The bad contract game

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

Another idea if we could get Adrian for prospects:

 

Konerko ($12M) + Linebrink ($5M in 10, $5.5M in 11) for Affeldt ($4M in 10) + Rowand ($12M in 10-12) + cash in 2012

 

Sox would cut $1M off the payroll. Affeldt would be the lefty setup man if Thornton becomes the closer, or else Affeldt would be the 2nd lefty. Rowand becomes our RF in 2011 for basically $6.5M if you consider Linebrink a sunk cost. In 2012, the Sox get about $5-6M cash from the Giants to make Rowand's deal worth it.

 

The Giants OTOH would get out of about $12M in commitments to Rowand while upgrading 1B in 2010.

 

S Crisp LF (if we do sign him)

R Beckham 2B

L Gonzalez 1B

R Quentin DH

L Pierzynski C

R Rios CF

L Teahen 3B

R Rowand RF

R Ramirez SS

[balfanman]

Another idea if we could get Adrian for prospects:

 

Konerko ($12M) + Linebrink ($5M in 10, $5.5M in 11) for Affeldt ($4M in 10) + Rowand ($12M in 10-12) + cash in 2012

 

Sox would cut $1M off the payroll. Affeldt would be the lefty setup man if Thornton becomes the closer, or else Affeldt would be the 2nd lefty. Rowand becomes our RF in 2011 for basically $6.5M if you consider Linebrink a sunk cost. In 2012, the Sox get about $5-6M cash from the Giants to make Rowand's deal worth it.

 

The Giants OTOH would get out of about $12M in commitments to Rowand while upgrading 1B in 2010.

 

S Crisp LF (if we do sign him)

R Beckham 2B

L Gonzalez 1B

R Quentin DH

L Pierzynski C

R Rios CF

L Teahen 3B

R Rowand RF

R Ramirez SS

 

I'm not the biggest Rowand fan either but he did put up some decent numbers in Philly and Pac Bell has not been kind to him the last couple of seasons. I would definitely be in favor of this deal as well. I basically think that getting Gonzales on this team, at almost any cost, is a huge upgrade and could put us over the top. Matthews or Rowand I think is better than any third outfioelder that we currently have.

 

1st base - Gonzales + outfield - Quentin, Rios, Matthews / Rowand >>>>>>> 1st base - Konerko + outfield - Quentin, Rios, ????

 

 

[caulfield12]

Another idea if we could get Adrian for prospects:

 

Konerko ($12M) + Linebrink ($5M in 10, $5.5M in 11) for Affeldt ($4M in 10) + Rowand ($12M in 10-12) + cash in 2012

 

Sox would cut $1M off the payroll. Affeldt would be the lefty setup man if Thornton becomes the closer, or else Affeldt would be the 2nd lefty. Rowand becomes our RF in 2011 for basically $6.5M if you consider Linebrink a sunk cost. In 2012, the Sox get about $5-6M cash from the Giants to make Rowand's deal worth it.

 

The Giants OTOH would get out of about $12M in commitments to Rowand while upgrading 1B in 2010.

 

S Crisp LF (if we do sign him)

R Beckham 2B

L Gonzalez 1B

R Quentin DH

L Pierzynski C

R Rios CF

L Teahen 3B

R Rowand RF

R Ramirez SS

 

 

The problem is that the way bullpen numbers always fluctuate, Linebrink might end up having another great year...losing Dotel, Jenks and Linebrink, it's scary to think of the RH side of the bullpen, and the bargain-basement approach just doesn't work on a consistent basis.

 

We have Carrasco and Pena, but I'd shudder to think what would happen if we had to fill those 2 spots with the likes of Santeliz, Jh. Nunez, Link, etc, or even worse, a veteran along the lines of Ed. Sierra, Jeff Nelson or Jose Paniagua. I can't remember his name off the top of my head, the former stud prospect with the Tigers and A's that we had at Charlotte last year, but we don't need any more reclamation projects.

 

It's amazing to think of the confluence of events that saw Shingo out the door, Hermanson/Politte/Cotts are dominating and then an impact arm in rookie Bobby Jenks arriving in the back end of the season. We've learned since 2005 that the stars and galaxy don't line up that way very often.

 

 

[Chicago White Sox]

Another idea if we could get Adrian for prospects:

 

Konerko ($12M) + Linebrink ($5M in 10, $5.5M in 11) for Affeldt ($4M in 10) + Rowand ($12M in 10-12) + cash in 2012

While having Affeldt as our second lefty in our pen would be nice, I don't think it's worth the offensive downgrade from Konerko to Rowand is worth it. In terms of 2010, I don't really see this trade helping us. If we sign Crisp, I'd much rather have Konerko be our DH, even if he's overpaid. Obviously, our defense would improve with Rowand in the outfield and Quentin as DH, but again, I don't think it's worth the decrease in offensive performance.

 

Also, I know Linebrink has been terrible at times during his first two seasons, but it seems like this trade is just an excuse for getting rid of his contract. I really don't mind letting Konerko's contract expire in 2010. We are going to need the money for the raises Danks, Floyd, Quentin, etc. will be getting. Plus if we acquire Gonzalez, we're obviously going to need a lot of spare cash if we plan on offering an extension. Moreso, I really don't see a benefit to having Rowand, even if it's just for $6.5 million in 2012. We already have a player in Rios whose optimal value is in CF. Additionally, one of our top prospects, Jordan Danks, should be in CF. I don't see the benefit of adding another outfielder whose ideal position is CF.

 

IMO, hope Linebrink has a solid 2010 and move him in the offseason. If you can move Konerko to free up cash for this year, while not taking on any money in the future, then by all means take the deal. However, I doubt it's possible without taking on a bad contract (like Rowand's), which doesn't make sense in the long-run.

[simba43]

While having Affeldt as our second lefty in our pen would be nice, I don't think it's worth the offensive downgrade from Konerko to Rowand is worth it. In terms of 2010, I don't really see this trade helping us. If we sign Crisp, I'd much rather have Konerko be our DH, even if he's overpaid. Obviously, our defense would improve with Rowand in the outfield and Quentin as DH, but again, I don't think it's worth the decrease in offensive performance.

 

Also, I know Linebrink has been terrible at times during his first two seasons, but it seems like this trade is just an excuse for getting rid of his contract. I really don't mind letting Konerko's contract expire in 2010. We are going to need the money for the raises Danks, Floyd, Quentin, etc. will be getting. Plus if we acquire Gonzalez, we're obviously going to need a lot of spare cash if we plan on offering an extension. Moreso, I really don't see a benefit to having Rowand, even if it's just for $6.5 million in 2012. We already have a player in Rios whose optimal value is in CF. Additionally, one of our top prospects, Jordan Danks, should be in CF. I don't see the benefit of adding another outfielder whose ideal position is CF.

 

IMO, hope Linebrink has a solid 2010 and move him in the offseason. If you can move Konerko to free up cash for this year, while not taking on any money in the future, then by all means take the deal. However, I doubt it's possible without taking on a bad contract (like Rowand's), which doesn't make sense in the long-run.

YOU maybe could trade Konarko if you eat say 4 to 5 mil of his contract say you trade him for a player with a contract at about 4mil being Affeldt and you ate 4 mil of konerko that leaves you with 4 mil to get a dh maybe have to add a mil or so then you filled 2 spots on your roster and 2 needs . All this assuming we traded for AGON .

[Texsox]

One caution, looking at a one or two year snap shot is not the entire picture. It could be said that some of these guys were underpaid for a couple early years on their contracts, and then are overpaid at the end. Guys will fall off towards the end of their careers, yet how many multi-year deals do we see with decreasing terms? In Paulie's case, the team is now paying back that "hometown" discount from the early part of his contract.

[striker]

Here's a list of most of the bad contracts in baseball. I left off bad deals that teams obviously aren't going to want to trade, like Torii Hunter, Jeter, etc. as well as bad deals where the trading team has already eaten a large portion of salary, making the deal no longer a bad one (like Lugo for example).

 

Of what is here, is there anything that makes sense for the Sox with Linebrink and Paulie? Is there anything that makes sense for another team? Some of these deals are better than others, but feel free to mix and match because they all suck.

 

C:

Jorge Posada 10:$13.1M, 11:$13.1M

Chris Snyder 10:$4.75M, 11:$5.75M, 12:$6.75M club option ($0.75M buyout)

 

1B/DH:

Travis Hafner 10:$11.5M, 11:$13M, 12:$13M, 13:$13M club option ($2.75M buyout)

Todd Helton 10:$16.6M/year, 11:$19.1M, 12:$23M club option ($4.6M buyout)

Paul Konerko 10: $12M

Mike Lowell 10:$12M

David Ortiz 10:$12.5M, 11:$12.5M club option (no buyout)

Lyle Overbay 10:$7M

 

2B/SS:

Luis Castillo 10:$6M, 11:$6M

Mark Ellis 10:$5.5M, 11:$6M club option ($0.5M buyout)

Christian Guzman 10:$8M

Edgar Renteria 10:$9M, 11:$10.5M club option ($0.5M buyout)

 

3B:

Eric Chavez 10:$12M, 11:$12.5M club option ($3M buyout)

Brandon Inge 10:$6.6M

Michael Young 10-13:$16M annually (total of $15M deferred)

 

OF:

Milton Bradley 10:$9M, 11:$12M

Pat Burrell 10:$9M

Eric Byrnes 10:$11M

JD Drew 10:$14M, 11:$14M

Kosuke Fukudome 10:$12.5M, 11:$13.5M, 12:$14M player option

Carlos Guillen 10:$13M, 11:$13M

Jose Guillen 10:$12M

Carlos Lee 10:$18.5M, 11:$18.5M, 12:$18.5M

Gary Matthews Jr 10:$11M, 11:$12M

Magglio Ordonez 10:$18M club option ($3M buyout), 11:$15M club option (no buyout)

Juan Pierre 10:$10M, 11:$8.5M

Manny Ramirez 10:$20M (voidable)

Aaron Rowand 10:$12M, 11:$12M, 12:$12M

Alfonso Soriano 10-14:$18M annually

Nick Swisher 10:$6.75M, 11:$9M, 12:$10.25M club option ($1M buyout)

Willy Taveras 10:$4M

Vernon Wells 10:$12.5M, 11:$23M, 12:$21M, 13:$21M, 14:$21M

Chris Young 10:$3.25M, 11:$5M, 12:$7M, 13:$8.5M, 14:$11M club option ($1.5M buyout)

 

SP:

Bronson Arroyo 10:$11M, 11:$11M club option ($2M buyout)

Jeremy Bonderman 10:$12.5M

Aaron Cook 10:$9M, 11:$9.25M, 12:$11M mutual option ($0.5M buyout)

Ryan Dempster 10:$12.5M, 11:$13.5M, 12:$14M player option

Aaron Harang 10:$12.5M, 11:$12.75M ($2M buyout)

Kyle Lohse 10:$8.875M, 11:$11.875M, 12:$11.875M

Derek Lowe 10:$15M, 11:$15M, 12:$15M

Kevin Millwood 10:$12M

Jamie Moyer 10:$6.5M

Oliver Perez 10:$12M, 11:$12M

Nate Robertson 10:$10M

Ervin Santana 10:$6M, 11:$8M, 12:$11.2M, 13:$13M club option ($1M buyout)

Carlos Silva 10:$11.5M, 11:$11.5M, 12:$12M mutual option ($2M buyout)

Jeff Suppan 10:$12.5M, 11:$12.75M club option ($2M buyout)

Jake Westbrook 10:$11M

Dontrelle Willis 10:$12M

Carlos Zambrano 10:$17.875M, 11:$17.875M, 12:$18M, 13:$19.25M vesting player option

Barry Zito 10:$18.5M, 11:$18.5M, 12:$19M, 13:$20M, 14:$18M club option ($7M buyout)

 

RP:

Francisco Cordero 10:$12M, 11:$12M, 12:$12M club option ($1M buyout)

Kyle Farnsworth 10:$4.5M, 11:$5.25M club option ($0.5M buyout)

Brad Lidge 10:$11.5M, 11:$11.5M, 12:$12.5M club option ($1.5M buyout)

Scott Linebrink 10:$5M, 11:$5.5M

Damaso Marte 10:$4M, 11:$4M, 12:$4M club option ($0.25M buyout)

David Riske 09:$4.25M, 10:$4.5M, 11:$4.75M club option ($0.25M buyout)

JC Romero 10:$4M, 11:$4.5M club option ($0.25M buyout)

Kerry Wood 10:$10.5M, 11:$11M club option

I'm willing to bet KW is trying to get Byrnes. 1. KW and Josh Byrnes have traded alot in the past 2. Eric Byrnes is a former Moneyball Player 3. He's a grinder.

 

I prefer to keep Linebrink. I think he'll turn it around. I think we'd have to dump Jenks or Konerko in order to afford Byrnes.

[Disco72]

I'm willing to bet KW is trying to get Byrnes. 1. KW and Josh Byrnes have traded alot in the past 2. Eric Byrnes is a former Moneyball Player 3. He's a grinder.

 

I prefer to keep Linebrink. I think he'll turn it around. I think we'd have to dump Jenks or Konerko in order to afford Byrnes.

 

Do you want this to happen? Or you just think it's what KW will do? The nicest way I can say this is that Byrnes would not help the team at all, and giving up much better players in Konerko or Jenks to get him would be a mistake of enormous proportions.