blackmooncreeping

Thanks for the heads up, count me in please. 10 of diamonds.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Feb 3, 2016 -> 08:43 PM) Agree with what you say here Cy and I would like to add to it. Puig is coming off of a down hear and I know these things happen but when factoring in what Kershaw and the Van Slyke's have said about Puig along with the nonsense of pushing his sister. I just have to say no thanks. Doesn't sound like much of a fit with the likes of Abreu and Frazier. On a side note. Let's say the Sox did trade for Puig. How many games into the season would the Sox make it before Puig and Lawrie got into a brawl? I can see those two clashing in a big way. I think it's best for the Sox to stick to the ideas of Fawler, Desmond, Ethier and Jackson as possibilities. I like the idea of Saladino getting a shot at SS but I kinda like the idea of adding Ethier and Desmond. Exactly! You beat me to it, was just about to post the 'how long before a cage match breaks out between Puig and Lawrie'...good stuff

Had brief conversations with both Adam Engel and Carson Fulmer while at Soxfest last weekend. Both very friendly, down to earth guys who took the time to let me chat them up during a quick break in their schedules. As an aside, the throwback Fisk jersey I was wearing, floppy collar style ala 1981, was the envy of both. I had to give them a quick Sox fashion historical, it was pretty funny.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Feb 3, 2016 -> 08:18 PM) The only way I could see this being remotely possible would be something like Q for Puig/Wood. Puig has warts galore, not going to give up Quintana for him. Or any starting pitcher for that matter; for all the talk of moving Danks, unless you have a viable replacement in the plan via either signing a FA or making a 2nd trade to replace the 180 innings Danks eats up, Sox just can't afford to lose any starting pitching. Hell, they're already keeping their fingers crossed that EJ can eat up the majority of Shark's near 200 innings last season, and that's far from a sure thing.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 01:48 PM) Definitely a case can be made for either way. Imo,can't to wrong those those two as #1 and #2 in the lineup. With Fowler being a switch hitter the Sox could go Eaton, Fowler against RHP and Fowler, Eaton against LHP. I like the versatility Fowler would bring to the first spots in the lineup. The idea of signing Fowler just keeps getting better in my mind. Come on Hahn, make it happen buddy. Agreed. I don't have a problem giving up the comp pick for a player that can have a pretty dramatic affect on our run scoring. I really like those 2 guys setting the table, not to mention we'd probably get around 25 HR's combined out of them, or more. If Fowler is really available, and not just waiting for the Chubs to deal Soler and open up CF for him, then Hahn needs to close it pronto. Then look for RHP's off the scrap heap.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 11:12 AM) I hear ya. My rationale is batting the 6'5" Forwler leadoff and if he gets on ahead of Eaton, the pitcher will be thinking about Fowler potentially stealing second while trying to pitch into Eaton's 5'8" tea cup of a strike zone. As for LaWhiff ( good one, BTW) I was just trying to get a better hitter (Avila/Navarro) to bat behind Lawrie. Problem with that idea is that puts LaRoche and Saladino back to back in the lineup so maybe a 7-8-9 of LaAvi, Avila/Navarro, Saladino would be a better fit. Ha, LaAvi, also well played The way I see it The Sox should/would rather have Eaton potentially swinging the bat then walking, as the stats show him to be a much better all around hitter than Fowler (both power and contact-wise). I am not against Fowler leading off and Eaton 2nd, but I prefer the other way around, due to Fowler's high K rate. I'd rather Eaton leads off, gets on and gets himself to either 2nd or 3rd during Fowler's at-bat, rather than Eaton coming up with nobody on and 1 away after Fowler K's to lead things off. Either way is fine really, so I guess we should expect Robin to get it wrong more often than not

Is his deal guaranteed? I would've extended a minor league deal w/a spring training invite to him, but that's about it. Too many unanswered questions regarding his velocity dip to give him a big league deal.

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 01:20 PM) 'lectric boogaloo Only worse than that Batters would get happy feet when he came in, couldn't throw a strike to save his ass . Electric movement, but no clue where it was going.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 26, 2016 -> 02:21 PM) I'd honestly rather have Carl Crawford at half price and Desmond than pay Ethier AND give up talent to boot. Crawford would have to morph into more of a power guy like Tim Raines later in his career. It could work at USCF. It worked well with Thome, just not sure how much LA is willing to eat. In terms of risk, it's still fairly significant even at half off discount...ala Ryan Braun or Jay Bruce. At least Harrelson and KW would be elated for awhile. Crawford, no thanks; regardless of the $$ difference he seems to be injured more often than not and hasn't played 130 games since 2011, has zero power and his main asset of speed is hardly a threat anymore. Ethier wouldn't take prospects of any real quality imo, Dodgers are up against it with his 10/5 rights kicking in shortly. I'd rather bring in Braun than Crawford. But Ethier would be the easiest to get I would think...

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 10:32 AM) Good point with Melky moving down the order. His lefty bat could help split up the right handed. If it were me I would do the lineup vs RHP something like this... Fowler Eaton Abreu Frazier Melky Lawrie Avila/Navarro LaRoche/Avi Saladino I'd keep Eaton leading off due to Fowler's higher K rate, and probably hit LaWhiff 7th. Either way I like this lineup and can see it scoring a lot of runs.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 10:44 AM) What the Sox would have to give up to get Ethier is more concerning to me than Ethier's age and salary. If acquiring Ethier doesn't cost the Sox much, then I'm all for it and especially if the deal includes Avi going to the Dodgers, which is likely wishful thinking unless the Dodgers see Avi as a platoon partner for Crawford in LF. The way I look at is that Fowler costs a comp pick to sign so if Ethier can be had for the equivalent or less than that comp pick then fine, otherwise I would make a strong push for Fowler. Well summarized; Either can work if Fowler isn't in the Sox plans, but I'd rather be paying Fowler $10 million plus a year than Either. Or less than $10 million a year for Austin Jackson maybe...and we don't have to do anything but give up a pick.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 10:17 AM) I want to point out a great post from the Fowler thread. I cut it off early, so click on the little arrow up there to see the rest. That is a good, compelling argument, but I think in general people are underestimating the money Fowler will get and are too quick to dismiss the value of the comp pick. I'm focused on the guy one spot below Fowler on that active career OBP list, Andre Ethier. Ethier has done it playing his entire career in a pitchers' park rather than mostly in Colorado. The Sox should trade for him for a number of reasons. 1) The most important is that he is a hitting machine. All he does is slap up seasons with 15 homers, a .360 OBP, and solid health. He does it year after year, with one ugly outlier in 2014. 2) He is left-handed, which will help balance the lineup, and he tortures right-handed pitching (.304/.383/.507 career). Unfortunately he has never been good against lefties, and we might even benefit from sitting him against them in favor of Avi or Jerry Sands. The Sox performed second-worst in the majors against left-handed pitching last year and you might say that adding Ethier would exacerbate things, but the addition of Todd Frazier (.833 OPS career against lefties) and a likely correction in Jose Abreu's splits (.658 OPS vs LHP in 2015, 1.098 in 2014) will offset any additional problems caused by Ethier. 3) He is primarily a corner outfielder so he doesn't require us to move Eaton around, something I'm not a big fan of. He got bad defensive marks at the beginning of his career, but in the last five years both DRS and UZR have him as essentially average. I would like a good fielder, I really would, but Ethier is a guy I can live with. 4) I'm only guessing here, but there are a lot of things that will conspire to make the cost of acquiring him even less of a blow to our minors than giving up the Samardzija pick. His age (34 in April), his salary ($36.5M guaranteed over two years), the Dodgers' jam-packed outfield (Puig, Pederson, Crawford, Van Slyke, Thompson), Ethier's 10-and-5 rights that kick in at the start of the season, his unhappiness with the Dodgers in the past... Trade rumors have bounced around him for years and while they might rather move Crawford, if the Dodgers are in any way inclined to get rid of Ethier, they are better off doing it now before his no-trade limits the market. I don't think you'd have to dig real deep in the system to get Ethier as long as you're willing to take his contract. I understand the reservations people will have about his age, the money, the fact that he is an NL lifer (though I particularly don't share that concern). Maybe you'd like more power but we're hard-pressed to find that now. It is not a slam dunk, but he is a really good hitter who would fit into our lineup terrifically. If we supposedly had the money to chase Gordon and Cespedes but were concerned about the length of their deals, well here's a pretty friggin' good alternative. Sign me up if the Dodgers send a bunch of cash, or take Laroche. Either definitely rakes against RHP, and Sox could obviously use a left handed bat in the lineup.

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 09:59 AM) I'd rather add a plus defender to the worst defensive outfield in baseball. Fowler would allow them to shuffle positions and maximize each guy's best potential spot. Sox don't have the luxury of multiple available OF options in FA at this point, and Fowler is the best of what is available. His potential presence at the top of the order with Eaton has the potential to really jump start the Sox offense this year imo.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 27, 2016 -> 07:27 PM) Thing is, the Sox would be taking Avi out of RF. Fowler is a slight defensive upgrade in CF over Eaton, Eaton should be an upgrade over Melky in LF and Melky would be an upgrade over Avi in RF so the overall OF defense would be improved with better range too. You know the OF defense was bad last year when adding Fowler is considered an upgrade. Exactly. This is a big reason why I would prefer Fowler over Desmond if we are losing a pick, I think he makes the biggest impact just by realigning the outfield D. Plus bumps Melky down the order into a more productive spot.

QUOTE (bear_brian @ Jan 27, 2016 -> 09:52 AM) Anyway you cut it, this guy made 27 errors last year and 24 the year before that. Alexei made 16 last year, just for comparison. He is not a reliable defender, and therefore not what we need to resolve our problem. More and more I am beginning to believe that either Ethier or Jay Bruce is the best available OF answer, and we stick with Saladino at SS. And that is assuming that : a) we get the Dodgers to eat some money for Ethier; and b) we give up the likes of no more than a Guerrero or Phillips. We could keep Avi to platoon DH with LaRoche. Jay Bruce is god awful and not a big improvement over Avi. No thanks to Bruce.

I doubt he makes it to the AL, someone in the NL will scoop him up.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 26, 2016 -> 12:39 PM) In that proposal the Sox take on all of Ethier's contract. It's why the Sox wouldn't be giving up much. If the Sox ask for money with Ethier then the Dodgers will want a better return. I think Ethier is a very realistic possibility for the Sox. Yep, agreed. We can either ask for $$ coming back in the deal, or somehow get the Dodgers to include Laroche. Seems like this deal almost makes too much sense for both clubs and I'd be surprised if it isn't being discussed...at least the Either part of it, and figure out the details later.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 26, 2016 -> 12:24 PM) I would be game for this trade idea. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2610885...culation/page/5 I'd do this trade in 2 seconds if I'm the Sox. Not sure how the $$ would work itself out though...

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 26, 2016 -> 11:18 AM) Ya, Dickerson is the Rockies OF I'd prefer but his plantar fasciitis could be a big problem for an outfielder. It sure did raise some hell on Gillaspie and he was just a 3B. Carlos Questin was severely hobbled by plantar fasciitis as well.

I really think any trade the Sox make is going to be for a player who has 2 or preferably only 1 year left on his contract. They have already depleted the farm system with the Lawrie & Frazier deals, and we don't want to trade Anderson or Fulmer unless it's for a bonafide player who will be here for more than 1 year. Dickerson would be a good get but probably not in the cards due to the likely higher cost for a young outfielder like himself. Although not likely, if Hahn could somehow still bring in 2 outfielders and only give up 1 pick at most that would be a home run, providing us the flexibility to get Melky more DH time and improve the overall outfield defense. If we bring in Desmond he could possibly figure into the outfield mix as well for a handful of games. This of course would leave us with Avi and Laroche to still figure out.

I'd give up the pick for Desmond on a 2 year contract with an opt out or mutual option after 2016. Then I'd trade for an outfielder, maybe/preferably Gomez from Houston since he shouldn't cost a ton prospect-wise for 1 year of control. Then find yourself a starting RHP who doesn't cost a pick. I'd might give up a pick for Fowler depending on the length of contract--I'd prefer short term 1-3 years. He's probably thinking 3 to 4 years so probably not gonna happen...

QUOTE (GREEDY @ Jan 23, 2016 -> 10:42 AM) If Cespedes on an open market is worth 3/75, a two year Cargo deal would have to be worth at the absolute very least 50 million. If you view the 13 million due to LaRoche as completely sunk it means the Sox would be acquiring Cargo for 2/24 (he is due 37). I would trade the rights to pay Tim Anderson for 25 million dollars, assuming that Hahn has budget constraints. NO way Colorado takes on all $13 million of Laroche's contract in any trade. He's a salary dump, much more so than CarGo.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Jan 23, 2016 -> 10:13 AM) He sure does, a three year one! Surely you remember hearing about that. Kenny Williams explained it to us all in great detail last June when he was trying to explain a way the horrid baseball that had been played up to that point in the season. And now as we inch closer to starting Year Two of said three year plan, as things stand now, given the abject failure of being able to be competitive in the marketplace for premium available talent, we find ourselves staring at Cabrera in left, Avi in right, Salidino at short, and LaRoche at DH. Those are some big holes. We are currently running below average in nearly half of our lineup, and it's January 23. Our options now to improve are on the second and third tier of the free agent market, the same lane we shopped in last winter that brought us Cabrera and LaRoche. Or trade some of our better but now limited supply of minor league talent to bring in appropriate upgrades. All because somehow the so-called brain trust in the front office set completely unrealistic terms for being competitive for the top talent out there. The big spender teams were no where to be found, and the Sox still couldn't get the job done. Very disappointing, to say the least. Maybe, just maybe, there is the proverbial rabbit still to be pulled from the hat at the last hour that will allow this team to compete this year. I hope so, at least to address two of those gaping holes currently in the lineup. Otherwise Year Two of the big plan doesn't project to be a whole lot better than Year One, not by much, anyway. While technically true (no Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, etc.), it didn't matter that the big spenders weren't in the mix--the big dollars were. Missing out on paying 27.5 million bucks for 1 year of Cespedes is blessing, not a failure. I wanted the guy, but not anywhere near that price tag. I think they thought the market would be less because the traditional deep pocket teams weren't in the mix--that is their failure imo.

QUOTE (ChiSox1917 @ Jan 23, 2016 -> 10:06 AM) Are you kidding? We really couldn't match the Mets offer for Cespedes? Honestly, what was the point in even trading for Frazier if not to actually try and field a full roster capable of making the playoffs? We have the worst outfield in the league. And pay the guy $28 million for next year? Hell no

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Jan 23, 2016 -> 08:41 AM) Yeah I don't want to give up anything of value for Blackmon or Dickerson. Idk I guess it depends. Then you won't be getting either of those guys. Young, accomplished outfielders are going to cost something of value. It's not like the Rockies aren't happy with either guy.