Eminor3rd

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Feb 6, 2015 -> 11:19 AM) If he drops weight, improves his defense and offense, he'll find a job...

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 6, 2015 -> 10:36 AM) He doesn't like to pitch when he isn't getting paid. Lol

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 6, 2015 -> 10:44 AM) I'll still gladly take Viciedo over Beckham to have more homers from 2015 until the end of their respective careers. Again, so what?

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Feb 5, 2015 -> 05:57 PM) I'm not sure, but I know that John MacDonald once got traded for himself. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McDonald_%28infielder%29

QUOTE (asindc @ Feb 5, 2015 -> 09:42 PM) I laughed at the dandelion-steak analogy. It's on point. Welcome to the forum

It's important to note that the penalty money form this MUST be paid within 30 days. So the team that signs him is going to have to write a check for $30-40m within a MONTH. This takes more teams out of the running than would normally be down for $75-80m for a free agent or something that can be paid gradually over several years.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 5, 2015 -> 04:23 PM) Just don't let the Rangers anywhere near a phone Haha seriously.

Contract is looking bad before it has even begun.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 5, 2015 -> 12:03 PM) And how many homers did all of those names combine for in 2014? Dyson and Gore have almost no pop. Rios had 4 homers last season. This whole "but Viciedo has 20 homer power" thing is a quintessential example of how NOT to use statistics. He's a substantially below average hitter no matter how he arrives at his level of "productivity." Adding homers at the expense of overall production would be ludicrously stupid. It would be like eating dandelions instead of steak because the dandelions have more vitamin C.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 5, 2015 -> 10:22 AM) Why would you trade great prospects when you can just sign him I think he's suggesting it wouldn't take "great" prospects. I imagine it would, though, as I think Washington values its depth and that if one WOULD come relatively cheap, someone would have already made it happen.

Everyone knew Viciedo was terrible except Chicago and, apparently, Seattle.

Live arm, makes sense, aligns with my expectations from the start.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 4, 2015 -> 03:19 PM) Yes, but they could see where he's at in spring training for a few weeks for next to nothing. Someone will sign him, and probably wind up saving a couple million. There obviously isn't a team out there that thinks highly of his ability, because they don't seem to care about losing him over $1-2 million. I wouldn't be shocked if he signs one of those "minor league deal with invite" contracts where he makes like $2m if he make the ML roster.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 4, 2015 -> 03:06 PM) I am pretty stunned they couldn't find someone to give them garbage for him. I think the defensive limitations just made his downside too low. As many have argued on this board, his skillset makes him an exceedingly poor fit as a fourth or fifth outfielder, essentially meaning that he needed to break out to be of any use at all. I imagine several teams would have taken a flyer on his bat if they felt they could at least use him on the bench in any instance. Even though $4.4m isn't a ton these days, it'll still buy you a pretty high-end bench player, so to commit it on a guy who likely won't even be that useful doesn't seem like a prudent use of resources, especially given the nearly every team is "going for it" to a certain degree this year.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 31, 2015 -> 11:10 AM) The problem with the White Sox system before was not that they traded away good prospects and therefore had none left, they traded away except for one or two exceptions, guys that turned out to be not so great, but they still had no one any good in the system. Hopefully the guys they have now are different. Prospects are BS for the most part, and some guys all of us really like now will be considered garbage in a year or two. I wasn't exactly a KW supporter, but by dealing prospects that didn't amount to much, he wound up with a lot more value than if he had let them develop into what they would ultimately become in the White Sox system. The sin wasn't trading prospects away. Indeed, a major part of this "sustained winning" model has to do with the changes in how amateur talent is acquired. It isn't simply trading/not trading prospects, it's investing in the health of the system in general. The KW era was characterized by a lack of spending on amateur talent at the benefit of increased ML payrolls (allegedly). Now that JR has the draft system he likes, the analog for "spending competitively" is now "drafting effectively." One exception to this is the extent to which signing free agents can cost draft picks and pool allocations. So, the bigger picture is really about balancing resources. The game has changed a bit, but you can still make a good case that the KW-branded administration often focused on the current year's ML team at significant cost to the farm system -- though it wasn't always simply a matter of trading prospects.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 4, 2015 -> 01:35 PM) Until Conor Gillaspie picks "Spanish Flea" Someone will need to be designated with veto power.

I say a player picks it, staff maks it clear who the pick is, and it goes on as long as they win. Then they move onto the next one. Would be cool for the fans and the media.

QUOTE (asindc @ Feb 4, 2015 -> 10:29 AM) I'm not as high on Shields as some others here seem to be. At his best he was a #2.5-#3 starter and is 33 years old. He wants solid #2-#1.5 starter money. I'll pass. I'm with you, and have been for months. That said, I'd take him in a heartbeat at $15m per for 3 years. The problem is that so would everyone else, and so he isn't going to sign that. I still think he's got a shot at coming in at $90m+

The 26th and 27th men wouldn't be starters, they'd be relievers, which would further depress offense and make the game even longer.

Practically every team in baseball would be considering James shields at 4/55, therefore the winning bid will be higher than that. I think wite is correct in that if he truly does go for less than we expected, he's still gonna get $70m or so.

QUOTE (kev211 @ Feb 2, 2015 -> 02:24 PM) He's made it pretty clear he wants to see what the team and management etc is like for a half a season or so before committing here long term. That's why. QUOTE (ptatc @ Feb 2, 2015 -> 02:24 PM) See my previous comment. I think they are going on his word that he will pick a comfortable situation. But the money needs to be close. I don't think a monetary discount is expected. QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 2, 2015 -> 02:41 PM) He grew up a Sox fan, wants to live in Chicago. If he can get close to market rate in that scenario why wouldnt he? Right, but if it takes a half a year, and he wants close to market rate -- he's hitting free agency. That doesn't mean he won't end up signing here, but it's not going to be until he finds out what the best offer is and gives the Sox a chance to get close.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Feb 2, 2015 -> 04:54 PM) Things I disagree with..... Alexei is better than Castro. This isn't a "future value" discussion, this is based on 2015. Castro IS a better offensive profile, and Alexei IS a better defender, but one aspect he forgot to include is baserunning. Alexei always grades out as one of the best baserunning SS in baseball. Castro grades out as one of the worst, mostly to his laziness and admiring flyballs that don't leave the park. If those other 2 categories wash out, Alexei takes the edge for baserunning. I mean, the guy is 10 years older and he swiping 2-3x as many bags as Castro. Q is better than Arrieta. The guy did it for "most" of 1 season in the big leagues. We've seen plenty of pitchers have flukey years as a young pitcher. Not saying Arrieta is no good, but I'll bet on the track record of Q versus Arrieta. The bullpen argument he doesn't even complete. He mentions the Sox got Robertson but "The rest of the crew returns". If that's true, how do we also then add Zach Duke, one of the best LRP in baseball last year, and Dan Jennings? When it's all said and done, we could have more than half our bullpen revamped over last year. Not saying the Sox bullpen is better, but come on, the guy didn't even lay out the facts here. Yeah this is pretty much spot on. I can agree with Castro over Alexei though, but it's close, and the author acknowledges that. But yeah, I LOVE Arietta and I'd still take Quintana every day.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 2, 2015 -> 01:51 PM) The fact that they are already mentioning the possibility of talking extension IN season should say a lot. I'm not arguing that you have some legit info to the contrary, but the whole thing just seems so nonsensical to me. Why WOULD we agree to an extension in season, unless it was a significant overpay? The Sox aren't going to want to give him free market money unless he shows them success, and by the time he shows them success, he'll be a free agent anyway, which, at that point, is only upside for him. If he was going to sign an extension, he should/would have done it already. The reason you do that is to sell your injury/performance risk to the team. But he's already taken the risk and now he's set up to reap the benefits. I just don't get it.

QUOTE (JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ Feb 1, 2015 -> 10:42 PM) Not trying to be a smartass. I actually want to know what his splits look like. I can't seem to find that information. In general, all the index stats (anything with a + or -) are league and park adjusted, so FIP- and ERA- would be great places to start comparing NL pitchers to AL pitchers. EDIT: Here's a quick league leaders table I made up with those stats on it: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=...r=&players=

QUOTE (Douglas Rome @ Feb 1, 2015 -> 08:59 AM) what did Samara ever do? Are we forgetting that Danks pitched a shutout in arguably the most important game in White Sox history? thanks, douglas Right. By that logic, we should try to pull Frank Thomas and Jim Thome out of retirement, because they were both REAL good for us.