BlackSox13

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Dec 20, 2015 -> 08:49 AM) I wouldn't have an objection if the Brewers price him at the sub .650 OPS that he is. Same here. Last I was thinking an Avi for Segura swap, then the Sox sign Upton or Cespedes. Then looked at the Brewers team and farm, s*** man, they don't need outfielders as they have a plethora of them already.

I do not doubt Baltimore's interest in Cespedes. They seem pretty frustrated with Boras and Davis.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 19, 2015 -> 11:43 PM) The Cubs have the largest debt load in baseball and are owned by a group of trust fund babies. While they'll very likely have a larger payroll, they have much less flexibility than us. When they reach their budget, they pretty much have to stop. On the other hand, Reinsdorf's group is able to expand payroll if needed as they can go into the red if they like. Obviously none of us know either team's budget for 2016, but everything in the media (including Theo's interview today) suggests the Cubs are done with big ticket items. The cubs have 128M committed in salary that doesn't include their arbitration players that could total 30M+ so after looking at the bigger picture, you're probably right. They just might be done with big ticket signings. Not that I'm disappointed. I just finished looking up the numbers so please disregard all previous thoughts on where Gordon lands.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 19, 2015 -> 11:28 PM) They may move him back to catcher eventually, but Ross and Montero are both on the roster still, and they want to keep Schwarbers bat in the lineup as much as possible I don't think the cubs really know what they are going to do with Schwarber. The cubs have said they would consider moving Schwarber back to catcher, they have said they plan to use Heyward in CF and the cubs are rumored to be interested in moving Soler for a pitcher. I'm just guessing at playing connect the dots. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Gordon to the cubs is a sure bet ( I like my house) , just guessing based on things they have said. One thing seems pretty clear. The market for Upton, Cespedes and Gordon seems rather small. Most teams are either rebuilding, financially strapped or their outfield is set. I doubt there are more than a handful of teams that will actually make a contract offer to any of the big three. Plus Colorado put three good outfielders on the market so there's a surplus of quality outfielders to be had which should bring asking prices down both in money and in prospects for trades. If JR and the rest of the board members agree to raise the payroll, Hahn should be able to get one of Cespedes, Upton or Gordon for a more reasonable price than what was originally expected when the off season ended.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 19, 2015 -> 09:51 PM) The Cubs are finally low on cash and if they add an OF, it will be a CF with Heyward moving to RF. Gordon just doesn't make any sense for them right now. The Cardinals are far more likely. No doubt they are low on cash but in their eyes they are close to being a WS team so I'm guessing they go for it. The Sox are currently at their speculated limit and coming off a down season with bad attendance, yet are rumored to be interested in Upton and Cespedes. When the Sox and cubs front offices say they are out of money or at their limits, I take it with a grain of salt. As for Schwarber. The cubs have said they are considering moving him back to catcher. Otherwise they leave him in LF, stick with their plan of Heyward in CF and move Solar for a pitcher and play Gordon in RF.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 19, 2015 -> 09:35 PM) I also think Gordon goes first, but there's no chance it's with the Cubs. They are done with big free agents. I don't know, the rumors are they are looking for another OF and SP. I'm guessing they sign Gordon and trade for another pitcher. I think they can get Gordon to bite on 3 year contract with a 4th year option. The cubs made it to the NLCS so that could be enticing to Gordon.

I'll play along. First to sign will be Gordon with the Cubs.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Dec 18, 2015 -> 08:41 PM) I'll never understand how De Aza went from a well above average CF to a suddenly dumb baseball player Oh great now you've done it. Your post will summon the wrath of a poster's name I dare not speak of. Thanks alot, we are doomed!

Come on guys, give ChiSoxFanMike a break here. His concerns are understandable considering Jones had surgery on his back to relieve a nerve and followed that up with TJ while rehabing from his back surgery. I'm not really concerned about it but I understand where Mike is coming from.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Dec 18, 2015 -> 06:59 PM) Shoot for the moon Colorado. Hell ya! The more available outfielders the better. Maybe, possibly, hopefully, by Colorado adding their three outfielders to the mix it could water down the price a bit on the free agents? Probably wishful thinking on my part but in theory its plausible.

"We’ve heard chatter that the Orioles and Rockies have had some talks regarding outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, and Heyman says that Colorado asked for young righty Kevin Gausman in a deal. That was, unsurprisingly, a non-starter for Baltimore. " http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-he...-plus-mlb-notes Sounds like the FA and trade markets are finally getting some traction. This kind of gives an idea in value of what Colorado is looking for in a return for CarGo.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Dec 18, 2015 -> 02:56 PM) Left handed bat. Great outfield defense. Gets on base at a higher clip. Good on the base paths. And is 32 looking for a 4-6 year deal which is why I think the Cards end up looking at one of Cespedes/Upton. I'm leaning towards the Cards sign Upton due to his age, power, defense in LF and speed. I haven't seen anything to indicate the Cardinals preference to a left or right bat, just that they are looking for a LF bat. According to Nightengale, the Cards have interest in Upton, Cespedes, Gordon and CarGo but nothing so far indicates which side of the plate they prefer. http://www.sportsworldreport.com/articles/...es-unlikely.htm

I'm with you guys. I really liked the idea of trying to sign Alvarez. Oh well, what can ya do...

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Dec 18, 2015 -> 02:45 PM) Definitely disagree with this. Upton and Cespedes doesn't fit the Cardinals MO at all imo. Their best fit is Alex Gordon, or like Fathom said, a trade for CarGo. And what exactly is the Cardinals MO? How does Gordon provide a better fit than Upton or Cespedes?

QUOTE (blackmooncreeping @ Dec 18, 2015 -> 01:39 PM) Agreed, no one is taking on Laroche's contract unless some team's 1b goes down with a spring training/early season injury. Pittsburgh's rejection of the Sox offer to pay $8 mill of his salary this year killed that bird. No kidding. Pittsburgh's rejection really helped to put things in perspective as far as the possibility of trading LaRoche is concerned.

QUOTE (LDF @ Dec 18, 2015 -> 02:19 PM) i also think that the marlins and pirates are in that group. funny thing, nothing has come from the stl camp as well. I think STL ends up signing either Upton or Cespedes. They have the money since they were unable to sign Heyward. QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Dec 18, 2015 -> 02:30 PM) I was told here that the Laroche/Melky/Duke contracts were insignificant and would not have a bearing on further spending. I guess it all depends on the owners willingness to expand payroll and for how much. If the owners expand payroll then no, those contracts do not hinder the Sox but if they don't expand... I would not want Hahn's job.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 18, 2015 -> 07:39 AM) Its like you never even watched Micah and his stone hands and brick glove My favorite was when Alexei went to short left field for a relay throw, Micah clearly not knowing what to do like an idiot and for some reason goes to cover first base which allowed the hitter to advance to second because nobody was there to cover. Was one of the most boneheaded and idiotic things I've seen from a position player.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 18, 2015 -> 01:53 PM) His problem is he swings at pitches that are hard for anyone to do anything with. Yep, even Vlady would have a tough time getting hits with the pitches Avi swings at. Comes back to pitch recognition.

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/15...de-to-nationals "WASHINGTON -- A baseball source said there is an "85 to 90 percent" chance that Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips will waive his no-trade protection and become a member of the Nationals. Multiple reports on Thursday indicated that the clubs had reached agreement on a trade that would send Phillips to Washington, but as a "10 and 5" player, the veteran infielder must consent to any deal." Still no word on the players going to Philli.

QUOTE (GREEDY @ Dec 18, 2015 -> 01:18 PM) If you can move LaRoche in the deal for a player (Like Cargo), that will eat up a good chunk of the money due in '16 to the returning Outfielder. But I'd hate to see what you'd have to pair with Adam to make a deal like that worthwhile for the other team. Colorado is smart in that they are waiting until Upton, Cespedes and Gordon sign. The OF market will be rather bare and outfielders salaries will have gone up, already has with the Heyward signing. CarGo is already worth his contract thanks to Heyward's signing and will likely have some surplus value after Cespedes, Upton and Gordon sign. CarGo should bring back a few nice prospects to Colorado. That said, I wouldn't count on Colorado taking on LaRoche's salary. They have no reason to since CarGo is not a salary dump and the Rockies can find a cheaper FA to sign.

QUOTE (blackmooncreeping @ Dec 18, 2015 -> 12:39 PM) Why can't they just backload a contract for one of the top FA's? Buck up this year, cover it with the Danks/Laroche money that comes off the books next year. I don't know that I agree that a trade/payer movement from the existing roster is the only way we can bring in one of the big 3... The conundrum is that the Sox are currently at their limit unless JR raises that limit. If JR does not raise that limit then even a back loaded contract will not work, unless the FA is willing to play for free in '16. No matter what, JR has to raise the limit in order to sign or trade for more salary, period.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 18, 2015 -> 12:07 PM) There is about zero chance they trade Robertson. They signed him for a reason. Creative is not ruining your bullpen. Well that's your opinion but I disagree. Trading Robertson is not ruining the bullpen. Certainly the pen takes a hit but would not be ruined. Think back to the rumors in mid June when multiple reports came out the Sox were possibly interested in trading him. Even Robertson commented briefly about it. http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/white-s...e-rumors-061915 I'm not saying Robertson should or will be traded but its certainly possible.

Been looking around at players salaries the last few days to see if the Sox have room for one of those big OF bats. Here's what I've been able to dig up. According to Spotrac the Sox currently sit at 107M in salary commitments to 13 players. That 107M includes leftover salaries from Boni, Peavy and Alexei at 1M each. http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/chicago-white-sox/payroll/ Now factor in projections for arbitration cases for Jones, Avi, Jennings, Lawrie and Putnam that totals 8.6M http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/10/proj...s-for-2016.html So far that's a total of 18 players at 115.6M. Filling out the roster with players making the MLB minimum at 507k each totals just a tick over 3.5M. Now add the 3.5M to the 115.6M and we end up at 119.1M for the '16 payroll. Right around where the Sox were last season. In order for the Sox to sign one of the big FA bats, one of three things must happen. 1- JR raises the payroll significantly, 20M+, to cover the additional salary of one of those big bats. 2- Sox trade two of Robertson, Melky, Danks or LaRoche ( ya, right ) in order to create the space needed for adding 20M+ in salary for a bat. 3- JR raises the payroll moderately and the Sox trade one of the four players listed in #2. Not trying to be a buzz kill, just putting things into perspective. If one of these three things doesn't happen, forget about the dream of signing one of those big bats. As of right now, there isn't enough room for signing Alexei. That's how tight things are as of right now. Let's hope it changes somehow. Honestly, I'm not sure what to think at this point. I've read stuff that says Hahn has last years budget to work with in which case they are already at that limit. I've also read they could raise payroll for the right player and Sox history would back that up. So what does everyone think? Any ideas or predictions as to where the Sox go from here?

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Dec 18, 2015 -> 11:54 AM) Per Dan Hayes a Robertson salary dump is a 'very very small' chance. I think the chance is bigger than small to be honest but I don't see it as a salary dump. The most obvious salary to move in order to get one of those big OF bats is Robertson, Danks, Melky or LaRoche. Robertson has the most value and would be the easiest to trade. Hahn has been saying they would need to get creative in order to sign one of those FA bats.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Dec 18, 2015 -> 11:35 AM) It does when you add in the $1.25M buyout. Good call by you and AL Lopez's Ghost, I figured there was something I missed.