Eminor3rd

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Mar 20, 2015 -> 02:57 PM) Or the opposite happens and the end years go down. Everyone would have wanted Beckham go sign this type of deal after his first season with the team, he definitely wasn't worth it in any season after that. It is a risk/reward thing, given his history of injuries the risk is a bit higher which holds down some of the investment in the pre-free agency years. On the other side it does provide cost certainty when planning for future payroll. It is a fair deal at this point, Eaton gets more money upfront and probably loses a little at the end of arbitration IF he stays healthy. Right, but that's the risk of any contract extension. I think his injury risk is definitely reflected in the price, considering the guy already has two full years of service time.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 20, 2015 -> 02:52 PM) Abreu might hit .415 this year with 5 homers Haha he definitely looks like that now. But, he's not in his groove yet. Just trying to get the bat head on the ball.

LOL @ "This might be the best defensive OF in the major leagues."

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 20, 2015 -> 02:40 PM) The longer you wait, the higher those end years go, and the less likely they are to resign. Exactly. If he put up the season we all want to see in 2015 (140+ games @ .350+ OBP), he'd be at 4 years of service and we'd be talking about something in the $50-60m range.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Mar 20, 2015 -> 02:35 PM) From what I've seen Micah hangs in there pretty well against LHP. Seems to have an opposite field approach. God, Hawk ranting already, just said a fast runner changes the game more than a HR. And Micah gets picked off, lol. But you couldn't have pulled a greased tee out of Travis Wood's behind!

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 20, 2015 -> 02:33 PM) Noesi's fastball is so straight. Three fly outs to the track/home run last inning He REALLY needs to get it down lower in the zone.

QUOTE (Knuckles @ Mar 20, 2015 -> 02:32 PM) $23.5M Damn. I'll take it. Looks like we definitely got a discount for taking his health risk.

Wow, nice. Eager to see these terms. Guessing ~$30-40m guaranteed.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Mar 20, 2015 -> 02:09 PM) Flowers is in midseason form already lol. But man, Noesi looked GOOD in that inning. He seemed a lot more aggressive than he was last year. QUOTE (Soxfest @ Mar 20, 2015 -> 02:10 PM) Flowers in mid season form already. Flowers in midseason form already.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 20, 2015 -> 02:04 PM) Yes. Today will be the first time I have heard someone say "equidistant" since September. Haha, indeed.

As much as I rag on him, it feels good to hear Hawk's voice right now.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 20, 2015 -> 12:52 PM) i leave that part of the stats to yous guys, who are way smarter than i in this area. He basically looked just a touch better than John Danks last year, statistically. He's only a year removed from being really solid, though.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 20, 2015 -> 12:50 PM) in most cases you would be right, but they have players with no options and may be lost on the waiver list. if it is him, other players should be avail. According to Roster Resource (awesome website if anyone isn't aware of it), Wood and Turner are the only projected starters that are out of options, but it looks like they're going to be able to stash Turner on the DL for OD. Edwin Jackson definitely appears to be the odd man out when Turner comes back, though. http://www.rosterresource.com/mlb-chicago-cubs/

I don't see any reason that the Cubs would be looking to move their own pitching depth at this point.

Another round of underwhelming commercials. Meanwhile, the Mariners' are still awesome: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-leag...-013301127.html

QUOTE (Knuckles @ Mar 19, 2015 -> 05:35 PM) No, not the HOME OPENER. The very first game of the season Sox @ KC April 6. I'm off for those days and looking for ideas as to where to watch the game. Trip to KC anyone? Freakin New York City

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 19, 2015 -> 04:27 PM) I would go with Carroll or Johnson. Have we gotten any reports on Johnson's velo this spring?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 19, 2015 -> 04:15 PM) I think Beckham's signing was more about putting Saladino and the loser of Sanchez and Johnson into the minors to play every day so as to keep developing. They could care less if Gordo rots on the bench. I also believe the White Sox honestly believe that between their five leading starters and Brad Penny, they have enough to bridge the gap for Carlos Rodon to be ready to go by June at the latest. Another starter would have been behind Sale, Q, Smarj, Danks, Noesi, Rodon, and Penny, at least. Then you also have to look at guys like Johnson and Beck as possibilities for later in the season, or just a trade by then. RE: Beckham. If that's true, it makes more sense. In my admittedly completely non-professional opinion, I don't think Saladino has the potential to be a starter anyway, so I would think a bench role would be totally fine for him. But I can buy that they think he still needs everyday PT as totally plausible. RE: the rotation. You're right that they may believe that, but if so, I think that's a mistake. Between injury risk and the very real chance that Rodon is NOT ready, they really should have hedged more, even if it was just with the Dana Eveland types, IMO. Especially if money is plentiful enough that it was worth $2m to buy Saladino some more time.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 19, 2015 -> 04:13 PM) If they can afford $4 million, why are you complaining about Beckham's $2 million. Then they still should have a couple million to burn. You are moving the goalposts here. You have stated time and time again that the 2 million Beckham is getting pretty much is what they had left, because according to you they picked Beckham instead of anyone else, , which one of these guys would you have signed? They obviously couldn't have signed them all. And can you explain to me how guys who sign minor league contracts were blocked from signing with the White Sox because the Sox signed Beckham? Ok -- remove Vogelsong from that list and it's all south of $2.5m. The point stands. But if you're going to argue that $2m is meaningless rounding error, don't also point out that $4m is significantly more. THAT'S moving the goalposts. I would have rather signed any of those guys than Beckham. And I JUST typed, in the very post you quoted, that I don't have any evidence to suggest that signing Beckham prevented anything else financially, I simply know that we needed those guys but didn't get them, and I think it's safe to assume that there IS a limit to the budget somewhere. It's getting so hard to believe that you actually read what I type before you respond. Here's the point to argue against, if you're going to continue arguing: We needed a bench OF and at least one depth starter to fight for the spot that Brad Penny is trying to earn. I'm not happy that Beckham is going to be on the roster instead of one of those other things, because we already have a bunch of pre-arbs that can already be stashed in the minors to do for us what Beckham will now do. We just didn't need to spend money on him.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 19, 2015 -> 04:42 PM) The $2 million is about as close to meaningless as it gets. That is the salary of a mimimum wage guy, which the roster spot would cost anyway, plus $1.5 million. In 2015, it is nothing. Yeah, I have no idea how tight their budgets actually are -- I just know we didn't get enough small-guy SP depth but we DID we Beckham, who I just don't think we needed at all. Could be no connection between those two facts.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 19, 2015 -> 04:34 PM) Who was the guy you were thinking of when you told me the only reason Brad Penny would ever have to start a game for the 2015 White Sox was because they signed Gordon Beckham? Alexi Ogando, Paul Maholm, Chad Billingsley, Dana Eveland, Chris Volstad, Ross Ohlendorf, Scott Baker, Ryan Vogelsong, Tim Stauffer are all guys that signed for anywhere between minor league deal and $4m. Obviously none of those guys are awesome, but we needed more s*** to throw at the wall from a rotation perspective than we ended up getting (obviously since we're talking about going north with Penny), and I'm just not convinced we need another bench IF. No, I don't have any information specifically to suggest that Beckham was signed instead of any of those guys, but that's where the statement, "I'd rather have put that money toward some rotation depth" comes from.

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 19, 2015 -> 04:23 PM) With the way the offseason shook out, the real comparison to those players is the sox signing Bonifacio, not beckham. You should be angry they chose bonifacio over Denorfia if you really cared. Why? Bonifacio can cover both OF and IF.

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 19, 2015 -> 03:48 PM) Signing Gordon Beckham prevented absolutely nothing. The roster spot is as important as the $2m bucks. We needed pitching depth and OF depth, did not need IF depth. raBBit's list is good -- even if don't like those guys, they filled holes for us while Beckham is just another guy on a pile of guys we already had.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Mar 19, 2015 -> 03:18 PM) The same folks who criticize a Gordon Beckham, John Danks, Noesi, etal, are the first ones to slober all over some other teams reject or reclamation project. Beckham can bring a positive contribution to this team. He is a plus defender and can play three IF positions. He may come around and hit decently also. We should all hope for that and I believe he was signed for a reason and that was to be a super IF sub or at least be that role player at this time. We could have worse ready to step in to a starting role The issue isn't whether or not Gordon Beckham can adequately be a backup 2nd/3rd baseman, it's that a backup 2nd/3rd baseman was literally the last thing we needed to spend our limited resources on.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 18, 2015 -> 12:17 PM) Which would be a good spot for a Brad Penny, if healthy. Definitely, especially if he's really "touching 94." I imagine a relief roles in the MLB would be preferable to a starting role in the minors for him at this stage in his career.