Vance Law

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 7, 2014 -> 07:42 PM) Saunders doesn't strike me as anyone the Sox are interested in as a Plan A, B or maybe even C. Who would you think is more plan A and B?

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 7, 2014 -> 07:18 PM) This is along the I'm thinking as well. If the Sox are interested in picking up Saunders, its because they project him to hit for more power at hitter friendly US Cellular. Plus he's a LH bat and a defensive upgrade over Tank. And if they could somehow get him with Tank being the centerpiece, that would be fantastic

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Nov 7, 2014 -> 06:06 PM) yea, some of that can be park related too. Cell's not a double's park; Safeco isn't a homer park. Saunders looks like a Gillaspie type hitter honestly, and kind of marginal for a corner position, but certainly useful. That's a reason why I've wondered if Gillaspie could play a decent LF I would think Hahn might ferret out another Gillaspie - decent player blocked - before going for some of those real bottom feeding FAs that Cameron suggests. He hit 19 homers at Safeco the year he got his most playing time. Safeco is the worst (or 2nd worst) park in baseball to hit home runs in. The home run hitting environment is very different than it was a few short years ago. 57 players hit 20 home runs this year. In 2009, 87 players hit 20 home runs.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 7, 2014 -> 05:34 PM) Interesting. So the bottom line is DeAza is a better option than anybody we've been discussing. The point is that your statement didn't make any sense. The facts showed this when you made the statement weeks ago. Those facts haven't changed when you decided to say the same incorrect thing today.

I like Chris Young only if we get Andre Ethier or someone else in need of a platoon partner. Rasmus, no thanks, when there are so many options out there via trade. I think Morales is a smart buy-low option if we still have room for a DH. I wouldn't want to spend money on a utility guy like Bonafacio until the team is actually competing. Semien can do that (unless he's starting at 2nd).

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 7, 2014 -> 04:02 PM) Here was what Alejandro De Aza did in June of 2014. I do not recall which team he was playing for at the time or who his manager was, but I believe it was the Chicago White Sox and Robin Ventura. .365/.423/.540/.962, 71 plate appearances Here is what he did with the Baltimore Orioles. .293/.341/.537/.878, 89 plate appearances Yes. Thank you.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 7, 2014 -> 03:57 PM) This is off topic a little bit, but i'm appalled at DeAza's improvement once he got to a team with a good manager. WTF. I mean if DeAza was going to do that we could have kept him another five years. Something has to give with our team, folks. Something may be amiss. You must remember having had this conversation weeks ago. You have to remember how you were showed numbers that contradicted what you are saying. You have to wonder why you are bringing it up again.

Danks for Ether almost makes too much sense. I wouldn't mind if they targeted to fill LF and DH, 2 of Ethier Crawford Travis Snider Andrew Lambo Michael Saunders I feel we could get these guys with expendable guys like Danks and Viciedo as the centerpiece. Pirates look so starved for starting pitching, overloaded in the OF, and unable to spend, I bet we could get Snider just sending Danks and eating salary.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Nov 6, 2014 -> 12:26 AM) I want nothing of his arrogance on our team. If he proves to be another AJ type case where only the opposition dislikes him due to his fire then so be it. The gamble is too great for me to endorse. You're maybe thinking Carlos Gomez?

QUOTE (oldsox @ Nov 5, 2014 -> 07:41 PM) Rasmus cannot carry Cargo's jockstrap. Cargo doesn't need a jockstrap because he's always on the DL collecting $16 million. Did I answer the riddle right?

QUOTE (Lillian @ Nov 5, 2014 -> 05:35 PM) Not sure how much I like it, but I'm beginning to think that they acquired Shuck to be the regular left fielder. Maybe they intend to platoon him with Danks. Oddly enough, Shuck seems to hit lefties better, even though he's a left handed hitter Danks has been pretty decent vs. RHP, and is still considered the best defensive outfielder in the organization. If that's the plan, I wish they would move Avi to LF, when Danks starts, as he is unquestionably a better defender. Pretty early in the offseason to make that assumption. They picked up a guy for free. I'd guess he competes for 4th or 5th outfielder. I'd put money on them signing someone better as a starter.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 5, 2014 -> 05:28 PM) It's sort of true. Aside from Abreu, Sale and Q who on the Sox is desirable? Out of the everyday players, maybe Lexi. Sox fans like Lexi, A. Garcia and Eaton, but are they really guys teams want? They can definitely do without those guys. White Sox players who were better than Jason Castro last year Abreu Sale Quintana Ramirez Flowers Eaton Gillaspie DeAza

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 11:19 AM) Alright, check this article out: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/instagraphs...t-comparison-1/ Aoki vs. Markakis Yes. Thank you. Exactly what I've been saying. Markakis is not worth the money and years he will be getting. And the strategy of trading away cheap DeAza in order to pick up similarly valued but way more expensive Markakis would not make sense.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Nov 3, 2014 -> 08:51 PM) If/When we become serious competitors in the AL Conor Gillaspie will not be our everyday 3B...he's just not that good. You saw Mike Moustakas in the playoffs this year, right? QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Nov 3, 2014 -> 08:51 PM) No, but that doesn't mean you pass on a chance to sign a guy like Sandoval because of that. There are lots of reasons to pass on signing Sandoval, namely he'll be getting an absurd amount of money that he is not worth.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 2, 2014 -> 06:33 PM) I'd expect Martinez to push for something in the range of 4/$60 (maybe not getting it?) and Headley to push 5/$75, maybe more. The Yankees are supposed to be in on Headley, so it's going to cost a fortune to "outbid" for his services. I can't see how that makes any sense for the Yankees- which doesn't mean they won't go for it. With A-Rod coming back, that would mean he has to be shifted to 1B or DH. That means making Beltran a full-time outfielder again at age 38. With A-Rod and Martin Prado already on the team, I don't see why they go for Headley.

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 2, 2014 -> 06:46 PM) I don't see how the sox were in for this trade. can someone explain this. is it b/c of what is Bolded? Not sure I understand your question. It was reported that the Sox were also making offers for Lind. As far as I know they were the only team other than the Brewers mentioned as being in for him. What I bolded was simply to demonstrate how good Lind is against right handed pitching. You like Jose Abreu? Lind was better last year.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Nov 2, 2014 -> 11:50 AM) Thoughts on trading for Chris Davis? I bring it up just because his name hasn't been brought up yet. Free agent after this season so the price shouldn't be tooo astronomical. Probably one of our top guys and a few mid range guys. I think I'd rather bet on Kendrys Morales as a buy-low guy. And you don't have to give up anything.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Nov 1, 2014 -> 09:59 PM) Lind can't be a full time DH because he's a platoon hitter. So with him, we'd have a partial DH. This is one of the more bizarre arguments I've ever seen. Are you suggesting Lind is a bad fit because he only hits against 78% of pitchers? And we'd have a hard time finding any other players to give the remaining DH at bats to? The rarely heard "we can't go into the season WITHOUT a full-time DH" argument? For comparison, Jose Abreu's OPS against right handed pitching last year was .919. Adam Lind's was .942.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 1, 2014 -> 06:13 PM) The Sox having interest and attempting to trade for Lind,IMO, shows they may not have as good of a chance in signing VMart as writers and fans may think. Like I said, VMart is almost 36, speculated to be looking for a 3-4 year deal at around or close to 20M annually and draft compensation going to a division rival. Realistically, VMart does not make much sense at all. I doubt very seriously the Sox sign him and in fact d be shocked if they did. Again, don't get your hopes up Sox fans. I must admit, the sadistic side of me is looking forward to all the JR is cheap comments after VMart signs elsewhere. Too many fans believe everything they read in the papers and on the net. I see what you're saying, but I don't think that's the most likely conclusion to draw. You might be right that they don't intend to target Martinez, or are not willing to pay the price it will ultimately cost to get him. I don't think you can infer that from the Lind trade. To me, the fact that the Sox weren't willing to beat Estrada in a trade offer implies either: 1) They're going after a potentially better target. On the FA market I'd say that includes, I'd say, VMart, Cruz, LaRoche (he and Lind comparable but he costs nothing in trade). or 2) The years don't line up. Sox intend to target someone that'll provide value for more than 2 years or 3) They intend to utilize some strategy other than a mainly full time DH. Some mix and match combo of outfielder(s) from free agency/trade and internal options like Gillaspie, Garcia, Abreu, and (perhaps) Viciedo. We also don't know the intensity of their interest in Lind, and whether or not they had some other plan or various potential plans, and then Lind became available and at such a reasonable cost that they simply had to explore it. More than one way to skin a cat.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Nov 1, 2014 -> 06:02 PM) But we do need an upgrade at LF; and at 3B (at least defensively and really offensively too). We could get a couple of OF and have them rotate through DH. Who knows. To clarify once again the list of teams and 1B/DH free agents I posted earlier. Those are the top 4 free agent players of that type. The teams I listed (and perhaps Orioles if they lose Cruz) are pretty much the only logical landing spots for those players. Conclusion: if the Sox want one of the top 2 there (Martinez, LaRoche) there's not a ton of competition, and few teams with the kind of payroll flexibility we have. Totally separate issue- with regards to the above comment of Sox needing an offensive upgrade at 3B, I'd recommend for anybody who thinks along those lines- take a look at what league average is nowadays. League average for 3rd basemen. League average for other positions as well. They are not the same as when you first started paying attention to such things. They are not the same as 10 years ago, or 5 years ago, or 3 years ago. American League average OPS from the 3B spot was .701 this year. Gillaspie was #10 in MLB in OPS for 3B, tied for #9 in OBP.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Nov 1, 2014 -> 05:14 PM) We don't need an upgrade at 1st. We need an upgrade at DH with a guy who can play 1st 10-15 times a year maybe.. And I think Gillaspie can play 1st I was using 1B/DH interchangeably. Teams with the most clear need at 1B or DH. Those players can only play 1B or DH. You couldn't possibly have thought I was suggesting we needed to upgrade from Abreu with one of those players.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 1, 2014 -> 05:05 PM) I think this shows the Sox realize VMart isn't much of an option for them given his age, expected annual salary, possible contract length and draft pick compensation going to the Tigers. Huh? Not trading for Lind shows the Sox don't want to spend money on Martinez?

Brewers were perhaps the team with the most clear need for an upgrade at 1B. Meaning the market for VMart, LaRoche, Butler, and Morales is pretty much down to -White Sox -Tigers -Royals -Mariners -Rangers edit: obviously, trades could occur putting other teams in this group as well

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 1, 2014 -> 01:21 PM) I would have guessed Lind could bring a better return than Estrada. Shows how little I know. Me too. I guess the good thing about Estrada is he's cheap. Trying to figure out who the comparable Sox player would be, and I suppose Noesi. They had similar numbers last year, though Estrada has more of a track record. Interesting that Toronto wants to bring to the Rogers Centre the guy who lead the league in giving up homers.

Pretty interesting and perhaps telling that the Sox didn't claim Justin Smoak or Andy Dirks. Hahn has his sights set higher.