BaconOnAStick

A draft that so far has been great (even without the #7 overall) plus a steal FA signing does wonders in the NFL pretty quickly. I dont think they are good, but the obviously will be.

You knew he was traded to the Angels?? Happened about an hour after I made that post.

Andrelton Simmons trade.

I like Adrian Amos, but I don't see him being called a top 10 S anywhere. If he is that'd be seriously great though.

I really don't think that's a fair way of evaluating players from overseas leagues. Not saying there's a better way, but I don't know. I'm not sure baseball works like that.

Hamilton is a top 5 defensive CF in the game, the only guy definitively better than him with the glove is Kiermaier. Adding Hamilton and then surrounding him on the corners with Eaton and Trayce may give the Sox one of the best OF defenses in the league. That's also a group that's going to steal a lot of bases, not just Hamilton, but Eaton and Trayce have the ability to get a lot of steals as well. Yea I know the Sox will be insanely lucky to get 30 HR out of all of them combined., but that's not really the point of acquiring Hamilton. The point is to enable the rotation to give up even fewer runs than they would and buy a few small ball runs, which may come in handy if Sale/Quintana/Rodon are keeping opponent's scoring low.

Is there something wrong with Thompson in RF? Or is that too much outfield defense?

The Royals got over themselves as the season went on. I know the Sox brawled with them, but the Royals had a reason to feel disrespected after everyone picked them to finish 4th in the central coming off forcing a game 7 in the World Series. I actually appreciated the fact they had an attitude, which was a tacit admission that they read all the predictions and analysis. But they grew out of it and are a much better team this year than they were last year. I also love and envy their brand of baseball. OTOH I like the Mets too. I like the lore that grows with every Murphy HR. I like Cespedes' defense and approach at the plate. I like all of their pitchers and admire their commitment to build a team through pitching in these times where everyone is so afraid of injury. Addison Reed was a lot of fun at the park when he was with the Sox (tweeting fans during the game). Curtis Granderson grew up in Blue Island and went to UIC, so of course it's be cool to see him get a ring. I like that both of these teams aren't ultra marketable league-pleasing franchises. I like both of their managers. I'm just going to enjoy the series.

Don't write him off becoming a decent hitter either, though to me that would just be gravy.

Right he doesn't help us find power, but I mean unless the Sox aDD twice as much payroll as they added last offseason this team isn't going to have to kind of lineup you're hoping for. What I am sick of is having Dayan Viciedo, Avisail Garcia or whatever playing horrible OF defense in the corners with sporadic contributions at the plate. Hamilton gives you improved CF defense, and improved defense on the corners by moving Eaton to LF and Trayce to RF. It's not Royals level good defensively, but it's better than anything I can remember. They would save a lot of runs those three. Offensively you have a 25% chance Hamilton is terrozing the opponent's pitcher while our best hitters are at the dish. The guy doesn't only get in scoring position with relative ease, he makes life miserable for the opponent who has to constantly worry about him. He isn't the ideal CF for the White Sox, but he won't add to the payroll and he does enough things well to at least make him worth starting. Maybe Micah, Trayce, Eaton learn something from just watching him and the Sox lineup starts becoming a lot more disruptive.

I'll take Billy Hamilton as he is now and hope he doesn't get worse.

Exercise Alexei Ramirez $10m option Sign C Matt Wieters 2y $26m Sign 3B Jae-Gyun Hwang for 3y $12m + $3m posting Sign RP Antonio Bastardo for 1y $5m Trade SP Erik Johnson to Cincinnati Reds for CF Billy Hamilton 1 Adam Eaton L LF 2 Jose Abreu R 1B 3 Matt Wieters S C 4 Jae-Gyun Hwang R 3B 5 Melky Cabrera S DH 6 Trayce Thompson R RF 7 Micah Johnson L 2B 8 Alexei Ramirez R SS 9 Billy Hamilton S CF BENCH: Tyler Flowers R C, Adam LaRoche L 1B/DH, Avisail Garcia R OF, Tyler Saladino R INF 1 Chris Sale L 2 Jose Quintana L 3 Carlos Rodon L 4 Frank Montas R 5 John Danks L 6/LR: Scott Carroll R Relievers: Zach Duke L, Dan Jennings L, Nate Jones R, Jake Petricka R SU: Antonio Bastardo L CL: David Robertson R --- I dont know.

I think they would, but for reasons that have more to do with Harper than Sale.

The author left this gem in comments The history of athletics. Not the Oakland Athletics, like athletics in general. The greatest moment ever. This is why I root against the Cubs. This is it right here, I'm not jealous or bitter, it's just that quote is repeated unironically by Cubs fans on a daily basis.

That's his reputation, but a lot of SS miss plays. You dont know if its focus or whether people think his cap isn't on right and just assume its focus. It's not secret the Cubs dont like him very much and I'm guessing Maddon is a part of that. If Theo's expecting a front-line starter in return for him he's getting laughed off the phone. Nobody is trading Quintana for a package built around Castro. But what if the price drifts lower? What if Theo's willing to sell him for Montas? Im not saying I take that deal, but I sure as hell think about it. With the rest of the Cubs players* they want Sale and I wouldn't give them more than Quintana for anyone other than Russell. Castro is the guy who's realistic and intriguing enough to make a phone call over. *who may be available, I dont think the Cubs are looking to send Bryant or Rizzo packing.

How much is Wieters going to cost? Anyone figure that out? He doesn't cost a draft pick so I dont know, it cant be too much the guy hasn't lit the world on fire lately.

UZR is nowhere near as harsh about him and I mean, I watch the guy and I dont see anything wrong. He makes the plays he's supposed to and occasionally the one's he's not. He's developed a reputation for being an airhead amongst Cubs fans but as a White Sox fan I'm an expert on airheads and the guy seems to get a bad rap. I think the perception on him is misguided and has a lot to do with his appearance. I'm not saying trade Quintana for him, but if you can some weasel your way into a deal that brings him here I'd be properly excited.

One thing I dont disagree with at all is the desire to see Trayce out there every day in the OF. We've all looked at this roster and just recoiled in terror going into the offseason. There's not a whole lot to trade, not much money left to spend and very few good ballplayers to show for it. Sox need some people to break out, and since Trayce already has the glove might as well see if he can hit. He certainly looked like he could when he got called up. Sox need good players that wont cost them anything to acquire, Trayce happens to be on the very few they have with that potential. I get it.

For the past 4 seasons Castro has had nearly the same K rate (~15%) and above average defense. He could stand to improve both a little, but neither is problematic. Compare this with the LF who is on his face every time the ball is hit to him and will gladly provide the 3 pitch strikeout at any time.

I'd take Castro and/or Russell in an instant. The rest of them? Ehhhh no thanks I've seen enough guys with bad defense and serious contact issues ruin Sox seasons already.

If it wasn't for the great baserunning and defense he'd fit right in.

I want Billy Hamilton and I think he can be had dirt cheap. Great defender and he at least runs, it'd be fun to watch. Nobody on this team gets on base as is so its not like we'd know any better. I'm just saying you probably dont give up anything too painful to get Hamilton. The Sox aren't handing out $100m contracts nor should they.

Jung Ho Kang was damn good last year.

If you want to play Trayce every day there are way to do that without trading Eaton.

I hope I only have to listen to the Cubs being the 2004 Red Sox for only one day.