caulfield12

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 8, 2012 -> 05:00 PM) What's more likely...Soriano + Dunn playing a decent LF or Rios having a good year with the bats next year? Honestly feel better about Dunn than Rios. But Dunn just having cratered for one year and returning simply seems more likely. Then again, Rios' 2009-11 is pretty unprecedented as well. Probably the guys in the F.O. and clubhouse have a much better idea than we do. As far as Rios hitting well again, ???. Let's hope that Ventura and a new hitting instructor get through to him, because he simulataneously went from one of the best fielders in the game to one of the worst for his position, as well. Every aspect of his game became the dictionary definition of tepid, disenchanted, disinterested, lackadaisical.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Jan 8, 2012 -> 03:15 PM) The reasons I don't see this happening is: Soriano is a right handed batter and on the Sox that addition makes for a poor balance of lefty and righty hitters. He hit better than Dunn, but you hope Dunn recovers in 2012 Adding Soriano only makes the OF situation more crowded plus I don't see Soriano as a very good defender Alfonso is owed around $54M still and Dunn is close to that, but maybe a year less in money? There wouldn't be any salary dump I am sure regardless of what you might think of a trade. $44 million left on Dunn...about $40 for Rios. Rios for Soriano would be a lot better move....financially, and Rios is much more of a negative force or cancer than Dunn apparently. The main problem there is we're not sure if DeAza 1) is an everyday player and 2) how well he can play CF for 150+ games. Of course, we have Lillibridge to back him up, but most would prefer to deal Soriano for Rios and stick DeAza in CF with Soriano/Dunn in LF. Plus we really need that LH power bat to balance the line-up, somehow. It can't be AJ or Kendry Morales to do it.

65-75%...but not 80-90% Someone would do that...a bit similar to the Jim Thome situation.

Would be interesting to see how close the Cubs or White Sox would be to making a bid in the vicinity of $50 million for Cespedes. Both teams desperately need a future superstar, especially the Sox...but neither can afford a "hit and miss" of that magnitude in the rebuilding process.

33% with 2 WC's versus roughly 50% chance at the playoffs...comparing the two leagues

Didn't we say the same thing in late july/early August? Then DET obliterated the rest of the division and whipped Santos twice, leading to Marty's call to deal him.

The newer version of GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO is 5X better, wow....Rooney Mara totally scared me, I can see why some families/adults even are steering away from this one, very dark, much moreso than original Swedish version.

Epstein has the huge financial advantage to eat contracts like Zambrano's and bring in more big name FA's...plus the possibility of revenues generated from a new/retrofitted stadium, but, all things considered, the balance of moves should end up in KW's favor... I truly believe with Ozzie gone, with Hahn still there, Paddy and Ventura, the FO will start to function much more smoothly and efficiently, working together as a team instead of at loggerheads.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jan 7, 2012 -> 09:06 PM) I would probably say the Sox, but the Cubs havent really traded anything of signicant value. Marshall was their best piece, and I would value Santos and Quentin above him. However despite that, they still brought back the person of most value (Rizzo). So I don't know, that's a tough call. Back to Moneyball. DH/1B/corner OFer's are much more easily replaced than C, SS/2B, CF. If you want to value Rizzo (still) as one of the best prospects in baseball, then the combination of Castro and Molina trumps that. We got rid of the Teahen mistake, and got a potentially very useful piece back in Zach Stewart. You never know, but there's a distinct possibility that Stewart (back in a relief role), Hernandez and Addison Reed might more than end up compensating for the losses of Santos and Frasor. We (along with the rest of baseball since june/july '11) knew that Carlos Quentin had to go, too. You can complain all u want about losing Jackson and Buehrle, but there's also now the possibility of getting a pretty good haul back for Floyd and buying a "place holder" in the 5th spot to get us through 2012 while Molina, Castro, Axelrod, Petricka and Santiago all pitch their way onto the Top 5 prospect lists for the Sox. Sale at his upside trumps anything Buehrle could have done at 1/15th the cost. Viciedo is much cheaper than Quentin. We took someone we spent $25-50,000 on in Sergio Santos and leveraged him into a #2/3 starter for six years under cost control. If that move works out, and Castro/Stewart make it as the 4th/5th starter/s, then we've made up a lot of the ground we lost with Hudson and Gonzalez. There's no guarantees Gio could have succeeded at USCF. Plus we acquired Humber for absolutely nothing and we might have a #3/4 guy for the next 4 seasons. KW >>> Epstein/Hoyer If KW traded Beckham now or made a Zambrano move with Rios/Dunn and gave up 85% of their contracts, everyone would be screaming bloody murder...waiting until Dunn (especially) and Rios made the All-Star team in 2012 to say what a stupid move it was to sell both those guys for pennies on the dollar.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jan 7, 2012 -> 04:38 PM) Feels like Brian Roberts has been headed to the Cubs for years now. He always used to kill the Sox. Surprised KW didn't acquire him. Now that he's available and 3 years too late, probably will.

QUOTE (The Critic @ Jan 7, 2012 -> 03:35 PM) Sounds like they may as well keep Soriano and hope for the best. At least he'll hit his 20 or so homers and drive in around 75 runs. Sounds like Joe Crede or Juan Uribe numbers. It (bringing in Soriano) was also kind of the Sox theory with Josh Fields. Stick him in LF and we'll live with his defensive deficiencies, as long as he hits. But we already have Dunn/Viciedo and we don't need another RH hitter, so no go. Above all else, Soriano is one of the most selfish hitters around. You don't want him serving as any type of example to the younger players. It's bad enough we have Rios on our team, we don't need another player like that. Quentin himself really wasn't much of a "team hitter" for the last 3 years, got way way too pull happy and flying open on every pitch.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jan 7, 2012 -> 10:41 AM) You've never been here before? If a 5.87 ERA doesn't warrant another invitation, I don't know what does. KW was trying to hype Jon Adkins with a AAA/AA ERA of almost 1.5X that when he was acquired. I'm sure there's some way to spin it...his ERA before the last 3-5 outing was 3.21 or something like that, whatever the numbers are.

One of each, please. Soler and Cespedes. Clear Floyd, Crain, Thornton and/or Ohman, AJ and Paulie from the payroll, not to mention Peavy, and it's a DUNN deal. My question would be if Katz has to accept the highest bid (as per whatever agreement has been struck with MLB and the bidding/re-bidding process) or if he can still direct his client in any direction as long as the numbers are the neighborhood he's shooting for. Is it like the Darvish posting situation? It seems different, since the teams can "re-bid" or bid the price up or counteroffer. If the Sox did sign Soler, I would imagine that would tip the iceberg in the direction of the Sox (with Cespedes), as long as they seemed committed to keeping "elder statesman" Alexei Ramirez around for the "retooling" years. The Florida market does make more sense, you have Guillen there, Cora....I wonder, if Contreras and El Duque were questioned...would they advise these two guys to go to Miami with Ozzie or would their loyalty be more to the Sox/Cooper. Wish there was some way to ask El Gran Titan this question, where he would advise these kids to go. Both options make equal sense. In Chicago, seemingly, there would be less pressure as the team's not expected to compete with a greenhorn manager and also more focus is now on Mr. Epstein on the Northside.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jan 7, 2012 -> 03:51 PM) If I'm not mistaking, Adam Katz is a Chairman Reinsdorf-friendly agent. Mistaken, Cowboy Joe.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jan 7, 2012 -> 04:52 PM) Sale and Peavy's performances will determine if the 2012 team can compete for a division title. And whether Marty gets his wish and Brent Lillibridge is the starting SS on Opening Day. Mr. 34, you're still in favor of trading Thornton, right? But not your buddy AJ, I think. Ond would assume you also want to keep Konerko...what about Crain and Floyd? Deal or stand pat until July 31st?

Nobody's expecting 90 wins, clearly. But 74-86 seems a pretty realistic range, as we stand now. You look back on last year, only Lillibridge/Konerko/Humber and Santos for most of the season performed above expectations. We all know that Peavy (if healthy) and Sale have a ton of ability...you have Dunn/Rios/Beckham, Morel hopefully playing the way he ended the year for a full season, Viciedo getting his first opportunity to play everyday, as well as the injection of power/speed from DeAza...just look at the DBacks coming into 2011 and how well that team gelled under Gibson. Is it likely we make the playoffs, hell no! Did most of us realistically expect Buehrle back? Probably not. Overall though, when all the dust clears, you can never underestimate a White Sox team that's being counted out from the beginning to rise up and compete. It has happened time and time again over history, just like the overly hyped teams in preseason have usually fallen flat on their faces. Could 80% of the roster suck eggs again this year? Sure. Anything's possible. Let's just wait and see how serious they are...if they get Cespedes, a lot of the optimism that has worn off around this team the past 3 years will be back. If they don't, we'll just have be a bit more patient, which many of us were willing to do if only the Sox would present a cogent long-term strategic vision for the future of the franchise and the direction it is headed in.

Wonder if the Sox would be interested in Zumaya (he'd have to go through 5 physicals, MRI's, etc.) on a one-year, incentive-laden deal. Might be a good buy low, sell high candidate and fixer/upper for Cooper.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Jan 7, 2012 -> 01:32 AM) FarrellBall FARRELL BALL My source jumped the gun; says Floyd to #Jays will be finalized by weekend. #Sox have concerns of the health of #Jays prospects coming back. 3 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply Must be "damaged goods" concerns about Drabeck and his performance downfall last year. After Sirotka, have to do excessive due diligence, especially with young pitchers.

QUOTE (sunofgold @ Jan 6, 2012 -> 11:24 PM) We had Santos as a low price for long period of time. Santos is making $1M in 2012. Molina is going to have be a solid front line starter to make that a fair trade. And you're going to have to believe that Santos will be capable of putting up an 80-85% save conversion rate in the 2nd deepest division in baseball, if not the best. Who's to say a young closer like Santos won't end up like Aardsma or MacDougal and be a blown contract? Of course, there's also no guarantee Molina will be a #3 starter to replace Floyd, either.

The only reason to hold onto Crain, Thornton and Ohman is to have some veteran presence in the bullpen...and to be able to compete in 2012. That's it, the rest of the bullpen is going to have to be piecemeal, a work in progress. Gone are the days where we can go out and spend on the likes of Dotel and Linebrink, let alone Crain/Thornton/Ohman. The best bet is Thornton's gone before the season starts, and Crain sometime in June/July if the team isn't contending. And there's no guarantee we even need to go with 7 pitchers (simply because Ozzie did it)....if Humber and Peavy can be 100% healthy, of course, there's no Buehrle to eat innings. Floyd and Danks can have their struggles to get to the 7th with under 100 pitches, historically. The biggest question mark in terms of durability and pitch counts is clearly going to be Sale, with Humber and Peavy a tie for 2nd in terms of worry/concern/uncertainty. On paper, the pen's now one of the biggest weaknesses on the team, but all the moves in the last six months....if nothing else, have given us some quality that COULD be nurtured at the back end of the bullpen. Just depends on what direction they choose to go with Stewart, Santiago and Castro, short-term versus long-term strategic thinking. Even if we had the best bullpen in the AL last year, it wasn't enough to make up for the offensive deficiencies and so-so results from the starting pitchers.

Hernandez, Stewart and Castro all might factor into the bullpen equation as well. Most want Stewart and Castro starting in AAA/AA, but Hernandez has a better shot than anyone but Santiago going in at the 3rd LOOGY role....

And there's reason to believe a "fresh start" for everyone in the organization with Ventura might breathe some life into the entire roster. Unless you're overwhelmed with an offer, you hold onto him for now, because trading him signals a surrender on the 2012 season to the entire fanbase. Santos being dealt could be spun, but not losing both Buehrle and Floyd.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Jan 6, 2012 -> 06:26 PM) You aren't too familiar with larry are you? One of the most well informed people regarding White Sox prospects that I know. He has his sources and connections and is not even close to some random blogger. He knows his stuff. Okay, fair enough. Just some of those comments sounded a bit "flip" when you're making pronouncements based on such limited winter league ball action. It's really the same thing with ST, too. Wilson Betemit would have been the AL MVP the other year when he destroyed ST pitching, but he barely made it through 1/5th of the season in reality. I trust the posters who actually live in the South/Southeast and who've seen most of our prospects play in person, and even gotten to know some of them very well.

If he goes to the Tigers and becomes a stud All-Star OFer, it's REALLY going to suck. Assuming we do trade Floyd/Thornton and clear that salary space, there's not as good an excuse to let Cespedes go to the Tigers. They already had the 3 best performers in the division overall in Verlander/Cabrera/Valverde, we'll be close to doomed if Cespedes has the impact some are predicting. And, most importantly, they really do need to do ONE positive/exciting thing in the offseason to give the fans a reason to buy tickets or care about the Sox again, besides just Ventura...especially with Buehrle gone.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 6, 2012 -> 08:26 AM) http://www.southsidesox.com/2012/1/4/26775...r-league-update He's drawing conclusions on Infante and Jhan Martinez based on about 10 IP of winter ball. Give me a break! Ridiculous. This is why people who comment on baseball in internet forums/boards/websites but have never watched any of the players mentioned perform should be forced to write a disclaimer at the bottom of their articles. Maybe one of the pitchers was working on adding another pitch (like Santiago) or focusing on specific areas of his repertoire. Of course, in most winter leagues, if you don't perform, you quickly find yourself off the team, as they take the competition very seriously down there and have no tolerance for non-performance or "development" innings. It's the equivalent of saying Santiago's a lock for the bullpen based on an outing or two against the weakest Twins' line-ups of the season last year.