Special K

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 12, 2017 -> 01:18 PM) Because 2 months ago he was a pitcher we viewed as not being able to find the strike zone. The way baseball players are valued is not static. I think his point is just that he can easily be bad very soon again.

Meadows is probably off the table in a Q trade. Starling Marte hit up w/ an 80 game suspension.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 6, 2017 -> 10:40 AM) As long as we are talking about after June 15, the money will be pretty close. Then the White Sox have a pretty nice list of reasons to fall back on as advantages for a player like Robert to come here. Before that date, money can be a huge factor, and probably will be. What are the odds he is cleared to sign before the 15th? I seem to recall reading somewhere that he had a very good chance of being cleared to sign before the 15th, which would mean the Sox chances are significantly lower, right?

2017 will, of course, be the year when the Team finally will over perform.

Forget the Astros. I already felt any package without Bergman was light. Now they putting players off limits that are not him? Hang up the phone, hope they tank and let their GM sweat.

QUOTE (ChiliIrishHammock24 @ Jan 27, 2017 -> 10:32 PM) Good. Platoon the entire 2017 roster. #CheerForBeer True dat.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Jan 27, 2017 -> 04:56 PM) Potential platoon with Tilson? Anytime I hear the word platoon, it makes me want to throw up. Platoon = 2 players not good enough to start sharing time. The Sox outfield situation is in pretty terrible shape. That's where the most improvement needs to be made here forward as far as drafting and / or trading for prospects (in my humble opinion).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 25, 2017 -> 01:16 PM) And they both have salaries that make them not worth their production plus a prospect in order to get them. I mean sure we could get the next Colton Turner, and if that is what you are talking about, sure. But in terms of someone that will show up on a prospect list? No. Not even in the pre-rebuild days. I know this is unorthodox for Sox and I'm not in charge of finances, but if it were me I'd try to eat salary if it meant moving those guys for something of value. Especially given the fact that they're both on contracts that expire.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 25, 2017 -> 12:10 PM) No one wants them. They have zero trade value. Melky had a good year last year. Frazier hit 40 hrs. They could be traded for some flyer prospects.

Robertson, Frazier and Melky at the very least, need to go. Abreu / Jones I'd like to see something solid in return. And it's not like we don't have players we'd like to get a look at in the minors still... e.g. Davidson. Plus Saladino we still need to see a full season from...

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jan 23, 2017 -> 04:55 PM) Given that the Sox should be trying to trade every competent vet (except for Rodon) off of the Major League roster, yes it has been slow. But I would say that most of the guys, except for Q and maybe Abreu, are better traded in July. That would require the Sox to heavily participate in the July market, which they should be up for that this year. Q needs to be moved before the season, however. No idea what the Sox are asking are what they teams are offering; but demanding young players who have already had a ML impact is howling at the moon. This rebuild should be relatively quick, but not because they are getting all ML ready players or withholding some of their ML players to try to stay "competitive". It should be quick because they have so much ML value to trade. I'm surprised we haven't heard a whisper about these vets. These guys should be gone. I'd personally try to package them together and / or trade them and eat as much salary as possible to try and get the best talent back as possible. Plus, I'd like them off the roster so we can tank as much as possible for drafting purposes. Makes no sense to try and be competitive this year.

QUOTE (reiks12 @ Jan 23, 2017 -> 01:10 PM) Who cares about bats right now? We have the draft and an excess of pitching prospects to acquire bats. We also have 3 high draft picks before our competitive window and free agency to help out. Giolito Glasnow Kopech Lopez Keller Fulmer Hansen Burdi Rodon Jones Dunning Find who is expendable and get those bats. If a top of the rotation starter with one of the best contracts in baseball under team control for the next 4 years can't land hitting prospects, why would our hypothetical excess of pitching prospect arms do any better? Hold out for position player headliners...no way should we trade for any more arms as headliners.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jan 20, 2017 -> 08:15 AM) That is exactly what I'm suggesting. That they likely have some nice offers on the table, but have specific targets (Meadows, Torres, etc) they're waiting to see if ultimately become available. Any by all means wait until spring training and see if one of those untouchables suddenly become touchable. We control THIS market and can take our time for now. But I'll keep repeating this, if one of those targets doesn't become available, don't pass up on good value right now in hopes of a perfect offer later. Nothing is promised tomorrow. If teams aren't willing to pony up in what is considered the worst free agent market for starting pitching in the history of baseball, I find it highly unlikely we'll do better at the deadline or next offseason when market conditions are less favorable. Don't be so sure. Some GMs may be in the hot seat and have pressure to make the playoffs. If Pittsburgh is a fringe playoff team and McCutchen is having a bounceback season, Meadows may seem more expendable. Same goes for other teams and perhaps surprise suitors that are fringe playoff teams. Q, in all likelihood will continue to pitch very well. I wouldn't take the "best" offer just to take one. He's our last extremely valuable trade chip. We should get a top-tier position player prospect headliner. Nothing less.

If the market is not there, just hold on to him. I actually wouldn't mind holding on to him and letting him be the anchor of our rotation for years to come and focusing on offense from here forward. He's 27 right now. He will be good when he's 29 - when we expect to compete. He's not a FA until 31 (if his options are purchased) and when we will still be competing. He can still very well be very good during those years. Given his style of pitching, he may be very good from years 31-34. Having him anchor our rotation for the future is a much more ideal situation than dealing him for a ton of B level prospects and hoping 2 of those B level prospects become above average everyday MLB players such that we "win" the trade. Can't trade him out of fear he declines, especially when he's shown no indication.

Q has been as consistently good as any pitcher in the league the last few years. Zero reasons to take a less package for him, especially whatever garbage package of sub-standard prospects the Astros want to throw at us. Q is an all star TOR with probably the best contract in baseball. We need an A headliner positional prospect, not just a bunch of b level prospects. Hold onto him if the package isn't there. He will do what he does and some team at the deadline who is desperate for an arm will give in. As an aside, is it just me or do the astros prospects (sans Bergman) excite anyone else least of all. They have no exciting positional prospects. Maybe the Rockies will be in contention and their fan base will put pressure on them to contend and they will give in. There are a ton of suitors, no need to make a deal because of impatience.

It couldn't seem more obvious that we need to get positional player talent back. We can't just assume guys like Basabe will succeed or even that Anderson is going to continue to do well (see Beckham's first year). Right now, there are two guys I think we can count on to produce - Collins and Moncada (and even they are not proven). Aside from that, 7 other positions need to be filled. We are pretty set on pitching prospects at this point. Need a position player headliner or don't trade Quintana because we have him for 4 more years. Cubs went all in on position player talent. Got lucky w/ Arrieta, and pretty pretty much bought the rest of their staff...

I think the headline return for Q needs to an OF prospect. It's where we are starved the most. Bregman would've been nice to lock up 3b tho.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 6, 2017 -> 12:40 PM) Glad you posted this, I was just about to do it myself. Sounds like the Astros shifted away from Q due to the asking price, shifted their focus elsewhere only to find that other teams want alot for their pitching so now the Astros come crawling back for the best available pitcher. So now that the Astros have come full circle, I agree that it sounds like things are picking up. Bregman or bust. Otherwise use them as trade bait for the Pirates. None of their positional player prospects are as enticing as the Pirates.

Bob Nightengale ‏@BNightengale The #Yankees have expanded their Jose Quintana talks with #Whitesox that would include closer David Robertson, if Sox eat part of contract

thanks. I'd take that with a grain of salt personally

QUOTE (reiks12 @ Dec 23, 2016 -> 08:25 AM) Keyword "potentially" Sounds like a stab in the dark to me. I missed it. What did WSD speculate?

Yes, the Yankees called the White Sox about Jose Quintana. No, they're not optimistic about making a deal. https://twitter.com/JackCurryYES?lang=en

Thanks but still think the headline piece we get back for Q needs to be a top positional player prospect. Not a buy-low guy or an outfielder who could be above-average.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 09:11 AM) My proposed deal had AJ Reed and Kyle Tucker going to the White Sox, two guys with potential plus bat, as well as Francis Martes and Franklin Perez two potential plus arms That would be a fantastic trade for the Sox, and might be more palatable for the Astros as they do not have to give up an mlb starter in Musgrove, or anyone off the current roster I missed Reed's inclusion. Is he a bat w/ a lot of upside? His numbers are miserable last year in MLB.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 08:26 AM) I'm fine with this return. Perez has major helium. One of my favorite Astros prospects and would be a great get. So we can expect another package centered around pitching prospects? I understand the philosophy of stocking up on arms, but at some point we're going to need to go for bats. We can draft bats, but drafting 1 or 2 is not going to improve our depth much (especially when there's a good chance one of those picks busts). Almost seems to be the exact opposite of the Cubs farm philosophy at this point. They stockpiled on positional prospects and then signed pitching (or traded for it).