White Sox sign Jesse Crain

[bear_brian]

I have been thinking for some time now that KW has been trying to get finalization out of Danks - either get him to sign an extension, or move him now. What about Danks and Quentin to the Dodgers for Matt Kemp and a reliever (my fantasy is Broxton, but that is far-fetched)? Sale goes to the rotation. This all assumes that Peavy will come back healthy. A different scenario would be Peavy and Quentin, but not as sure Dodgers would bite on that one.

[justBLAZE]

I have been thinking for some time now that KW has been trying to get finalization out of Danks - either get him to sign an extension, or move him now. What about Danks and Quentin to the Dodgers for Matt Kemp and a reliever (my fantasy is Broxton, but that is far-fetched)? Sale goes to the rotation. This all assumes that Peavy will come back healthy. A different scenario would be Peavy and Quentin, but not as sure Dodgers would bite on that one.

 

I don't think Dodgers would want to touch Peavy's contract.

[soxrwhite]

Is Crain better than Putz? Besides signing Dunn this team has not changed much.

[Balta1701]

Is Crain better than Putz? Besides signing Dunn this team has not changed much.

If JJ Putz had been 100% healthy, the answer would be no. Putz would have outpitched him last year.

 

Given that Putz was injured and awful in August, and Crain stayed healthy the whole year, it's a lot closer. You could still make the case for Putz, or that Crain has been too inconsistent in his career, but this dude was downright filthy in the 2nd half last year while Putz faltered. In the 2nd half he gave up a 2.14 ERA and a .491 OPS.

[SoxFan562004]

Is Crain better than Putz? Besides signing Dunn this team has not changed much.

mark kotsay and the whole rotating DH of doom is gone, if they replaced that with an average player they would be better, even with PK's likely regression from career highs last year. They replaced it with Adam Freakin' Dunn, one of the premier LH power hitters in the game, he alone changes that line-up a lot. Also, Beckham and Q were complete blackholes in the line-up to begin last year, again if they were just average hitters the Sox were better.

[SoxFan562004]

Because they are above the number they want to be at and season ticket renewals were s*** this year. If a trade doesnt come soon I would be extremely surprised.

have you heard an update since the Dunn and PK resigning or is that still the case?

Edited December 16, 2010 by SoxFan562004

[Steve9347]

Jesse Crain had 62 k's in 68 innings against only 27 walks, for the highest k:9 of his career. He has only had one bad season where he was healthy, which was 2009. I think he's a safe bet to be a solid contributor out of the bullpen for the life of this contract. I love this signing.

[SoxFan562004]

Jesse Crain had 62 k's in 68 innings against only 27 walks, for the highest k:9 of his career. He has only had one bad season where he was healthy, which was 2009. I think he's a safe bet to be a solid contributor out of the bullpen for the life of this contract. I love this signing.

I know it's old and gets mocked on here sometimes, but Cooper is a hell of a pitching coach IMO and Sox have had success with relievers in the past, 100% success? No, but that's an unfair standard.

 

He comes from a great org too, so I like this deal

[Balta1701]

Jesse Crain had 62 k's in 68 innings against only 27 walks, for the highest k:9 of his career. He has only had one bad season where he was healthy, which was 2009. I think he's a safe bet to be a solid contributor out of the bullpen for the life of this contract. I love this signing.

If you want to be pessimistic though, 2007 and 2009 were both bad seasons, and in 2007 he missed most of the year, so 2 out of the last 4 seasons have been down seasons for him.

[elrockinMT]

This is what I get for stopping in the middle of studying to check Twitter. I have a final in 15 minutes, and I've only studied for about 20 minutes so far....

 

 

Studying for tests is overrated compared to keeping up with Sox baseball

[elrockinMT]

I have been thinking for some time now that KW has been trying to get finalization out of Danks - either get him to sign an extension, or move him now. What about Danks and Quentin to the Dodgers for Matt Kemp and a reliever (my fantasy is Broxton, but that is far-fetched)? Sale goes to the rotation. This all assumes that Peavy will come back healthy. A different scenario would be Peavy and Quentin, but not as sure Dodgers would bite on that one.

 

 

Why would we do this? We are putting together a real contender here and now we start with the tearing it down.? CQ will not be traded and my hope is we keep our starting staff inatct. That is our strength

[Dick Allen]

If JJ Putz had been 100% healthy, the answer would be no. Putz would have outpitched him last year.

 

Given that Putz was injured and awful in August, and Crain stayed healthy the whole year, it's a lot closer. You could still make the case for Putz, or that Crain has been too inconsistent in his career, but this dude was downright filthy in the 2nd half last year while Putz faltered. In the 2nd half he gave up a 2.14 ERA and a .491 OPS.

But he was awful in April and May and September wasn't anything to write home about. He was lights out for 3 months. This is a very scary signing IMO. Bill James predicts a rather large crash.

[Balta1701]

But he was awful in April and May and September wasn't anything to write home about. He was lights out for 3 months. This is a very scary signing IMO. Bill James predicts a rather large crash.

Why would this be the kind of guy Bill James would predict a large crash for? He's only 29 starting next year and he has a fairly good success record, albeit with a bad 2009 and an injury filled 2007 in it. Last years numbers as far as I can tell on hits, HR given up, BB/K ratio, BABIP, and all of those stats aren't out of line for his career numbers.

[iamshack]

And I don't think they are going to use their prize young pitcher, who went all the way from draft to MLB the same year, as a LOOGY. So, they are looking for an actual situational lefty.

 

 

You'd think Pena would be back as the long man, but KW has been quoted saying Pena is going to be in the back of the pen now.

 

Unless he's traded, I'd be shocked if Infante, who was in the majors last September, wasn't on the opening day bullpen.

 

My assumption isn't so much about cutting payroll, though I do believe that's a factor - its about trying do something in the way of trading Quentin and still getting something good in RF.

 

Much as I'd rather, in an ideal world, see Sale in AAA starting, the way the org is talking, he's almost assuredly going to be in the Sox come April.

Kenny pretty much implied about a week ago that Sale would be starting. I posted it in the catch-all thread.

Trib

The Sox left-handed closers are Matt Thornton and Chris Sale, who is being groomed this winter for the starting rotation.

 

"If we get another left-hander, then there's the possibility you could start him for the first month of the season or until (rehabbing Jake Peavy) is ready and then move him to the bullpen," Williams said.

 

Edited December 16, 2010 by iamshack

[NorthSideSox72]

have you heard an update since the Dunn and PK resigning or is that still the case?

I talked with my rep, she said there was a definite and noticeable uptick in season tickets lately. Not sure where they are at in the grand scheme though.

 

[flavum]

Crain will be on Minneapolis radio in 5-10 min.

 

http://www.kfan.com/mediaplayer/

[joeynach]

Next year, new payroll, but $4 million JR didn't have to pay Manny is sitting in the White Sox bank account. JR was quoted last summer about saving money some seasons to spend on others. If every last dime that comes in goes out like we have been told for years, the money paid to Manny could have been used this year or next year or 5 years from now. It doesn''t just dissappear.

 

Insurance payments from Peavy's injury should not be overlooked in the extra $$ to spend conversation.

[iamshack]

Insurance payments from Peavy's injury should not be overlooked in the extra $$ to spend conversation.

I was thinking that money was probably allocated to Edwin Jackson's contract.

Edited December 16, 2010 by iamshack

[Chisoxfn]

Crain has good stuff. We needed someone in our pen and this isn't a crippling salary if he can pitch solid. Hopefully he'll be better than solid though

[Jordan4life_2007]

But he was awful in April and May and September wasn't anything to write home about. He was lights out for 3 months. This is a very scary signing IMO. Bill James predicts a rather large crash.

 

All non-elite relievers signed to multi-year deals can be classified as scary signings. Outside of a trade, which is very difficult when EVERY team is looking for bullpen help, the only alternative really is to overpay, particularly in years. You see teams like the Braves spitting out guys like Craig Kimbrel and Johnny Venters in 1 year and wonder how the hell we haven't been able to produce a single quality reliever in, s***, I can't even remember.

[BigSqwert]

All non-elite relievers signed to multi-year deals can be classified as scary signings. Outside of a trade, which is very difficult when EVERY team is looking for bullpen help, the only alternative really is to overpay, particularly in years. You see teams like the Braves spitting out guys like Craig Kimbrel and Johnny Venters in 1 year and wonder how the hell we haven't been able to produce a single quality reliever in, s***, I can't even remember.

We produced a pretty good left handed reliever late last season.

[Jordan4life_2007]

We produced a pretty good left handed reliever late last season.

 

Let's just hope it doesn't stay that way. There's A LOT better ways to utilize the 13th overall pick in the draft then to waste it on a reliever.

[jphat007]

Crain will be on Minneapolis radio in 5-10 min.

 

http://www.kfan.com/mediaplayer/

 

What'd he have to say?

[flavum]

Listened to the Crain interview:

 

- Confirmed 3/$13 mil.

 

- 3rd guaranteed year sealed the deal

 

- Kenny has told him that Thornton and Sale are in the closer picture, but he'll be given opportunities in the 9th.

 

- His velocity has gone up the last four years, and he feels like he's getting better

 

- Working on adding a split-fingered fastball

[Heads22]

Can't say we aren't trying.