spiderman

QUOTE (G&T @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 10:48 AM) According to Terry Boers and his people, the Sox did not think they would be stuck with Rios' salary. That was unplanned. I don't believe the White Sox, based on Williams repeated comments regarding the budget, are the type of team that makes claims on struggling players with long-term deals. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Williams has reportedly liked Rios for awhile, and they had Dotel, Thome and Dye coming off the books after the season. They had the room to add payroll in light of who was coming off of it, and along with Peavy, Williams simply acuqired two players that he coveted during the season.

Perhaps the White Sox believed that Pierre was a clearly better option than Crisp or Podsednik and/or combined with speculation on my part that they were asking for more money than the Sox were willing to pay.

My guess would be that, if they sign a DH, it would be on a year deal, and not until the market is further reduced to those players looking for a job.

The state of the bullpen depends on the success/failure of the starting rotation. The White Sox are expecting 6-7 IP on most nights from their starting pitchers (outside of perhaps Freddy Garcia). If that holds true, the White Sox only need to worry about 2-3 IP per night. Assuming the White Sox keep Bobby Jenks and Matt Thornton, they have their 8th and 9th inning options. Tony Pena and J.J. Putz will be in the mix as well, but both are coming off underwhelming seasons. Both have the ability, assuming they are healthy, to be pretty nasty. So, in a perfect world, the White Sox can mix and match in the 7th and 8th innings with Thornton, Putz and Pena in order to get to Jenks in the 9th. Randy Williams has value against lefties as well so I'm sure they will work on using him where he can be most effective (vs lefties), and, of course, Scott Linebrink. One thing that I would avoid doing with him is using him on b2b in the 1st half of the season. I'm not sure if he becomes worn down as the season progresses or if other teams simply figure him out, but he'd be a guy I'd prefer using only in the 5th and 6th innings of games. Finally, the long reliever will be probably Sergio Santos, Carlos Torres or Daniel Hudson to fill out the bullpen. So, obviously, we do have 3 guys (4 if you count Jenks) - Pena, Linebrink and Putz - who need to bounce back this season, but they, on paper, shouldn't have to be overworked with our rotation being strong.

Would Danks (or Floyd), Quentin and a couple of our best prospects get the job done for Gonzalez or at least put us in a competitive race for him? Can Boston decide if they want him or not - in other words, even after trading for Victor Martinez last season, do they still have enough to blow us, and other teams, away?

Do you guys know of anyone who does a similar spreadsheet for the Bears? this a tremendous tool!

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Dec 12, 2009 -> 05:45 PM) Wow this just makes no sense...esp since our pen still has questions. I don't like it, I really liked the job that he did last season (and the year prior), but the Sox probably feel that he is a luxery that they can't afford, and may have peaked. Think about it like this - they have at least 4 starters who they feel are going to go 6-7 IP most games so they don't feel that paying a long-reliever is as big a need, especially if they are cash strapped. They'd rather put their money into the late innings. If they can get the 6-7 IP from their starters, that leaves Thornton, Putz and Jenks (assuming he's part of the plan) for the late innings. It also frees up a roster spot for Daniel Hudson to earn a major league job, and have a defined role.

I would have preferred to keep him, but this shows how cash strapped the White Sox are. They added Putz for $3 million, but can't afford Carassco for around 1.5 to 2 million. They still have to find a lea d-off hitter, probably a LF, and possibly a DH still, and that is why I am wondering how they can add a few pieces (even if they don't cost much money) for the offense, and keep the payroll under $100 million. Right now, they are at about $81 or $82 million with I believe 16 players signed. Jenks, Danks and Quentin will probably cost another $13 million for next season, and if you add in 2 or 3 guys like Hudson, Randy Williams and Carlos Torres (guys who make the minimum), we're at 22 players or so at about $95 million with so no upgrades made to the offense (or holes filled). Don't they have to find a way to get better now without increasing the payroll? If so, I would guess we're looking at a trade of some sorts, either to free up money or trade salary for salary.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Dec 11, 2009 -> 02:31 PM) This is what Putz absolutely can not be counted on to do. I hope you are right, but I'm not convinced that the Sox don't look to cut payroll with Jenks. How do they keep this payroll under $100 million at this point?

Do the White Sox now move Jenks? Personally, I wouldn't, but they are about to go to arbitration with him, and Williams may feel that he can save money by moving Jenks while still having 2 guys (Putz and Thornton) who can step in for Jenks...or do the Sox stay with Jenks, and enter the season with what looks to be nice late inning options for Guillen.

This would be a major indication that they are cash strapped right now. I am wondering how they are currently going to keep the payroll under $100 million with their current situation. Isn't it 15 guys at about $78 million, but we still have Jenks, Danks and Quentin (at least) going through arbitration, adding around $12-$15 million just with these 3....even if you fill out the roster with minimum salaries, you're probably in the mid to upper 90's in payroll. How do they even add a decent free agent for $4 million a season if the payroll doesn't allow for it?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Dec 10, 2009 -> 12:29 PM) Rosenthal: Royals, Giants, Tigers, Cubs, and Sox Interested in Pods By Jason Gage SoxNet Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, San Francisco Giants, and Chicago Cubs are all contending with the White Sox for the services of free agent Scott Podsednik. Rosenthal is probably accurate about the other teams, but the Sox interest in Podsednik has waned over recent weeks, so much so, that Williams has told the media on multiple occasions that the Sox have "moved-on". The club has tried...Rest of the Story The Cubs interest is questionable. Do they really want this guy to play CF?

Pitchers are being paid pretty damn good so far in this free agency....The market for hitters have been quieter.

Don't get your hopes up. Williams is just being slick. It would probably cost them at least John Danks and/or Gavin Floyd, not to mention whatever they have left in their minor league system, plus he's only under contract for 1 season at a contract that the White Sox probably would say they can't afford.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 4, 2009 -> 07:56 AM) You wanted Blanco to play middle infield? No, as a backup Catcher, but I think you knew that.

I dont' believe the White Sox are in the market for more starting pitching, and I think they would simply use Daniel Hudson in place of Freddy Garica, should need be.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 4, 2009 -> 02:58 AM) Gray was solid last year in like 26 innings of work; otherwise, the Cubs got virtually nothing. I think that was the point though - get rid of salary.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Dec 3, 2009 -> 05:48 PM) Henry Blanco signed a 1 year, $1.5M deal with the Mets. That sucks. I think would have preferred to have him over Vizquel.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 3, 2009 -> 06:45 PM) Are any of these kids worth anything? Also it is funny to see the Cubs dumping salary like it is going out of style, and NO ONE in the Chicago media saying a word about it. I think it's become well known that the Cubs aren't going to spend like they have over the last 3 or 4 seasons. They still will have a high payroll, but Jim Hendry now has to operate within about the same budget that he's been (probably with a small increase)...My guess is that they will remain relatively quiet this off-season because most of the money they have freed up will probably be used to account for the increases in some of their veteran players. I think they can still use another catcher because of Soto's struggles, and I'm not sure what they are doing about 2B. Obviously, they still the Milton Bradley issue hanging over the roster. Obviously, they are again looking for a team to pick up as much of that $21 million as possible, but good luck with that. I almost think they may be better just eating the money (easy for me to say) than finding a trade partner, maybe saving $5 million off the Bradley deal, but taking on another team's problem for the return. Who knows....but with Fukadome in RF, and Soriano in LF, they will need to find a CF as well. In summary, they obviously don't have much payroll to work with so Hendry is going to have to be creative in freeing up payroll.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Dec 3, 2009 -> 05:56 PM) Trading Aaron Miles saves them $2.7M. So, it sounds like in order to get rid of Aaron Miles, the Cubs had to move Jake Fox, a guy who has shown he can hit in the majors, but doesn't have a position to play. The Cubs have now saved around $4 million with the Heilman trade, and now this trade. They also saved something like $7 or $8 million with letting Rich Harden go as well... Now, I know the Cubs have escalating salaries with guys like Soriano so they are either trimming payroll where possible to keep their current structure in line and/or give them some flexibility in what should be a buyers market.

Can a reference to what 'Type A' and 'Type B' be added?

All I got from that is that Teahan will be at 3B, but the Sox aren't going to pass up on something that makes sense for them, which could result in moving Teahan to a different position. I'm glad that Williams is open to all possibilites - that's the good news that I get from that piece.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Nov 21, 2009 -> 12:52 PM) It would be best if the Sox waited to see how the market plays out when it comes to the DH signing. There are a lot of names out there so im sure once january hits and Matsui hasn't signed on with a team he would eventually accept a 2 year deal worth $12 million or so. . should be interesting to see things play out. Agreed, though I hope that any deal for an older guy is a 1 year deal with a club option.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 05:11 PM) It's funny how those talks with Pods are so back and forth. I still think it might be a stunt for him to lower his demands. Then again Scott in LF doesn't excite me too much. I'd be pretty surprised if Pods, should he resign, repeated last year's performance and stayed healthy. Is there anyone out there, besides Crisp, who may be an option that Williams is looking at? Of course, this could be something that Williams looks to address via trade if the free agent options aren't to Williams liking.

QUOTE (soxfan-kwman @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 02:35 PM) I agree, Tony Pena will be good in 2010. A whole spring training with the sox, working with cooper, & a new season to start over. He just has a few things to get him where he needs to be & we could have another nasty reliever to go with Big Bad Bobby & Thorton. I think he's a key to the pen regardless of whether Jenks is kept or not. If they keep Jenks, then Thornton has the 8th inning, but they currently don't have a guy who can throw in those 6th and 7th innings. Pena might be that guy. Linebrink is horrible. There are some younger guys (Hudson and Torres) who will probably have to grow into a role, and Carrasco is more of a 2 or 3 inning guy, extremely valuable, for a struggling starter.