FT35

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 13, 2016 -> 01:45 PM) It was one heck of a week for the White Sox farm. While the two big trades grabbed headlines, there were a few other signings and acquisitions of note, and some other key bits. Get your quick recap of all the news and notes here, with links to various more detailed content you can drill down to. By the way, thanks to our FutureSox readers for the past week. We did a ton of traffic, expanded our readership and followings quite a bit, and got a lot of positive feedback all over (including from multiple people with the White Sox). The five writers who posted articles this week and the whole FS team thank you for your support! These are worth reading again!! haha! Now if we could drop some serious $ into our minor league player development personnel to develop these guys into the players they are on track to become!

I hear the Rockies' current 3rd baseman is pretty good out there, so maybe Ryan McMahon is somewhat blocked. He had a down year last year but he can rake and could be a nice corner infield prospect if we were to move Frazier. I'd do Rodgers and Tapia and try to snag McMahon who dropped to 92 on the top 100 list last year because of a slow start. He had been as high as #43 last February right behind #42--Alex Bregman (Tim Anderson was #45). Who knows...but it's fun to think about!

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Dec 13, 2016 -> 10:38 AM) Musgrove is not going to be an ace of a staff, but he has the excellent control to be a #4 or #4 on a playoff team Yes. But how many teams use their #4 starter in the playoffs anymore? The formula seems to be a 3-man rotation--1a, 1b, 3, 1a, 1b in a 5-game series and 1a, 1b, 3, 1a, 1b, 2, 1a in a 7 game series. Depending on how the series is panning out, they might rush their 1a back to stay alive, but #4 is an extra innings eater or a blowout game guy in the post season anymore. You need 2 aces and a #3.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Dec 12, 2016 -> 12:36 AM) Benetti is ok but he is too corny and too generally naive or ignorant about the nuances of the game for my liking. Stone is fine imo. He is a know it all but most former player analysts are. I agree--nothing aggravates me more than corny and ignorant--I noticed the other guy who filled in for Hawk for a few games the year before (from the Bulls?) took this approach too. "I don't know as much about baseball as Steve Stone so I'm just going to sit in the booth and throw him talk points and pretend like I'm a little kid not knowing anything about the game and letting Uncle Steve teach me." No. You are an adult and have a career in sports broadcasting. If you don't know about the game then you shouldn't be in the booth and you shouldn't be pretending to not know anything about the game. I believe true baseball fans appreciate someone with knowledge and insight over someone playing dumb. All other talking that is going on is just a distraction. Jason is PERFECT for minor-league radio. I'm sure he's a good guy but he's corny--sometimes he phrases things in a non-cliche way, but many times his "unique phrases" are a stretch and silly--a bit forced. And his talk points are basically a game-day google search. There's no experiences to refer to, there's no playing career to draw thoughts from, just Google stat searching. It makes the Sox brand sound easy, cheesy and thin. Everyone's preferences are different, but I want depth, real emotion (not just rehearsed home run calls), knowledge from someone who is able to get closer to the game than me, insight, unbiased when it comes to calls--someone who's love for the game yields organic, unique commentary. REAL. Someone who's broadcasting skills match the MAJOR LEAGUE stage he or she is on. Not someone who jots down a few tongue in cheek comments the morning of a game and forces them in around Steve Stone analyzing how many inches outside a fastball has to be for Josh Donaldson to swing and miss as he hits a hanging curve ball over the wall for a 3-run HR. And I would also venture to say...I bet Jason is far more talented than the position he takes with Steve Stone--Stone brings out the "play dumb" in Jason because of his inexperience. I'd love to hear him just boldly disagree with Steve sometime--then be right--and sit back and watch the dynamic change.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Dec 9, 2016 -> 02:51 PM) How can you already designate Hansen, Dunning, and Fulmer as relievers? They have done nothing but start in the minors. Fulmer was great towards the end of the season in AAA too. Simply stating that if our rotation was made up of those 5, we could still make room for them as relievers since they all throw heat. They would remain in the mix for starting spots if one of the 5 gets hurt, moved or doesn't pan out. Mostly my point was that would would be loaded with quality arms if you add that group into the mix. Surely enough to assemble a rock solid 5-man rotation. QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Dec 9, 2016 -> 03:13 PM) Huh? Burdi is definitely a reliever. Whichever other guys can't figure it out as a starter at the big league level will end up in the pen. With a lot of depth too, they can move arms for bats (like prospect for prospect type swaps later on). Basically sums it up...yes Burdi is a reliever, but he'a a part of that core of great arms that will play into the mix. Many players have made the switch from reliever to starter--talent just falls into the right role sometimes. Having Quintana as a part of that group gives them the ace of aces (who will likely set the MLB record for career no-decisions by then if he hasn't already) that will serve as the vet leader.

Just a quick comp: Player A: 208 innings, 3.20 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 181 K's, Salary, Aprox 5M/yr Player B: 230 innings, 3.99 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 228 K's, Salary $30M/yr Player A is Q, and Player B is David Price. Now...my comp isn't to say that they are so similar--Price is more overpowering...but my point is to take a look at the cost to obtain a true ace of this caliber. The main numbers aren't THAT far apart. Most of Q's value comes in to play when teams can add a TOP of the line pitcher for minimal cost--then still have the $ to go buy a major FA. That's why I think Hahn should hold out on Bregman with Houston or for the top prospect for any other team. Getting Q at his current salary is like having a free David Price--then still being able to go out and buy ANOTHER David Price at market value. Trading for Q enables that 2-fold move--and for teams looking to win now, that's the type of move that puts your team over the top. Moves that put your team over the top these days cost you your top prospect. Kudos to Hahn for not settling--and I don't think he will on Q. With as many years left on his contract and as quiet as he is--Hahn could keep him at this value and have him for when our team is ready to make a run in 2-3 years. Quintana Giolito Rodon Lopez Kopech (Fulmer? Dunning? Burdi? Hensen? They seem to be relievers now, but sometimes that can change). Plus we can add a couple more TOP draft picks in there from what we're likely to have over the next couple of years). That's not a bad starting 5 as a "consequence" for not getting a Quintana deal done. That's almost worth Houston's best interest to break up now while they have the chance! Because if they don't--their window to win is slim--that is until this 5-some starts to come of age. The pressure is certainly more on Houston to get a deal done. They should trade for Q and have him locked up for years, then use their savings to sign Turner/Encarnicion to fill Bregman's spot--and they would still have $ left to add. Just my opinion.

QUOTE (ChiliIrishHammock24 @ Dec 9, 2016 -> 02:13 AM) I tend to agree. Let's just assume Hahn was torn between the Red Sox package for Sale, or the Nationals. Maybe one consideration was that if the Astros consider themselves a playoff team, one team they might have to go through is Boston. By sending Sale to Boston, Hahn strengthened a potential Astros opponent. How can the Astros counter? By adding the next best available pitcher to negate some of the that added value. Who owns that pitcher? The same guy who provided Red Sox with the boost in the first place. It's like an arms dealer who is selling guns to both sides of a war. He's biting off both ends. You know...I would like to think that this strategy came into play with that deal--it's a great thought! I'm skeptical that our front office has this same intellect though! Have you all seen the old (HH Gregg?) commercial when the guy is coaching his wife in the car not to bite on the sales ploys of TV salesmen--and to let him do the negotiating? The next scene shows the sales person calmly wrapping up talking about the TV's features and the extended warranty and the guy just blurts out "WE'LL TAKE IT!" as his wife just looks at him all confused? I think this explains how our front office thinks a bit more accurately. They heard "Moncada," lit up with joy and screamed "we'll take it!"

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 7, 2016 -> 04:31 PM) The thing about Turner is he is going to regress to the mean. He isn't a .342 hitter. He isn't a 25 home run guy. He's still valuable player, but .. Oh I think you're right...however, what he did last year when he was up lined up with his career norms in many ways. The average is real, (he's been over .300 everywhere), the speed is real, the gap power is real and gap power usually translates to HR power at some point. I saw him play a few times when he was with Fort Wayne in 2014 (very early read on him) and the guy was notably mature at the plate. He did some fine situational hitting, sprayed the ball all over the field and laced a few rockets off the wall. I think 25 HRs is possible in the near future--much like Chase Utley. Now whether he consistently puts all those tools together at the same time...who knows...but the skill is real enough that it's possible.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 7, 2016 -> 03:34 PM) Washington is not going to trade Turner for guys their fans have never even heard of - there would be a mutiny. Trea Turner, in 73 games last year across 307 at bats, had a .937 OPS with 13 homers, 14 doubles, 8 triples, and 33 stolen bases. WHAT THE F*CK THEY ARE NOT GOING TO F*CKING TRADE THIS GUY. Their fans would riot. Gotta agree here...a lot of fans forget--the teams in win now mode who are serious in adding players like Q or Eaton as the final pieces of a TOP contending team are not likely to deal a MLB piece that is a LARGE part of what makes them a top contending team. Turner is the Nationals' Kris Bryant--MVP caliber talent who could lead them to a title. Why would they trade for a couple of upgrades if it meant losing their difference maker? It's the same reason why the Red Sox didn't add Betts into the deal last summer for Sale. Notice the current MLB difference makers they traded to get Sale...None. The Nats would rather go after Cutch or buy Fowler than trade away Trea Turner to get Eaton added into a Quintana deal.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Aug 12, 2016 -> 10:28 AM) No chance in hell Collins will be on the bench. If for some reason he is in the Majors next year he will be starting everyday. Otherwise he will be in AA/AAA working on his catching. Yeah that was my stretch. I don't think he will make their opening day roster, but I think they may call him soon. I put him in there because he'll be 22, he has 3 years of college under his belt, he's already on the mature side as far as his hitting. But mostly I put him in there because they rush any sort of value in their system and having him on the roster makes it possible for them to only sign 1 cheap, low level backup catcher as a "Jimmy Rollins place holder" till they call up Zack. I figured we got a full year of Adrian Nieto and he was only 24, below average defensively and couldn't hit at all--why not Zack?

Here's my hypothetical. Obviously if they decide to "Go for it" I expect they believe most of the pieces to be on the current roster. So trades would be less radical and any major additions would be through FA signings (even though that hasn't worked out for us in recent years). I believe championship contending teams are built around pitching--when it comes to winning a post season series, it really comes down to who you run out there on the mound. You might as well start by rounding out your pitching staff so you go into the season with no theoretical "holes." But also maintaining the expectation of making a major SP acquisition if you're in a position of contention around the trade deadline so you can run 3 strong in the post season. Pitching Staff: Sign K. Jansen or A. Chapman as your main off season FA signing. Sign J. Hellickson, B. Cecil, J. Smith Trade Robertson and cash for a partial salary dump and whatever decent prospect you can get. 2017 Staff: Chris Sale Jose Quintana Jeremy Hellickson Carlos Rodon James Shields/Miguel Gonzalez Bullpen: Kenley Jansen or Aroldis Chapman--closer Nate Jones--setup Joe Smith Brett Cecil Zach Putnam Jake Petricka Dan Jennings Miguel Gonzalez--long relief Position Players: Sign Adam Lind or Justin Morneau, Dexler Fowler Trade for Cameron Rupp 2017 Lineup: CF Dexter Fowler RF Adam Eaton 1B Jose Abreu LF Melky Cabrera 3B Todd Frazier DH Adam Lind/Justin Morneau 2B Brett Lawrie C Cameron Rupp SS Tim Anderson Bench: Tyler Salidino Charlie Tilson Zack Collins

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 11, 2016 -> 03:33 PM) See, I don't buy this. Professional teams don't go on sale that often. This is why you see things like Ballmer by the Clips. Sure, he'd prefer Seattle, but he wanted an NBA team. If a baseball team opens up, and cuban actually wants a baseball team? He'll call. It doesn't matter if we won't be biggest draw, the Mavs weren't either. Now, is this incredibly unlikely, of course. But, who cares it's interesting. Yes--if the opportunity comes up, Cuban will inquire--he already knows Jare-bear from the NBA owners meetings, ha. Wasn't he in on the Cubs the last sale? I vaguely remember his name being linked to buying them at one point. Also...to the validity of the rumor of the Sox being for sale, I think there's a sliver of truth to it. The entire front office/leadership system is broken and needs replaced...these are all Jerry's Kids. SO...something tells me at 80 years old, he'd rather sell the team than fire his people. If he does sell, he can reallocate his $ back into the Bulls for the new NBA salary cap jump. That way he can sign LeBron and Ray Allen to play with Wade in 5 years so they can all turn 40 with the Bulls.

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 10, 2016 -> 03:46 PM) This is totally on a dry erase board somewhere in US cellular field thou This makes me laugh...because you know it's certainly true! One team's trash is usually our treasure--and it's sold to our fan base as if the players were in their prime producing seasons.

Depends! These are normally the kinds of signings that drive our fan base nuts because we want to see them go young and develop some talent. HOWEVER, I think if you could get him for a price similar to where he is now, I think it's a no-brainer. A good hitter in a good hitter's park who is familiar with your league and your division for a bargain price. He's old, he's going to miss games, he's going to land on the DL at some point(s). If they go radical with a rebuild plan this offseason (which I bet they do NOT), then I would try to use the roster space for development. If they decide to go for it again, I think he's a safe LH play when he's healthy and I'd resign him if I could get him cheap. If not, I wouldn't reach on the risk.

Soooooo....lemme get this straight...we need LaRoche's son to be gone...but now we need Abreu's son to be here all the time!? Maybe he's the missing leader on this team now that Drake is gone!? What a circus! Do other teams go through what we go through!?!?!??!?!

QUOTE (hi8is @ Aug 4, 2016 -> 07:57 PM) It's pretty silly that Jose Abreu @ 68mm, John Danks @ 65mm, and Adam Dunn @ 56mm are the largest White Sox contracts ever. That should tell you everything you need to know about us signing "big" free agents in the future. Still not ready to call the Abreu deal a bust. He's been a top-5 1B for 2 years and hit a rut this year (on a team with absolutely no direction). I believe in his ability to bounce back. Even .280/25/100 is a bargain at 6/68. Through this disaster of a year by his standards, he's still on pace for .270/18/87. A hot streak for him could easily put him back into the .280/25/100 conversation--in an off year. I'll take that as a floor any day.

Robertson and cash back to the Yankees for a pair of mid-level prospects.

Couple things... 1. In regards to the fan base not being ready for a rebuild...I agree...if we had to endure a rebuild with the guys currently in our system, we would all invest in brown paper bags for the next decade--until 2 or our mostly blown 10 top 3 draft picks hit pay dirt--and subsequently get moved for other prospects or aging vets. However...the types of prospects we would get for Sale/Q WOULD be worth watching and hoping for! I think I'd be ready to root for the best prospect in the nation to pan out for us, rather than watch the likes of Jimmy Rollins and Mat Latos try to rediscover their lost form from 7 years ago. Neither model is fool proof to failure--but one is MUCH more interesting to watch. 2. Dick Allen...I might be alone on here but I love your posts! You're grounded in your thoughts and I enjoy reading what you have to say. Now to poke the bear a little...you mentioned the GM's comment about being mirrored in mediocrity and how he was going to change that--"because he said he would." Couldn't help but to chuckle at your confidence in him to fix this : ) Now jokes aside...knowing what we know about RH, how do you predict he's going to change it? Free agent signings? Will he trade Sale/Q? New manager? 2016 waiver adds? He literally could go anywhere with this...just curious to hear your take based on what we know. The reason I ask is because I think your thoughts will be closer to reality than anyone else's predictions on this site.

QUOTE (miracleon35th @ Aug 5, 2016 -> 12:15 AM) *IF* Pittsburgh claimed Melky off waivers, what would it take to get McCutcheon, who they may be open to trading given the pretty severe fall off he has had this season? Or maybe that indicates he was on the juice last season? He was a .300 hitter last year and he was just benched for 3 games by Hurdle. They are in need of hitting and Melky, I think, could help them. If McCutcheon got back to his old form, he'd look great in our outfield. Cutch has been hurt all year. He's had issues with his knee and the thumb injury has been what has effected him the most this year. Early in the year Dr.s told him that he wouldn't make the injury worse by playing so Cutch--being the player he is, made the call to play through it even if it effected his numbers. He's more than a top player in the league--he's the face of Pittsburgh--much like Sidney Crosby. He's also widely considered by Pittsburghians as Roberto Clemente 2.0. He'll be a Pirate for life in my opinion.

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Aug 2, 2016 -> 03:34 PM) First of all, while winning a WS championship is always the ultimate goal every season, most of us would be happy with the chance to even make it to the WS by at least making it to the post-season. That's something the Sox have done far too little of even in the last 20 years. Secondly, it's kinda sad that you choose to go back 20 years to include the Sox on a successful list. Baseball was a much different game 20 years ago. Hell, it was a different game 10 years ago. More teams than ever make the post-season now and they still manage to be on the outside looking in. I just checked and among the teams that have been around for at least 100 years, the Sox have the lowest number of post-season appearances with 9. I can't argue. What you say is true. It IS sad that I have to go back 20 years to get the good times in. All I'm saying is that most other teams are in the same boat. Unless you're the Red Sox, Yankees, Giants, or Cardinals, chances are, you've experienced a drought like ours at some point in the last 20 years. All things are NOT created equal in sports. Look no further than the NBA for unequal distribution of wealth. You think only 10 franchises with championships in the last 20 seasons in MLB is bad...you can go back to 1980--36 years and there have only been 10 NBA franchises who have won championships in that span. All teams are not created equal, and few can say they have ever tasted true success.

QUOTE (Tony @ Aug 2, 2016 -> 02:19 PM) And the last 10 years of White Sox baseball has gotten fans....what exactly? HA! Not much! A couple Buehrle no-no's?? Does that count?! I don't mean to state the obvious, but we need to remember something obvious...WINNING IS HARD!! If it were easy, everyone would do it! It's not...but let's look at the last 10 years though...in fact, let's cover the last 20. In the last 20 years, 10 MLB franchises have won championships. The White Sox are on that list! Granted...your post was geared towards the last 10 and in that span, there's not much to report. But it just goes to show that with 30 teams chasing the same goal every year, it makes winning very difficult...all the factors that go into a championship. If winning the World Series is your only means of measure, then chances are you will end each baseball season with disappointment and go decades without the feel of gain. At least for us, we have had a chance to raise the banner in the modern era--it happened in our lifetime--unlike MANY other franchises! It might take forever for it to happen again, but we can at least look back on what that year brought us, and smile. As for now...the land is dry and everyone seems to be holding a lit match. But it's been dry before. Better times will come (shoot...they came in April without a problem)! As fans of ANY team, since we can't GM a team or play on the field, all we can do is watch and enjoy the fact that we live in a free country (still) that we can watch baseball games for fun. Take that away from your consumption of the White Sox experience and you will live more satisfied.

QUOTE (Wanne @ Aug 1, 2016 -> 06:42 PM) Not expecting a whole lot...but excited to see what he brings to the table. Who knows til you try...he may end up being a catalyst. Eaton didn't turn into the player he is now overnight either... Exactly. EVERYONE said that Omar Vizquel would never stay in the big leagues because he would never be able to hit. You just never know. We need to get Anderson going again too. If Tilson grabs the #2 slot and runs with it, we might have the start of something. That's a LOT of speed at the top.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Aug 1, 2016 -> 08:33 PM) Because I love white sox baseball, and it's how I fill my summer evenings. If they continue to fall further, I will probably watch less, but I'll always turn the game on when I'm at home with nothing better to do. While obviously a long shot, id love to see the Sox get hot and make things interesting. A 15-5 stretch and they may be back within spitting distance. Is that gonna happen? More than likely not, but ya never know. I always root for Sox wins - nothing else interests me all that much until CBB season starts. I get that some fans and frustrated and don't want to watch / support the sox anymore. I get it. But no reason to try to convince other fans not to follow their favorite team. You do you. Love this post. This is why we watch--it's what we do. If the only reason you watch is to see if they will win the World Series, you're likely looking at some time off! But for a lot of people, White Sox baseball is summer is White Sox baseball. From childhood to this very moment, we live on with this team. It's like meal time...you don't stop eating after you get food poisoning. You get mad, you get rattled, you get better and you start eating again. Hence White Sox baseball. Do I like what they do all the time? No! Do I get mad? ABSOLUTELY! Yesterday was tough to swallow because it was a golden opportunity to improve the outlook. But whether management is clueless, and whether the Sox win or lose doesn't deter me from watching the games. It's a part of my grind.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 1, 2016 -> 02:19 PM) LOL did you go eat the banana in your DVD player? If those two are arent coming for Sale, then they certainly arent going for Archer who doesnt have nearly the career in his back pocket that Sale has HAHA! Yes...it was delicious...almost as good as the apple that came from my mac last week... Oh I know though...I'm just saying it's stuff like that that would come in last minute that leaves our fan base in a state of WTH brain freeze. Somehow, somewhere, we will miss out!

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Aug 1, 2016 -> 02:15 PM) Archer is not worth anything near that Right! But that would be how things go for a franchise mirrored in mediocrity...