Vance Law

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Nov 30, 2015 -> 02:57 PM) Would Hanley be the primary DH in this situation? I could live with that as long as we don't have to see him play the outfield. He certainly wouldn't play the outfield. Play him at third. If and when that doesn't work, move to DH. The guy played shortstop through all of 2014. 3rd base is shortstop for guys who shouldn't play shortstop anymore.

QUOTE (Special K @ Nov 29, 2015 -> 02:58 PM) Somebody obviously likes Saladino Or isn't sold on Hwang being able to be a productive hitter. And we need to find a 3B who is a better hitter than Saladino.

This dude looks better than Hwang to me. Free agent, no posting fee. http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2...buhiro-matsuda/

QUOTE (WhiteSoxLifer @ Nov 26, 2015 -> 12:50 PM) Valencia splits are pretty good against righties last year. Had about 70 more at bats against righties So he had a career year against righties at age 30 last year. He has a career .664 OPS against righties, who make up about 78% of pitchers. What's he going to do next year? Is he going to hit righties well just because we want him to? He'd be awesome if we had a platoon mate. Perhaps one Connor Gillespie is available.

QUOTE (Special K @ Nov 25, 2015 -> 12:58 PM) This guy looks filled out Hwang is smaller than Saladino.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 25, 2015 -> 01:05 PM) When Saladino and Dan Black were teammates in Charlotte, Black hit for a slightly better HR rate. In about a 1/3 of a Korean League season this year, Black hit 12 homers and had a .333/.413/.576 split. Dan f***ing Black. Maybe this guy is good, but I wouldn't count on it. This is all on the scouts. Exactly. May as well put in a tiny bid on him but nothing suggests he's as good as Tyler Saladino. Kang made a successful transition from KBO not only because he hit 40 home runs with a 1.200 OPS over there, he also plays shortstop/ brings a shortstop's defensive talent to 3rd base.

QUOTE (Special K @ Nov 25, 2015 -> 08:08 AM) This guy looks like a x1,000 times better than saladino. How? Why? What are you talking about? Based on a youtube highlight reel? We can be certain he's not as good as Saladino defensively. I bet Saladino's highlight reel from when he put up an .850 OPS at AAA last year looks pretty great too. Has anyone suggested the KBO is as good as AAA here?

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Nov 20, 2015 -> 11:26 AM) Conor had only 15 PA against LHP this year, that gives me the confidence that Robin will platoon LaRoche, especially because it's the last year of his contract, there's no need to "justify" the salary anymore. But you're right, it wouldn't be that surprising if he didn't. Thank you. I've made the same point many times. A free agent (especially LaRoche coming off his strong 2014 season) has choices about what team he wants to go to. The player and his representatives meet with representatives from various teams, talk about salary, contract length etc. Is it plausible to believe that LaRoche signed the 2 year $25 million deal with the understanding that he'd be a platoon player? No it is not. Playing LaRoche every day is the price of doing business when he put up an .817 OPS in 2014 while playing against lefties. LaRoche's historically terrible performance provided the Sox the pretext to platoon him. Which they will do if he's on the team in 2016.

QUOTE (dpd9189 @ Nov 20, 2015 -> 09:39 PM) Blowing it up is painful but if you look at the Cubs and Astros, both were in the postseason this year and it looks like both will be there consistently in the coming years. The Sox did blow it up. In 2013/2014 when they got rid of Rios, Santiago, Reed, Peavy, De Aza, Beckham, Dunn and let go AJ, Konerko, Viciedo. The only position player left from the 2012 team is Tyler Flowers.

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 19, 2015 -> 01:35 PM) ok maybe i am missing something. walker as it stand is making 8 mil and is in his final yr in arb. he is a fa in 17. so we are talking 1 yr and plus prospects to get him. depending on the prospects. I was wrong. Yes, he just has one year before free agency. So it would be pretty similar to the Jeff Shark signing. I'm sure most people would rather have Semien, Phegley, and Bassit back rather than the draft pick.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 19, 2015 -> 10:23 AM) Then we have a bad hitter who plays good defense instead of a bad hitter who plays bad defense. The REAL plan should be to move Avi and then try to upgrade over Thompson the rest of the offseason, falling back on Thompson if necessary. I agree with you aside from the bothering to move Avi part. His value is basically nothing right now. He actually had some success with the Sox in 2013 and 2014. He'd always succeeded. 2015 was his first full season and his first opportunity to have it proven to him that there's a lot he's not good at. Presumably he's working his ass off on all of this things. I'd give him one more chance this year in AAA or part-time OF/DH to see what happens. Not because I assume it will work out, but because he's currently not worth anything in trade. I realize it's $2.3 million, but whatever.

You are basically signing Walker to a 2 year deal for, let's say, $22 million PLUS giving up whatever it takes to get him which is probably 2 or 3 legit prospects. So a total waste if the Sox don't make a run in the playoffs in '16 or '17. Why would you do that instead of just paying money to Murphy or Kendrick. Also, at some point you're going to need to have some cheap homegrown talent filter onto the team at some positions. You'd be giving up on Sanchez (and Micah) who is already a plus defender who showed big improvement with the bat throughout the minors once he got more than a season of experience. You can't fill an ENTIRE team with medium-quality, expensive free agents/several year veterans (LaRoche, Melky, Walker, Freese, Asdrubal, etc.)

Red Sox obviously would match up as well if Q were to be traded.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Nov 17, 2015 -> 01:37 PM) Thats the negative you take by adding Blackmon. With all Rockies hitters, you have to look at their home/away splits. Charlie Blackmon for his career home: .334/.386/.501/ .887 away: .241/.283/.370/.653 Coors Field (or Denver, really) is kind of a ridiculous place for baseball to be played. Michael Cuddyer won an NL batting title there in 2013. Michael Cuddyer.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Nov 16, 2015 -> 09:54 AM) Swapping out LaRoche for Reyes saves them a lot of salary. Like $36M over the next two seasons. Reyes was the worst defensive shortstop other than Marcus Semien last year. He hit as well as Jimmy Rollins, a superior defender who is a free agent and can be had for a lot less than $22 million a year. It would be crazy to trade for Reyes and won't happen.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 13, 2015 -> 05:55 PM) Cespedes costs no picks Upton, rather.

Corey Dickerson career home/away splits Coors Field: 1.095 OPS Away: .695 OPS Coors Field is a silly field.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Nov 13, 2015 -> 04:17 PM) I really want LeMahieu. He's a very solid player. D.J. LeMahieu away from Coors field: .612 OPS for his career

Catchalls suck. This thread sucks. Make more focused threads and stick to the topic for easiest discussion navigation.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Nov 13, 2015 -> 02:39 PM) Don't jinx it. Edit: Though I don't think they will sign anyone who will cost a draft pick. Clearly you wouldn't want to sign Yoenis Cespedes, for example, if it meant having to give up a Josh Phegley 4 years away from playing in the majors.

QUOTE (Tannerfan @ Oct 30, 2015 -> 02:48 PM) The punting on the season happened when they brought back Ventura Ned. Yost. Terry. Collins.

Curious about people who fixate on the #narrative of the Sox continuing to fail by signing NL players who don't hit for the White Sox. In your bizarre fever dreams, is it the wrong thing to do because: 1) National League hitters can't hit when they come to the American League 2) Players can't hit when they switch from either league to the other 3) NL players are bad when they get to the White Sox because the White Sox are uniquely cursed because they are your favorite team, and bad stuff only happens to your favorite team 4) All free agents are bad when they get to the White Sox because the White Sox are uniquely cursed because they are your favorite team, and bad stuff only happens to your favorite team 5) Adam Eaton's success with the White Sox doesn't count because it doesn't fit your #narrative 6) Adam Dunn's 41 home run season with the White Sox doesn't count because it doesn't fit your #narrative 7) Carlos Quentin's success with the White Sox doesn't count because it doesn't fit your #narrative

Sox sign David Murphy to play 3rd.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Nov 12, 2015 -> 05:21 PM) Colby Rasmus 3 years $42M. A change in the way Rasmus puts his hands and bat in Sept. coincided with a hot September and carried over to the playoffs. If he really has discovered something ( his stance now looks similar to Bryce Harpers) he could be a bargain. Not only did he improve his power but also his walks since around the beginning of Sept. and forward. Don't really think this will happen because the 'Stros gave him a QO but it'll be very interesting to see how he performs next year with whoever. Rasmus is taking the QO. First player ever.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 12, 2015 -> 06:01 AM) Well, there are apparently a lot of dumb Sox fans, because it's been suggested by quite a few out there. Not many on SoxTalk though. Yes, agreed.