blackmooncreeping

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 01:40 PM) He's making $1.5 million. That's literally the exact same amount the Dodgers signed Beachy for - except it's non-guaranteed for Beachy (with options). Given $1.5 million to play with, the White Sox signed Turner and the Dodgers signed Beachy,. Serious question here, who would you rather have for 1.5 million if they are side-by-side and unsigned/available?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 01:33 PM) That's an awful lot of money to invest in Turner if they don't have him somewhere on the list. So like it or not from our perspective, they've at least got him somewehere in the answer to your question. How much was invested in Turner? And how many starts has Turner made in the bigs? Fine if he's an option, but he should just be one of multiple options, and hopefully he's not the best fallback option you've got or you've fallen short imo.

QUOTE (JRL @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 12:46 PM) All these guys being mentioned signed major league deals. The Sox are looking for a 7th starter more or less, so I doubt they're trying to sign someone to a major league deal. Whether we like it or not ( I personally don't), Danks is gonna stay in the rotation because of the money he makes. Reinsdorf isn't gonna pay him $15 mil this year to be a LOOGY or pitch for Charlotte. Erik Johnson is 26 (old for a guy who hasn't really gotten an extended shot in the bigs yet), formerly a Top 100 prospect, and absolutely dominated AAA last year. I think you're at the "crap or get off the pot" stage with him at this point. So, you gotta give him an extended shot in the rotation to find out what you have. And then we signed Jacob Turner (who doesn't really profile as a reliever) for $1.5 mil on a big league deal. So, I have a hard time believing they're looking to acquire a 7th starting pitcher on a big league deal. Is what it is. We have 3 proven starters (counting Rodon as a proven starter), then the rest is a big question mark in terms of what kind of production we'll see. My point is if you are going for it with the infield upgrades and possibly OF upgrades as well, you better have dependable starting pitching. Not sure we are there in terms of quality depth yet, and I believe a proven starting RHP would go a long way to stabilizing the rotation.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 12:08 PM) They signed for nothing because both are garbage. at 1.5 million, that's a cost effective chance to go ahead and take.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 12:14 PM) If I had to guess I'd still say: WhiteSox/Cespedes, Upton/Angels, Orioles/Davis, Giants/Fowler That's a pretty good hand

QUOTE (Baron @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 11:47 AM) You just have to worry about the Giants lurking. I wouldn't go to sleep on the Cardinals either. Lots of money to spend

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 11:22 AM) They probably figure Scott Carroll can do what those guys do and they're probably right. They signed somebody else, name escapes, who may be able to start as well. The O WAR corner OF is a more imminent issue, even if they have to go on the cheap for more modest upgrades. Hope they go for 2 modest OF upgrades, assuming neither YO or JU comes to town.

Edwin Jackson and Brandon Beachy are 2 starting RHP's that have been signed for next to nothing in the past week, $1.5 million-ish a year I believe. Either could've potentially been a good get to the back end of our rotation which has big question marks in the 4th and 5th slots as we stand. Is the front office too focused on one of the FA outfielders that they are missing cheap opportunities to improve at the very least our pitching depth? Food for thought...

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 11:06 AM) One name that hasn't been talked about much is Denard Span. I know he doesn't have much power, but it seems like he'd be a decent OBP guy. How is his defense? If he's healthy he can play a competent LF for sure. Love his lefty bat and think he would be a good get if we can't land either Yo or Upton.

I really hope today's Gordon signing means things start moving the Sox way re: Cespedes, but in case they don't, can the Sox bring in 2 of 2nd tier OFs? Say they sign both Span and Parra, drop Parra in RF and Span in LF, and move Melky to DH. Figure out the Avi/Laroche thing later. Or do you sign one 2nd tier OF and go after a starting RHP?

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 10:10 AM) I agree with you, but the original report was that we were only offering 3 years to both Gordon and Cespedes. Right; hopefully that was just blustering on Cespedes because if not we obviously have zero chance of signing him

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 10:07 AM) So we weren't posturing. If we offer Cespedes 3 years then he won't accept. The FO has to know that. Smart move to not go over 3 years on Gordon due to his relatively advanced age. Cespedes and Upton are obviously different stories and so you offer more years.

QUOTE (Frank_Thomas35 @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 10:02 AM) Would love just one juicy tidbit linking the Sox and Cespedes today, give me and the rest of us hope. Either that or I want Hahn to come out and say the market has now priced us out and we will look at other affordable options through trades or FA outside of the big two. I feel like the past two weeks have been torture with the ups and downs and roller coaster ride that has been the big three rumor train. I just want a conclusion and soon. If the 3 year thing was reality we wouldn't even be in the running. We need to pony up with at least 4 years, possibly a 5th, with an average of at least $20 million a year to sit at the table at this point imo. Nationals, Angels, Orioles, possibly the Tigers are all legit threats to land either Cespedes or Upton. ANd don't count out STL, they have cash to burn and need to replace Heyward.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 09:29 AM) Yep. A few of us were speculating last week that Gordon could have been using the Sox in negotiations with KC while the Sox were using Gordon in negotiations with Cespedes. We'll see if the second part of that speculation come to fruition. Not a big surprise here, you knew when he couldn't be signed early in the process that his heart was never really in leaving KC, much less to come to the Sox. I personally prefer Cespedes/Upton anyways, so hopefully this unclogs the market. Both Cespedes and Upton seem to be waiting on Davis and Baltimore to figure their own situations out. I think either would go to Baltimore over the Sox, and are waiting to see what the money might be before considering less years, which is what it sounds like the Sox are offering.

QUOTE (South Sider @ Jan 4, 2016 -> 07:42 PM) Avi better be there. LOL, damn right!

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jan 4, 2016 -> 02:02 PM) Fister has 1-2 year offers from multiple clubs. I wonder if the White Sox are one of those clubs I would be surprised if the Sox aren't one of those teams. Groundball pitcher who has good control, sign me up. Bummer on missing on Edwin Jackson. Sounds like we could've had him at the league minimum since the Cubs are paying him around $13 million I think?

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 3, 2016 -> 12:12 AM) Yeah, it's strange that we've heard basically nothing about Upton lately Wasn't there a thought that Upton potentially preferred Baltimore? Maybe he is literally waiting on the Davis stalemate to work itself out, in hopes that Davis leaves so he can get that $$. Meanwhile Gordon & Cespedes see if they can find anyone to give them that extra year, and the Sox play patient while they have the best offers out to either guy. At least that's what I hope is going down...

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jan 1, 2016 -> 11:04 PM) Posturing. They know it won't be a 3 year deal. Or an agent is trying to entice some of the other teams to jump in off the sidelines and guarantee a 4th or 5th year

QUOTE (peavy44 @ Jan 1, 2016 -> 10:54 PM) Maybe cespedes takes a 1 year deal if he don't get offered the money he wanna. I don't think so, the money won't be any better next off season, and he'll most likely never have higher value than he does right now.

QUOTE (Baron @ Jan 1, 2016 -> 06:26 PM) That "buzz" was from another person who tried to jump the gun on an OF signing. I'd take any names in that regard with a grain of salt. Although the longer he's out there...Desmond may become intriguing atleast on the financial side of things. I would be beyond surprised if they would be willing to give up a pick for Desmond.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 1, 2016 -> 06:20 PM) I definitely don't like the idea of Melky in RF, shoot, I don't like the idea of Melky in LF! I see what you're saying though and if I had to choose it would be Cespedes in RF. However, let's just make this easier by signing Upton. I've been all over the place on all 3 of these guys, and now see the Upton fit more clearly. Like most have said already, I'm happy if we are able to bring in any of them, and will deal with their individual weak spots with a smile on my face.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 1, 2016 -> 06:11 PM) If its true that the Sox aren't willing to go beyond three years for Gordon or Cespedes then I applaud them and feel they are doing the right thing. Since Cespedes is 30, a fourth year option wouldn't the worst thing in the world but I would definitely not go more than three years with Gordon. 100% agree with this on both Gordon and Cespedes, even if it means they end up missing out on either guy. Unless it means Upton, I'd rather use the resources on other options, that specifically don't require the loss of a draft pick.

QUOTE (Saufley @ Jan 1, 2016 -> 06:02 PM) For me it is how he looks during spring training good point. If he still shows the same slow swing and lack of effective eye at the plate (how many times did he K looking at one right down the middle?), then you try one more desperate round of phone calls to see if there are any last second takers on a trade, then you could cut bait at that point or leave him languishing on the end of the bench?

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 1, 2016 -> 05:46 PM) The only thing about Cespedes is that he has never played RF in the majors. Not sure how that would play out to be honest. He definitely has the arm. Would you rather have Cespedes in left and Melky in right? Or Cespedes in right (never played there, but clearly the more athletic of him/Melky) and Melky in left? Tough call imo, right field is typically harder to play but Cespedes might not be as comfortable there. Melky will play either corner below average so exactly how much harder is right field than left? What hurts you less in the long run? Melky clearly has the gun for either.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Jan 1, 2016 -> 05:27 PM) Couldn't this exact same phrase have been said after Adam Dunn's 2011 season? His tenure with the Sox after that wasn't perfect, but it was leaps and bounds better than 2011. I don't think LaRoche will be any different. The worst case scenario for him next season IMO is .210 or so with 15 homers. It's hard to forecast a 36 year old regressing player's stats at all, and it's even harder to forecast Laroche's #'s if he's going to be a part of a platoon. For example, do you think he can hit .210 with 15 hr's if he's part of a platoon? I personally think it's a stretch, not enough ABs for the HR's. To me, the only way he hits 15 bombs is as a full-time DH, and hopefully that's not in the cards since it probably means a .220ish average along with it.