blackmooncreeping

QUOTE (raBBit @ Dec 18, 2015 -> 09:50 AM) Colon signed back with the Mets on a one year deal. Right, just saying someone like him profile-wise is needed for this rotation if they are really going for it. 2 question marks at the back end is pretty risky imo. Make that 1 question mark in Johnson and 1 below average, 4.75 ERA waiting to happen lefty named John Danks.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Dec 18, 2015 -> 09:41 AM) Plus this thread seems pretty well split between signing Alexei / playing Saladino, so I don't see much "absolute disdain." It's true that Saladino would be a better sub than Sanchez, but there's also a chance he'll just have a better than Alexei. All the projections I've seen have Saladino and Alexei's batting lines very close, and while Saladino's floor is lower, at their respective ages his glove will have the edge. I don't think spending the extra millions on Alexei is worth the bench upgrade. I'd rather get a pitcher. Agreed. Sale, Quintana, Rodon...and then basically keep you fingers crossed as a below average lefty and a pretty much unknown righty take their turn. Salad at SS is fine, the Sox should go grab a righty to start.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Dec 17, 2015 -> 10:14 PM) You want to pay 42 year old Bartolo Colon to pitch in the AL? Say that out loud. Ok, maybe Bartolo would get lit up in the AL, I can see that. Then find a guy who profiles well to eat up innings at the back end of the rotation and put up a sub 4 ERA vs the vaunted AL for under 8 mil. Colon might not have been the best match, I'll agree with you on that. If we roll the dice on Johnson and he falters, we'll have to grab someone off the waiver wire in May since internally we don't have anyone to slide into that role. Let's just hope EJ keeps it rolling from last September. If he could post 5 or even 6 innings per start like he did last season, that would obviously be golden.

They don't need to dump Robertson, just back load any free agent deal so the Danks/Laroche money that is coming off the books next year gets reallocated. It's been posted before and remains valid imo. If we are going to go for the wildcard, we shouldn't be dumping an established closer. Internal option-wise, Nate Jones scares me as a 9th inning guy, but I'll take him in the 7th/8th as a bridge to #30.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Dec 18, 2015 -> 07:31 AM) Somehow the 92 win Dodgers can find a use for Micah. But Robin and his 76 wins couldn't fit him in. That might require platooning and late inning replacements on a regular basis. It's like the sox run the org. For the convenience of its limited field manager. Sure they stick Sanchez and Saladino out there. They had no other choice. But they could have been more creative in their use and used Micah as well. But why bother when you have Alexei to take all the snaps and beckham to fill in. They could've MAYBE used Micah as a pinch runner late in games, but then you'd have to put in someone else to play 2b since his defense is not late inning reliable. That's a wasted bench spot to me, something the Sox don't have the luxury of taking on for a one dimensional player. And for being 'fast', he didn't appear to be the best base runner either.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Dec 18, 2015 -> 07:30 AM) They have room for another bench player and it should be Avi. He'd make for a good platoon with Laroche and a nice late PH option which we'll need with Saladino and catcher spot at the bottom of the order. yes to this. The late inning pinch hit scenario for the bottom of the order is why Avi should stay as a bench piece imo. Both he and Schuck can fit.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 17, 2015 -> 11:43 PM) Worse than Avi? Here's a gif of Avi playing RF last season, I ripped from mlb.tv: Classic, thank you for the laugh!

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Dec 17, 2015 -> 09:30 PM) I think I would keep Avi and platoon him at DH and get a start every now and then in place of Melky. Also, would rather keep Saladino starting given his glove his really good and the infield is light years better offensively now. So there is no pressure on him. The 7 million on Alexei I think could be used on another bench piece or a starting pitcher. Overall, good and realistic plan. In theory we would definitely be better off putting that $$ towards a righty arm. Really wish we could have signed someone like Bartolo Colon. $8.25 mil, righty starter for the back end. I know he's old as dirt, and obviously a Met, but there's gotta be someone who fits that profile out there that we can nab.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 17, 2015 -> 05:01 PM) They also didn't play Saladino much at SS the last two months when it would have been the perefect time to audition him. Seemingly out of respect for Alexei, but Tyler should have played more often there since the games were meaningless at that point...they must have known internally that they were going to move on from Alexei. I always wondered why they stopped starting Saladino. It seemed like they started him for like 2-3 weeks straight, then Mike Olt showed up and Tyler hit the bench. I think that was a missed opportunity to get him more playing time/ab's, regardless of what position it was at. How can they have thought Olt was a realistic option? Huge hole in that guy's swing and it isn't going away anytime soon.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Dec 17, 2015 -> 09:23 PM) I feel confident in saying, they'll find him protection & I'm guessing it'll be before Christmas. I agree, they can't make these moves and just leave one of Abreu or Frazier uncovered. I'd love not only one of Cespedes/Upton, but someone like Parra also. Extends the batting order even further, and moves Avi into the appropriate 4th outfielder role/dh platoon guy.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Dec 17, 2015 -> 09:12 PM) Assuming the Sox don't get another power bat, I like the idea of having Abreu protect Frazier because then Frazier would get better pitches to hit as opposed to if he was hitting in front of LaRoche/Avi/Melky/Etc. I hear ya but then who protects Abreu? If we dont bring in another big bat then one of those guys will probably be somewhat vulnerable. That's why a big bat is so vital imo, it extends the lineup enough so Frazier can hit 5th and either dh/Lawrie can hit 6th/7th.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Dec 17, 2015 -> 09:01 PM) Am I the only one that thinks it would be a better idea to have Frazier hit 3rd in the order in front of Abreu? Gotta hit Abreu 3rd. He figures to hit at least 30 pts higher than Frazier, he should get the extra ab's. Frazier is the perfect 5 hole bat imo

QUOTE (Lillian @ Dec 17, 2015 -> 06:56 PM) You might have a different perspective, after viewing this chart and graph: http://www.hittrackeronline.com/detail.php...amp;type=hitter There actually were not very many "cheap" homers. His 3 shortest homers measured 360', 363'and 367'. He hit 15 of them over 400'. Perhaps you just happened to see videos of the few that were not legitimate "bombs". Great graph. Dude averages 400 feet a home run, I don't see a concern about a drop-off in power. Plus he hit a ton in April/May, something the White Sox desperately need.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Dec 17, 2015 -> 03:10 PM) More than likely they were giving Danks a chance to try to prove he had something left so the Sox could potentially move him. He can't do that out of the bullpen. Johnson could have easily been worse. Danks had more value than you are giving him credit for. He was 59th last year amongst all starters in fWAR. Fangraphs placed his value on the open market at $14.2 million, basically right even with what he was paid. Meaning 14.2 mil just doesn't get you what it used to...

QUOTE (JRL @ Dec 17, 2015 -> 01:46 PM) Ideally Melky should be DH, but realistically that's not gonna happen, because Laroche is gonna play everyday, or at least (hopefully only) vs all righties, just as a result of the fact that he's making 12 million dollars. SO sick of the thought that since a guy is being paid 12 million, he has to play. I think that's idiotic--just compounding a bad contract decision by putting a bum in the lineup because he makes so much$$. Never bought into that, especially without a salary cap.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Dec 17, 2015 -> 01:14 PM) Agreed. I think Saladino can put up numbers similar to Alexei's career averages if he's given a full season to work with. Not to mention that he'd make the minimum salary and is much younger too. Salad is not going to hit along the career lines of Alexei. You head into the season with Salad at SS because you've upgraded the rest of the infield and can (possibly) take a flyer on the guy with a good glove.

QUOTE (dpd9189 @ Dec 17, 2015 -> 11:57 AM) If given the choice Cespedes. Something bugs me about Upton. With his age and all, you'd think teams would be knocking down his door to get him signed and that doesn't seem to be the case. I wonder if there are some red flags we don't know about that many baseball people do. Cespedes can be a dynamic bat for the Sox. If the Sox can find a taker for Melky, Cespedes is your everyday LF. Sign Cespedes, throw him in left field and move Melky to primary DH where he belongs. Avi is in RF barring an OF pick-up on the secondary market (Parra maybe?). Put LaWhiff at the end of the bench as a late inning defensive guy and a left handed bat off the bench, assuming you can't find any takers of course. Might boil down to this $$-wise: would you rather have Avi in RF and Lexi back at SS? Or Salad at SS and a new RF from the batch of available 2nd tier FA's?

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Dec 17, 2015 -> 11:48 AM) I'd be fine with Raburn on a minor league deal with a chance to be a platoon partner with LaRoche. Raburn would be a good get just in terms of the Sox not having to pitch to the guy next year LOL Seriously though, if you had to choose between Shuck and Raburn as your 4th...who do you take? Shuck obviously has the lefty bat.

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 17, 2015 -> 10:01 AM) Hahn also was talking about Avi next year and said something along the lines of "if no one else is added and he gets 500 at bats" good God..no RH, NO!

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 17, 2015 -> 11:06 AM) Celebrate all you want, but the most important part of the offseason is whether or not JR will open the wallet on Upton, Gordon or Cespedes. Do that, you win back everyone you've lost and skepticism diminishes almost completely. Start Opening Day with Avi, Saladino and LaRoche in the line-up and expectations are tempered. Half-assed and pointless. Hanley Ramiez, CarGo, Ethier, Blackmon, Peralta, Fowler, Span or Parra leaves you somewhere in-between. 3/4's of the way but that undoubtedly means the Tigers and/or Royals have one of Upton, Gordon, Davis, Desmond or Cespedes. I agree. If Sox don't nab Upton or Cespedes (my preference, it's only $$), they most likely will be wearing the uniform of a division foe. The dreaded double whammy.