You're the GM: White Sox edition

[Randar68]

I have yet to see if he is worthy of a starting job in the MLB.

 

Hell, Rowand hasn't been worthy of one based on this season...

[Chisoxfn]

Resign Konerko

Deal Marte/Duque and Ryan Sweeney for Carlos Delgado (I've been on the Delgado bandwagon for a while and Florida is going to have to get rid of him).

Sign a lefty reliever to replace Marte (it would be nice if this guy was the veteran swing man who could ocassionally start)

Exercise option on Politte

Give Garland a 3yr deal worth 18-24 mill (depending on incentives)

Pick up a veteran swingman to enter the pen (who could start if someone falters or gets hurt)

Give AJ a 2yr 8 mill deal with a club option for a 3rd year worth 5 million

 

Basically the lineup stays status quo with one exception:

Pods

Rowand

Iguchi

Delgado

Konerko

Pyrzinski

Dye

Crede

Uribe

 

You could switch the lineup up and keep Rowand down in the lineup but I think Guchi could do some good things. You basically add a legitimate middle of the order bat, keep the pitching staff in-tact, and maybe add something to the back of the pen while resigning everyone.

[OilCan]

OK, my turn....

 

1) I've been back and forth on this, but........resign Paul Konerko. Which painfully gets me to my 2nd point:

 

2) "Frank Thomas....your Hall of Fame table is ready, sir..."

 

3) Trade Orlando Hernandez for what you can for to another contender, maybe Boston. Get what you can for him, since Brandon McCarthy is cementing himself as the #5 for next year.

 

4) Extend/resign the contracts of Garland and Contreras for one more year.

 

5) See what you can get for Juan Uribe...maybe some LHP relief help or to upgrade our bench; then sign Rafael Furcal as a FA. Uribe can garner a mid-level prospect or a bench/role player. Or Uribe can be a good player to have to help garner a blockbuster trade.

 

6) See what you can get for Adam Dunn. You need another thumper in the lineup, plus some balance in the lineup as well. Adam should be your starting 1b next year if you can get him.

 

So, my lineup with the little tweaks:

 

ss Furcal

LF Podsednik

2b Iguchi

DH Konerko

RF Dye

1b Dunn

CF Rowand

c Pierzynski

3b Crede

 

c Widger

IF/OF Gload

IF/OF Harris

OF Borchard

 

RHP Garcia

LHP Buerhle

RHP Garland

RHP Contreras

RHP McCarthy

LHP Cotts

RHP Vizcaino

LHP Marte

RHP Jenks

RHP Politte

RHP Hermanson

 

People to fight out the last two spots, unless we can upgrade for position players: IF/OF Blum, OF Perez

 

Pitchers to battle for bullpen spots: LHP Munoz, RHP Bajeneru

 

What do you think? It's two minor tweaks that IMO can get us some more runs, without sacrifing our defense too much.

Edited September 26, 2005 by OilCan

[TaylorStSox]

Resign Konerko

Deal Marte/Duque and Ryan Sweeney for Carlos Delgado (I've been on the Delgado bandwagon for a while and Florida is going to have to get rid of him). 

Sign a lefty reliever to replace Marte (it would be nice if this guy was the veteran swing man who could ocassionally start)

Exercise option on Politte

Give Garland a 3yr deal worth 18-24 mill (depending on incentives)

Pick up a veteran swingman to enter the pen (who could start if someone falters or gets hurt)

Give AJ a 2yr 8 mill deal with a club option for a 3rd year worth 5 million

 

Basically the lineup stays status quo with one exception:

Pods

Rowand

Iguchi

Delgado

Konerko

Pyrzinski

Dye

Crede

Uribe

 

You could switch the lineup up and keep Rowand down in the lineup but I think Guchi could do some good things.  You basically add a legitimate middle of the order bat, keep the pitching staff in-tact, and maybe add something to the back of the pen while resigning everyone.

 

 

How has Rowand shown he's a 2 hitter? He K's far too much. He doesn't walk. He pops out alot. The only thing that makes him viable for that position in the order is his bunting ability. Other than that, he's a bottom of the order hitter.

 

Iguchi's been a different 2 hole hitter in the 2nd half. He's had his oppurtunities to swing away and get on base. He hasn't shown what it takes to be a 3 hitter. If it ain't broke...

[witesoxfan]

First of all, this...

 

YOU DON'T BRING UP PRIZED PROSPECTS AND SIT THEM.  ESPECIALLY IF YOUR CF'ER IS A .750 OPS PLAYER WITH INFERIOR DEFENSE TO THE PROSPECT!

 

is just silly. Rowand put up a .910 OPS in '04. Methinks he can be an .825-.850 OPS player down the line, with Gold Glove defense.

 

Sheesh.  Guys, if anyone is going to be the 4th OF'er next year, it's Rowand.  Get over it between now and April 1st next year... PLEASE!

 

Rowand is also not going to be a $3 mill 4th OFer. He is either traded or starting, period.

 

I'm nit sure how many times I have to call this plan:

A ) Stupid

B ) Asinine

C ) ludicrous

 

before people stop saying it.

 

I'm sure glad Philly listened to it regarding Chase Utley. :rolly

Edited September 27, 2005 by witesoxfan

[witesoxfan]

I'll give it a try

 

1) Resign Konerko

2) Pick up Politte's option

3) Trade Duque for a fringe prospect

4) (May take some grief for this one, but whatever)...Trade Garland for a very good bat...perhaps Garland for Teixeira. Teixeira will either DH, play 3B, or play LF/RF...you put him anywhere you can find room. I know he was a 3Bman in the minors, but I also believe he was moved to 1B not because he was not a capable 3Bman, but because the Rangers had Blalock at 3B. Please do correct if wrong.

5) Either sign a good #4-5 starter(in the Elarton/Thomson/Tomko/Valdes form), or sign a very solid starter...get in the AJ Burnett sweepstakes, or even try to sign Millwood or Weaver to a 2-3 year deal. I prefer for the former, due to less cost overall, along with more spending money at the trade deadline.

6) Attempt to resign Thomas to a very incentive laden deal...very, very similar to a Juan Gonzalez type deal, where if he has 1 at bat for you, it costs you $300,000, and if he has a very good season for you, it costs you $8 mill.

7) Depending upon what Thomas does, look to deal Crede in a package with Teix taking over a 3B next year(again, unless Teix is just horrible over at 3B, in which case almost all of this is just me spewing garbage)

 

That's about it

[GoodAsGould]

I think Teix is a solid 1B but the Rangers will want more than Garland for him. Of all their players he is going to take the most to get.

[Clarkdog]

I'm nit sure how many times I have to call this plan:

A ) Stupid

B ) Asinine

C ) ludicrous

 

before people stop saying it.

 

YOU DON'T BRING UP PRIZED PROSPECTS AND SIT THEM.  ESPECIALLY IF YOUR CF'ER IS A .750 OPS PLAYER WITH INFERIOR DEFENSE TO THE PROSPECT!

 

Sheesh.  Guys, if anyone is going to be the 4th OF'er next year, it's Rowand.  Get over it between now and April 1st next year... PLEASE!

 

I agree. I think KW's plan is to trade Rowand in the offseason and let Anderson take his place. Rowand was signed to a very reasonable three year deal that would make him attractive in trade package.

 

Remember KW's big board - he said that both Anderson and Sweeney are on it well into the future, the real question is - is Rowand?

[fathom]

I can guarantee you that KW had no intention of trading Rowand for the length of his deal heading into this season.

[sircaffey]

I can guarantee you that KW had no intention of trading Rowand for the length of his deal heading into this season.

Especially not the year after. Perhaps when the contract got a little more expensive, but I agree on that...

[Balta1701]

I think KW's outfield plan, at least to me, seemed to be one of youth, defense, and some hitting. That's why the Carlos Lee trade made sense, as did the Dye signing.

 

We have young guys coming up to fill in outfield roles. We have Rowand up already, and he's quite cheap. Anderson is 1 step away. Sweeney is a few steps away, hopefully. Dye was clearly a stop-gap solution until the first of Borchard/Anderson/Sweeney/et al. was ready to take his place. He's signed for 2 years, fairly cheaply considering his years of service.

 

On top of that, Podsednik is a very cheap solution in left field...and he won't necessarily be very difficult to move/remove if someone else from the list comes up and is ready.

 

Rowand still has a lot of potential in him...he's cheap and we have him for several more years. This year has clearly been the disappointment that none of us wanted for him however. This team needs him to be able to hit nearly .300 with an OPS a fair amount over .800. He didn't do that this year...but when you're playing with Youth, sometimes you just have to hope for improvement.

[sircaffey]

Also, now wouldn't be the ideal time to trade Rowand. He's more likely in between his 2004 season and this season. Hang onto him, and at worst, you get another season like this which isn't too bad, but more likely you will get some improvement. If Anderson is ready to take over, then Rowand can be traded...

[fathom]

It would force KW to swallow some pride, but trading Pods could be a great idea for the Sox this offseason. I completely agree with everyone who says we can't have both him and Rowand in the outfield. Since Rowand's defense is vastly superior, and he plays a more premium position, there's no doubt Pods should be a trade possibility.

[Balta1701]

I think Pods has also substantially increased his value compared to 2004...coming off a .290 season insteads of a .240 season could very well do that.

 

But, for that to happen...2 things would have to happen.

 

1. B.A. would truly have to be ready. And not just ready in the Jeremy Reed...needs a couple of months to even start to develop at the big league level...but ready to come up and challenge for the ROY award ready.

 

2. We'd need to figure out who's going to hit in the leadoff spot. Again, I'll contend we either need someone with a lot of speed or someone with a very high OBP in order to set the team up to generate runs before whatever middle of the order we have next year comes up. I don't see anyone else in our lineup who can do that.

[Clarkdog]

I can guarantee you that KW had no intention of trading Rowand for the length of his deal heading into this season.

 

Sorry, I may not have been clear. I certainly don't believe that KW signed Rowand simply so he could trade him in 2005. But the length and size of his contract give KW some flexibility to move him in 2006 or 2007 if he wanted to and get something of value in return.

[fathom]

Sorry, I may not have been clear. I certainly don't believe that KW signed Rowand simply so he could trade him in 2005. But the length and size of his contract give KW some flexibility to move him in 2006 or 2007 if he wanted to and get something of value in return.

 

With his age and his 2004 season, I firmly believe KW thought he had his center fielder for the next 4 years.

[witesoxfan]

I think Teix is a solid 1B but the Rangers will want more than Garland for him.  Of all their players he is going to take the most to get.

 

That'd be fine by me. I initially had 'a package including Garland" for Teix, but decided I was going to lowball my 'moves' this offseason, so I don't just get destroyed like I did last offseason with my PK and Caballo for Huddy and Byrnes proposal

 

And like I said above...Teix is just so damn good that you find spots for him. I think a lot of it depends on what were to happen with Frank. If you can resign him, and you do then trade Crede, you have to look at signing a guy to be a backup 3B/1B that is very good defensively that can start if Thomas goes down, thus letting Teix/PK DH and having that backup start at 3B and hit 9th. Or you can just let Teix remain at 3B and have Anderson come up, and have a OF+DH of Pods/Rowand/Dye/Anderson(probably Pods-Rowand-Anderson in the OF with Dye DHing...except Anderson's arm may not be strong enough to play RF...that is something I am again unsure of)

 

I also personally do not invision Teix being a .285 45 150 .950 guy in Chicago...probably about .285 35 125 .900, just due to him playing in a slightly worse hitters park, along with (probably) facing better pitching...Detroit and KC are both horrible, but both Minnesota and Cleveland should be right back up at the top next year.

[Balta1701]

Teixeira will not be traded. Let me say that again....Texas has needed to move a bat for pitching forever, and they have chosen not to do so. They have plenty of bats, but none nearly as good as Teixeira. They know this. They have needed to move Soriano for a while now, and haven't done so.

 

If you offered Texas our entire starting rotation, they might give up Teixeira. But they will not move him for Garland.

[Randar68]

Rowand still has a lot of potential in him...he's cheap and we have him for several more years.  This year has clearly been the disappointment that none of us wanted for him however.  This team needs him to be able to hit nearly .300 with an OPS a fair amount over .800.  He didn't do that this year...but when you're playing with Youth, sometimes you just have to hope for improvement.

 

 

 

Rowand is 27 years old.... Please see this link and tell me again what the outlier is...

 

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/R/aaron-rowand.shtml

 

What has he ever done to make you think he still has "potential" and can come anywhere near replicating his 2004?

 

sheeesh.

 

Also, IMO, I doubt the Sox trade Pods unless Jerry Owens is ready to be that lead-off guy and LF'er.

 

4/9ths of your starting line-up in 2007? Owens-Young-Anderson with Sweeney at 1B? Who knows?

[Balta1701]

 

Rowand is 27 years old....  Please see this link and tell me again what the outlier is...

The outlier seems to me to be the 2002 season, the only season during which his OPS was more than 100 points away from his career average. His .742 OPS this season is also a fair amount lower than his career average, and even lower than his 2003 number.

[ZoomSlowik]

I've seen a lot of stuff on here, and I gotta post. First subject: Rafael Furcal. I highly doubt he ends up here, and frankly I think it'd be a waste of money. Yeah, his overall numbers look pretty good, but look a little deeper. He's hitting far worse on the road than he is at home (.246 to .319). He's done this before too. In 2004 he hit .267 on the road and .292 at home. In 2003 he hit .283 and .302, and in 02 it was .267 and .283. So three of the last four years he's been a pedestrian hitter outside of Turner Field. Why? Because although their park is less favorable to homerun hitters, it helps guys like Furcal because there is more space to bloop in hits. Put him in US Cellular and he'll lose some of those hits because the outfielders have less ground to cover, albiet he might hit a few more homers. Also, he's been fairly good in the field this year, committing only 15 errors, but in the 3 previous years it was 24, 31, and 27, with fielding percentages down around .96. He's not that good a defender, and he's far from an elite hitter. So why should we give him $8-$10 million? It just doesn't make much sense. It's better than the Orlando Cabrera fiasco last offseason, but I still think we could find better ways to spend money.

 

Getting Delgado or Teixeira would be huge, but I'm not sure how likely either is. They just signed Delgado, so I doubt they dump him already. Maybe in another year or two, but not now. If we got Teixeira, we'd have to give up a ton of talent, and then deal with Scott Boras. I find that highly unlikely. If someone were to be moved, it would probably be Soriano, who's defense and lack of walks are hard to swallow.

 

I like the ideas of getting Chad Tracy or Lyle Overbay, but I don't like getting both of them. I think we need to resign Pauly. He's been our most dangerous hitter for long stretches of time. Plus, we're not hearing all of these ridiculous demands like we did from Maggs last year, meaning I think he'll be more reasonable. It sounds like he wants to stay hear, meaning I don't think it'll necessarily take the $12 mil that some have thrown around. I also wouldn't mind Adam Dunn. He's likely to somewhat reasonable to get. I don't like the BA or the K's, but it's hard to argue with his OBP, and he could hit 50 in the Cell. He'd look pretty good in the 3 hole. I wouldn't mind Aubrey Huff either. I know he had an off year, but he still has 21 HR and 89 RBI, and this is the first year in a while he's hit under .290. Plus I like his versatility. He can backup at the corner OF, 1B, and 3B (sparingly since he isn't exactly Brooks Robinson over there), and DH when not playing any of those spots. The only problem with him is that their GM is insane, but if we can get him without touching one of our starters, I'd do it. Brian Giles is another guy I like a lot, but there's the whole "where would he play?!" thing like with Griffey. However, the guy is still hitting around .300, walks a ton, and probably got robbed of quite a few homers in that park. Since he's not as big or hot a name as he used to be, so someone might be able to steal him. I'd love to see him here. He could play all the outfield spots occasionally and DH when he isn't doing that.

 

As for our guys, I think we need to keep both Juan and Rowand for their defensive capabilities. Both are among the better fielders at their position. Rowand has saved a ton of extra-base hits with his defense. Plus I don't see his offense as that much of a problem. Our bigger offenders on offense are Everett, Uribe, and Crede. At least one of them has to go. Adding someone like Tracy, Overbay, or a healthy Frank as the DH instead of Everett should help a ton. Frankly I wouldn't care either way on Bill Mueller/Crede. Mueller has virtually no power and is average at best at 3rd, while Crede can't take a walk and has a much lower average.

 

Obviously we need to trade Hernandez for whatever we can get to open up a roster spot for McCarthy. I wouldn't move any of the other guys unless we can get an impact bat for him though (like the previously mentioned Delgado and Teixeira). If we did that we'd probably have to grab some bargain basement guy to fill in the 5th starter role, which isn't exactly high on my list. I expect our roster to look very similar, with the exception of another bat for the DH spot.

Edited September 27, 2005 by ZoomSlowik

[Randar68]

The outlier seems to me to be the 2002 season, the only season during which his OPS was more than 100 points away from his career average.  His .742 OPS this season is also a fair amount lower than his career average, and even lower than his 2003 number.

 

His career OPS including this season, in the majors, is less than .800. His 2004 .905 OPS is WAY out of line with that.

 

Year___AB's___OPS

2001___123___.816

2002___302___.692

2003___157___.779

2004___487___.905

2005___561___.742

 

 

Again, what's the outlier? Basically a ~.750 OPS player? Heck, we'll give him the benefit of the doubt... he's an .800 OPS CF'er with no base-stealing ability, limited power, lot's of K's, and no walks...

 

What the heck you gonna do with that?

 

You can't build an OF'er around a player like that, not when you have multiple viable options within 18 months of being MLB-ready... If you don't want to carry Rowand as a 4th OF'er, trade him... Heck, the Yankees need a CF'er and we know how Aaron played in Yankee Stadium...

[Balta1701]

While we do have multiple viable options, I'm not sure that they're a.) within 18 months of being MLB Ready, and b.) not going to be busy replacing other outfield spots.

 

Remember...of the 3 outfielders we have right now, I believe Dye's contract is up the soonest (save Everett). In other words, just for free agent reasons, he'll need replaced first. (and the odds are his injury history may well catch up with him next season too). That takes up 1 viable option. Secondly...Podsednik is still a fairly big question mark, in that if he can't steal bases, he's pretty much useless as a leadoff hitter and a detriment to our lineup.

 

Rowand right now is the least of our concerns in the outfield. If someone offers something ridiculously good for him, sure I'd take it, but we're going to have other holes to fill in the outfield before we need to worry about Rowand.

[fathom]

Rowand's a perfect outfielder if you have an above average offense besides him. The problem is that between him, Uribe, and Crede, you have three guys who are more defensive players than they are offensive. That's fine and dandy in the NL, but in the AL, you have to be able to score.

[Balta1701]

And Fathom, that also ignores the fact that all 3 of those guys should be better offensive players than they have been this year. Just to toss that in...each one of them should be better than they have been (Ditto AJ).

 

Not just talking historical production...mainly just in terms of potential ability and what we've seen those guys do in stretches.

Edited September 27, 2005 by Balta1701