BlackSox13

QUOTE (flavum @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 04:43 PM) Crasnick reporting Mariners are close to getting a hitter. He didn't use quotes on "hitter", but maybe the Viciedo trade is close. Please, let this be true. PLEASE!

I would take Sierra back in a second but I see him as more of a fifth outfielder. Would love to talk to the Pirates about Tabata. Good defense and hits left handed pitchers well.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Dec 15, 2014 -> 11:07 AM) No...we have completely ignored our team defense. I just have a hard time fathoming that given how bad we were defensively and what everyone in baseball saw the Royals do. I'm not saying you need to replicate the Royals as that would be flawed logic. They got hot at the right time and had a bit of luck on their side, but the value of defense in a non-offensive era, is much more significant and we have completely ignored it. Melky is a defensive upgrade over Viciedo in LF and LaRoche upgrades 1B when he plays the field. How did the Sox not upgrade defensively?

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 14, 2014 -> 02:13 PM) I think we'd be better off finding strong, right-handed bench pieces to share time with Gillaspie/LaRoche at this point. Sanchez won't hit like Lowrie, but the glove will be substantially better, and you gotta figure the resources are running out at this point. May not have enough to make more than one more move, if any. Yeah, I'm absolutely fine with Sanchez at second. I'm hoping somehow the Sox can acquire Holt and/or VanSlyke to be bench/platoon players. Holt is a LHB but hits lefties better righties and VanSlyke would be a great platoon partner for LaRoche and can be used to give Melky and Avi a day off from time to time. As for Lowrie, I agree that the money might no longer be there for him and the Sox seem content with Sanchez, Johnson, Saladino and Leury to sort out second base.

I have zero problem supporting this team and in fact I'm pumped for the 2015 season! Nobody likes a cheater but Melky put solid numbers last year without cheating and that works for me. I'm not living in the past.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Dec 14, 2014 -> 12:16 PM) It's possible but the bench is still an area of concern. Need a backup RH INF who maybe has some OBP abilities and RH OF with good defense maybe a little pop. Maybe the Twins are tired of Aaron Hicks. He takes a lot of walks, some pop, speedy and really good CF. It should also be noted wasn't exactly in the Twins good graces by showing up later than expected for a day game. Not sure if there's any lingering effects from that. He's also a switch hitter. I think the Sox may go with Saladino as the backup RH MI, depending on how his elbow recovers from TJ surgery.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Dec 14, 2014 -> 11:41 AM) As you know from our discourse in the VMart thread we were telling everyone that if the Sox were going to make big moves that this was the year to do it. The payroll space and protected 1st round pick combined to give Hahn a rare opportunity to be a major player. Even being as nice and logical about as could be others didn't see 2015 as a contention year. I hope those who doubted are now convinced that what I said could be accomplished by not handing out contracts of more then 3 years. Robertson got 4 but he probably was a guy the Sox wanted badly if their plan was going to take shape . Even though I advocated it ,deep down, I really didn't expect Hahn to pull it off since FA's have a lot of choices. Major props and kudos to the whole front office . Looking forward to contending ever so much . Absolutely. I have to admit, I did not think the Sox would be able to pull it off but on paper, they look like they have. Eaton, Melky, Abreu, LaRoche, Avi, Gillapsie, Alexei, Flowers, Sanchez looks much better than the 2014 lineup. I wonder if the Sox will still add another arm in the pen?

QUOTE (ChrisLikesBaseball @ Dec 14, 2014 -> 09:35 AM) What does Dayan figure to get in arbitration? Melky, Eaton, and Avi figure to be the every day outfield, so what do we figure the payroll cap is on a 4th OF? I wouldn't be too concerned, Viciedo will be traded and its likely Shuck or Jordan Danks will be the fourth OF.

I've been an advocate of signing Cabrera but the Sox are only on the hook for three years? Very nice! So what next, another arm for the pen?

Looks like Levine is talking about how the Sox and Seattle have been discussing Viciedo for two years but now another team has emerged as being more serious than Seattle.

QUOTE (AlSoxfan @ Dec 12, 2014 -> 10:56 AM) I'm sorry but I can't believe for a sec. that we're only good enough for 77 wins. Am I being to much the Homie fan? I think Hahn made some pretty shrewd moves an improved us to at least a better than 500 club. and with a good yr. I really believe we can compete for the central or at least a wild card spot. I think we still need a left fielder at least but otherwise I'll take my chances with this team. No kidding! Robertson, Duke and LaRoche only amount to four wins? That's harsh. Like others have said, take it with a grain of salt.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 11:45 PM) On another site I frequent, I had a Cubs fan tell me that he'd rather have Jon Lester and his contract, than Chris Sale and his contract, because Sale "has a scary motion that will ruin his career". And then he insists that Arrieta is better than both Quintana and Samardzija, and Lester/Arrieta might be the best duo on baseball. A lot of Cubs fans just have no clue. Yeah, for some reason I'm not surprised. I used to entertain cub fans by talking some baseball s*** with them but now I just laugh and move on. Some of the dumbest things I've ever heard came from the mouth of a cub fan. Don't get me wrong, Lester/ Arrieta is a heck of a duo but not the best or even close.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 05:40 PM) The Central Division is very winnable. I hope that the my scenario, which involvers J. Reinsdorf upping the payroll becomes reality. I think you're right, JR would up the payroll for the right player(s). Also agree that the ALC is very winnable. The Indians, Tigers and Royals will be tough but so will the White Sox. Should be a fun 2015 for Sox fans.

Sorry but Peavy's AL stats and salary makes him a worse option than Noesi. Hell, at this point I would rather have Danks than Peavy and I don't want Danks at all. Just say no to Jake Peavy.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 02:35 PM) It wouldn't surprise me if Rienzo has a good major league career. He has a plus pitch. I don't think the Sox liked him though. Jennings walks too many. Bad WHIP. We'll see. In all fairness, Rienzo walks more batters and has a higher WHIP than Jennings.

QUOTE (LDF @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 12:41 PM) i wonder if the Dodgers will still ask the Sox to do a trade, Crawford or Etheir + prospect for Danks. If the Sox really are close to their payroll " limit ", I'd guess Crawford or Ethier + cash for Danks. The cash would help bring Crawford/Ethier's annual salary down closer to what Danks makes. Pretty much what the Dodgers did for the Padres in the Kemp deal. The Dodgers sent enough money to SD to bring Kemp's annual salary down to 15M. If the Dodgers and Sox pulled off a trade I'm hoping its for Crawford. Crawford is owed about 62M for the next three years so in order for the Sox to take on the remainder of that contract, the Sox would need a good 17M in cash to go along with Crawford. Not sure how the Dodgers would feel about that but its pretty much what would need to happen if the the Sox/Dodgers were to make a trade.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 11:52 AM) Exactly, but what I am getting at is this, say Jennings doesn't improve vs. LH hitters, and he is warming up in the bullpen, and a righty is on the mound with a LH hitter coming next who really doesn't hit LH pitchers much at all, say Jayson Heyward. Is the manager a fool to bring him in knowing he is not as effective vs. LH hitters, or is it a good move because that is more than offset by the hitter's righty vs. lefty splits? Obviously, it would be ideal to have a lefty who is good vs. LH hitters available, but many times it doesn't work that way. Situations like what you describe is where Robin, as the team manager, will come into play. I would try to build some confidence in Jennings by putting him up against lesser hitting left handed batters and see how he performs. Its something Robin will have to find out by trial and error. I would go ahead and bring in Jennings to face Heyward and see how it turns out. Given Jennings backwards splits, at this point I'd guess Duke and Garcia or Surkamp would see most of the action against good hitting left handed batters. To answer your question, I don't think the manager would be a fool to bring Jennings in.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 11:50 AM) Yes, if he doesn't figure out his control. Could be a LONG season for him lol. No kidding man. Talk about wild thing!

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 11:48 AM) For one season. OK, thanks. Well, the Sox have their 2015 Rick Vaughn project.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 11:42 AM) Yes. If a player is selected in the AAA phase, he must remain at the AAA level (or higher) all year or he is returned to his previous team. There are smaller amounts to those, but they still cost money as well and you are offered some back if the team wishes to get the services back. However, due to the nature of the minor leagues, you will rarely see those guys returned, so Peter Tago is very likely to remain with the Sox. So in order for the Sox to keep Tago, he has to jump from A+ ball to AAA and stay there?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 11:40 AM) So a LH pitcher that fares better against RH hitters vs. a LH hitter who can't hit lefties. Who wins? It was pretty obvious Rienzo was on the way out. Hopefully Jennings.

Like everyone else so far, I like this trade! Hahn did well in trading a player with no future with the Sox for a player that can help now and long term.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 10:06 AM) The Astros have to get one in there too. Oops, don't know how I missed the Astros. My apologies to their 3,893 fan base. QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 10:09 AM) anyone see the joke; Why did Lester choose the cubs? He was promised his Octobers off. That's a good one. Love a good joke to go with my morning coffee.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 12:04 AM) Apparently, Dodgers are about to sign McCarthy. What is their payroll gonna be when all of this is said and done? They're paying Haren and Dee Gordon to play for Miami, just added Howie Kendrick's 9.5 million and are signing McCarthy. Still haven't moved any of those outfielders and the stumbling block seems to be that the other teams are expecting them to thrown in more money. I wonder what it would cost to get Ethier, cash only, no players. Not sure what their payroll will be but last I read they were trying to get under 190M to avoid luxury taxes. They are adding payroll faster than they are shedding it, that's for sure. I think Ethier and possibly Crawford end up put out there for the taking. Pretty much what Toronto did with Rios. Dodgers just might end up asking for nothing in return although they might still have to kick in money to be rid of the contracts.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Dec 10, 2014 -> 11:12 PM) Per Ken Rosenthal, the Dodgers are flipping Andrew Heaney to the Angels. Lol. ...For Howie Hendrick. No, the Dodgers are flipping Heaney to the Angels so the Dodgers can trade for Danks. I gotta say that despite their ages, Rollins and Kendrick as the middle infielders is pretty damn good both defensively and offensively.