Davidson/Palka

[Insp]

Palka should be the full-time DH and Davidson should be in the bullpen unless one of our power hitters gets injured in which case he could substitute.

[southsider2k5]

Wat?

[TheTruth05]

Cordell should be our full time DH next year

[Dominikk85]

I prefer davidson slightly because he has improved his plate discipline.

 

Both whiff  a lot and have power but MD takes walks. Palka is more like 2017 MD before the plate discipline spike.

Now palka has shown a little more power but unless he has a similar approach adjustment like MD I don't buy in.

 

[zisk]

8 hours ago, TheTruth05 said:

Cordell should be our full time DH next year

Why not center field?

[bschmaranz]

Neither should be penciled in for the long haul, bottom line.

[Chisoxmb35]

13 hours ago, Insp said:

Palka should be the full-time DH and Davidson should be in the bullpen unless one of our power hitters gets injured in which case he could substitute.

I love me some bad arm-chair GM'ing!

[pcq]

Palka is hot but he seems to have been improving. It would be quite unlikely that he is not on the roster next year. They might not have room for both. 

[Two-Gun Pete]

How many options do each player have left?

I think I'd trade away the one with fewer/no options left for a low-level flyer, and give the other one more chances to prove/disprove himself.

 

 

[Lillian]

5 hours ago, zisk said:

Why not center field?

Palka will almost certainly be on the roster and get plenty of playing time. If Cordell is going to be on the team, he will be the centerfielder and Palka would be the DH. 

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

2 hours ago, Chisoxmb35 said:

I love me some bad arm-chair GM'ing!

Might not be as far fetched as you think. Davidson really wants to pitch. No indication on how the Sox feel about it.

[Lillian]

7 hours ago, [email protected] said:

I prefer davidson slightly because he has improved his plate discipline.

 

Both whiff  a lot and have power but MD takes walks. Palka is more like 2017 MD before the plate discipline spike.

Now palka has shown a little more power but unless he has a similar approach adjustment like MD I don't buy in.

 

I like Matt's improved ability to draw some walks, however Palka provides something that Davidson does not, which is a LF power bat. You know how often I have mentioned that need, so it's an easy choice for me. 

[Balta1701]

2 hours ago, Two-Gun Pete said:

How many options do each player have left?

I think I'd trade away the one with fewer/no options left for a low-level flyer, and give the other one more chances to prove/disprove himself.

 

 

Davidson is out of options.

Palka was first added to the 40 man roster after the 2016 season, so he would have burned one option in 2017 and another in 2018. I think he should have one left.

[pcq]

Palka is hot but he seems to have been improving. It would be quite unlikely that he is not on the roster next year. They might not have room for both. 

Palka is making himself indispensable and has the state of mind to succeed. Just give him some space and room to do his thing. 

[Balta1701]

1 hour ago, pcq said:

Palka is hot but he seems to have been improving. It would be quite unlikely that he is not on the roster next year. They might not have room for both. 

Palka is making himself indispensable and has the state of mind to succeed. Just give him some space and room to do his thing. 

I would agree with the person above who suggested trading one of them this offseason for whatever the best offer is. It won't be a big return, but there are teams who could use either of them. I would probably take the best offer, some A-ball pitcher or whatever, for Davidson in the offseason. As either a full time DH, or a DH/backup fielder, he'd win some games for some teams. He's not arb-eligible until 2020, so any team trading for him would get 2 years of a cheap player in any deal.

[ScootsMcGoots]

I honestly think Davidson and Yolmer will split time at 3rd to stary with Davidson getting playing time at DH vs Lefties.

[Balta1701]

Just now, Scoots said:

I honestly think Davidson and Yolmer will split time at 3rd to stary with Davidson getting playing time at DH vs Lefties.

I'd be ok with that since I don't think we can win next year...but at some point we're gonna need roster spots. Sanchez, Leury, Castillo, Davidson, Cordell, Palka, Engel, Garcia, Delmonico - we can't actually fit all that on the big league roster, we would have a 4 man bench, starting DH, RF, and CF, and we'd still have to remove one...and on April 15 there's going to be a monster demanding a roster spot, so 2 of the names on that list have to go.

I guess we could just turn that thing loose in the locker room and see if he eats one of them...but I think he's more likely to devour the opposing pitching.

[Insp]

Guess other folks aren't as impressed by Davidson's pitching as I was.

 

 

 

Edited September 23, 2018 by Insp

[Balta1701]

Just now, Insp said:

Guess other folks aren't as impressed by Davidson's pitching as I was.

I don't know why your post is so long. Anywho, if a position player wants to turn into a pitcher, you're going to have to show me that he can be consistent against them in AAA for several months rather than just as a blowout gimmick. Since Davidson has no options, I guess we could put him in the bullpen on day 1 but I'm genuinely uncomfortable doing that. I'd do it if we had a 13 man bullpen, but we don't have the roster spots to play this game without removing a couple guys. We coulda tried it this year if we thought it was a decent idea, but the roster crunch becomes urgent when the monster arrives next April.

If someone like Sanchez or Engel were moved this offseason, fine, then something like that works, but to make it worth a shot we need to clear the roster space to do it. Someone has to be moved and these guys don't have a lot of trade value. Sanchez should, but teams don't trade a lot for guys who aren't great players even when they have years of control remaining.

[Insp]

17 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

I don't know why your post is so long. Anywho, if a position player wants to turn into a pitcher, you're going to have to show me that he can be consistent against them in AAA for several months rather than just as a blowout gimmick. Since Davidson has no options, I guess we could put him in the bullpen on day 1 but I'm genuinely uncomfortable doing that. I'd do it if we had a 13 man bullpen, but we don't have the roster spots to play this game without removing a couple guys. We coulda tried it this year if we thought it was a decent idea, but the roster crunch becomes urgent when the monster arrives next April.

If someone like Sanchez or Engel were moved this offseason, fine, then something like that works, but to make it worth a shot we need to clear the roster space to do it. Someone has to be moved and these guys don't have a lot of trade value. Sanchez should, but teams don't trade a lot for guys who aren't great players even when they have years of control remaining.

So you'd want Davidson sent down to AAA first before having him as a regular reliever?

[southsider2k5]

3 minutes ago, Insp said:

So you'd want Davidson sent down to AAA first before having him as a regular reliever?

Matt Davidson is not a pitcher.

[Balta1701]

1 hour ago, Insp said:

So you'd want Davidson sent down to AAA first before having him as a regular reliever?

Yes. If a position player was gonna convert I wanna see him get AAA hitters out for half a season. They dropped Sergio Santos down to Kannapolis A-Ball and Winston-Salem high-A for half a season and gave him a full season in the minors after he converted to a pitcher. 

[Two-Gun Pete]

2 hours ago, Balta1701 said:

I'd be ok with that since I don't think we can win next year...but at some point we're gonna need roster spots. Sanchez, Leury, Castillo, Davidson, Cordell, Palka, Engel, Garcia, Delmonico - we can't actually fit all that on the big league roster, we would have a 4 man bench, starting DH, RF, and CF, and we'd still have to remove one...and on April 15 there's going to be a monster demanding a roster spot, so 2 of the names on that list have to go.

I guess we could just turn that thing loose in the locker room and see if he eats one of them...but I think he's more likely to devour the opposing pitching.

The need for roster spots, and the relative depth in choice at C means [to me] that Castillo is surplus to requirements, and can be traded for a flyer; I'm relatively comfortable with Narvaez/Smith until Collins/Zavala arrive. Similarly, I'd trade away Davidson and keep Palka/Delmonico. Davidson has no more options, while Palka/Delmonico have options.

Is it possible that trading away Davidson and Castillo could bite the SOX in the ass? Sure. But the relative risks are minor in doing so, IMO.

For the rest of that list, I don't think I'd offer a contract to Avi , and both Cordell and Engel can be sent back to Charlotte, if need be. Sanchez has value as a utility IF, and Leury can similarly be the 4th OF until Jimenez arrives.

[Balta1701]

5 minutes ago, Two-Gun Pete said:

The need for roster spots, and the relative depth in choice at C means [to me] that Castillo is surplus to requirements, and can be traded for a flyer; I'm relatively comfortable with Narvaez/Smith until Collins/Zavala arrive. Similarly, I'd trade away Davidson and keep Palka/Delmonico. Davidson has no more options, while Palka/Delmonico have options.

Is it possible that trading away Davidson and Castillo could bite the SOX in the ass? Sure. But the relative risks are minor in doing so, IMO.

For the rest of that list, I don't think I'd offer a contract to Avi , and both Cordell and Engel can be sent back to Charlotte, if need be. Sanchez has value as a utility IF, and Leury can similarly be the 4th OF until Jimenez arrives.

I don't imagine that anyone will take Castillo's contract on for free if he's put on waivers given the steroid suspension this year for a minor player, so in my eyes if you want to get rid of him you have to designate him for assignment and buy out his contract. Frankly, I would not complain about this, but let's not pretend that he is worth anything. Davidson might not bring back anything either, so if we have to non-tender him in the offseason or put him on waivers I won't be that mad, we gave these guys shots this year. But, at least Davidson was almost a 2 bWAR player this year, so he was at least worth something, it'd be kinda odd if he was unmovable.

[Two-Gun Pete]

1 minute ago, Balta1701 said:

I don't imagine that anyone will take Castillo's contract on for free if he's put on waivers given the steroid suspension this year for a minor player, so in my eyes if you want to get rid of him you have to designate him for assignment and buy out his contract. Frankly, I would not complain about this, but let's not pretend that he is worth anything. Davidson might not bring back anything either, so if we have to non-tender him in the offseason or put him on waivers I won't be that mad, we gave these guys shots this year. 

Oh, I'm aware that both Davidson and Castillo aren't worth much of anything in the trade market this upcoming offseason. And yes, you're probably right, in that Avi/Castillo/Davidson will all likely have to be non-tendered or bought out.

But my overarching view is that these three would be out of this roster for next season, at least as thing stand right now; I'd rather give Palka/Delmonico and Narvaez/Smith 2019 to prove/disprove themselves.