GreenSox

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jan 31, 2014 -> 10:37 PM) Colby Rasmus is going to have a lot of suitors next offseason and they'll be the biggest spenders. The Sox aren't going to win the bidding for him. As far as signing a pitcher goes, I think that rotation is a problem that needs to be addressed. A mid-rotation contract for Jimenez or Santana would be a wise investment at this point given their future payroll comittments. Blue Jays gave stupid big contracts to Wells and Rios, so why not another stupid contract for Rasmus.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 30, 2014 -> 06:30 PM) Leury Garcia's mostly being blocked by Alexei Ramirez and possibly Beckham. He needs to be playing everyday in Chicago or Charlotte if he's EVER going to amount to a credible enough offensive force to play everyday, most likely Charlotte...which is probably why they're holding onto Ramirez and Beckham for another 3-4 months, to make sure L.Garcia/Semien/C.Sanchez have developed enough to be exposed to everyday play the big leagues. You could even make the same argument with Davidson, that they could hold him back 1-2-3-4 months and perhaps get something out of Keppinger/Gillaspie. That may also be while the claimed Elmore. Given the current structure of 2 DHs on the roster and likely 2 3b, they'll need a bench player who can play middle infield and OF. If they want to give L Garcia legitimate work at the plate in AAA, which I Hope they do, Elmore comes in as super sub.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 30, 2014 -> 02:19 PM) Leury/Elmore/Danks/? That goes to the "not worth a s***" part. Why would anyone waste time caring if Leury Garcia was on a major league roster? So we can win 79 games instead of 78 this year? Garcia is 21 years old, and a plus defender, plus runner, and can play multiple positions. He's hardly a "not worth a ...." player. Actually, keeping Dunn increases the likelihood that L Garcia sticks as we'll need defensive flexibility on the bench. But a year in AAA for L Garcia would be fine as well.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 30, 2014 -> 02:21 PM) You should have heard the guys I talked with in Kanny talk about Rondon. A scout, the team manager, their PR/radio guy and a coach all said things about his defense that were amazing. Tommy Thompson, the manager for Kanny last year (moves up to WS this year) said he had never seen a better defender in his time coaching and managing in the minors ever. I myself only saw one significant play, but he made a play most 2B's can't even attempt look like he could have done it in his sleep. Thanks for the insight. Sounds like Iglesias, except that .200 in A ball might translate to .100 in the majors if he can't develop the bat. Now if they do work out a trade for Nieto, they'll still have to keep him on the 40 man after the season so that he doesn't get Rule fived from them, right?

Law completely blew it on Sale...there's no debating that. He says Cooper taught him the slider after drafted...whatever. But everyone who evaluates makes some real howlers. Law is dogmatic, which makes him obnoxious; BP is dogmatic (although not nearly as bad as they used to be; Kevin Goldstein changed that to a large extent when he was on staff).

Butch Wynegar was an all star catcher right out of the box. Nieto has a much lower bar to stick, and I bet he does. * Phegley back to AAA. I'm bullish, or maybe just hopeful, on Mitchell. He was also very raw for a college player when we drafted him. Longer development time doesn't surprise me. Also interested in that SS we got in the Peavy trade. *Reasons: 1)It's not a huge stretch to think he'll hit as well as Flowers or Phegley 2)The Sox are system-thin at catcher and he has the most potential as best I can tell. 3)Nats front office is notoriously difficult to deal with, making a trade problematic and likely unequal.

If Maddox can wear no hat....

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 29, 2014 -> 01:37 PM) For what we would have to give to get Price, it makes zero sense for the Sox. It doesn't make sense for most teams. Price has only 2 years left. Rays are contenders. They need a haul to part with him but no non-contender is going to give anywhere near a haul for 2 years. There's just a big gap between what he's worth to the RAys and what he's worth to most teams.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 29, 2014 -> 01:14 PM) But oddly that was not the reason Law undervalued him. He thought he couldn't start because hehad an average breaking ball and wouldn't be able to repeat his delivery. Exactly. He completely missed on Sale's ability, beyond his fear of injury. But none of these prospect guru guys are close to perfect. Law is interesting to read.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Jan 25, 2014 -> 01:15 PM) I could go both ways on that. (Prefacing this: It's obviously still early and many things can and will change.) Unfortunately at this point in time, there is a clear top two tier of Rodon/Hoffman, then a drop off in talent level. There is no clear cut number 3 pick. You could make a feasible argument for MANY players at 3 right now. Kolek, Jackson, Turner, Gatewood, Gettys, Beede, Touissant, Holmes etc. If there is little distinction in who the Sox think the BPA is amongst the players available at 3, grab the cheaper guy and spread the savings on the premium tougher signs later. It helps stock the farm and creates depth for the apparent goal of having a more self sustained organization. The Royals did it last year by grabbing Hunter Dozier at 8, which enabled them the money to sign Sean Manaea later. The Astros did it in 2012, taking Carlos Correa 1st, allowing them to sign McCullers & Rio Ruiz with the savings. It's an interesting option, but if for whatever reason the Marlins don't take Hoffman the Sox better pounce on that. That's just giving away the number 3 pick, if you drop too low. Correa was a top 3 consensus pick....#3 on most boards, but top 3. And the #1 guy didn't get picked til #8 because everyone knew he wouldn't sign...and he didn't. So, yea, if the Sox are going to drop to #5 and do that, it's fine. But if they get a #10 talent, that's just giving away the #3 pick.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Dec 21, 2013 -> 12:35 PM) First order of business in the next CBA should be the trading of draft picks. Only if for other draft picks.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Jan 29, 2014 -> 10:43 AM) Isn't it possible that De Aza opens the season as the starting CF? The Sox could get Eaton warmed up in Charlotte while showcasing De Aza for a trade in June. It keeps Eaton's service time down and allows the Sox to market their assets in the outfield. Plus you get your young core of Semien, Eaton, Davidson, and Sanchez playing together everyday. If the Sox wanted to do that, they'd have traded for a CF prospect instead of a ML ready CF.

These players like Keppinger are going to have to be dressed up before they can trade them. If we're going to give him away for organizational minor leaguers, just DFA him and be done with it. So we put DAvidson in AAA and not rush every decent young player for a change. It will also give Gillaspie another year to see what he has going for him. We'll move De Aza, when teams get desperate, likely in July. Until then, have a good OF bench for a change - nice change from DeWayne Wise. If Dunn has good first half, he should be a relatiely easy flip in July, as he has an expiring contract. Keppinger will be more difficult, as we're on the hook for another year with him.

1. Eaton 2. De Aza* 3. A. Garcia 4. Abreu 5. Alexei* 6. Beckham 7. Dunn 8. Gillaspie 9. Nieto If Vic plays, he hits 5th and Alexei 2nd

Utter insanity to pay big money and a draft pick for inconsistent pitchers like Santana or Jiminez. We've made good progress. Keep doing it.

Just have to grow your own, as long as teams lose a high draft choice for signing one of these guys.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Jan 23, 2014 -> 02:21 PM) Garza went for less than expected so the timing makes a ton of sense to grab a guy like Santana right now. We would have to give up a comp pick (2nd round), but either A) you keep him and he makes a reasonable $14M-$15M per year. B) You flip him next year and get back a ton more than the 2nd round pick or C) he flops and Jerry can only go to the Bahamas twice this year . But seriously, with a seemingly down market and SP always held at a premium at the trade deadline I think it makes a ton of sense. Of course I'm realistic and realize there is a very slim chance of this actually happening. Both of the top guys are inconsistent as heck, and have a draft choice attached. Frankly, I can't imagine anyone signing them. And we're trying to get a farm system up to merely average levels, so no way do we give up a draft choice.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jan 21, 2014 -> 12:51 AM) I'm okay with losing out on Tanaka if it means we then sign Garza, Jimenez, Burnett, or Richard. Then trade Erik Johnson and De Aza for a catcher. Absolutely not. I wouldn't sign any of those nor trade E Johnson. That will put us right back in the cycle we've been in since the WS.

We still have a bottom quartile farm system. We don't need to be trading our young players yet.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jan 2, 2014 -> 04:18 PM) I really don't think Garcia can hit well enough to even be a bench player at this point. Roll with Elmore. Might take Elmore over an OF, even, and have a normal 4 man bench. I think he can. He's also a prolific base-stealer, so he can put himself in scoring position. Not bad for the 9 hitter (presuming Ventura figures out that that's where he needs to be). He can play IF or OF. But AAA isn't a bad idea for a year either.

I get the feeling, via Elmore another things, that they may want to put L Gracia in AAA and see if he can develop to become a regular ML shortstop, rather than just accepting the role as super utility player.

Start Davidson in AAA. Let Connor and Keppinger platoon, which is not ideal, but we need to try to let Keppinger get his hitting groove back so we can dump him. Unless Connor starts hitting a lot better, he doesn't have much of a place as a back up 3B (need someone who can play middle infield on the bench), but he could still have value, so no use giving him away just yet. I just think Hahn has pieces still to move, we have a minor league system that still needs a lot more talent to give us proper depth, but it takes time. We should be ready to roll in 2015.

QUOTE (Benchwarmerjim @ Dec 2, 2013 -> 07:56 PM) the Twins have roughly 30-40 million dollars waiting to be spent. Even with Mauer's big contract, money is not the issue, especially with the new national TV revenues coming in. And I hope they use every cent of it on players like Pelphrey and Nolasco

I don't like prematurely selling low on these guys with high ceilings. players get better when they are 26, 27 and 28. Look at Donaldson for the As last year. We know what De Aza is and it's not that hard to find.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 30, 2013 -> 01:53 PM) Frankly, with this outfield, no he shouldn't. Which guy under 25 shouldn't be out there every day? Jordan Danks is actually the perfect backup OF for this team. He brings defense at all 3 positions and nothings going to be shaken up if he's on the bench. De Aza is exactly the opposite, he's a tolerable starter on a number of teams in the big leagues. He should get at bats...and this team has none to spare out there. You can use him for pinch hitting, to give each guy a day off ever week, maybe some DH once in a while. He should be used and not just for that Sunday line-up deal. Ideally, we'd move Dunn and that will open more at bats for guys we need to primp and sell-off.