Off-Season Suggestion Thread

[BlackBetsy]

Chone Figgins is beyond a perfect fit for this team but no one as of yet has made a persuasive case that the Angels are interested in trading him or that he is easily replaceable on the Angels.

[whitesoxbrian]

Why would Milwaukee trade a 29 year old SS in what could be the start of his best years?

 

I mean, sure, I'd love to give them Vazquez, MacDougal, and Fields for him, but I doubt it will happen.

[caulfield12]

He's replaceable if Brandon Wood is ready to play 3B, but that's not clear yet.

 

And, going by McPherson and Kotchmann's struggles, Kendry Morales...etc., you can never be sure about Angels' position prospects.

 

He's blocked (more or less) by Kendrick at 2B and there's still a glut of outfielders, even if they let G. Anderson go.

 

I think Scioscia is smart enough to understand his importance to making their offensive engine go...Aybar's not really a speed player...and Willits rides the pine, so they risk becoming like the White Sox without Figgins in the line-up.

 

I guess they could also stick Wood at 1B (or Morales) if TEX leaves via FA.

[beautox]

Why would Milwaukee trade a 29 year old SS in what could be the start of his best years?

 

I mean, sure, I'd love to give them Vazquez, MacDougal, and Fields for him, but I doubt it will happen.

 

Because they have Escobar just about ready to step in and they need 2 starters for their team and Javy is cost effective for 2 more seasons the same amount as hardy before hes a FA.

[MO2005]

O.K. I am going out on a limb with this one. I say sign Abreu, dump Thome's large contract, trade Vasquez for a bag of balls, sign Paul Byrd as a 4th starter, keep the bullpen the way it is, trade Vasquez and prospects to the Pirates for Freddie Sanchez or Jack Wilson.

 

2009

 

2B Freddie Sanchez

CF Bobbie Abreu (this guy can hit anywhere)

LF Carlos Quentin

DH Jermaine Dye

1B Paul Konerko

RF Nick Swisher

SS Alexei Ramirez

C A.J. Pierzynski

3B Josh Fields

 

 

[GoodAsGould]

Because they have Escobar just about ready to step in and they need 2 starters for their team and Javy is cost effective for 2 more seasons the same amount as hardy before hes a FA.

 

The real question is why we want JJ Hardy, he is exactly the type of hitter we have already.

[witesoxfan]

The real question is why we want JJ Hardy, he is exactly the type of hitter we have already.

 

Because he's good

[caulfield12]

O.K. I am going out on a limb with this one. I say sign Abreu, dump Thome's large contract, trade Vasquez for a bag of balls, sign Paul Byrd as a 4th starter, keep the bullpen the way it is, trade Vasquez and prospects to the Pirates for Freddie Sanchez or Jack Wilson.

 

2009

 

2B Freddie Sanchez

CF Bobbie Abreu (this guy can hit anywhere)

LF Carlos Quentin

DH Jermaine Dye

1B Paul Konerko

RF Nick Swisher

SS Alexei Ramirez

C A.J. Pierzynski

3B Josh Fields

 

 

Please list the teams that want Thome in the AL, and to pay him $13 million? (I guess KW could donate some of the money we're still supposed to get from the Phils for 09)

Why would the Pirates want to pay Javier Vazquez $11.5 million when they don't want to pay homegrown Jason Bay that amount of money?

Paul Byrd, over the course of a full season, won't be as effective as Vazquez

Josh Fields won't be a starter for the Sox IMO

Since when is Swisher suddenly good enough to be our 6th place hitter?

 

[GoodAsGould]

Because he's good

 

I dont think he is really all that good. He has some pop for a SS but his career high OBP is .343 and I once thought he was a plus defender but what Im hearing now is thats not exactly true. I truly think a lot of people will be dissapointed if we traded for Hardy as the season progressed.

[witesoxfan]

I dont think he is really all that good. He has some pop for a SS but his career high OBP is .343 and I once thought he was a plus defender but what Im hearing now is thats not exactly true. I truly think a lot of people will be dissapointed if we traded for Hardy as the season progressed.

 

That career high in OBP came this year. He started seeing more pitches and, after a slow start, hit the s*** out of the ball from June 1 or so and onward. His peripherals are climbing upwards in a year in which pitching made a big time comeback, he hits for a pretty good average, and he has power, as evidenced by his 55+ XBHs the past two seasons.

 

The only thing that concerns me is his defense, as I don't know how good it is, but if Beltre were brought in to play 3B as well, you'd have pretty good range between the 3B and SS.

 

EDIT: from June 2nd to the end of the season

Edited October 8, 2008 by witesoxfan

[whitesoxbrian]

That career high in OBP came this year. He started seeing more pitches and, after a slow start, hit the s*** out of the ball from June 1 or so and onward. His peripherals are climbing upwards in a year in which pitching made a big time comeback, he hits for a pretty good average, and he has power, as evidenced by his 55+ XBHs the past two seasons.

 

The only thing that concerns me is his defense, as I don't know how good it is, but if Beltre were brought in to play 3B as well, you'd have pretty good range between the 3B and SS.

He'd fit right in here!

[BlackBetsy]

I guess they could also stick Wood at 1B (or Morales) if TEX leaves via FA.

You could also just straight up trade Konerko for Figgins. A nice challenge trade. Or trade Dye for Figgins or Thome for Figgins. All three kind of make sense.

[witesoxfan]

You could also just straight up trade Konerko for Figgins. A nice challenge trade. Or trade Dye for Figgins or Thome for Figgins. All three kind of make sense.

 

no they don't

[GoodAsGould]

That career high in OBP came this year. He started seeing more pitches and, after a slow start, hit the s*** out of the ball from June 1 or so and onward. His peripherals are climbing upwards in a year in which pitching made a big time comeback, he hits for a pretty good average, and he has power, as evidenced by his 55+ XBHs the past two seasons.

 

The only thing that concerns me is his defense, as I don't know how good it is, but if Beltre were brought in to play 3B as well, you'd have pretty good range between the 3B and SS.

 

EDIT: from June 2nd to the end of the season

 

Im still not 100% sold on him turning the corner, thats half a season of baseball and poor players can have good half seasons all the time. I do agree on you about Beltre being brought in would be a huge plus and that the Thome for Figgins trade is total nonsense. People keep bringing up Carlos Lee for Podsenick, well fact of the matter is we got ripped off on that trade. Yes we shed some salary but we easily could have shed his contract and recieved better players from most any other team.

[witesoxfan]

Im still not 100% sold on him turning the corner, thats half a season of baseball and poor players can have good half seasons all the time. I do agree on you about Beltre being brought in would be a huge plus and that the Thome for Figgins trade is total nonsense. People keep bringing up Carlos Lee for Podsenick, well fact of the matter is we got ripped off on that trade. Yes we shed some salary but we easily could have shed his contract and recieved better players from most any other team.

 

absolutely agree with everything, and I'm not necessarily advocating a trade for Hardy, I just really wouldn't care either way if he came to Chicago or not. He's a good player and an above average offensive shortstop, but if the team is really looking to get a more versatile offense, Hardy probably isn't the best choice even though, from what I've seen, his speed is more that of Juan Uribe than it is of Konerko or Dye. He'd help make the offense a little less station to station but I really could care less either way.

[caulfield12]

The main benefit from Hardy is simply continuing the process of getting young and revitalizing the line-up.

 

No, he's not the ideal 1/2 hitter, and the odds of finding that from 3B are minimal...so everything hinges on what we do with CF.

 

Does Swisher or Ramirez hit at the top (probably 2 spot)...? I don't imagine we'll see Swisher at leadoff again, and Ramirez isn't a good fit either (for many reasons)...so the perfect leadoff man exists only in KW's and the Sox scouts' mysterious board.

[ChisoxFurrious9]

I'll throw this out there early. If the Sox can find speed from are 3B or 2B/SS(Depending on which area they are going to upgrade), I wouldn't mind Anderson in CF.

 

At this point, with NTC in the equation, Dye looks like he could be the odd man out. Again, if the Sox add a 3B and 2B that are starting material, an outfield left to right of Swisher-Anderson-Quentin is doable.

 

No way in HELL would Anderson or Swisher start over JD after the past couple of years he's had. That's absolutly assinine.

[witesoxfan]

No way in HELL would Anderson or Swisher start over JD after the past couple of years he's had. That's absolutly assinine.

 

Dye would be traded

 

I also believe that if Dye played all next year with the Sox, he'd either become or very close to a 10/5 player

Edited October 8, 2008 by witesoxfan

[max power]

I think Kenny is going to trade BA with some other young talent for a rather young, speedy middle infielder who hits for average.

[newportitis]

Why would Milwaukee trade a 29 year old SS in what could be the start of his best years?

 

I mean, sure, I'd love to give them Vazquez, MacDougal, and Fields for him, but I doubt it will happen.

 

Hardy is 26 (6/19/82) and the Brewers won't trade him for a bunch of expensive castoffs.

Trade Vazquez to the Brewers and you get Bill Hall and Suppan (you HAVE to take Suppan)

[witesoxfan]

on top of that, Suppan and Hall have negative value right now, and the Brewers really can't trade a starter who is almost assured of giving them 200+ innings of 4.25-5.00 ERA. Even if Suppan sucks, he's still pretty damn valuable to the Brewers, but not valuable on the trade market at all.

[GoodAsGould]

While I do want Vazquez gone, just cant stand him. If what we are getting back is Suppan than you can forget about it. Most likely whether we like it or not Vazquez will be in our rotation to begin next season.

[newportitis]

on top of that, Suppan and Hall have negative value right now, and the Brewers really can't trade a starter who is almost assured of giving them 200+ innings of 4.25-5.00 ERA. Even if Suppan sucks, he's still pretty damn valuable to the Brewers, but not valuable on the trade market at all.

Suppan is a bad contract that I'm pretty sure the Brewers would love to unload. Hall is in that catagory as well. When you're thinking of unloading bad contracts and failed prospects - like Javy and Josh Fields - that's pretty much what you can expect to be offered in return.

For Hardy they'd want Danks.

[witesoxfan]

Suppan is a bad contract that I'm pretty sure the Brewers would love to unload. Hall is in that catagory as well. When you're thinking of unloading bad contracts and failed prospects - like Javy and Josh Fields - that's pretty much what you can expect to be offered in return.

For Hardy they'd want Danks.

 

Except that Javier Vazquez is a far superior pitcher to Jeff Suppan. If you don't believe me, compare their numbers over the past 2-3 seasons, compare what leagues they have pitched in, and consider that Suppan makes almost the exact same salary as Vazquez.

 

As it is, they need arms pretty badly. Unless Sheets resigns, Suppan will have more value to the Brewers than he will the rest of the league.

[greg775]

Since when is Swisher suddenly good enough to be our 6th place hitter?

 

Cause Swish has been given a free pass by many for this season for some reason. They say he'll be fine next year when he's set in a regular position. Whatever. I'd cut my losses and dump him for your proverbial bag of balls. Try it again, KW.