Anthony Swarzak to Brewers; Sox receive Ryan Cordell

[beautox]

based off what relievers are getting in this climate its a good trade. Leury, Engel, Willy, Rymer, Polo, Cordell & Tilson will all have plenty of opportunities for the next 2.5 years before the "big 3" come up. Ideally one or two of them turn into major league regulars and we find a solid utility player and forth outfielder in out of them. If we get an Angel Pagan and De Aza out of this group we can move them for other pieces the club will need.

[fathom]

Definitely a buyers market for relievers. FYI, Brinson just pulled. Brewers making moves?

[Dick Allen]

Come on, this kid has a much better set of tools than Coats did.

Cmon man. Most here have barely heard of him until tonight. Now he is something. He had a career .299 OBP in AA. He puts up good numbers in Colorado Springs, but so does most of the team. If he truly is a 4th OF floor, think how great the Brewers are going to be if he is their #17 prospect. He seems to have decent tools but nothing outstanding. Maybe he becomes something, but chances are in 2 years we all forget he even exists. Probably will forget who Swarzak is too, but what amazes me is you can get hot relievers for next to nothing during the season. Makes Dombrowski's failure in Detroit more unforgivable to Tiger fans.

 

Losing Swarzak isn't going to hurt the White Sox, and they weren't going to get a surefire guy for him either. This is fine, I just thought it would be a bit better. Obviously the Sox are higher on this guy than many.

Edited July 26, 2017 by Dick Allen

[TaylorStSox]

Well, I learned one thing. If you're going to get bent out of shape over the return for Anthony f***in Swarzak, you might want to get out of the house and go for a walk.

[iamshack]

Cmon man. Most here have barely heard of him until tonight. Now he is something. He had a career .299 OBP in AA. He puts up good numbers in Colorado Springs, but so does most of the team. If he truly is a 4th OF floor, think how great the Brewers are going to be if he is their #17 prospect. He seems to have decent tools but nothing outstanding. Maybe he becomes something, but chances are in 2 years we all forget he even exists. Probably will forget who Swarzak is too, but what amazes me is you can get hot relievers for next to nothing during the season. Makes Dombrowski's failure in Detroit more unforgivable to Tiger fans.

Bats are worth nothing, relief pitchers are worth nothing, and like 3 SP have been traded.

 

The whole league has gone bats*** crazy about prospects.

 

It a joke.

Edited July 26, 2017 by iamshack

[Chicago White Sox]

Cmon man. Most here have barely heard of him until tonight. Now he is something. He had a career .299 OBP in AA. He puts up good numbers in Colorado Springs, but so does most of the team. If he truly is a 4th OF floor, think how great the Brewers are going to be if he is their #17 prospect. He seems to have decent tools but nothing outstanding. Maybe he becomes something, but chances are in 2 years we all forget he even exists. Probably will forget who Swarzak is too, but what amazes me is you can get hot relievers for next to nothing during the season. Makes Dombrowski's failure in Detroit more unforgivable to Tiger fans.

 

Losing Swarzak isn't going to hurt the White Sox, and they weren't going to get a surefire guy for him either. This is fine, I just thought it would be a bit better. Obviously the Sox are higher on this guy than many.

I'm not sure how any of this has to do with the terrible comp you made. You don't have to like Cordell, but comparing him to Jason Coats is just lazy.

[greg775]

We heard yesterday the likely value was a top 150ish guy or so...

 

We basically got someone closer to top 350-400.

 

But the whole goddamned board wants to keep rationalizing and justifying that guys with good stuff that have eras in the low 2's in a year where we're seeing the most home runs basically EVER are worth NOTHING.

 

Bulls***.

I like your style, brother. I didn't know I was a shack fan til tonight. I know I'm an El Rockin fan and a couple others.

 

Stop acting like there is some infinite number of baseball lineups the White Sox need to fill.

 

They have one team.

 

We have an actual mlb organization, you know. We have lots of guys that "can make the major leagues."

 

Do you know that Anthony Swarzak was "in" the major leagues already? And dominating?

 

But we'll keep trading good "actual" major league players for guys that can "make" the major leagues, with "ceilings" that are really high!

I love guys who go against the grain. Preach on, shack. You da man IMO.

 

I get bent out of shape because people are sheep.

 

They go on record as saying they expect X return for a player, and then they justify Y * s*** return with a bunch of nonsensical justifications.

 

I may certainly be wrong, but at least I have a mind of my own.

Ditto me. I'm not a sheep either. For some reason (my gut feeling which has not won me a lotta money in Vegas) I do like the fact this latest fourth outfielder candidate has hit some home runs in the past few years and is supposed to be fast. I kind of like this type of prospct more than, a Tito Polo type, per se. Hopefully some of these outfielder guys will be good. The board should be a little scared that I'm intrigued by Cordell a bit. I'm usually wrong. Tito will probably be the star since I'm not high on him.

This has nothing to do with you, shack. I love your speaking your heart in this thread! It ain't easy being the poster who has the contrary opinion to the masses!

I do think we all agree at least with this comment: GO SOX!!

[greg775]

Bats are worth nothing, relief pitchers are worth nothing, and like 3 SP have been traded.

 

The whole league has gone bats*** crazy about prospects.

 

It a joke.

Not me, brother. I am not a prospects guy. I'm also not a sabes guy. And I'm definitley not a Robin or Renteria guy. Or a Buddy Bell guy. Robin was a buffoon. Renteria's bunting drives me crazy and I DO NOT buy the fact he's having them learn how to do it in games that mean nothing. If he were an anti bunt guy he wouldn't be bunting so much.

[oldsox]

I'm not sure how any of this has to do with the terrible comp you made. You don't have to like Cordell, but comparing him to Jason Coats is just lazy.

What happened to Coats?

[iamshack]

Imagine saying "the White Sox will sign a guy to a minor league contract who will go on to be a top 10 reliever in the league. They will then trade him for Ryan Cordell."

 

Oh, how glorious!

[Chicago White Sox]

Let me ask you this...

 

If we were a contending team, and we needed an arm in the bullpen, and we went out and traded Adam Engel for a guy that has performed as well as Swarzak has, how would you feel?

 

Soxtalk would have been f***ing ecstatic about such a deal.

 

 

Bats are worth nothing, relief pitchers are worth nothing, and like 3 SP have been traded.

 

The whole league has gone bats*** crazy about prospects.

 

It a joke.

But that's the point, it's a huge buyer's market for relievers. I 100% get your view on dealing Kahnle now, when the market dynamics weren't in our favor and he had multiple years of control left. But we pretty much had to move Swarzak now and I'm going to assume Hahn took the best offer he got. I really don't think Hahn would pass on more impactful talent for a guy with a 4th OF ceiling in the first year of a rebuild. They probably really like this kid and think he has a chance to be an everyday player.

[oldsox]

What happened to Coats?

Tampa minor leagues

[ChiSox59]

What happened to Coats?

 

Rays claimed him off waivers last summer. Pretty sure he tore his ACL couple days later.

[fathom]

Imagine saying "the White Sox will sign a guy to a minor league contract who will go on to be a top 10 reliever in the league. They will then trade him for Ryan Cordell."

 

Oh, how glorious!

 

If you take the name out of the guy they received and just listed the scouting reports we've seen by half a dozen writers and experts, we would have been content I believe. I don't mind getting possible contributors at the same position because down the road, the Sox will need trade chips also.

[Chicago White Sox]

Imagine saying "the White Sox will sign a guy to a minor league contract who will go on to be a top 10 reliever in the league. They will then trade him for Ryan Cordell."

 

Oh, how glorious!

Was a top 10 reliever will be a top 10 reliever. Without a track record, elite stuff (like Kahnle), or multiple years of control, no was going to pay a big price for him, especially not in this market.

Edited July 26, 2017 by Chicago White Sox

[iamshack]

But that's the point, it's a huge buyer's market for relievers. I 100% get your view on dealing Kahnle now, when the market dynamics weren't in our favor and he had multiple years of control left. But we pretty much had to move Swarzak now and I'm going to assume Hahn took the best offer he got. I really don't think Hahn would pass on more impactful talent for a guy with a 4th OF ceiling in the first year of a rebuild. They probably really like this kid and think he has a chance to be an everyday player.

It can't be a huge buyer's market for both RP and bats, with all these teams in contention in the AL.

 

There is this notion that relievers are so incredibly erratic and inconsistent, and yet, a guy like Swarzak, who has been on fire, offers very little in terms of $ commitments is worth nothing.

 

It's just nonsense. It can't be both at the same time. We moved this guy on the 25th.

 

Why not just wait? What is the downside? You can't get Ryan Cordell on the 30th?

 

 

 

 

[Bob Sacamano]

He's having a great year, but there were factors working against the Sox dealing Swarzak: other relievers still on market, the fact he is a rental, and no track record.

Edited July 26, 2017 by soxfan2014

[iamshack]

Was a top 10 reliever will be a top 10 reliever. Without a track record, elite stuff (like Kahnle), or multiple years of control, no was going to pay a big price for him, especially not in this market.

He has pretty good stuff.

 

Don't diminish the stuff he's developed.

[Rowand44]

Swarzak is a 31 year old, free agent to be reliever with a bad track record. He also happens to be one of the best relievers in baseball for 4 months. The point is, there's a lot of positive and a lot of negative when it comes to him and because of that it was always going to be difficult for anyone to get a decent gauge of his actual trade value. As others have said, moving him needed to be done and Rick thought that was the best deal out there. Who knows what Cordell will become but calling people sheep because they're happy with the return is a tad bit excessive.

[southsider2k5]

Imagine saying "the White Sox will sign a guy to a minor league contract who will go on to be a top 10 reliever in the league. They will then trade him for Ryan Cordell."

 

Oh, how glorious!

 

This is about as blatant as misinterpretation of stats as there is out there. While you might find a counting stat that puts Swarzak in the top 10, he is NOT a top 10 reliever in this league. There is no way on this earth that Anthony Swarzak is one of the 10 best relievers in the AL in reality. His xFIP is 59 out of 163 qualified relief pitchers. His ERA is 31st out of 163. His k/9 is 76th of 163. His LOB% is 52nd, or one slot better than Chris Beck. His advanced numbers all scream regression to mean, for a guy who is having a career year.

[Bob Sacamano]

For 48 innings.

At 31 years of age.

Coming off a season where he posted a 5.52 ERA.

Who registered his first career save this week.

Who is a FA at the end of the season.

 

 

He just isn't a valuable investment to make for a team. Do you think Hahn passed up a package that was better? Do you think he could have negotiated a better deal with another team?

 

Easy to say "Hahn should have gotten more!" without actually knowing what was offered.

[Quin]

Would have like a bigger return, but I ain't mad about this. If he turns into a starter, that's a win.

[iamshack]

Swarzak is a 31 year old, free agent to be reliever with a bad track record. He also happens to be one of the best relievers in baseball for 4 months. The point is, there's a lot of positive and a lot of negative when it comes to him and because of that it was always going to be difficult for anyone to get a decent gauge of his actual trade value. As others have said, moving him needed to be done and Rick thought that was the best deal out there. Who knows what Cordell will become but calling people sheep because they're happy with the return is a tad bit excessive.

From what we've read, all relievers have sketchy track records.

 

You can't have it every which way. Robertson had a fantastic track record and he was worth s*** because he made some money.

 

Kahnle had control, but his control was worthless because relievers are erratic and he will eventually turn into suck, no doubt, anyway.

 

Swarzak has no money committed to him, has been dominant, has outstanding stuff, but is worth nothing because he has no control.

 

These are all horses*** justifications for getting s*** value out of our relievers a week ahead of the deadline.

[Chicago White Sox]

He has pretty good stuff.

 

Don't diminish the stuff he's developed.

Pretty good is not elite though and there are/were plenty of pretty good relievers on the market.

 

And I'm not trying to be a dick, but do you think honestly Hahn took Cordell over better prospects or do you think he misread the market and should have sold Swarzak earlier/later?

[SoxAce]

What exactly were you expecting?

 

I personally was hoping for a Yrizarri type prospect. A young, lower A ball guy who scouts like the tools, but might have a tool he's lacking or hasn't developed over the others (in his case, plate discipline). Always good to get those lotto guys who if they hit, can reach a top 100 prospect list, change a FO conviction about a player down the line, etc.