Off-Season Suggestion Thread

[SkokieSox]

Anyone see us making a run on Lowe? I can see KW picking up another starter this offseason.

[beck72]

Anyone see us making a run on Lowe? I can see KW picking up another starter this offseason.

I see KW adding another SP via trade. But not Lowe.

[whitesoxbrian]

Anyone see us making a run on Lowe? I can see KW picking up another starter this offseason.

I thought the same thing until I realized his agent is Boras. Then all those hopes and dreams went down the poop-shoot.

[Whitewashed in '05]

So long as Gavin keeps the ERA down, I could care less how many runners steal bases against him.

That ERA would go down with less runners in scoring position. It really doesn't matter though, he's just very slow to the plate.

 

Those walks need to go down though.

[Frank the Tank 35]

Sheets isn't going to go for an incentives-based deal, he will want guarantees and he will get them from some crazy GM/owner combination.

 

Second, Bill Hall is a disaster defensively...good idea, but it's generally better to try to find an undervauled player who's young and has upside rather than a player on the wrong side of 30. However, I don't think he would cost as much as some think, and he would be perfect for the Uribe "supersub" role, having the versatility to play most infield and outfield positions (albeit not very well!!)

 

I don't think the Royals are going to have any incentive to trade us a potential starter in Teahen/Joe Randa Lite. Yes, Gordon's ensconced over there (although he could move to 1B if Shealy flops again) for now...and Teahen doesn't have the power for a corner outfield spot. Neither does DeJesus, to be honest. I think the odds of him being dealt to another team in the division are minimal at best. He's not a journeyman reliever, he's a decent player with doubles power who very easily could have a bounceback season batting in a line-up where there is a lot more protection all around him...that makes a big difference (Dye/Thome/Konerko/Quentin versus Jose Guillen and Alex Gordon to protect you!)

 

Finally, I have so-so confidence at best in the names you mentioned (Contreras, Poreda, Broadway, Richard) having a huge impact on the rotation next year. Maybe I'll be proven wrong. I think Poreda needs one more season to work on his command/control and offspeed stuff...Richard is ideally the 2nd lefty out of the pen...Contreras, the rest might be great for his arm, but I'm not sure his aging lower body can survive another season with all the weight you put on an Achilles'/ankle. Fingers crossed on that one.

 

I agree Hall is horrible defensively at third. (Psst, he's 28...) And I'd love to find a young, undervalued player in the mold of Quentin, but c'mon, how likely is that? How long did it take just to land TCQ? We're not going to be able to find and acquire a player like that every year. We'd be lucky to do so every decade. So let's put aside the delusions of finding the next one. I think he fits the mold as a buy-low and as a fallback/sub to 3B and CF, Hall would provide some pop and possibly more with a change of scenery.

 

With Moustakas likely coming up sometime next year, it just pushes Teahen further out of the picture. Playing him in a corner OF spot doesn't make any sense. A corner OF who posted a .715 OPS last year with little speed shouldn't have a starting job. Granted that's down from .763 last year and .874 two years ago. And, yes, he could have a bounceback season. That's why I mentioned him. That IS what you're looking for isn't it? Young guys who have upside??

 

The SP names I mentioned were for the eventuality of Sheets midseason injury. You know, guys who could be ready to contribute mid-way through next year in the likely event Sheets would have to miss a month. And I know owners are ridiculous and sometimes throw far too many dollars and years at SPs, but if Sheets gets more than $12-13M/yr and 4yrs guaranteed, this world has gone insane. I could see escalators and incentives taking it up to $16-17M per with up to two option years tacked on. But with his history of injury, any team paying more than that is fiscally irresponsible especially in today's economy.

 

This isn't my IDEAL offseason. My ideal offseason is comprised of ridiculous trades and signings of players like CC, McLouth, Roberts, Hardy, etc. This is just a realistic view of what I think would be likely to happen, and I'd be fine with that. We'll probably make one big FA signing, one decent sized trade, and then the rest would be buy-low/filler type acquisitions.

[ILMOU]

We'll probably make one big FA signing, one decent sized trade, and then the rest would be buy-low/filler type acquisitions.

 

That sounds about right to me. Maybe two trades.

 

Things may fall like dominoes after the Texiera situation is resolved.

[caulfield12]

But would Tampa really want someone with Dye's lack of range playing on artificial turf (including TOR and MIN) around 90-95 games per season? With Jermaine's history, it seems a recipe for disaster. Granted, he has been very healthy with us for the last four years, but you can't expect that to last forever realistically.

 

I think TB knows that the key to winning is pitching, speed and defense for them, and they have enough pop with Pena and Longoria. Of course, they'd be better off with Dye playing instead of Baldelli or Fernando Perez...but I think JD's most valuable to the Sox because of our stadium. And I doubt he would fetch both a quality/young/affordable starting pitcher and one of the most reliable RH relievers in the game today (especially in the post-season).

 

Would MIL really want to take on $15 million in salaries for veterans, give up a popular/younger player in Hardy who plays the most important position on the diamond (along with catcher and CF)...I mean, if you want to make Dotel the closer, fine, but MIL paying $6.5 million for a set-up guy who has shades of Eric Gagne written all over him is unlikely. Yeah, I know that Octavio's K/IP ratio was amazing, but his performance in really crucial situations over the second half of the season left a LOT to be desired. I also think Escobar SHOULD be a good/great player, but as we know with prospects (see Andy Marte or Brandon Wood), just assuming someone will take over a position for 5-6 years is fraught with peril at times. An Escobar failure or return to AAA leaves MIL looking silly for dealing Hardy.

 

Paying an aging/injury-prone Furcal more than anyone on the roster (especially the likes of Konerko, Dye, Buehrle, who got us WS rings and signed for below market value to an extent) seems to be an ill-advised move. I know the back end of the contract evens it out a little bit, but this doesn't seem like a KW move to me at all, in terms of the financial underpinning of the deal. Thome's deal is close, but we're getting the "subsidy" to lower that $16 million by around half, correct?

 

Like the Garcia move better than most pitching options out there.

Edited October 30, 2008 by caulfield12

[DBAHO]

The more I look at it, the more I think Dye could well end up in SF this off-season.

 

They're desperate for a power hitter, and I think they would certainly love to have JD or even Konerko (considering his 2nd half of the season).

 

The problem is, what would we want for either. Would love Matt Cain, but he has thrown a lot of innings for a young pitcher and he's arbitration eligible IIRC. Jonathan Sanchez was another guy I'd look at, but he an absolute terrible 2nd half.

 

Also if the Dodgers can't re-sign Manny, do you think they'd have a look at JD possibly as a replacement?

[Balta1701]

Also if the Dodgers can't re-sign Manny, do you think they'd have a look at JD possibly as a replacement?

I've thought the Dodgers and the Sox were a matchup for JD for the last 2-3 years and that move hasn't happened. For that quality of RF power hitter, the Sox are going to want something valuable, and from the Dodgers, the guys that might interest us are most notably Billingsly and Kershaw, and somehow, I REALLY doubt they're moving either of those 2 to fill their RF spot after spending $18 million on Jones.

 

They might be willing to part with Elbert if they get desperate, but I don't know if the Sox would think that's enough.

[ThunderBolt]

With Moustakas likely coming up sometime next year, it just pushes Teahen further out of the picture.

Moustakas is a SS/3B, Teahen remains very much in the picture. The general consensus of opinion is that Aviles will shift to 2b to make room for the kid in a year or two.