BlackSox13

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 5, 2015 -> 06:01 PM) I think he's a solid, talented player at a position of need, not guaranteed to be a success, top 5 player in a system that is decent if you still count some of the guys they don't have room for yet, who is 1+ years away from the big leagues and thus won't be able to help that team compete this year but could really help us to have down the road. That's what I'd ask for Robertson. Cubs have a couple guys like that you could swap in and probably make me content, but that level of player. Ok, thanks for the input. I like that he can hit, draw walks and has a good arm behind the plate. Assuming he starts '16 in AAA he would give the Sox a potential replacement behind the plate in '17 which is encouraging since Navarro and Avila are only signed through '16. I am curious if the Cubs have or are willing to spend that kind of money on a closer since they are supposedly looking at FA bats. Houston could very well be a team interested in Robertson.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 5, 2015 -> 05:30 PM) Wilson Contreras. I know Contreras is a heck of a prospect but are you trying to show how much or how little we might expect in a potential deal? My uncertainty comes from the Kimbrel haul but I realize Robertson is not Kimbrel either so that's why I feel rather clueless as to Robertson's value. I wouldn't object to a nice return for Robertson and free up money to help the offense.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Dec 5, 2015 -> 05:15 PM) Yep. Robertson for who though? Honestly, I have no idea what Robertson's value is. I'd like to think it's pretty good but I'm just not sure so I cannot really say who I would target from the cubs if they were interested.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 5, 2015 -> 04:55 PM) It didn't work out but the guy complaining doesn't like Lwrie because of his .300 OBP, but seems to think Semien and his .304 OBP with less power and 38 errors was tough to lose. Phew let is a catcher who cannot catch, and had some attitude issues. Bassist seems like the biggest loss to me, but the Sox have a First round pick and a lottery ticket in Ynoa. I didn't like the trade because I never thought much of the Shark. But if he pitched anywhere near what they thought, and the team actually played well, it would have been fine. I didn't like the idea myself because of Samardzija, his impending FA and that was before the trade. Also didn't like giving up Bassitt or Ravelo but s*** happens I suppose. Despite not agreeing with it, I understand the logic behind the trade since the Sox truely believed they would be contenders but things didn't work. No way could anyone could have envisioned so many things going wrong on so many levels.

Cubs are in the market for a closer. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/12/cubs...op-closers.html

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Dec 5, 2015 -> 04:20 PM) A 73 win team trading 4 players, 3 of whom would have helped the team (the fourth a prospect) for a 1-year rent, is not well-conceived, even had Samardzija pitched as people thought. I guess the Sox thought they could contend, but that was howling at the moon. Hopefully they are more sensible this off-season. Yep, this.^ The Sox banked on Samardzija pitching well and that they could extend Samardzija despite his insisting on going to FA. Oops!

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Dec 5, 2015 -> 04:08 PM) As a Sox fan, it would really suck being stuck watching Sale pitch his prime years on the South Side, striking out 10, giving up one run and losing. Don't put a man over the team. I'm not putting him over the team and in fact thinking about the team first and foremost as I always do. I've said it before that I believe the Sox can fill some positional holes without trading Sale or Q. Look around the board, there's plenty of ideas floating around that make sense. The Sox don't have to score a ton of runs with the starting pitching they have and they don't need to trade for or sign the big ticket names in order to improve their pathetic offense. It's not just about offense either, improving their pathetic defense will help win games too. Offense is only one lacking aspect of this team. Trading Sale or Q does not guarantee anything as far as the future of the team.

As a Sox fan, it would really suck being stuck watching Sale pitch his prime years on the South Side. Gawd how depressing that idea is.

Lol, Danks just might be tradable now. Cool, another pick and more money for the Sox to play with next June and the draft is supposed to be pretty good, last I read.

I can understand the concerns over Sale's health. His thin frame and throwing across his body can't be easy on the elbow or lower back, just ask Randy Johnson about back issues. I'm not saying Sale will have problems with his elbow or back, just saying his delivery could potentially cause future issues. It's quite possible he never has major issues though so I just try and enjoy watching him pitch every chance I get and not think too much about what could happen.

The only reason I can think of as to why the Dodgers would take LaRoche in a trade would be if the Sox took Crawford back in return which the Sox aren't going to do. The Dodgers have Gonzalez at 1B and no DH so they have zero need for LaRoche and the Dodgers have plenty of better players they can plug in at 1B if Gonzalez needs a day off or gets injured. Even Crawford is more useful to the Dodgers than LaRoche.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Dec 5, 2015 -> 07:32 AM) . I am happy to see these changes. As for defense, I think it depends on how much credence one gives to these framing stats. Per the stats, Flowers is top notch. But I think there are a lot of variables in the stats that haven't been fully vetted. Is it the catcher or is it the pitcher that the catcher catches? And then there is the ump- wide zone v right zone. I remember when Tom Glavine pitched, he would consistently get 4 extra inches on the outside corner. Was they because of him or was he served by the greatest set of framing catchers ever?? Just from my unscientific and not statistically analyzed observations of watching ballgames, I think lefties get more corner calls than righties. Flowers catches a lot of lefties. Funny you mention Glavine. I used to say the same thing about Maddux and how he would get calls off the plate, not that he wasn't good but I did wonder if he got the calls because he's Maddux or because his catcher was just that good. I chaulked it up to Maddux having the rep of being a great pitcher so he got the calls. Just my opinion. I think there's something to be said about pitch framing but its over blown imo. Give me a catcher that can call a good game, block balls in the dirt and throw out base stealers at a good clip and I'm happy. Anything more than that I consider to be a blessing from the baseball gods. I will say that in order to get the corner of the plate calls it probably takes a combination of the pitcher throwing close to the corner in the first place, the catcher needs a steady glove and the pitchers rep for throwing strikes. I think all three of these have an effect how the ump will call the pitch.

According to Sale yes, direction of the team. You would have to talk to Sale about exactly what he meant. As I said, he was shocked like many others. I didn't read much into his comments.

This sucks. Been a fan of Weiland's for over twenty years. RIP Scott.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Dec 4, 2015 -> 08:59 PM) If he keeps whining about the non-tendering of The Whiff King catcher, send Sale on his way. He wasn't whining at all. He was just as surprised as anyone so he called Hahn to find out what the direction of the team was. No big deal.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Dec 4, 2015 -> 08:11 PM) Agreed. I don't want to see a guy like Miller, Carrasco, Salazar, etc go to the Cubs. For sure. Us Sox fans will never hear the end of it. Sadly though, the cubs have the young hitting talent to trade for young pitching talent. One bright spot is they cannot go too crazy in FA if they are serious about extending Arrieta sometime in the next year because he is gonna get PAID.

The DBacks only had 34M in commitments for '16 before the Greinke signing which now puts them in the 68M range. They could still sign a pitcher like Cueto if they wanted.

QUOTE (dpd9189 @ Dec 4, 2015 -> 07:55 PM) 3 years would've been bad but 2 years and what they paid is a decent deal for Lackey. Will wind up being a 3/4 guy there. I also think the Cubs are far from done. If the Cubs and Atlanta agree to the speculated Soler/Miller swap, the cubs rotation would be pretty solid on paper with Lackey as their #4. I hope the Dodgers up their offer for Miller.

Come on, don't blame the Hwang.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Dec 4, 2015 -> 07:53 PM) @Ken_Rosenthal: Sources: Greinke deal is six years, $206M. Deferrals expected. Ha ha, beat me to it. I'm still in awe over this but I think it's great. Would love to see the DBacks knock the Dodgers off of their NLW throne.

Rosenthal: Sources: #DBacks’ Stewart, La Russa met yesterday with free-agent RHP Mike Leake. Still interested even after reaching deal with Greinke.

Nightingale is saying 6/195M. https://mobile.twitter.com/BNightengale/sta...954094424752128

QUOTE (daggins @ Dec 4, 2015 -> 07:22 PM) I have a feeling they either trade for a big starter (Q!) or bring in another FA like Chen or Shark. A healthy Cueto would pitch well at Dodger Stadium.

Would not have thought the Dodgers would be outbid. Wonder if Grienke's issue with Puig had anything to do with his decision?

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Dec 4, 2015 -> 05:41 PM) 3B I can see for the right price. We have no one acceptable to play 3B. But Sanchez is promising; we aren't winning in 2016. See no reason to bench him for Lawrie who is offensively limited himself. I agree with you. I'm pretty high on Sanchez's potential and prefer he starts as many games possible at 2B in '16 to see how his bat progresses.