Sox sign Adam Eaton 1 year, $7m plus option

[fathom]

1 minute ago, SoxBlanco said:

What do you think Eaton's WAR will be if he plays around 150 games?

2 

[fathom]

Just now, Harold's Leg Lift said:

The problem is he's not a right fielder.  He doesn't profile there and he doesn't fit in the lineup.  It's an awful signing especially considering all the other right fielders on the market.  Why is it so hard for this organization to find a god damn prototypical right fielder. 

Who would you have gone after 

[Harold's Leg Lift]

Just now, fathom said:

Who would you have gone after 

Pederson.  All day everyday. 

[Stealth G.O.A.T.]

6 hours ago, Balta1701 said:

People aren’t bringing up LaRussa’s politics. He did that himself.

No one made him speak at Glenn Beck’s Rally in DC that was a Trump rally before Trump did them. No one made him repeatedly call out Kaepernick as insincere, as recently as February of this year (and then fail to live up to his own important standard of sincerity while yelling at a cop). No one made him stay silent after the murder in Minnesota.

Apparently Tony LaRussa expects you to care about his opinion. He’s a hall of fame type guy.

But people are bringing it up now. He's allowed to have an opinion, whether people like it or not. No different than Kaepernick sharing his opinion in the way he has. Nobody asked him, he just did it. Good, bad, or indifferent. He has that right too.

[SoxBlanco]

1 minute ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Pederson.  All day everyday. 

Is there really much difference between Joc and Eaton in terms of production? Sure, one of them could have a monster season, but I'd expect both of them to be in the 2/3 WAR range.

[Stealth G.O.A.T.]

4 minutes ago, fathom said:

2 

I don't think Eaton plays 150 games. But between Eaton/Engel platoon, if healthy, I think you can collectively be looking at 3 Wins, maybe slightly above, which would be huge in RF. Especially when compared to the production in RF the Sox have been getting.

[Harold's Leg Lift]

2 minutes ago, SoxBlanco said:

Is there really much difference between Joc and Eaton in terms of production? Sure, one of them could have a monster season, but I'd expect both of them to be in the 2/3 WAR range.

Pederson is a left handed middle of the order bat who can knock the ball out of the yard.  That's  a big difference in terms of production.  

[Balta1701]

Just now, Stealth G.O.A.T. said:

But people are bringing it up now. He's allowed to have an opinion, whether people like it or not. No different than Kaepernick sharing his opinion in the way he has. Nobody asked him, he just did it. Good, bad, or indifferent. He has that right too.

Yes, I’m allowed to bring it up. Because he brought it up and made sure we all knew his position. 

Because if that, I’m also allowed to judge his position.

If, for example, in 2006 he said he would never get a DUI again, and he attacked Kaepernicks remarks publicly as “insincere”, and the he gets another DUI and is too weak to even man up to his mistake and instead hides behind public no comments, in the process not living up to the standard by which he publicly judged another man...well, I’m going to judge him to be a coward, an insincere a**hole, a liar, and think Ron Gant had a point.

[TomPickle]

8 minutes ago, SoxBlanco said:

What do you think Eaton's WAR will be if he plays around 150 games?

Is there a reason to think he could stay healthy enough to play 150 games next year?

I expect his WAR to be between 0-1 next year, but I think below 0 is a lot more likely than above 2.

[Dick Allen]

4 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Pederson.  All day everyday. 

I think Joc is a better bet, but he doesn't fit into JR's budget, and who knows, that team option Eaton agreed to might have been the deal maker. I don't know if Joc would sign up for something like that at his age. 

[SoCalChiSox]

1 minute ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Pederson is a left handed middle of the order bat who can knock the ball out of the yard.  That's  a big difference in terms of production.  

Yeah....we blew a layup there.

Sox gonna Sox. 

[SoxBlanco]

Just now, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Pederson is a left handed middle of the order bat who can knock the ball out of the yard.  That's  a big difference in terms of production.  

And Eaton is a left handed bat who gets on base at a higher clip than Pederson.  We have guys who can knock the ball out of the park. Eaton will generate runs. Pederson would have also. Why does it matter how that happens exactly?

Do you think Pederson would have a higher WAR?

[Soxsi75]

2 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

I think Joc is a better bet, but he doesn't fit into JR's budget, and who knows, that team option Eaton agreed to might have been the deal maker. I don't know if Joc would sign up for something like that at his age. 

Which makes the White Sox cheap and I'm sorry to have to say, they don't care enough about winning. Because I agree with you, Joc is a better bet. And we shouldn't have to worry about a "budget" when we've been rebuilding like we have and saving money. Now it's time to spend it since we now have a chance to win. Not spending it saying he doesn't care about winning. 

[SoxBlanco]

3 minutes ago, TomPickle said:

Is there a reason to think he could stay healthy enough to play 150 games next year?

I expect his WAR to be between 0-1 next year, but I think below 0 is a lot more likely than above 2.

I don't see why he can't play that many games (other than possibly being part of a platoon).  He just played 151 in 2019.  I think the "always injured" narrative is a little overblown.

I would easily take that bet if anything between 0-2 is a wash, over 2 is a win, and under 0 is a loss.

[Dick Allen]

If Adam Eaton gets back to his 2019 version and most everyone else hits as expected, everything should be fine from an offensive standpoint.

[TomPickle]

2 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

If Adam Eaton gets back to his 2019 version and most everyone else hits as expected, everything should be fine from an offensive standpoint.

I would be thrilled if he hit his average of the 2019 and 2020 seasons and slashed .270/.350/.420 but I just don't think it's going to happen.

Edited December 9, 2020 by TomPickle

[Harold's Leg Lift]

3 minutes ago, SoxBlanco said:

And Eaton is a left handed bat who gets on base at a higher clip than Pederson.  We have guys who can knock the ball out of the park. Eaton will generate runs. Pederson would have also. Why does it matter how that happens exactly?

Do you think Pederson would have a higher WAR?

Pederson can produce runs on his own while Eaton needs someone to knock him in and I don't subscribe to the theory that they have enough good hitters so they can sacrifice one of the biggest run producing positions on the field.

I don't know if Pederson will have a higher WAR and I honestly don't care.  I don't think WAR is the gospel of determining the value of baseball players.  

[SoxBlanco]

Just now, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Pederson can produce runs on his own while Eaton needs someone to knock him in and I don't subscribe to the theory that they have enough good hitters so they can sacrifice one of the biggest run producing positions on the field.

I don't know if Pederson will have a higher WAR and I honestly don't care.  I don't think WAR is the gospel of determining the value of baseball players.  

Neither do I.  I also don't think knocking the ball out of the park is the gospel of determining the value of baseball players.

[Stealth G.O.A.T.]

1 minute ago, Balta1701 said:

Yes, I’m allowed to bring it up. Because he brought it up and made sure we all knew his position. 

Because if that, I’m also allowed to judge his position.

If, for example, in 2006 he said he would never get a DUI again, and he attacked Kaepernicks remarks publicly as “insincere”, and the he gets another DUI and is too weak to even man up to his mistake and instead hides behind public no comments, in the process not living up to the standard by which he publicly judged another man...well, I’m going to judge him to be a coward, an insincere a**hole, a liar, and think Ron Gant had a point.

Have at it, man. Judge away. My point was it doesn't make a difference at this point. He's the manager, with his views, hypocrisy, and everything else. I am not criticizing your right to have an opinion and share it. You should share it. But we all know TLR's flaws. He certainly wasn't my managerial choice. It just gets to a point where we're beating a dead horse and things start to get conflated. A $7M low-end, low-risk/high-reward free agent signing becomes a TLR political issue somehow simply due to some snowball of negativity regarding personnel decisions.

Yes, he judged Kaepernick and his stance, likely for the same reason why you judge TLR's view. He found it flawed when Kaepernick put himself out there and passed his own judgments. Again, all within his right.

Where TLR hiding behind no comment is concerned, maybe he does have something to say about it down the line. Maybe he should man-up and say something when the time is right. My guess now, he's told by his legal counsel not to comment during a pending case. That's pretty standard. Hopefully, he addresses what needs to be addressed when that time is right and takes responsibility for things he needs to. 

[Southwest Sider]

I can dust off my Adam Eaton jersey now. He literally signed an extension the day I bought it, I think it was shortly after I bought it where I found out the news (before a spring training game).

I liked his hard nosed attitude about baseball and that frankly, he's a grinder. I guess he's kind of a jerk, too, but it goes to show you that whatever he did in a Sox uniform was not bad enough to burn that bridge. 

Howie Kendrick is probably not someone that would do a fluff piece for no reason. Yes, the Sox / Chuck Garfien did a fluff piece because they knew how a bunch of you would react. I believe Howie / Sox team and their due diligence than Todd Frazier. 

The argument about his performance... I get it. We just have to hope he stays healthy, plays adequate RF and can still play like he did during his good years (which were great years!). Those of you clamoring for Mazara over Eaton.... Mazara's best years don't sniff Eaton's best years so that makes no sense. 

[Harold's Leg Lift]

6 minutes ago, SoxBlanco said:

Neither do I.  I also don't think knocking the ball out of the park is the gospel of determining the value of baseball players.

Until they make some rule changes that's the way the game is being played today.

[Stealth G.O.A.T.]

6 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Pederson can produce runs on his own while Eaton needs someone to knock him in and I don't subscribe to the theory that they have enough good hitters so they can sacrifice one of the biggest run producing positions on the field.

I don't know if Pederson will have a higher WAR and I honestly don't care.  I don't think WAR is the gospel of determining the value of baseball players.  

Joc is a platoon player. If the Sox signed him, he would have platooned with Engel and likely did some DHing. Anything outside of a platoon and Joc is highly exposed and loses a ton of value. I would have liked Joc, but I'm not privy to what his ask is. I have no issue with the Eaton deal and it shouldn't hinder another signing IMO.

[chitownsportsfan]

20 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Pederson is a left handed middle of the order bat who can knock the ball out of the yard.  That's  a big difference in terms of production.  

There's really not that big of a gap in overall production.  Joc is the better player but it's not like he's going to put up a 4 WAR season next year while Adam is replacement level.  I'd expect if playing time is equal and both are healthy (big if) that they'd both put up around 2-3 WAR next year with Joc maybe .5 ahead of Adam.

@Harold's Leg Lift -- dude you're conflating the three true outcome approach, which clearly works for a lot of hitters, with a fundamental change in how runs are created (linear weights).

Runs are still created in the same ways as ever.  

Edited December 9, 2020 by chitownsportsfan

[pcq]

21 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Pederson is a left handed middle of the order bat who can knock the ball out of the yard.  That's  a big difference in terms of production.  

Eaton was an impact guy in RF and twice hit 14 HR. He just needs to stay healthy.

[Balta1701]

Not counting 2020 he’s been a big leaguer for 7 seasons and played 150 games in 3 of them, all the others he lost substantial time to injury. Maybe not always hurt but a pretty big risk