Rocco Baldelli , Shea Hillebrand

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

No I haven't heard any rumors that links the Sox with these 2. Hillebrand is trying to make a comeback as a corner infielder/DH and 6 teams are showing interest in Baldelli as a backup outfielder. Could the White Sox be one of them ? Couldn't hurt to invite Hillebrand to camp and give him a look and Baldelli though battling Mitochondrial disease is still fairly athletic. Thoughts ?

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/ Follow the links in MLB Trade rumors for write-ups about both.

Edited November 9, 2008 by CaliSoxFanViaSWside

[Dick Allen]

No I haven't heard any rumors that links the Sox with these 2. Hillebrand is trying to make a comeback as a corner infielder/DH and 6 teams are showing interest in Baldelli as a backup outfielder. Could the White Sox be one of them ? Couldn't hurt to invite Hillebrand to camp and give him a look and Baldelli though battling Mitochondrial disease is still fairly athletic. Thoughts ?

Baldelli has a tough time playing a whole game. Hillebrand is a cancer. No thanks to both.

[rockren]

Baldelli has a tough time playing a whole game. Hillebrand is a cancer. No thanks to both.

 

Agreed

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

Baldelli has a tough time playing a whole game. Hillebrand is a cancer. No thanks to both.

I didn't think Baldelli was worth it either til I saw how he did in the against the Sox and in WS. He's still fast and a good fielder He's a free agent and probably won't get more than $1-2 mil a year. To dismiss Hillebrand as a cancer would be rash. Couldn't hurt to give him a tryout if we're looking at Fields to open ST.

 

The article says their are 6 other teams interested in Rocco so if they're satisfied that he can play back up OF why wouldnt the Sox. Speed, power and defense off the bench for cheap.

[Kyyle23]

I didn't think Baldelli was worth it either til I saw how he did in the against the Sox and in WS. He's still fast and a good fielder He's a free agent and probably won't get more than $1-2 mil a year. To dismiss Hillebrand as a cancer would be rash. Couldn't hurt to give him a tryout if we're looking at Fields to open ST.

 

The article says their are 6 other teams interested in Rocco so if they're satisfied that he can play back up OF why wouldnt the Sox. Speed, power and defense off the bench for cheap.

 

Do a google search of Rocco Baldelli + Mitochondrial Disorder. Then look at the symptoms of his Mitochondrial Disorder

[santo=dorf]

Hillenbrand is garbage. He lost some of his power, is slow, is bad defensively, and couldn't draw a walk if his life depended on it. Right now he's about equal to an injured Crede even with his defense.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

Do a google search of Rocco Baldelli + Mitochondrial Disorder. Then look at the symptoms of his Mitochondrial Disorder

Already did a while back . Did you tell that to the 6 other teams interested in Baldelli ? That's why I wasn't originally interested but he didn't lose the disease when he hit 2 HR's in the WS and scored from 1st base on a long single against the White Sox in the playoffs. He's still a better hitter and fielder with the disease than Wise and probably Anderson.

Edited November 9, 2008 by CaliSoxFanViaSWside

[Dick Allen]

I didn't think Baldelli was worth it either til I saw how he did in the against the Sox and in WS. He's still fast and a good fielder He's a free agent and probably won't get more than $1-2 mil a year. To dismiss Hillebrand as a cancer would be rash. Couldn't hurt to give him a tryout if we're looking at Fields to open ST.

 

The article says their are 6 other teams interested in Rocco so if they're satisfied that he can play back up OF why wouldnt the Sox. Speed, power and defense off the bench for cheap.

While I like Rocco and wish him the best, the Sox have enough OF's. Unfortunately, he could be done at any time. Hillebrand is a known ass.

[Kyyle23]

Already did a while back . Did you tell that to the 6 other teams interested in Baldelli ? That's why I wasn't originally interested but he didn't lose the disease when he hit 2 HR's in the WS and scored from 1st base on a long single against the White Sox in the playoffs. He's still a better hitter and fielder with the disease than Wise and probably Anderson.

 

The guy cannot play consistently. The Rays subbed him in and out for the whole series. I could honestly care less about other teams being interested in him, it doesnt change the fact that he is now a part time player because of his disease. Let someone else pay him to be a sub

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

Hillenbrand is garbage. He lost some of his power, is slow, is bad defensively, and couldn't draw a walk if his life depended on it. Right now he's about equal to an injured Crede even with his defense.

Yep you're right . I wasn't penciling him as opening day 3rd sacker just throwing his name out there as an option should all else fail. I know even Fields is the better option . Still might give him a look see for a minor league contract.

Edited November 9, 2008 by CaliSoxFanViaSWside

[Kalapse]

Already did a while back . Did you tell that to the 6 other teams interested in Baldelli ? That's why I wasn't originally interested but he didn't lose the disease when he hit 2 HR's in the WS and scored from 1st base on a long single against the White Sox in the playoffs. He's still a better hitter and fielder with the disease than Wise and probably Anderson.

Do you know what it means for a team to be "interested" in a player? A reporter, say Joe Cowley, walks past Kenny Williams at the GM meetings and asks in passing "does that Rocco Baldelli interest you at all?" KW responds "Yeah, sure." and it shows up in the papers the next day: "White Sox show interest in free agent outfielder, Baldelli." Or a reporter asks a few GMs if they'd entertain the idea of maybe thinking about discussing the possibility of having internal discussions regarding perhaps talking to a Rocco Baldelli about signing a minor league deal with their club perchance, the next day's headline: "Rocco Baldelli Draws Interest from 6 Teams."

 

It's a clusterf*** of hyperbole.

[Wanne]

It's a clusterf*** of hyperbole.

 

LOL...well said.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

Do you know what it means for a team to be "interested" in a player? A reporter, say Joe Cowley, walks past Kenny Williams at the GM meetings and asks in passing "does that Rocco Baldelli interest you at all?" KW responds "Yeah, sure." and it shows up in the papers the next day: "White Sox show interest in free agent outfielder, Baldelli." Or a reporter asks a few GMs if they'd entertain the idea of maybe thinking about discussing the possibility of having internal discussions regarding perhaps talking to a Rocco Baldelli about signing a minor league deal with their club perchance, the next day's headline: "Rocco Baldelli Draws Interest from 6 Teams."

 

It's a clusterf*** of hyperbole.

I'm not some rube who just started following baseball. I honestly believe Baldelli will sign a ML contract for maybe $1 mill. and be productive . Probably more productive than Wise and Anderson in 09. Though I certainly hope not. Even if all 6 teams that showed interest did it in the way you describe that's means they didn't dismiss the idea entirely based on him having the disease unless they were being PC.

Edited November 10, 2008 by CaliSoxFanViaSWside

[elrockinMT]

I didn't think Baldelli was worth it either til I saw how he did in the against the Sox and in WS. He's still fast and a good fielder He's a free agent and probably won't get more than $1-2 mil a year. To dismiss Hillebrand as a cancer would be rash. Couldn't hurt to give him a tryout if we're looking at Fields to open ST.

 

The article says their are 6 other teams interested in Rocco so if they're satisfied that he can play back up OF why wouldnt the Sox. Speed, power and defense off the bench for cheap.

 

 

I am thinking we have our own options for a sub OF'er. Not to take anything away from Baldelli, but why spend a few million on a reserve when you have good players at the ML minimum?

[caulfield12]

I am thinking we have our own options for a sub OF'er. Not to take anything away from Baldelli, but why spend a few million on a reserve when you have good players at the ML minimum?

 

 

Well, I think $2.25 million for Baldelli would be a better allocation of resources than the same amount for Toby Hall. At least Baldelli theoretically could get into games more frequently and could be used as a pinch-runner more effectively than Wise or Anderson. Just saying.

 

However, yeah...$2.25 million could be spent a lot of other ways too. So could the money we are spending on MacDougal. But I better there are a lot of teams out there (think LA Dodgers with Pierre and Andruw Jones to start) with exponentially worse contracts on the books than MacDougal and Contreras.

 

Many thought the size of Juan Uribe's contract was sort of a waste until it suddenly wasn't the final two months of the season. That turned out to be one of KW's smartest moves (maybe by accident, maybe intentionally...although I can't think he knew 1) Crede would be reinjured and 2) Fields would dramatically regress) of the offseason, and it looked like the most illogical/ill-considered at the time. Then again, KW probably signed him with the idea of starting at 2B, not having a true gauge for how good Ramirez would become as early as June, 2008.