caulfield12

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

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 11:46 PM) Hammels is $110 million. Teams will give $20 mill easy to save their prospects. I'm trying to figure out who exactly which team pay Scherzer what Boras wants. It's "only" $96 million guaranteed, including a $6 million buyout of his final year. $22.5 million for the next four years=$90 million 2015-2018 Then a $6 million buyout if they don't want to pay his salary ($20 million) in 2019. So when you start talking about a $130-180 million commitment to Scherzer/Lester vs. $96 million, there's still a pretty significant difference.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 18, 2014 -> 12:35 AM) Good point. Its likely Hamel's goes nowhere until Scherzer, Lester and Shields are off the market. Why give 3 or four prospects when you can sign a free agent and give up only one draft pick? As for Scherzer. I have no clue as to who will go 6+ years and 150+M for him. The Yanks have already said no, the Dodgers are trimming payroll, I doubt the Tigers have the money though I could be wrong, maybe Boston? I think its possible Scherzer may have to lower his demands. If they can clear 2 of 3 (Kemp, Ethier, Crawford) off their payroll, then they're definitely in play for Scherzer. Maybe JUST Kemp.

Royals might get Hunter for RF and Ryan Howard (with a huge subsidy) for DH. That would give them an almost perfectly balanced line-up. LH Gordon Moustakas Hosmer Howard RH Cain Infante Perez Escobar Hunter

QUOTE (Benchwarmerjim @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 11:16 PM) Thats a lot of money to a player who has gotten a lot of concussions. Must be frustrating to see Morneau had the kind of season he had for Colorado (finally), but there's no way they could keep paying him with those expectations (performing at near MVP level like five or six years ago). On a personal level, I'm sure fans are happy for him and his family. You just never know how fragile the balance health-wise is until you've witnessed the situations with Stanton, Dravecky, Ray Fosse, Conigliaro, Morneau, Puckett, Heyward, F. Vina, etc. Or Steve Sax, Mackey Sasser, Knoblauch, Pedro Alvarez and Rick Ankiel psychologically being blocked from doing a simple repetitive physical act they've executed hundreds of thousands of times.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 11:28 PM) The problem Philly has is Lester and Scherzer. Why give up players when you don't have to? Because Hamels isn't coming with a $125-175 million price tag and huge long-term commitment that will make nearly every team uncomfortable on its backend with the ages/wear and tear on those two guys (multiple playoff runs to extend their seasons) and the spate of TJ surgeries. Strictly for teams in "win now" mode like the Royals two offseasons ago when they dealt Myers and Odorizzi for Shields and Davis.

Bowden did speculate about Miller, CarGo and Heyward moving.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 08:24 PM) Age 27 season in 2014 : PA 246 AB 212 HR 11 BA .297 OBP .386 SJG .524 OPS . 910 Bats RH (OK so he's not LH) OPS+ 157 Slightly above avg. defense in RF Average defense in CF. You could comfortably play Van Slyke in LF or RF, and back-up/occasional CF. The problem is that adding a Snider, Lambo, Bourjos or Van Slyke isn't going to do much other than upgrading the bench over Jordan Danks. They could be platoon pieces, but one would HOPE Hahn/KW/JR are shooting higher than that.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 08:18 PM) I was with ya on the Lonely/ Reddick idea. I mentioned Lonely once and basically got laughed at, lol. I liked Reddick a few years ago when he was in Boston too. I really think the Sox and Jays could be a match. The Jays are looking for an outfielder and the Sox are looking for a catcher. Viciedo for Navarro fills holes both teams have and their salaries are pretty close too so the Jays would be able to spend money elsewhere. Navarro is a much cheaper option than say, Montero, which allows the Sox plenty of money to be spent elsewhere. Its a good fit. Loney is Lonely in TB these days?

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 02:16 PM) The cubs proclamations of being the best fans in baseball is not that far off and the cubs, when playing well, draw incredibly on the road as do the Bears and Hawks. Really is sad the Sox can not get into this attraction with Chicago sports fans. I thought he meant that about Cardinals fans becoming too irritating to tolerate, although still better than preferring the Cubs to the Cards, presumably.

If the Red Sox don't sign Lester and Sandoval, they're definitely going after Shields and perhaps Scherzer if Max doesn't end up with the Dodgers as expected. They could still conceivably trade Cespedes, and turn around to sign Scherzer OR Shields AND Sandoval.

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 07:49 PM) if I remember the article, it stated that the dodgers FO wasn't excited about how he performed on the call up. so who knows. come spring he might be lights out. You can never judge that type of prospect getting sporadic (at best) playing time in the heat of a pennant race... They were unhappy with Puig and Kemp and practically everyone on their team at one point or another last year. Puig was in a pretty big slump down the stretch and still struggling with defensive fundamentals, albeit moderately improved from his rookie year. Adrian Gonzalez was getting a lot of criticism early as well....the bullpen guys like Wilson and Morrow, etc. The Dodgers are just under a tremendous amount of pressure to get to the World Series.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 07:58 PM) Saying they may have them is fine, but who are you thinking will be those surprises? Montas (as a reliever, which is 50/50), Bassit, Snodgress, Beck...those are probably the best bets for now.

http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox/white-...&ocid=yahoo

QUOTE (woods of ypres @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 06:25 PM) Jose Canseco. Forgot about him. That was pretty much a lost year already with Thomas down and the 14-29 start. And, of course, the steroids/PEDs ugly scandal hadn't yet colored the face of the game...it was whispered about, but not a deal-breaker for players or the HOF.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 05:39 PM) There's a strong case to be made that both of those guys could get very useful time in the minors next year and that there's not "little to lose" in either case. Beck has 7 starts at AAA. Bassitt has 110 innings above A ball. Yes, calling guys up who just arrived at AA is a thing the White Sox do, but there's reason to think both of those guys should have plenty of stuff to work on next year. I meant that only in the sense the White Sox probably value both of those guys failing/falling on their faces and ending up in the pen more than giving $48 million over 4 years to Erwin Santana to cover the mid-rotation spot. Clearly, they're going to be more careful with Rodon, and probably Montas and Danish (to a lesser extent). Maybe they will surprise us all and open up the wallets on someone like Volquez. But probably not.

Inception and his Batman films have SOME critics, but I'd take all of them over Interstellar. Maybe even The Prestige and Memento. That said, it was Nolan's version of The Fountain or perhaps Noah (Aronofsky). It had the goal of being a great movie....incredibly ambitious undertaking....but came up just short in the end. I can't honestly say I ever thought it was great, though, or that I didn't look at my watch at least 10 times saying "wow, we're closing in on Titanic's 3:14 running time!"

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 05:31 PM) Just so it's said, I want neither him nor the fake company he created to try to cover up his juicing to receive money from the white sox, but y'all knew that anyway so I'm shutting up. And that's probably how JR feels as well. Bringing in reportedly questionable character guys like Belle, AJ or Everett is one thing. Awarding Cabrera with one of the 3-4 or so biggest contracts on the team "as an outsider" is quite another. Of course, they did give Wil Cordero a shot. Jimenez as well.

Barring any major surprises (spending $10-12 million per year on a 3/4 guy), there's little to lose giving Bassit a shot at starting...or even Beck. We already know what Carroll's going to give as a starter, that won't change. Of course, fans wanting to compete NOW aren't going to be encouraged by any of those three names being anywhere near the rotation. Plus, Bassit could also end up taking Webb's place in the bullpen...or Sanburn, if he has a great spring in AZ.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 05:21 PM) I would agree, and would go one step further and say that I wouldn't even hate 3 at $16. I wouldn't really want to go over that. To me, the 4th year is always a much bigger deal than the AAV. And someone's surely going to go higher than 3 years/$48. Heyward's off the market. Which leaves the Sox with declining options as the money chases the remaining quality bats...of course Rasmus, Hunter, Aoki, Morse, Butler, Morales, etc., will be out there longer, and it's too early to know how the "over-valuation" of Cuddyer will play into the offseason, if at all. As this continues to play out, the Dodgers and White Sox working together will make more and more sense.

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 05:14 PM) If you don't value superior defense, striking out much less, or walking much more, then yes, Markakis is exactly like De Aza. Markakis is getting paid like a perennial All-Star when all the numbers point to his being a complementary player, especially going forward into his 30's. Someone lined them (DeAza and Markakis) up in terms of offensive statistics since 2011 and they profile pretty similarly. There's not anything close to a consensus about Markakis' defense. Reputation....is being trumped by computer analysis/advanced stats. A marginal upgrade over a player we didn't want to pay anything isn't worth $10-11 million per year. Cabrera, if he plays to his potential in a non-contract year and doesn't get dinged by the PEDs police, he's more likely to repeat his numbers. That said, if you look at the entire body of his career, incredibly inconsistent. I'm not sure JR will authorize it.

The Cards still have insurance for Heyward going FA in Piscotty and Grichuk. (Let's also keep in mind most Cards fans wanted to dump Jay a year ago before he rebounded and Craig sank in 2015). They're not going to just give those guys away. It's a "win now" move for the Cardinals, whereas it's a "hope for the best/upside" play for the Braves, who are dealing with so many injuries in their rotation and the FA loss of Erwin Santana, so they pretty much needed a younger pitcher who would be around long/er term. Maybe they'll try to convert A.Vizcaino (Cubs) into a starter, although he's probably ticketed for the pen. If the Braves are still trying to sell off BJ Upton and Gattis to the highest bidders, that's when you'll know it's a true rebuild down there (Freeman as well). I think they believe with this move they can be competitive enough for 2015 and wait for their starters to bounce back in the 2nd half/2016.

QUOTE (woods of ypres @ Nov 17, 2014 -> 04:54 PM) Markakis? Would we pay 4 years and $40-44 million to DeAza? Because offensively, that's the kind of production we're looking at. Markakis clearly has better fundamentals and fewer brain cramps and is beloved by Showalter (supposedly), but he's not going to be the difference-maker he was projected to be five years ago. If I had a gun to my head, I'd choose Cabrera, but not a big fan of either acquisition at these price points.

The last time we invested "heavily" into set-up guys, it didn't go so well with MacDougal, Dotel and Linebrink. That said, we have to find the middle ground between buying at an absolute peak and finding "bargains" on the downside who end up costing almost as much (and probably moreso if you factor in replacing them constantly) as the premiere players.