GreenSox

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 5, 2015 -> 02:14 PM) Better than the Saladino alternative I was thinking would happen, and I think it hints at the strong likelihood of Johnson winning the 2B job. That's who they want to win it, for sure.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jan 3, 2015 -> 09:17 PM) Things have been pretty slow around here, so I just wanted to create a discussion regarding how things have gone so far this off season and what you expect the rest of the off season. For me, I don't think I would of done a single thing different. I have loved every move so far whether it was the small Dan Jennings deal, to the huge deals with Samardzija, Robertson, and Cabrera. The rest of the off season, I would love to add Emilio Bonifacio, another bullpen arm (Adams? Crain? Cotts? Janssen? Ogando?), and possibly another starter depth wise. What are your guys thoughts? Well, you got your wish. I'm cool with the Bonifacio signing - beats trading from someone. to answer the question, I would have waited another year to go "all in" and wouldn't have signed Cabrera or Robertson yet, nor traded from Samardizja. (would have done most of the rest, though). Would have used some Samardzija or other assets to acquire a young outfielder instead. But given the decision to beef up this year, the execution was excellent.

Why the fear of rookies covering one position?

QUOTE (lvjeremylv @ Jan 2, 2015 -> 12:57 AM) *sigh* When's the last Sox position player prospect that amounted to anything near what Ben Zobrist will produce over the next 5 years? I agree Hahn probably wouldn't do it, but he really should if presented with the opportunity. NO, he really shouldn't. First, he has 1 year left on his deal, not 5. Second, he will be 34 year old next year, and the numbers have already tailed off a good bit over the last 2 seasons. Over the next 5? Yes, I would take my chances on young players. Third, his high WAR, as pointed out on here, is mainly from defense and defense from multiple positions. He would be 2B only and those defensive metrics are still in the dubious category anyway. (see DeAza with a positive war). And should I point out that his splits against RHP is a .703 OPS? he kills lefties. Looks like a platoon hitter these days. Top prospects for that? No way. Trade top prospects for young talent, not declining veterans.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jan 1, 2015 -> 11:24 PM) I think most of us here would peg the Sox for around 83-85 wins next season. Now add 4-5 wins to that for the difference between Zobrist and Carlos/Micah. I think 87-90 wins gives us a pretty great chance at a wild card. That being said, I don't think there is any chance the Sox get Zobrist because his asking price will be Anderson +, and that's just not something I can see Hahn doing. There is no team in MLB that would trade Andeson + for 1 year of Zobrist. He is ridiculously over-valued here, and his value is highly likely to continue decline given his age. In fact, his numbers are down a full 100 OPS points over the last 2 years, a fact ignored hereon.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 31, 2014 -> 12:47 PM) The question to ask in reply is...would you be willing to miss the playoffs this year if Sanchez and Johnson can't provide decent performance out of 2b? That presumes that the Sox would make the playoffs with the good old 34 year old veteran at 2nd. Dubious assumption. These Rays are like these As players...they are heavily managed. Their metrics absolutely max what they are - sort of like college teams who know how to gig the RPI. No reason to fawn all over these Rays players.

No, you don't do it. you don't trade our only decent OF prospect. Play the young players - don't squander them on 34 year olds on 1 year contracts The world doesn't end after the 2015 season. The idea is to contend for years...not make a bunch of short term moves on a team that is and will be less than 50% to make the playoffs.

Honestly, if the Sox are so fearful of, oh my gosh, a single young player in the lineup that they would sign a hack like Drew or woefully overpay for an aging sabre adoring Zobrist, then then when will a young player get a chance? It's like age is a security blanket and if we get lousy numbers at 2nd, at least they'll have the security of getting them from an old player.

I doubt any GM is loony enough to give a top 50 prospect for 1 year of a to be 34 year old and his .750 OPS. I believe 1 top 50 prospect has been traded this trade season...teams simply don't do that much anymore, and certainly not for aging veterans, so beloved in these parts. The Blue Jays made a terrible trade for Dickey. They made a terrible trade with the Marlins. That's what the Sox should emulate?

Lord no.

No reason it should be out of circulation. His was one of 30 or so numbers on the WS team; and he was a pretty good player for a long time. None of which warrants number retirement.

Sox have 2 players who can play nothing but 1st. Don't need a 3rd one. That messed up the roster last year.

If I come across as acerbic, i apologize. We all have ideas, and try to express them. Anyway, I don't take any of this stuff personally and I hope yall don't either. I just enjoy the discussion. And believe Longoria is overrated!

QUOTE (rowand's rowdies @ Dec 26, 2014 -> 10:59 AM) Hahn has been filling every need we have one by one. On this 10 year anniversary of the Rowand's Rowdies and the World Series victory, who are your recommendations (via trade or FA) for these 3 glaring needs? I for one don't think we need a catching upgrade, at least not yet. Flowers/Brantley/Kottaras should be ok until the summer, then it can be addressed. We still need: 1) A RH platoon option at DH/1B for LaRoache. If LaRoache sits against LHP, which he should a lot, Abreu can move to DH, but we need a RH 1B then too. 2) A RH platoon option for Conor at 3B. 3) A RH SP Depth Addition We don't have much $ to spend (or maybe we do?). Any ideas? There's a lot of baseball knowledge in this community and plenty of us called Shark and LaRoache, let's see how we can do finishing this roster off for a big 2015. I wouldn't do 1). I think they need a good 4th OF who can hit, and he could handle any platoon duties.

Hahn has done an excellent job. He has remade this roster in 2 trade seasons. He added a lot of talent, got rid of the bad attitudes and malingerers (although he signed the biggest malingerer, he got rid of him). He didn't saddle the team with any 7 year contract, didn't pay top dollar for decliners, and added to the number of top prospects. He didn't hire Ventura; Ventura's personality is fine with me - I just hope he improves his decision-making, which he probably will). Very happy with Hahn's work.

QUOTE (BigFinn @ Dec 26, 2014 -> 12:00 PM) But buyer beware: Koskie and Bradley were done after their age-33 seasons. Hollins, Spezio, Gilkey, and Randa were part-time players by age 34. Only Hoak, Lopez, and Mueller were still playing more-or-less full time into their mid-thirties. And only Bill Mueller played effectively into his mid-thirties. And that's the issue. People want to pay the full price of what these guys at or past their prime based on what they did IN THE PAST. Not what they are likely to do in the future (beside the fact that most are woefully overrating what Longoria did in the past). Zobrist's last 2 OBPS are around .750. That's modest and not coincidentally as he was 32 and 33. Maybe in July if in contention; but my goodness, you have to give some of the young players a chance. That and failing to understand that top prospects are rarely traded. Thankfully, Hahn understands that and their value.

QUOTE (LDF @ Dec 24, 2014 -> 10:23 AM) but what will the cost be to get him??? Anderson, Montas and Rodon? 3 top 100s, incl some elite, for longoria? Did I really read a comparison to Mike Schmidt? Pure comedy has come at Christmas time. And then when the egg nog wears off someone can explain how he he has 3x the value of Donaldson when they are similar players (albeit without the sportscenter fawning for Donaldson) when Donaldson has the superior contract that doesn't tie up a team during his declining years ( which are coming soon for longoria if not already underway)

Sierras the better 4th OF. He hits better than Danks and the late inning relief is needed for the corners , not cf. Sierra is good defensively at the corners If you want to give Eaton days off you still need someone who can hit a little and cover CF reasonably well. Danks' bat is just way lite. Or at least I can say that there is now way we have both Danks and L Garcia in reserve roles.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Dec 20, 2014 -> 09:00 PM) I gotta wonder if Hahn, or any other GM for that matter, is influenced by GM's like AJ Preller. Geez, that guy has some stones. Hahn going after Longoria for three prospects (not incl Anderson) + Gilaspie....Could be done. could be done. Hopefully, they don't. Of course Preller didn't trade his top prospects either. He protected most of his top prospects. The only 1 he traded was for Myers. This board would have all in on trading 3 top prospects for Myers. He traded the elite Grandal for Matt Kemp. It also helps when you have a strong farm system. Not a thin one like the Sox have.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Dec 21, 2014 -> 03:56 PM) "Hey [insert team scouts name here]. What do you think of Baez? Accept a Quintana for Baez swap? Maybe if they throw in Olt?" "Don't do it Rick. He either hits it really far, or strikes out. He does the latter more." "But...his prospect ranking." Or we'll throw in Bryant and Russell....you know, those prospects have zero value until they are proven veterans. Maybe we should have just given anderson for a 1/2 a year of Shark. He hasn't proven anything, while Phegley and Semien are proven solid backups.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 21, 2014 -> 11:23 AM) Minor league rankings are irrelevant. Oh, such and such a guy is rated highly, awesome. If that team's scouts have an aversion to that type of player, they are not going to trade for them. That would totally incorrect. Minor league rankings are a major factor in setting the trade value of a prospect.

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ Dec 20, 2014 -> 06:25 PM) You consider that a bad value trade? Two OFs, one of whom became a decent player, one of whom completely flamed out, and a C who never really had more value than a backup or below average starter. That is what the White Sox traded for at worst a #2 caliber starter and arguably a fringe ace. You call that bad value? If that's the case, then what on Earth would you consider good value? I consider that a horrible value trade if you want the truth. Jeremy Reed was a top prospect - top 5 in some reports. (right between Grienke and Prince Fielder). He didn't pan out, but he, himself, had more value than a rent of Freddie Garcia. We could have gotten a ton more for him. We also included our starting catcher who stayed in the league for another decade. We took a huge gamble there, with no one behind him. Fortunately, SF cut AJ. We also traded another outfield prospect who became a solid major leaguer and is still in the league. All of that for a 4 month rent of Garcia who was basically a 3 (maybe a low 2)? . Yes, it worked out. Bad value works out sometimes.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 06:16 PM) Casey McGehee to the Giants. Is he supposed to be the Sandoval replacement? Good lord.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 12:00 PM) Even in a down year, Longoria was still a very valuable player and he is signed to a very cheap deal. I think you are paying $20+ mill per year for Donaldson when he's the same age as Longoria and arguably is riskier in the short-term. That doesn't seem wise to me either. It's a moot point all together, as neither of these guys are getting dealt (again, in Donaldson's case). it's all premised on the notion that he maintains his .850 OPS for a number of years (which of course he didn't last year) and stays top flight defensively. My opinion is that he doesn't and that 2014 becomes the norm more often than the exception. He's a Tampa icon - they should keep him. I also don't like buying players for 6 from now at a past performance price. We'll find our own icons.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 04:07 PM) Given that you could have 4 front of the rotation guys for a fraction of the front of the rotation cost, I absolutely don't think you move away from that and instead use the financial resources you have on other areas of the ballclub. But you could and it would reasonable to do so. It's an option. that's all I was saying.