Special K

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Nov 24, 2015 -> 07:23 PM) I think Saladino will also give you solid defense and 10 HR. But I think he won't get past .250. Then again this guy might not either. Pass on him and keep looking for a 3B with a solid bat and decent glove. This guy looks like a x1,000 times better than saladino.

QUOTE (bulokis @ Nov 24, 2015 -> 04:54 PM) Fills a need and if he plays good defense then definitely Im all for it Two words - Tadahito Iguchi. Let's do it.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Nov 20, 2015 -> 06:14 PM) You're probably right about Freese and I agree about not wanting to see all three of Sanchez, Saladino and Micah on the field at the same time. I'm not counting on it but I'd really like to see the Sox move Melky, Micah and Avi in trades to open up roster spots for Thompson and possibly sign Freese. I really am curious about See Gordon though, he'd be a great fit with the Sox and is in his prime. I wonder if the Cubs would consider a Melky for Castro swap of some sort. The Sox would save money annually whereas the cubs save just over 11M in total for future payroll obligations. Supposedly the cubs are thinking about moving Schwarber back to catcher which would open up LF. I'm really not a fan of Castro, just trying to think outside the box is all. We'd definitely be buying low on Castro, which I think is a good idea. Is there any chance he could play third?

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Nov 20, 2015 -> 01:58 PM) I didn't forget about the outfield, just don't see it as important of a need as 3B, SS and C. As long as Melky,Avi and LaRoche are on the roster,theres not much the Sox can do in the outfield since neither Melky nor Avi can be used full time at DH with LaRoche on the team. I'd prefer at least one of the three moved in a trade, perferably LaRoche but that isnt going to happen and Melky would be a hard sell ( I cling to hope he still could be moved) which leaves Avi whom has such little value that he would be an add-on to an already proposed trade package. Back to Walker, the money and prospects that would be used for one year of a 30 year old 2B could be better used on positions that are in more need of upgrading, 3B and SS especially. Freese is expected to command a similar salary to Walker and could solidify 3B for the next two or three years which buys the Sox time to develop or trade for a young 3B and Freese would only cost the roughly 10M per year and no prospects or draft picks. That leaves the Sox with 10M to spare with saved prospects that were not used for Walker and the Sox could then try to swing a deal with the Marlins for Dee Gordon whom projects to earn about 6MM in '16 and is under team control through the '18 season. Maybe the Marlins would be interested in a package of Erik Johnson, Micah Johnson/ Avi? Gordon played SS before he was moved to 2B so he provides some flexibility although he's definitely better at 2B, which is fine. Saladino can play SS with Sanchez becoming the utility he's likely destined to become anyway and things suddenly start falling into place. Saladino buys the Sox another year of seeing how Anderson progresses at the SS position. A middle infield of Gordon, Saladino, Sanchez provides the Sox with a large amount of flexibility defensively and some offensively in the lineup card. All three are capable of playing SS orr 2B with Saladino serving as Freese's backup at 3B. If you're plan plays out, then I'm all for it. Feel like the market for Freese will be a little bit more given the scarcity of third basemen in the league. I just can't stomach an infield of Saladino, Sanchez and Johnson. Because to me, it's not like going through growing pains with a player because I do not believe any one of these guys will become an everyday started in the league (except for maybe Johnson). That is why I am advocating for an upgrade at any / all of the positions we mentioned (including outfield, if at all possible).

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Nov 20, 2015 -> 11:38 AM) Isn't this exactly what everyone said about Adam Dunn after the 2011 season? He rebounded to have a somewhat good season in 2012. I'm not saying that LaRoche will win the MVP in 2016, but I'm pretty sure that he'll be better than he was last year. I'm not saying there won't be a slight improvement, but at this point, I'm not counting on it. As far as the comparison to Dunn goes, wasn't his knee also ailing him in 2011? I believe there were also some family issues, so there was some sort of explanation for his poor year. I haven't heard anything that might account for LaRoche's play other than the fact that he is just isn't good anymore.

QUOTE (TheTruth05 @ Nov 20, 2015 -> 09:58 AM) This is why it's not such a big deal if they are on the roster, that money frees up after next season anyway. Laroche is a candidate to have a bounce back season and Danks is only a liability for the Sox for 1 more year. From what I saw of LaRoche last season, I'm fairly certain he's the worst player in history of baseball ever. I do not think it's possible to have a bounce back season. Don't think we can trade him either unless the other GM somehow went crazy. Best to let him rot on the pine, move Avi to DH to focus on hitting, and give Trayce a shot.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Nov 19, 2015 -> 08:46 PM) Sarcasm, well that's just so cute. Let me try.... The Sox have approximately 20M available to spend, The Sox need help at 3B, SS and C, which are bigger needs than 2B, Not sure what Walker would cost but those prospects could be used to help acquire a 3B, SS or C, The Sox have plenty of young talent that can potentially play 2B such as Sanchez, Micah and Saladino at a fraction of Walker's cost which would allow the Sox to spend available funds on one or more of the important positions that need to be filled. The Sox would be spending prospects +10M for one year of Walker. Add all that up and ya get trading for Walker is just a dumb idea for a team like the Sox with the position they are in. If the Sox were closer to contending with only one or two positional needs, it would be a different story, but that's not the case now is it? The Sox are not in a position where they can waste more money or prospects. Both resources need to be spent wisely due to the limited supply. Welcome to the White Sox conundrum. I genuinely feel for the FO because they are in a very tough spot. You actually forgot OF as well. Look, if the Sox intend to fill those areas of need with quality players, then by all means take a pass on Walker... But i do think we need to be looking towards a win-now approach. We have a great core and this is the window in which we should be trying to do something. These are Sale and Abreu's best years... we can take a 5 year approach, but there's no guarantee those guys will be around when the Sox develop young players. That's why i think we need a win-now approach. I also have zero confidence in the Sox developing talented offensive players. I mean, we have to go back a decade to talk about the last time the sox developed a talented offensive hitter, which is why i'm interested in upgrading in every possible way. I can stomach Sanchez and Johnson at 2b IF we get improvement at other areas. But i'll tell you right now, from what I've seen of Sanchez and Johnson, they will end up being nothing more than utility players in the MLB... So if we march out Saladino at 3rd, Sanchez at short, Johnson at 2b next year, Flowers at catcher, it's going to be another year of just abysmal offense. I can guarantee you that. That's why, when I see a chance to upgrade, I am interested...

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Nov 19, 2015 -> 04:41 PM) We've all read Hahn's comments on what the Sox are looking for and Walker does not fit the description. End of story. That's true. Guy who is available, can hit, and 29 years old. Why would we want him? It'd be unfair to the rest of the MLB if the Sox added even more to the rest of their potent offense.

It seems like those who oppose Walker do so because they don't want to give up anything of significance / do not want to pay anything either. If that is the case, we will never improve. Let's not pretend Walker is not a substantial upgrade over Johnson / Sanchez. Neither can hit for the life of them. And to get a substantial upgrade without trading names like Quintana, Fulmer, Rodon, you have to be interested. Otherwise, we do not improve simple as that. As someone else stated, $10M is not bad for a player of Walker's caliber. Then, you look for a significant upgrade at other positions as well, possibly using Q. In this day and age, starting pitching is in abundance and hitting is not... We can sign serviceable pitchers. Look how far the Cubs went last year, and their starting rotation after Lester / Arrieta was just OK. We need to upgrade at offense, and this seems to be a very reasonable way to do so.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Nov 19, 2015 -> 10:13 AM) Garcia has tons of talent. It just isn't being realized, either due to poor development by the Sox and/or poor attitude/work ethic by the player. That's not something that would have been evident when the trade was made. Why is it not evident?

I don't think this is such a big deal. They have several plans it sounds like. Qualifying Offers are just now being accepted / rejected. How could they possibly know what exactly their doing until the market plays out? Other teams need to know whether players are going to accept / reject, and if the Sox are in trade talks with any of those teams, they're in a state of limbo until those other teams know what they're doing. For instance, if Sox had anticipated making a play for Wieters, well they had to see what he would do. Now they know, so they move on re-evaluate.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Nov 12, 2015 -> 03:58 PM) Puig and who else? Therein lies the rub.

Trade Q to the Dodgers for Puig.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Oct 30, 2015 -> 08:01 AM) 20/70 for Trayce? As much as I want that to happen, it won't. He was so bad offensively in September, perhaps because pitchers figured out his weak spots. I think, best case scenario for Thompson, he plays great defense, hits maybe .260 with 15 homers and 60 RBIs. Exactly. As soon as the scouting reports come out, these guys who did not perform well offensively at the minor league level, but are outperforming at the major league level, revert back to their norms if not worse. There's no reason to expect he is going to hit better in the majors than he did in the minors. Those numbers will come down. See Gordon Beckham's career.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 3, 2015 -> 06:51 AM) WTF? The Pirates aren't rebuilding, they have the 3rd best record in baseball and have made the wild card game the last 2 years. No one on Earth would say that's a worse position than a 7 year playoff drought. Before the Pirates made the wildcard in 2013, they hadn't seen the playoffs in 20 years. So I'd say a 20 year rebuild is worse than whatever the Sox are going through right now. Clearly, they're in a better position to compete now and I don't think anyone is questioning that. I don't think the Sox are that far away from competing. They just need to find some players that can swing the bat. Probably won't be in contention next year, but if they can get some REAL offense from trading away Q, and assuming EJ can fill up a rotation spot, in 2017 with hopefully guys like Anderson and Fulmer (maybe) are up and ready to contribute. Also, with Danks off the books and LaRoche, they will have roughly $25 million to spend as well. Doesn't seem too bad. Theo got 5 years, let's give Hahn at least 3 years.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Aug 18, 2015 -> 07:54 AM) Im not expecting him to hit .500 for the rest of the season, but the value is plainly there. He looks like he's squaring a lot of stuff up nicely so far and he never makes any defensive play look like a circus. No matter what, he's better than LaRoche. In fact, anyone is better than LaRoche. He should start in OF, and we should tell Avi to focus on hitting at DH.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Aug 18, 2015 -> 08:31 AM) I've always hated Hanley so I'm automatically opposed to this. The Red Sox would get laughed off the phone if they asked for Q, by the way. Hanley is obviously a good hitter but he's so up-and-down, and such a malcontent, that this is the sort of thing I know wouldn't work out (I don't literally know it, but it's just got bad vibes). Plus he hasn't played third since 2012 and we don't know if he still can. I think perhaps the Sox need to stop worrying about having nice guys on there team, and focus on getting some guys who can actually play baseball. While I'm sure Saladino is a great guy to be around, he is not very good. Ramirez would be a solid upgrade offensively, and we desperately need offense. And I'm sure if the Sox took on the contract, it would not take much to get him. Or if the Sox threw in something of value, they might send some cash.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Aug 6, 2015 -> 04:11 PM) You literally cannot support that argument in any way. Tyler Flowers is the least of the Sox problems. We should focus on 3b, SS, 2b, DH and RF, before we worry about catcher. Especially when he's been league average. Someone tell me what our DH offensive production has been this year, I'm sure it's bottom of the league. Same for 3b. Same for SS. Same for 2b and same for RF.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 11:37 AM) You're leaving out Torii Hunter, Jacques Jones, Shannon Stewart, Mientkiewicz, Koskie, AJ, Christian Guzman, Liriano, Radke, Johan, Nathan, Guardado, Hawkins, etc. The myth was the Piranhas, but they had a lot of talent as well. Not just utility guys. Every team that dominates a division has good players. It's what you do with those players. The Sox had some pretty solid teams during the Twins heyday but could never beat out the Twins (sans '05). Gardenhire is an accomplished manager. And his main focus is on defense and fundamentals, something this team needs a lot of.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 10:58 AM) What least talent? Times change. People are doing things smarter and more efficiently now. Has he kept up with the times? Does he use modern analytics and analysis? And it's not just the manager. Whitesox are an incredibly un-athletic team with holes galore. But they continually sign un athletic players so I'm not sure they have any interest in fixing it. Do you know for a fact he doesn't use modern stats and analysis? Or is it simply because he has grey hair you assume he doesn't? He dominated the Division with average to slightly above average teams for a decade. I'm guessing he knows something about baseball. And he was still doing it when Sabermetrics were hitting their popularity.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 08:16 AM) Let's hear some names. I'll start with some obvious ones that'll get tossed around: 1. Ozzie Guillen- His .524 winning percentage with the Sox is a lot better than Ventura's. Left on bad terms though. 2. Dave Martinez- The next great manager according to everyone but the 30 GMs running teams. Worrisome that he hasn't been hired yet, particularly by the Rays. 3. Joe McEwing- Perennial managerial and been with the Sox awhile now. Good 3rd base coach outside whatever the f*** 2 nights ago was. 4. Sandy Alomar Jr- The coveted catcher to manager move. Being groomed as a manager by the Indians. Obvious Sox ties. 5. Joey Cora- Key part of the Guillen "glory days" but without the shenanigans. Vanderbilt educated. Ron Gardenhire.

QUOTE (Special K @ Aug 2, 2015 -> 01:05 AM) Why does Robin keep marching out LaRoche to hit? 0-3 again tonight. The only player who does not contribute tonight. There is no reason he should be in the lineup anymore. I don't care if a righty is pitching or whatever. It's now 100 games into the season and he is nothing short of abysmal. Every hitter has somewhat turned it around since Allstar break except for him. Unfortunately, Shuck is hurt now but the obvious choice would've been to start Shuck in right and let Avi DH. But at the very least we can let Soto hit in his stead. Perhaps Viciedo will get a shot. Either way, were in the middle of a wild card race and we can't afford to have our "designated hitter" being a black hole in the lineup. Just just realized this thread needs to be moved out of trade winds. Apologies.

Why does Robin keep marching out LaRoche to hit? 0-3 again tonight. The only player who does not contribute tonight. There is no reason he should be in the lineup anymore. I don't care if a righty is pitching or whatever. It's now 100 games into the season and he is nothing short of abysmal. Every hitter has somewhat turned it around since Allstar break except for him. Unfortunately, Shuck is hurt now but the obvious choice would've been to start Shuck in right and let Avi DH. But at the very least we can let Soto hit in his stead. Perhaps Viciedo will get a shot. Either way, were in the middle of a wild card race and we can't afford to have our "designated hitter" being a black hole in the lineup.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jul 30, 2015 -> 04:27 PM) Yes, it was posted by an 80+ year old guy with 39 followers. Slattery got me again...

Was this Pierzynski rumor pure nonsense?