Dam8610

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Dec 19, 2015 -> 09:46 AM) FWIW Levine has been really talking up Cespedes for the White Sox. Damn, I was really hoping that would happen.

Is there any news on either of these guys? Have the White Sox been connected to either in any significant way? Are either of them nearing a deal?

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Dec 17, 2015 -> 10:12 PM) Question is, would they rather have Melky at DH or Avi in DH in that situation. Where does LaRoche go? Isn't Melky the worse fielder? Also, I suppose Cespedes could play RF and take your pick between Melky and Avi in LF. Also, LaRoche goes to the bench or Charlotte in this scenario.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Dec 17, 2015 -> 09:25 PM) No need to get fancy, as currently constructed Adam and Melky should be our best on base guys so put them in front of Jose and Todd is the one guy with the power to drive Abreu in, put him behind Jose. Ideally Frazier is the 5 hole with a bat like Cespedes in the 4 hole. Sample lineup with Cespedes: 1) CF Eaton 2) DH Cabrera 3) 1B Abreu 4) LF Cespedes 5) 3B Frazier 6) 2B Lawrie 7) RF Garcia 8) C Navarro/Avila 9) SS Saladino/Sanchez That's a lineup that combined with the pitching staff in place can get to the postseason.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Dec 16, 2015 -> 10:36 PM) everything is relative. Crede probably would hit 220 in today's MLB. Lotta gas out there and specialized relievers. that said, if Frazier is f***ing Joe Crede in his prime that would be great for '16. Possibly, but as I recall, Crede was a good low ball hitter, and the low strike is what has caused a good deal of the attrition of offense in MLB recently.

I find it humorous that Frazier's closest offensive comp at age 29 is Joe Crede, because I've often thought that Crede's steady .250ish average, 20-30 HRs, and 70-80 RBIs with extremely solid defense would be a perennial all-star in today's game.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Dec 16, 2015 -> 10:25 PM) Dan Hayes: Don't think #WhiteSox will wind up w/ high-profile FA. Won't rule anything out. But they prefer trade or FA w/o draft pick attached. So Cespedes or Gonzalez, then?

QUOTE (Dunt @ Dec 16, 2015 -> 10:00 PM) Don't think defense can ever be overvalued, it's way too important. What I learned from last season is that K% is overblown. The Cubs had one of the best rosters in baseball, but set a record for K%. It didn't matter b/c they had a bunch of guys that could also walk. Then ran into a good pitching staff and lost because they struck out so much. During the postseason last year, someone here posted a statistic that the team with the better contact rate (see: lower K rate) wins a postseason series something like 70% of the time. That makes it definitely something you want in your favor.

QUOTE (Baron @ Dec 16, 2015 -> 09:41 PM) What about Murphy? He would of had much more interest if he had played solid defense in the playoffs and most of the year. You're illustrating the point of the OP there. His average defense is not that bad and (at least personally) his career 13.1% K rate including last year's K rate of 7.1%(!) is very attractive.

I think low K rate is the new market inefficiency, look at how the Royals constructed their lineup for proof. Also, look at the expected contracts for Murphy and Upton.

Go get Cespedes or trade for an OF. Or shock the world and sign Dan Murphy to a Headley type contract and play him at 2B/3B/LF/DH. Murphy will be a lot cheaper and a better overall asset. You lose the comp pick that way I think, but Upton loses you the comp pick as well, and the White Sox need some versatility and a hitter who just does not strike out.

I wish this level of outrage for cheaters who lie to try to cover their tracks existed in football.

Didn't Kang work out pretty well for the Pirates? How does Kim stack up against Kang?

There's always the option to sign Murphy (who also plays 2B and 3B) and one of the OFs.

I love the write up and the positivity, but it seems a tad unrealistic. I can see an 85-90 win team in 2016, but the 2017 outlook is positively sparkling, and in fact perfect timing for the "incredible free agent class of 2018", which the White Sox could use their newfound success and payroll flexibility to buttress their position as a playoff contender and potentially push themselves into the ranks (and payroll levels) of the big market teams that have the ability to buy prolonged success. It all sounds fantastic, but the premises on which it's based are a bit too good to be true. That said, I'm all for making those additions provided they can be made in the ways you suggest, because that would likely be a playoff team in 2016. I have my doubts as to the rest, but I think those additions along with the positive regression you mentioned and the additions already made this offseason would likely put this team in the playoffs.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 08:14 AM) Cespedes is a lot like Samardzija in that (1) he's going into his age 31 season, (2) he's a 2015 free agent, and (3) his career is made up of a bunch of slightly above-average seasons and one monster year. Cespedes is UNLIKE Samardzija in that the career year came in 2015 instead of 2014. I don't want to pay for that career year. The biggest differences in Cespedes' 2014 and 2015 were a 30-point difference in BABIP and a 9% (!) difference in HR/FB%, both of which are among the least reliable year-to-year metrics for hitters. Walk rates, K-rates, swing rates, and other peripherals were about the same. I think Cespedes is a 3-win corner outfielder who just passed age 30. I don't want to pay him like he's a 6-win outfielder without a draft pick attached. Can he be had for 6/$100 (I've heard his market is lower than expected), would that be an overpay, and is it something the White Sox would be willing to do?

Q for Baez and Soler would be lopsided in favor of the Cubs.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Dec 12, 2015 -> 12:15 PM) No one is taking LaRoche. But I really hope that doesn't stop the sox from adding an OF and shifting Melky to DH most days. LaRoche is a substitute for them eating cash on Gonzalez.

QUOTE (Blackout Friday @ Dec 12, 2015 -> 07:21 AM) Trayce is probably a .720 OPS CF with good defense. And that is a valuable player. Be prepared for a drop off, but don't crucify him for it. That's about where he was in September, when he had a .233 average. If he can hit .250, he'll likely be a .750 OPS CF with great CF defense, which, as you said, is a valuable player.

Montas, Danish, Guerrero, Engel, LaRoche for Gonzalez, McMahon? Too much? Too little?

Wow, that is quite a deal. They gave up nearly nothing and got a starting 3B with a lot of upside. Even if he's ML average, that's a huge upgrade on what the Sox had at 3B last year.

If that's the package the Braves get for Shelby Miller, then a 5 year cost controlled Quintana should get Seager, Urias, and another young, ML ready bat from the Dodgers. That would be about an equivalent price all things considered.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 3, 2015 -> 12:25 AM) The question is in the title. Why should they keep him? Why should they not? You know where I lean, but as an economist, that always garners an "it depends." I'm drunk and bored and want to light a fire. I like chaos. But seriously..why not? I've been away. Talk to me goose. Economist, huh? Well, the team's production curve would recede without him and the law of diminishing returns makes it unlikely that the value they'd receive in a trade would be enough to replace his value.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Nov 28, 2015 -> 10:33 AM) Sign 2B/SS Asdrubal Cabrera 2 years/20 million Trade SP Chris Beck and SP Brandon Brennan to the A's for 3B Brett Lawrie Trade 1B Adam LaRoche (Balances the money), SP Frankie Montas, SP Myles Jaye, and OF Adam Engel to the Rockies for OF Carlos Gonzalez and 1B Corelle Prime Trade RF Avisail Garcia to the Phillies for SP Jesse Biddle Trade RP Zach Putnam and SP Thad Lowry for UTIL Derek Dietrich CF Adam Eaton (L) 2B Asdrubal Cabrera (S) 1B Jose Abreu LF Carlos Gonzalez (L) 3B Brett Lawrie DH Melky Cabrera (S) RF Trayce Thompson C Alex Avila (L) SS Tyler Saladino OF J.B Shuck, C Tyler Flowers, 1B/3B Mike Olt, UTIL Derek Dietrich SP Chris Sale (L) SP Jose Quintana (L) SP Carlos Rodon (L) SP Erik Johnson SP John Danks (L) RP Jacob Turner (long man) RP Jake Petricka RP Dan Jennings (L) RP Tommy Kahnle RP Zach Duke (L) RP Nate Jones CP David Robertson Thoughts? I like this better than anything I've seen this far, but that 7-9 has the potential to be a black hole offensively. Also, since you didn't trade Sanchez or Micah Johnson, I'm confused as to how neither makes the team over Mike Olt.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 25, 2015 -> 09:54 PM) That's just not true. Quintana's career high is 5.1 fWAR, and he's projected at 3.6 by Steamer. He CAN be a 5 win guy, but that's not conservative at all. He's probably most likely a 4 win guy, conservatively 3.5. I went a bit overboard by saying "conservatively", but Quintana has been worth 9.9 fWAR over the last two years, so saying he's a 5 WAR pitcher is reasonable. Conservatively, he'd be a 4 WAR per year pitcher. This doesn't address that calling Puig a 4 WAR per year OF is fairly generous.