GreenSox

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Dec 8, 2017 -> 02:16 PM) Interesting choice to pick the Angels, as their farm is one of the weakest in the mlb. Even with Richards back and Ohtani, the pitching staff is pretty suspect. They lost Petit, who pitched 91 solid innings for them in free agency as well. The Astros should have a stranglehold on that division for the next few seasons, even if the Angels went out and signed relief help and Darvish. Best case they would be looking at a wild card I'm thinking. Angels were 12th last year in overall pitching (ERA and WHIP). It's like they had a team full of #3 starters. Had some good fortune - Orioles basically gave them Bridwell. Add an ace to that mix; best player in baseball in CF. They don't have a lot of prospects, but that can turn. Not a bad place to be.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Dec 8, 2017 -> 10:46 AM) I doubt any team rolls with Guerrero as a starting pitcher in 2018 since he has yet to pitch above AA ball. I hope he somehow slips through the rule five draft and we can stash him in AAA. Reliever But the Sox rolled with Covey for a year, and he had, what, 40 innings in AA ball?

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Dec 8, 2017 -> 10:15 AM) No they don't. Jordan Guerrero will almost assuredly get selected however To me the comparison is Covey - they kept him but not Guerrero. But I've been trying to figure out the Sox strategy. All I can think of is that they want a lot of room (more than 5 spots) on the 40 man for maneuvering. If this assumption is true, they could have protected him from Rule 5, but would have had to waive him later anyway. Better to expose him to Rule 5 than to outright waive him. There is a decent chance he gets picked by a contender that is just grabbing up some lottery tickets for its last arm in the pen, in which case there is a good chance that he would be returned anyway.

4 teams with great young cores. It looks like Ginacarlo just wants to win.

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 8, 2017 -> 07:01 AM) Not if you're getting someone that fits the timetable though as a long-term core piece Still a little early - Sox still don't know exactly what they have in a lot of players on the 25 man. Yelich is Eatonish. I could see trying to parlay Abreu + Avi into a longer term developed "piece" - probably take a 3 or 4 way deal to pull it off. But still would prefer more deals where Sox find an underappreciated developed prospect (e.g. Eaton deal #1). Hold onto the pitching -Sox have been a starter (or two) short in pretty much every year where they fell short of expectations.

Abreu is the third best hitter on the market. There are several teams that just need some pop. The next tier is these Royals hitters...they had good synergy together, but none stands out by himself. Sox will get some good offers for him. Good enough? No idea really, but I'd guess yes.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Dec 7, 2017 -> 07:51 PM) All of it? I mean I've seen the projections on him between 300-400 million for 10 years. Or by far the biggest position player contract in baseball this side of Miggy (and Harper soon). That OPS would take him 46th in baseball last season or 82nd judging just by the season he had last year. Exactly And the implication above that the Sox should consider renting him for 1 year: good lord......

QUOTE (kwill @ Dec 5, 2017 -> 07:43 PM) Does anybody else think they may look at the market on Mike Moustakas? As it stands the White Sox really don't have a 3rd baseman. He is going into free agency on the younger side at 29 years old and won't command a long contract. Career .305 OBP. I know he has a lot of quality traits (including lack of Ks), but the org. still doesn't have enough OBP from other players to compensate.

I picked Abreu because his value is much more determinable. While Avi may regress, he also may build on last year and show some power. That would explode his value. I'm willing to take the chance.

I understand him being leery of the Giants. They had a fantastic run, but last year wasn't all that surprising (few changes to an aging team often results in a great big thud) and I don't see how they get better any time soon.

QUOTE (Springfield SoxFan @ Dec 2, 2017 -> 08:28 AM) I have been thinking about this as well and it all come down to the fact that the White Sox can only lose one player in the Rule 5 so it is not like the team is going to be decimated. Further, they need some spots on the 40 man to field a major league team in 2018 so some flexibility was needed there as well. There has to be more free agent signings coming......... They could lose all of the unprotected guys and it wouldn't decimate them (and they can lose more than 1 in Rule 5).. But sometimes, small things can make a big difference. Just particularly concerned about pitching. We'll see what they do with the extra room.

Castillo plays an important position, is actually a good player, and he's not on his last legs. Refreshing signing.

I didn't understand the 40 man roster management weeks ago, and after today's cuts, still perplexed. Re Adams, the Sox really don't need him as a bridge because they have multiple corner OF/IF try-out candidates on the roster that they have to make a decision on in the next year or so,, who need either play 1B or could be moved there and/or take some reps at DH: Davidson, Gillaspie, Palka, Cordell

Someone's got to take innings in the bullpen..

QUOTE (WBWSF @ Nov 26, 2017 -> 08:49 AM) Trading Garcia and Abreu would seem to indicate that the team has no intentions of competing for anything the next few years. They are gone in 2 seasons - about the time the Sox should be getting good. Maybe the Sox should trade them, get more young players, and then in 2 years when their contracts would expire, grab a couple of free agents to fill a couple of holes...at that time, the Sox will know exactly which holes need filling and will only have a few, instead of half a dozen + holes, like they do now.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Nov 24, 2017 -> 09:30 AM) If the Sox trade both Avi and Abreu, who exactly is going to comprise the middle of the order? In a year or two, you can pencil in Eloy. Beyond that, I don't see a big run producing heart of the order. Well, they will both be FAs in 2020, so the Sox will likely have to do something. But Abreu will also be 33 in 2020, so it may be best to tread lightly right now. As for Avi, I would point to Delmonico. They had similar numbers last year (Avi somewhat better), albeit Avi over an entire season and Delmonico over 1/4 season. But Delmonico also had a very modest BAPIP and walks a lot...and he has taken pitches throughout his minor league career as well. All considered, he may be as sure (or unsure) bet to continue his success as Avi.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 21, 2017 -> 10:07 PM) However, I do wonder if this might shake loose another Thyagomizer type deal. When Ohtani was the only guy on the market, teams could look at the Yankees and Mariners and think "If we don't get Ohtani we're out the player we gave up for him". Now there's like 3 or 4 other backup plans on the market. Send the White Sox a player from your A-ball team for some of their bonus money, make your run at Ohtani, and if you miss out on him you go out and sign that catcher that was just released. That makes sense. It could work out really well as more teams might be willing to go big on some ex-Braves, knowing that the competition is more diffused. I wonder how much $ the Sox have left.

There certainly is a strong element of diminishing returns, especially at corner OF and 1B for the Sox. But Sox can can always use depth in the low minors to ensure a flowing pipeline, particularly up the middle. They really aren't replete with SS, C and CF prospects at any level.. Plus you can't have enough pitching. I know we can list out 10 really good pitching prospects, but you need 13 for a staff, and you better have at least 1/2 a dozen others that you can call up to cover for injuries, non-performance, etc. Veterans will consume some of those spots, and they can trade for some, but if you wait to trade until you absolutely need the pitching, the price is premium. Abreu's a tough trade. We can value his numbers in terms of trade. But the Sox also value his intangibles. Teams that trade for him can be confident that he won't be a pain the rear, so they won't discount him. But I doubt they are willing to pay a premium for his clubhouse positives. Avi's valuation is tougher. Was 2017 a fluke or not?

QUOTE (GenericUserName @ Nov 20, 2017 -> 11:27 PM) I think you are forgetting that these guys are going on the 40 man and we have to field a team of 25 from those 40. If we put too many low level prospects on the 40, then we would need to get them off it eventually and exposed them to being picked up by another team. If Hahn is confident that a prospect won't get pick, they are safer not putting them on and betting that no one will roster them for a whole year rather than losing them to a team that could just put them in the minors. And I'm sorry, but Rick Hahn was one of the fastest rising gm candidates when we hired him and since he has taken full control he has been amazing while your involvment in the game of baseball strecthes as far as you can throw your beer can from your recliner when you're watching the highlights because you couldn't even be bothered to watch a whole game, so I'm going to have to side with Hahn's strategy on this one. Which is precisely the extent of your involvement.. And you might check and learn his actual background.

I enjoyed his writing a lot. Very sorry to hear this, and wish him the best.

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ Nov 20, 2017 -> 08:20 PM) How do you keep Covey, Saladino, Hanson, and Garcia and not protect Guerrero, Polo, and Peter? Good question. But protecting AAAA players and bad veterans over prospects is not that surprising considering the way the FO had operated through June of 2016. Hahn is back to his old habits. How in the world can you expose a prospect in order to protect Al Albequerque or Farquar, or Petricka, or....

Perfectly happy that the Sox used their money on Robert, in what as a modest bidding war, versus the Otana frenzy, that they would be unlikely to win anyway. Now I would like them to be more in the game on international amateur signings in general, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards.

No thank you.

The Sox took a pitcher last year who didn't even have 40 innings in AA. Now pitchers are easier to hide on a 25, but the Sox just let him do his thing, overmatched as he was. No reason other teams won't do the same, and expand it to hitters.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Nov 15, 2017 -> 03:48 PM) Yeah I don't think anyone would take him just for him to sit on the bench for majority of a season. With pitchers, it's easier to hide them in the bullpen since you can pick and choose their spots a lot easier. I agree that pitchers are a bigger risk, but there is no reason to take this risk with Adolpho. He's a quality prospect, teams are tanking and rebuilding and aren't winning anyway. I believe the trend will be toward grabbing more of these type of guys. There are several guys with limited upside that can be moved. As for the Yankees, they moved 2 of their rule 5 guys to the Sox last July, so they've worked on that for a while.