Hahn's next move?

[The Ultimate Champion]

I don't think Garza is attached to a draft pick either.

Nope, he's not. Under the new CBA midseason acquisitions of players in their walk years don't qualify for the QO.

[The Ultimate Champion]

Also as long as the Sox medical staff looks over Garza & gives the OK, I'm far more comfortable giving him a deal than Tanaka. Also I think it's much likelier that he comes at a reasonable price tag than the other guys. I imagine someone will overpay for Ubaldo & I think Ervin Santana is too Gavin Floydish is give a big deal to. He's like Alex Rios the pitcher.

[GGajewski18]

Also as long as the Sox medical staff looks over Garza & gives the OK, I'm far more comfortable giving him a deal than Tanaka. Also I think it's much likelier that he comes at a reasonable price tag than the other guys. I imagine someone will overpay for Ubaldo & I think Ervin Santana is too Gavin Floydish is give a big deal to. He's like Alex Rios the pitcher.

 

I do agree with you on Matt Garza. He's only 30. He has had success in the American League and can be a big part of the future, giving a veteran presence in the starting rotation.

 

A rotation of Sale, Garza, Quintana, Danks, and Johnson looks very good to me for the future. I would give him a 4 year deal worth anywhere 50-55 million.

[GreatScott82]

They lose Leyland, but we still have Ventura. Hahn has to get his man in there before the Sox make a serious move. But the Tigers window is starting to close.

Our starting staff will have at least 2 rookies or major reclamation projects (3 if you count Danks).

As for Dunn, he production is still productive, although a lot of people say his mere presence is a negative on work ethic and attitude...that production should allow us to move him in June or July.

We need to make a real productive trade of De Aza; and then final judgments on Viciedo and Beckham.

I can see competing in 15, but not 14.

Agreed. 2014 will be dedicated to let these younger guys develope and give them a chance to take their bumps. 2014 will also be dedicated for Hahn to move Dunn's and Keppinger's contracts. I believe De Aza will be the next move this winter.

[Paulstar]

I think a trade with the Rays in inevitable. They have too many catchers, and the White Sox need one who isn't bad (not to say Phegley and Nieto aren't good, odds are they just aren't good MLB players yet. Flowers is bad though). Jose Lobaton is more than expandable for the Rays, and fits what the Sox need right now. He isn't a long term solution, but is definitely someone who provides an upgrade both behind the dish and at bat over all of the options the team currently has. Plus, he adds a left handed bat to the lineup.

 

I'd also love to see the Sox acquire Ben Zobrist to play 2B this year and bat 3rd in the lineup, but the odds of that are highly unlikely as the Rays have no reason to get rid of him.

Edited December 28, 2013 by Paulstar

[BlackSox13]

"The Braves, who have lost Brian McCann and Tim Hudson and done little to replace them, but it's not too late for them to recover this offseason, Mike Petriello of ESPN.com writes (Insider-only). They can start by signing young players like Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman to extensions, Petriello suggests. Another fix might be acquiring a new second baseman to supplant Dan Uggla, and one possibility might be dealing for Howie Kendrick of the Angels, who need young pitching. Here's more from around the Majors."

 

I saw this at MLBTR. Anyone think the Braves would interested in a Georgia native like Beckham? Not sure what the Braves have to offer but it could be a fit.

[Balta1701]

"The Braves, who have lost Brian McCann and Tim Hudson and done little to replace them, but it's not too late for them to recover this offseason, Mike Petriello of ESPN.com writes (Insider-only). They can start by signing young players like Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman to extensions, Petriello suggests. Another fix might be acquiring a new second baseman to supplant Dan Uggla, and one possibility might be dealing for Howie Kendrick of the Angels, who need young pitching. Here's more from around the Majors."

 

I saw this at MLBTR. Anyone think the Braves would interested in a Georgia native like Beckham? Not sure what the Braves have to offer but it could be a fit.

WAR the last several years:

 

Beckham:

0.6

0.5

0.9

1.0

 

Uggla:

4.2

2.2

3.4

0.5

 

Beckham has literally been worse than Uggla every year except last year. They'd obviously swap them straight up if the White Sox took on his contract, but Gordon Beckham doesn't obviously appear to be anything but a downgrade from Dan Uggla.

[BlackSox13]

WAR the last several years:

 

Beckham:

0.6

0.5

0.9

1.0

 

Uggla:

4.2

2.2

3.4

0.5

 

Beckham has literally been worse than Uggla every year except last year. They'd obviously swap them straight up if the White Sox took on his contract, but Gordon Beckham doesn't obviously appear to be anything but a downgrade from Dan Uggla.

I didnt mean the Sox take on Uggla, he just doesn't fit in with the Sox plans. It could be a 3 team trade where the Sox trade Beckham to Atlanta, Atlanta trades Uggla to a contender and the Sox get??? Just throwing it out there since the Sox rumor mill is incredibly slow right now.

[Marty34]

Hahn's next step should be an extension for Ventura. No point of having him signed only through year one of the rebuild.

[Balta1701]

I didnt mean the Sox take on Uggla, he just doesn't fit in with the Sox plans. It could be a 3 team trade where the Sox trade Beckham to Atlanta, Atlanta trades Uggla to a contender and the Sox get??? Just throwing it out there since the Sox rumor mill is incredibly slow right now.

The problem is...replacing Uggla with Beckham is replacing garbage with cheaper garbage. Someone has to have a reason to take on the money. The White Sox would get basically nothing back in either case.

[The Ultimate Champion]

The problem is...replacing Uggla with Beckham is replacing garbage with cheaper garbage. Someone has to have a reason to take on the money. The White Sox would get basically nothing back in either case.

One word: Walker

 

Braves make perfect sense, nice find Roostifer.

 

Who are we getting back? Hope someone good.

[Balta1701]

One word: Walker

 

Braves make perfect sense, nice find Roostifer.

 

Who are we getting back? Hope someone good.

Nothing of use. Gordon Beckham is nearly a non-tender candidate and likely to be replaced before the end of the year barring significant, unexpected improvement. Gordon Beckham has nearly 0 value.

[brian310]

Hahn's next step should be an extension for Ventura. No point of having him signed only through year one of the rebuild.

 

Rather see someone other than Ventura managing this team in '15

[BlackSox13]

The problem is...replacing Uggla with Beckham is replacing garbage with cheaper garbage. Someone has to have a reason to take on the money. The White Sox would get basically nothing back in either case.

I admit I'm throwing s*** against the wall to see what sticks but am looking at it as a change of scenery scenerio from the braves outlook on Beckham. The real problem is the braves finding a suitor for Uggla which I admit is a similar situation to the Sox trying to move Dunn. IF the braves found a team to take Uggla it would open up money to extend guys like Hayward and Freeman despite Beckham being a downgrade from Uggla as you mentioned.

 

As for a trade scenario, I admit this isn't likely but just throwing out there for s***s and giggles. Say the braves send Uggla to the yanks, Beckham to the braves and JR Murphy to the Sox. Again, I admit this isn't likely and like I said am throwing s*** against the wall for the sake of the Sox rumor mill being boring right now.

 

One word: Walker

 

Braves make perfect sense, nice find Roostifer.

 

Who are we getting back? Hope someone good.

Thank you sir. To be honest I'm not sure since moving Uggla would be the equivalent of the Sox moving Dunn. I threw an unlikely scenario out there for the hell of it. Hopefully it can lead to some realistic ideas from other posters while the mill is slow.

[The Ultimate Champion]

I really think with Christmas falling on a Wednesday the front offices around baseball just took the whole weekend off. I really doubt we see much movement until after the new year. To my knowledge, the only bit of baseball news going around is Mark Mulder potentially signing somewhere.

I doubt that. I mean, if you ran your own business, would you just quit answering the phone & talking to people for a week because you thought you could get away with it?

 

I think it's a combination of things. For one, Tanaka is holding up the SP market. There isn't much in the way of position players left on the market. There have been some pretty high-profile trades across the league, so a lot of teams have done the heavy lifting already. Moving the deadlines ahead in the last CBA is probably a good reason for that. It does seem like we're a week or so ahead anyway; things naturally cool down after the Winter Meetings & early January generally seems pretty dead. It feels a bit like early January now.

 

Also, another thing I think is that since most of the good players in FA are off the board, teams are probably more willing to wait for some prices to come down as they look to fill out their benches, sign platoon partners, take fliers on some guys, or add that last reliever or two.

Edited December 28, 2013 by The Ultimate Champion

[The Ultimate Champion]

^None of this should hold up the trade market from the Sox point of view, however here's a couple things: supposedly we're interested in a Yankee C prospect or two. We also have been talking to AZ & maybe others. AZ wants Tanaka, NY wants Tanaka, NY also is kind of held up a bit re: ARod and they additionally need serious IF help. It's possible that the Sox need to kind of wait for some of these guys to address their top priorities first before dealing with them when looking for a C or other help.

[greg775]

Hahn's next step should be an extension for Ventura. No point of having him signed only through year one of the rebuild.

 

He doesn't need an extension. He's not going anywhere else and he did a horrific job last year. Just let it all play out. We don't need to lock up Ventura.

[Balta1701]

He doesn't need an extension. He's not going anywhere else and he did a horrific job last year. Just let it all play out. We don't need to lock up Ventura.

He also turned down an extension last year (right before his entire team played like they wanted to be gone also).

[witesoxfan]

I have one question for you guys who think it's determined the team will stink in 2014 ... why do we have this playoff-ready pitching staff for a team going nowhere? Why didn't we spend some cash like the Yankees to upgrade maybe two more positions go with these dandy trades and win our s*** division right now?? With Leyland gone, the Tigers will be nothing to fear anymore. If this team is going nowhere FOR CERTAIN, then why not shut down Sale until we're ready to contend. Just don't even pitch him. I mean he's developed. Why waste one pitch out of that arm if it's 100 percent certain we're not winning anything next season?? Before you blast me, I think it's a legitimate question. Maybe even leave Danks on the shelf all year, too. And Quintana. He's also been stretched out enough that he's major league ready for contention.

 

Why are you of the opinion that this is a playoff ready pitching staff? It is very talented, but it was essentially a league average pitching staff last year.

[Balta1701]

Why are you of the opinion that this is a playoff ready pitching staff? It is very talented, but it was essentially a league average pitching staff last year.

This just isn't true. They were 8th in MLB last year in fWAR. That's a solidly above average pitching staff. It's not great, but if it was teamed with an average offense and an average defense it could pitch this team to the playoffs, or at the worst right on the edge of it. And just to stress...that was 8th in MLB in fWAR with Dylan Axelrod making 20 starts and a couple guys traded away from the staff midseason.

[caulfield12]

I do agree with you on Matt Garza. He's only 30. He has had success in the American League and can be a big part of the future, giving a veteran presence in the starting rotation.

 

A rotation of Sale, Garza, Quintana, Danks, and Johnson looks very good to me for the future. I would give him a 4 year deal worth anywhere 50-55 million.

 

 

Garza's the 2nd best option now on the market after Jimenez, and you could argue probably over the last 2-3 seasons the better one...not counting Tanaka, of course.

 

He's going to get more than a John Dank-ish package with everyone still looking for pitching. It's probably going to end up in the $70-85 million range before all is said and done. Too much money chasing after too little pitching to go around.

[caulfield12]

This just isn't true. They were 8th in MLB last year in fWAR. That's a solidly above average pitching staff. It's not great, but if it was teamed with an average offense and an average defense it could pitch this team to the playoffs, or at the worst right on the edge of it. And just to stress...that was 8th in MLB in fWAR with Dylan Axelrod making 20 starts and a couple guys traded away from the staff midseason.

 

 

If Danks legitimately returns to at least a 3 status, then sure.

 

You can argue the wisdom of starting three lefties in a row in the playoffs, but it would be nice to get there to even have that conversation.

[Leonard Washington]

Adrian Nieto's agent wrote a piece for Baseball Prospectus recently. In the comments section, someone asked him about Nieto's chances of sticking with the Sox. This is what he had to say:

 

Mortal lock. He'd have to fall on his face not to stick for a variety of reasons I cant talk about. Barring a 200 ba he's sticking

 

 

[hi8is]

Adrian Nieto's agent wrote a piece for Baseball Prospectus recently. In the comments section, someone asked him about Nieto's chances of sticking with the Sox. This is what he had to say:

That's the first piece of interesting news that we've heard in a week

[professa]

I think we're pretty much done except for trading away one of keppinger/de aza/viciedo. I think we stick with flowers phegley. Flowers, if he plays to his potential, can produce to at least a .235/.325/425 with 20 HRs and 60 RBI. I say give the kid another year see if he can do it. I say we trade Kepp and send cash for a low level spec. Gives us

 

1. Eaton Bench Rotation Pen

2. Ramirez 1. De Aza 1.Sale CL: Nate Jones

3. Garcia 2. Garcia 2.Quintana SU: Lindstrom

4. Abreu 3. Gillaspie 3.Johnson Su: Belasario

5. Dunn 4.Phegley/the other guy we picked up 4.Danks MR: Downs

6. Viciedo 5.Rienzo/Paulino MR: Daniel Webb

7. Davidson MR: Petricka

8. Flowers

9. Beckham

 

 

Can go with another bench guy or reliever...our bench does look pretty versatile little pop, speed, and some decent gloves.