My/Your Off Season Plan

[Balta1701]

Micah isn't necessarily a 2B, he has the tools to be converted to something else.

No he doesn't. He's had arm and leg problems already. You're going to move him to a position where he has to run more or to a position where he has to throw more? If you're converting him to something else it seems like its a DH.

[Dunt]

They have CarGo and Blackmon in the OF. Avi would have a spot there.

Micah isn't necessarily a 2B, he has the tools to be converted to something else.

I know Beck was injured, so what? Doesn't mean he can't be traded. He's just a throw-in.

Montas does need more time- when did I say he would be thrown right into their rotation?

Fulmer has all-star potential as a SP.

 

Ugh, Dickerson?

[Jose Abreu]

Ugh, Dickerson?

My bad, he was hurt for most of the year so I forgot about him.

[BlackSox13]

They have CarGo and Blackmon in the OF. Avi would have a spot there.

Micah isn't necessarily a 2B, he has the tools to be converted to something else.

I know Beck was injured, so what? Doesn't mean he can't be traded. He's just a throw-in.

Montas does need more time- when did I say he would be thrown right into their rotation?

Fulmer has all-star potential as a SP.

They also have Dickerson so there is no spot.

 

Micah can be converted to something else? Like what, lol? No room in the outfield with his health and puss arm and Colorado has no DH so why would the Rockies be interested?

 

Beck is exactly that, a throw in... for a young stud 3B. Think about that...

 

Montas, nobody said anything about being thrown into the rotation but the Rockies are looking for starting pitching and Montas has yet to establish himself as a starter. Montas does not hold enough value as a potential starter, and the few games he started for the Sox was unimpressive.

 

Fulmer does have all star potential but were also talking about an under-sized starting pitcher that has pitched in A-ball. Fulmer has value but still comes with a few questions marks.

 

If you were a Rockies fan, would you do this proposed trade?

[Bob Sacamano]

I'm completely open to giving Heyward a 7/8 year deal with an opt-out clause after year 4 when he is 30 to give him a chance at another contract. With that that kind of contract, could they possibly backload it? If he opts out, that probably means he worked out well for us.

[bmags]

Keep in mind he is not an idiot.

[southsider2k5]

I personally think we should pick up Alexei's option. He came around both offensively and defensively as the year went on. Saladino would provide similar or better defense, but his hitting would be atrocious as an everyday player.

 

I don't see a realistic scenario that doesn't have Alexei Ramirez as our opening day 16 SS.

[Lillian]

I don't understand the keen interest in Heyward. This team desperately needs another power hitter. The Sox don't need another outfielder. Cabrera, Eaton and Thompson/Garcia should have the outfield covered. Spending all that money on a guy who hit about the same as Eaton, in what was the best year of his career, makes no sense to me. Why not go after someone like Chris Davis, if the front office was really to spend that kind of money?

[Bob Sacamano]

I don't understand the keen interest in Heyward. This team desperately needs another power hitter. The Sox don't need another outfielder. Cabrera, Eaton and Thompson/Garcia should have the outfield covered. Spending all that money on a guy who hit about the same as Eaton, in what was the best year of his career, makes no sense to me. Why not go after someone like Chris Davis, if the front office was really to spend that kind of money?

 

Where is Davis going to play? Abreu is at first and LaRoche will be the DH.

[Dunt]

I don't understand the keen interest in Heyward. This team desperately needs another power hitter. The Sox don't need another outfielder. Cabrera, Eaton and Thompson/Garcia should have the outfield covered. Spending all that money on a guy who hit about the same as Eaton, in what was the best year of his career, makes no sense to me. Why not go after someone like Chris Davis, if the front office was really to spend that kind of money?

 

B/c this team drastically needs to improve it's defense and he's a top 5 defensive talent in the league. Couple that with his solid bat, and you get a big difference maker for this organization.

[OmarComing25]

B/c this team drastically needs to improve it's defense and he's a top 5 defensive talent in the league. Couple that with his solid bat, and you get a big difference maker for this organization.

Also, hitting similar to Eaton is a compliment, not an insult.

[Jose Abreu]

Where is Davis going to play? Abreu is at first and LaRoche will be the DH.

Technically, he plays 3B, LF, and RF, but his defense is probably abysmal there.

[BlackSox13]

Two things on Heyward.

 

1) were talking about Eaton type offensive production with a 20-25M per year salary. Yes Heyward improves the OF defense but at a very steep price.

 

2) If the Sox had the money for Heyward his salary likely chews up the open funds and the Sox are left with no money to fill holes at 3B and Catcher. Heyward alone does not make the Sox a contender.

[nitetrain8601]

And the year before that it was Q for Jason Castro.

 

Q, for whatever reason, is still undervalued on this board. I just don't get it.

 

As for Frazier. Cannot say I like the idea of trading for yet another player heading into their last season before free agency. No thanks.

 

Q is slightly overrated by anyone who thinks he can be the main guy in a deal for Seager or Arenado. Both guys are going to command Chris Sale or Q and a s***load of good prospects. The best you can get for Q is either going to be Frazier or Yasiel Puig (which you'd still send some middling prospects).

[Dunt]

Q is slightly overrated by anyone who thinks he can be the main guy in a deal for Seager or Arenado. Both guys are going to command Chris Sale or Q and a s***load of good prospects. The best you can get for Q is either going to be Frazier or Yasiel Puig (which you'd still send some middling prospects).

 

Q is worth more than both Frazier and Puig

[Lillian]

If it were actually possible to acquire Davis, he would be the DH. "Where would LaRoche play?" How about the bench. Does anyone actually believe that the Sox

could be competitive with La Roche in the middle of the lineup? To me, he is the single biggest reason this season was such a disaster, in view of all the low scoring games, in which the Sox came up short, with him batting (striking out) right in the heart of the order. He'll probably be even worse next year, when he'll be 36. The front office has to accept that they have one more year of a sunken cost in La Roche. He simply cannot be the DH. If he were a middle infielder, who hit like that you might be willing to live with it, but not a middle of the order DH!!!!

 

Regarding the remark about Eaton. I love him, and admire what he has accomplished. He is the prototypical "overachiever". However, I wouldn't consider him worth big money. His contract is a bargain. Advocates of Heyward are talking serious money.

 

Moreover, if you can acquire a potent bat to DH, many of the other holes become less important. They don't need above average players at every position, with their starting pitching.

Edited October 5, 2015 by Lillian

[nitetrain8601]

Q is worth more than both Frazier and Puig

 

I hope there's reports of the Sox going after both so that you can see, his value isn't as high as you or many people here like to think he is. To expand a bit as well, on talk radio here in LA, someone even brought up trading Puig for Quintana and they said not without another prospect or young hitting MLBer. When prospects were brought up, everyone said no to Seager or Urias for Quintana (they also talked about 4 other players as well). This was before the Dodgers got Latos and Wood.

Edited October 5, 2015 by nitetrain8601

[nitetrain8601]

If it were actually possible to acquire Davis, he would be the DH. "Where would LaRoche play?" How about the bench. Does anyone actually believe that the Sox

could be competitive with La Roche in the middle of the lineup? To me, he is the single biggest reason this season was such a disaster, in view of all the low scoring games, in which the Sox came up short, with him batting (striking out) right in the heart of the order. He'll probably be even worse next year, when he'll be 36. The front office has to accept that they have one more year of a sunken cost in La Roche. He simply cannot be the DH. If he were a middle infielder, who hit like that you might be willing to live with it, but not a middle of the order DH!!!!

 

Regarding the remark about Eaton. I love him, and admire what he has accomplished. He is the prototypical "overachiever". However, I wouldn't consider him worth big money. He's contract is a bargain. Advocates of Heyward are talking serious money.

 

Moreover, if you can acquire a potent bat to DH, many of those holes become less important. They don't need above average players at every position, with their starting pitching.

 

I think the Sox need to improve everywhere possible minus maybe pitching and first base. So if someone like LaRoche or Alexei or Eaton need to go to the bench or change positions, so be it. This team is both bad offensively and defensively.

[OmarComing25]

I hope there's reports of the Sox going after both so that you can see, his value isn't as high as you or many people here like to think he is. To expand a bit as well, on talk radio here in LA, someone even brought up trading Puig for Quintana and they said not without another prospect or young hitting MLBer. When prospects were brought up, everyone said no to Seager or Urias for Quintana (they also talked about 4 other players as well). This was before the Dodgers got Latos and Wood.

You honestly think we'd need to send prospects along with Quintana to acquire Frazier? You're vastly underrating him. He's young, left-handed, with a very cheap contract for many years, and he's solidified himself as a top 15 SP in baseball (at worst) and has been one of the most consistent pitchers in the game for more than 3 seasons now. You really think that couldn't get Todd Frazier?

 

Also, I would take what people say on talk radio with a huge grain of salt. The common fan might not know how good Q is (IMO he's easily the most underrated player in the game), but I guarantee you GMs know how good he is.

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/appreciating-jose-quintana/

Edited October 5, 2015 by OmarComing25

[Dunt]

I hope there's reports of the Sox going after both so that you can see, his value isn't as high as you or many people here like to think he is. To expand a bit as well, on talk radio here in LA, someone even brought up trading Puig for Quintana and they said not without another prospect or young hitting MLBer. When prospects were brought up, everyone said no to Seager or Urias for Quintana (they also talked about 4 other players as well). This was before the Dodgers got Latos and Wood.

 

I mean, that's great LA talk radio feels that way, but fact is Quintana has been more valuable over the last 3 seasons than Puig (13.4 WAR vs. 10.9). Frazier has 2 years left on his contract and is 3 years older than Quintana. Quintana is the most valuable of the 3.

Edited October 5, 2015 by Dunt

[caulfield12]

Although, from a marketing persoective, Puig would at least stabilize the expected 20-25% dropoff in renewals after this season.

 

You bring back the entire roster pretty much as is, along with Ventura, amd it could get as ugly as 30% lost.

[Soxfest]

Although, from a marketing persoective, Puig would at least stabilize the expected 20-25% dropoff in renewals after this season.

 

You bring back the entire roster pretty much as is, along with Ventura, amd it could get as ugly as 30% lost.

Drop off will be 35-40% keeping Robin assured that.

Edited October 5, 2015 by Soxfest

[GreenSox]

Although, from a marketing persoective, Puig would at least stabilize the expected 20-25% dropoff in renewals after this season.

 

You bring back the entire roster pretty much as is, along with Ventura, amd it could get as ugly as 30% lost.

It's ridiculous for the Sox to make moves based on that.

Yet, they are correct in one sense. This is a hero-worshiping fanbase. It's like they think one player can add 10+ wins to the ledger.

[bmags]

Yeah what a stupid fan base that would pay money to watch a great baseball player. Don't they know he's four WAR short?!?!?!?!

[spiderman]

Although, from a marketing persoective, Puig would at least stabilize the expected 20-25% dropoff in renewals after this season.

 

You bring back the entire roster pretty much as is, along with Ventura, amd it could get as ugly as 30% lost.

 

Are they expecting 20-25% of their season ticket holders to not renew after this season? I hadn't heard that until now, but wow.

 

They'd better be careful with whatever they decide upon. They have the makings of a good rotation with Sale, Quintana, Rodon, Danks and Johnson.

 

Do they risk making this a question by moving Quintana? As well as Johnson looked, it was essentially one month. Rodon finished strong and he should continue to improve, but he's also a young pitcher still. Point is, they can enter next season feeling very good with the top of the rotation and with a clear strength.

 

I also do want them to make the QO offer to Shark. I don't think he'll accept it. Point here, along with the rest of the off-season that is upcoming is that they have to continue rebuilding their minor leagues, not trading away what talent they do have for quick fixes on the MLB roster. Guys like Montas, Johnson, Anderson, Adams, etc. (nearly all pitching) should be a commodity, not as tokens to cash in on for short-term MLB help.

 

I also don't want the White Sox to be signing players to multi-year deals. That is, generally speaking, a failed (and extremely risky) strategy. If there are value free agents that can assist at 3B or SS, I think that is the play.

 

Offensively, Tryce Thompson and Carlos Sanchez, two good defensive players, need to win jobs next spring, and are the likely starters in CF and 2B. Over the course of a season, that should improve the defense. I want Michah Johnson to earn his way onto the roster next season as a 2B (moving Sanchez to SS if that is a position he can handle) and part-time DH. Guys like La Roche need to earn at bats as well.

 

I've grown wary of short-term patching to the roster. That's how we got here. I'm in favor of taking a step back this off-season, and emphasizing development from within as the primary means of improvement.