Your Realistic 2014 Lineup

[witesoxfan]

i know you 2 either said no or haven't touched on Gomez but Headley is only 5 months older than Gomez...I'd get him and try to give him a 2 or 3 year extension before the season.

 

Carlos Gomez is also, at minimum, 40x more athletic than Chase Headley (**not scientific fact**). There have also been studies indicating athletic players are more likely to age better. On top of that, Gomez is already signed for the next 2 years, so if absolutely everything falls apart next year, you can trade him at midseason for a haul. If not, you keep him for all of 2015 in hopes that you can either sign him to another 2-3 year extension, trade him for a haul at the deadline, or make a qualifying offer (probably worth $15 million at that point) and either play out the next year or collect a draft pick.

 

Gomez really is a far, far more attractive player to acquire.

 

I wouldn't do it for Q but Santiago scares me a bit, I'm not sure he'll ever become an a efficient enough pitcher to garner not giving him up for a gold glove middle of the order bat....Like I said, I of course would like to get him for less but wouldn't hesitate to give up Hector.

 

Just my opinion on 3B.

 

Headley won a gold glove 1 time and he really isn't much more than an above average fielder (this is the same sample size as Gomez you are talking about). 3B is also a far less important position defensively than CF.

 

Given keeping Santiago for, minimum, the next 4 years or getting Headley for 1, I'm keeping Santiago every single time.

 

That's why I included the word "try" as I too am not sure he'd do that either, and thinking about it more, you're probably right.

 

I still like Headley though and if he hits FA next season I'd be all about signing him.

 

I guess for next year I'd be cool with giving Conor another chance. If you look at what he did against RHP the numbers he put up are similar to what Pablo put up.....

 

Pablo- .278/.334/.441 12 HRs

Conor- .274/.333/.430 12 HRs

 

And Conor was just a rookie. Pick up a platoon player and call it a day at 3B.

 

Pablo Sandoval is also only 1 year older and has put up top 10 MVP seasons in the past. Conor Gillaspie simply won't do that - there's nothing in his past minor league performance that would indicate any sort of spike would be expected.

 

And your platoon player is Keppinger. Struggles versus lefties one year is far, far, far more likely to be an outlier than an .825-.850 career OPS against lefties is.

[2nd_city_saint787]

Ah yes, Keppinger has become irrelevant to me.

[greg775]

I'll say again I'm not opposed to a major upgrade at 3b if we can find one that's available, but for the money, Gillaspie and Keppinger on paper shouldn't be a bad platoon at 3b.

 

I think Kepp/Gillaspie would be one of the worst 3B combos in baseball, befitting our 60-win team.

[witesoxfan]

I think Kepp/Gillaspie would be one of the worst 3B combos in baseball, befitting our 60-win team.

 

You know what Greg, it probably would be. Sometimes you have to take chances in this game. If that's what they go out with next year, it probably would be bad. There's also a possibility that Gillaspie actually takes a step forward against RHP and is an .800 OPS guy, Keppinger reverts to the guy he was before this abomination and fluke of a season, and the Sox get top 10 production out of 2 guys who are completely unexpected.

 

I mean Christ, lighten up dude. I think I've said that to you 20 times this season. For starters, we have an exciting offseason coming up. Next, it IS probably going to be a long, mediocre year. Don't stress if they suck. Take solace in the fact that they are improving and focusing on getting young, good players into the system. Relax and crack a beer dude.

 

 

[Balta1701]

If Gillaspie and Keppinger as a platoon could put up ~.750 OPS numbers together, which I note is worse than Connor's OPS against righties this year by a little and worse than Keppinger's OPS against lefties in his career by a lot, that would be good enough to put the White Sox 13th in MLB in offensive production out of 3rd base.

 

Again, it's not Miguel Cabera spectacular and I'm not going to oppose efforts to improve on that if there's a stud available somewhere, but those 2 splitting time *should* give numbers that are tolerable based on what they've done in their careers.

[Jerksticks]

If Gillaspie and Keppinger as a platoon could put up ~.750 OPS numbers together, which I note is worse than Connor's OPS against righties this year by a little and worse than Keppinger's OPS against lefties in his career by a lot, that would be good enough to put the White Sox 13th in MLB in offensive production out of 3rd base.

 

Again, it's not Miguel Cabera spectacular and I'm not going to oppose efforts to improve on that if there's a stud available somewhere, but those 2 splitting time *should* give numbers that are tolerable based on what they've done in their careers.

Indeed but this proposal would only happen if we upgraded big-time elsewhere and were making a run at it. Otherwise why not develop somebody full time at the position if we are punting 2014.

 

I say tell Keppinger to GFH.

[Balta1701]

Indeed but this proposal would only happen if we upgraded big-time elsewhere and were making a run at it. Otherwise why not develop somebody full time at the position if we are punting 2014.

 

I say tell Keppinger to GFH.

And Keppinger takes your GFH and thanks you for doubling his salary next season and giving him a chance to earn a new contract playing for a team with a non-checked-out manager.

[Y2Jimmy0]

I think Kepp/Gillaspie would be one of the worst 3B combos in baseball, befitting our 60-win team.

 

 

Could be, but I don't think so. Keppinger is having an outlier of a year. Gillaspie is actually good against RHP. The problem is, Would the manager only play Keppinger vs LHP and Gillaspie vs RHP? If Ventura did this and they upgraded in other spots, it would be fine. If he plays Keppinger 55-65 games vs RHP and Gillaspie in a number of games against LHP he would just be setting both players up to fail.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

I'm actually kind of bummed that Kepp still plays as much as he does . I recently read where Conor said he's starting to "get it" against major league pitching and if I'm not mistaken he's beed showing it. But he's getting less playing time now that Semien is playing some 3rd base. I think Beckham need to sit a little more and start resting up that hand for next year if he is still here.

Edited September 18, 2013 by CaliSoxFanViaSWside

[greg775]

Could be, but I don't think so. Keppinger is having an outlier of a year. Gillaspie is actually good against RHP. The problem is, Would the manager only play Keppinger vs LHP and Gillaspie vs RHP? If Ventura did this and they upgraded in other spots, it would be fine. If he plays Keppinger 55-65 games vs RHP and Gillaspie in a number of games against LHP he would just be setting both players up to fail.

 

Not a flame, but why do some people think Kepp is "having an outlier of a year" and can bounce back and they think Paulie can't? Paulie is hitting just under .250, it's not like he's hitting .140 or something. I know, age. I don't care if Paulie comes back or not at this point, but I don't see why some players get the benefit of the doubt. Paulie actually is hitting almost identically to Beckham, isn't he? About .250.

Edited September 18, 2013 by greg775

[cabiness42]

Not a flame, but why do some people think Kepp is "having an outlier of a year" and can bounce back and they think Paulie can't? Paulie is hitting just under .250, it's not like he's hitting .140 or something. I know, age. I don't care if Paulie comes back or not at this point, but I don't see why some players get the benefit of the doubt. Paulie actually is hitting almost identically to Beckham, isn't he? About .250.

 

Good. You're answering your own questions, so now we don't really need to pay attention to you anymore.

 

[witesoxfan]

Not a flame, but why do some people think Kepp is "having an outlier of a year" and can bounce back and they think Paulie can't? Paulie is hitting just under .250, it's not like he's hitting .140 or something. I know, age. I don't care if Paulie comes back or not at this point, but I don't see why some players get the benefit of the doubt. Paulie actually is hitting almost identically to Beckham, isn't he? About .250.

 

#1) Jeff Keppinger IS having an outlier year. He has a career OPS of .711 and his career worst OPS is .657. He's hit .202 against left handed pitching this year compared to .317 for his career (and it was at about .325 prior to this season).

#2) Konerko struggled from June on last year and has been pretty brutal for about 10 months of playing time now. He is quick enough to get around on lefties, but doesn't do much at all against right handed pitching. This is also not the worst year of his career by far - that honor lies with the 2003 season.

#3) Keppinger is going to be 34 next year and his game primarily depends upon him hitting left handed pitching as a utility player. Konerko is going to be 38 and if he were brought back, he'd almost assuredly be giving a significant amount of the at bats as a starting player when all he can do any more is hit left handed pitching.

#4) I don't know where Beckham came in from, but Beckham plays decent defense at an up the middle position. You don't need as much offensively from him. Konerko plays 1B or DH, meaning you NEED him to be effective offensively. He is not and has not been for quite some time.

#5) Why ARE you comparing Konerko to Keppinger and Beckham? If he could play all over the infield or strictly at 2B, nobody would have a problem with him. He can't. Compare him to his contemporaries (as high as Chris Davis and his 51 homers or as low as Dunn and his walk, strike out, and homer approach - Konerko can't hold a candle to either of them)

 

[thxfrthmmrs]

This will be a small move, but I wish we can flip Tank for Chris Denorfia of the Padres. Our outfield defense as it stands now is terrible, and as Tank and Garcia put on more weight as they mature, it's only going to get worse, and will carry very little speed to speak of.

 

Denorfia is currently .270-10-50-10 player in Petco park, and the numbers can improve quite a bit moving into the Cell. He's a very good defensive player from the Cubs games I saw him play this year, and according to the numbers as well.

 

An outfield of Denorfia, Ellsbury and Garcia, or Shoo, Denorfia, and Garcia will give us a very good chance to compete.

[greg775]

#1) Jeff Keppinger IS having an outlier year. He has a career OPS of .711 and his career worst OPS is .657. He's hit .202 against left handed pitching this year compared to .317 for his career (and it was at about .325 prior to this season).

#2) Konerko struggled from June on last year and has been pretty brutal for about 10 months of playing time now. He is quick enough to get around on lefties, but doesn't do much at all against right handed pitching. This is also not the worst year of his career by far - that honor lies with the 2003 season.

#3) Keppinger is going to be 34 next year and his game primarily depends upon him hitting left handed pitching as a utility player. Konerko is going to be 38 and if he were brought back, he'd almost assuredly be giving a significant amount of the at bats as a starting player when all he can do any more is hit left handed pitching.

#4) I don't know where Beckham came in from, but Beckham plays decent defense at an up the middle position. You don't need as much offensively from him. Konerko plays 1B or DH, meaning you NEED him to be effective offensively. He is not and has not been for quite some time.

#5) Why ARE you comparing Konerko to Keppinger and Beckham? If he could play all over the infield or strictly at 2B, nobody would have a problem with him. He can't. Compare him to his contemporaries (as high as Chris Davis and his 51 homers or as low as Dunn and his walk, strike out, and homer approach - Konerko can't hold a candle to either of them)

 

I appreciate your post.

However, I do think if we want to talk age, then Kepp is old enough to be concerned he is finished as well because of his age. Steve Sax at the age of 32 turned into a major stiff out of nowhere. He always hit and always ran, but at 32 he hit .236 and managed to "play" two more years before he mercifully quit.

[witesoxfan]

I appreciate your post.

However, I do think if we want to talk age, then Kepp is old enough to be concerned he is finished as well because of his age. Steve Sax at the age of 32 turned into a major stiff out of nowhere. He always hit and always ran, but at 32 he hit .236 and managed to "play" two more years before he mercifully quit.

 

It's possible, but like I pointed out elsewhere, he hit .270+ in his final 100 games. I don't think he's finished but instead just hit a rough patch. He's still not a guy you want to count on for any more than 200-300 PAs.

[oldsox]

I just reviewed the 40 man roster, and I counted 14 spots that could/should be open this off season, not counting those on 60 man DL, like Floyd. Lots of changes will be happening.

[witesoxfan]

I just reviewed the 40 man roster, and I counted 14 spots that could/should be open this off season, not counting those on 60 man DL, like Floyd. Lots of changes will be happening.

 

14? What guys do you think will be non-tendered?

 

I have 8, and I'm not even confident about that-

 

Deuente Heath

David Purcey

Ramon Troncoso

Bryan Anderson

Paul Konerko

Mike McDade

Brent Morel

Blake Tekotte

 

There are other guys that CAN, but those would really be moves made out of necessity.

[southsider2k5]

I just reviewed the 40 man roster, and I counted 14 spots that could/should be open this off season, not counting those on 60 man DL, like Floyd. Lots of changes will be happening.

 

Short of a fire sale, it is pretty impossible to clear 14 roster spots.

[Jose Abreu]

Short of a fire sale, it is pretty impossible to clear 14 roster spots.

Will Floyd be re-signed? Completely forgot about him.

[cabiness42]

Will Floyd be re-signed? Completely forgot about him.

 

Don't see any way Floyd gets re-signed, but he's on the 60DL so he's not taking up a roster spot.

[Soxfest]

Will Floyd be re-signed? Completely forgot about him.

Hell no!

[Eminor3rd]

Hell no!

 

Why not? It would be an incentive based deal, so you could cut him in the Spring if he looked horrible, and relying on him as a 5th starter would allow us to deal a good pitcher (or two!) for ML offensive talent.

 

Sign me up for Floyd on a 1yr/~$2m guarantee with ~$4m in incentives based on IP

[cabiness42]

Why not? It would be an incentive based deal, so you could cut him in the Spring if he looked horrible, and relying on him as a 5th starter would allow us to deal a good pitcher (or two!) for ML offensive talent.

 

Sign me up for Floyd on a 1yr/~$2m guarantee with ~$4m in incentives based on IP

 

If you have 29 friends to hold guns to the heads of the other GMs in order to keep him from getting a better offer, that's a great plan.

[southsider2k5]

Don't see any way Floyd gets re-signed, but he's on the 60DL so he's not taking up a roster spot.

 

I could see a one year deal with a team option for sure. The Sox LOVE pitching depth. If he comes backs and succeeds he either has trade value, or he is back in the rotation for whatever reason. If not, let him walk away.

[southsider2k5]

Why not? It would be an incentive based deal, so you could cut him in the Spring if he looked horrible, and relying on him as a 5th starter would allow us to deal a good pitcher (or two!) for ML offensive talent.

 

Sign me up for Floyd on a 1yr/~$2m guarantee with ~$4m in incentives based on IP

 

It won't be a one year deal. It would be a deal including option year.