caulfield12

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 01:35 PM) [gets chills] Chris Cotillo ‏@ChrisCotillo 19m19 minutes ago Source: FA LHP Bruce Chen intends to pitch next year and is in the process of talking to teams about a deal. Please don't inform Greg. Or tell him that Barry Zito is in fact Bruce Chen with a new name because Chen's Panamanian birth certificate was falsified.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 01:30 PM) What about Finnegan and Duffy? They will both have better WAR in 2014 than Gordon Beckham, too. Or Ubaldo. We can bet that Duffy has a better WAR than Victor Martinez if you'd like.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 01:30 PM) What about Finnegan and Duffy? They will both have better WAR in 2014 than Gordon Beckham, too. Or Ubaldo. We can bet that Duffy has a better WAR than Victor Martinez if you'd like.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 01:28 PM) Ultimately, I would have liked to have safeguarded this a bit by not guaranteeing the 3rd year, but the Sox believe in the change he made and believe it's sustainable. They are betting a lot on their scouts on this one in hoping that they'll get a great lefty reliever for 3 years. This is also not an unreasonable AAV. Teams are paying approximately $7 mill per WAR on the free agent market at this point. If Scherzer signs a $200 million deal, the signing team will expect him to produce 28.6 WAR over the duration of the contract. Given that the White Sox gave Duke $15 mill, they are expecting roughly 2 WAR. He basically has to be effective. He doesn't even have to be particularly good to make this a valuable deal for the Sox. As long as he's not Ohman or Downs bad but Ventura keeps trotting him out there time after time after time because "we're paying him to be our #1 LH set-up guy" or "we've got to trust the numbers on the back of his baseball card," etc. With a Paulino/Downs/Ohman, you can cut your losses and exit stage left. With this contract, it's similar to MacDougal or Linebrink in terms of coming back to bite you. If we had $350 million or whatever from Comcast like the Dodgers do with their regional tv rights deal, it wouldn't matter at all, he'd be just another Brian Wilson or Morrow or Belisario that could be dumped so they could line up for the next big thing to come along.

QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 01:23 PM) He can definitely be as bad as those guys. That's not impossible. I don't mind this signing at all. The Sox let it get so bad that spending money had to be done. Except Veal didn't cost us anything and gave us an exceptional 2nd half in 2012...minus falling apart a bit down the stretch.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 01:20 PM) You have some fascination with me. Would you like an autographed picture to hang in your room? Only if you come out and admit you're Marty's 2nd alias, Ncorgbl OR the autographed picture is actually from a member of the band Rush. On second thought, I'll settle for the perfect trifecta of all autographs on the market: Gordon Beckham, Victor Martinez and Ubaldo Jimenez posing together at some imaginary MLB All-Star game that never took place.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 01:18 PM) He was an all-star in 2009 One of those years the White Sox absolutely tattooed him, maybe it was 2010.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 01:14 PM) Don Cooper. You must HATE the White Sox because you're betting on our newest free agent acquisition to fail. Where have I heard that one before? So somehow hoping with your heart for good 'ol boy Gordon Beckham is better than just being another version of Marty34 and taking the counter-argument to everything that Hahn/KW decide to do because you have at least a 50% likelihood of being correct? Why are you a White Sox fan, lol?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 01:10 PM) If you ever learned how to read my posts it would be incredible. But this is along the lines of Keppinger, and Belisario and Downs and Paulino, except a little larger. It isn't a player who has had a lot of success. He has been around forever, and he will be paid based on 2014. I'll bet anyone Surkhamp is better than Duke in 2015. I'll bet you that Downs, er, Duke....is more valuable in WAR than Gordon Beckham. Double or nothing? Usually the White Sox are unearthing these guys at the rates the Brewers paid, under a million. Something about this one is scary. Maybe it's Hahn's recent history with anyone but Abreu/Eaton...and then you can throw in guys like Noesi, Guerra and Putnam who combined are going to be a lot more valuable IMO at a fraction of the cost.

My first reaction was "meh" and I certainly won't be surprised in the game threads when he becomes known as Scott Downs 2.0. He's definitely not KW's pick, since he doesn't throw the ball through a brick wall.

CQ just sold his house in California. Surely he's the next big "value" addition to the off-season...just because it's going to drive Dick Allen crazy when they bring in a bat like Butler, Rasmus, Morse or anyone NOT named Victor Martinez for $8-12 million per season over 2-3 years. Frankly, if Zach Duke's getting this kind of money, I can't imagine what we're going to have to pay for a 3/4 middle-of-the-rotation starter.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 10:46 AM) And he throws 100. As I stated, there is a chance this guy might be great, a better chance he may be OK, but probably about as valuable as a lottery ticket with incorrect numbers. Yordano Ventura signed with the Kansas City Royals as an international free agent in 2008, receiving a $28,000 signing bonus. That was a pretty valuable ticket. Two clutch World Series wins already on his resume. Of course, Colt Griffin also had a 100 MPH fastball and a HUGE signing bonus with KC and he's disappeared completely except in scouts' reminiscences with the emergence of the Kolek brothers in Texas.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 10:38 AM) I have no idea why that would be relevant, but this is a guy the A's gave up for one month of Adam Dunn. The odds are overwhelming that he never plays for the White Sox. To say he is anywhere near Bassitt who has pitched for the White Sox is laughable at this point. Well, Montas hasn't pitched for the White Sox either, and every GM in baseball would take him over Bassit. He was essentially just a "lottery ticket" at the time of the Peavy trade, along with Rondon and Wendelken. To say that ANYONE expected him to be knocking on the door of the Top 100 MLB prospects a year ago would be laughable as well.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 09:59 AM) Yes, the White Sox liked that he wore a baseball uniform and the A's were willing to trade him for Adam Dunn. I get that he's an intriguing prospect, but only like 50% of first round picks make it to the majors and 2nd rounders are less likely than that. The fact that the A's were so willing to give him up throws up some red flags for me. They did give up on Neal Cotts. That worked out pretty well.

Are they trying to control the rights to every single Cuban middle infielder? I suppose it's possible that it's Danks and Ramirez for Kemp + prospects, but not one of their top 3. Maybe they'll throw in one of their 3 Cubans (Arrubuena or Guerrero) who has the best chance to stick at SS long-term.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...1117-story.html Cubs shouldn't be forced by Maddon's "playoff expectations" to overpay for free agents this offseason...spin on not getting Russell Martin, Heyward, etc.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 09:34 AM) Well I think that's ridiculous, but I will let you believe what you want to believe. Nolan Sanburn has yet to pitch in AA while Chris Bassitt has pitched in the majors with some success and pitched extremely well in the AFL. Considering that, you really still believe that Nolan Sanburn has as good a shot as Chris Bassitt? 1st and 2nd round draft picks have a much higher likelihood of making the majors. Obviously the White Sox liked something about him. Before this season, Bassit wasn't even on a Top 10 list for one of the bottom five ranked minor league organizations. He's made a LOT of progress in the 2nd half of this year, but I'd still consider him being a significant long-term contributor to the Sox a sort of winning lottery ticket in the same way Hector Santiago, Quintana, Humber and Noesi have been. I'll put it this way. We've done fairly well when acquiring minor league arms from other teams, much better than most. That means something.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 08:52 AM) He has about as much value as a Mega Ball ticket. It's possible he is worth a lot, even more possible he is worth a little, but highly likely, worthless. I'll say he has just as good a shot as Bassit. If Bassit's a "mega ball" ticket, I think we're more likely to hit on one of these two guys than Micker Adolfo. Nolan Sanburn, rhp Age: 22 An Athletics second-round pick in 2012, Sanburn had the potential to be one of the organization’s best pitching prospects, but he wasn’t healthy enough to show much since turning pro. He moved back to the bullpen this season after working as a starter in 2012 and part of 2013. A reliever at Arkansas, Sanburn signed as a draft-eligible sophomore in 2012 and has pitched just 120 in three seasons. When healthy, he has an electric fastball at 93-94 mph and can touch 96 with riding life. His curveball also shows impressive depth while coming in hard in the high 70s. www.baseballamerica.com

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 09:06 AM) To me, Ethier seems like a LH version of Alex Rios. And you can argue Rios has more value defensively. It's scary, but I'd almost rather have Alex at $9-10 million for two years than Ethier. The problem is that Rios only hit 4 homers last year and that's such a significant drop-off in his mid 30's you don't know when he'll go all 2013 Konerko on you. Same thing with Torii Hunter, who's significantly older.

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ber...40d078a914.html Two takes from StL Post Dispatch columnists.... http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/jef...30abc61fe3.html Seems they will hold on to Piscotty and Grichuk (platoon partner for Jay and Heyward)...with Bourjos on the way out. Don't know if Piscotty can hit for enough power and Grichuk for a high enough average. Comps to Wainright/JD Drew deal back in the day. Cardinals apparently weren't interested in any of the FA outfield options.

Forgot Sanburn from the Dunn trade...he's going to get a long look in spring as well if his stuff is close to as electric as some of the scouting reports. (Of course, how many times have we heard that about relievers we've acquired, only to be disappointed?)

Well, considering the Dodgers want Kershaw, Greinke, Ryu, Haren and Scherzer to be their rotation, anything's possible. They don't need Danks, though. They DO need to clear Kemp's salary, because clearly he has the most value of the three names we keep mentioning.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 08:28 AM) In another thread, i've suggested trying to acquire Ethier, for nothing more than picking up his salary. Putting aside the feasibility of such a scenario, whom would you rather have; Melky Cabrera on a 4 year deal, at the numbers you guys have suggested, or Ethier for 3 years, and $56 Million, taking into account that Cabrera would cost a draft pick. Neither, but with a gun to my head I'd choose Cabrera's offensive upside. Ethier's just not worth that money as a platoon player whose best defensive days are behind him...and who might have already started a downward career spiral. Finally, taking veteran players from the NL always scares me....at least Melky knows the AL and has excelled in one of the toughest divisions in baseball.

Depends on whether you think Howard will outproduce Butler's 2014 and whether Hunter will outproduce Dyson/Aoki. Definitely more of a "veteran" feel like the Tigers have with those two names added.

http://chicago.curbed.com/archives/2014/11...foreclosure.php Rooftop owners $36 million in debt, being foreclosed on by 5th Third Bank