steveno89

QUOTE (GermanSoxFan @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 02:36 PM) Would be very Rockies-like to give Trumbo the 80M he was looking for. As a GM I would want to stay away as far as possible from that guy. I'd sign Edwin over him 10 times out of 10. age difference be damned. I would much much rather have encarnacion over trumbo as well If they can sign Encarnacion, as well as trade for Quintana + significant amount of bullpen help, then I would buy them contending for the West That pitching is just too crappy to ignore right now

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 02:31 PM) Yeah idk. They'd definitely have to make a significant add (maybe 2) to each their rotation and bullpen. Hmmm what team is looking to sell just those parts I wonder. They were a 75 win team in 2016, adding Dunn and Desmond is not taking them to the promised land with that pitching That team badly needs players like Quintana and Robertson to bring some stability to the staff

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 02:01 PM) http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/c...ntend/95458154/ Article mentions they are talking to Trumbo and Encarnacion. Posted today. Even best case scenario...they sign either Trumbo or Encarnacion and move Desmond to OF + trade Blackmon for pitching help Blackmon is not going to return a #1 or #1 starting pitcher, and the bullpen is atrocious Load up on offense all you want, but unless they make drastic overall pitching improvements that team will never sniff a world series

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 01:22 PM) Agreed, updated now. Robertson is currently the most valuable closer available on the market and should be healthy and ready to go for spring training Robertson logged a 1.64 ERA with 26 strikeouts against 11 walks in his final 22 innings on the season, a very strong finish to the season. The 2 years/ $25 million or so owed to him is not terrible considering the market for closers They really have two options 1) A team offers you a great package in the offseason that you accept. Sox dump the entire contract. 2) Robertson remains as Sox closer until the deadline. A good season would make him an extremely attractive deadline trade chip to a contender. Backend bullpen help always comes at a big premium and his value could potentially be slight less, but similar to a Chapman or Miller 3) He performs badly and we are stuck with him. I don't him him crapping the bed this badly though

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 12:38 PM) That would be the "Eaton-like" return the Rockies are going for, and they are still in need of another OF to go along side Fowler and Piscotty. Blackmon would allow Fowler to move from CF to a spot where his defense may be an asset. Not sure how the Cardinals would value that, but with their rotation in pretty solid shape, I can see them making a move to compete now after handing that contract to Fowler. Can't see St Louis dealing Reyes, who is mlb ready + two more of their top 15 prospects for two seasons of Blackmon Eaton got the return he did because of his cheap 5 seasons of control

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 12:31 PM) The Cardinals make a lot of sense as the third wheel in a trade. They really need another OF, and Blackmon or Cargo would fit perfectly and they could provide pieces that the Sox would value so the Sox would not need to strip away too many of their own prospects. Something like: Cardinals get: Blackmon Rockies get: Reyes and Quintana Sox get: Rodgers, Hoffman, Tapia, Sosa, Kelly I don't think St. Louis would deal Reyes, Sosa and Kelly for two seasons of Blackmon, especially after signing Fowler

QUOTE (WBWSF @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 10:48 AM) Trading off their major pieces is another low point in JRs ownership. At least the White Flag Trade was somewhat justified because they were going to lose the players they traded at the end of the year. Sale + Eaton were tied up for years. And their contracts were very team friendly. It was absolutely nuts to trade them for prospects. I see years of real bad teams on the SouthSide of Chicago. I hope I'm wrong. The Sox had the top end talent to build a good team, but it was the many holes that were killing the Sox like at DH, C, CF, bullpen, back of rotation, etc. that stood in the way of contending They felt they were unlikely to acquire the necessary pieces to win before Sale hit free agency Starting the rebuild now will put them in a much better position in 2-3 years than if they continued to try and go for it

QUOTE (Username @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 11:24 AM) Totally agreed - can't forget Rick Hahn loves those 3-team trades as well. Someone like the Blue Jays, Mets, or even the Orioles could easily be interested in Blackmon. Could get a few good prospects from the team acquiring Blackmon, and Rodgers from Colorado. Potentially even put Abreu or Frazier into the package (obviously with a bigger return), or even Jones or Robertson. The Rockies bullpen is still pretty trash even with Dunn. Rockies have the worst bullpen in the mlb, and Dunn does not do that much to make it better. Robertson and/or Jones would be very attractive pieces to them I would think

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 11:22 AM) Stark on Blackmon: Jayson StarkVerified account ‏@jaysonst Teams that spoke to the Rockies seem doubtful Charlie Blackmon gets traded: "They're only trading him if they get an Adam Eaton type deal." The Rockies are not getting anything close to an Eaton deal when he only has 2 seasons of team control left before hitting free agency and is on the wrong side of 30

QUOTE (shakes @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 11:16 AM) I understand the want for bats, but roster construction isn't the point of this exercise, right now it's about gathering assets. What the Cubs did was impressive but they really only went heavy on bats in the draft. Trades and free agent acquisitions were pretty balanced. They had a clear draft strategy and executed it, that's the part to replicate. Look at free agency right now....there were plenty of hitters available this year, and some fairly reasonable contracts to be had. The pitching market was vomit inducing. If you needed two starting pitchers or two starting hitters to complete a team, which would you prefer going into the offseason? When the Sox get closer to competing you then worry about a balanced roster and filling out holes. For now, just get as many good assets as you can and focus on developing them. I 100% agree. You never can have too much pitching, and the cost for pitching in free agency is extreme. A mix of bats and pitching is what we should be looking to acquire over the next three seasons. Trading Quintana and Robertson should end us up with a top #3 farm system and in great shape for a rebuild going forward

QUOTE (Buehrlesque @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 11:14 AM) No thanks on Pint. A 19-year-old in Rookie ball is too risky for Quintana. I know there's lots of upside and he's better than the 5+ ERA he put up, but the Sox can do better. Pint certainly comes with risk, but players with his upside are hard to find I'm not overly concerned about ERA in rookie ball right out of high school He is a developmental project, one that might be too far from the mlb for our rebuilding purposes...but one with high upside that is rare. He has three plus grade pitches and a projectable 6'4", 195 lb body. The upside is Justin Verlander, the floor is a bust.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 11:04 AM) I do feel like asking for Rodgers and Dahl plus an additional 2 pieces would kind of be asking for a lot. A deal would probably be more along the lines of Rodgers, Tapia (could plug him into center next season), and then 2-3 additional pieces. I guess it kind of depends on who else they move from the OF and how serious they are about Desmond at 1B or acquiring another. A reasonable asking price to start with would be: Rodgers + Hoffman or Pint + Tapia for Quintana If Colorado balks at that asking price then: Rodgers + Tapia + + + might work

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 10:51 AM) Hah, ok. Heard the same thing about Moncada. The Rockies can probably make a deal without including Dahl, but when you're the Rockies, and you have the chance to acquire a TOR pitcher locked up 4 years at what you pay a #5 these days, no one is off limits. The lesson we have learned from trades is that teams are largely unwilling to part with players that impact their immediate mlb rosters (Bregman, Turner, Swanson, Benintendi, etc.), but are willing to part with prospects that are not mlb ready right now (Moncada, Kopech, Giolito, Lopez, Dunning, Basabe, Diaz). It makes sense because subtracting a bat from the mlb roster creates another hole to fill. Rodgers should very much be on the table in trade talks though

QUOTE (Username @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 10:45 AM) Guys, this is why you have to be careful with sample sizes and stats: - Reed had only 15 ABs all of last year against lefties in the majors. 1-15 is bad, but Alex Bregman started 1-32 OVERALL. - The guy had an 870 OPS against lefties in the minors last year. - He's 23 and sprinted through the minors. Still tons of time to develop. Way way too early to call him a platoon bat. Would love to see him in a Q deal as a buy low. Small sample size, yes. But 48 major league games is not small enough to totally dismiss. Reed had 17 plate appearances against lefties and struck out 9 times, which is awful. The bigger concern for me is that he stuck at at a 31% rate in 124 plate appearances against righties.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 10:42 AM) I don't think the Rox want to trade Dahl, but they're idiots if they plan to play Desmond at 1B. And in order for him to go to the OF, they need to trade either Dahl, Gonzalez or Blackmon. And they badly need pitching. I can guarantee you Hahn is asking for Dahl. Rockies won't be parting with Dahl. He is under team control until after 2022 and will be a corner OF fixture for them Rodgers I could see them parting with as he is unlikely to make the big league until halfway through 2018 at the earliest. He'll likely start the season at high A Lancaster and spend the majority of the season there, possibly getting called up to AA later in the season. That makes him more expendable because he won't impact the mlb roster anytime soon, plus their infield is loaded with talent.

QUOTE (BrianAnderson @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 10:18 AM) Also really didn't think about having a top 5 pick versus 10-15th pick. Also a good point and why I'm not GM. However I'm not sure how much correspondence there is between a top 5 pick becoming a star versus a mid round pick being a star... If you look the guys we traded for you have Kopech who was a sandwich pick and a buncha Latin players which were signed for pennies (OR A s*** ton in Moncada). You look at the Cards and such and they didn't need top 5 picks. I think you need a competent staff making good picks consistently from rounds 2-10 that can be serviceable MLB players and then hitting on a few stars via international and 1st round picks. There is a steep drop off in talent from the top 5 picks to a pick in the teens. Not to say that you cannot find great players, but picking at the top of the draft gives you the best chances of hitting on top end talent. We ideally want to pick #1 or #2 to land Gray or Beer in the 2018 draft, as both project to be studs

QUOTE (Special K @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 10:15 AM) I missed Reed's inclusion. Is he a bat w/ a lot of upside? His numbers are miserable last year in MLB. Reed did very well in the minor leagues and has plus power potential He has a strong arm, but at 6'4" 275 lbs he is not very quick or mobile as a defender, which limits him to playing passable 1B or DH He does take walks and appeared to be a great prospect heading into 2016, but a disastrous 48 game mlb stretch that saw him hit .164 with a 34% strikeout rate and bat only .064 vs. lefties has really hit his value. Questions about his conditioning have cropped up as he has put on weight. He is working to get in better shape. He would be a great buy low guy as a third piece in a Quintana deal as it is too soon to give up on him. His upside is Anthony Rizzo, but his downside is Jon Singleton

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 10:11 AM) Same. No thanks on McMahon. The fangraphs portion on him was quite sobering. He has the kind of warts that the White Sox typically are unable to address. Matt Davidson 2.0 = McMahon

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 10:05 AM) But if he is the fourth piece after Dahl, Rodgers, and Murphy - sign me up. Dahl is their starting left fielder in 2017, he is not going to be traded A deal would be centered around Rodgers who is several years away

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 09:48 AM) Don't really want them surrendering a first-round pick for Bautista. Agreed, giving up the #11 overall pick would be unforgivable at this point. We need that draft pick

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 09:47 AM) Yeah at some point they need to just go all in. Whatever they've been doing the past however many years isn't working. Agreed Unless they improve the rotation and bullpen that team is not going to the playoff anytime soon

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 09:40 AM) Hahn should have a statue erected of himself in front of the G Spot if he can get Rodgers, Dahl, McMahon, and Murphy for Q. I am not feeling the McMahon love at all Striking out at a 30% rate in AA and only batting .242 is very concerning to me. Major league pitchers tend to eat high strikeout players alive. He is blocked by Arenado, but I'm not sure he is the answer in a trade. This is a make or break season for him.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 09:37 AM) 4 of their top 10 prospects, all position players? Sign me up. I'm sure Rockies fans would be frustrated if the team does nothing to improve its rotation and bullpen. They have the lineup to compete, but the rotation and especially bullpen leave a ton to be desired. Standing pat is not really an option for them

QUOTE (harkness @ Dec 14, 2016 -> 01:26 PM) If we can't get anything worthwhile for Roberston.. we should wait and see if he can be successful and catch a larger bounty. I really don't agree with the lets take whatever we can get for him now idea - i think you have more to lose doing it that way. The Rockies badly could use bullpen help, I would think they would be very interested in Robertson and/or Jones

QUOTE (FT35 @ Dec 15, 2016 -> 09:16 AM) Agree. It should be high--but the Eaton trade made it even higher. If we get a top 5 prospect, another top 50 and a first rounder for Eaton--then the return on Quintana pushes into the holy crap range--how to you top that? a top 5, 2 other top 50's and another 1st rounder or top 100? What that would look like for Houston would be Bregman, Martes, Tucker, AND Musgrove! They reportedly balked at that and it didn't even include their top 5 piece! I would LOVE to see the Rockies make a push. Frankly, I like their prospects better than the Astros because Rodgers seems more obtainable than Bregman (not sure why, it just seems like it!) For some reason, I can picture Quintana in a Rockies uniform easier too--seems like the type of pitcher they need. Each trade does not need to look exactly alike as you can make up for prospect quality with volume A Martes/Tucker/Reed/Perez deal would be great for the White Sox. Reed is blocked. Martes has not pitched above AA. Tucker is two years away from the majors at minimum, as is Perez. Houston can afford that return as they have great depth and some interesting players in their low minors