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If something is really wrong with his elbow, dude should take the three million bucks and get under the protection of the team's medical program ASAP. If he re-enters the draft next year, there's no way in hell any team is going to pretend like this isn't a red flag.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 15, 2014 -> 10:09 AM) As Jose Abreu drives around Chicago, he finds cross country athletes and asks them to get in the car. He just can't get enough of driving runners home. lol, did that one come to you in bed?

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jul 15, 2014 -> 01:04 AM) All you guys and your unsustainable BABIP . You act like hitters never hit .320-.350 before. Ever look up the BABIP for guys like Gwynn, Carew, Boggs ? It's just possible we have a guy who can hit .320 consistently. Conor was up at .350 batting average slumped down to .310 now has raised it back up to the .325 range again unlike most of the guys on this team who couldn't sustain the high average like Alexei, Beckham, Viciedo and Flowers. Once the AB's start piling up it's really difficult for a hitter batting around .310 to raise it back up as fast as he did. Last 7 games .526 . Last 10 .387 .378 in July. Yeah, if you think Conor Gillaspie has skills like Tony Gwynn and Rod Carew, we may just have something here, lol.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 15, 2014 -> 08:51 AM) The average OPS of 3b in MLB right now is .722 and it's .711 in the AL. Fine, Conor isn't hitting for power and he's probably not likely to keep up an .861 OPS based on points others have discussed, but if he were to put up an OPS close to .800 (and could also be platooned with on occasion), that would be a solidly above average offensive producer at that position in the modern era. There's nothing wrong with his level of production -- he's at 136 wRC+ for the season. The question about trading him, to me, just comes down to if we think this is the peak of his value.

QUOTE (Charlie Haeger's Knuckles @ Jul 15, 2014 -> 07:38 AM) Is a smellface someone who smells faces or has a smelly face? Is a smellface anything like a stinkfist? You've hit upon one of the greater philosophical questions of our generation. I think you can take a course on this topic at your nearest college.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 07:03 PM) Um no, you don't trade Conor unless you're bowled over by an offer. I don't care what his BABIP is the guy mashes RHP and plays a cromulent 3B, those guys don't exactly grow on trees. Plus, it looks like Davidson might be the perfect right handed side of a 3B platoon. This is a deal that might make sense to make this time next year. If Davidson is all that, and Conor continues to hit and increases his value, then you can trade Conor. No rush, not when he's still pre-arb. It comes down to what the team thinks players will do going forward. I don't mean in 5 years, but the next 1-2. We tend to fall in love with every guy as soon as he has a hot month because he are hoping for a breakout, but the reality is more complex. Our need is not now, it's maybe 2015 and definitely 2016. If we have a guy who we have reason to believe WON'T be a substantial contributor then, we need to try to move him for someone who we think will. Keep the pieces that will likely continue to provide value going forward (Quintana) and move the pieces that likely won't (Alexei). I don't know where Gillaspie falls on that spectrum, but that is the answer to whether or not we should shop him. So when you say "I don't care what his BABIP is," you're making a mistake, because his BABIP is an important factor (just one, granted) in deciding what he's likely going to be over the next few years.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 05:39 PM) This is an interesting idea and while I'm not sure I could stomach it, it would make a lot of sense to get a feel for what the market for him would be. The key would be taking my most trusted evaluators' opinions on Gillaspie to heart and if they think this won't last, then he gawn. This

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 03:41 PM) I disagree. You are a beautiful man. Beautiful men can be smellfaces.

I cannot fathom such utter lack of control.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 11:00 AM) But you're missing a huge portion of the equation there...how badly team needs to move payroll, what team has coming up behind it, what state team is for duration of player's contract. The White Sox clearly needed to move Jake Peavy's $15 million, they had no use for him this year, they thought they had a guy who could replace him until EJ completely blew up, and there was at the time virtually no chance of fielding a competitive team before his contract ends. None of those are true with Ramirez. The Sox can afford his contract, he's still useful to them, there's no clear-cut "ready to replace him right now" candidate, and it's entirely possible that they'll be fielding a competitive team before his contract ends. Thus the White Sox should also be in a position to hold out for a higher price or decide not to move him at all. If they don't move him I will not be mad. If they didn't move Peavy I'd have been very mad. QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 11:27 AM) The quality of the player matters though too. Ramirez is not the defensive player he was 2-3 years ago and his offense hasn't gotten any better (or worse, for that matter). He may be the best SS on the market, but that doesn't immediately make him worth a top 25-50 prospect or two top 100 prospects. Peavy was coming off a very good season and he hadn't pitched poorly leading up to his trade last year either. Again, I'm not saying they have to deal Ramirez, but I think you have to be more willing to deal him than you are suggesting. I also think you're overrating Alexei in two years. We're talking about an already declining player getting further from his prime versus a promising player getting closer to his prime. In 2016, how likely is it that Alexei is a better player than Carlos Sanchez? I don't think Sanchez is a sure thing at all, but it feels like the most likely outcome is close to a wash. And in this case, the cost of betting against both Sanchez' development and Alexei's age is forfeiting a quality return that (if we don't botch it) will be relevant by 2016, either in terms of trading chips or players coming up.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 10:48 AM) Alexei ought to be quite a bit higher priced than Peavy. Signed for an extra year as a team option, less expensive, putting up ~ equal value in the advanced statistic world. That's not how price is determined, though. How many teams are involved + how badly the teams need to fill a hole + quality of available prospects on the teams involved + number and quality of other options available on the market + how attitudes and prices have changed regarding prospects and veterans = what he's "worth." My opinion is that he's "worth" a Peavy-deal, but that has nothing to do with how he compares to Peavy, that's just a good proxy for the amount of prospect talent I'm referring to.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 10:26 AM) That's fine, if we don't get a top 10 in MLB prospect that's ok, but if we can't get somewhere in the range of top 25-ish or couple top-100 then I don't have any good reason to listen. I don't think he's worth that -- I understand you want to hold out for an overpay, but I think we should be willing to move him for fair market value.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 07:26 AM) Then he shouldn't be traded. I think I would make that deal. It's not that Alexei isn't good, it's that he's not as good as his hot start and that he's old enough that he's likely to decline over the next few years. I'm not sure that 34/35 year old Alexei is that much better than 24/25 year old Carlos Sanchez with a couple seasons under his belt.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Jul 13, 2014 -> 09:43 PM) Who's gonna play SS? It would be Leury Garcia and Carlos Sanchez for the foreseeable future.

QUOTE (ron883 @ Jul 13, 2014 -> 09:39 PM) is it safe to assume alexei would net a player similar to what jeff samardzija got the cubs? i think the time to deal alexei is NOW. Not even remotely close. IMO, the best case scenario for Alexei is the Jake Peavy-esque return from last year -- one back-end top 100 guy and a handful of interesting flyers.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jul 11, 2014 -> 12:25 PM) WHIP isn't the best metric. They gambled on stuff like FIP, xFIP and SIERA. Same with the guy they just got from Oakland, way better peripherals than ERA. QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jul 11, 2014 -> 01:02 PM) But at some point reality should match peripherals if the peripherals are valid. 10 years is getting to be a good sample size. Dave Cameron spent some time on the last podcast explaining that soft-tossers, specifically referencing McCarthy and the changes he's made this year, can end up underpeforming their FIP by choosing to stay in the zone to increase strikeouts and reduce walks. The cost of throwing strikes to acheive those is of course that mistakes are hit harder -- and when you throw 88, you're going to get nailed more than guys that sit in the mid-90's.

Kluber is so good. Another 10 k night, methinks. But if Noesi has another stellar outing, we could be reaching the point where it isn't just a hot streak soon.

QUOTE (Charlie Haeger's Knuckles @ Jul 11, 2014 -> 10:07 AM) I must have gotten my information from Jon Heyman lol

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 10, 2014 -> 06:07 PM) Well, that's a pleasant surprise. Extras. Belisario gets Napoli, Putnam and Rienzo are in the pen. When's the last time Rienzo pitched? Seems like a month ago. I forgot we had Rienzo.

Belisario. You guys ready to name other pitchers from the bullpen that could have been put in instead?

I have a feeling RV is going to lose us this game by allowing his pitchers to give up hits/homers.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 10, 2014 -> 01:07 PM) Baseball America now reporting $6.582M for Rodon signing. This puts them over the limit and into 75% tax penalty territory on the overage (by about 385k), but stays just/short of draft pick loss territory. Also means Montes de Oca and Choplick almost assuredly won't be signed. The interesting thing about that number is that you'd assume Boras was absolutely trying to get them into "forfeit the pick" territory, which would have been a fascinating (and terrible) precedent to set. That Boras has some stones, can't take that from him.

QUOTE (ChiSoxJon @ Jul 10, 2014 -> 12:41 PM) You'd be surprised, he's under control through 2016, pitching great at the moment, and isn't even 30...NYY is desperate for quality starting now too, really desperate, I'll admit maybe my propositions are a little too high but an actual deal would be right around there The problem is his salary -- there's no surplus value there. I think the O'Brien package without Severino is more realistic. Maybe a bit more if we pick up most of the tab. Kingham, though, I can't imagine would ever be in the conversation. But I hope you're right, haha.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 10, 2014 -> 12:30 PM) I'm the one who always suggests overpaying for catchers (hence my 4/$40 for Salty this offseason), but I have no problem giving Martin a lot of money. Say, 2 years, $22 mill - $10 year 1, $10 year 2, $2 mill buyout or $12 mill team year 3. Yep. I think guys like that are extremely valuable even if they don't hit. I'd take a 90 wRC+ from him and be thrilled. And he clearly wouldn't be blocking anyone.

Someone else can pay to watch James Shields fall apart. I would LOVE to pay Russell Martin $8m for the next two or three years, though.