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MY Offseason grades


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I posted this for another forum, but figured I'd repost here as well. I'm sure you guys will be able to point out my flaws or anything I missed!

 

 

Alright, time to do some off-season grades. I'll do as many moves as I can remember, and in the best order I can remember......

 

Oct 31st - White Sox pick up $3.75 M option of Jason Frasor. (C-)

This actually ending up being a good move, because he was traded, but I'll get to that in a second, because initially, it pissed off a lot of Sox fans to see him back for that price.

 

Dec 6th - White Sox trade RP Sergio Santos to Blue Jays for SP Nestor Molina (B)

In a vacuum, it doesn't seem like a good deal, but when you consider how barren the Sox farm system is for starting prospects, and the fact that Addison Reed was banging on the door to be the new Sox closer, it became a very solid trade for both teams. Molina is a 23-year-old right who put up GAUDY numbers last year in A+ and AA ball. Across the two levels, he had a 10.2 K/9 to go along with a 1.1 BB/9. His WHIP was under 1, and his ERA wast just a notch over 2. He always had pretty good control and a decent K rate, but those numbers exploded in 2011. He is a very exciting pitching prospect to watch this season. It hurts losing Santos, but any time you can trade a closer (rather inexperienced, too) for a pitching prospect w/ numbers like that, it's hard not to like it.

 

Dec 21st - White Sox resign SP John Danks for 5 years, $65M (A+)

I love this deal. Danks is going to be the anchor future of this rotation, this buys out all his prime pitching years, and he is a very reliable lefty. At $13M a year, he should be easily worth this deal. In what was considered a bad year, he still put up a 3.2 WAR, which was worth $14M. So if he continues to have 5 more "bad years", he will outproduce this deal. I love it.

 

Jan 1st - White Sox trade OF Carlos Quentin to Padres for SP Simon Castro and P Pedro Hernandez (B-)

It sucks losing Carlos Quentin. He was a fan favorite and a big time slugger, but he was often injured, and, at times, was brutal in the OF. Castro is a big 23-year-old righty who constantly reminds me of Jose Contreras. He is a guy who has been very good when in AA, but can't seem to get over the hump to AAA. In 2010 and 2011, he got the promotion to AAA, only to see his numbers suffer across the board. This two-time, Top 100 prospect (57th and 58th), needs to finally figure out AAA, then he could become a part of this White Sox future. Hernandez is a 22-year-old lefty who saw great success in A+ ball, very good success in AA ball, and then stumbled in AAA. But unlike Castro, Hernandez has only 18 IP in AAA ball, so it's unfair to say he has a problem with the level yet. He has bounced around between starting and relieving, so I expect he will be a reliever for the Sox until he can get a chance to move in to the rotation. Both are pretty solid prospects, and with Dayan Viciedo biding his time in AAA, it was time for Quentin to move on and give the kid a chance.

 

Jan 1st - White Sox trade RP Jason Frasor to Blue Jays for P Myles Jaye and P Daniel Webb (B)

Frasor was not wanted, and was overpaid. I was glad to just get rid of him, let alone get 2 decent pitchers in return. Jaye is a big 6'3" righty who pitched 54 innings at rookie ball. Nice K rate, but gave up too many HR (7). Webb is also 6'3", is 22-years-old, but is a little more advanced, but got beat up a bit in A ball. Neither guys look to ever be anything significant, but just getting rid of Frasor and that contract was good enough, so to get 2 guys who may never be anything, but COULD be something, is always going to be a good deal.

 

 

 

Those are all the significant moves I can think of, The ONLY player the Sox ADDED to their roster was Kosuke Fukudome, who signed for $1M. Sox cut something like $27M off their payroll this year. So they managed to trim a lot of money, and move most of those pieces for prospects. Outside of Molina, none of them are great prospects, but a few of them were "buy low" candidates.

 

Overall, I give this offseason a B-.

 

People may be surprised, because they didn't improve the club for 2012 at all, but it's not about 2012, it's about the future. And what Kenny Williams DID do was dump a lot of more expensive pieces, or let those pieces sign elsewhere (Buehrle, Pierre, etc.), and try to restock the system. He didn't revamp the minors at all, but he gave them a lot more pieces than they had in 2011.

Edited by JoeCoolMan24
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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 01:54 PM)
I like the work, but I have to say if you are going to say we should have let Fraisor walk, then you have to give Kenny an A for getting two prospects for him, instead of the nothing we would have gotten if we didn't exercise his option.

 

Yeah, I originally had an A- for that one, but changed it because while we DID get something for nothing, they are both rather marginal prospects, and there was still a risk involved that no one would take him back. So for that reason I just gave it the grade I did because neither prospect are likely to impact anything.

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QUOTE (MuckFinnesota @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 08:28 PM)
What would be your grade for Buehrle being let go?

 

Umm....I would say A-. Take emotion out of it, and Buehrle had no place on this team. He is getting older, and signing him to a 4 year deal would not be wise at all. Then when you consider how much the Marlins gave him, it becomes even better that we didn't resign him. However, I think if the Sox really wanted him back, he would have signed for cheaper than the 4 yr/$56M that MIA gave him.

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What about getting the infamous "Ozzie" Martinez and Jhan Martinez for the departure of Ozzie Guillen?

 

At least our system and major league team are strong enough that these former "top prospects" from the Marlins' system didn't come close to making the team.

 

A- for new beginnings, unknown grade for picking Ventura and a C- for keeping KW in charge.

Edited by caulfield12
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QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 09:02 PM)
What about getting the infamous "Ozzie" Martinez and Jhan Martinez for the departure of Ozzie Guillen?

 

At least our system and major league team are strong enough that these former "top prospects" from the Marlins' system didn't come close to making the team.

 

A- for new beginnings, unknown grade for picking Ventura and a C- for keeping KW in charge.

 

Ozzie trade happened during the season, that's why it was not included.

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QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 08:02 PM)
What about getting the infamous "Ozzie" Martinez and Jhan Martinez for the departure of Ozzie Guillen?

 

At least our system and major league team are strong enough that these former "top prospects" from the Marlins' system didn't come close to making the team.

 

A- for new beginnings, unknown grade for picking Ventura and a C- for keeping KW in charge.

 

Best move Kenny Williams has ever made.

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QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 08:02 PM)
What about getting the infamous "Ozzie" Martinez and Jhan Martinez for the departure of Ozzie Guillen?

 

At least our system and major league team are strong enough that these former "top prospects" from the Marlins' system didn't come close to making the team.

 

A- for new beginnings, unknown grade for picking Ventura and a C- for keeping KW in charge.

This would have been a good trade if the Sox received a jar of sunshine and a Cuban sandwich, so getting a couple prospects made it a great trade.

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QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 29, 2012 -> 07:57 AM)
Totally disagreed but then still can remember where I was in October 2005.

 

Hiring Ozzie was a great move too. But getting anything for Ozzie Guillen, who is really not a good manager, when the Sox had quite clearly given up on him (and him on the Sox) and were willing to pay him to sit on a couch all season was fantastic. If even one of those guys does anything meaningful in the big leagues, or is traded for Jeff Keppinger or something and Jeff Keppinger gets a base hit that wins a game, then it is an incredible move.

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QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 29, 2012 -> 11:36 PM)
Hiring Ozzie was a great move too. But getting anything for Ozzie Guillen, who is really not a good manager, when the Sox had quite clearly given up on him (and him on the Sox) and were willing to pay him to sit on a couch all season was fantastic. If even one of those guys does anything meaningful in the big leagues, or is traded for Jeff Keppinger or something and Jeff Keppinger gets a base hit that wins a game, then it is an incredible move.

Jose Contreras for Esteban Loaiza meets pretty much every standard you just wrote. And he won games!

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QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 30, 2012 -> 07:46 AM)
Jose Contreras for Esteban Loaiza meets pretty much every standard you just wrote. And he won games!

 

Yeah but Jose Contreras wasn't a loudmouth asshole who insulted homosexuals and his own fan base.

 

Err...Esteban Loaiza. And he ended up bringin Loaiza back too! Lord save us if he brings Ozzie back ever.

Edited by witesoxfan
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