Right now Danks is owed about $47 million for 3.3 years. The crazy thing is that many of his peripherals are at long term lows. His BB/9 K/BB and WHIP are career lows. His H/9 is right at his career number. I almost wonder if the key with Danks is to throw a few less strikes and get guys chasing out of the zone.

 

I also feel like he will recover another couple of MPH on his fastball, which will be huge.

The A's have traded numerous young, cost-controlled pitchers for prospects, which they have used to rebuild their organization. They didn't kick the can down the road of mediocrity because of it.

 

And they contended the next year. Because they had ready-made replacements and went dumpster diving for reclamation projects that worked out. This is exactly what wite is suggesting as a strategy -- but we don't have anyone that can replace Sale's production next year so we can't trade him and have a shot at a quick return to glory.

Jim Bowden just made his list of "Five August trades I'd like to see"

 

 

Rios to Pirates came in as one of them, although he states he can't imagine the Pirates winning the claim on Rios....

 

 

"Chicago White Sox trade OF Alex Rios to the Pittsburgh Pirates for OFs Willy Garcia and Harold Ramirez "

See, this is the one that I wouldn't do, because I don't think you're going to get fair value on the trade market for these guys, especially Quintana. Q is going to hum along and put up productive seasons for us with little or no fanfare, much like Mark did for us for 10 years. Someone would give us something for that, but he just doesn't have the WOW factor that GMs are going to feel comfortable moving high-profile prospects for. Fanbases want exciting players, and a GM is going to get a better reception from the fanbase if he mortgages the future for the exciting player versus the ho-hum player. Now the answer to that is that fans ultimately like winning more than individual players, but all things being equal, fans like exciting more than ho-hum.

 

I think it would be tougher to get fair value for Sale. I don't think anyone would be willing to give up what it would take because of the perceived injury risk.

Jim Bowden just made his list of "Five August trades I'd like to see"

 

 

Rios to Pirates came in as one of them, although he states he can't imagine the Pirates winning the claim on Rios....

 

 

"Chicago White Sox trade OF Alex Rios to the Pittsburgh Pirates for OFs Willy Garcia and Harold Ramirez "

Jim Bowden seems pretty obsessed about Rios going to the Pirates.

Why do people compare Quintana and Buehrle? They're very different pitchers.

Rios and De Aza have almost identical numbers except for strikeouts. Rios is obviously a better fielder, and a better baserunner although he's also prone to some mental blunders. He also makes about $10 million a year more than De Aza.

 

 

See, this is the one that I wouldn't do, because I don't think you're going to get fair value on the trade market for these guys, especially Quintana. Q is going to hum along and put up productive seasons for us with little or no fanfare, much like Mark did for us for 10 years. Someone would give us something for that, but he just doesn't have the WOW factor that GMs are going to feel comfortable moving high-profile prospects for. Fanbases want exciting players, and a GM is going to get a better reception from the fanbase if he mortgages the future for the exciting player versus the ho-hum player. Now the answer to that is that fans ultimately like winning more than individual players, but all things being equal, fans like exciting more than ho-hum.

 

GMs that listen to fans get fired.

 

Anyways, the A's got Ryan Cook, Colin Cowgill, and Jarrod Parker for Trevor Cahill and Craig Breslow. Parker was consistently a top 40 prospect for BA. Ryan Cook has been a great reliever. Cowgill kind of sucks, but he was coming off a .354/.430/.554/.984 season in his first season at AAA when Oakland acquired him. Is Trevor Cahill the kind of guy that is going to get a fan base excited?

 

If teams are offering you AAAA players for your young, cost controlled #2-3 starter, then don't make the deal and move on.

Not that this will ever happen, but for discussion purposes, how good would our offense be if we signed Cano & McCann? Could we legitimately compete next year with the following lineup? Again, not suggesting we do anything like this.

 

1) De Aza, LF

2) Beckham, 3B

3) Cano, 2B

4) Rios, RF

5) Dunn, DH

6) Garcia, CF

7) McCann, C

8) Viciedo, 1B

9) Ramirez, SS

 

Bench: veteran IF, Phegley, Gillaspie, & Danks

Not that this will ever happen, but for discussion purposes, how good would our offense be if we signed Cano & McCann? Could we legitimately compete next year with the following lineup? Again, not suggesting we do anything like this.

 

1) De Aza, LF

2) Beckham, 3B

3) Cano, 2B

4) Rios, RF

5) Dunn, DH

6) Garcia, CF

7) McCann, C

8) Viciedo, 1B

9) Ramirez, SS

 

Bench: veteran IF, Phegley, Gillaspie, & Danks

That lineup would be significantly better then the current lineup. I don't think I'd have McCann and his near .900 OPS hitting down in the 7 spot though. If we had the rotation this year with that sort of lineup and they played decent defense, then sure that team could legitimately compete, imo. The Sox aren't going to spend the amount of money it will take to sign those two though. And if they did, it would be because they cleared a hell of a lot of other salary. McCann could be a legitimate possibility and even that I doubt.

Jim Bowden seems pretty obsessed about Rios going to the Pirates.

 

Him being a Cards fan might have something to do with it.

That lineup would be significantly better then the current lineup. I don't think I'd have McCann and his near .900 OPS hitting down in the 7 spot though. If we had the rotation this year with that sort of lineup and they played decent defense, then sure that team could legitimately compete, imo. The Sox aren't going to spend the amount of money it will take to sign those two though. And if they did, it would be because they cleared a hell of a lot of other salary. McCann could be a legitimate possibility and even that I doubt.

What's funny is that the Sox should have enough money to sign both of those guys if they really wanted to. Again, I'm not suggesting they should go do that, Cano in particular will get a crazy amount of years, but at some point we are going to have to spend some money to improve our offense.

Ken Rosenthal

@Ken_Rosenthal

Sources: #WhiteSox’s Alex Rios claimed on waivers. Claiming team not known. Owed $13M next season with $13.5M club option in ’15. MORE

 

12:52pm · 8 Aug 13

MORE TO COME!

Things just got interesting.

 

 

Ken Rosenthal

@Ken_Rosenthal

Sources: #WhiteSox’s Alex Rios claimed on waivers. Claiming team not known. Owed $13M next season with $13.5M club option in ’15. MORE

 

12:52pm · 8 Aug 13

Well, there is $15 million off the books.

Ken Rosenthal

@Ken_Rosenthal

Sources: #WhiteSox’s Alex Rios claimed on waivers. Claiming team not known. Owed $13M next season with $13.5M club option in ’15. MORE

 

12:52pm · 8 Aug 13

 

OMG. It's about to go DOWN~!

 

https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal

Ken Rosenthal

@Ken_Rosenthal

Sources: #WhiteSox’s Alex Rios claimed on waivers. Claiming team not known. Owed $13M next season with $13.5M club option in ’15. MORE

 

12:52pm · 8 Aug 13

 

Here we go!

Can we sound the "HOLY s***" alarm yet?

Ken Rosenthal

@Ken_Rosenthal

Sources: #WhiteSox’s Alex Rios claimed on waivers. Claiming team not known. Owed $13M next season with $13.5M club option in ’15. MORE

 

12:52pm · 8 Aug 13

Would be awesome if Texas claimed him.

They had better let him go.

Can we sound the "HOLY s***" alarm yet?

No, because there's a good chance the White Sox pull him back.

Do they try to work a deal or just let them have him and his contract??

First Casper Wells goes and now maybe Rios?

 

R.I.P to Where is he gonna play?