White Sox still "enamored with A-Rod"

[RockRaines]

I also dont see A-rod waiving his no trade to play for Ozzie either.

[103 mph screwball]

What a great way to get Crede to sign that extension. Leak a rumor that the Sox want to trade the small town Missouri kid to the evil empire and their vampire media.

[fathom]

What a great way to get Crede to sign that extension. Leak a rumor that the Sox want to trade the small town Missouri kid to the evil empire and their vampire media.

 

And a team with an unlimited budget. Yep, I'm sure Crede would just hate to go there.

[103 mph screwball]

And a team with an unlimited budget. Yep, I'm sure Crede would just hate to go there.

 

 

I would.

[bigruss]

I could see ARod putting up huge numbers for us with a bit less pressure on him, plus i really would like him at shortstop not thrid base. For all you Fields haters, he has a great future and his defense has improved mightily. His offensive potential is ridiculous, and the only downfall i see with him is that he has only focused on baseball for the past few years- and this prob is more of an upside since he has been so good so far, and just needs maybe one year down at AAA to be fully ready.

If we could get this trade, by all means go for it. But Crede is still improving every year and with him under control for 2 more years the sox wont be pressed to trade him yet, and we should get something great for Garcia with the market like it is. Personally, I believe that this rumor is only a rumor, and will not happen.

[joeynach]

Joe Crede is likely a 25-100 guy who is an elite fielder in the American League and one we probably won't be able to afford to resign because of Scott Boras.

 

Is A-Rod worth that plus a proven starting pitcher? I don't think so.

 

I'm all for trading if it would help, but this is a lot better for the Yankees than it is for us.

 

Not really. They get Crede who is only better than Arod with his glove, Arod is a better offensive player than crede period. Garcia walks after this year regardless of what team his with so hes basically a rent a player.

[Chisoxfn]

The thing to think about may not be the per-year total.

 

A month ago, I figured if ARod opted out of his deal, he might get something in the $14 mil range for 4-5 seasons. But then I saw what teams were shelling out for guys who don't have near the track record of ARod.

 

ARod might be passing up $81 million over 3 years, but he might be passing that up in order to sign a deal worth $100-$120 million over 6-7 years, or even more than that. Especially if the market keeps going up.

And he's consistently said he plans on retiring when that deal runs out. Whether he does or doesn't, I don't see him walking away from that deal.

[Gregory Pratt]

And he's consistently said he plans on retiring when that deal runs out. Whether he does or doesn't, I don't see him walking away from that deal.

 

Got a link?

[Chisoxfn]

Got a link?

No, I just remember him saying he plans on fullfilling his contract. Obviously its not 100% but he's said that quite a few times. I know TMac has said something similar as well.

[Gregory Pratt]

No, I just remember him saying he plans on fullfilling his contract. Obviously its not 100% but he's said that quite a few times. I know TMac has said something similar as well.

 

Well, okay, but I couldn't find anything on Google about A-Rod ever having said he'd "retire" after his contract was up.

[SleepyWhiteSox]

I still don't see a reason why not to do that trade...

[Baines3]

A-Rod would be a good one to have but I wouldn't up a starting pitcher for him. I wouldn't trade Crede for him either.

[3 BeWareTheNewSox 5]

I could see the deal happening, it was the same exact one I proposed when the offseason started (w/ Yankees helping out with the salary), but now that I look at it, it doesn't make that much sense. Offense wasn't our problem last year. With ARod that improves but you lose a pitcher and still have the Boras issue, payroll will prob go up anyway, and all the same question marks your team had going in. Or else, you have Crede for a couple years if you don't do anything with him, could spend the extra money for the rest of the team or trying to keep Crede, if not, you sure as hell weren't going to keep ARod after his is up (not sure when though, prob even later), and you keep your SP which you can keep or trade for the question marks instead.

[witesoxfan]

I could see the deal happening, it was the same exact one I proposed when the offseason started (w/ Yankees helping out with the salary), but now that I look at it, it doesn't make that much sense. Offense wasn't our problem last year. With ARod that improves but you lose a pitcher and still have the Boras issue, payroll will prob go up anyway, and all the same question marks your team had going in. Or else, you have Crede for a couple years if you don't do anything with him, could spend the extra money for the rest of the team or trying to keep Crede, if not, you sure as hell weren't going to keep ARod after his is up (not sure when though, prob even later), and you keep your SP which you can keep or trade for the question marks instead.

 

But offense was a problem, specifically in the 2nd half when the Sox were horrendous.

 

The starting pitching was bad, there was no real leadoff hitter, the bullpen was blowing leads, and the offense couldn't score in the 2nd half.

 

Bringing in ARod fixes two of those holes, though not both directly. Add to the fact that he'll provide stability at the 3B position for 2 more years than Crede, along with his 40+ homers and .900-1.000 OPS, and you have a great addition to the ballclub. There's still nothing stopping KW from trading 2 starters too, though that leaves the Sox a minor hole in the back of the rotation that could be fixed by Phillips, Haeger, a prospect returned in a deal, or perhaps a journeyman SP. The #5 guy really just needs to eat 150 innings and provide an ERA around 5.00.

[RME JICO]

I would love for this deal to happen. Crede's back is still a huge question mark and A-Rod would make the lineup one of the most potent in history. He also rakes at the Cell. Here are his numbers from 04-06 there:

 

34 AB, 3 R, 14 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 6 BB, 3 SB .412/.500/.647/1.147

 

From NYY standpoint, you get a huge upgrade at SP and a Defensive upgrade at 3B, with a slight decline in offensive output. Crede-Jeter-Cano would be a solid defensive infield.

[SABR Sox]

You can have your young pitching and prospects. You seem to love those prospects.

 

I'll take the guy who is almost without question the greatest player still in the game (you can make an argument for very few players over him).

 

Yea, I'm starting to think if people have forgotton A-Rod is probably the best player in the game and has a great chance of being the best ever when he hangs it up.

 

This deal is a no-brainer. Thank Yanks be dumb enough to trade him for Garcia + Crede and it will certianly take more, but depending on who else the Yanks would command, I would go the extra-mile to put Rodriguez on our team.

[southsider2k5]

A-Rod's contract

 

He can void the contract after 2007 if he doesn't get an $8mil raise. He probably wouldn't bother, but who knows?

 

I am reading this a little differently than you guys.

 

may opt out after 2007 unless he gets an $8M/year raise or $1M more than MLB’s highest-paid player

 

There is a BIG "OR" in the middle of that opt out clause. As long as he is making at least $1,000,000 per year more than anyone else, he CANNOT opt out. For the near future, I don't see anyone who is going to be making $26 million/yr plus, so Arod isn't going anywhere.

[iamshack]

I am reading this a little differently than you guys.

There is a BIG "OR" in the middle of that opt out clause. As long as he is making at least $1,000,000 per year more than anyone else, he CANNOT opt out. For the near future, I don't see anyone who is going to be making $26 million/yr plus, so Arod isn't going anywhere.

 

This is an interesting question. I think it would be fairly dangerous to ARod's already somewhat-shaky public image to opt out of that deal and demand an even more lucrative one. If he were to be traded, that would be his fourth team, and the second time he has been traded. I'm not sure I remember another player who was considered to be the best player in his sport to play for so many different teams. To then opt out of that deal, with the intentions of taking a deal from the highest bidder, which would be his fifth team, most likely, seems like he would really be walking on thin ice.

 

I would think that were he traded to the White Sox, a team with as good a chance to win a WS as any, one in a large market, yet without the insanely-rabid fans of New York or Boston, he would be fairly content. Perhaps he would ask for a contract extension, but to opt-out would probably not sit well with most of the baseball public. This is notwithstanding the NTC he has as a 10/5 guy, but I imagine he would waive that were the Yankees to tell him they had a deal in the works with the White Sox.

[GoSox05]

would A-rod play third or SS?

 

 

The middle of our order would be quite hard to get through.

 

But our order is already good, id rather get pitching

[Steve9347]

would A-rod play third or SS?

The middle of our order would be quite hard to get through.

 

But our order is already good, id rather get pitching

 

 

3rd.

 

from everything i hear, A-Rod has bulked up and lost too much of his mobility to be a valid option at short... though I would prefer him at shortstop.

[sircaffey]

All this talk about improving the pitching, are we really going to see many changes? The rotation will change in one spot and we should add someone in the pen. What it all boils down to is, improvement is going to have to come from within. If Mark, Jon, Contreras, Freddy/Javier, and BMac don't improve upon last year then we're screwed anyways. Thus, I'm fine with this trade for Arod.

Edited December 4, 2006 by sircaffey

[Soxfest]

A-Rod could flourish again on the southside, I would do it.

[Balance]

As much as I love Crede, I think this would be a good trade for the Sox.

[Tannerfan]

According to a friend of mine whose a big Yankee fan, the rumors that come out of The NY Daily News are almost always wrong. They tend to make this stuff up to get attention, as they compete with The NY Post which is a horrible newspaper (think Fox News in print); but has a great sports section. If the rumor is out of The Post, there's a chance it's true. From The Daily News... not so much.

By the way there is no follow up to this rumor in The Daily News today, which tells me it is nonsense.

[iamshack]

According to a friend of mine whose a big Yankee fan, the rumors that come out of The NY Daily News are almost always wrong. They tend to make this stuff up to get attention, as they compete with The NY Post which is a horrible newspaper (think Fox News in print); but has a great sports section. If the rumor is out of The Post, there's a chance it's true. From The Daily News... not so much.

By the way there is no follow up to this rumor in The Daily News today, which tells me it is nonsense.

 

Of course it is just blind speculation....the Yankees have been uncharacteristically quiet this offseason, and they need to sell newspapers...