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QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 15, 2013 -> 04:09 PM) Once this contract runs out, does he make the MLB minimum? Does he love baseball enough to play for 1-2 million a year? Judging from how he not so long ago was by far the worst hitter in baseball, I'd say nobody will pay him more than the basic salary. If the Sox can't trade him and his contract expires on the south side maybe the White Sox will be that team to give him 1-3 mill a year or a Keppinger-like deal. If he hits 30-40 Hrs he will get a good contract probably 10 million. Power is at a premium now. It is not the same as before when many hitters hit .3o0 and 40 Hrs. Those are only the elite, as it should be.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 14, 2013 -> 11:30 PM) From what I've read and what I've seen (I will not over-react; I like him) Garcia again looks like a White Sox free-swinger with a bunch of talent (see Viciedo, see DeAza) who could use some coaching. I like the fact Manto got Beckham to bend his knees. Beckham should now be a .300 hitter the rest of his career, though his power may have been zapped, which is OK. He was on fast track to the minors if he kept his old stance. But folks, our youngsters (Phegs isn't going to make it without some refining as well) need help. Is Manto the man the young players will respect enough to give that help? I'd fire him and bring in a FAMOUS hitting coach. Big Frank probably won't do it. He's too rich to want to travel that much during the season. Is SOMEBODY out there??? Garcia's future may depend on it. Thing is, if the White Sox scouts decide he's a can't miss prospect, the Sox HAVE to acquire him if they want to be relevant in the Central Division quickly. I think it has more to do with philosophy. He's finally figured out he is not a power hitter and is just hitting.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Aug 15, 2013 -> 07:54 AM) I think KLaw also disputed the notion of his 70/70 grades. He basically said that means he would hit .320 with 30 HRs right away. For comparison sake, here are the guys in that ballpark last year: Miguel Cabrera (.333/44) Ryan Braun (.319/41) Adrian Beltre (.321/36) Robinson Cano (.313/33) Andrew McCutchen (.327/31) Prince Fielder (.313/30) Mike Trout (.326/30) Billy Butler (.313/29) I think that is why Law doubts the Abreu hype machine. The interview I heard was different. He didn't mention any of the actual scouting. He only said he had never seen him so it's hard to judge the hitting (due to the Cuban league difference) but with the lack of athleticism he didn't expect as much.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Aug 14, 2013 -> 05:33 PM) As long as our scouts are 100% sold on Abreu, I think we have to go all out for him. The 2015 free agent list is horrific on the offensive side, with 3B being the exception. We desperately need to add a couple of young middle of the order bats to build around. I think Garcia can eventually be one of those guys, but outside of possibly Viciedo I don't see anything in the system helping us anytime soon. Signing Abreu for 1B this offseason and one of Headley, Sandoval, & Ramirez for 3B the following offseason would go a long ways toward fixing this offense. Keith Law said today that Abreu is worth no where near what Cepedes and Puig were because he is not an athlete like they are.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 11, 2013 -> 04:29 PM) Except how easy is it going to be to acquire a High A or AA starter with even better potential than Santiago/Quintana...? Not very. And Addison Reed won't get you a Martinez (maybe Wacha) from the Cardinals, or a Top 50 or even Top 75 level of starting pitching prospect. So that means you're essentially trading for more bullpen arms...in the end. They wouldn't be trading to be better than those. It would be in addition to. They will need 6-7 starters for the season if they plan to compete for a WS title. Right now there is Sale, Rienzo, Danks, Santiago, Q and maybe Johnson. That's 6 and they haven't seen rienzo much and haven't seen Johnson at all. They need more pitching if they really plan to compete for a WS.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 11, 2013 -> 03:52 PM) Except if we do trade Santiago/Quintana/Reed/Jones, it will be for hitting prospects in all likelihood. Particularly in the case/s of those first three guys on the list. I don't think that is necessarily the case. Also, I'm not saying that's what they will do, it what I would do. I've heard Hahn discuss the priority of pitching and the rumors were that the Sox were looking for pitching with Peavy and they did get 2.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Aug 11, 2013 -> 03:38 PM) Disagree. You always sell high on young closers,in my opinion. Especially when you can receive impact position players in return. I still hold to the philosophy that you don't trade young pitching without getting pitching in return.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Aug 11, 2013 -> 07:03 AM) Bobby Bonilla> Who gave him away to Pirates? Can't remember. Is he still getting paid by the Mets? White sox for jose deleon.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 9, 2013 -> 10:02 PM) I never said it's a bad thing. I am just saying that toughness and competitiveness don't guarantee good results. Very true, just it sounded very derogatory from the post.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 9, 2013 -> 09:36 PM) Bostonians seem to love their tough, gritty athletes like Peavy. It will interesting to see how they react if he struggles in the clutch. (again) I'm always amazed how the Benrstein-ites think that being tough and competitive is a bad thing.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 9, 2013 -> 02:58 PM) Greg, don't get TOO excited yet. This particular Garcia's much more likely to end up a super utility, jack of all trades, Ozuna/Grebeck type of player for us than a legit starter. Of course, they said the same things about Alexei when he was signed...or even that he might factor in as a CFer, as you remember. The main thing this does is pave the way for the Avisail Garcia Era to begin in RF and it makes it MUCH more unlikely that Gordon Beckham is going to be shifted to SS as a late season experiment (assuming Alexei is the next domino to fall...) Beckham will not be shifted to SS.This was never an option. If the Sox thought he could play there with his bat pottential early in his career, he would be there.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Aug 9, 2013 -> 10:06 AM) So you guys think Rios is gone today or still be with the Sox or the rest of the season? I think he stays. He is worth more to the Sox than teams are willing to give for him. I think PK retires. Viciedo goes to first and the outfield is De Aza, Garcia and Rios. Rios is in right and Garcia and De Aza will be CF and LF depending on who the staff feel is a better fit.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 7, 2013 -> 08:20 AM) I still think you are reading way too far into that. I think he's merely talking about how fortunate and lucky the 2005 Sox were to only have to use 5 starting pitchers. It's the exception to the rule. Do you disagree? I agree, but they used more than 5 during the season, which all teams need to have a successfull season. Which is also my point that he made sure to add that to the end of the sentence. The sox made it on luck because no one else has had this happen for them.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 07:38 PM) Don't forget that spending $50 million on guys who haven't played a big league game is really risky. See: Cespedes this year, for example. .719 OPS. Agreed

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 07:00 PM) Dumping Rios gives the Sox more cash to bid for the next Puig. The White Sox historically haven't bid on these types because historically they haven't had the flexibility to do so. I think the sox didn't do it because the previous GM was in win now mode and wanted proven MLB players not suspects (prospects).

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 8, 2013 -> 09:54 AM) The tests may be better but the results are the same. If a small Miami paper hadn't come out with this last year, no one would have been busted this season. Either no one is using or the testing isn't working. What is the purpose of having a better test if it isn't going to catch anyone? Maybe it is impossible, but to me being confident in a test and all its procedures would mean you are confident if someone isn't playing by the rules, they are going to get caught. MLB is not anywhere near there yet. There will always be someone inventing a new synthetic PED because money is involved. You cannot test for what you don't know exists. This is what happened with BALCO as well. It starts out small and people cheat. The more people that get involved the more vulnerable it becomes and eventually someone rats the company out. The only way to combet this is to get a baseline blood sample for everyone. Everyone gets tested before the season and during the season. This way you can tell something changed in the sample and you don't need to know it was that changed it. Baseball Currently has the best testing policy of all the major sports but it is still vulnerable because it only tests for known substances. The percentage of players getting designer PEDs is low because you need to know the person who invented it.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 7, 2013 -> 02:23 PM) Using PEDs at the lower level can take away a roster spot from another player and ruin any chance they had at making the majors. Kind of like the Dan Meyer/Antonio Bastardo situation. IMO that's way worse than moving up a few spots on the HR list. Quintana was super young, but his performance could have taken away a paycheck from another kid. I'll give everyone the benefit of the doubt if something like this happens and they admit to it. Remember the Jim Miller incident with supplements? They deserve the §uspension for being stupid and ignorant. However if they never have an incident again, I will believe them. I have seen too many in the NFL when I was there to know that it doesn't happen.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 7, 2013 -> 09:35 AM) When I say "afford," I mean from a total assets standpoint. Yes, we can afford his contract rather easily, but how long is it going to take us to build a team around him? Where are these position players going to come from? Once we build this team, how long is it going to take to gel? How many years might it take them to win a division? A playoff series? It just seems to me that you're asking for an awful lot of to come together if you expect the MLB club to rebuild (or retool), become competitive, and then be capable of winning playoff series' with Chris still being the guy he is today. With the pitching staff in place it better not take 4 years. If so, Hahn and his group should be gone. That isn't asking very much.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 6, 2013 -> 10:21 PM) All I'm saying is he is a luxury we cannot afford. This is like saying I need this Tom Ford suit when I don't have shoes and socks. By the time I get the shoes and socks, I'll have shown off this suit so many times it won't be nearly as valuable to me anymore. But I could trade the suit right now for shoes and socks and other suits that look nice... A competent offense is easier to build than finding an ace. If the Sox cannot build a competent offense before this young starting staff has to be broken up due to cost, then the FO will be gone anyway.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 6, 2013 -> 09:05 PM) An ace pitcher is absolutely part of building sustained success. And te lack of one can definitely prevent sustained success. Agreed. You need the ace and a cost controlled one is even better. It's worth the injury risk to keep him. Unless a young ace in the making is included in a 4 player package.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 6, 2013 -> 06:38 PM) You and I are of similar minds on this. There is just so little hope I see of actually putting quality young position players on the field otherwise in any short timeframe. I still disagree. Pitching is still the most important piece and it's difficult to come by young, reasonably priced, top of the rotation starters. Unless the deal includes another young top of the rotation type prospect, the organization would be taking a major step backwards.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Aug 6, 2013 -> 03:08 PM) I honestly don't think Peterson was juicing (although asking the question isn't taboo), but I think the last 5 years of Ray Lewis's career, especially 2012, is suspect No, it was just deer horn powder. Which is not illegal. (I can't get the green to work on my mobile)

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 6, 2013 -> 02:44 PM) Really, you think it's gotten worse? I think it's just gotten recognized. 20 years ago a guy with a concussion gets sent back out to play unless he's a QB. There is anecdotal evidence that PEDs cause changes in the brain which makes it more susceptible. It started with Lyle Alzado claiming the PEDs caused his brain tumor.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Aug 6, 2013 -> 02:23 PM) That's what I thought. They also test for synthetic testosterone. Pretty sure the NFL only does urine tests, which only catches people who are sloppy, and the NBA's is a total joke. The NFL is starting blood testing next year I believe. HGH cannot be detected by the urine tests so that has been the PED of choice in the NFL for awhile.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 5, 2013 -> 10:15 AM) I think he was referring to the fact that 4 starters never missed a start. And two guys took all 32 starts from the 5th starter's spot. It's not often a team goes through a season with only 6 guys making a start. Exactly, which is why I keep saying that getting rid of Danks will put the sox in a whole to have 7 starters in 2015. However, the point remains that he was taking a shot at the Sox WS title.