caulfield12

I hope you're talking about Manny Ramirez in LF and not Alexei!!! The last position on the field I would want Alexei to play is either LF or 1B.

First of all, with the market falling dramatically for some of the second tier players, it's not clear that many teams could afford to take on Dye's salary...maybe 8-10 major league teams right now, at most. Second, Uribe couldn't be offered a deal for $1.3 million like Betemit is getting. His salary for this past season was $4.5 million, so the most we COULD possibly cut him down to is $3.6 million in arbitration. However, that would be NO certainty because of the fact that he got the bulk to the playing time after Crede went down, and his agent would want him treated as a starter and not as a utility player in a possible hearing. The arbitrator couldn't/wouldn't choose the lower offer simply because the White Sox didn't see him getting more than 150 at-bats when he's been a regular for pretty much five years here. We could easily end up on the hook for $4.5-5.5 million for Uribe, we wouldn't be able to trade him to another team (look at all the conjecture for the lowly Adam Everett at $1 million plus incentives, or for Jack Wilson) and that $4 million in savings with Betemit (who could certainly figure in a 3B platoon) could be more effectively invested in a starting pitcher or CFer.

I think he did play SS very early in his career....before putting on so much weight and growing into his current frame. This, I suppose, is roughly at the same time he was pitching a little and consistently throwing in the high 80's or low 90's.

The problem is that Taveras just MIGHT be the best option out of all the worst-case scenarios out there. Jerry Owens also has a better than 50/50 shot at not getting the job done or staying healthy. Anderson can't lead off. Wise isn't a CFer. Are you in the lead off with Getz/Lillibridge (2B) and put Anderson at 9th in the order camp?

For the record, KW has already mentioned he expects Nunez to contribute THIS season out of the pen. He has also talked about Jimenez being a "plus" arm and about Link as well. I haven't heard many quotes from KW counting on Russell or Wasserman to do much this season. If he does, then it's a very pleasant surprise. His presence on the roster would also "knock" Poreda/Richard back down to Charlotte if they didn't make it as fifth starter....and I think both of them would be benefitted more from remaining on the major league roster with Cooper and pitching out of the pen ala Buehrle 2000.

FWIW, Garland made $12 million last year and expects to make equal or more money. Remember, he turned down the Angels' arbitration offer, which means he expected he could make a MINIMUM of $9.6 million for one season...I think there will be AT LEAST 2-3 teams out there (like the Mets) willing to outbid us for him.

I also find it quite hard to believe that he had an OPS comparable with Royce Clayton, who I remember as the worst offensive player on the Sox over the last decade...along with catcher Mark Johnson. I still think Uribe is a better defender, even at less than ideal body weight. It's just that Uribe could never have been a leadoff hitter for us this year.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Dec 16, 2008 -> 09:25 PM) I hate Orlando but in his defense he was the best defensive SS in terms of UZR and the 5th best defensive player in baseball by UZR. Throw all that out. What did your EYES tell you from watching him play all season long?

.708 and .660=Royce Clayton OPS for the White Sox over two seasons .705=Orlando Cabrera (and only because of a late charge, he was around .650-.660 for the majority of the season) In no way, shape or form was he worth $10 million in this economy with Alexei Ramirez basically making $1 million per season behind him.

I think another problem with Haeger is holding runners, fwiw. He would be "okay" as a garbage innings pitcher, but we already have Carrasco for that role. Not to mention that whoever loses out for the fifth starter (Poreda/Richard/Marquez) would also seem to be capable of pitching in those situations, like Buehrle in 2000, as a way to get their feet wet and gain confidence. I don't see Haeger as part of any long-term plan, and his upside is pretty limited, so I think you won't see him brought back to the Sox.

Or scary bad. Lots of potential with Poreda and Bailey, but both of them could also be out of baseball in 3 years, too. Buehrle and probably Danks are the closest to "known" quantities at this point. Anything could happen with Floyd, although I'm crossing my fingers he puts up the same numbers as last season. I'd definitely take that...but not counting on it.

Just like my belief to this day that Valentin was a better defender than Royce Clayton. Same type of argument.

I guess it's a pretty good sign of progress with our farm system that neither Marquez nor Ely are Top 10 prospects, and yet are realistically viewed as options for 4/5 starter down the line. Gone are the days of Juan Silverio, Andy Gonzalez, Adam Russell, McCulloch, Broadway, Tracey, Francisco Hernandez, Arnie Munoz, etc. We also have a good group of pitching talent just coming into the system (like Carter and Hudson) that aren't in top 10 either. Link didn't make the cut as well. Same with Nunez, Gilmore and Rodriguez.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Dec 16, 2008 -> 04:43 PM) This makes no sense unless the Braves are going to acquire Peavy. I know one thing, I'd absolutely love to have Escobar and I'd trade Dye straight up for him (simply because I value middle infielders with his ability and upside). And no way is Furcal going to play 2B. Unless Dye agreed to stay there for 2 years or "pre-negotiate" a three year deal, I don't think any team would be so quick to give up one of the best SS prospects in the game for a one year rental, even with the Type A compensation (assuming JD stayed healthy). That and the fact that every team is waiting for that "glut" of outfield FA's to come down from $12-16 million into the $7-10 million range per season in their asking prices, which does make JD quite as much of a bargain as he looked like 6-9 months ago going forward.

The minimum wage in Colombia is closer to $1 USD per hour, fwiw.

Well, the "Big Board" is supposed to be 2-3 years down the line. That said, competition for 6th reliever's position: Link Nunez (KW is really high on this kid) Richard/Poreda (whoever loses out of a starter) Jimenez (Blue Jays) Russell Wasserman 4th/5th starter Marquez, Richard/Poreda, Broadway, Egbert, FA/Trade Lillibridge, Fields, Beckham, Viciedo, Jordan Danks and Flowers are the potential starters (not counting Getz) in our system....with the possible exception of Brandon Allen and MAYBE Shelby, although I see him as a bench/role player at the major league level at this point. Ideally, Lillibridge would beat out Getz for 2B and be the leadoff hitter...although Getz as a 2 hitter would be fine as well, not sure about leading off yet. Either one would be better than Nix IMO. Down the line, though, you have to feel that Beckham is best suited for 2B, both offensively and defensively. Fields, if he can hold off Viciedo and stay healthy, would push Viciedo to LF or 1B/DH down the line...or possibly RF, if they felt his arm made him a better candidate for that position, and Quentin would stay in LF. Flowers, ideally, will mature defensively, although he could replace Konerko or Thome down the line. Allen, Viciedo, Fields and Flowers all could theoretically end up at 1B in 2011. CF continues to be the biggest mystery. Owens, Anderson and Lillibridge would fight it out right now...with Jordan Danks on their heels in 2010 or 2011. That's assuming he doesn't roll the dice/kick the tires on Taveras. I continue to believe that Cabrera/Taveras (or something like that) is much more likely than Abreu and any pitcher costing upwards of $8 million per season. Marquis (with the Cubs eating 60% of his salary) and some combination of Pie OR Fukudome would be an interesting trade to fill two pressing needs for the White Sox right now. Not sure who'd we have to give up, and I think the Cubs would be scared to see Fukudome OR Pie excel on the SouthSide like Jon Garland did after the Karchner trade.

Juan Cruz would cost Type A compensation. No thanks. Actually, many clubs are looking at him as a possible closer going forward.

But are you so confident in Pie that you'd trade Owens and/or Anderson, not sign Taveras, and hand him the starting job in CF? I think I'd rather try Fukudome out of that fishbowl if the Cubs were willing to eat 55-65% of his contract.

Which is probably why he's been overwhelmed with interest and multiple contract offers of $10 million plus over 2-3 years this offseason?

Well, you have to agree with the thinking, to be proactive now instead of reactive later, out of desperation. It's better than having a firesale in the middle of the season IMO. KW has to be thinking that if he can go into the season "under" payroll for once and experiment with the youngsters, he'll still have the flexibility to add more talent at the break, and not just a Ken Griffey, Jr., but a real impact player this time. I think in the back of his mind, he has to realize it will be hard to hang with Minnesota and maybe Cleveland if they get off to really hot starts. Still, if they can stay within 5-7 games and "hang around" into July, then there's a chance that the youth movement (think Poreda, Beckham and Viciedo) will "kick in" and give them a renewed energy going into the second half, and that can be paired with a high impact vet to give them the perfect mixture going into the dog days of the summer. However, as always, it comes down to starting pitching, plain and simple. On paper, we're definitely behind MIN and probably behind CLE. At best, we're even with KC and DET.

But would you rather have Pie as your starting center fielder and leadoff hitter than Taveras? That's the real question, not who would you rather have on your roster. PS I'm also surprised we haven't heard more talk of someone asking the Cubs to take a huge chunk of Fukudome's deal...which would give them more flexibility to sign Bradley, who the Rays apparently also covet.

The thing with Pettitte is having a veteran, stable leader on the team for about $10-12 million for one or two years would really be a bridge to the next generation of Sox starters like Poreda, Richard, Marquez, etc. Not interested in signing Penny, Oliver Perez, Wolf, Garland, Eric Milton, Paul Byrd...anyone like that, for over 2 years. PERIOD. The question is, is it worth the money? Well, we all know that the playoffs are all about getting hot at the right time, and our pitching rotation was totally out of whack (and overworked) by the time we got to TB, not to mention the fact we never play well in domed stadiums. Still, I'd much rather invest that money in stabilizing the starting rotation than putting it into the offense at this point. We need at least one veteran starter if we're going to contend next year. It's pretty obvious KW is waiting for the bottom to fall out of the market and to see what bargains (like Cabrera) are out there. In another 2 months, things might look dramatically worse for the FA market, even in starting pitching.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-1...0,2965427.story Even the Cubs have a lot of concerns about advertising revenue going forward...so you know it has to be a concern to almost every MLB franchise, with the probably exception of the Yankees, Mets and Red Sox. Even the Dodgers are getting a little "cost conscious" (letting Furcal go, and it's natural with those contracts for A. Jones, Pierre, Schmidt, etc.) It will also be interesting to see if it's the Angels or Red Sox winning the bidding for TEX. The Yankees are going crazy though...Kei Igawa's deal was $46 million if you include the outrageous "posting" fee. I guess shedding Abreu, Giambi, Mussina and possibly Pettitte, they feel they can afford to take on that extra payroll.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-1...0,2965427.story BOSTON (AP)—As the Boston Red Sox pursue Mark Teixeira, their owner said Wednesday the amount they’re willing to spend on free agents depends on the nation’s economic problems and the player involved. With as many as five teams showing interest in the first baseman, there is serious doubt the Red Sox would go longer than the eight-year contract the Los Angeles Angels, Teixeira’s former team, have offered. “We all have limits,” Red Sox owner John Henry said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. “Eight years is a very long time in baseball and everywhere else.” He also said the amount the team is willing to spend on a free agent “depends on both” the economy and the player being sought. “Baseball as a whole has not yet been hit by the financial crisis, but it will,” Henry said. “The degree is in question and won’t be answered for a while.” www.yahoosports.com

Well, there are certainly different kinds of broken legs. It appears this is a stress fracture with a 4-6 week healing time frame, compared to something like Jermaine Dye's horrific foul ball, there's no relationship between the two injuries. However, these types of injuries (like shin splints or hamstrings or groin pulls/adductor muscle) are ALWAYS a concern for a player whose primary "plus" skill is his speed and fielding ability. That said, there's certainly no harm in having another option in camp. At least we already have Wise and Anderson as "insurance", but Wise is definitely not a CFer by any stretch of the imagination. I know a lot of people would prefer Anderson as the everyday player, and I would probably agree with it, were it not for the fact that we don't have any leadoff hitter on the roster that's currently better suited for the position than Owens and possibly Lillibridge. The Cubs signing Gathright and dumping Pie eventually is further proof of the value of someone in that role.