Hot Stove,Random Trade Ideas, And FA Ideas And Discussions

[DewsSox79]

Discuss all ideas, rumors etc here.

[Lefty]

As much as I want to believe that this team is an OBP-demon away from the post-season, there isn't really all that much this team can do. Jake Peavy, Alex Rios, Scott Linebrink and Mark Teahen are all getting raises (though not much individually) and are virtually immovable, Edwin Jackson is nearly doubling his previous season's salary, and Kenny Williams has traded the organization into a corner where they have no solid prospects ready to take the reigns from the likes of Konerko and AJ.

You almost have to re-sign Konerko and AJ at this point, if not for them being better options than anything the farm system has produced, then for the fact that meatballs will be lighting themselves on fire in the streets should they not be brought back. This means that any available budget money will surely be used up to retain them, and we will get to see more of what has become a South Side tradition: shitty veteran players brought in and given PT comparable to a mid-level starter a la Freddy Garcia, Omar Vizquel (yeah, I know he had a good season, but you're a fool if you expect him to in any way replicate those numbers outside of actually having a batting average and OBP) and Mark Kotsay. Perhaps not them, specifically, but they will be equally as shitty yet receive at least as much PT.

So really, what we're looking at here is the same thing we were looking at in the Spring: probably a pretty crappy offense with a starting 5 that have the potential to be very very good, but are nevertheless overrated (I fell victim to this as well in March, but never again). Maybe they'll be good, but it's unreasonable to expect greatness (90+ wins and a division title); Maybe the Twins will tank without solid starters, who knows. In the end, with Peavy's return a question mark (both with regards to him being able to pitch and him returning to some form of being a good pitcher), Edwin Jackson's arrival (yeah, he was really good with the Sox, but remember: he's been really bad a lot longer than he's been really good) and the spot the organization is in financially (as well as the fucking embarrassing "hey, you've been shitty for awhile, so maybe with US you'll be good!" approach Kenny and JR absolutely love), we'll probably be looking at another mid-80's-win team that will have to rely on the Twins sucking (they probably won't) to make the playoffs.

[whitesox901]

Lefty's post made me sad.

[Lefty]

But it's true, it's true.

[Capt. Serious]

Keep Paulie!

[tbo41fan]

stickied

[Montanaro]

Going to have to keep paulie, not sure if we have the pieces to get Dunn still.

At least Viciedo and Morel were looking fairly good at the end of the season. If we have to we could put Viciedo at 1st and Morel at 3rd (fuck teahan)

We really don't have much to work with unless we want to trade away one of our pitchers.

[Got teeth? Keith doesn't.]

I have a feeling the next few years are going to be loooooooong...

[Montanaro]

I have a feeling the next few years are going to be loooooooong...

If we dont make the playoffs, Ozzie is gone.

[DewsSox79]

If we dont make the playoffs, Ozzie is gone.

yes.

[DewsSox79]

i want to hear 643 get in depth about this coming offseason with players, coaching, in game choices etc. please get it done turds!

[whitesox901]

My opinions and suggestions:

Vicideo will probably get the nod at 1st (doubt they resign Konerko or sign Dunn)
Moral will (I'm guessing) be the starter at third
Sign Victor Martinez for catching (I have ZERO confidence for Tyler Flowers)
Move TCQ to DH (or just trade him if possible...)
resign Thornton & Putz
Don't offer Jenks arb
get a starter not named Freddy Garcia if Peavy isn't ready
Sign a few bullpen arms.

[Lefty]

My opinions and suggestions:

Vicideo will probably get the nod at 1st (doubt they resign Konerko or sign Dunn)
Moral will (I'm guessing) be the starter at third
Sign Victor Martinez for catching (I have ZERO confidence for Tyler Flowers)
Move TCQ to DH (or just trade him if possible...)
resign Thornton & Putz
Don't offer Jenks arb
get a starter not named Freddy Garcia if Peavy isn't ready
Sign a few bullpen arms.

1) It's Morel, not Moral.
2) Though V-Mart would be nice, he's probably going to command a contract that is at least similar to what you would be paying Konerko if he were to be brought back at a discount, and that's just talking salary--who knows what he's going to want in terms of years. If you can nab him for 3 years (unlikely, as I would think he wouldn't like to be searching for a contract at age 34), that's great, but anything more than that is risky considering he is 31 now, TCQ is your DH for the foreseeable future, and Viciedo might start to look like a DH-only type once he starts getting regular reps in the field, effectively creating a log-jam at DH should Martinez degrade quickly with age and not be able to handle full-time catching duties.

Also, with V-Mart's career rate-based numbers being essentially equal with Konerko's (PK has the edge in SLG, Martinez in OBP), you have essentially shifted the need-spot from catcher to first base. That being the case, Viciedo better be able to produce now at least at the level we can reasonably expect from AJ (as much as I dog the guy for being a pud, 2010 does look like an aberration) because you are essentially swapping him for Viciedo in the lineup (and V-Mart for PK). If Viciedo produces below what we can expect from AJ, and Martinez doesn't have a stellar year, the team has cost itself runs by waiving goodbye to PK and AJ.

3) With all that, who is going to play RF? Quentin is now in the DH slot (which is the best spot for him), but is Mark Teahen really going to be that much of an upgrade? Since we're talking about moving guys around that are already on the squad, we don't need to worry about their offensive production matching up, but I don't know if Teahen is that much of a better RF option than Quentin. Perhaps with a full off-season and Spring Training of OF work under his belt, but the team better be sure of that before they go this route.

And if not Teahen, you have resigned him to the fate of being a highly-overpaid bench player ($4.75 and $5.5 million for the next two seasons, respectively), as well as used up a good majority (presumably all) of the money you would have spent on Konerko on V-Mart, so can you find a competent replacement RFer for the money you saved in not bringing back AJ? I look at the salaries as a zero-sum type of thing because I think it is a more than safe assumption that the payroll for this season isn't going to go up by any more than the raises afforded to some individual players (the Edwin Jackson acquisition really hurts the team from this perspective) already on the team, and thus a huge spike in payroll is almost certainly out of the question.

Then you still have to address the bullpen, and while Putz isn't going to command top-reliever money, the salary he is more than likely going to want will be a significant increase over his $3 million paycheck this season. You can pick up Thornton's $3 million option, but that is still a raise given to him, cutting even deeper into whatever money you have still under the budget, and that's assuming you have any left at all.

As for going out and grabbing a starter? That probably isn't going to happen, and if it does, while it might not be Freddy Garcia in name, it will be Freddy Garcia in approximate age and ability, because the team doesn't have the money to go out and grab anything better (unless they get very lucky). So look for them to jam Chris Sale into a starting role any way they can, and I don't think giving a side-winder with violent mechanics more innings is the best idea long-term.

All that being said, you don't know what Viciedo is going to give you and you don't know what Morel will bring to the table (or even if he can hit MLB pitching consistently), so those two positions are still question marks as far as production goes. These moves are all great in theory, but without Viciedo and Morel giving you real value right off the bat and V-Mart staying healthy and producing at well-above-average (or just at/above career norms), this team could very easily look like the 2010 incarnation, just with different names on the backs of a few jerseys.

[whitesox901]

[Lefty]

Oh come on, that's it? That took a good amount of work, lol.

[DewsSox79]

Im thinking they may move quentin this offseason. I just have a feeling.

if quentin is still here, the only place for him is at DH.

I have read articles again stating KW is searching yet again for a lh bat. I have no clue who he could get that is affordable and any good. I really do not want to see tea bag in RF.

as far a vmart, of course i would love to have him on this team but he will be too pricey.

with all the options out there, imo resigning aj would have to be the best option financially and talent wise.

[whitesox901]

Oh come on, that's it? That took a good amount of work, lol.

:hug:

[Lefty]

:ty:

[whitesox901]

Seriously though. The fact that the CHICAGO White Sox have financial restraints is just stupid. I mean, you can't spend stupidly like the Yankees did for the 5 years or so before 2009!!!!1, but if all the pieces are (hyperthedicly) on the market, then we should have no restraints or problems getting into the higher 100 millions.

[DewsSox79]

it is going to be a very long year next year. sadly. im not optimistic about really anything right now.

[DewsSox79]

any guesses on how much we spend this year?

[Capt. Serious]

We need to dump a starting pitcher.

Way too much money tied up in that we have other holes to fill.

My wishlist:

Quentin traded
Jackson/Floyd traded (one not both)
AJ brought back (we have no catching depth)
PK brought back (rinse & repeat above)
Linestink released (adios)
Pena/Jenks gone (good riddance to both)
Bullpen help

[cubsneedmiracle]

You guys can lose AJ

[DewsSox79]

with the market for catchers pretty shitty this year, i say we try to resign him

[waldo7239117]

The WS can try Flowers.....lol, jkjk.

Yeah, the WS need AJ back.