Con te Giolito

With Reed there is the Anthony Rizzo comp that gives you enough hope to be excited about the guy even if you dont believe in him that much. His value has really tanked now too, he's basically a throw in to these deals. He's probably 3rd on depth chart at 1b for them behind Gurriel and Marwin Gonzalez, and this is a team that still seemed pretty hot in their pursuit of EE until something happened at 11th hour that really turned them off. Perhaps a failed medical who knows.

Correlation/causation and all that, but the Sox fell off the face of the earth after they DFA'd him. TWTW is off the charts.

Teoscar has his faults but he's made it to the show despite them. For a team punting a season he's the exact type you'd like to plug in for 600 PA and see what he's really got. Better than another trip the Avisail Garcia road. Even if he cannot hit well enough his defense will be a nice little boost as the Sox bring some of their big time arms to the MLB squad.

I'd do Kyle Tucker, Teoscar Hernandez, Franklin Perez and A.J. Reed for Quintana no sweat. I think I've already made my case for Kyle Tucker. Teoscar Hernandez is a stupendous athlete with colossal defensive upside and some real pop but has a bit of a strikeout problem. Reed crashed and burned in his big league debut and the signings of Gurriel and Beltran have sunk him even further down the depth chart. Astros aren't going to waste big league PA's this year hoping he develops unless they decimated by injuries. I'm not a big fan of Reed but he's intriguing as a buy-low candidate. Hernandez and Reed are two guys the Sox would absolutely love to give full season opportunities in a rebuilding year. Franklin Perez is a crazy high upside 19 year old RHP.

He gets on base but other than that he's a pretty unremarkable offensive player. I like Eaton and I think he'll do well in Washington, but he's been overrated by WAR. He didn't even have the highest OPS amongst Sox outfielders and he's never lived up to what his run game was advertised as. He's really more like Stephen Piscotty, Ender Inciarte, Logan Forsythe or Kole Calhoun than he is the absolute cream of the MLB crop. Those comps are pretty decent players though (no way top 15) and with Eaton's contract the Nationals will not be upset with him, but they aren't getting another 6.0 fWAR season on the backs of some pretty ridiculous throws from RF.

Rizzo is a grown up GM. If he thought he was getting ripped off in the Eaton trade he wouldn't have made it. He's also not upset with Hahn for taking a better deal for Chris Sale.

Well they compromised for Sale, so they are almost definitely going to compromise some for Quintana. Before trading Sale, and maybe even before trading Eaton, the Sox did always have the option of saying "you know what, we aren't rebuilding, these deals are just not good enough" and other teams would have to buy that threat and up their offers accordingly. Now that any pretenses of competing the next two years are completely gone the Sox have lost a little leverage. That doesn't mean they have to hold onto Quintana because they aren't going to absolutely fleece someone for him, but it does mean they aren't getting Alex Bregman or Julio Urias.

Headliner doesn't necessarily constitute the majority of the value in a deal. I would say Dunning and Lopez together are more valuable than Giolito, and Giolito was the headliner. After the Sale and Eaton trades the Sox figure to be pretty pitiful for at least 2017, so right there any value derived from Quintana is basically being wasted. Barring some minor miracles the same could be said for 2018. At that point half of this value has basically evaporated into thin air and you're no longer even getting whatever 2018-19 offseasons equivalent of Kyle Tucker is alone for Quintana, let alone that and a package of more players.

I'm not particularly interested in Martes or Musgrove. Especially if including one of them basically ends discussions where they stand. Reed is similarly unenthusing because he is limited as a 1b and for a bat-first guy did not perform well in the majors. If I'm the Sox getting Tucker back as the headliner I want a nice little cadre of decent (think Basabe-like) prospects coming with him. Hedge Tucker's risk by going the quantity route with the rest of the trade. The Astros do have some really intriguing guys in their system.

Before they could consummate that trade somebody in the Nationals org would take the keys away from Rizzo. Perhaps midseason if Robertson rebuilds his value and the Nationals become even more desperate.

The hazard of the rebuild, especially this particular White Sox rebuild that is being fueled by massive high profile trades. I'm still not a big fan of the Chris Sale trade for a lot of the reasons you mention here. But uncertainty is just part of this direction they are taking. They are out of Chris Sale's to trade, anyone they get from now on will either carry substantial risk or clear limitations.

Right. He could fall apart next season and never get it back, he's not past the point where you've moved past the "can he even play?" doubts that plague all prospects his age. The Ted Williams comparison is really just how he looks swinging the bat, he'll never be Ted Williams. Nobody ever will. But as a prospect I think he's as good as it gets with the bat. He makes contact, he drives the ball, he works counts, he has good pitch recognition...I think when the preseason rankings come out people will be a little surprised where he lands.

I think he will be truly untouchable this time next year. and now is pretty much the last chance anyone (not just the Sox) will have at prying him from Houston. Its said a lot that Quintana can easily be pulled off the market and dealt later and that is true, but there are some guys available now that wont be ever again. I suppose you could say that every year, though. I'm done showering affection on Kyle Tucker. If we get him I'll be ecstatic. I will say this about the Astros, though. Their rotation is not looking god for 2017, they have injury issues and guys who took major steps back in 2016. If there ever was a team that just needed somebody who could provide 200 high quality innings without any injury fuss its them. They are the perfect landing spot for Quintana.

Well you kind of hit on it already, but Moncada will almost assuredly be arriving by Opening Day 2018, so 2b will be covered. As for 3rd it wasn't until this year the Sox really found someone who wasn't a trainwreck. Saladino is a good enough defender to hold down the fort another season if need be as well. Andy McCullough ‏@McCulloughTimes Adam Katz, Jansen's agent, confirms the Nationals offered Kenley Jansen more money. He wanted to stay in L.A. If the Nationals were willing to give Jansen $80m+ they are truly desperate. I dont know how exploitable they are with Robertson but that's an encouraging report.

I think there is potential in Tucker's bat that is almost unmatched across the minor leagues. Its only 16 games but what he did in A+ as a 19 year old is pretty impressive, and everyone agrees he has a ton more potential for power than he has yet realized. That kind of bat who can surely develop to be a good corner OF defensively is a guy that starts to transcend the scale a little. Nothing against Robles, I guess I used him as an example to show how much I like Tucker.

Tyler Saladino at 3rd, Brett Lawrie at 2nd. I dont think those two will carry the team to any division titles but they both competent and it wont be a disgrace to the game having them man those spots full time. Carlos Sanchez would spell Lawrie periodically too.

I put Tucker ahead of Robles by a decent margin. Really on the level of about Giolito/Kopech in terms of his quality, perhaps a smidge above those two. I'm not saying he'll have this kind of career, because nobody ever really has, but he looks like Ted Williams in the batter's box. I'm not the first person to say that either. Tucker is a fine centerpiece to the deal and gives the Sox a monster corner OF prospect to lean on.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/prospect-re...ancisco-giants/ Take a look. The Los Angeles Dodgers it is not.

Catcher is not a position they should scuttle in pursuit of 1.1 in 2018. Sox really want a good defensive catcher to work with Rodon right now and in the 2nd half when guys like Giolito and Lopez might be coming up. I dont think the White Sox as constructed a threat to surprise many people in 2017, especially if Quintana and Frazier get dealt. At least try to do whats best for the younger arms and maybe put a unit out of the field that isn't an outright disgrace.

Gammons reported the White Sox demands and then it was reported elsewhere (perhaps people just surmised) that Lunhow wont give up players who will contribute in 2017. Musgrove is definitely in their 2017 plans, but Martes is too so maybe that's the hang up. Personally my ideal Astros deal is centered around Tucker while going for a quantity of guys from the belly of the Astros system. They have a lot of interesting position player prospects. Tucker is the only real must-have from their system and the Sox can squeeze a 4, or perhaps even 5, prospect haul out of the Astros by abandoning aspirations of Martes/Musgrove/Reed it can really give them even more flexibility and options going forward.

Long term the Cubs are not really set on the corner OF. I doubt they see Jiminez as being blocked and I'm certain they want another guy who can play the MIF in case the Russell/Baez strikeout issues spiral out of control again. You know it absolutely kills Theo that he had to deal Torres to get Chapman, I doubt he does something similar without having a glaring roster compulsion forcing his hand.

I'm not sure the Rockies would really want to give up a ton of their minor league players (Rodgers especially) just to find out yet another dude cant be an effective pitcher in Coors. Not saying its impossible but I just dont see how they can come to a determination that its worth it, especially with their history.

Trestman is one of the worst NFL coaches in history. Fisher is just an old has-been that can keep your team mediocre but rarely outright bad.

Dont forget that if the Giants had a real closer at any point last year they may have won it all. Melancon really helps them out a ton if he keeps it up.

You know if you want a good defensive catcher who's locked up for a long time go bother the Indians about Yan Gomes. The dirty little secret about the Tribe is other than Miller and sometimes Cody Allen their bullpen didn't do them many favors in the postseason. Only real questions I have is the injury history may limit his ability to play C and whether the Indians would be comfortable letting him go. I'm not even fully sold on the idea but it's a little intriguing.