Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 9, 2013 -> 05:12 PM) Not really, but I just saw Canada and Mexico get into a huge bench-clearing brawl. GM's cringing all over baseball. I understand why they want to make the game more international, but for the American fan, I don't see the appeal. Mexicans fighting Canadians? Seems like a good reason for Americans to watch. I'll have to catch some highlights.

QUOTE (hammerhead johnson @ Mar 9, 2013 -> 01:32 PM) Really don't know what to make of this. If you believe them, then scouts are very skeptical about Hawkins. LOL at no White Sox players. Strong K-Dub stench. How about them Cubs, though. 18. Almora OF 20. Baez SS 36. Soler OF 54. Vizcaino SP Check out how a real organization does things. Yeah, the Cubs are quite the organization. Look at all those overrated prospects! Our first round pick (also a HS OF) out-produced theirs, yet our guy doesn't make the top 100 but theirs is #18? That's just f***ing stupid.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 9, 2013 -> 12:38 PM) Chris Sale could have easily gotten more money in the latter years, but to do that, he'd have to go through the normal arbitration and free agency process, where none of the money is guaranteed. Through normal arbitration, it would take him 2 to 3 seasons to earn this much. He'd be minimum salary this year, $10 million or so next year, $14 million or so the next year, and then closer to $20 million in the 4th year. Basically he traded a guaranteed salary for an early arrival at free agency. If you're a player with any worry about injury risk, and you're content with where you are, it's the right move. If he had any injury, then he might never earn that $30 million since it wouldn't get there until the 4th season. I'm not saying he shouldn't have done the deal. I'm saying he probably have gotten more if pushed harder. Based on his comments, I don't think he was looking to milk every dollar out of us. Sounds like he just wanted to get a deal done quickly. I think Hahn would have been willing to go higher, especially with those option years.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 9, 2013 -> 10:50 AM) This deal wasn't a massive hometown discount. It's a reasonable deal for a kid under 25 to sign. He could blow his elbow out tomorrow, never pitch again, and walk away with $33 million dollars based on 1 really good season as a starter. Maybe he could have talked the team out of another couple million, but that is a real good deal for him too. I've got to be honest, I think Hahn pulled off quite the deal. I read the article on Fangraphs that listed 8 comparable deals and it seems like the Sale deal was better than most and possibly all of them. Minimal salary increase in his final pre-arb year, low prices for the three arbitration years, and an extremely low first free agency year. The salary for those guaranteed years should have been much higher, especially since a lot of those comparable deals are now several years old and the cost of pitching continues to rise. Also, getting two cheap options is incredible. Come on Balta, it's one thing for Sale to forego possible income down the road to lock in some money now, but you're telling me he couldn't have got way more in those two option years? $12.5 million & $13.5 million is what #4 starters will be making in 2018 & 2019.

Part of my reasoning to trade De Aza is to so while he still has good value. I don't think he'll be worth the cost long-term, especially in a corner, so if we can move him after the 2013 season while he he still has two arb years left, a team desperate for a leadoff hitter and/or CF may give up something of value for him. At some point, if we want to make the most of the asset, we either need to resign or trade him. And everyday we hold on to him and burn up his arb years the less valuable he becomes.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 8, 2013 -> 09:42 PM) Last year I said they would contend for the division. I feel differently this year primarily because of the workloads on Sale and Peavy last year, an offense that's core is a year older, and a division where the Royals and Indians have improved. What about Verlander and Scherzer's workloads? And do the Tigers not have to play the Royals & Indians this year?

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 8, 2013 -> 08:41 PM) Why pay Ramirez $26M over the next 3 years when they aren't going to the postseason? For the love of god, can you please stop speaking in absolutes? Also, I don't understand why you think it's so far-fetched we make the playoffs. If Danks is healthy, which is looking likely so far, then our rotation can be one of the best in baseball. Our bullpen also has the potential to be one of the best in baseball. Plus our defense was one of the best in baseball last year and has arguably gotten better. Yes, our offense is a question mark, but that doesn't mean it's going to bad next year. If the pitching holds up, which is a concern for every team, we have a decent chance at making the playoffs next year. I guess I can't comprehend why you are so negative about the Sox. Do you think our starters are going to break down? You can't really be denying their talent right? Look around the league, few teams have rotations as talented as ours.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Mar 8, 2013 -> 04:58 PM) If I owned property within a mile Wrigley I'd have to think seriously about unloading it. I think moving is a real threat and the day they announce it, property values are going to drop like a rock. Might as well start calling it South Uptown. Good thing you're not a real estate agent, because that will never happen anytime soon. Wrigley is their gold-mine and the Cubs can posture however they want, but no one is stupid enough to fall for their bluff. Moving away from Wrigley would be franchise suicide.

Career minor league OPS: Gillaspie .777 Morel .786 And Morel's would have been much higher had he not put up a .492 OPS in AAA this past season.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 8, 2013 -> 05:26 PM) Why is that so great? Seriously, outside of his first year in the PCL (an .842 OPS which isn't that good for the league), he's done nothing to suggest he should be a starter.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Mar 8, 2013 -> 02:24 PM) Thompson is nowhere close to ready . Mitchell is the only one who looks like he can be ready but that's if he puts together a solid season at AAA where he improves his average somewhere above .280 which he hasn't even come close to doing for a full season yet. The Sox will be lucky if any of the prospects in the outfield can even come close to being how good De Aza is. I actually disagree with your entire post. 1) I said if Thompson shows he's ready after the 2013 season, then I'd trade De Aza to open up a spot for Thompson. I'm definitely not saying he's ready now and I'm not even saying he will be ready after this season. My idea was simply conditional on his readiness. However, if you followed his development last year, you'd know Thompson was a much improved player in the 2nd half of his stint at A+ and while at AA. If he plays like that player this year, he'll be ready for the majors by 2014. 2) I still have hope for Mitchell, but I think Thompson actually passed him in term of development this past season. Thompson actually made adjustments offensively and improved as the year went on, while Mitchell started out fast but struggled significantly the rest of the year. Given the clear edge Thompson has defensively, I think Thompson has a much better chance of earning a job in our outfield in 2014 than Mitchell. 3) Mitchell doesn't have to hit .280 to be an effective player. He needs keep his walk rate high (~15%) first and foremost, without letting his K% rate get too crazy (over 30%). If he can do that, with his mix of speed and power, he could be very a dangerous leadoff hitter despite a low BA. Whether he can do that against advanced pitching remains to be seen, but if you're hoping he hits .280 you simply don't understand the type of player Jared Mitchell. 4) This is the point that bothers me the most. De Aza isn't that great of a player. He put up a .759 OPS last year and wasn't anything special in CF. Plus his SB % wasn't very good. Look, I think he's solid leadoff hitter and all-around player, since he can do a little bit of everything at a premium position. However, I think all four of our top OF prospects have higher ceilings than De Aza, but I'm just going to focus on one. IMO, given the value of Thompson's defense in CF, it won't take much offense from him to exceed De Aza's value as a player. And that's completely ignoring the fact that he's already demonstrated elite power and above average BB % as a 21 year old in A+ & AA. To think he has no chance of ever coming close to being De Az caliber player is crazy to me.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 8, 2013 -> 08:04 AM) If ADA stays healthy this season and there are 2 outfielders knocking on the door, it's entirely possible the team may decide he's the one to move. He's the oldest, the others have a long time pre-arb, and he'd be able to bring a guaranteed major league return. If ADA doesn't stay healthy this year, then we may very well want the extra depth and use that as a way to ease one or two of these guys in. I personally think if Trayce Thompson shows that he's ready this year, then you trade De Aza in the offseason and go with Thompson in CF. All the scouting reports rave about his defense in CF and his bat would more valuable there. Obviously you'd be down another left-handed bat and a leadoff hitter, but you could try to address those needs at other positions. I just think at some point we'll need to make room for some of these young OFs and De Aza is a guy who get you a nice return if he has another solid year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 8, 2013 -> 06:42 AM) I don't really think you can draw that conclusion yet. Gillaspie has no major league track record to speak of. He's a high doubles guy who'd be playing in a part that takes away doubles with its small gaps. Yeah, I think some people are jumping too quickly on the Gillaspie bandwagon. I'll admit I'm excited about the possibly of him becoming quality role player for us, but he's still a complete unknown at the major league level. Wanting to give him a starting job based on a strong spring training seems like a very bad idea to me. Plus he's never produced enough in the minors to suggest he should ever be a regular. Let's see how does in April & May and if all goes well we can find a way to get his bat into the lineup more. For now he remains an unknown quantity.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Mar 8, 2013 -> 05:28 AM) It may be hyperbole, but it's not my hyperbole. That is what the Sanchez' manager told K.W. He doesn't have to be Roberto Alomar to represent an improvement, considering the money the Sox are now spending on their SS. Look, I'm not saying that Alexei is terrible. I just don't think that he is a $10 million a year SS, and if they could get something of value for him, it seems to make sense to explore the possiblities, especially when they have a very promising young replacement like Sanchez. If the Sox can't get anything of value, or if they don't think that Sanchez is ready, then perhaps it would be better to wait, and hope for a rebound season from Alexei. However, I agree with Marty, in that I don't see Alexei finishing that contract in Chicago. Alexei makes $7 million this year, followed by $9.5 & $10 million in 2014 & 2015. For comparison, Stephen Drew signed a 1 year, $9.5 million deal coming off a 0 WAR season. Just goes to show you what even an average SS can get on the open market. Look, I'm not going to argue that Alexei's contract will look great if his bat doesn't improve, but as long as his defense remains strong it will never be an albatross. Defense simply holds too much value at the position.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 7, 2013 -> 06:31 PM) Correct. If he stays healthy, Hahn may very well have just created a contending team for the next 7 years. An underpaid ace can do that. Agree 100%. It all starts with starting pitching and having a legit ace makes filling out the rest of rotation a lot easier.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 7, 2013 -> 07:30 PM) Ramirez isn't the difference between this team "competing" and not "competing". Personally, I think this is a slightly below .500 team. Certainly not in the same class as the Tigers. Anything can be the difference between competing and not competing. Everything adds up in the end and if you weaken yourself at SS and proceed to lose the division by a game, guess what? That move is one of the reasons you lost the division.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 7, 2013 -> 07:21 PM) Getting that contract off the books would be more important than the return. At the expense of punting this season? Do you really think we have no chance to compete this year?

QUOTE (Andy the Clown @ Mar 7, 2013 -> 06:55 PM) Here's another possibility: If Keppinger can handle SS defensively (he has in the past), trade Alexi, keep Carlos at AAA, move Keppinger to SS, and start Gillispie. We wouldn't lose a thing. The offense would actually be much improved. Under the above scenario, you could dump Alexi's contract for nothing. We'd definitely lose quite a bit defensively and I'm not sure how much we'd really gain offensively. Yes, Alexei sucked last year, but his walk rate completely plummeted and he lost most of his power. I just didn't see anything physically to suggest he's going to be that bad of a player going forward. Worst case scenario, I think he'll rebound with the bat to some extent this year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 7, 2013 -> 06:32 PM) More love for Jared Mitchell http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/white-sox/...s-to-turn-heads I still think this kid has a chance to be a special player. He doesn't turn 25 years old until October, so he's pretty much age appropriate for AAA, plus he really hasn't had that much development time given his injury. The physical tools remain there, even if his speed isn't quite as elite as it once was. The kid is always going to strikeout a lot, as he takes a ton of pitches and as a result a ton of walks. He just needs to learn how to make adjustments so he can get his contact rate to a respectable level. Honestly, I have no problem at all with a high OBP/low AVG leadoff hitter with above-average power and speed. He just can't be Adam Dunn bad with the strikeouts, which is what he was last year, especially in AAA.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 7, 2013 -> 04:13 PM) I think Carlos Sanchez is going to pan out too, but he's not even 21 yet. I'd love it if he played 130+ games at Charlotte this year. Get more PA's against good pitching and be ready to come up in September to give the Sox something to think about for 2014. Unless he improves the major league team, there is simply no reason to rush him. Like you said, he's extremely young and still has plenty of room to grow as a player. Let him continue to develop in AAA for at least half of season and then see what the Sox's needs are. If he can help at that point, then maybe you throw him into the fire. Otherwise, wait until September. Either way, he gets some more time to polish his game before coming up to the big leagues, plus you'd delay his arbitration clock another year. Also, I would love to see Sanchez play SS everyday. Him & Semien split 2B & SS last year, but that shouldnt be an issue now. If Sanchez could somehow stick at SS, he'd be incredibly more valuable. I don't think it's very likely based on the scouting reports I've read, but there is no harm in playing him there while he's at AAA.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 7, 2013 -> 04:12 PM) The problem is that I don't think any of his tools grade out as better than Ramirez. Well his hit tool and plate-disipline project better, but the difference in power and defense is signicant. Having said, the player Carlos Sanchez projects to be down the road is not who you'd be getting this year. Sanchez in all likelihood would be a serious downgrade this year, so trading Ramirez makes no sense if you don't get a major league piece back that can help you in another area.

Absolutely fantastic move. We just locked up a potential top 5 starter in baseball for the next 4 or 6 years (excluding this coming season). The total cost of his abritration years (including his minor bump this year) is only about $19 million or $6.3 million per. For comparison, Tim Lincecum got $18 million in his 3rd arbitration year alone. I have no doubt if we went year to year with Sale he'd easily get $25 to $30 million over the next three seasons. On top of that, we get him for three potential free agency years all at affordable costs, with only one of them guaranteed. We're talking about $60 to $90 million in value for a total cost of $37 million, with only $12 million guaranteed. Having those two option years is just incredibly valuable. They mitigate so much of the risk associated with this type of deal. Also, just having the cost certainty is a huge plus. We don't have to worry about him winning the Cy Young award and then getting Lincecum type money in his arb years. With Sale now locked up at set prices, we should have more flexibility to spend in free agency to fill some of our offensive needs, especially as guys like Konerko, Dunn, & Rios come off the books. Hahn deserves a lot of credit for convincing Sale to agree to a below-market extension.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Mar 7, 2013 -> 06:42 AM) Tex is only out 8-10 weeks and we're still 3½ weeks away from the start of the season, so there's no way they give up anything valuable for someone who will be on the bench for 3/4 of the season. And let's not forget that Konerko makes $13.5 million this year and his hit to the Yankees would be roughly $20 million due to the luxury tax.

QUOTE (knightni @ Mar 6, 2013 -> 11:10 PM) I think a long term contract isn't a bad thing, but he's a season or two from Tommy John. This is just a terrible post. You want to lock up a pitcher you're certain will need Tommy John surgery in the next two years? That makes absolutely no sense. If you actually believe he'll need surgery you do one-off deals through his arbitration years.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 5, 2013 -> 08:06 AM) I'm one who really likes Wise as a backup outfielder right now. And, beyond that, you aren't going to get anything more than a future utility guy at best for Wise, which ultimately means you are essentially getting nothing. You don't ever want to close a door, but I don't see a match here. Yeah, I completely agree. I absolutely despised Wise when we tried to make him a starter a few years ago, but I really liked what he offered as a reserve outfielder last season. He can help in a variety of ways, which is great when you have a four man bench. IMO, he's a more well-rounded reserve than Jordan Danks and he deserves the 4th outfielder spot to open the season.