oldsox

QUOTE (Douglas Rome @ Jan 2, 2015 -> 05:22 AM) not a troll, my real name is Douglas Rome and I do live in Elburn and I am 68yrs old. I'm in the book, look me up. thanks, douglas Doug, we need young guys like you on Soxtalk.

So, NCSoxfan, are you telling us that Laroche will not be a two continuation of the Adam Dunn era? Please say yes.

"Puts on impressive shows at batting practice..." IOW, he would rather show off his power in BP than improving his swing, hitting to opposite field, etc. Reminds me of Ian Stewart, a former first rounder obsessed with hitting bombs in BP, now out of The Show.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Dec 30, 2014 -> 08:54 PM) Honestly, if the Sox are so fearful of, oh my gosh, a single young player in the lineup that they would sign a hack like Drew or woefully overpay for an aging sabre adoring Zobrist, then then when will a young player get a chance? It's like age is a security blanket and if we get lousy numbers at 2nd, at least they'll have the security of getting them from an old player. Agree. Let's stick with the kids we have at second, see what shakes out at ST.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 30, 2014 -> 03:07 PM) Why would he fire him, Boras got him 10 million dollars last season and he sat out for half of the season Hell, look his career. Boras keeps getting him paid and he really has been mediocre save for a few seasons. pro-rated.

Let's do his agent, Scott Boros, a favor and sign him up. Was it a year ago when Boros was touting Drew as a top five or top ten SS? Give me a break. He is awful. Ask any Red Sox fan.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 26, 2014 -> 11:57 AM) Yeah, but look at what they gave up for Samardzija. I might be the biggest fan of Semien on the site (there are a few of us who will cagefight over that title at some point), but he's ultimately a guy who scouts project to be a league average player, which is valuable but was also from a position of strength for the Sox. The rest is as follows: -a pitcher who projects as a back of the rotation starter or a middle reliever -a 1B who has yet to show any sort of significant in-game power -a catcher who was getting crowded out The Sox could legitimately have replacements for all 4 currently in the system (depending on how you view Semien's status). Beyond that, the Sox were going to have to find room on the 40-man roster for guys like Robertson and Cabrera too, and that would have involved them giving up on at least one of these guys anyways - probably Phegley - so to capitalize on some of that value actually works better for the Sox in this instance. I could see all of those guys having careers, and potentially long ones, but there isn't a super talented and/or can't miss prospect in that entire bunch. Tim Anderson, Carlos Rodon, and Frank Montas are super talented and/or can't miss prospects. The Sox can't afford to give up talent like that for a potential one year rental. With the talent the Sox have in house, they could absolutely afford to give up on good but still marginal talents in Bassitt, Ravelo, and Phegley without batting an eye, and given the Sox depth at SS/2B, they could afford to give up one of those guys too. Frankly, if you view Ynoa as a replacement for Bassitt within the system, you can cancel those two out and then it becomes Semein, Ravelo, and Phegley for Samardzija. That's a move you make every time too. That's a valid point, that we had to send four players to get room for Melky. So, the trade essentially was giving Semien, Ravelo, Bassitt, Phegley, and second and third round draft picks for Shark, Ynoa, Robertson, and Melky (plus a 2016 high draft pick if Shark goes away next year).

QUOTE (Douglas Rome @ Dec 25, 2014 -> 06:30 AM) we need a second baseman, and a third baseman, and a catcher? Why the heck did we let AJ go? thanks, douglas AJ used to be a good player. Not any more. Ask any Red Sox fan. He should stay home and manage his IRA.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 25, 2014 -> 12:38 AM) Except he didn't cost anywhere near the immediate outlay that Moncada will. And they hadn't spent nearly as much as we have in the past month. Are we talking $50 large Up Front? Or spread out over a few yrs?

Ideally, it would be Gilaspie; not likely.

I gotta wonder if Hahn, or any other GM for that matter, is influenced by GM's like AJ Preller. Geez, that guy has some stones. Hahn going after Longoria for three prospects (not incl Anderson) + Gilaspie....Could be done.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 05:23 PM) I don't see how the Cubs don't go get Longoria. The answer is Kris Bryant.

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 18, 2014 -> 02:38 PM) My god that is dumb. As if you can't move a 3rd baseman elsewhere. Right. Dumb Dan O'Dowd got roasted pretty good 3-4 yrs ago on that one when he fessed up.

Whenever I see or read about Longoria, I think back to the day when he was ready to be drafted back in 2006. The Rockies had the number 2 pick and everyone thought they would take Longoria. Nope, they took a pitcher out of Stanford named Craig Reynolds who had a very short career. Tampa took Longoria at # 3. When asked about it years later, Rocky GM Dan O'Dowd admitted his error, saying he didn't want to upset then third base prospect Ian Stewart, taken 2-3 years earlier. Longoria was a college pal of Tulo, by the way.

QUOTE (Jake @ Dec 18, 2014 -> 08:29 AM) I'm glad this has sparked a lot of conversation. Clearly, a lot has to go right for us. Everyone knows I tend to be an optimist, so I'm not ruling out the possibility that these things do go right. But one of the keys to being a happy optimist is keeping hopes high and expectations low. My expectations low. Key developments that would change the trajectory of this team: -Noesi breaks out, Danks comes back, and/or Rodon breaks in -Somebody at 2B is league average or better -Putnam and Petricka prove not to be one-year flashes -Avisail requires no learning curve or simply starts playing good defense -Conor improves upon last season or Matt Davidson finds his way back into the fray Add to that ... Both Eaton and Melky hit around .300 with OBP around .350 (similar to 2014) and Abreu improves just a little bit (reasonable expectation), voila, the team is much better.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 09:31 PM) Yes, Micker did struggle but his season was promising and a success when you consider the circumstances. Micker was a 17 year old kid last year playing pro ball, while the AZL is rookie ball that's still a challenge for any 17 year old as he had to face completion with more experience and polish than what he has ever faced. Micker did tail off at the end of the year but that can be contributed to exhaustion, he came from the showcase circuit of Latin America to playing a 30 game season with no off days. And before his end of the year exhaustion, Micker was on a tear. And if I remember correctly, he lead the league in HR with 5. I assume that you haven't been following the Sox in the instructional league, if you had then you would have heard all the glowing reports back from Arizona regarding Micker and the progress that he has made. He has shorten his swing and made it more compact, while showing power to all fields and an ability to make more contact. Micker is a legit superstar prospect in the making, he has a very high ceiling, maybe he highest in the system. Even if he struggles next year, it wouldn't hurt his development, as 2015 is his age 18 season. I believe that Micker will be knocking on the Sox door sooner than most people think in 2017. Josh, fill us in on Instructional League stats/comments.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 10:03 PM) Now that the Wil Myers deal is almost certain to happen, do you think the Rays trade Longo as well? He would fit perfectly on the Sox. I'd love to see a trade happen, but I would hate to see Rodon/Quintana/Anderson leave. What do you guys think? Sox Sider: WHITE SOX TO GO AFTER EVAN LONGORIA? Mike, what are the Wil Myers' rumors? Tks.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 10:14 PM) Too much risk in terms of talent we're going to have to give up. It's not unlike the situation with Bruce in Cincy. We're forced to pay for the 2012-13 All-Star/MVP versions without being able to cover the expensive downside of these contracts. Acquiring Jermaine Dye coming off a catastrophic injury (or Thome) is one thing...but betting the future of the franchise on Longoria is not the type of move Hahn's going to make if he wants to stay GM for 5-10 more years. The Cubs have been looking for a solid 3B for decades. Kris Bryant?

Rockies would much rather trade Blackmon than Dickerson, thinking that his value is as high as it will ever be.

Valera looks interesting.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 10, 2014 -> 10:56 AM) Yost is the worst strategic manager in the entire league. If his team, under-talented compared to the field, can make it to WS despite him, then are just fine with Robin Ventura no matter what you think of him. Is he? I know he made that one faux pas in the Playin game, but is he that bad?

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Dec 10, 2014 -> 07:30 AM) What a great deal for this team! The way I see it: Bassitt and Ynoa may be a wash as both may end up in the pen, We didn't need Phegley on this team as he couldn't hit or field, Ravelo really didn't have room on this team, but obviously Semien has the most upside out of this group. And then we either extend Samardzija or collect a draft pick for him. Ravelo would have helped the Sox in a year or two at the most. LaRoche gone after 2016. Ravelo was ticketed for AAA this year and probably major league ready in 2016. I wouldn't be surprised if he has a solid big league career. I still like the trade, just wish we could have kept him. Do we get two draft picks if Shark goes away? One from Oakland and one compensation pick?

I wonder if Mariano ever taught him the cutter.

Good trade for both teams.

IF the Sox were to sign another top free agent, they would only have to pay a third round draft choice, because #1 is protected and #2 went to the Yanks.