Sox should trade for Andre Ethier

[GreenSox]

2) He is left-handed, which will help balance the lineup, and he tortures right-handed pitching (.304/.383/.507 career). Unfortunately he has never been good against lefties, and we might even benefit from sitting him against them in favor of Avi or Jerry Sands. The Sox performed second-worst in the majors against left-handed pitching last year and you might say that adding Ethier would exacerbate things, but the addition of Todd Frazier (.833 OPS career against lefties) and a likely correction in Jose Abreu's splits (.658 OPS vs LHP in 2015, 1.098 in 2014) will offset any additional problems caused by Ethier.

Well the Sox wouldn't sit Dunn against lefties, wouldn't sit Laroche until the very end. So I wouldn't count on that.

3) He is primarily a corner outfielder so he doesn't require us to move Eaton around, something I'm not a big fan of. He got bad defensive marks at the beginning of his career, but in the last five years both DRS and UZR have him as essentially average. I would like a good fielder, I really would, but Ethier is a guy I can live with.

Eaton's not a particularly adept CF, so I don't see a problem with moving him around.

This is the kind of player the Sox should trade for Danks; or better, included in a throw in in return for all of the prospects for Frazier.

Bottom line, you can't give up any young player above a C prospect for Ethier. As a contender, this team is and would be thin as a reed.

 

[TheFutureIsNear]

I agree with this.

 

I think the best options for the Sox are either Fowler + Latos, Desmond + Jackson, or Jackson + Latos.

 

At this point, I think I'd be ok with any of those 3 scenarios.

 

What is Latos going to do for us? You going to give him EJ's rotation spot?

[dmbjeff]

I want to point out a great post from the Fowler thread.

 

 

I cut it off early, so click on the little arrow up there to see the rest. That is a good, compelling argument, but I think in general people are underestimating the money Fowler will get and are too quick to dismiss the value of the comp pick. I'm focused on the guy one spot below Fowler on that active career OBP list, Andre Ethier. Ethier has done it playing his entire career in a pitchers' park rather than mostly in Colorado. The Sox should trade for him for a number of reasons.

 

1) The most important is that he is a hitting machine. All he does is slap up seasons with 15 homers, a .360 OBP, and solid health. He does it year after year, with one ugly outlier in 2014.

 

2) He is left-handed, which will help balance the lineup, and he tortures right-handed pitching (.304/.383/.507 career). Unfortunately he has never been good against lefties, and we might even benefit from sitting him against them in favor of Avi or Jerry Sands. The Sox performed second-worst in the majors against left-handed pitching last year and you might say that adding Ethier would exacerbate things, but the addition of Todd Frazier (.833 OPS career against lefties) and a likely correction in Jose Abreu's splits (.658 OPS vs LHP in 2015, 1.098 in 2014) will offset any additional problems caused by Ethier.

 

3) He is primarily a corner outfielder so he doesn't require us to move Eaton around, something I'm not a big fan of. He got bad defensive marks at the beginning of his career, but in the last five years both DRS and UZR have him as essentially average. I would like a good fielder, I really would, but Ethier is a guy I can live with.

 

4) I'm only guessing here, but there are a lot of things that will conspire to make the cost of acquiring him even less of a blow to our minors than giving up the Samardzija pick. His age (34 in April), his salary ($36.5M guaranteed over two years), the Dodgers' jam-packed outfield (Puig, Pederson, Crawford, Van Slyke, Thompson), Ethier's 10-and-5 rights that kick in at the start of the season, his unhappiness with the Dodgers in the past... Trade rumors have bounced around him for years and while they might rather move Crawford, if the Dodgers are in any way inclined to get rid of Ethier, they are better off doing it now before his no-trade limits the market. I don't think you'd have to dig real deep in the system to get Ethier as long as you're willing to take his contract.

 

I understand the reservations people will have about his age, the money, the fact that he is an NL lifer (though I particularly don't share that concern). Maybe you'd like more power but we're hard-pressed to find that now. It is not a slam dunk, but he is a really good hitter who would fit into our lineup terrifically. If we supposedly had the money to chase Gordon and Cespedes but were concerned about the length of their deals, well here's a pretty friggin' good alternative.

 

I appreciate you using my Fowler stats but I don't see how Ethier makes much sense unless what we give up is next to nothing and/or Dodgers eat salary. Fowler will cost less per year than Ethier. I really think the main issue is what is the compensation we have to give up to get Fowler, Ethier, or whoever else. If it is low end prospects, Ethier makes more sense. If it is something equivalent to the comp pick, I'd rather have Fowler since he will be cheaper, younger and faster.

[ChiSoxFanMike]

What is Latos going to do for us? You going to give him EJ's rotation spot?

Insurance.

 

Yes, I know he'd be an expensive insurance policy, but I for one am not confident in either Danks or EJ, especially if they want to contend. Another veteran arm can't hurt.

[Vance Law]

Well the Sox wouldn't sit Dunn against lefties, wouldn't sit Laroche until the very end. So I wouldn't count on that.

 

This is simply not true. Dunn put up a very nice .767 OPS against lefties in 2012. He was worse in 2013, so in 2014 he started only 8 games against lefties. LaRoche stopped playing against lefties long before the end of the season and it's obvious he won't start against them this year.

 

[TheFutureIsNear]

Insurance.

 

Yes, I know he'd be an expensive insurance policy, but I for one am not confident in either Danks or EJ, especially if they want to contend. Another veteran arm can't hurt.

 

So what, put him in the bullpen if EJ or Danks don't blow it in spring training? I get wanting insurance, but Latos would be an expensive insurance policy that is far from reliable himself. Is Beck/Turner/Purke/Carroll/Possibly Fulmer worse than most teams have past their starting 5?

[fathom]

Merkin keeps insisting Turner has a shot at 5th spot. I don't get what they see in him.

[caulfield12]

So what, put him in the bullpen if EJ or Danks don't blow it in spring training? I get wanting insurance, but Latos would be an expensive insurance policy that is far from reliable himself. Is Beck/Turner/Purke/Carroll/Possibly Fulmer worse than most teams have past their starting 5?

 

Considering the fact that almost nobody perceives Fulmer as being a promotion candidate until August/September, it's definitely a bottom third list in terms of depth past #5...and obviously there are lots of concerns about Johnson and Danks as well.

[shysocks]

Well the Sox wouldn't sit Dunn against lefties, wouldn't sit Laroche until the very end. So I wouldn't count on that.

 

Eaton's not a particularly adept CF, so I don't see a problem with moving him around.

This is the kind of player the Sox should trade for Danks; or better, included in a throw in in return for all of the prospects for Frazier.

Bottom line, you can't give up any young player above a C prospect for Ethier. As a contender, this team is and would be thin as a reed.

Re: platooning, Sox management's inability to understand handedness splits is overblown here, but even if you don't trust them to do the right thing with Ethier, the Dodgers didn't protect him against lefties in 2013 and still got a 3 WAR season out of him.

 

Re: Eaton, I definitely understand the opposing viewpoint here, but I have a general distaste when people suggest moving guys all around the diamond so we can acquire whoever. It's not always that simple. You are right that Eaton is not an adept CF, but two years ago he was at least a capable one, and since we might have a capable center fielder, I'd rather let him play center field.

 

Much of my premise here is that Ethier will be super cheap to acquire. I don't think Danks would entice the Dodgers enough, and - here's something I've sadly found myself saying a lot in the last couple years - if we're trying to win, Danks is more valuable in our reed-thin rotation than as a trade chip.

[CB2.0]

Please, God...no more NL 34+ year olds with 8 figure salaries.

 

Are we EVER going to learn from this?

 

Just go sign Jackson.

[OmarComing25]

Well the Sox wouldn't sit Dunn against lefties, wouldn't sit Laroche until the very end. So I wouldn't count on that.

I think this false narrative that you keep pushing might even be more annoying than your hero one.

 

As pointed out, Dunn was good against lefties in 2012, and he platooned with Konerko in 2014 so your first point is false. LaRoche was platooned once a legit platoon partner appeared (Thompson), which was two months before the end of the season. Before Trayce came up, all the other options sucked as much as LaRoche did. Are you really upset that Beckham or Bonifacio didn't get more playing time early on in the season (and no, before you bring up Soto again, he wasn't a legitimate option)? Conor saw basically no time against LHP last year, and this year we have a catcher platoon that have clear LHP/RHP splits. This idea that Robin doesn't know how/refuses to platoon is bulls***.

[Y2Jimmy0]

I've spoke on him with someone in ops. They see something in him and think they could keep him healthy.

 

 

He was a big time prospect and he's still only 24 years old.

[Dick Allen]

He was a big time prospect and he's still only 24 years old.

I just have a problem with his 9 innings last year. Seems there will be more than a little rust or a wall at an inopportune time.

[ChiSoxFanMike]

So what, put him in the bullpen if EJ or Danks don't blow it in spring training? I get wanting insurance, but Latos would be an expensive insurance policy that is far from reliable himself. Is Beck/Turner/Purke/Carroll/Possibly Fulmer worse than most teams have past their starting 5?

Do you honestly believe that any of the guys you listed can fill in if one of the better starters (Sale, Q, or Rodon) gets hurt?

 

Fulmer is the only one out of that list that has any potential and he likely won't be called up until September or 2017.

[TheFutureIsNear]

Do you honestly believe that any of the guys you listed can fill in if one of the better starters (Sale, Q, or Rodon) gets hurt?

 

Fulmer is the only one out of that list that has any potential and he likely won't be called up until September or 2017.

 

What world do you live in where baseball teams have a top 3 starter just waiting in the wings in case of injury? Our rotation is deeper than most and can handle an injury better than most in my opinion. That's the luxury of having 1 of the best top 3's in baseball. If 1 goes down we still have 2 other studs and the AAA fill in just needs to pich like a #5. Danks and EJ as our #4 and #5 pitchers could certainly be worse and should be the least of our concerns.

If we sign Latos he's going straight to the rotation along with Danks as the 4th and 5th starter. That means you just paid probably 8x the salary to a guy who A) is no guarantee to even be better than EJ and B) hasn't thrown 120 innings since 2013. Just a silly thing to do at the expense of a very cheap young pitcher.

[ChiSoxFanMike]

What world do you live in where baseball teams have a top 3 starter just waiting in the wings in case of injury? Our rotation is deeper than most and can handle an injury better than most in my opinion. That's the luxury of having 1 of the best top 3's in baseball. If 1 goes down we still have 2 other studs and the AAA fill in just needs to pich like a #5. Danks and EJ as our #4 and #5 pitchers could certainly be worse and should be the least of our concerns.

If we sign Latos he's going straight to the rotation along with Danks as the 4th and 5th starter. That means you just paid probably 8x the salary to a guy who A) is no guarantee to even be better than EJ and B) hasn't thrown 120 innings since 2013. Just a silly thing to do at the expense of a very cheap young pitcher.

Maybe Latos isn't the answer, but all I know is that the Sox are screwed if any of the big 3 get hurt.

[cabiness42]

Maybe Latos isn't the answer, but all I know is that the Sox are screwed if any of the big 3 get hurt.

 

Is any team loaded enough to survive a top 3 starting pitcher missing all/most of the season?

[LDF]

Do you honestly believe that any of the guys you listed can fill in if one of the better starters (Sale, Q, or Rodon) gets hurt?

 

Fulmer is the only one out of that list that has any potential and he likely won't be called up until September or 2017.

 

if and i do mean if, the sox does address the Of problem, why would any one roll the dice on 1 player, a sp, who may put up nice stats was not what he was before surgery and another sp with a whole lot of questions associated with him....

 

that mean 2 positions of the starting 5 that are ..... well i will let you answer, b/c i am afraid of writing what i really want too.

[southsider2k5]

Is any team loaded enough to survive a top 3 starting pitcher missing all/most of the season?

 

Exactly.

[Y2Jimmy0]

Do you honestly believe that any of the guys you listed can fill in if one of the better starters (Sale, Q, or Rodon) gets hurt?

 

Fulmer is the only one out of that list that has any potential and he likely won't be called up until September or 2017.

 

 

They're screwed if any of those guys get hurt. They can't worry about that though.

[fathom]

With the Dodgers signing Kendrick today, it makes an Ethier deal possibly more likely.

[oldsox]

Seems like they have to get rid of either Ethier or Crawford, unless they send Trayce back to minors, which they probably won't since he can play CF.

[Dick Allen]

Depending how badly the Dodgers want to get rid of Ethier before he becomes a 5/10 guy, maybe they would take LaRoche since they still would be saving some money and either trade or release him.

[Bob Sacamano]

Seems like they have to get rid of either Ethier or Crawford, unless they send Trayce back to minors, which they probably won't since he can play CF.

 

So can Enrique Hernandez and Ethier (maybe not great buy they still plugged him in there).

[Quin]

Is any team loaded enough to survive a top 3 starting pitcher missing all/most of the season?

 

 

Exactly.

 

Only the Mets, maybe.

 

But the Sox should predict that and should have signed Price or Greinke.