Latos still had solid peripherals last year. Honestly expected him to sign somewhere for $8-10 million, great move for that price. I assume there will be incentives in there though.

Guy has a lot of clubhouse issues, which concerns me. He's also had some injury issues. However, when he's been healthy, he's been very good and we have a good track record when it comes to getting guys healthy and getting the most out of our pitchers. I like this move from a pure depth perspective.

 

Robin is going to have to earn his pay though. Some definite personalities in this lockeroom.

Good deal. Dont know who it bodes worse for between Danks and Johnson

 

Johnson for sure.

Latos still had solid peripherals last year. Honestly expected him to sign somewhere for $8-10 million, great move for that price. I assume there will be incentives in there though.

 

No incentives according to Cotillo, which is amazing

Reminder that he owns a feline named Cat Latos.

Best case: A Gavin Floyd-like season.

Worst case: Gives us 8 or 9 garbage starts, punches a fan in the parking lot, released.

 

A worthwhile gamble.

This is the type of move we could very easily look back on & say "wow, that ended up being a difference maker" later in the season.

 

Don't get me wrong, not a huge piece but could be just enough of a difference.

Seems like a real bargain. I would think he ends up in competition with Johnson and Danks, unless the Sox are working on something that sends Johnson elsewhere.

So now Erik Johnson is traded for an OF?

He really couldn't get a better deal than $3 million? Wow, I'm surprised. Great deal for the Sox. Low-risk, high-reward. If he is any problems in the clubhouse, for $3 million you can quickly DFA him.

This is the Sox getting creative. Love this move.

So now Erik Johnson is traded for an OF?

 

was just coming to type this. Sure seems like he was told he'd be given a starting spot based off of Cotillo's source's comment.

He really couldn't get a better deal than $3 million? Wow, I'm surprised. Great deal for the Sox. Low-risk, high-reward. If he is any problems in the clubhouse, for $3 million you can quickly DFA him.

 

Agreed 100%.

So now Erik Johnson is traded for an OF?

Unless it's in a package for a young cost-controlled OF, I'd rather use him as depth and stash him in AAA. Despite a nice rebound in 2015, I think his value is still pretty suppressed. Even a little bit of success at the majors would go a long ways towards restoring his value.

We have some strong personalities now...should make for an interesting season

Edited February 9, 201610 yr by Baron

We have some interesting personalities now...should make for an interesting season

 

Agree....I like it.

Does Erik Johnson have any options left?

 

Could this be the precursor to to trading E-Johnse for an outfielder?

If decisions on rotation spots were made independent of paychecks this should be pushing on Danks more. We have 3 lefties in the rotation without him, it makes sense to keep Johnson over him from a right lefty standpoint. In terms of performance I don't have confidence that Danks can out perform Johnson. So the only reason Danks would be safer is because we gave him a really bad contract and would look bad to put that paycheck in the pen. Such a poor reason to make a roster decision. Good organizations don't make decisions that way.

Only makes sense to me if Johnson is indeed traded for an OF. If not giving Latos his spot in the rotation is a giant waste in my opinion. Have to see what you have in a young player in some point...

Using this as an excuse to trade Erik Johnson would be a mistake. Again I ask, how many innings can you realistically rely on Latos to pitch? This move was to bolster pitching depth.

 

And people, please stop calling things low risk/high reward. Low risk/high reward is impossible. You make me cranky.

Dan Hayes ‏@CSNHayes 12m12 minutes ago

Mat Latos arrived in Chicago yesterday for physical. #WhiteSox

Hey maybe we can get some Right Field time out of him if he cant pitch

Necessary move.

 

Now we need the outfield version of Latos.

 

Robin will have his hands full dealing with a quite combustible clubhouse mix.

If decisions on rotation spots were made independent of paychecks this should be pushing on Danks more. We have 3 lefties in the rotation without him, it makes sense to keep Johnson over him from a right lefty standpoint. In terms of performance I don't have confidence that Danks can out perform Johnson. So the only reason Danks would be safer is because we gave him a really bad contract and would look bad to put that paycheck in the pen. Such a poor reason to make a roster decision. Good organizations don't make decisions that way.

 

Hopefully you're right and that is the case but I highly doubt it. If he doesn't show up to ST looking any better than he has the past 4 years(looks even worse when you type it out) just cut bait with him. We're on the hook for his salary either way and he's probably more valuable to the franchise not pitching than he is putting up his usual 4.7+ ERA.

Using this as an excuse to trade Erik Johnson would be a mistake. Again I ask, how many innings can you realistically rely on Latos to pitch? This move was to bolster pitching depth.

 

And people, please stop calling things low risk/high reward. Low risk/high reward is impossible. You make me cranky.

Why is low risk/high reward impossible? We're not talking about trading equities here. Latos is a guy who has consistently been a 3+ WAR pitcher when healthy (and only 28 years old) that can be released for a total of $3M if things go south.

 

I'm not sure what else you would call this signing other than low risk/high reward.