White Sox Acquire James Shields

[caulfield12]

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/i...te-sox-rotation

 

ESPN also plays up the "preserving the bullpen" aspect of the move...keeping arms fresh in the second half, which will be like another trade if the White Sox can bring back a healthy Petricka and not burn through Putnam/Albers/Jones/Robertson too much.

 

He does, however, come as advertised in terms of his ability to eat up innings. According to ESPN Stats & Info, Shields is the only pitcher to exceed 200 innings in each of his past nine seasons. Last season, his first with the Padres, he finished with 202 1/3 innings. Shields has also thrown 22 complete games, which is tied with the Detroit Tigers' Justin Verlander for the sixth-most thrown during the span in which he has been in the big leagues (2006).

[hi8is]

I know most of my posts are just full of s***... But seriously, watch this video about the trade.

You'll thank me later - and no, it's not Rick rolling - it's an actual review of the trade.

 

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

I know most of my posts are just full of s***... But seriously, watch this video about the trade.

You'll thank me later - and no, it's not Rick rolling - it's an actual review of the trade.

 

 

I assume this is you, Hi8is?

[hi8is]

I assume this is you, Hi8is?

Uh no.

 

"... Tatis Jr. - I don't know who the f*** that is, someone in triple A... And if I've never heard of them, then, ya. But JAMES SHIEEELDS!!"

 

Priceless.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Uh no.

 

"... Tatis Jr. - I don't know who the f*** that is, someone in triple A... And if I've never heard of them, then, ya. But JAMES SHIEEELDS!!"

 

Priceless.

 

It only had 7 views so I was just assuming you didn't come across it that quickly.

[hi8is]

It only had 7 views so I was just assuming you didn't come across it that quickly.

The author posted it to his Twitter about 20 minutes ago. Lol.

[hi8is]

From a SI article:

 

Adding James Shields could prevent Chicago from falling any further behind Kansas City and Cleveland in the AL Central, but it won’t get them back on top of the division. For that, they’ll need the offense and bullpen to perk up, and perhaps for Don Cooper to wave some smelling salts under Ventura’s nose the next time one of his pitchers, Shields included, gets in a late-inning jam.

[ChiSox59]

Just wanted to say Thanks. I don't post often but amidst all of the gloom and doom thats written on the board, you seem to find ways to put some HOPEFUL and positive spins on things at times. Granted i am just as frustrated with everything as everyone else is, but this is baseball. I love the sport. I hate when winter comes and we have to wait soooo long for the season to start. I am TRYING to have some hope in this team, but man some of the negativity really gets depressing at times. Is everyone frustrated? Absolutely and SHOULD be. But overall I still believe we have a good team. I know its a long shot, but if Abreu ever gets his head out of his rear end, we have a lineup of one through 7 that's really not all that bad. He has hurt us a lot of games this year in real possible turning points in games. I remember a while back he Paulie went in a half year slump. He made NO excuses. He knew how he hurt the team, And fans were calling for his head. Just worked hard at getting out of it...and becamse a start and a hero again.. Can only hope the same for Abreu. I'd rather have the team go through this now and get all this $h&^&&t out of the way now than have it come in September. On the other side.......we have a REAL good defensive club as well. hopefully Rodon will get where he is supposed to be as well. A lot of IF's and Hopes? Sure. But if the 83 Sox can start off as horrible as they did and not lose a series the entire second half, then why couldn;t this team if everyone just does what they are supposed to do? Any, enough said. Just wanted to say thanks for some of your positives posts that you put out now and then. There is still a LOT of baseball yet. and if Frazier hasn't done what he did in many key situations,... we might be where Minny is at. But we are not. And also.....the front office (agree or disagree with any future moves) is at least TRYING to to something by TRYING to get a guy that eats innings to salvage a bullpen so its not totally trashed by August, along with still having money for more additions. Granted. its all long shots. But we still do have a VERY Good chance with some REAL hope with the pieces that we have. Tom

 

Great post. This is what I come to Soxtalk to read.

 

[Hatchetman]

All of a sudden $27 million is nothing. How much were we short on Alex Gordon, Dexter Fowler, and others?

[Dick Allen]

All of a sudden $27 million is nothing. How much were we short on Alex Gordon, Dexter Fowler, and others?

$27 million isn't nothing, and he is signed for the next 2 seasons as well. The Sox also have LaRoches money to play with, which they didn't when the others were a available.

 

If he sucks, this will be a bit of a drain. If he can be a solid #4 starter, it isn't a lot of money in today's game. The Padres still will be paying him more than the Sox.

 

I wonder what the breakdown is in Padres payments to the Sox, as far as what per season.

[Special K]

Why did we just take on a $27 million contract? We're going to be in 4th place in about 2 days. We are the punching bag of the AL Central. The White Sox are where divisional opponents come to feast. Several key divisional players are of have been hurt and the Sox continue to lose ground. Not to mention our record of the last 25 games has to be the worst in all of baseball (without having checked). Now we have a middling starter for $27 million... This contract will obviously hamper us from signing another top tier free agent next year (when we HAD almost $30 million in bad money coming off the books. Plus we still need a bat, which was more urgent than trading for James Shields. Starting to really question if Hahn knows what he's doing...

[Texsox]

And this is one of the two reasons I haven't been posting. Because if you're not a fan of this team, its now personal for too many people.

 

It makes perfect sense to me that if you aren't a fan of the team to not post here. It seems the problem is all the non fans come around to make the fans feel even worse about the team. The gloating that the team is horrible would play better at a division rival site than the Sox fan forum. The fans of the team already feel bad, why should the site allow non fans of the team to show up during the rough times to hate on the team? Trolls are trolls.

 

This is a prime example. You don't post when the team is winning. As soon as they drop from first, you arrive to make the fans feel even worse. Well congratulations you spread your unhappiness.

[Bob Sacamano]

$27 million isn't nothing, and he is signed for the next 2 seasons as well. The Sox also have LaRoches money to play with, which they didn't when the others were a available.

 

If he sucks, this will be a bit of a drain. If he can be a solid #4 starter, it isn't a lot of money in today's game. The Padres still will be paying him more than the Sox.

 

I wonder what the breakdown is in Padres payments to the Sox, as far as what per season.

 

According to Dan Hayes, Sox pay:

 

2016: $5 million

2017: $10 million

2018: $10 million

And then $2 million buyout. Makes sense that we would have to cover this.

 

I assume Padres would pay the rest of the salary for each year.

To put things into perspective, Danks is making $15.75 million this season according to Baseball Reference.

Edited June 5, 2016 by soxfan2014

[Chicago White Sox]

Not sure why people keep complaining that this move doesn't address the offense. The amount of talent we gave up and money we took on doesn't prevent us from adding a big bat. Hahn is simply addressing holes as opportunities present themselves. If Shields can be an effective #4 starter, then this move was well worth it considering the cost and what we're currently getting out of that spot.

[Y2Jimmy0]

All of a sudden $27 million is nothing. How much were we short on Alex Gordon, Dexter Fowler, and others?

 

 

They weren't short on those guys though. They offered them what they felt they worth. What your paying someone else has no bearing on that.

[SCCWS]

Not sure why people keep complaining that this move doesn't address the offense. The amount of talent we gave up and money we took on doesn't prevent us from adding a big bat. Hahn is simply addressing holes as opportunities present themselves. If Shields can be an effective #4 starter, then this move was well worth it considering the cost and what we're currently getting out of that spot.

 

 

Agree. The team needed another starting pitcher. They have since last winter when the 4( Johnson) and 5 ( Danks) were both questionable. Hahn got Latos as a 6 and we saw how fast he became a 4. Shields is now the 4/5 and I assume Latos will be as well. There will be much more trade talk after the draft as teams shift their emphasis and resources.

[Special K]

It makes perfect sense to me that if you aren't a fan of the team to not post here. It seems the problem is all the non fans come around to make the fans feel even worse about the team. The gloating that the team is horrible would play better at a division rival site than the Sox fan forum. The fans of the team already feel bad, why should the site allow non fans of the team to show up during the rough times to hate on the team? Trolls are trolls.

 

This is a prime example. You don't post when the team is winning. As soon as they drop from first, you arrive to make the fans feel even worse. Well congratulations you spread your unhappiness.

 

Tex, that's mildly insulting. Like 200 of my posts have been this year. But in any event, we are still only 2 games back after this awful stretch. I think we need offense more than starting pitching. But we are still very much in contention and hopefully Shields can be a contributing factor to doing that.

 

 

[Texsox]

Tex, that's mildly insulting. Like 200 of my posts have been this year. But in any event, we are still only 2 games back after this awful stretch. I think we need offense more than starting pitching. But we are still very much in contention and hopefully Shields can be a contributing factor to doing that.

 

There are a small but vocal group of posters that only seem to show up to gloat that the team is failing. They represent about 80% of the complaints to mods that we receive. It's anyone's choice to follow a team they hate and which makes them feel horrible (although I wonder why). But when they are trolling other members it gets looked at.

 

And there is a difference between feeling horrible when the team doing poorly and posting that and gloating that the team is doing horrible and that poster feels great that they were proven right about what a horrible team it is. The posters that genuinely seem to feel better when the team is doing worse really bring the site down even further than it naturally would.

[Special K]

There are a small but vocal group of posters that only seem to show up to gloat that the team is failing. They represent about 80% of the complaints to mods that we receive. It's anyone's choice to follow a team they hate and which makes them feel horrible (although I wonder why). But when they are trolling other members it gets looked at.

 

And there is a difference between feeling horrible when the team doing poorly and posting that and gloating that the team is doing horrible and that poster feels great that they were proven right about what a horrible team it is. The posters that genuinely seem to feel better when the team is doing worse really bring the site down even further than it naturally would.

 

On the bright side, I think anyone of us would have been happy to be in this position at this point before the start of the season. A winning record. Two games back. And an addition of James Shields. Plus our second half is a much easier schedule. Now let's get some offense.

[Harry Chappas]

Free agency looks weak this off season and sox have excess cash so that makes great sense to pick up that contract at $9M per.

 

In a month they can sign another Tatis rather easily

 

Johnson had no value and the padre hope is that the NL and that park is what is needed.

 

I continue to hold out hope for the bullpen.

 

This offense is bad.

 

In the end, the white sox are building for next two years.

 

 

[caulfield12]

There are a small but vocal group of posters that only seem to show up to gloat that the team is failing. They represent about 80% of the complaints to mods that we receive. It's anyone's choice to follow a team they hate and which makes them feel horrible (although I wonder why). But when they are trolling other members it gets looked at.

 

And there is a difference between feeling horrible when the team doing poorly and posting that and gloating that the team is doing horrible and that poster feels great that they were proven right about what a horrible team it is. The posters that genuinely seem to feel better when the team is doing worse really bring the site down even further than it naturally would.

 

 

I don't think most of the fans who would like to see improvements from the front office and marketing/public relationship and talent evaluation side of things are so much hating on the team as expressing frustration...on one hand, all team message boards and especially game threads serve as an outlet for that.

 

I bet long-time Cubs' fans are even more annoyed when all of a sudden a bunch of bandwagon fans show up and just post these excessively rosy and optimistic pie-in-the-sky proclamations about how they're guaranteed to win 3-5 World Series titles and that Epstein and Maddon are demigods who barely touch the ground when they walk on the hallowed Wrigley grass and every team's superstar franchise player could be obtained by the Cubs with a package of 4-6 Top 12-30 prospects.

 

There's a difference between being realistic/pragmatic and ALWAYS seeing the worst side in every situation.

 

I'm 98% sure between 2003 and 2010 the amount of complaints about negativity were much more limited. And it's also frustrating to see fans constantly/consistently receive blame when the White Sox have made so many just DUMB decisions financially that it's hard not to start questioning their judgment instead of giving them the benefit of the doubt. Have they earned the benefit of the doubt, really?

 

Then you have another problem. The issues with this team over the last 3 seasons have been so endemic/pervasive...and yet there's a certain amount of frustration that nobody is really accountable for all of the failure. It's not Ventura's fault because managers don't really matter. It's not Hahn's fault because of KW. It's not KW's fault because of JR. Around and around it goes. If there was a reason to feel encouraged or to believe the "worm had turned" finally, it was those first 33 7/9th's games. To have that rug so quickly be pulled back from underneath our feet, to the point where we're now closer to 4th than 1st place after commanding the division and entire AL a scant 4 weeks ago, it's just frustrating.

Edited June 5, 2016 by caulfield12

[fathom]

Free agency looks weak this off season and sox have excess cash so that makes great sense to pick up that contract at $9M per.

 

In a month they can sign another Tatis rather easily

 

Johnson had no value and the padre hope is that the NL and that park is what is needed.

 

I continue to hold out hope for the bullpen.

 

This offense is bad.

 

In the end, the white sox are building for next two years.

 

Yep hard to argue with the trade

[caulfield12]

Free agency looks weak this off season and sox have excess cash so that makes great sense to pick up that contract at $9M per.

 

In a month they can sign another Tatis rather easily

 

Johnson had no value and the padre hope is that the NL and that park is what is needed.

 

I continue to hold out hope for the bullpen.

 

This offense is bad.

 

In the end, the white sox are building for next two years.

 

 

In reality, their best opportunity to win is next season. They're already (this year) looking at replacing their catchers (well, Avila at least), replacing Avi Garcia/DH and filling a couple of holes in the bullpen and improving the bench just to have a chance to be competitive in the 2nd half.

 

After 2017, you will likely be looking to replace Frazier, Lawrie and Cabrera. Unless Abreu wakes up anytime soon, the only "guaranteed" 3+ WAR offensive player on the roster looks to be Adam Eaton. There are no catchers on the imminent horizon, although that's true around most of baseball at the moment.

 

So that leaves you Eaton, Tim Anderson, maybe Abreu, maybe Saladino and potentially 5 positions that you need to find replacements for on the FA market or internally. Unless we're expecting Coats, Hayes, Delmonico, Jacob May and Trey M. to all make it and become at a minimum 2+ war players, there just isn't that much position player talent in our system right now at AA/AAA. And unless we're drafting more college pitchers in the first 2 rounds, it's hard to expect any of those players to impact the 2016 and 2017 rosters.

 

Sure, with the rotation and Robertson/Jones, you can say things are looking really good for the next two years, as long as Shields can have a 4.5-4.75 ERA or less and eat up innings and Rodon's closer to the 3.25-3.50 ERA pitcher we saw in the second half than our current version who prefers to pitch at a hittable 92-93 MPH when he can easily throw 95-97.

 

 

Maybe the answer's in Korean, Japan or Cuba and we just don't know it yet.

Edited June 5, 2016 by caulfield12

[flavum]

Latos, Shields, Rodon vs Nats.

 

Shields wearing number 25.

[Chicago White Sox]

Latos, Shields, Rodon vs Nats.

 

Shields wearing number 25.

So Gonzalez is the odd man out I take it?