White Sox to Move Eaton?

[Dick Allen]

It's pretty simple with Eaton.

 

He's a great player to have on any team with excellent tools. However, he is getting older and he is likely at a very high selling point right now.

 

So it becomes:

 

a) Get a haul for Eaton, similar in trade status to Chris Sale (although slightly lower) and immediately accept this offer.

b) Teams undervalue him and you hold and hope to move him at the deadline or next year.

 

Good player, but not at the right time on the 'Sox. Need to rebuild and he can net you a lot of great pieces and lottery tickets.

Why would he be lower value than Sale? He is signed for 2 more years and the money is the same. This is ridiculous value. Fangraphs pegged his 2016 season as being worth $10 million more than he will be paid the next 5 seasons.

[YouCanPutItOnTheBoardYES!]

Eaton had more BWAR than Sale last year FWIW. They play different positions so it's not exactly comparable, but I thought I'd point that out.

 

I think Eaton would return the Sox just as much in a trade as Sale, if not more. He's an absolute stud.

'

[lasttriptotulsa]

Eaton had more BWAR than Sale last year FWIW. They play different positions so it's not exactly comparable, but I thought I'd point that out.

 

I think Eaton would return the Sox just as much in a trade as Sale, if not more. He's an absolute stud.

'

 

Zero chance of that happening.

[Dick Allen]

Zero chance of that happening.

Probably not. But it should. 5 years $38 million for a guy who even if you don't think will put up a 6.0 WAR ever again, has averaged 4.3 WAR his first 3 years in the American League.

 

Jerry Krause's press conference when he traded Elton Brand for Tyson Chandler always comes to mind when people are so giddy to get rid of players for really no reason other than making a change. Krause said Chandler had the potential to be a 20 point 10 rebound guy. Great. Elton Brand was a 20 point 10 rebound guy. Chandler never averaged 10 points or 10 rebounds for the Bulls. He has had a decent career, but the trade didn't make the Bulls better. Why trade Eaton unless something has to really go wrong for you not to be better because of it? That sort of guarantee is rarely available in baseball.

 

 

[KMule2545]

Eaton had more BWAR than Sale last year FWIW. They play different positions so it's not exactly comparable, but I thought I'd point that out.

 

I think Eaton would return the Sox just as much in a trade as Sale, if not more. He's an absolute stud.

'

 

Value-wise, he's as valuable as Sale - and Q. That being said I agree that any team will not be willing to give up as much for Eaton or Q, as they would for Sale. While very good players, they aren't superstars and don't have the sexy brand name of a Chris Sale.

 

That being said I really don't have a problem taking less on either Q or Eaton, assuming a Sale package is unheard of. IMO, it's time to maximize value on our top performers. The market will tell Hahn and Co what these guys are worth.

 

[Rowand44]

Probably not. But it should. 5 years $38 million for a guy who even if you don't think will put up a 6.0 WAR ever again, has averaged 4.3 WAR his first 3 years in the American League.

 

Jerry Krause's press conference when he traded Elton Brand for Tyson Chandler always comes to mind when people are so giddy to get rid of players for really no reason other than making a change. Krause said Chandler had the potential to be a 20 point 10 rebound guy. Great. Elton Brand was a 20 point 10 rebound guy. Chandler never averaged 10 points or 10 rebounds for the Bulls. He has had a decent career, but the trade didn't make the Bulls better. Why trade Eaton unless something has to really go wrong for you not to be better because of it? That sort of guarantee is rarely available in baseball.

You're talking a 1 for 1 deal(and Brian Skinner I guess) in the Brand for Chandler trade, nobody here is trying to trade Adam Eaton for one prospect.

[caulfield12]

Brett Gardner's career trajectory with the Yanks might be a better comp...more steals, less of an arm.

 

The Yankees could have gotten a haul for him in his prime, but now he's become a lot more expensive and aging/more injury-prone. A combination the White Sox are quite familiar with in terms of veteran acquisitions.

[Dick Allen]

You're talking a 1 for 1 deal(and Brian Skinner I guess) in the Brand for Chandler trade, nobody here is trying to trade Adam Eaton for one prospect.

No but the point is the same. The guy has 5 years of control. He is signed at a bargain. He is an effective player. His skills, hitting, getting on base, fielding, are skills this organization has had a tough time developing for years. He will be 32 when his contract runs out. He isn't old. Trading him for prospects has a pretty good chance to blow up it their face.

 

There is nothing wrong with the White Sox having a good player here and there. Even the highest thought of prospects bust/.

[soxforlife05]

People actually think we are going to start winning trades left and right with this front office? I'm all for trading Sale because I think we'll get a no brainer deal but I'm not convinced we won't get fleeced trading our lesser players.

[steveno89]

People actually think we are going to start winning trades left and right with this front office? I'm all for trading Sale because I think we'll get a no brainer deal but I'm not convinced we won't get fleeced trading our lesser players.

 

I don't see Eaton getting traded

 

What is wrong with keeping him? He is a good player and is not expensive. Unless overwhelmed, why would they try to deal him?

[tray]

I would consider Eaton a core layer and not look to trade him. He is the kind of player that is difficult to replace because he brings multiple assets -speed, defense (including an accurate arm from Right field) , on base percentage.

There are several players I would trade before him, including Melky and Abreu. Abreu ,might have value to a team like Boston as a DH / first baseman.

i think the Sox could either replace him ot fill in with what they have. Zack Collins and Matt Davidson aare two in house options for DH and first base.

[steveno89]

I would consider Eaton a core layer and not look to trade him. He is the kind of player that is difficult to replace because he brings multiple assets -speed, defense (including an accurate arm from Right field) , on base percentage.

There are several players I would trade before him, including Melky and Abreu. Abreu ,might have value to a team like Boston as a DH / first baseman.

i think the Sox could either replace him ot fill in with what they have. Zack Collins and Matt Davidson aare two in house options for DH and first base.

 

It would be a huge waste to rush Collins to the mlb level and not give him a fair chance to stick at catcher. It's not like the Sox are contending in 2017 anyways

 

I'm not in a rush to deal Abreu unless the return is big

 

Frazier, Cabrera, Robertson are players I would look to deal first

 

 

[Leonard Zelig]

I don't see Eaton getting traded

 

What is wrong with keeping him? He is a good player and is not expensive. Unless overwhelmed, why would they try to deal him?

If you want to know why some people think Eaton should be traded, then read this thread.

[bmags]

I think the point is this, the white sox know what the nats have offered for Sale. They have the potential to know what the nats are offering for McCutcheon. If the sox front office really values the players being dangled for McCutcheon, they should see how much more they could get for eaton. Then they still have Sale and can continue to shop him and get a great package for him.

 

You don't need to sell on eaton, but he is your "better" piece than McCutcheon is for Washington, if they don't have enough to pony up for sale but would offer a good number up for Eaton, it's worth entertaining.

[Southwest Sider]

I freakin' love Adam Eaton and I doubt the Sox are looking to trade him, but it's the same kind of thing with the rest of our elite young, cost controlled players: If someone wants to bowl us over with an offer, let them. I'm not for trading Eaton, per se, but if the Nationals were entertaining the Pirates demands for McCutcheon, they might be more willing to pay that price plus a some more for a younger guy like Eaton instead with more years of control. I wouldn't be against a solid offer from another team for Eaton.

[heirdog]

This trade might be less about player value in a rebuild versus clearing the deck of all the dissenting individuals...Sale & Eaton. Can you imagine Eaton in the media (including social) after Sale is traded? He's going to have several foot in mouth tweets and other sound bites that make the org look bad. So i'm sure hahn and KW are both aware that if Sale is traded, the next guy out is Eaton and start fresh with a boatload of talent that washes away the crappy 2016 drama. Both are at or near their apex in value to the Sox as neither is likely to be signed beyond this contract so might as well get as much as you can.

[ChiSox59]

Jesus those are gigantic packages haha. Sale is an amazing talent, but those packages are what would get a GM fired.

 

Adam Eaton is my favorite player on the Sox, but if you can get Giolito, Robles plus another interesting piece or two, it'd be hard not to do. Then turn around and trade Sale to the Astros. It's intriguing for sure - but Giolito and Robles are necessary.

[BigHurt3515]

I could see Eaton going to upper management and saying he wanted to be dealt if we decide to do a rebuild and trade Sale + others.

[steveno89]

I could see Eaton going to upper management and saying he wanted to be dealt if we decide to do a rebuild and trade Sale + others.

 

Eaton has zero leverage as he is under team control for 5 more years. He can demand a trade all he wants but that would be ignored

[Dunt]

Eaton and Archer have the same amount of control and almost exactly the same amount of money due over that span. One was one of the most valuable players in baseball last season while the other had a down year. To suggest that Eaton will be traded for anything less than a franchise changing haul is ludicrous. The only way he moves is either because the FO does really want to get rid of him or they get a crazy, franchise changing offer.

[Dick Allen]

Why do so many think Eaton would cause problems? My God, he's been fine and been on bad teams his entire career.

 

Oh my God, a player who actually wants to win. How dare he.

 

.

[Bob Sacamano]

Why do so many think Eaton would cause problems? My God, he's been fine and been on bad teams his entire career.

 

Oh my God, a player who actually wants to win. How dare he.

 

.

 

Lol right? I don't get why people think he's going to lash out. Completely different scenario to the whole LaRoche fiasco.

[steveno89]

Eaton and Archer have the same amount of control and almost exactly the same amount of money due over that span. One was one of the most valuable players in baseball last season while the other had a down year. To suggest that Eaton will be traded for anything less than a franchise changing haul is ludicrous. The only way he moves is either because the FO does really want to get rid of him or they get a crazy, franchise changing offer.

 

Eaton is a really good player, but I don't see him being dealt because of the huge cost it would take to land him.

 

A great comparison to Eaton is Alex Gordon's value in 2012 at age 28. The cost to trade for him then would have been huge.

 

Alex Gordon (up until 2016) and Adam Eaton are probably the most similar comps right now

[Dick Allen]

Lol right? I don't get why people think he's going to lash out. Completely different scenario to the whole LaRoche fiasco.

And the LaRoche thing people have to remember Eaton is the player rep. He has to have his ass. He said some silly things about Drake, but he probably really liked the kid and felt bad he was caught in the middle of it all.

 

 

[bmags]

Because we followed the team in March.