Vance Law

QUOTE (Lillian @ Nov 30, 2014 -> 07:08 PM) Do you rate Saladino as a better defensive SS than L. Garcia's and Diaz? Again, irrespective of offensive ability. I'm asking only about defensive prowess. Do you think that Sanchez, who is purportedly much better suited for 2ND, is defensively behind all three of the players just mentioned? I'm surprised, as I thought that Saladino was just barely adequate defensively, but had a decent bat. To begin the year, Saladino played pretty much all of the first 35 games at shortstop and Sanchez all at 2nd base for Charlotte Is that because the Sox consider Saladino the better shortstop? Is it because they had Sanchez higher on the depth chart and foresaw Beckham being likely traded at some point in the season and Sanchez as a the next option at 2nd? I don't know. We can presume that Saladino has an arm more suited to SS I think. I did note his much higher DP totals compared to Semien or Sanchez at SS. I'll assume Semien is considered the worst SS defender, Sanchez has the best range (and maybe hands) and Saladino the best arm.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Nov 30, 2014 -> 08:43 AM) You're being ridiculous if you think Semien for Shark is too much and once again I'm a big fan of Marcus. The one thing people keep skipping over is the fact that Shark is basically going to make nothing this year(relative to top of the rotation starters) and still allows them to improve the team in other areas because they'd still have money to mess around with. I understand that that is what it might take to get him. That's why it's a bad idea. Context matters. If this was a team that had been to the playoffs 2 years in a row that would be one thing. If this was at the trade deadline and we were in first place that's another thing. If the team had no money to spend. It makes some sense then to sell the future for right now. This team is still building for the future. There is a difference between moves like trading your young closer for....a young every day centerfielder or trading a young starter/reliever for a potential starting 3B (Davidson, that one hasn't worked out so far), than trading your young middle infielder or your top prospect(s) for 1 year of a starting pitcher. The team has money. There are free agent starting pitchers. Trading the future for one year of Samardzija doesn't make sense. I haven't seen Hahn make a trade yet that makes so much not-sense.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Nov 30, 2014 -> 02:34 AM) If Semien/Beck/Ravelo get the deal done, Samardjiza would have been on the roster yesterday. I would have to assume Anderson is the sticking point here, and while I have no faith in any sort of White Sox hitting prospect, I still think it's a mistake to give him up for a one year rental player(at this point at least). That deal sucks. Regardless of what the A's might want, there are free agents. Why would you give up anything of value for one year of that pitcher? Semien for Samardzija is too much.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Nov 29, 2014 -> 08:20 PM) Question is: Does he really fit into the future plans? 3B seems like Gillespie & (hopefully) eventually Davidson and 2B seems like either Sanchez or Johnson at this point. Semien kinda seems like the odd man out. As Balta just pointed out, if you had to guess who will be the best hitter out of Semien, Sanchez, or Johnson, the money would be on Semien. It's not hard to imagine Semien ending up a better overall hitter than Gillaspie. Do you want to trade that guy before he has proven that (and thus upped his value)? Do you want to trade that guy for a 1 year rental?

QUOTE (Lillian @ Nov 29, 2014 -> 07:10 PM) Why are acquiring a pitcher, on a one year deal, in order to compete this year, and building for the future, mutually exclusive? Unless the Sox have to give up part of their core, going forward, in order to obtain their RH starter, how would they be jeopardizing their future? Future members of the team's core are the players being speculated about being sent to Oakland. Semien for example. The average for an MLB 2nd baseman this year was a .683 OPS. Semien in his half-year of MLB at bats has put up a .673 OPS. Most reasonable people think he can do a lot better than that. He did do a lot better than that in his September call-up, after getting more seasoning at AAA. Is it sensible to give up several years of an above average every day 2nd baseman starting at a league minimum salary for one year of Samardzija? When you can instead just go out and sign a free agent starting pitcher?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 29, 2014 -> 04:25 PM) $20 mil a year is pretty close to the going rate for a #2-#3 starter on the FA market these days, which is why this makes so little sense. That's the kind of money it'll take to extend the guy and I don't know why the White Sox are better off trading a top flight player for the right to do that when they could just go out and buy a free agent or two if they were willing to blow that kind of money on a pitcher. If we're going to spend >$80 million on a pitcher, f*** it, hold onto Anderson and Semien and go sign Shields. Completely agree. Why are we giving up anything of value to go after Shark rather than just pay McCarthy/Shields/Maeda?

If Sox get Shark, JR HAS to make him cut his hair. That hair is a nightmare.

Any chance we can get the Red Sox to take Danks? They currently have exactly zero starting pitchers. They have a guy named Rubby in their rotation. Rubby.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxLifer @ Nov 24, 2014 -> 02:24 PM) Wow you don't apparently read what I'm saying. I'm not saying kemp is worth 21+ million. I'm saying if the dodgers paid him down to about 15 million a year then I would more accepting. You are acting like if the sox were somehow to get him they would be taking his whole contract which you know would not be the case. We all know kemp is not worth 21 million a year. The player I feel who is overrated right now is Hanley ramirez. He is going to get 22 million aav. That is bad. But then you are talking about a 5 year $75 million deal......and giving up one of the game's better shortstop. As wite said, we'd be better off just signing Nelson Cruz for cheaper and keeping Alexei.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 24, 2014 -> 09:40 AM) That is sort of the format of a guy who it makes sense for us to target...undervalued, injury issues, 2 years of team control left, if he doesn't succeed not a big loss but he's going to get playing time somewhere. I can't figure out what I'd give up to get him though. So you're saying maybe Reddick DOES move?

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Nov 23, 2014 -> 05:03 PM) Agree. And the guy is an MVP caliber player. Would love him and Abreu back to back Kemp was an MVP caliber player. The leg injuries have changed that. He's not the 40 stolen base guy from 2011 (8 SB last year) and is probably average at best as a baserunner. The defensive metrics had him as the worst defensive player in all of baseball last year. Granted, he did a lot of that damage playing CF and is closer to acceptable at one of the corners. He was a top 15 or so hitter in baseball last year which is good. He's paid like an MVP, but he's not going to be that 2011 player again.

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 22, 2014 -> 11:10 PM) so does any one really know what the final tally is. is the payroll at 70+ mil as of tonite? I count approx $80 million if you include Viciedo. With 4 roster spots open- presumably an OF, SP, RP, and (backup) C. $75.6 if you don't include Viciedo.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 22, 2014 -> 08:42 PM) BP has us on the board for $52.8 million before LaRoache. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/compensa...am=CHA&pos= Add $12.5 for Adam L., and we are pretty much at $65. That still leaves Viciedo, Flowers, Jones and Noesi as arb guys, and that is about another $10 million. Then you still have to add in $500k for each roster spot until 25 spots to fill out the roster. We are probably sitting closer to $80 million I think we are around $80 million when you factor in Keppinger and assume Viciedo is picked up. What I was unclear on was whether or not people were counting $500k for roster spots we assume will be filled via free agency or trade. To my mind, if you assume we'll pick up, for example, a LF a SP a RP and a backup catcher, you shouldn't count the $2 million for those 4 roster spots.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Nov 22, 2014 -> 07:07 PM) Yeah, just did some math and it's about $74M after 16 roster spots averaged at about $.600M (3 spots for LF, RHSP and reliever). I don't fully understand how you got to the $74 million

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 22, 2014 -> 06:16 PM) I could see the bad contract for bad contract swap if we still needed the lefty and Ethier might have made sense, but now that we don't desperately need a middle of the order lefty, its just hard to see any obvious match. We don't need an overpaid right fielder nearly as badly now and clearing Danks only makes sense if we're going to easily replace him in the rotation, which isn't going to be cheap anyway. But we do need an outfielder. And that may prove the best way to get one when you think about what we actually have to offer. We have cash. We are not looking to unload our top prospects. We have Dayan Viciedo. We have potentially an extra second baseman (Sanchez/Semien) and if you consider Danks, Noesi, and Bassit to be pretty comparable at this point we have an extra back of rotation starter (assuming we sign an FA starter).

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 22, 2014 -> 12:10 PM) I've got a feeling that Marcus will see a lot of at bats in that role, swapping in for Gillaspie or LaRoche pretty often while Sanchez takes a good amount of time at 2b. If Semien platoons with Gillaspie and shares some time with Sanchez at 2nd, you could get Sanchez and Semien each about 100 starts.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Nov 22, 2014 -> 09:25 AM) I'm pretty certain that Hahn could have gotten Ethier instead of LaRoche. He made his choice. We'll see who has the better year. Ethier probably hits better, not as much power, plays outfield, first base, DH, more speed, younger, makes Viciedo expendable, extra year, loss of a prospect, better looking. I'd have taken Ethier by a nose. That could still happen. And it's pretty clear Ethier or someone else who is a comparable upgrade will happen.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 22, 2014 -> 12:39 AM) That may still be by the white sox. You're right. And I don't think it'd be the best move. I am in the camp that is skeptical enough of a guy who put up 6 consecutive seasons without ever being a league average hitter, then took PEDs, hit way way better and got caught, that I'm happy for some other team to give him 5 years and $70 or $80 million as he ages into even worse outfield defense than he has put up in recent years. Maybe if you only have 1 black hole and a lot of money to spend.

QUOTE (Andy the Clown @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 10:46 PM) This f***ing sucks. But it's very White Sox. Cabrera is the obvious choice, but we decide to play it cheap and waste $25 million in the process. This is why we're an also ran franchise for most of our history. This is a complete waste of money for a DH who will be lucky to slug .430 next season. Very KW. Very KW. Who am I kidding? This will never f***ing change until JR passes on to the next plane. Clown indeed. Put me down for the opposite of all of this. LaRoche will outslug .430. As the most sought after outfielder in a very thin free agent class, Cabrera will get well overpaid in years and probably dollars. The notion that way overspending for one outfielder is the best way to improve a team with several holes is nonsensical.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 10:35 PM) Now that the Sox have a middle of the order, left handed bat, Ethier is not the ideal return for Alexei. There is zero chance they would trade Alexei for Ethier.

Brandon McCarthy. Ethier for Danks. That would be a legit team.

People have a bizarre relationship with the word "platoon." How many starts do you expect/want from your 35 year-old 1B/DH? Does 130 sound OK? Sure. That's about what the left side of a platoon gets. Terrible!! Platoon!!

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 08:43 PM) They need a left handed bat, but they need a decent one. Not LaRoche. List any.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 08:39 PM) awful, uninspired move. When did Kevin Towers take over for Hahn? Counterpoint: He was very undervalued and with a limited number of landing spots. His age allows for the deal to be 2 years. Limited risk. No compensation pick. Pretty smart getting a guy who put up an .817 OPS last year and still leaving room for upgrades at other positions.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 07:58 PM) They have another $25M to spend. I would say the big signing hasn't come yet. Despite a lot of message board posters asserting as fact what the payroll will be, they/we do not know. Why $25 and not $20 and not $30 and not $35?