GreenSox

Do we still have a shot at that #11 guy? Or does it depend on how much $$ is left after this signing?

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 03:04 PM) There is no future catcher ready to get valuable major league experience. Thus, bringing back AJ at league minimum has no downside. How do you know that. Nieto was a quality A ball catcher last year. .285/.373/.449. Heck that looks better than some Cub top 20s out of A ball. Ready? No. Future catcher? May be. Time will tell. AJ is not a good player anymore and he has a grating personality - that is the downside. And if they do it to sell tickets - that's no better than having a Beanie Baby Sunday.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 02:16 PM) Is AJ the long-term answer? No. Is Tyler? No. Is AJ a better player than Tyler? Yes. Will AJ cost you much? No. I fail to see the argument against. His personality is grating. Heck he was yakking at Carroll from 1B the other night. He's not a very good player anymore. Better to give Nieto or Phegley some action.

NO!

Alcantra's the Cub prospect that's hitting really well (aside from Bryant) and has improved in AAA. Baez has an OBP barely above .300 in AAA and is striking out 1/3 of the time. But far be it from me to suggest he may not be "can't miss". Schwarber was widely considered a reach, but he's mashing A ball so add another future all star to the list I guess. Cubs used to do really well in trades for guys just coming into their prime: they got Derrick Lee, Aramis Ramirez and Garza for basically nothing. Worked pretty well for them.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 12:56 PM) Seattle is perhaps the worst park for hitters in baseball. Guys like Ackley may have a bat that will better fit in at USCF than at SafeCo. I would certainly take a flier on him as a throw in on a deal. Trading Viciedo for a RP is just dumb when that is really the only thing that our farm system develops consistently. Ackley's road ops is lousy too. And he has 16 homers in 900+ road ABs. And like I said, need more than than Maurer, whom I certainly would look to try to convert back to a starter anyway - that's the possible upside with him. Honestly, I think Seattle is a team that needs some of our players, but I don't think we need what they have available.

QUOTE (striker @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 11:11 AM) I'm intrigued by both Ackley and Franklin. Both have raked in the minors but haven't gotten over that hump in the majors. They both have good BB rates, would be upgrades defensively and would cost less. How about De Aza and Viciedo for Ackley and Franklin? You could use our infield surplus to try and get a catcher or pitching. What's intriguing about Ackley - he can't hit a lick. He walks a little, but his obp and ops are horrid. Franklin's not a top defender. Don't see much upside with Ackley at all; maybe with Franklin if he can start hitting. Prefer Maurer (upside, but he's not enough). QUOTE (striker @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 11:11 AM) Then ship Beckham to Yankees for Murphy. In our dreams. He's definitely the Yankee catcher prospect I'd want.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Jul 8, 2014 -> 11:44 PM) I'm sure there have been some all-star catchers and some good defensive catchers who have lead the league in passed balls. That doesn't mean much at all. Why not? That's his job - to catch the ball. Does he make great blocks to compensate? It seems to me it would be like fielding errors: lack of errors doesn't mean much; but making errors does.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 8, 2014 -> 08:53 PM) You mean like Hermanson, Vizcaino, Pods, Dye, AJ and El Duque? Use Youkilis as your example - he who was declining, whom we got for cheap in terms of players but who had a high salary, but who ended up carrying us into contention in 2012. Dye (good year before we signed him) and AJ (1 bad year) weren't declining like Craig and we got each absolutely dirt cheap. No 3/25 or 4/38. Pods was Pods. Bullpen can be 100 for all I care.

His numbers have declined for each of the last 3 seasons. I trust we've left the approach of adding declining veterans in the rear view mirror. And, indeed, we shouldn't buy high either. (Seth Smith is 32 and essentially a platoon player) Find and sign players that we think will improve.

I think seeing success at A and AA is exciting. that's how farm systems are built. Drafts are getting better. Foundation.

Hopefully Nieto will get more work after the all star break.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 8, 2014 -> 11:21 AM) Interesting to see Addison Reed on the trade market again. We should check out Detwiler and Doubront (lefty again, so that works a bit against him) for the back end of the rotation. Among outfielders, there's Cuddyer, Quentin, three Phillies (Brown, Mayberry and Revere) as well as Desmond Jennings. Jennings and Brown would seem to be the most interesting...as Cuddyer is likely to stay in COL. Not interested in any of those guys. Some are just mediocre/bad players. We have clones of most of them as it is. Detwiler's been declining since he turned 27.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Jul 8, 2014 -> 10:53 AM) Quintana is the only trade legitimate trade chip that will bring back a significant amount of talent that can help in the near term. The Sox have consistently struggled to attract top tier talent in free agency, so if this team is going to improve it is going to need to be through the trade market. A deal with the Jays with Beckham for Sanchez, Norris and Pompey would be something to consider. Based on his age, contract status, and performance, he should have as much value as Smardzjia did in a deal. He should have much MORE value than Smardzija in a deal. Much more. That said, no one was going to give all of that for Smardzija. I would consider trading him for, say, Stromand and Sanchez and one other of their best. But really, they should see what Alexei will bring. Time to sell high.

Ridiculous. NO

Hope the Sox keep their minds eyes open. I'd be willing to trade Quintana for, say, the package the Cubs were asking from Toronto for Samrardzija.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Jul 7, 2014 -> 08:11 PM) Phegley with his 13th home run (Probably would be better then Flowers in the hitting department) I wonder if he's improved his catching at all.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 7, 2014 -> 08:18 PM) Please just DH Avisail Garcia next year. It would be easier to add a LH outfielder...like Rasmus or Cabrera...than fixing Garcia's defensive approach, or lack thereof. We've seen him play for 2 months. Good gracious.

If it's inconclusive, which it isn't, the safe call should stand.

EAton's clearly safe here.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jul 7, 2014 -> 01:55 PM) Also if Viciedo's floor is a bad defensive 4th OF and PH while Maurer's floor is a quality RP then I think we should accept that deal and be done with it if that's the best Seattle will do. But how can you say Maurer's floor is a high quality relief pitcher, when he's been nothing but a low quality pitcher over any sustained period of measurement thusfar? So to me, another piece is warranted.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 7, 2014 -> 01:44 PM) How much do we have to see of Viciedo to realize he's a bust? I'd trade him now following a good series. Trade him to the M's. They had to be impressed at the 4-hit game. Get a catcher with promise and a pitcher with decent upside and that's good enough. No one will pay that if they think he's a bust. I think that would be a fair return, actually. Nieto and our AA catcher are getting a little interesting. I wish I had a sense of their defense, however. Hope to see Nieto in a little more action the 2nd half.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jul 7, 2014 -> 11:37 AM) If we can get a Maurer type out of Tank then, while maybe "underwhelming" at first according to the numbers, that could be a huge benefit to us. Maurer has a good arm. We don't know if he can be fixed - he has the talent to be fixed. But his production has been decidedly worse than Viciedo's and Seattle's the team in imminent need, so I would hope we could add another piece.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 7, 2014 -> 12:42 PM) I still completely disagree. No big deal; we certainly weren't going to get a ton anyway. Texas will probably move him this month - we'll see what they get.

I would lean toward keeping Danks and try to move him next year, barring some nice offer. A lot of money is coming off of the books this year anyway, and with his spot in the rotation, we won't have to rush a player, reach on a Free Agent, etc. I don't know what happened with Rios last year - we certainly got underpaid for him. We might have asked for too much in July, and then just settled in August just to get him off the team. I really would solicit offers for Alexei.