Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jun 22, 2010 -> 11:21 PM) So your saying DH work with the occasional 3B every now and then? Works for me. He's got some value in a utlity role like your proposing, assuming you have several right-handed hitters at the corners, just not enough to warrent his contract. Unfortunately, I'm worried Kenny will peg him as a regular.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jun 22, 2010 -> 07:26 PM) That's my fault forgot to add on the 3 hits. He's 3 for 20 not 3 for 17. 3/20 (15%) on bunts this season. You don't know how much higher his average would be without those bunts?

QUOTE (scenario @ Jun 22, 2010 -> 10:04 AM) Torres has a 2.15 ERA over his last 10 appearances (62 2/3 innings)... Including 7 quality starts...(In fact, during 5 of these starts he has given up 1 run or less.) And has only given up 2 homeruns during the 10-games. I don't care what people say about his stuff, he should be in our bullpen next season as our long reliever / spot starter.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 21, 2010 -> 11:29 AM) Notwithstanding the fact that the Reds will probably use Alonso themselves as a piece to fill one of their own holes. If you haven't noticed, they're kind of in the thick of things themselves... Good point and I just don't see them moving Votto to LF to get Alonso into the lineup. I think your spot-on in that he's their key trading chip at this year's deadline.

QUOTE (docsox24 @ Jun 21, 2010 -> 10:51 AM) why would you even want him in your plans Oh I agree completely, but I think he'll make the decision easy for KW/Ozzie by retiring.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Jun 21, 2010 -> 09:13 AM) Yonder Alonso perhaps, young, cheap, can step in next season at 1B if/when Paulie walks and is blocked behing Votto. Maybe the Sox could swing a deal with Quentin, Hudson, and another lower level spect for Alonso and Bray. Teahen could move back to the OF and use a combination of Viciendo/Vizquel/and possibly Lilli at third. Have you seen Alonso's numbers this year? He's got a lower OPS than Jordan Danks does in the International League? He's far from a sure thing and right now it's doubtful he'll be ready at the start of 2011. The only way you trade Hudson is if you are getting a proven star in return. If our corner outfielders are Juan Pierre and Mark Teahen next year then we are in real bad shape. There is a good chance Vizquel retires after this season, so I wouldn't factor him in to your 2011 plans just yet.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Jun 21, 2010 -> 09:34 AM) And he blew it and cost the Sox some wins? Eh... I still say I don't wanna ruin Sale's growth. Maybe they should try Threets first. I can't believe Threets hasn't been called up already. He's been pitching very well in AAA since he got off the DL. I haven't seen a scouting report on him since he joined the Sox, but supposedly he used to throw in the upper 90's. What makes it even more frustrating is that Randy Williams is 34 years old. Why the Sox are treating a journeyman like a rookie going through growing pains blows my mind. He should of had a short leash coming into the season and he's definitely made it clear he's not a major league pitcher. Might as well see what Threets has to offer.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 20, 2010 -> 01:35 PM) I think that if I'm the Nats and you're not willing to give up that much, I'm happier holding Dunn. So yeah. You'd rather have two draft picks than Dan Hudson? I mean, Hudon could very well be their #2 or #3 starter next season. Let me put it this way, if you are the Nationals GM and suppose Hudson is already part of your organization, would you move him for two draft picks?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 20, 2010 -> 01:15 PM) Therefore...you need to offer something more valuable than those picks. I don't think Hudson for Dunn alone is enough when you count the draft picks. I disagree. Hudson is major league ready and will cost pretty much nothing over the next three seasons. Those draft picks aren't necessarily cheap and will take several years to develop if at all. IMO, Hudson would be of greater value. Regardless, the Sox better not move Hudson for a rental player like Dunn. We need him in the rotation next year to save some money. I also think we got to keep Viciedo and Flowers. Unfortunately, that doesn't leave a lot of attractive prospects to build a deal around for a potential bat. I think if a move is made, Morel will be the centerpiece of the deal. While I think he's a solid prospect, his value will never be higher. We're not going to get Prince Fielder or Adrian Gonzalez, but I think we should be able to get a pretty solid bat if Morel is part of a package.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 15, 2010 -> 09:10 AM) Donny Lucy being the catcher of the future would be disasterous. Career minor league OPS of .667. Hits lefties just a little better than righties (.684 vs .658). He's a decent backup in the absolute best case scenario. Lucy is batting .213 at AAA with a .562 OPS. I know he calls a good game and is solid defensively, but he's got no offensive ability whatsoever. Honestly, I wouldn't even want him as my backup. His offensive game would potentially be Corky Miller bad in the majors. IMO, he's nothing more than a AAA catcher who provides some depth.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 9, 2010 -> 08:57 PM) Which raises the possibility they're just not good players. Who specifically are you referring to? Peavy, Buerhle, Floyd, Quentin, Beckham? Regardless, I just don't buy this theory. Players have bad stretches. Look how many half-seasons Konerko has thrown away over the years. Is he a bad player? Now, have we overvalued some of these guys? Most likely. Quentin may never be that near-MVP again, but his physical talent far exceeds his production at this point. Same goes for Peavy. He may never be an ace in the AL, but he still has the ability to be a damn good starter. Floyd and Beckham have also been awful this year, but they both have the talent to rebound to some extent in the near future. These guys aren't bad players, they are just playing like ones currently. Give them a full season and I'm fairly confident their stats will start significantly trending upwards. The only high-paid, low-performing player I'd start getting worried about is Buerhle. His performance has been terrible since his perfect game. With his limited pure stuff, you got to start wondering if he'll ever be close to the same pitcher he once was. I'm not giving up on him just yet, but I don't like what I'm seeing with him right now.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 8, 2010 -> 09:34 AM) It is important because AJ said he won't allow a trade after that date. Even if he decides he's willing to accept a trade, once he has his 10/5 rights, he can dictate where he wants to go. I don't envision too many teams competing for his services, but he could easily tell KW he'll only accept a trade to one of them (for example a team near his home in Florida). We're already looking at a minimal return for A.J. and giving him power will only weaken it further.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Jun 8, 2010 -> 09:19 AM) Could be. JR tends to not go into the red, but the WS may have changed his mind. If Steve Stone is right about PK not being part of the plans for next year, financial motivation seems to make the most sense. Re-inking PK to a 3-year deal at a reduced salary would make sense on a number of levels. I think the motivation is financial-related, but more has to do with the fear of Paulie breaking down and also being able to use the savings to sign a left-handed power bat. If we want to afford someone like Adam Dunn, then we have to let go of Paulie.

Steve Stone was on CSN last night and made it very clear that he believes A.J. will be moved before Monday when he earns his 10/5 rights. He also said that he doesn't think Konerko is part of KW's future plans (not too surprising), so he'll be moved if the team doesn't improve in the near future.

Top four college players left according to Baseball America: 4. Chris Sale, lhp, Florida Gulf Coast 6. Zack Cox, 3b, Arkansas 9. Deck McGuire, rhp, Georgia Tech 10. Michael Choice, of, Texas-Arlington Is there any chance we take one of these guys?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 03:28 PM) Oswalt has a full no-trade clause while Buehrle does not. Although Buerhle will on July 6.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 03:15 PM) No, Jones is the one who hasn't been playing much recently. That was the point of my initial comment about playing Jones more. I know he's been a little banged up, but once (or if) he's ready for more playing time, I don't want to see Kotsay getting in his way.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 03:09 PM) I meant Top 10 in the league, which really didn't need to be said. My bad...those prospects never get traded (or at least from what I can remember) so I assumed you meant a team's top 10.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 02:57 PM) Actually, he hasn't been playing all that much recently. Who Kotsay? He's still started half the games in June so far. I don't see any benefit to playing him even that much as he's only taking away at-bats from two of our trading chips in Konerko and Jones.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 02:41 PM) Now is the opportunity to deal Thornton. We wont receive any Top 10 prospects, but atleast there's a possibility of adding some higher ceiling, lower level players. I know people will resist dealing him, as they'll probably bring up his value to our team and the unlikeliness of a complete rebuilding project, but just remember this moment when he's losing velocity and stealing 4+ million from our team. You honestly believe we wouldn't get one top 10 prospect from a team for Thornton? That's crazy IMO. I think we'd probably get two, I think the question is how highly rated would the better one be.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 02:39 PM) Yeah, I was really excited to have him til we got to about May 10th. Then I started to wonder where Andruw Jones had gone. Basically at this point, IMO, he's a bench player and defensive replacement for Q. That may be the case, but we might as well throw him out there as much as possible and hope he gets hot. There is no reason to waste at-bats on Kotsay. We still might be able to salvage a reasonable prospect for Jones if he gets hot and a team with limited financial flexibility desperately needs power.

QUOTE (jamesdiego @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 02:30 PM) Peavy seem untradeble. And on wikipedia it says that if Buehrle gets traded he gets a $19 million player option. Is that true? If yes, that was crazy for KW to agree to that. The Cards won't even trade for him for nothing. It was included to protect Buerhle from signing a below-market contract (at the time) and being traded off a couple seasons later.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 02:16 PM) Yes, he has been hitting, but he also made 3 errors at first base, in one game over the weekend. He is still just too raw, and probably needs a couple more years in the Minors. If he made it to the Big Leagues in 2012, at age 23, that would be pretty impressive. So you want Viciedo to rot in AAA for three seasons?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 02:13 PM) One of MB or Peavy will be traded, I am pretty sure. Pena might too, and Linebrink if they can find a suitor. I wouldn't trade Pena, especially if we move Putz and Jenks (which I think we will). We need a couple of arms to build our 2011 bullpen around. I'd hold on to Thornton (unless blown away at this deadline), Pena and Santos. We are already going to have a tough time filling the remaining spots 3 or 4 spots (depending on Linebrink), as the only internal guys who might be worth a shot next year are Torres, Threets, Nunez and Santeliz IMO. Unfortunately, I don't see us being able to move Linebrink unless we take an equally bad contract in return, which might be a possibility in the offseason when he'll only have a year left on his contract.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Jun 7, 2010 -> 01:43 PM) I don't think that Viciedo will be ready next year. He just turned 21, and has not yet demonstrated that he has the baseball skill and acumen to be one of those rare players who can contribute at the Major League Level at such a young age. Moreover, he is not nearly ready to play consistently good defense at any position. I'd much prefer a power hitting left handed first baseman. I agree we desperately need to add a power hitting left handed bat this offseason, but I think we'll have some flexibility as we can fill that need at 1B, RF, or DH. Also, I'm assuming that Viciedo will be called up sometime after Konerko is moved and will get a chance to show how close he is to being ready. I think they'll end using him in some capacity (1B/DH) in 2011, but I'll admit that could quickly change based on this season's performance. I just think they'll want to inject some youth into the lineup and I think him and Flowers are the only reasonable candidates for 2011.