GreenSox

Seems like most of the contenders are pretty solid at closer, unfortunately. Nats are a big exception, perhaps the NL Central teams too, but at this point, supply may exceed demand.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ May 22, 2017 -> 01:00 PM) Sure would, as long as a full psychiatric evaluation of Rick Hahn came with the deal. Burdi and Robertson for Robles would be a fantastic move by Hahn.

QUOTE (Sox-35th @ May 21, 2017 -> 01:06 AM) 1) We're going to be bad for a while. Depth is not a concern when your team is not competitive 2) If we were playing to win, our system ranking would only be moderately important That was the mistake the Sox have made for years. Quality of system ("ranking" is unimportant in itself in whatever place the org is) is very important to fill holes, cover injuries, replace the decliners, and the July trade. It's a lot easier to trade a prospect when you have 2 or 3 just like him.

QUOTE (oldsox @ May 21, 2017 -> 06:33 AM) Matt Albers is the glue holding the Washington bullpen together. I watched the epic Albers-Flowers duel on MLB TV yesterday. Flowers went deep. And yes, the Sox will have to throw in some $ to more Robertson. I would hope they are willing to do that. That's how money is spent in rebuilding (v signing veterans).

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 21, 2017 -> 08:52 AM) $48 million for four years, how soon before we'd regret that deal for Garcia? It's almost twice as much as we're guaranteeing Tim Anderson. Anderson's contract was on the come; if he ever starts hitting like Avi is, then we can lament it. He's paid Alexei-level money, which is appropriate.

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Apr 18, 2017 -> 10:00 PM) With Avi becoming one of the best hitters in all of baseball, should we make the move now to secure him long term? 1)Good question; he becomes a FA in 2020, the year, I assume that the Sox will be loaded and ready to roll; but sometimes it happens earlier than expected. 2)Brian Kenney had a good analysis of him on his show; says that his approach hasn't changed so there may be some luck involved; but the trajectory of his hits has, which suggests sustainable improvement. 3)His turnaround reminds me of JD Martinez; Martinez was about like Avi, suddenly got good (albeit on a new team) and sustained it. 4)If the Sox hadn't decided to rebuild, would Avi even be on the team? Would they have gone another year with him in "go for it mode?" Perhaps another benefit to rebuilding. And certainly the Sox were due for some good fortune in player development.

QUOTE (ventura_abreu @ May 20, 2017 -> 05:59 PM) Our International Scouting director, Marco Paddy, is a big believer that, while signing your share of big time international prospects needs to be part of the mix, a lot of good players will come out of the lower priced 15 and 16 year old players that you sign. (I copied a quote below from an interview he did related to that topic.) With the hard bonus cap, good players will be available for 300K and the Sox should still be able to get several of those...during the penalty years.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 20, 2017 -> 06:50 PM) Schwarber No thank you. QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 20, 2017 -> 06:50 PM) Happ, Jimenez and Clifton for Q, That's better

I really like the way he uses the players, both position and pitchers. A little too much bunting for my tastes. But big thumbs up overall

Well done, Hahn. Re this "penalty" that the Sox can't pay a bonus >$300K for the next 2 years, I thought that 300K was the hard cap anyway. the Sox should have the number 1 farm system by a mile in about 71 days.

I hope he's not like the college football recruits with their helmets and hats during their "announcement" ceremony.

QUOTE (flavum @ May 20, 2017 -> 11:45 AM) Last night is just another example why pitcher decisions shouldn't be assigned anymore. They're meaningless in today's game. +1

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 20, 2017 -> 11:32 AM) The White Sox basically had to penalize themselves this year for the shot. Most of the big names have deals. I am sure they have some 300k and under guys lined up, and maybe they get lucky and someone emerges in the next month or so who is deserving of a bigger bonus if Robert signs elsewhere. I agree. And with this hard cap in future signing bonuses, what is the differentiation point of how a player selects a team? Whoever woos them the best? Heck it may even drive more players to the "name" teams.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 20, 2017 -> 10:33 AM) Yea this totally says that Hahn is pulling back on Robert. Bravo Any more misquoted articles you wanna reference this morning? You are 0-fer I said "may be" pulling back and the article said "may" turn their attention elsewhere. Your "gotcha" record is approaching Wile E Coyote territory.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 20, 2017 -> 10:40 AM) Not at all. He assumed by significant it meant higher. Maybe it was higher, maybe not. Then someone said the White Sox made a phenomenal offer. How come JR is cheap? How much would you pay for him? On the one hand the Sox are peddling Quintana, for essentially a prospect the quality of Robert (plus some add-ons). And yet, in an open market, Q would go for almost triple Robert's value. And then there is the fact that the Sox invested $25 mill in Shields, which happens to be the ballpark amount for Robert. Given that, they should be willing to hit $25 mill or thereabouts.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 20, 2017 -> 10:12 AM) Getting ready to put it all on Hahn, I see. Citing articles you can't find Right on cue Oh, you'll be happy to know that I found it. https://www.fanragsports.com/mlb/inside-bas...ework-starters/ But don't worry, I will credit him if the Sox sign Robert.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 20, 2017 -> 09:01 AM) I didn't see this last night, but it sure seems like McGuffey believes it will be the Cardinals https://mobile.twitter.com/RyanMcGuffey/sta...773046656897024 Yea he says the Cards offered more money. No reason for Robert to not take top offer; especially someone his age at the beginning of his career. I also read this morning one column (I thought it was Heyman but I can't find it) that said Hahn may be "pulling back" from Robert.

Just speculating based on need. Orioles - I don't know what their farm has, but they need pitching. Rangers - Need him especially with Darvish upcoming FA. Brewers - if the Cubs aren't the Cubs, this division is lousy. I don't know if the Brewers are for real, but if they are, their pitching could use an upgrade. Note that in 2015, year 1 of Astros resurgence, they were packing off prospects; Milwaukee per reports also has deep farm. Cardinals - Their 5 starters are doing pretty well and the one who isn't is Wainright. Still, they seem a bit flimsy and things could change in 2 months. Mariners - Their rotation has been devastated. The record is poor, but this was a definite "go for it" year. Is it still?

QUOTE (Buehrlesque @ May 17, 2017 -> 11:01 AM) While I agree it's premature to pencil Yolmer in as an everyday 2B, or to say his presence has much effect on Moncada, I would quickly and happily move Moncada to CF to make room for Yolmer if need be. Moncada will be up for his bat — IMO there's not reason to shoehorn him to 2B where he'll never be elite defensively when he could play CF, where he has a chance to be. I would hate to lose Yolmer's glove (or anyone's for that matter) just because we thought Moncada has to play 2B in the majors, when his bat will play anywhere and his speed + arm would transfer well (maybe even better) to the OF. If that's true, why isn't Moncada playing CF right now? The Sox have zilch in CF on the radar (unless they are thinking Tilson, and that requires some major Ouiji board work). It's a lot easier to find a 2B than a CF.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 17, 2017 -> 10:25 AM) The scary part is all of the posters who apparently think they know more about prospects than the White Sox, yet want the White Sox to go into a total rebuild. Hardly. Just pointing out that the Sox don't know enough (and they have been worse when evaluating veterans).

Robertson was dinked and doinked last night, complements of a lead-footed outfield (which hopefully will be addressed at some point). I'm sure teams interested in Robertson will have scouts in games, so they will be able to read below the stats.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 16, 2017 -> 05:25 AM) BS. If you can find the Brandon Allen trade thread, there definitely was a post guaranteeing him a future all star. If you get enough Brandon Allens you'll get an all star, which is the point of trades in a rebuild. You need 2/3 prospects per position. It would be gold if the Sox could trade a middle reliever with the credentials of Tony Pena (ERA above 4; WHIP above 1.5) for a prospect with the credentials of Brandon Allen. But the Sox can't trade with themselves. Not surprisingly, Pena pitched as badly for the Sox as he did for Arizona. No one knows what Tatis will become, just like no one knew what Allen would become. But with the Sox scrambling to load up with top prospects, giving one away (and apparently not realizing what you gave away) is just galling.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 15, 2017 -> 09:21 PM) Realistically, we're stuck with Frazier and Cabrera right now. Who else are you talking about that has legit value? Nate Jones? Abreu (who we all agreed was likely to stick around for awhile longer)? Saladino? Rodon? Anderson? Avi, Davidson, Leury and Yolmer Sanchez still have pretty limited trade value. That leaves Holland, MiGo, Swarzak and Kahnle if the right offer comes in, along with Robertson. Swarzak will be a FA, so he pretty much has to go. Swarzak and Robertson should be very valuable in July. Swarzak actually had some pretty good peripherals last year (just gave up a lot of homers) which might create more depth to his value. And then anyone in the current bullpen could go. Holland if he pitches well. Frazier, Melky if they wake up. I realize that most of these guys won't bring anything currently ready, but the Sox need A and AA players with some potential and these guys can bring 1 or 2 of those. The good farms stock their low minors consistently, often through international investment; the Sox really don't, so this is a way to achieve the same goal. As for Leury, if he's a .720 OPS hitter legitimately, he has value; maybe value the Sox should keep. Playing SS and CF allows a team to add an additional bat and go with one less no-hit utility player. Year after year, when going for it, the Sox used 2 spots on utility players who couldn't hit.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ May 15, 2017 -> 04:27 PM) They didn't take on the contract. The Padres at 2/3's of it. If Shields comes back and pitches decently, the Sox will probably be able to find a suitor for him before that contract is over. The Sox took on slightly less than 1/2 of that contract. $10 million a year. Yes, the Sox gave a solid prospect when Shields was pitching horribly, so if he turns around and pitches decently, the may recoup some of it.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ May 15, 2017 -> 04:24 PM) Good thing they control him for 3 more seasons after this one, then. Because they aren't trading him unless they get at least 2 elite prospects. Fantastic - the Sox don't need him in 2 of those years, and possibly 3, but they'll have him. And I suspect that will happen to a lot of the players who the Sox should be full-bore on moving. They'll still have them.