Off-Season Suggestion Thread

[Frank the Tank 35]

I don't get all of this attention that Nate McClouth is getting. He's had one good season! I'm sure he has great potential going into the future, but I just don't see that the farm is worth him. Besides that I think this is a good post. I like most of the ideas you shared with us. The only thing is if we trade Dye to the Angels I think we should get Figgins/Adenhart/lower level prospect back for him. Then sign Freddy for the 4th or 5th spot.

 

How many trades can you remember the Pirates winning? I think the last one was the Todd Richie trade. They owe us one. It probably won't happen, but it would be easier than trying to trade for Sizemore. In limited time last year, he had an OPS of .810. This year, his first full season as a starter, his OPS was .853 playing center field with 23 SBs in 26 attempts. When was the last time the Sox traded for a superstar at the peak of his performance? Oh, and before this gets out of hand, the correct spelling of his last name is, "McLouth."

[RockRaines]

Suggestions are fun and all, but prefer to be realistic. KW isnt going to tear apart a team that almost won 90 games and has good chemistry. He also isnt going to rape other GM's on these ridiculous trades. He sees a few holes and will fill them without paying top dollar.

 

We all know he has his eye on Hudson so that may happen. I think he signs a fringe starter for a lower price like Freddy to fill the 5th starter spot. If he trade Javy to the Brewers for JJ Hardy to play SS then obviously he will either have an internal audition for the role or he will probably trade someone for another reclamation or fringe starter. He'll prob sign a project pen guy, possibly a utility guy and will give Fields his chance at 3B. I dont see any huge name stars or big trades coming back to the Sox, so I wouldnt get your hopes up of a ridiculously revamped lineup.

[RockRaines]

That definitely makes our starting rotation worse.

 

Pedro and Contreras are garbage.

 

Trust me, I'd love to have Wright but who are we kidding lets keep this in the realm of realism, Floyd and Fields is just not enough for David.

And Konerko and Javy are not nearly enough for that package with the Angels

[GoSox05]

I don't think the team will change all that much. I would like to see a better utility player and some more speed. Maybe adding one bullpen guy too.

[SouthsideDon48]

Here's some moves that I would like Kenny to do:

 

Scenario 1:

 

*Trade Javier Vazquez to the Houston Astros (he wants to play close to home) for Ty Wigginton and Wandy Rodriguez or Brandon Backe.

 

*Then trade a package of Lance Broadway, Mike MacDougal, and Chris Getz for JJ Hardy.

 

*Sign free agent starting pitcher Randy Wolf.

 

*Sign free agent relief pitcher Juan Cruz.

 

*Trade Paul Konerko to the Angels for Chone Figgins and a prospect.

 

*Trade Jim Thome for anything and keep Ken Griffey Jr.

 

Lineup:

2B: Figgins

SS: Hardy

LF: Quentin

RF: Dye

DH: Griffey

CF: Ramirez

1B: Swisher

C: Pierzynski

3B: Wigginton

 

Bench: Wise, Fields, Anderson, Uribe, Hall

 

Rotation:

1. Buehrle

2. Floyd

3. Danks

4. Wolf

5. W. Rodriguez-or-Backe

 

Bullpen:

Jenks

Linebrink

Thornton

Dotel

Cruz

Richard

 

 

 

Scenario 2:

*Sign free agent Orlando Hudson.

 

plus other roster moves.

 

 

 

 

[Countrysox2]

I have lots of ideas of how i wish things would go this offseason, though whats fun is you never know what kenny will do, its always something nobody has on their radar and usually ends up being really good for the sox and bad for the other team

[Chet Lemon]

I would like to see Dye moved, but only for the right package. Some potential trading partners would include teams that are in win-now mode, have money to spend, and have a young player that they don't necessarily have room for on their big club (e.g. Quentin-type find). This player would best fit the team if he were either an OF, 2B, or 3B.

 

Does such a player exist, and could they be had for a package centered around Dye?

[DaGame]

I would like to see Dye moved, but only for the right package. Some potential trading partners would include teams that are in win-now mode, have money to spend, and have a young player that they don't necessarily have room for on their big club (e.g. Quentin-type find). This player would best fit the team if he were either an OF, 2B, or 3B.

 

Does such a player exist, and could they be had for a package centered around Dye?

Dye to the Angels for Figgins, Adenhart, and another prospect.

[caulfield12]

You're dreaming.

 

Imagine the Tigers offered Curtis Granderson (who's about twice as valuable as Dye at this point because of the position he plays, his age, and contract status) for Alexei Ramirez, Aaron Poreda and another prospect. What would your reaction be?

 

While Alexei (this season at least) is a better player than Figgins, past performance is not always an indicator of future returns.

 

Would ANY White Sox fan want to make that deal? Well, that's basically what you're asking the Angels for "renting" a player for one year at age 35.

 

[moochpuppy]

Sox Subtract:

Orlando Cabrera - he gone

Joe Crede - he gone

Juan Uribe - he gone

Ken Griffey Jr - he gone

Mike MacDougal - he gone

 

Sox Add:

Orlando Hudson, 2B FA

Hank Blalock, 3B (could be FA if Texas declines option, if not trade for him with a package that includes Fields)

Randy Wolf, SP

 

2009 Lineup:

Orlando Hudson, 2B

AJ Pierzynski, C

Jermaine Dye, RF

Carlos Quentin, LF

Jim Thome, DH

Alexi Ramirez, SS

Hank Blalock, 3B

Paul Konerko, 1B

Nick Swisher, CF

 

2009 Rotation:

Mark Buehrle

John Danks

Javier Vazquez

Gavin Floyd

Jose Contreras/Clayton Richard/Randy Wolf

Edited October 7, 2008 by moochpuppy

[caulfield12]

Who in God's name are we going to trade to get the franchise player (along with Longoria) of the newly-popular Rays???

 

Crawford for our entire minor league system? I know he's not THAT good, but I think Rocco Baldelli or Johnny Gomes are much more realistic targets....especially Baldelli. I think if the Rays won the WS, getting Crawford would be more difficult than trading for Ichiro or A-Rod.

 

The only way we could do that is if we traded them Jenks...and made Thornton or Dotel closer.

 

Our best trade pieces (Quentin...well, he's also a LFer, Poreda, they have five starters and David Price already...Fields (Longoria, nope) and Ramirez (Iwamura, nope again)...maybe if the offer was Jenks and Dye (to move to DH/RF), they would do the deal.

 

That puts Swisher in LF, Crawford in CF (where has he a weak arm), Quentin in RF. Or Swisher in RF, Quentin in LF and Crawford in CF. Or Crawford in LF, Swisher in CF and Quentin in RF. The problem is that none of those are perfect combinations, the first one being the best option IMO. It also gives us the speed we need at the top of the order and another LH bat.

 

But we're paying a HEAVY price to give up Jenks with no obvious replacement and just hoping Dotel/Thornton/Linebrink can get it done.

Edited October 7, 2008 by caulfield12

[WilliamTell]

Does anyone think the Angels will try to resign Teixeira? Because if they did there's no reason for them to want Konerko. I don't know what Garret Anderson's contract is like, but he's basically Mr. Angel. Hunter just signed a deal last year, Guerrero will still be there. I think Matthews still has a contract going into next year.

[moochpuppy]

Who in God's name are we going to trade to get the franchise player (along with Longoria) of the newly-popular Rays???

 

Crawford for our entire minor league system? I know he's not THAT good, but I think Rocco Baldelli or Johnny Gomes are much more realistic targets....especially Baldelli. I think if the Rays won the WS, getting Crawford would be more difficult than trading for Ichiro or A-Rod.

 

Crawford is a free agent.

 

[moochpuppy]

Crawford is a free agent.

 

Nevermind. I was looking at an old list and the Rays have already exercised a club option for 2009.

 

[caulfield12]

Does anyone think the Angels will try to resign Teixeira? Because if they did there's no reason for them to want Konerko. I don't know what Garret Anderson's contract is like, but he's basically Mr. Angel. Hunter just signed a deal last year, Guerrero will still be there. I think Matthews still has a contract going into next year.

 

I would guess there's about an 85-90% probability that Garret Anderson is gone...the club has that major issue in the offseason, along with losing K-Rod and Tex probably.

 

They have Mathews, Jr., still long-term, Hunter long-term, Guerrero, Willits and Juan Rivera for depth. I think they will either cut his salary 20% or let him go...will be interesting to see what happens, he's obviously a very popular player in the Tim Salmon/Wally Joyner mold in Angels' lore.

 

[Cali]

For 3B, here's my wish list:

 

1.) Sign Casey Blake. Though he may have priced himself out of the Sox range with his stellar play in LA.

 

2.) Trade for Adrian Beltre. His glove is already solid, and I think a change of scenery/playing in The Cell will ignite him. Plus I'm sure playing for a Latin manager might help. he seems like the kind of player where that would make a difference...

 

And if all else fails

 

3.) Re-sign Uribe at a lower price and hopefully like 30 lbs less

[maggsmaggs]

I really think KW thinks this team is ready for long-sustained success with a couple of moves here and there. I think he is going to be very aggressive this off-season and go out and make a big move or two, or make a big splash in free agency.

[Vance Law]

Thome was actually 1 of 4 players on the Sox to post a .300+ AVG with runners in scoring position this season. He also led the club in OPS with runners in scoring position and runners in scoring position with 2 outs situations.

 

 

Your post was long on actual facts, but short on complaints and bad, ill-reasoned trade ideas. What is it doing here?

[bigruss]

Now, I have no idea what actual value these guys hold, but here we go....

 

Lineup

 

Figgins 3b

Roberts 2b

TCQ RF

Dye LF

Thome DH

Konerko 1b

Ramirez SS

AJ C

Swisher CF

 

Bench

 

Anderson

Wise

Lucy/Armstrong

Getz

Bourgeouis (SP? geez thats a hard name to remember)

 

Rotation

 

MB

GF

JDanks

Vasquez

Richard/Contreras/Unexpected FA or in system replacement

 

Bullpen

 

Jenks

Linebrink

Thorton

Carrasco

Russell

Broadway (maybe in system guys, like Link, etc)

 

Trades Needed:

For Figgins, we give up Poreda, and maybe another prospect like Shelby

For Roberts, we give up Fields and some other prospects like Shelby, Ely, whatever

 

Trade Dotel for prospects (those can be used to complement those other trades or we can keep them)

 

Payroll would have to increase, but we have a ton of guys making league min, which helps a ton. Im not sure about Floyd, Jenks, and others with Arb tho, htat could affect alot when it comes to payroll and the options to mess around with it.

 

To me, if we can get that team, is a serious WS contender, but then again, Im not sure what our prospects are actually worth, and what those teams will demand.

[caulfield12]

The problem with trading Dotel is...

 

1) He actually looked like he had better stuff down the stretch, at least in the playoffs.

2) We have very little RH depth if Linebrink goes down again...

3) Unless Adam Russell is trusted to take this spot

4) Wasserman, Carrasco, etc. are better as 5th-7th inning guys or situational relievers

 

I'm all for getting someone like Chad Bradford. Dude is unscored upon in 17 playoff appearances with 5 different teams (I think he did allow an inherited runner to score against us in 2000 in the SEA ALDS). But would you have rather have Bradford at $6.5 million or Dotel? I guess if you don't have enough trust/confidence, then you say Bradford.

 

However, other GM's are more enamored with "stuff" set-up guys, and even though Dotel's lucky to touch 94 these days, he will have had one more off-season to recover from all his injury problems, and a relatively healthy full-season to build off of. The strikeout/IP ratio is a killer one...with some of his late-inning debacles, you wonder when he racked up all those impressive stats sometimes.

[Soxbadger]

I really doubt that the Angels have any interest in trading Figgins for Konerko.

 

Aging power hitters are pretty cheap and easy to come by, so not sure why the Angels are going to take Konerko off our hands when hes coming off a pretty bad season.

 

My guess is that Thome and Konerko would bring slightly more than Ken Griffey cost, so thats Masset and Richar.

 

Figgins had a .367 obp last year and .390 obp the year before.

 

Some how I doubt the Angels are just going to give him away for old players who are on the downside of their career and are over paid.

 

 

[whitesoxbrian]

Someone mentioned Melky Cabrera in another thread. I don't think we need a bigtime CF brought in, and in that case, Melky fits the bill.

[Chet Lemon]

I would like to see Russ Springer come on board for 1-year deal if here were willing to take that. Sure, he is old, but would be optimal primarily against righties. He would be a huge upgrade over Wassermann in this department.

[demonbluess]

1. Fire Greg Walker. I've had it with our streaky hitting veterans. Just because we have a veteran ball club that has found success in the past doing it their way (Konerko, Thome, Cabrera, Swisher, etc.), doesn't mean that they shouldn't be open to teaching and making necessary adjustments. Every season, despite our sometimes goudy and impressive offensive numbers, I can't help but think how much more we are capable of. Hell, if 2 guys in the starting 9 could actually lay down a bunt, we might have scored well over 20 more runs this season.

 

2. Figgins at 3B, make it happen. Pretty self explanatory. Crede is probably out and Fields was a dissapoinment this past season.

 

3. JJ Hardy at SS, Cabrera out.

 

4. Re-assess pitching staff. Find a middle of the road 5th starter and a good number 2-3 guy. Vasquez out.

 

5. Griffey out. Find a CF or platoon Swisher/Anderson (god forbid).

[caulfield12]

We better get a really good defensive 2B and hope that Alexei makes a solid transition to SS or we'll be in real trouble defensively with Figgins at 3B.

 

Has anyone watched him this post-season?

 

My concern is what if we do bring in Hudson/Roberts and Alexei has tons of trouble at SS? Do we then have to move Ramirez to 3B and start Rob Valido or Chris Getz. (I'm joking, a little.)

 

By the way, I think Ramirez will be fine no matter where he ends up, he's just a "player" no matter what where you stick him. I think he could also catch and pitch better than Wasserman/MacDougal/Ramirez/Logan.

 

 

Edited October 8, 2008 by caulfield12