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

[hi8is]

Considering how we killed LHSP last year, it'll be cool to see them bring in some guys that can help them against RHSP.

[Eminor3rd]

Late take: I actually don’t mind the idea of Eaton as a bounceback flyer, but...

That’s because with I think the team needs pitching so badly that it needs to allot every available resource to it, and high-floor bounceback flyers come pretty cheap and can be great as role fillers. The problem with this deal is that $7-8mm is real money in this market, and I have no doubt that it’s enough to take them out of the market on some of the better pitchers available. 

I think this contract is a poor use of limited resources. This, combined with the fact that they decided to use a current rotation piece to buy their only rotation upgrade, and this looks to me like really bad, inefficient, amateurish roster building so far this offseason. 

A deal can make sense in a vacuum but be completely wrong in context. I like Eaton at $2-3mm this year — the price Hahn paid treats him like there’s no risk to his performance/health, and the wasted margin, I think, is really gonna hurt.  

Edited December 15, 2020 by Eminor3rd

[RagahRagah]

23 hours ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

@RagahRagah

I'm going to respond to your angry post in hopes of helping you understand. This will be the last time, as I prefer to go back and forth about the actual reason I post (the sox), not to calm you down.

1. Im not arguing with people, im having conversations about a game i love with fans who share a common cause. Im not trying to change opinions, im expressing mine. I post when I have a differing view more than when I agree which is natural.

2. Serious things in my life are my family, career, school, economics, and a fight for equality. Serious is not someone thinking Adam Eaton is Willie Mays. 

Im not doing it for shits and giggles, I post for fun and to take my mind off the real world - when the sox do something stupid I post to let off fan emotions (which are never all that serious but are a great way to get distracted from the real world for a minute.)

Have i had bad days in my life that have trickled online? Im Sure, im human. Is this ever serious though? No, and if you think it is then I either envy your position in life, or you're just taking this way to personal. Lastly, do I care if im wrong or if someone calls me a name? No... because none of this is important. Its a game and a hobby. Take a step back.

Now make a post so I can throw another laughing emoji on it.

Oh and Adam eaton still sucks, I won't be happy with the signing ever, and that's because I'm not outcome driven, im process driven. Besides what grown man calls himself spanky?

I have never understood this perspective. If you are presenting data and opinions contrary to another's, that is an argument. And if you aren't trying to persuade, then what really is the point of actually pulling data?

Ultimately if you are gonna be passive aggressive anytime someone presents something to you, never take their information into account and never take any thing seriously... then there's no fucking point in conversing with you. Either way, I will never have to resort to what you resort to because I am an adult. You do not appear to be. Justify it any way you want; it's childish and unnecessary. Period. Grow up.

Because your childish and tiresome smarky amd condescending comments are just pompous and stupid and renders what you say not worth Jack shit.

This isn't anger, it's just a dose of reality that the petulant child you are needs to hear.

Edited December 15, 2020 by RagahRagah

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

Seek. Help. 

[pcq]

On 12/13/2020 at 10:36 AM, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

You're a pretty good dancer. The Sox would love that type of year from Eaton because that 1.5 bWar is exactly what they want. Stay on the field , be grindy with a bit of pop, get on base at a good clip, run the bases well and turn the lineup over. We aren't talking about small outcome driven samples or performing outside expectations. The question was would you take a 2019 type year from Eaton and you've been dancing around it throwing all kinds of statistical jargon to avoid the question. I'm talking baseball and you're talking about , well ,nothing that pertained to the original question.

In my view the only significant issue would be how many games he can play. If he can start 100 games it should work out. The Sox are obviously on a budget and this is what we get. 

[Kyyle23]

9 hours ago, RagahRagah said:

I have never understood this perspective. If you are presenting data and opinions contrary to another's, that is an argument. And if you aren't trying to persuade, then what really is the point of actually pulling data?

Ultimately if you are gonna be passive aggressive anytime someone presents something to you, never take their information into account and never take any thing seriously... then there's no fucking point in conversing with you. Either way, I will never have to resort to what you resort to because I am an adult. You do not appear to be. Justify it any way you want; it's childish and unnecessary. Period. Grow up.

Because your childish and tiresome smarky amd condescending comments are just pompous and stupid and renders what you say not worth Jack shit.

This isn't anger, it's just a dose of reality that the petulant child you are needs to hear.

Can you just ignore him, because nobody appointed you the board dad who needs to deal doses of reality.  Thanks.

[RagahRagah]

1 hour ago, Kyyle23 said:

Can you just ignore him, because nobody appointed you the board dad who needs to deal doses of reality.  Thanks.

Sometimes I wonder what a forum is for when people are discouraged from engaging when someone is reluctant to be sensible.

I get it what you're saying, but do you get what I'm saying?

[Kyyle23]

22 minutes ago, RagahRagah said:

Sometimes I wonder what a forum is for when people are discouraged from engaging when someone is reluctant to be sensible.

I get it what you're saying, but do you get what I'm saying?

When the engagement or argument affects the entire thread, or threads, it is discouraged.  This isn't hard.  Ignore him and move on.  

[Texsox]

On 12/10/2020 at 9:32 PM, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

I'm not sure whats the best way to run a route efficiently. I would think the statcast people use where a player starts and where he catches the ball and measure deviations from the straight line or most direct path. There are Ofers who can take one look at the ball and if they've done their homework and anticipate hook and slice depending on the handedness of the batter and trajectory, can then adjust their path  looking up one more time. These guys are rare. Others may do the look run, look run, look run and still others look at it at all times while the ball is in flight. If you look at it constantly your route may be best but u may be slower to the ball . Defensive metrics are tricky in that way. Is there any one stat that can keep constant tabs on sprint speed, apply it to how close an OF comes to his max sprint speed while chasing a flyball and measure the ability to run full speed while running his route ?

Seems like you could start with the player in a circle as the bullseye and offer a plot on the likelihood he would catch a ball that landed in any given area. I assume some players have a wider range to one side than the other. 

[Texsox]

35 minutes ago, RagahRagah said:

Sometimes I wonder what a forum is for when people are discouraged from engaging  trolling and engaging with trolls.

It's for an enjoyable experience. When people are constantly being pissed off or pissing others off then it's not what ChiSoxfn envisioned when he started the place. 

[RagahRagah]

1 hour ago, Texsox said:

It's for an enjoyable experience. When people are constantly being pissed off or pissing others off then it's not what ChiSoxfn envisioned when he started the place. 

Fair enough. It just seems weird to me. Arguing and trolling occurrs regularly here. I just don't let people off easy is all.

[Vulture]

You let yourself off easily though

[Southwest Sider]

Meh, if RagahRagah and folks weren't interacting, then there'd be no conversation at all. This thread has basically run its course, why not let it die naturally like most threads? With 2 or 3 people arguing endlessly for pages. 

 

The Hot Stove has become mighty cold lately. It's either this or nothing, most likely. 

[elrockinMT]

On 12/8/2020 at 1:11 PM, South Side Hit Men said:

Eaton costs you games in RF. With so many better FA RF alternatives this off-season, I can see no positives with this signing. Engel/Garcia platoon and spending $6.4M elsewhere is a far better option.

Schwarber has better dWAR ratings, and unlike Eaton is in his prime and can stay on the field and hits more HRs in a season than Eaton his past four combined.

2017: G: 23 HR: 2 OPS: .854 oWAR: 0.9 dWAR: -0.6 WAR: 0.3

2018: G: 95 HR: 5 OPS: .805 oWAR: 1.8 dWAR: -1.1 WAR: 1.1

2019: G: 151 HR: 15 OPS: .792 oWAR: 1.9 dWAR: -0.9 WAR: 1.5

2020: G: 41 HR: 4 OPS: .669 oWAR: -0.3 dWAR: -0.7 WAR: -0.9

You may have forgotten his very solid defense with the Sox and his ability to throw out runners?

[South Side Hit Men]

1 hour ago, elrockinMT said:

You may have forgotten his very solid defense with the Sox and his ability to throw out runners?

We can expect a 27 year old healthy Eaton, does he have a time machine?

[ron883]

9 minutes ago, South Side Hit Men said:

We can expect a 27 year old healthy Eaton, does he have a time machine?

You forget that you are talking to elrockin. He lives in the fandom world of blind optimism, not reality. 

Edited December 18, 2020 by Yearnin' for Yermin

[elrockinMT]

On 12/17/2020 at 5:40 PM, South Side Hit Men said:

We can expect a 27 year old healthy Eaton, does he have a time machine?

Don't be so pessimistic. Every time we discuss a player the Sox sign, or trade for, regardless if it's keeping someone like Abreu or signing  Eaton the issue of age comes up in a negative way. Eaton is a solid player and experienced

[Chicago White Sox]

On 12/8/2020 at 11:31 AM, Chicago White Sox said:

It’s just sad that we’re shopping in the clearance isle.  The Adam Eaton of old would have been a decent fit, but I’m just not sure we’re getting that same player.  I’d much rather have Joc in all honestly, although perhaps they add both and rotate a bunch of guys at DH.  Couldn’t hurt to have some depth in the corners.

Hate being that guy, but it’s time bump this thread and realize what a disaster the Adam Eaton signing was.  A ton of great takes in this thread, with so many people knowing from the get go this wasn’t likely going to work out for us.  I’ll give the Sox credit for their other offseason moves, which have seemingly worked out well, but the inability to address RF over the past several seasons is a major failure for Hahn.

Meanwhile, Joc Pederson has a wRC+ of 130 against RHP, which is not too far off his 2018 & 2019 production.  We wouldn’t need to trade from a weak farm system to solve the RF problem had we just waited him out.  The team would also be in much better shape against RHP with Joc’s left-handed power bat.  Pederson was always the perfect fit for a team looking to fill a key hole the cheap and we somehow botched.

Finally, the real reason I’m bumping my post is because of that last sentence and it’s an important lesson learned going forward.  We can’t field a roster filled with guys who routinely spend time on the DL and not have quality depth.  @fathom and myself, amongst others, called it out immediately that relying on Eloy & Eaton to be healthy over a full season was very risky and would likely lead to stretches of overplaying bad backups without a quality depth addition.  And while Engel is a very nice 4th OF, he’s not a good everyday corner OF when used for extended stretches of time.  I get it’s easy to say “most teams don’t have great depth”, but if we were going to roll the dice on Eaton in RF plus a rookie at DH, we should have invested in another bat that could have been part of the mix at both spots.  It’s really that simple and I think both Hahn & Jerry deserve some blame for not mitigating that risk.

[Dick Allen]

6 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Hate being that guy, but it’s time bump this thread and realize what a disaster the Adam Eaton signing was.  A ton of great takes in this thread, with so many people knowing from the get go this wasn’t likely going to work out for us.  I’ll give the Sox credit for their other offseason moves, which have seemingly worked out well, but the inability to address RF over the past several seasons is a major failure for Hahn.

Meanwhile, Joc Pederson has a wRC+ of 130 against RHP, which is not too far off his 2018 & 2019 production.  We wouldn’t need to trade from a weak farm system to solve the RF problem had we just waited him out.  The team would also be in much better shape against RHP with Joc’s left-handed power bat.  Pederson was always the perfect fit for a team looking to fill a key hole the cheap and we somehow botched.

Finally, the real reason I’m bumping my post is because of that last sentence and it’s an important lesson learned going forward.  We can’t field a roster filled with guys who routinely spend time on the DL and not have quality depth.  @fathom and myself, amongst others, called it out immediately that relying on Eloy & Eaton to be healthy over a full season was very risky and would likely lead to stretches of overplaying bad backups without a quality depth addition.  And while Engel is a very nice 4th OF, he’s not a good everyday corner OF when used for extended stretches of time.  I get it’s easy to say “most teams don’t have great depth”, but if we were going to roll the dice on Eaton in RF plus a rookie at DH, we should have invested in another bat that could have been part of the mix at both spots.  It’s really that simple and I think both Hahn & Jerry deserve some blame for not mitigating that risk.

They offered Pederson $10 million before they signed Eaton. He said no. Mistake on his part.

I wouldn’t say the Eaton signing was a disaster. He hasn’t been good obviously, but he did have a few moments, but the Sox haven’t been on much with signings in this price range.

I do agree about injuries. Robert, Eloy, Madrigal, even TA, get hurt every year, and they are young. It doesn’t seem like a thing you outgrow. I would think, if anything, it may get worse.

Edited June 19, 2021 by Dick Allen

[Harry Chappas]

The Sox wouldn't wait on Joc so they moved on.  The cubs took a flyer on him when there was no market.  I think Joc is a bit toxic. 

[Chicago White Sox]

1 hour ago, Dick Allen said:

They offered Pederson $10 million before they signed Eaton. He said no. Mistake on his part.

I wouldn’t say the Eaton signing was a disaster. He hasn’t been good obviously, but he did have a few moments, but the Sox haven’t been on much with signings in this price range.

I do agree about injuries. Robert, Eloy, Madrigal, even TA, get hurt every year, and they are young. It doesn’t seem like a thing you outgrow. I would think, if anything, it may get worse.

And that’s fine if they didn’t want to wait, but ultimately no one should be surprised when Eaton misses a ton of games or ends up being inefficient as the season wears down.  His body simply can’t endure a full season and remain productive.  Honestly, it’s just frustrating we’ve had this massive hole in RF for two straight years and now will have to trade away prospects to fill it.

[pcq]

Everyone expected an injury prone guy but the Sox acquired an injured guy at the end of his career. They took a chance and it has not turned out well except for Eaton. 

[South Side Hit Men]

51 minutes ago, Harry Chappas said:

The Sox wouldn't wait on Joc so they moved on.  The cubs took a flyer on him when there was no market.  I think Joc is a bit toxic. 

Toxic how? He hit more home runs yesterday than Eaton has in over a month. The only good thing about the Eaton signing was he wasn't toxic like he was his previous stint.

I spoke my peace regarding Eaton in December. He is old, declining and injury prone. Was told I was too pessimistic. Oh well, hopefully he can salvage a few good weeks later this season, and that the Sox will not pick up his option, no matter how much Tony loves him some spanky gritty grinder guys who can bunt and stuff.

[caulfield12]

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/red-sox/mlb-free-agents-2020-21-ranking-top-10-outfielders
 

Springer and Ozuna obviously haven’t worked.

Other than Brantley, not sure what move actually was a sound one, in retrospect.

Maybe hiring someone from the Rays, A’s or Giants’ front offices.

 

Remain skeptical that Cespedes could have done anything at the big league level even starting his minor league season in May, but we’ll never know now.

Edited June 19, 2021 by caulfield12

[Bossanoveralls]

Every time I see Eaton I think of "that kid's a leader in this clubhouse".

I can't blame him for my inability to let go, can I?