Eminor3rd

What gets ME about Viciedo is his career 98 wRC+ and below average defense, lol. What is there to defend about him? He's been pretty consistently bad. You can say he hit 25 homers in a season, but that's where literally everything positive ends. He's clearly got talent, but an entire season of no progress/arguably backward progress in 2013 does NOT bode well for him reaching his upside. He looks like he just isn't capable of recognizing pitches well enough.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Oct 18, 2013 -> 01:50 PM) "...He's no Maurice Gartrell..." Caulfield12 He's no Gerardo Parra, that's for sure.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Oct 18, 2013 -> 01:53 PM) I get that. I just think McCann got all asshole showy about it instead of calling for a beaning or just saying something to him. Standing in front of the plate is just as bad as anything. That's fair.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 18, 2013 -> 01:51 PM) What is this, West Side Story? If you don't want Gomez to prance around, then don't let him hit home runs off you. Guarding home plate from a guy who just hit a home run is what Ham Porter would do in the Sandlot. This is MLB, that's ridiculous. Again, watch the clip. It's not prancing that made everyone mad. He was yelling what we can assume to be insults at everyone on the diamond, lol. Maybe McCann is a jerk and Gomez was justified. I'm just saying you can't literally yell insults at the opposing team all the way around the bases and then be surprised when the last guy you run past is confronting you at the end. I just think we can't judge McCann on that one incident. EDIT: I also don't think him being in front of the plate meant much of anything. He could have been a step past the plate and had the same effect. I didn't see it as him "blocking" the plate so much as moving into his path so he could end up all up in his face.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 18, 2013 -> 12:42 PM) It's a risk, but his contract is not that outrageous in this day and age. If he's pathetic, sure, the Sox will be stuck with him a long long time. But the Sox are desperate and currently have some money to spend. At this stage, he's probably worth the risk. Now it's time to improve C and 3B and one outfield spot and add a reliable bullpen guy while hoping/pleading Semien takes over for Beckham. You've never posted anything I agree with more

QUOTE (ozzfest @ Oct 18, 2013 -> 12:25 PM) The White Sox have never hit the jackpot in free agency. Ever. Why is this any different? If this (Abreu) guy were as good as people say, wouldn't the Yankees, or Giants, or Rangers, or Cubs been all over him and they would have definitely been willing to outbid the White Sox. Paying him twice as much as Puig.....I'm skeptical. Not trying to be a buzzkill, but there needs to be a separate discussion here of just how unproven this guy is. The White Sox have never been the smartest free agent seekers....If something is too good to be true...it is. I guarantee this guy isn't an all star. Wrong question, sir. Why, instead, is it the same?

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Oct 18, 2013 -> 01:36 PM) This sanctifying of baseball has to stop. It's pretentious. I actually totally agree with this. I just don't think anyone would have put up with what Gomez was doing, in any similar situation. What McCann did in that specific incident, to me, had nothing to do with baseball. It was just him standing up to a guy who was insulting his friends.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Oct 18, 2013 -> 01:31 PM) Blah, who cares? Lol what? I'm not judging their history, I'm just saying anyone would have stepped up and said something to Gomez after what Gomez just did. Maybe Gomez was the good guy or maybe not, but the fact that McCann stood up and got in his face isn't damning, IMO. Again, just from watching the clip.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 18, 2013 -> 11:54 AM) The problem is this isnt the only time this season that McCann acted like that(Jose Fernandez). Whatever, you dont like it, I dont care. I want McCann, asshole or not, I just want that crap to stop. Its all good. Yeah, I mean I'm not saying you're wrong about him. I don't really know. I just don't think he was so far out of line in that Gomez incident. I think the media blew that up in a weird way.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 18, 2013 -> 11:48 AM) I saw exactly what happened, and I know that Gomez and Maholm had a history. Maholm has beaned Gomez 3 times in 25 at bats, and Gomez in turn is absilutely crushing him to the tune of like .480. It isnt like Gomez just randomly started talking s***. Regardless, nobody annointed the Braves or McCann as the policeman of the unwritten rules of baseball. You dont want Gomez to talk s***? Dont bean him, and dont let him beat you. Pretty simple. McCann and AJ are both assholes, that i dont dispute, but not the same way. History or not, you can't scream at the pitcher literally the entire time around the bases and not expect someone to start yelling back. Whether he crossed the plate or not was irrelevant. To me, it was not unlike every other time guys start yelling at one another and the benches clear to nothing happening.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Oct 18, 2013 -> 11:08 AM) You're not getting his point. If we stand pat from here the payroll would drop ~50 millionish from OD '13. Friend, you are not getting MY point I'm not saying they will or should stand pat, but there is a huge difference between standing pat and adding a $100m contract. I'm just saying it's unprecedented (I think ) for a team to break its record for largest contract twice in a single offseason, and it's even stranger coming off of a 99 loss season. I'm just saying we should temper our expectations. Throwinjg around money like never before tends to be a little video-gamey for teams to do.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 18, 2013 -> 11:07 AM) AJ never did that stuff. He may have talked s***, but he didnt stop a player from crossing homeplate because he celebrated a homerun. AJ was an agitator, not a policeman. I don't think you guys actually saw what happened. It had nothing to do with celebration. Gomez was directly confronting the pitcher verbally.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Oct 18, 2013 -> 10:44 AM) Sticking up for you team at any cost is one thing. Getting indigant at a player about admiring a homerun is pointless. Did you watch the clip? Gomez was yelling at the pitcher all the way around the bases

Keith Law's Insider reaction piece essentially says that this is a weird move for the White Sox because it's risky and that Abreu has a good chance of declining rapidly by the time the Sox are contending in a few years.

I am on the Jaramillo bandwagon

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 18, 2013 -> 09:42 AM) Abreu will make less than Peavy was supposed to make. Less than Rios was supposed to make, depending how they break it down, about as much as Floyd was paid for 2013. Konerko, Thornton, Crain all gone. An additional $25 million from the national TV contract. There is plenty more money to spend if they chose to spend it. I'm not saying they don't HAVE it, I'm just saying that the budget is oftentimes much lower than the total size of the bank account.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 18, 2013 -> 08:59 AM) I think realistically he comes down in the $175 million range for perhaps 8 years. I think he'll insist on -- and get -- $200m

I've been all about McCann for a long time now, but I wouldn't be surprised if the JDA signing took a lot of the money away from the McCann fund. Let's not forget that this is a 99 loss team. Situations like the 2013 Red Sox are uncommon, and they had a much better core than we do. Spending needs to happen, but it needs to happen cautiously. I don't think Hahn wants to put his job on the line in year two. That said, I'd love to have McCann, I just think it's much less likely now.

QUOTE (La Marr Hoyt HOF @ Oct 18, 2013 -> 06:58 AM) AJ is a better alternative Why? I think we've all agreed that if we're going to spend on FA, it should be for players who will be valuable 3-5 years out.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Oct 18, 2013 -> 09:26 AM) Yes, it's worth reiterating, when many of you continue to suggest acquiring more right handed hitters. If Hahn spends big money on another right handed hitter, I'll be shocked. Forget names such as Corey Hart, John Buck, Marlon Byrd etc. Moreover, there was more to my post, which only mentioned the need for the left handed hitter as the context in which I was speculating about the rest of the roster, and the lineup. What is your suggestion, beyond that I not belabor the need for a left handed hitter? I think you did just fine and you're right -- since you didn't suggest Grady Sizemore

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 17, 2013 -> 10:55 PM) personally I think this closes the books on Granderson. Thank God. Amen to that

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Oct 17, 2013 -> 08:55 PM) Can anyone give any extensive details about how the negotiations work? As far as the sealed bid process, etc. He's an unrestricted free agent -- if there are rules like 'sealed bids,' JDA and his agent are making them up themselves. Could be anything.

John Lannan is really bad.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 17, 2013 -> 07:08 PM) I hope someone can fill me in on how this predictor translator works: “@enosarris: Abreu's in news, so here's his Davenport Translation (biggest sample): .321/.446/.660. DT for Cespedes .271/.338/.489 (real: 265/.324/.472)” I'm not sure how it works, but I'm pretty sure the general consensus is that while DT is our best estimator for this type of thing, it's not really very accurate. It's a pretty old model, I'm not sure if Clay kept updating it.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Oct 17, 2013 -> 05:03 PM) Yeah, Votto point obviously makes it make no sense, I was watching from fringe, looks like Rangers were part of it before he cut it down to 3, just mental lapse! Ahhh, that adds up better