Vance Law

Offer Cespedes 4 years with an opt out after 2. Done.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 06:39 PM) Ethier is totally someone that could be linked to the Sox I was cheerleading for this last offseason when his value was at it's lowest. It still makes sense now. Could platoon with Avi. Do the Dodgers, who have Micah and 2 other second basemen, want Sanchez too? I don't even know what they'd want other than more prospects who are better than the ones we'd want to give them.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 02:51 PM) That also takes at bats away from one of their younger outfielders they are trying to develop. The Rangers and Angels make sense but the Brewers, nah. Any free agent who is undervalued makes sense for potentially any team. Brewers could sign him, have him succeed and trade him at the deadline for prospects.

QUOTE (blackmooncreeping @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 02:52 PM) Alvarez would be a worse pick-up than Werth. Alvarez isn't much better than LaRoche basically, in terms of value, since he can't field to save his life. We have enough of those types of guys...Avi. Always good to look these things up before commenting. Alvarez, as a platoon DH wouldn't be required to field anything. His inability to do so is what has driven his price down to dirt cheap. 24 homers and a.799 OPS against righties last year.

QUOTE (blackmooncreeping @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 02:46 PM) If you want to see Werth play about 60 games, sure. Guy is a walking injury. 147 games in 2014. 129 in 2013. And he'd be able to DH some along with Pedro Alvarez who we sign.

Danks and LaRoche for Werth after the Nats sign Cespedes. Sign Gallardo. Genius?

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 20, 2016 -> 11:58 AM) I doubt he'd less than $8-10m though, which I think the White Sox expressly DON'T want to pay at SS. I don't know who is going to pay anywhere near that for Rollins, or who even is looking to pay any money for a shortstop. I'd assume he'll go for less than (or similar to) Alexei does in which case I wouldn't mind the Sox signing him (if they've taken care of the outfield and are not signing Desmond) to split time with Saladino. Still competent with the glove. Left handed bat. Still enough wheels to steal 12 bases last year. Can't agree with all of the Austin Jackson talk in this thread. He'd be a very nice platoon mate to pair with a lefty but he shouldn't be given a starting job. We don't really have that need in the outfield unless they unload Avi. I suppose I like Jackson if they can't get Cespedes and sign Desmond - only give up one comp pick. I just don't see that happening.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Jan 19, 2016 -> 01:15 PM) 1 playoff appearance in 10 years will do that They didn't make the playoffs between 1959 and 1983. Attendance in 2015 was the same as attendance was in 2001 and better than it was in 2002, 1998, 1999, 1996. This article is idiotic and I haven't and won't read the article.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 20, 2016 -> 10:04 PM) Think about it though. Say the Sox sign Cespedes to a new contract that pays him 22M annually. What's Abreu worth if he opts out and goes to arbitration? What's he worth in a contract extension? Also remember the current players under contract like Q, Sale, Melky, Robertson and Eaton have escalating contracts so they will continue to get paid more with each year. Then there's arbitration players that get raises. I believe it was Balta that has already pointed out that approximately half of the 28M coming off the books after '16 will be erased by contract and arbitration raises for '17. Look at how the inability to move LaRoche has handcuffed the Sox this winter and were only talking about trying to move 13M. While they do have probably $14 million more in raises and arbitration for 2017, they also have Melky, Frazier, Lawrie, and Duke all coming off the books after 2017. The very few long-term commitments, and the ones they do are cheap. Sale maxes out at $13.5 million in 2019, Quintana $11.5 in 2020, Eaton $10.5 in 2021. Estimated payroll with options and arb costs for 2017 is $104 million. A $130 million payroll is good for 12th - 15th highest these days. You can't be unwilling to spend that and still compete unless you've stockpiled 8+ years of top 1st round draft picks

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 10, 2016 -> 05:37 PM) They're playing with fire if they want to get out of the gate white hot and counting on LaRoche, Garcia and Saladino getting regular at-bats...of course, stating the obvious. Alcides Escobar, Alex Rios, Omar Infante

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 11:02 AM) Really doesn't matter what people on a message board think. There was no way the Orioles were going to lower the offer. He is a popular long term player who they wanted back and want to keep happy. The fact that the Orioles offered a contract and after months of negotiations, Boras got 1 million dollars per year but also had to give up more deferred money. That is a lot of negotiations for mostly nothing. Boras didn't do well in these negotiations. I think you missed the point where I opined that the original offer was insane. Boras had already done well there. There was no other place to go. If the Orioles had come to their senses they might have walked away. Now as we know the details of the deal with a ton of deferred money, this deal may well represent a cheaper offer in present value of money terms. In which case the Orioles effectively did offer less, but Boras fought for a deal that looked like more ("161 is bigger than 150") to the average meathead. Either way, it's a lot of money for what this guy may end up being, and the fact that the Orioles had no competition for the signing.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 16, 2016 -> 06:49 AM) I don't see adding 1 million per year after months of negotiations as a tremendous job. It was technically an increase but nothing really. Considering the fact that some of us thought that he might get less than the original offer once the Orioles rescinded it because there's no other team offering anything close, it looks like a fleecing. The original offer looked like a fleecing. And then he got offers from zero other teams and there's no logical landing spot for him other than Baltimore and then Baltimore ups their already crazy offer.

@NickyMitch93 I was told #WhiteSox have a 4 year offer out to shortstop NickyMitch93 Part of me isn't sure if this is true or not, but it was on twitter.com, so that makes me think it probably is. 4 years is kind of a lot, but if the dollars aren't crazy, I think it's a good call. Bridge to Anderson and I think NickyMitch93 can play some outfield as well, so could be moved there or flipped to another team. Solid Hahn move.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Jan 1, 2016 -> 04:38 PM) It's one thing to tell an agent - we're not willing to do 5 years... It's an entirely different thing to say that and then back it up with a release through press that you're only wanting a 3 year deal. Makes said agent more willing to come back and meet in the middle. Just standard business, folks. Yes. Exactly.

QUOTE (beck72 @ Dec 30, 2015 -> 02:30 PM) The Sox have been adding guys who are tougher outs and need more. Don't get me wrong, I'd take Cespedes as its not my money. But the Sox have for years had too inconsistent of hitters. Too many guys overmatched, swinging outside the zone, getting themselves out oftentimes. A disciplined, professional hitter like Gordon is definitely needed. I'd take a free swinger like Cespedes. But the boom or bust guys I've had enough of over the years. Cespedes fits more into the latter category. Exactly. When was the last time we had a guy like Gordon on the team who does absolutely everything very well? Ever? People seem too happy to ignore the fact that in 2 of Cespedes' 4 seasons, his OBP has been of the Flowers/Viciedo/Avi/Alexei variety. We've seen these can't make a lot of contact/can't take a walk guys on the Sox too often. He's high risk/high reward with almost certainly some infuriating seasons in what will be at least an expensive 6 year commitment. If we get Cespedes it'll be a big upgrade. Fingers crossed we see the good version of him in the next 2 while we have Frazier.

Garp Ax – ‏@geniusreinsdorf Source: Lebron to #Bulls for Adam LaRoche 10:35 PM - 29 Dec 2015

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Dec 29, 2015 -> 07:48 PM) For telling people to ignore "fake sources" on twitter, you sure seem to be worried about it as well. Worried? I don't even know what you mean there. It's just kind of baffling how many people treat this stuff as if it has any connection to reality.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Dec 29, 2015 -> 07:44 PM) Barry McCockiner – ‏@bonerpatrol69 Source: #WhiteSox agree to terms with Cespedes, Latos, Parra, Upton and all remaining free agents. To be officially announced within the next 3 month. 9:44 PM - 29 Dec 2015 This is the first thing that seems legit. This guy is an actual member of the Boner Patrol.

Source: any meathead with a twitter account can type whatever they want and for some reason typing Source: seems to give it credibility in the eyes of some fans.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxLifer @ Dec 29, 2015 -> 07:14 PM) Source: #WhiteSox closing in on a outfielder Cespedes is their favorite don't want to give up a pick but don't count out Gordon just yet https://twitter.com/NickyMitch93/status/682036364066471936 Seen alot of stuff coming from this guy on Sox today And that's from THE Nicky Mitch 93 so...

QUOTE (Saufley @ Dec 29, 2015 -> 06:05 PM) These fakes need to get a life. You (and anyone else paying attention to them) should simply pay no attention to them. If and when there is a deal, a real person will say so.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 29, 2015 -> 05:28 PM) When he could just delete it and have it go away, or might just be playing games with people, he is just an unknown that has no reputation to lose. He might have something, and he may just be an asshole bro laughing at those he is getting excited. Hahn: this deal seems like it's most of the way done. Let's finish it up this weekend because it's Tuesday right now. Hey, call up that douchebag kid who went to Nebraska and tell him where we're at. And mention that for some reason, in December, I'm saying that Avi Garcia has a starting job and that Laroche and Melky will platoon at DH. Hahn's assistant: Ok. Will do all of this.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Dec 29, 2015 -> 12:08 PM) I'm not going to go to war for myself so I'll keep it short. I wasn't referring to you specifically, you seem to have a legit source. But the various random people on twitter in general.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Dec 29, 2015 -> 11:52 AM) You can doubt it all you want. No ones going to claim to be right 100% of the time but in the day and age of the Internet, if you say something, you have a time stamp behind it. That's all that matters in hindsight. This doesn't really follow logically. Anyone can make up as many random deals or free agent signings they want and tweet them. And if they happen to hit on one, then they're somehow a trusted source? I'll do one right now. White Sox to sign Cespedes. Timestamp.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Dec 26, 2015 -> 09:15 PM) 2nd- not good but not horrible (.727 ops) For a whole season, .727 OPS would be good for 14th best among all CFs with 350 plate appearances or more. Just better than Carlos Gomez .723. And obviously Eaton's season total was much better than that. I was in Chicago area for Christmas and listened to some meathead sports radio in the car. There was someone who gets paid to talk on the radio (not just some s***ty caller) who, with absolutely no knowledge of actual facts or numbers went on and on about how terrible Adam Eaton was. It was beyond absurd and a good reminder of how brutal and unlistenable sports talk radio is.