I just wanted to make a few points. We need to do the following in my opinion:

 

1) Get faster

2) Play better Defense

3) Manufacture more runs

 

So here is my ideal lineup next year (knowing we WON'T sign Figgins)

 

LF Podsednik (yes, I said it)

SS Beckham (give him a chance at SS!)

RF Quentin (lets hope its 2008 form)

1B Konerko

DH ???

C AJ

CF Rios

2B Ramirez

3B Viciedo

 

The question marks are:

 

Who will we play as DH, and if Viciedo will be ready at 3B both offensively and defensively. I still see a SLOW 4-6, but overall speedier ballclub here. I know a lot of people want to trade Ramirez but I think he is a decent defensive second baseman (and horrible SS). With the numbers he puts up he is a bargain at 1 million per year, we just need to get him at a position he can handle, and 2B appears to be it.

 

Who will leadoff? Who will DH? and Who will play 3rd? These are my questions. I think overall the pitching situation is fine (I'd like to see some more arms in the pen, however).

 

Thoughts?

 

I dont think you will see Vicedo anywhere near the 2010 roster. If they didnt call him up this Sept that tells u right there he is down on the depth chart. Plus you highlighted the need for speed, defense, and the ability to manufacture runs. None of this are Viciedo's game. He wont be the missing link next year at all. He will need more time to develop his defense and work on his hitting for average in the minors.

So you think we will play better defense with that lineup?

Viciedo is not a good 3rd baseman.

ARam is better defensively at short according to the numbers despite how bad he looks sometimes.

Pods is bad...but I guess you can hide him if he hits so I'll leave that alone.

 

That DH spot will be awfully important.

LF Podsednik (2yr deal)

3B Beckham

1B Konerko

DH Abreu or Dye (FA) (2yr deal)

RF Quentin

CF Rios

C AJ/Flowers

2B Ramirez

SS Alex Gonzalez (FA, better defense at SS, trade Getz since he's proved to be a MLB 2b and get prospects, because Alexei cant handle SS)

 

Nix

Alex Cora (FA)

Flowers (C/1B?)

Reed Johnson (FA)

Ramon Castro

Wise/kotsay

 

Peavy

Buehrle

Danks

Floyd

Freddy/Hudson

 

Jenks

Thorton

Chad Cordero (FA)

Torres

Carrasco

Nunez

Linebrink

 

I think with Thome , Contreras, Dye, Dotel off the books (35+ million) sox will spend some money on top of peavy and rios.

Edited September 3, 200916 yr by b-Rye

CF Podsednik (2yr deal)

3B Beckham

1B Konerko

DH Abreu or Dye (FA) (2yr deal)

RF Quentin

LF Rios

C AJ/Flowers

2B Ramirez

SS Alex Gonzalez (FA, better defense at SS, trade Getz since he's proved to be a MLB 2b and get prospects, because Alexei cant handle SS)

 

Nix

Alex Cora (FA)

Flowers (C/1B?)

Reed Johnson (FA)

Ramon Castro

Wise

 

Peavy

Buehrle

Danks

Floyd

Freddy/Hudson

 

Jenks

Thorton

Chad Cordero (FA)

Torres

Carrasco

Nunez

Linebrink

 

I think with Thome , Contreras, Dye, Dotel off the books (35+ million) sox will spend some money on top of peavy and rios.

not trying to be an asshole or anything, but were you serious with that or was it just a mistake? nobody in their right mind would have pods in CF and rios in LF.

Have we decided to give up on Chris Getz? If you want a speedier team it'd probably be smart to keep him around unless you replace him with another speedster.

not trying to be an asshole or anything, but were you serious with that or was it just a mistake? nobody in their right mind would have pods in CF and rios in LF.

 

Yeah I got em mixed up

Have we decided to give up on Chris Getz? If you want a speedier team it'd probably be smart to keep him around unless you replace him with another speedster.

 

I think Ramirez needs to go back to 2b because he sucks at ss. which means we need a good defensive ss. i'd take ramirez over getz but i think if we traded getz we would get some good prospects back or a good major league player.

Have we decided to give up on Chris Getz? If you want a speedier team it'd probably be smart to keep him around unless you replace him with another speedster.

if he can start putting up an OBP of .360, id say keep him for sure. if we could get a productive 3b and move gordon to 2b or a productive/ great with the glove SS and move alexei to 2nd, i would do that.

I dont think you will see Vicedo anywhere near the 2010 roster. If they didnt call him up this Sept that tells u right there he is down on the depth chart. Plus you highlighted the need for speed, defense, and the ability to manufacture runs. None of this are Viciedo's game. He wont be the missing link next year at all. He will need more time to develop his defense and work on his hitting for average in the minors.

His average is fine imo. He needs to start slugging and getting on base more. His slugging percentage and OBP are pathetic. Manufacturing runs is what his game is going to be. I think he will make a big splash next year and possibly be a late year call up. Going straight to AA when you are 19 and from a different country and hitting .280 is pretty impressive. Still, slugging percentage is more important for a guy like him. I hope that he raises it next year.

sign abreu to a 2yr deal or dye? really? considering their age, that wouldnt be smart. and look at what dye has done the past 2 yrs in aug and sept

We should sign Abreu as our DH and put him in the 5th spot. That would be a great deal...

We should sign Abreu as our DH and put him in the 5th spot. That would be a great deal...

Abreu put up a 1000+ OPS in July and a .655 OPS in August. He could be wearing down a bit too.

Abreu put up a 1000+ OPS in July and a .655 OPS in August. He could be wearing down a bit too.

 

which is why i mentioned that it wouldnt be wise to resign dye for 2 yrs or sign abreu for 2 yrs. so the question is: since they both start to fade come aug/sept, would it be that theyre just old and thats how its guna be wether they play the of or dh? or if they dh, will they not wear down. thats what they have to figure out

Alright, so I've talked about some of this stuff with one of my Sox friends. And I've come up with three different possibilities. All may be totally unrealistic, but they sure as hell look pretty good.

 

All of them have three things in common.

 

1. They acquire one very good player that can make a big impact on this team.

2. They also have three options - re-sign either Dye, Podsednik, or Thome or give somebody within the organization (such as Flowers) an opportunity to DH part-time in a rotation that includes Konerko, Pierzynski, and Flowers.

3. Sign one bullpen arm.

 

Scenario 1.

Sign Chone Figgins to play LF at 3 years and $22 million ($8 million this year)

Re-sign Jim Thome to DH for a one year deal worth around $5-6 million.

Take a chance and sign Billy Wagner to a incentive laden deal.

 

Scenario 1a.

Sign Chone Figgins

Re-sign Jermaine Dye to a 2-year deal worth around $13 million ($7 million this year)

Take a chance and sign Billy Wagner to a incentive laden deal.

 

Scenario 1b.

Sign Chone Figgins

Play Tyler Flowers at DH. Catch him twice a week and play him at 1B once a week.

Sign a higher end bullpen arm like Rafael Soriano.

 

Scenario 2

Sign Bobby Abreu to play LF at 2 years and $15 million with a lot of incentives.

Re-sign Jim Thome to a one year deal. Mentioned above.

Take a chance with Billy Wagner.

 

Scenario 2a.

Sign Bobby Abreu to play DH or LF

Re-sign Jermaine Dye. Same deal as before. DH him or put him in LF in a rotation.

Take a chance with Billy Wagner.

 

Scenario 2b.

Sign Bobby Abreu to play LF

Play Flowers at DH/1B/C in a rotation.

Sign Rafael Soriano or another higher end closer that will command more money.

 

Scenario 3

Trade for Adam Dunn to DH

Re-sign Scott Podsednik to a 2 year deal worth around $8-9 million to play LF

Take a chance on Billy Wagner.

 

Scenario 3a.

Trade for Adam Dunn to play LF (yikes)

Re-sign Jermaine Dye to a 2 year deal mentioned above.

Take a chance on Billy Wagner.

 

Scenario 3b.

Trade for Adam Dunn to play LF

Play Flowers at DH/C/1B in a rotation.

Sign a higher quality reliever like Rafael Soriano.

 

I won't bother typing out all the rosters (way too much to type), but you get the picture.

In the latter two scenarios where Pods is not included, Chris Getz or Gordon Beckham will most likely lead-off.

 

Most of the scenarios will push the team salary to around $95 million, which is what I think the White Sox payroll will be next year. I estimated the current team's 2010 salary to be around $80 million. So Kenny has around $10-15 million to spend this off-season at most.

Edited September 4, 200916 yr by chw42

Offseason needs IMO, in no particular order:

 

1. Pick up a lead-off hitter if we can find something that makes sense (if Figgins wants 4+ years then no Figgins)

2. Get a big lefty bat in the middle of the lineup

3. Shore up the OF defense by adding an above-average defensive RF, or else add a CF with Rios shifting to RF

4. Pick up a right-handed setup man to replace Dotel

5. Find a second lefty reliever with good enough stuff to pitch in the Majors

 

I really don't see a need to replace this Getz/Nix platoon.

Dayan's going to AAA next year, i'd give him an ETA of next september. My goals are the following

Offense:

1. Get on Base

2. Drive Him in

 

Defense:

I'd like to see us make some active improvements here. Sign players who can field.

 

Pitching

Peavy

Buehre

Floyd

Danks

Hudson

 

Next years rotation looks like it will be even better than in 2005 =x I honestly just want us to focus on defense an some bullpen arms during the offseason. If we do that, we have a great chance at going all the way. Randy winn in RF would be great on defense. Our infield is a huge question mark defensively. I think all we can do is hope that they get better next year. Signing Jack Wilson at SS and moving Alexei to 2nd would make it a lot more solid, but i want to see if Getz can become our future leadoff hitter.

We are not bringing a SS in here next year. Alexei is still ultra cheap. Plus we aren't going to block Nix and Getz.

We are not bringing a SS in here next year. Alexei is still ultra cheap. Plus we aren't going to block Nix and Getz.

Agreed, i think our only obvious needs are a corner OF who can field his position, and a stronger pen, which can mostly be filled internally..

Agreed, i think our only obvious needs are a corner OF who can field his position, and a stronger pen, which can mostly be filled internally..

 

I still would not be surprised to see a CF brought in as a lead off hitter, or to see Pods back in CF next year. I think the IF is set, as are the starting rotation 1-4, with the 5th starter coming from guys we have on the roster now. The pen will be very different next year.

I still would not be surprised to see a CF brought in as a lead off hitter, or to see Pods back in CF next year. I think the IF is set, as are the starting rotation 1-4, with the 5th starter coming from guys we have on the roster now. The pen will be very different next year.

Please for God's sake don't make Rios in to a corner OF by default. He belongs in CF until he proves he can't take it.

Offseason needs IMO, in no particular order:

 

1. Pick up a lead-off hitter if we can find something that makes sense (if Figgins wants 4+ years then no Figgins)

2. Get a big lefty bat in the middle of the lineup

3. Shore up the OF defense by adding an above-average defensive RF, or else add a CF with Rios shifting to RF

4. Pick up a right-handed setup man to replace Dotel

5. Find a second lefty reliever with good enough stuff to pitch in the Majors

 

I'd love for all of this to happen, but it's going to cost close to $25 million. And that's in addition to the $15 million or so that we'll be shelling out in arbitration to Quentin, Danks, and Jenks.

 

Kenny needs to make the bullpen a priority. If there's any financial flexibility left over, a left-handed power hitter would be priority #2. Realistically, I don't think that they'll be able to afford any more big-contract impact players (like Figgins).

 

Please for God's sake don't make Rios in to a corner OF by default. He belongs in CF until he proves he can't take it.

 

Absolutely. Kenny didn't over-pay Rios to play a corner OF position.