GreenSox

Regardless of what salary Dodger eat, the prospect return should be minimal.

Marin pitches well statistically, but the Sox release him, re-sign him only to send him to Mexico, bring him back. He does well as a starter, so they move him to the pen and then back again. It's weird. Which tells me that the Sox think he's a AAAA player.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jan 31, 2016 -> 04:26 PM) If they are .500 I think they will add and try to go to the playoffs. And then try again next year. They won't even consider selling off anything until middle of 2017 in my opinion. Why would they? This team should be in contention and can always add in season. Why should they be? Teams that win in this era have young talent, play elite defense and have strong bullpens...only one of which is a Sox priority; and they actually weakened that priority this offseason (bullpen) by trading Montas.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 31, 2016 -> 10:44 AM) I really would'nt be surprised to see the Sox sign one of Victorino, McLouth, Venable as platoon partners for Avi in RF. Not a prediction, just spit-balling. And those names are another reason why the Sox need to sign Austin Jackson. And what a boost he would give to this defense and doesn't cost a draft pick Signing Desmond would be inane. That's veteran for the sake of veteran. And this veteran would hurt the defense. Sox have a guy who can handle the position defensively, and a top prospect coming up.

If they are .500 they should "go for it" of course. A 10 game winning streak is just around the corner. Honestly, it depends on how they are .500 and what the division looks like at that point.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Jan 30, 2016 -> 11:17 PM) I feel like people are SEVERELY overrating the value of the compensation pick in this situation. Yeah, the Sox need to build their system, but they also need to win NOW while the core is cheap and young. For every Trout that gets picked 25th or so overall, there's also 25 Aaron Poreda's who flame out and never amount to anything significant. The bottom line in my opinion is that the Sox need to win now, and unless the guy that they plan on picking with the compensation pick is a lock (or as close to a lock that a draft pick can be) to contributing soon, I don't mind giving up the pick for the sure thing in Fowler who can help the team out significantly in the present. It's more than one pick. The additional pool allotment can allow you to get 2/3rd round talent in rounds 8-10 if you play it smart. I'm sure Hahn would like the opportunity to do that. Developing this farm is absolutely vital for the next wave. Look at the Astros; look at the Cubs. Their farms are so stocked they no longer have to worry about trading a few prospects for a player, because they have ample replacements below them. Fowler is simply not a difference maker.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jan 30, 2016 -> 10:15 PM) Don't sign Fowler until Jackson isn't available and you've exhausted trade opportunities. It would really sting to lose the 25th overall pick for him. Agree 100% Sox have a big opportunity with this draft and the allotments that they will get. Can't trade that away for an average player when you're trying to build for the long term.

Neither Turner nor Beck have anywhere near the credentials of E Johnson. They need to develop depth, but it also appears they don't trust Johnson (and he's not a Cooper guy). Maybe he's the one they should trade for a young OF.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 08:06 PM) When the Sox say Sanchez is competing to play at SS it is a formality. Well if he can't even legitimately compete for SS, that suggests he can't really play it which means he can't be utility infielder. So what is his situation in this org?

Desmond Jennings has been awful offensively the last 2 seasons. How's he any better than Shuck? He also relies on walking for what little OPS he has...walking doesn't usually translate well to the Sox. He's certainly no better than Austin Jackson.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 02:41 PM) FutureSox.com ‏@FutureSox 5m5 minutes ago "We want to see what Jacob Turner can do now that he's fully healthy." Re: 5th starter Scott Merkin ‏@scottmerkin 6m6 minutes ago Turner in mix for 5th starter. No innings cap on Rodon What about Turner makes the Sox think he's a ML pitcher? High ERA, High WHIP, low K rate. Coop has another "fix 'em" project in Kahnle for this bullpen, a player we traded a promising young A Ball pitcher for. Cooper has been presented with several of these hard throwers that lack control over the past few years, with less than exemplary results. It would be nice for this one to work out, as it wasn't a complete scrap heap pickup.

Who exactly is the Sox 2 hole hitter currently? It seems like a mighty big hole to me. Now Fowler is not great at it and is not worth the draft choice in my view. But I suspect they will do something I like even less, like clearing out the prospects not named Fulmer or Anderson for yet another proven NL veteran. As for the front office, it really should've been cleared out after last year's debacle. Just Williams getting a presidency somewhere elwould have give Hahn more freedom to make certain other adjustments. But whoever's in the front office, they are dealt a tough hand. They don't want to take the time to build the organization, but don't have the budget to get the necessary free agents. And when they trade for/ sign proven veterans, their hit rate is ridiculously low. They've got to cut down on the misses in the proven veteran category

I like that list. It's more dynamic than most of the others, and recognizes improvement and potential in the A ball players. It also recognizes a player like Alvarez, who had a sensational year, although he was old for the group. iI like the top five and they should not be touched.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 10:17 AM) 2) He is left-handed, which will help balance the lineup, and he tortures right-handed pitching (.304/.383/.507 career). Unfortunately he has never been good against lefties, and we might even benefit from sitting him against them in favor of Avi or Jerry Sands. The Sox performed second-worst in the majors against left-handed pitching last year and you might say that adding Ethier would exacerbate things, but the addition of Todd Frazier (.833 OPS career against lefties) and a likely correction in Jose Abreu's splits (.658 OPS vs LHP in 2015, 1.098 in 2014) will offset any additional problems caused by Ethier. Well the Sox wouldn't sit Dunn against lefties, wouldn't sit Laroche until the very end. So I wouldn't count on that. QUOTE (shysocks @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 10:17 AM) 3) He is primarily a corner outfielder so he doesn't require us to move Eaton around, something I'm not a big fan of. He got bad defensive marks at the beginning of his career, but in the last five years both DRS and UZR have him as essentially average. I would like a good fielder, I really would, but Ethier is a guy I can live with. Eaton's not a particularly adept CF, so I don't see a problem with moving him around. This is the kind of player the Sox should trade for Danks; or better, included in a throw in in return for all of the prospects for Frazier. Bottom line, you can't give up any young player above a C prospect for Ethier. As a contender, this team is and would be thin as a reed.

QUOTE (kevo880 @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 02:54 PM) Not much given up for Dickerson. Wish that would have been the Sox getting him. Nice value trade for Rays. The kind of trade the Sox should have been making the last 3 years.

QUOTE (shipps @ Jan 27, 2016 -> 02:54 PM) I think there is zero chance the Sox sign Desmond, which is fine by me btw. Hope you're right.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jan 26, 2016 -> 10:24 AM) Thoughts on Corey Dickerson? Rosenthal tweeted out this morning that some in the game think he's the most likely of the Colorado OFers to go. Rays are involved. Could come cheaper than the others as well. What would it take to get him? His injury is problematic. But in general, this is the kind of player that the Sox should target with their package of 3/4 ML ready prospects rather than 1 or 2 years of these veterans Williams is so attached to. I don't know where they come up with this artificial 3 year (now 2) year window in the first place. It certainly doesn't match Sale or Q's contract. Offer E Johnson for him

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Jan 25, 2016 -> 04:52 PM) Yeah for a poster who likes to harp on Frazier's 2nd half stats, Desmond had a higher WAR after the All-Star Break than the likes of Anthony Rizzo, JD Martinez, and Justin Upton, and was equal to Nolan Arenado. When you have to use 1/2 season stats to justify major investments, it kind of makes my point. Not to mention Desmond's defense is less than exemplary. I wouldn't have gotten either one of them. And a bad 2nd half wasn't the only reason I didn't want Frazier (bad splits; Sox terrible historical track record with NL sluggers; we had 3B hole filled adequately; Frazier cost 3 good ML ready prospects). Not getting one of the big 3 OF is a big miss. If we take Hahn at his word that he wants to build this org. so it consistently wins, you have to use the FA market, esp. one who wouldn't cost a draft pick. And when KW puts forth this artificial 3 year window, which is now year 2, when OF was as big a problem as 3B (bigger defensively last year), and yet they let these players pass, it speaks loudly of lack of coherent front office strategy.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 25, 2016 -> 06:31 PM) One thing I keep reminding myself is that Avi has set the bar so low that any upgrade could be a difference maker when compared to Avi. That's why I'm open to the idea of players I normally wouldn't want much to do with, like Markakis and Gardner. And those guys will cost legitimate young players. That's why the Sox needed to sign someone so as not to further deciminate an already thin pool of young talent.

Ian Desmond's OPS has gone down for 4 successive years. Last year it was .674. To expect that to suddenly change if he's on the Sox is howling at the moon. No way is that worth a draft choice. It's not a quality investment. The biggest weakness (among several weaknesses) on the Sox right is the abysmal OF defense. That could be mitigated somewhat by using Schuck consistently in late innings, if Ventura is up for it (but he wasn't last year; that may have been due partially, but not totally, because the Sox were behind so often in late innings). Given that the Sox gave up 3 young players for 2 years of Frazier, and weakened OF and BP in the process, they have to do something about the OF to at least give themselves a chance to contend. The idea of signing the averagish Fowler makes me queasy, but it would be better than Desmond. I'd still go cheap for now and get Jackson and see if he and Shuck can be used to field a defensive void.

QUOTE (shipps @ Jan 25, 2016 -> 12:47 PM) LOL I don't know if there has been a young guy who has been looked down upon more than Avi. At least not with the Sox. Young guys are generally looked down upon on here, if they are on the Sox. An equivalent young player on another team is someone the Sox should trade for. And still, Avi had a higher walk rate than Melky.

Who knows what went down. These media-driven notions that the Nats offer of 5/100ish was "higher" are silly....The Mets' 3/75 with an opt out is a much better offer. The Sox FO just doesn't execute very well, however. Seem to lack a coherent strategy and the ability to pull the trigger.

Signing Desmond would be ridiculous. He's nothing special, costs a high draft choice and salary. He would be adding a veteran for the sake of a veteran. If the Sox won't give young players a chance - and there's really only 1 position left - they'll never get anywhere. They may not be able to avoid Fowler -they've come this far loading up with KW "proven veterans" - but, as a basically averageish ballplayer, he's not worth the price either. Jackson's the best choice.

If Lagares was on the Sox with his .667 OF OPS, people would want him gone yesterday. We traded an defensive fielder (who raked in his cup of coffee) who was universally termed a "fourth OF."

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 22, 2016 -> 03:36 PM) The main frustration is the two steps forward, one step back thing. A year or so ago, it looked like we were really going to make a concerted effort to become at least a consistent top 12-18 farm system, but our jumping up in the ratings temporarily was more about the accumulation of high first round picks. If they had gone over budget one year and loaded up on international signings, dipped into South Korea (Kang, for example was available but "blocked" by Gillaspie and Davidson) or Japan, it just feels like Groundhog Day where we keep repeating the same exact pattern but expecting a different set of results. I agree with you. The Sox FO simply lacks the patience to build the org. They tried for one year, improved the team 10 games, and then the Kenny Williams philosophy roars back in. Trade 4 young players for 1 year of Shark...who by the way gave the Sox the SAME WAR he generally puts up, but for the career year that the Sox, predictably, chased. And they did the same thing this year. Trade young players ("fourth outfielder" they tell us) for 2 years of Frazier; but this time the NL slugger will finally slug....we hope....... They better get Cespedes, or the hole will only get deeper. They aren't standing pat: it will be lose a high draft choice for the averageish Fowler or load up the prospects for someone in July.