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QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 11:26 AM) Good thing you're not my teacher. At least I'm not kicking anyone out by giving them a C.

QUOTE (Baron @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 11:24 AM) Robert Murray ‏@RobertMurrayMLB 24s25 seconds ago Source: #WhiteSox also sending INF Rangel Ravelo to the #Athletics in the Samardzija trade. https://twitter.com/RobertMurrayMLB I can handle that. Now let's see who is coming back and who the 3rd player is going there (since we know the 4th).

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 11:22 AM) How the hell am I supposed to work??? Exactly, everyone gets a B in my courses. I can't concentrate on actually grading.

X-rays of each will be required before the transaction is complete.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 11:19 AM) We got Samardzija and Billy Koch. 2005 version of Cotts please.

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 11:14 AM) Susan Slusser ‏@susanslusser 14s15 seconds ago The #Athletics are actually getting four players in the Samardzija deal I hear. And #WhiteSox getting two. Susan Slusser ‏@susanslusser 22s23 seconds ago I don't think second player going to #WhiteSox is on #Athletics big league roster. Susan Slusser ‏@susanslusser 21s21 seconds ago It sounds as if Samardzija deal could be announced in next 20-20 minutes. #Athletics #WhiteSox The deal is starting to look worser and worser because it's curiouser and curiouser.

Unfortunately, for you, you are in the minority and the Sox are moving ahead

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 09:46 AM) Why would the 2 teams do that unless it was a guy who needed a 40 man spot? Waiting until late May to complete the deal & seeing how guys do early in the year? I wonder if it's dependent on a long term deal. It's x player if he signs and y player if he doesn't. They may be waiting for Lester to set the market. I can't remember a trade where 2 out of three names were released. It really doesn't make sense.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 09:27 AM) Those kind of numbers make sense to me. It's the people who say "oh just fix the bullpen and we're a .500 team or better" who I'm disagreeing with. I think the point was that both moves yesterday make them a .500 team. But I would take the stance that improving the bullpen does make them a .500 team. The As I said before the taking an average bullpen and trying to improve to make a difference may be difficult. However, taking the awful thing the Sox had last year and getting an 8 game improvement is feasible.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 08:39 AM) They had 21 blown saves in 57 chances. That was bad but it wasn't nearly the worst in the league. In fact, Oakland was worse and made the play in game, yet Billy Beane thinks his roster isn't there and is selling it all off. We also were towards the bottom of the league in going to the bullpen anyway, so "not needing to go to the pen" won't be very different from what we saw last year. Considering that teams often still win a small fraction of the games that they lose due to blown saves, getting to .500 with just improvement in the bullpen would require the White Sox not just to improve the pen to average, it would require them to improve to the best bullpen in the league from one of the worst. Do you think this pen is comparable to Kansas City? Oh, by the way, the White Sox's save percentage last year was 63%. The Yankees, with Robertson and Betances, was 69%. The Yankees were middle of the pack in that number. It is no where near KC but it's substantially better. i think that teams with average bullpens may fall into the category winning a small fraction of games do to blown saves. Chicago's was awful. The new bullpen guys will make a significant difference and JS will help even more. The sox had one of the lowest "needing to go to the pen" because no one truted it. now they will be able to go to some with confidence. Another 200 inning starter will improve this even more. This is the primary advantage JS brings. A 200 inning pitcher is highly valuable especially with a staff where the top of the rotation doesn't pitch alot of innings.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 08:24 AM) I think it's extremely unlikely Rodon has any shot of pitching his way onto the roster in spring training. The fact that he's never pitched more than 130 innings in a season ought to have told us that anyway, even if he'd made the roster we'd be in the "do we shut him down now" mess. I don't think this should change the plans for him at all. He starts in AA/AAA, pitches as a starter, comes up if there's an injury or when he's clearly ready, better than everyone down there, and better than whatever we have in slots 4/5 in the rotation. That's what I said a month+ ago and all this does is make it harder for him to have a spot. This is the key. He is only going to pitch 160-175 effectively. How do you want to sparse them out. If you put him in the rotation at the beginning of the season, he will be gassed in August and could hurt the team. My vote would be to sart him in Charlotte and limit his innings early on. It's not out of the possibility that the Sox will have him in the Chicago pen for the first 1/4 of the season then by July work him into the rotation. He will learn to use his pitches to get MLB hitters out and move on to the rotation. I think that is what the Sox will do, although I think starting in the minors would be better.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 08:26 AM) Let's hope he is the next Nestor Molina/Zach Stewart... From another point of view, at the Winter Meetings last December, if Erik Johnson and Semien were traded for a one-year rental player, everyone on the board would have gone insane saying Hahn was pulling another KW and bankrupting the farm system. We're to the point where this type of move makes a lot more sense, especially if they can get an extension signed. If not, you don't have to worry about another $100+ million pitcher's arm falling off at least. Actually, I wish him well. The sox needed to give up something to get a quality pitcher, even if for one year. I hope he does well, which is not guaranteed, but I think he will be a capable 4-5 starter this year for them.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 08:22 AM) I agree the white sox didn't give up a lot, but that doesn't mean I like the concept of going all in on 2015. I can satisfy myself with the fact that such an "all in" kind of move means that in the event it fails, which I still think is likely, I shouldn't have to put up with another Ventura coaching embarrassment season. I would have agreed with that if Abreu hadn't shown so much promise. Right now the sox have a 4 year or so window with a cost controlled team. Sale, Q and Abreu will start becoming really expensive so you need to start the playoff opportunities. It will be Venturas head on the block this year. He will have a fairly talented pitching staff to lean on. The pen killed him last year, part of which was Hahn dealing away one of his only semi-dependable pitchers.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 08:23 AM) Wait, what? Are you saying Bassitt is the Gio of this trade or the possibility of Danish being involved is the Gio of this trade? I'm saying Bassitt is the one that will be the piece they will miss. If Danish is involved it not a good trade.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 07:59 AM) Basically I think you made my point for me. This is a sub .500 team still as it is barring lots of improvement, and just to bring it up to mid 80s and contention they still are probably a starter and a corner OF short. And it testifies to how little they cared about actually building a solid roster last year that they brought in a top 5 hitter in the league and still were a very weak club. no we didn't expect Jones to get hurt, but we didn't expect improvement from Gillaspie or Flowers, we didn't expect guys like Putnam to be surprisingly non terrible, etc. Disagree with that. How many blown saves did they have last year? I'm not a fan of the "save" stat but what it says about last year's team is that they lost a lot of games late that they should have won. Robertson and Duke alone will improve this. Now add JS and RV won't need to go to the pen, let alone inferior pen talent as often, and you get to .500. I don't think they are a favorite for a playoff spot yet but they are getting close to competing for it.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 07:37 AM) Eh, still don't like it and fully expect the team to disappoint, but I'm a lot less annoyed with actually trying to win than throwing in the towel like we did last offseason. While I'm not a huge JS fan, his presence makes the rotation significantly better and the Sox really didn't give up much unless one of the top pitching suspects is in with Bassitt. He is the Gio Gonzalez of the trade.

Postseason contender.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 01:15 AM) I swear, some of you simply can't be happy with any deal. They just got a top of the rotation pitcher for 2 unknowns that made it to the majors and had a small amount of "success" if you could even call it that. Beck and Danish will make most forgot the prospects of Bassitt in a short time. I dont think anyone is complaining about the deal as long as its not danish and bassitt. The discussion devolved into if bassitt is any good. Bassitt will be better than beck.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 01:14 AM) He's has a 1.58 Whip over 5 MLB starts. That certainly doesn't equate to much value or success IMO. Beane seems to think so though. That's all that matters. It does when you look at some of the performancss. He was a rookie and showed promise. He will be a good 3, 4 or 5 starter.

QUOTE (Baron @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 01:13 AM) Sounds good. White Castle sounds good right now. Good late night burgers. Get me some double cheeseburgers.

QUOTE (Baron @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 01:10 AM) I asked Scott Merkin if Danish was the 3rd player to be named. He said nope. Good. We can still go get the burgers while taking semien to the airport.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 01:10 AM) I'm pretty surprised Bassitt and Beck have any value tbh. Bassitt has shown success at the mlb level. Why wouldn't he have value.

QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 01:08 AM) I get the feeling the Sox are going for it, Rodon will be on the big league club. He will not be able to pitch a full season, so it will be interesting how they handle him.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 01:04 AM) Danish would have been close to the centerpiece here so I'm guessing his name would have leaked out already. Let's hope

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 01:02 AM) You sure? Yes