Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 5, 2013 -> 09:50 PM) I wonder who will be with the organization longer, N. Molina or S. Castro? Seems like Castro is going through a dead arm period or something. As long as his velocity comes back, it's got to be him.

I don't see how there is any chance in hell that Dunn gets claimed. Rios & Ramirez maybe, but not Dunn IMO. That's not to say he won't be moved, but I don't think teams will risk being stuck with him for next year at $14M.

Garcia is now 2-2 with a triple.

QUOTE (Jake @ Aug 4, 2013 -> 12:43 PM) I'm talking about overall value. Not only does Alexei lead us in WAR, he ranks 13th in WAR among all MLB SS. No other position on our team ranks in the top half. 18th in wRC+, which is pretty good on our team. You keep citing Alexei's WAR but don't acknowledge it's entirely based on his defense, since he's been a negative value hitter. Defensive metrics are still way too sketchy IMO and his overall value is likely inflated as a result. That's not to say he's a bad player, but let's not use WAR as gospel, especially when we're talking about a defensive-oriented player.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Aug 4, 2013 -> 12:27 PM) I think getting better production from the outfield is a key in how quickly this turnaround can happen. Say they got rid of even just $20M more in salary. That would bring their payroll down to ~$45M. A guy like Andre Eithier would be an interesting possibility at that point. I know he's over 30 (which I don't like), but he gets on base and is a left-handed hitter. If the Dodgers were willing to eat $10M-$15M (big if) next year's payroll would be under $60M and the OF would be De Aza in left, Garcia in center, and Eithier in right. Viciedo to first or available in a deal. Anyway, just thinking off the top of my head . . . What? Have you seen our infield this year? We have 14 HRs between Gillapsie, Ramirez, Beckham, & Keppinger. We've also had a corpse at 1B when Dunn isn't playing. They're without question the problem. If we can get a superstar OF in free agency, then sure go for the upgrade. Otherwise, we can field a solid to good OF between De Aza, Viciedo, Garcia, & Rios next year.

Man, our offense sucks balls this year.

This is a big start for Rienzo. With Erik Johnson back at AAA, there should be some competition for the 5th spot in the rotation. Rienzo has an opportunity to take hold of the spot if he pitches well the rest of the way. Any extended struggles and I think we see Johnson get a look, at least by September. Look forward to his start and hope he does well.

If Garcia is better than De Aza, then play him in CF next year. At some point in the near future, we'll acquire or develop a stronger defensive CF and Garcia will slide over to RF. Until then, find a way to get your best three OFs in the lineup. As long as Garcia isn't a butcher in CF, that's probably where he belongs for now.

QUOTE (Brian @ Aug 4, 2013 -> 06:49 AM) Lake looks legit to me, but come on. An .803 OPS isn't very good for the Pacific Coast league. I wouldn't overreact to a limited major league sample.

I wonder when the Sox will try to pass Rios and some of these other guys through waivers. If I were Hahn, I'd do so sooner rather than later. I just think the earlier you put a guy on waivers, the more likely he is to clear.

I will say this about Sanchez, his BB & K rates aren't drastically different than they were last year, but his BABIP is way down, even below his low A & high A figures. He's probably hit better than his current average suggests. Again, I really like Sanchez, but I think we all got a little carried away with him last year, myself included.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Aug 2, 2013 -> 11:13 PM) The big prospect is Carlos Rodon, a left-handed starter. And you take him no matter how many left-handed starters we currently have.

I could easily see the deal having been Santiago or Quintana for a young, major league 3B from another non-contender.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Aug 2, 2013 -> 04:07 PM) My point wasn't that Sanchez wrongly got attention, but that it was disproportionate. Semien and Sanchez both started in A+. Semien ultimately had a better offensive season. Sanchez got promoted to AA and hit an unsustainably high number of singles for a month. For that Sanchez was ranked our #2 prospect and Semien around #15. That seemed out of whack. It seems even more out of whack now. I would say the same about any prospect who doesn't walk a ton and has only hit 3 homers in almost 1600 PA's- he needs to pretty much win the batting title to be very worthwhile offensively. The only thing I disagree about is Sanchez's walk rate. I think a 7.5% BB rate is pretty damn good for a 20 year from Latin America.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 2, 2013 -> 02:23 PM) At this point Semien is on par with Sanchez prospect-wise and maybe a little better, but your dismissive idea about Sanchez' "attention" last year is nonsense. What?? Semien is a way better prospect than Sanchez. Even if he's a lesser defensive player, his offensive game is much more complete and his ceiling is much higher than Sanchez's because he actually has some power. I don't know how this is even debatable. Also, I'm a big fan of Sanchez, picked him as my sleeper prospect prior to last year, but his 2012 season was inflated by an unsustainable BABIP.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 08:10 PM) He'll be 32 next year, currently has a 77 OPS+ for a team on pace to lose 95+ games this year, and is owed ~$20M. He needs to be one of the first out the door. Alexei has value because of his defense and the scarcity of the position, but his bat is a major part of our offensive problems. I disagree with your logic of getting rid of him at all costs, but I tend to agree we need to go in another direction at SS. It's too bad we couldn't work out a deal with the Cardinals as he would have been a perfect fit for them. If we do move him, it will most likely have to be in the offseason, because I think there will be a couple teams that claim him this month.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 06:12 PM) I agree. He leads the Southern League in hits, runs, total bases, walks, OBP, OPS and is top 10 in everything else including HR, RBI, SB. Fangraphs has a weekly feature where they highlight the most noteworthy minor leaguers who basically have not yet appeared on a top 100 list. No player in the minors has appeared more often than Semien. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-fringe-...e-prospects-14/ What's funny is that if Semien was in another organization, we'd all be enamored with him. Look at how much love Garin Cecchini got around here when his name was brought up in hypothetical trade talks. Look at their slash lines: Cecchini: .316/.417/.444/.861 Semien: .290/.420/.483/.903 Semien is clearly outproducing Cecchini with the exception of batting average. Now check out their BB & K rates and BABIPs: Cecchini: 14.1%/18.6%/.392 Semien: 17.4%/13.7%/.317 Semien has superior plate discipline and clearly Cecchini has been pretty lucky this year. Now add 20 SBs vs Cecchini's 5 and the fact that Semien's plays a premium position and everything would suggest Semien is the better prospect. I'm sure someone would site the 7 month age difference in favor of Cecchini, but it just blows my mind that one guy is considered a top 75 prospect in baseball by this board and the other couldn't even crack our mid-season top 10 list.

I'm sorry, but if we don't add a couple of guys that can improve the team's OBP, we won't be competing next year. I'm sure I'll get flamed for saying that, but we're not going win s*** with a team .OBP hovering around .300.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 04:44 PM) I'd like someone to show DA's or my argument wrong about the draft. You can't. There is no consistent correlation between losing and having a productive farm. A week ago when we were speculating about which teams we wanted to trade with because of their great farms who did we turn to? The Rangers (they have a couple pennants and have been competitive for 5 years or so), the Cardinals (who have been winning for years) and the D-Backs (usually middle of the pack). Why are those teams so successful without drafting in the top ten? Well the Rangers have typically outspent most teams, so that's why their system is amongst the best. But your point is true, draft position helps some, but not nearly enough to purposely lose. And when your team can support a $100M payroll, you're definitely better off trying to be semi-competitive every year. Not only will you protect your key revenue streams (season ticket base and TV/radio renewals), but you'll also be able to spin off veteran pieces for more advanced prospects.

QUOTE (Jake @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 01:49 PM) You have to wonder if we had them working on something in particular early in the season that was causing them to take a step back Not sure about Rienzo, but this seems to be the norm with Snodgress. Took a little while to get going last year, but then went on an incredible run.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 10:47 AM) Oh, and to answer the question where the money actually goes, my guess is that the list for the offseason looks something like: Extend Quintana Extend Reed Extend Beckham (No reason to go to arbitration for another year, he's worth risking something like $3/15 guaranteed on with an option/buyout) Maybe extend Santiago Get all those guys locked up, and then: Sign at least 1, more likely 2-3 more veteran bullpen arms, including at least 1 lefty. Fix the **** bench. This step probably will involve bringing in a few guys (like Salty as I noted in the last post) who can contribute, maybe do several things, and can do those things well enough to actually get playing time. Guys coming off bad seasons or injuries would be idea. Is there even a reason to extend Quintana yet? He's not even arbitration eligible until 2016. Reed & Santiago make more sense to extend IMO, but honestly, signing any of them to extensions would have a minimal impact on our 2014 payroll since they're all stil pre-arb. Beckham will want more than 3/$15M to buy out a free agency year, probably more like 3/$21M. Viciedo & De Aza are also arb-eligible, but I believe that's it for our team. Not a lot of guys getting big raises either. I still don't see where are still money is going next year. I'd be shocked if they didn't make at least one decent signing. We don't have a 1B for next year so I could really see Morales or Hart signed to fill that hole as long as it's a somewhat short-term deal (2-3 years max.)

I really wish we could have moved Rios at the deadline, because I'd love to sign Choo in free agency. He fits so many needs for us it's not even funny and I'd totally be cool with a rotating DH amongst Choo, De Aza, Garcia & Viciedo (who would serve as the primary DH).

Here's my question, if Semien continues to play at a high level, how is he not a top 5 prospect in the Southern League? And if he's a top 5 prospect in one of the three AA leagues, how is he not a top 100 prospect? Based on that logic, he has to be top 3 in our system, because only Garcia and possibly Johnson would make it right now.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jul 30, 2013 -> 11:19 PM) Taking out the cash it's not debatable at all. I think Garcia has the highest upside of any player in either deal, but the Cubs definitely got more quality prospects than we did.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 30, 2013 -> 11:02 PM) Not an awful deal, as I think Garcia is more of a sure-thing to be a everyday starter than someone like Cecchini. I think this sums up the deal up nicely. Garcia is an excellent #1 piece IMO, but not getting a 2nd top propsect is very disappointing. Unfortunately, it's hard to expect much more than what we got without picking some money. Hopefully Hahn has a plan in place to use these cost savings tomorrow in potential Rios & Ramirez deals to generate better returns.