[Peavy's future here]

you could make an argument that sale could. of course that's a could not a would.

I'm saying Peavy is a #1 starter based on his production. Sale would also qualify as a #1 starter. IMO, the strength of our team is that we have two guys who could be #1 starters on many other teams.

 

If you let Peavy go and replace him with an internal candidate, you've most likely gone from #1 starter production to #4/5 starter production. That's going to be a signicant downgrade and one that will impact the standings greatly.

 

Unless you have serious concerns about his workload this year, I'd seriously consider picking up that option.

[Peavy's future here]

The only way I'd consider offering him anything is if Danks has a prognosis after surgery saying he won't pitch next year.

 

Especially with what Quintana has come up with this year, the Sox are deep enough to fill rotation holes more cheaply than Peavy. If you throw a Liriano extension into the mix it would start getting ridiculous.

 

Seriously, take a look:

Sale

Danks

Floyd

Quintana

Humber

Axelrod

Castro

Santiago possibly

 

That's 8 deep, 6 of them cheap, with guys who can at least cover the back of the order and could be worth developing. And we have this annoying habit of having other quality guys appear magically like Quintana did this year while we're at it.

 

We can trade Floyd and still consider ourselves to have depth in the rotation.

 

If we're spending money this offseason, bring Youk back for one more year assuming he finishes this year healthy, and sign AJ for 2 more.

Peavy is a #1 starter, not just some random rotation spot. None of the guys you listed are filling that void.

[Peavy's future here]

Nobody is giving Liriano $11 million a year.

Edwin Jackson just got $11 million this past off-season, there's a good chance someone gives Liriano the same on a short-term deal.

 

As for Peavy, there is no way in hell he takes $11 million a year from us. He'll get way more than that on the free agent market. I'd have no problem picking up that option, as we're paying him $4 million regardless. The marginal cost for him is $18 million, which is only $1 million more than what we're paying him this year. Look at what Hamels just got on an annual basis and tell me Peavy at $18 million for one year is a bad deal.

[Dempster to Rangers]

I said they still have a ways to go. And how is Concepcion an epically bad signing? The kid is 20. Stewart for Colvin looks semi-bad right now. He's been real good at Coors; mediocre everywhere else. He's what 28 or almost? They're not going to miss him in the long-run. At all.

I'm not trying to be a dick, but have you seen Conception's numbers? His WHIP is almost 2 this year and he actually has more BBs than SOs. For a guy with fringy stuff, that's not a good sign.

[Santiago was sent down]

Why would AZ have put Septimo on their 40 man roster in 2008? He only had 3 years' minor league service time at that point, and was never in the majors, so there was no reason to do that. That just doesn't add up.

Mark Gonzalez confirmed it in today's Tribune. Septimo is out of options and would have to clear waivers to be sent back down to AAA. Unfortunately, there is almost no chance he would clear waivers. Given the lack of quality LH pitching, some team would take a chance on him.

[Dempster to Rangers]

Of course. I'm just saying if you look at it objectively (aka, not that whatever the cubs do sucks because they're the cubs), he's doing a good job so far. Getting Vizcaino was pure robbery.

If you want to be objective, then let's point out some of their bad moves. Stewart for Colvin looks like a terrible move at this point. Concepcion has been an epically bad signing. They've made some good moves, especially Rizzo for Cashner, but let's not pretend they've been perfect.

 

Theo & Jed still have a long, long road ahead of them. We'll see how good they truly are by how quickly the Cubs become competitive again.

[What will Kenny do ?]

If he is healthy, he is a prime AFL candidate.

Yeah, I agree with this. If he's healthy, then they should try to give him a few more innings. I still think he hasn't been right all year.

[2012 Minor League Catch All thread]

I think most people do. I don't see Sanchez as anything special, really.

I disagree, I think most people feel Sanchez is the superior prospect. Given the differences in age, I'd go with Sanchez too, although they are both quality prospects IMO.

 

I actually think Saladino is very underrated, as his on-base ability has been incredible this year and he's got more power than he's shown this year.

[2012 Minor League Catch All thread]

Saladino leaves the Southern League as the leader in BBs with 74 and third in OBP at .391.

[Santiago was sent down]

Septimo was added to Arizona's 40 man roster on 11/20/2008, so this should be his fourth season on a 40 man roster unless we took him off it at some point last year. Since he's also spent 20 days in the minors in each of these seasons, he should have burnt his third and final option at the end of last season.

 

Now, there is a chance he meets the criteria for a fourth option, but that doesn't appear to be the case from what I can tell. Also, I'm not sure what happens with his option status since technically we resigned him this offseason as a minor league free agent. My guess is he out of options.

[Santiago was sent down]

I think this is the correct move. Give Septimo an extended look as the second lefty. Stretch out Santiago in AAA as insurance for the rotation.

[What will Kenny do ?]

I think it's a utility player or nothing. He's already added 3 players and bolstered the club, now it's just adding maybe one guy off the bench.

Yet we've traded very little of value. Depending on the PTBNL in the Myers trade, we have traded none of our top 10 prospects (my own list). Therefore, we still have plenty of chips to make additional moves.

 

IMO, KW is looking at a backup infielder and LH reliever. However, I'm sure he's asking about other impact players in case the price is right.

[7/27 Games]

If the PTBNL is from the 2011 draft, then it's got to be one of the following guys:

 

Keenyn Walker

Erik Johnson

Jeff Soptic

Scott Snodgress

Marcus Semien

Kevan Smith

 

Honestly, I would hate losing any of those guys. If I had to choose, I'd probably go with Soptic since he has the highest bust potential.

[Trade Deadline Top Pitching Targets]

Volquez is not available, supposedly.

 

It's a bit of overkill to acquire League or Street when we already have Reed, Myers and Crain. Not to mention the fact that it looks like Street might stay put.

 

Vargas is a possibility.

Honestly, I'd rather take my chances with Humber than give up anything for Vargas. His road/home splits are pretty extreme and I don't think making half his starts at the Cell would do him any favors

[7/27 Games]

Walker has been very impressive especially considering his slow start in April (May too I believe.) Still has to work on his K rate, but I think you can make a case for him as their #1 prospect right now.

I love how Walker has been playing, but I'll still take Mitchell and Thompsom over him at this point because of their power.

 

Having said that, I don't see how these three guys and Hawkins won't all be in our top 6 prospects. That's pretty insane to have four legitimate CF prospects.

[Thompson pushing his way back into consideration]

If Thompson can play a legit CF, it totally changes the complexion of him as a prospect.

 

Also, it's always great seeing a young, toolsy prospect show significant improvement with the bat in the second half of a season.

[Sox want Grienke "badly"]

This also reiterates the point Bucket made yesterday. Seems his sources are a little more ahead of the curve than Mr. Heyman.

He doesn't sound like much of an insider when they have him on the Score.

[2012 Cubs thread]

Still better than Nestor Molina

Way too early to write off Molina. I have a feeling he's been hurting all season due to the amount of innings he pitched last year. I don't think we've seen the real Molina yet.

 

As for Travis, best case scenario he's a NL #4 starter. I'll take my chances on the guy KW, his scouts, and Paddy have scouted extensively and were very high on coming into the season.

[7/26 games]

I'll be irritated if the PTBNL is Walker, Johnson or Snodgress.

I have a bad feeling it will be Johnson or Snodgress. I'll be happy if it turns out to be Soptic.

[King Felix to the Sox??]

In this day and age, that contract is an asset, not a detriment. He is probably underpaid by at least $10 million a year based on what other guys are getting.

If Hernandez is underpaid by $10 million, then Sale is underpaid by $28 million.

 

The fact is Hernandez makes $18 million more than Sale. I don't care about the injury conerns, four years of Sale at a fraction of the cost is worth a lot more than Hernandez's two years of control.

[King Felix to the Sox??]

King Felix would be awesome, but he's already making a ton of money and would still cost us a ton of talent. Probably Viciedo, Quintana, and at least three top prospects. If he was making less money and was under control for 3-4 years, then I'd definitely pay a ton for him. The problem is we can bring back Peavy next year for a fraction more and keep all our young talent. Not worth the price IMO.

[White Sox Rumor Catch-All]

What about Padres RHP Luke Gregerson? Local boy who is a real solid reliever, albeit he has pitched in Petco park. Arb eligible and under team control until 2015.

He'll cost way too much and we don't really need another RH reliever unless we move Reed or Jones.

[Sox want Grienke "badly"]

Holy s***! 98 OPS+! HOW DOES HE MANAGE THAT?!?!?!?!

Holy s***! 23 YEARS OLD?!?!?!?!

[Sox eager to move Floyd, other notes]

If he keeps playing like he's played this year, he's going to be a bargain for several years.

I'm not advocating trading him, but De Aza will probably only be a bargain for two more years.

[Sox eager to move Floyd, other notes]

The downgrade from ADA to JorDanks is much greater than replacing someone like Floyd with Greinke.

Let's be honest, if we were to trade away De Aza, then we'd have to acquire a replacement. There is no way KW would go with Jordan as his CF.