Kalapse

Type A's: YES Scutaro Betancourt Valverde NO Dye Dotel Gregg Polanco Tejada Hawkins Cabrera (can't) Damon Wolf O. Hudson Almost no one is being offered arbitration.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 03:21 PM) Just curious... we have some minor league free agents in the system, i.e. Ehren Wassermann, the infamous David Cook, Restovich, etc. For minor league FA's, is there a deadline for when they need to be signed by current team? Any good source of info on where they go? Also, guys like Wassermann who have played in the majors (like Williams last year), are you considering them on the list? I don't think there's a deadline, once they're minor league free agents they're free to sign with any team, if you don't think they can re-sign them and don't want to risk losing them then you can add the player to the 40 man roster but other than that they can sign where ever they want at any time once they file. As for the second part: no, players like Wassermann are of little to no consequence, these are mostly Major League free agents. The list would be ridiculously long if I included minor league free agents with a cup of coffee on their resume.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 02:29 PM) Which Type A's will be offered arbitration? So far: YES Scutaro Betancourt Valverde NO Dye Dotel Gregg Polanco Tejada Hawkins Cabrera (can't)

Rotoworld continues to confuse: I'm also almost positive that Hawkins is a Type A.

QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 02:31 PM) Harden is a no. He's also not a type A. I've been crossing out the Type B's on the free agent list, they're of far less significance than the Type A's.

I don't think the guys at Rotoworld totally grasp how free agent compensation works, a lot of their explanations don't make a whole hell of a lot of sense. Especially this one:

Which Type A's will be offered arbitration? So far: YES Scutaro Betancourt NO Dye Dotel Gregg Polanco

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 02:00 PM) Kalapse, I am going to specifically ask you about what I posted earlier. What are your thoughts on Murphy? Probably not. During his peak he was very good given the horrendous error of offense in which he played but he had only 6 exceptional seasons and outside of his prime years he did next to nothing. I'd have a tough time putting someone with his underwhelming career numbers in the hall but given that Jim Rice went in last year and Murphy does have 2 MVPs I wouldn't get too worked up about it if he were elected. He wouldn't get my vote. Though personally, I have higher standards for the Hall of Fame, there are more than a few players that I'd love to kick out. Do you want to put in Mattingly? Keith Hernandez? Because I sure as hell don't. I don't think Murphy is significantly better than either.

The team pays them whatever they see fit as long as it's at or above the league minimum of $400K and coincides with wage reduction rules (you can lower a player's salary only so much from the previous season). For example: Quentin made $550K last season in his final year before arbitration as did Jenks in '08 while John Danks made $520K and Brent Lillibridge $0.4025M. So the Sox felt Quentin was worth 38% over the minimum, Jenks 41% (the minimum was $390K in '08), Danks 30% and Lillibridge .625%.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 01:34 PM) The Sox have been pretty consistent about being one of the respectable payroll teams each year. I'm glad they're waiting this offseason out. When Konerko comes off the books then you'll have enough money to address the middle-of-the-order problem in a legitimate free agency way. You can tell when Kenny sets his mind on filling a spot during an offseason. He made plays for Torii and Fukudome before settling on Swisher. This year is a wait-and-see, and part of that will be seeing if they can get by a year with scrap heap guys that could pan out. But with Peavy in place I think they're seeing '10 as a maybe-we'll-contend year...with '11 as an aim-at-contention year. I don't think that's true at all, I find it strange that anyone would jump to such a conclusion before we even hit the Winter Meetings. Kenny's moves this offseason haven't hinted that way at all, if anything they're hinting in the opposite direction with the veteran bench he's putting together, it's the sort of thing teams with Championship aspirations tend to do.

QUOTE (balfanman @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 01:32 PM) Once again, I'm not necessarily disagreeing, but we are looking at potential here. There are probably a hundred or more options out there that can "potentially do" what Dotel does. Dotel is not a lock to perform as his usual self either, but I believe that he is a much safer bet than most any other name that I've heard is available. I would hate to miss the playoffs next season mainly because our bullpen sucked when we had a piece in our grasp and let him go. I think that we tremendously under value what Dotel has done the last couple of seasons. You may well be correct, I just don't know. I only hope that K. W. and his scouting staff make the right decision here. You seriously believe he's worth $6.5M? Even if it means we'd have to go cheap in filling one of our other holes? You can sign guys for next to the minimum and get similar odds to that of Dotel that they'll help your pen in 2009. For $6.5M you can sign 10 guys and odds are one or two of them will have a very good year, that's how bullpens work. Somehow I doubt we'll miss the playoffs due to the absence of Octavio Dotel and I've been one of his biggest defenders over the past 2 years, even before it became fashionable to do so.

The Phillies signed Brian Schneider to a 2 year, $2.75M deal Masa Kobayashi is headed back to Japan, he was quite a bust. I remember there being more than a few angry posters when we didn't even make an attempt to sign him 2 years ago. He turned out to be a tremendous waste of money for the Indians. People wondered why the Rockies declined their '10 team option on Rafael Betancourt, well he's a type A free agent and one of the most desirable middle relievers in free agency so they will be offering him arbitration. They obviously feel that 2 draft picks > 1 year of Betancourt at $5.4M. I find it hard to disagree with them.

QUOTE (Middle Buffalo @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 12:04 PM) McGwire was named in a FBI investigation as a user before the BALCO and Congress stuff. http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/sports...bi_informa.html He wasn't pursued because the focus of the investigation was on the dealers, not users. Another interesting point in the investigation is that Reggie Jackson is good friends with the guy said to have supplied/injected McGwire several times. Who knows how far back steroid use in baseball really goes? I totally forgot about this. There's your smoking gun.

December 7th-10th in Indianapolis

QUOTE (balfanman @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 09:53 AM) That's all well and good, and I'm not necessarily disagreeing, but you do risk losing him that way. Would Dotels value be replaced by whoever replaces him in the bullpen? I'm not talking about financial value, I'm referring to performance. Takashi Saito could potentially do what Dotel does, you can find that kind of production. It's not worth paying him 2+ times what he's worth just because you don't want to risk losing him. For no team in baseball is Octavio Dotel worth ~$6.5M a year let alone one that bumping up against their budgetary ceiling. And just because they're not going to offer him arbitration doesn't mean they won't at least attempt to bring him back at a more palatable price.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Dec 1, 2009 -> 12:24 PM) When do we find out how much, the arbitration eligible players on the Sox roster, are going to make next year? Mid-January. The arbitration filing period is the second week in January, they exchange figures on on the 19th and the hearings are held the first 3 weeks of February so you'll see 1 year deals handed out after the filing period.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Nov 30, 2009 -> 11:39 PM) I don't want any part of his bat. What? A sub .300 OBP from a largely offensive position doesn't excite you?

Alex Cora signed with the Mets; 1 year, $2M Jason Larue re-signed with the Cardinals The shortstops are dropping like flies.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 30, 2009 -> 04:01 AM) First full 9 seasons, who's who? .334/.427/.628/1.055 366 HR 387 2B 811 BB 570 K 172 OPS+ .320/.439/.581/1.020 337 HR 350 2B 1144 BB 781 K 168 OPS+ It's easy enough to figure out, but considering Thomas was entering his post-prime seasons after the huge offensive explosion with only one huge year between 98-02, it's amazing the first 9 years he had and the career he had. I said it in the Thomas HoF thread, and I completely stand by the thought that he was the top right handed hitter of the 1990s, the second best offensive threat of the 1990s, and I'm sure I could come up with some type of argument as to why he was the best pure hitter of the 1990s too, but I'm drunk and tired. For more fun, consider Thomas's seasons before 1998... .330/.452/.600/1.053 257 HR 246 2B 879 BB 582 K 182 OPS+ Suck on that, Pujols! Only 3 right handed hitters put up a .320+ AVG and .950+ OPS in 3000+ PA between 1990 and 1999. Frank Thomas (.320/1.013), Mike Piazza (.328/.966, didn't play in '90 or '91) and Edgar Martinez (.322/.962). It's not much of a contest.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Nov 30, 2009 -> 01:42 PM) IIRC, the Sox' bullpen FIP (fielding independent pitching) was 3.92. That was the 6th lowest in all of baseball. So that suggests with a little better team defense (we were arguably the worst defensive team in 2009) our overall bullpen ERA would've been considerably lower. The bullpen LOB% was 74.3. Good for 11th in all of baseball. Overall, I'd say the bullpen was slightly below average. Nothing like the disaster that was 2007. But I agree with you. I've had it with relievers and their volatility. People that are suggesting we go out and spend legitimate change to upgrade the bullpen are the same ones that are criticizing the team for overpaying for Linebrink/Dotel. I'm content going into 2010 with Bobby (assuming we don't trade him), Linebrink, Thornton, D.J., Pena and some combination of Hudson, Nunez, Link or Santeliz. If we can get a guy like Saito for cheap, I'm all for it. But whatever financial flexibility we have left should go into upgrading the OF/DH. This post is very much out of the ordinary for you. Your numbers are sound, their bullpen FIP was indeed 6th lowest in baseball but only 1 of the 5 teams ahead of them was an AL ballclub (Oakland), so the White Sox's bullpen had the 2nd lowest FIP in the AL this is due to their great K/BB (4th best in baseball) and middle of the pack HR/9. You're absolutely right, spending big money on bullpen arms is a losing proposition, rarely does a team shell out an 8 figure deal on a 30+ year old setup man and get anywhere near full return on their investment. Last season 7 years and $27.25M were shelled out to Damaso Marte, Kyle Farnsworth and Juan Cruz, 3 of the 4 highest paid non-closer relief pitcher's in free agency. 2 years ago it was 13 years and $54M for Scott Linebrink, David Riske, Ron Mayhay, Luis Vizcaino and Masa Kobayashi. 3 years ago it was 19 years and $95.3M for the top 6 relievers: Miguel Batista, Danys Baez, Justin Speier, Jamie Walker, Scott Schoeneweis and Chad Bradford. You don't fix a bullpen through high priced free agent middle relievers.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Nov 29, 2009 -> 10:32 AM) http://www.i-yankees.com/?p=11938 A couple of things: 1.) Could the Sox top offer better the Red Sox? Trading for Ramirez, signing Nick Johnson, resigning Pods. Lineup: 7 Pods 4 Beckham 6 Ramirez 3 Johnson 9 Quentin B Konerko 2 AJ 8 Rios 5 Teahan I estimate that Ramirez, Johnson, and Pods would add $16M to the payroll which could be partially offset by saving $7M and non-tendering Jenks. Payroll would be at ~$90M pending arbitration cases 2.) If the Red Sox do trade for Ramirez it would have to take them out of the running for Adrian Gonzalez based on the prospects they'd have to give up opening the door for a trade to the Sox. I really expect KW to find his #3 hitter for the next 5 years this offseason. Ramirez, Gonzalez, or Upton. No, no they can't. The Marlins aren't trading Hanley Ramirez and if they do it won't be to the Sox unless they're absolutely head over heals in love with Gordon Beckham and our top 5 to 7 so prospects.

Induction into the Hall of Fame isn't a right, it's a privilege and precedent has been set that if you're believed to have used steroid -- regardless of the lack of a positive test -- you're not going to be elected. It's not a court of law, it's a vote so public and personal opinion are the only things that really matter here and when you have as much smoke surrounding you as McGwire does there's got to be a fire and that's more than enough to keep him out. Add in the fact that he's not considered an all-time great and doesn't even have an MVP award on his resume he's not even going to come close.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Nov 27, 2009 -> 09:34 PM) The Sox had an above average lead off hitter just last season. Above average compared to what? The average line for an AL leadoff man in 2009 was .284/.355/.420/.775 and a 76% SB percentage.

QUOTE (knightni @ Nov 27, 2009 -> 07:52 PM) I don't see why McGwire should be penalized by the media if there is no proof of a positive test. When you're asked directly if you used and you refuse to give an answer you're not going to get a lot of sympathy.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Nov 27, 2009 -> 09:06 PM) Roberto Alomar is a near lock IMO regardless if people did vote for him cuz he rocked a sox uni. His numbers compare favorably to some of the greatest 2B of all time (Joe Morgan), he was unbelievable at his peak and he's one of the greatest defensive 2B of all time. Yeah, he's a lock. 12 All Star games (9 starts) 10 Gold Glove awards 4 Silver Sluggers 5 finishes in the top 6 of MVP voting 1 World Series ring (hit. 480/.519/.640/1.159 during the series, if it weren't for Molitor he would have been the MVP) .313 career postseason hitter Over a 10 year span ('92-01) he put up a .315/.393/.482/.875 line and won 9 gold gloves, he had four .900+ OPS seasons in the time span