 20M to spend.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Dec 1, 2015 -> 07:57 PM) I still like a CarGo trade and Lawrie. Think those are our two most realistic outcomes. Same here and I've been against a trade for CarGo since last winter but if he can be had for a reasonable price, I'll take that left handed power bat in the Sox lineup. He and Lawrie would give the lineup a nice boost. Hopefully the Sox can get both.

Thanks for letting know SouthSideSale. I find it difficult to believe the Sox are merely looking to upgrade 3B. They have something up their sleeves.

QUOTE (LDF @ Dec 1, 2015 -> 07:31 PM) it like those fantasy mock trades that some were coming up with.... an i am probably a huge culprit in that with a several big mock. .... but it still make sense to me to be getting a haul, now this thing today vindicate what i was saying. either way, hahn and company will have a great window of opportunity It's easy to say trade Sale or Q and get a haul but its another thing finding a team willing to give up that haul. It would have to be a mix a Major and Minor league talent to make that trade happen because no team is going to empty their farm for one player. Sure, there are teams that have the blend of talent to offer but are they willing to or desperate enough to offer it?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 1, 2015 -> 06:19 PM) It's not like we're in a thread about a case clearly showing as obvious as could be how terrible of a deal you're getting for top level FAs any more. Lol, no s***. Not like the Sox don't have holes to fill on the infield either. Sure, let's spend all available funds on one player and still suck next year. But hey, at least we will have something to b**** about.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Dec 1, 2015 -> 06:08 PM) You make it sound like replacing Sale and Q would be easy. Those guys are 2 of the best pitchers in the AL. I don't disagree that the Sox are good at developing pitching, but it's not like they'll find another Sale or Q off of the scrap heap. If the Sox continue to scout/draft/develop pitching they won't have to fall back on the scrap heap. Assuming options on both pitchers will be picked up, Sale will be 30 and Q 31 when they hit FA. Now, given what we've seen pitchers in that age range get this year, imagine what the prices will be like when Sale and Q are free agents. Assuming they stay healthy and continue to pitch well, they will get paid huge. I'm not too eager to pay 35-40M per year for a pitcher, I don't care what the name on the back of their jersey says. Maybe the Sox have the right idea after all by prioritizing pitching when it comes to drafting. Maybe they have foreseen the direction of the pitching market and know just how valuable young cost effective pitching is. I think Atlanta sees it as well.