Little Slide Rooter

I was hoping we'd never have to see that name again.

See also Maholm, Paul. Notably, there wasn't anywhere close to the same reaction as the Maholm signing even though we're paying him significantly more. Because Maholm was a really good value and is a starting pitcher. Reed Johnson wasn't. What is hard to understand about this? Spending any amount of money on 5th outfielders is stupid. We could've used Sappelt in that role. We could've used Campana in that role. It's not about how big of a mistake it is. It's about not making a mistake that didn't need to be made. Great, his numbers look ok because he has faced mostly lefties and has had good BABIP luck. Sweet! Still a completely pointless signing. I always thought that the point of signing Johnson was to buy more time for guys like Sappelt, who would benefit more from starting in AAA than getting 5th OF PT in Chicago. I don't think that the Marshall trade had been made yet. Still, especially in what was likely to be year 1 of a rebuild, even if they did want a veteran like Johnson, more than likely, Johnson or someone similar would have been available on a minor league deal with an invite later in the winter. Like oh, say Joe Mather. The only reason that I can think of for signing Johnson as early as they did is if at the time they were still debating building a team that could contend immediately, and even if they decided against it he was cheap enough that it wouldn't have any effect on their future plans.

I can totally see it. Let's say they dump Soriano and save $1 million/year, and Garza is traded, Soto is either traded or non-tendered, and Stewart is non-tendered. That leaves $34.17 million in firm commits (including Soler and Concepcion) with Marmol and DeJesus being the only players on the 25-man to show for it. Castro, Russell, Valbuena, Volstad and Samardzija make the team as arbitration-eligible players. $12 million in total seems pretty reasonable for them, probably even a bit high. That gives us 7 players for $46.17 million. The hard part is predicting how many pre-arb players make the roster. This year we ran like 10-12 all year so far. Nobody's really a lock because who knows who will be traded between now and then. Best guess: Rizzo, Wood, Clevenger, Castillo, a backup OF (Campana? Sappelt), Barney (or Valbuena if he's traded), at least three farm bullpen guys (Dolis, Beliveau, Cabrera? I dunno, I'm not good at that part), at least one scrapheap bullpen guy and maybe two of Jackson/Vitters/guys we get out of trades this offseason. That's a total of 12 for about $6 million. That's 19 roster spots already filled up and we've only spent $52 million. We still need a couple starting position players (at least one outfielder, maybe two) and a couple of rotation arms (depending on who we get in the Garza and Dempster trades). If we're not in on the stud FA starting pitchers, and I'm betting we're not going to do more than kick the tires on them, then it's hard to even get to $90 million. tl;dr: We have a crap-ton of positions likely to be filled by pre-FA guys next year. What are they going to do with all the loot? Fill in the blanks 1B Rizzo 2B Barney SS Castro 3B Vitters/Stewart LF Soriano/Sweeney (if at the right price, why not) CF Jackson RF DeJesus C Castillo/Soto SP___________ SP __________ SP Samardzjia SP Wood SP Maholm CL Marmol BP Russell BP Dolis BP Cabrera BP Beliveau BP: 2 of Bowden, Jackson, Parker, Mateo, Maine, reclamation Bench Clevenger Bench Sappelt Bench LaHair/Campana Bench Valbuena Bench Cardenas

I guess it's kind of interesting when you think of the paths which Josh Vitters and Brett Jackson took to the point they are now. Vitters was touted by some as the top bat in what was considered a stacked draft. 2 years later, Jackson was viewed as a so-so late 1st rounder. Vitters has been a roller coaster since the behinning. Jackson has been great at every stop, with few hiccups, the most recent being the most notable. This being said, even in his worst stretch, BJ's still OPSing .833. Now if you were to poll people who either casually follow the minors or have recently started, I wonder how many are aware that Vitters is younger than Jackson, Szczur, and just half a year older than Junior Lake. Castro, Rizzo, Vitters, and Jackson could be a great core to build around.

That has been the sort of thing I've been wanting them to do ever since MacPhail/Hendry decided to do the complete opposite (draft and develop pitchers then go sign bats). Why not develope an offensive super team and then spend the free agent dollars, which should be plentiful on pitching. That's kind of the direction that were headed in, with Rizzo, Castro, Vitters, Jackson, and Castillo for now and Soler, Baez, Almora, Candelerio, Vogelsbach, and Amaya to join in upcoming years as well as guys like Lake, Torryes and Szczur somewhere in between. As for pitching, we should have no shortage of back of the rotation starters and middle relief. The general idea of an offensive super team and addressing pitching through the FA market has it's merits. The problem I have with it, though, is you can't, for lack of a better term, get by with scraps. While the Yankees may be trying to trim their budget, more and more teams have money to spend (I mean, I can think of some clubs that might increase their payroll a decent amount next year), and outside of fluke years, there are rarely more than a couple guys that are legitimate impact starters. Unless the player in question has an affinity for the Cubs, it's a tough situation to consistently hope to win on these FA dynamics. If they opt to go this way, and land the FA pitching, great. We should have to money to hang in the Hamels sweepstakes. Even if it does enter 7/135 territory, this is where it's worth going overboard. Unlike with top position player prospects, top pitching prospects don't get blocked, so we aren't likely to get one in trade like we did Garza. Additionally, I would like to see what it would take for Baltimore to move Matusz or Britton. With them in contention, this would be the time to do so.

Perfect match? Who says we need to trade him to a contender? A lot of teams with a lot more money than The Royals will be in on every SP from Hamels to Liriano. Maybe they have a chance at Dempster, Liriano, Zambrano, or Sanchez, but they may as well not bother with Hamels or Greinke, who's already demanded they trade him once. Here's where Garza comes in. A young, front end starter with another year under team control. While they can't compete with the big boys as far as money, they can with prospects. Regardless of who's in on Hamels or Greinke, if we wanted to work with KC now, we'd be alone. I'm not sure if their system is as bountiful as it once was, but as far as I'm concerned the package can start and end with Wil Meyers. If we can get Myers in any sort of deal for Garza, then let's do it. But ... I doubt they are going to be offering up Myers. If so, though, I'm game. These guys are loaded with young hitters, but have no pitching, and I really can't see them able to hang with the big money teams for elite FA pitching. If they have any hope of acquiring what they need, it will have to be through trade, and I can't think of any other options for them aside from Garza, unless King Felix becomes available.

I'd expect to see him in Spetember once the PCL season ends. I'd be lying if I said that I wouldn't like to see both him and Brett Jackson called up for the 2 meaningless months after the trade deadline. I don't know how much of a difference that an additional 2 months in the PCL would make for either, and it would be fun to watch Rizzo, Castro, Vitters, Jackson, and Castillo together. It would basically be on the job training for 2013.

I did not realize how bad Boston's starting pitching was: Doubront 4.41, Beckett 4.43, Lester 4.49, Bard 5.24, Bucholtz 5.53, Daisuke 6.65, yet they sstill stand at .500, and right in the Wild Card race, 2.5 games out. They should be gunning the hardest for pitching. [expletive], we should be trying to sell them on Maholm.

Let me guess, we owe it to them for Theo. Ryan Sweeny is a lot more left handed Reed Johnson than he is David DeJesus. If they want to go top 3 prospect+top 10 prospect+Ryan Sweeny, then we'll talk.

That has been the sort of thing I've been wanting them to do ever since MacPhail/Hendry decided to do the complete opposite (draft and develop pitchers then go sign bats). Why not develope an offensive super team and then spend the free agent dollars, which should be plentiful on pitching. That's kind of the direction that were headed in, with Rizzo, Castro, Vitters, Jackson, and Castillo for now and Soler, Baez, Almora, Candelerio, Vogelsbach, and Amaya to join in upcoming years as well as guys like Lake, Torryes and Szczur somewhere in between. As for pitching, we should have no shortage of back of the rotation starters and middle relief.

Perfect match? Who says we need to trade him to a contender? A lot of teams with a lot more money than The Royals will be in on every SP from Hamels to Liriano. Maybe they have a chance at Dempster, Liriano, Zambrano, or Sanchez, but they may as well not bother with Hamels or Greinke, who's already demanded they trade him once. Here's where Garza comes in. A young, front end starter with another year under team control. While they can't compete with the big boys as far as money, they can with prospects. Regardless of who's in on Hamels or Greinke, if we wanted to work with KC now, we'd be alone. I'm not sure if their system is as bountiful as it once was, but as far as I'm concerned the package can start and end with Wil Meyers.

what the [expletive] is the white sox thing supposed to represent? also the blue jays' mascot is lame. The White Sox mascot is a...thing named "Southpaw." When you think that's ridiculous, please note that this used to be their unofficial mascot: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_the_Clown http://i.ytimg.com/vi/c-AH4YTQhwM/0.jpg It's a lot less ridiculous than our old unofficial mascot

This is where the extra year of team service comes in. With Hamels or Greinke, you're trading for 2-3 months. Obviously, you want lock them up, but it will be easier said than done. With virtually every big market team in need of pitching, there's no way I could see Hamels not testing the FA market. With Garza, at least you're guaranteed a 2nd year of service and time to work on an extension. Obviously, if Hernandez were to hit the market, that would completely change it all together, but as of now, Hamels is the one elite arm on the market. Garza might not be having the season that Greinke or Dempster are, but if you're giving up one of the top 5 prospects in baseball, you want more than 2-3 months.

How am I just taking notice of DSL catcher Jhonny Pena? He's in his 2nd season, but in 55 AB at .418/.577/.618 with 20 BB to 9 K. And Kelvin keeps hiting too.

:roll: I prefaced all of my Dempster comments admitting they were wrong on irrational on my part. Now I have to see this ignorance every time Dempster has a good outing. Do you not think there is at least a tiny difference between this game (middle of the season on a team going nowhere) and the first game of the first round of the playoffs? I stand by my comments. He was at his worst when the pressure was at it's peak. It's ok, you'll never be known as the biggest dempster hater on this board. where is that gvillecub dude anyways? He only surfaces when Dempster has a bad game, and I think he's only had like 1.

I'd offer Dempster a 12.5 1 year deal in a heartbeat.

When I think "meh" I think respectable but uninspiring. Hitters with the potential to become Jeff Baker. Pitchers with the potential to become Casey Coleman. Then again, they could also become Bobby Scales or JR Mathes (yes Truffle, he's still my standard in career AAA filler) Like virtually every farm system, ours is full of "meh" with quality prospects sprinkled in. However, young, high ceiling guys who havn't quite hit their stride don't classify as "meh" in my book.

Sounds like it could be a last minute attempt for leverage, but if both Gausman and Appel hold out, I could end up really rooting for us in the Fecal League.

2-2 and pushing that OPS back toward .900. Man, I'd love to see him, Candelerio, and Soler at the same level next year.

So is this just a way of saying that there's no way of us not getting something big for Dempster? Well good, color me satisfied.

Why would you possibly post this. Legit concern? Historically, Lilly was a better pitcher than Dempster, though Dempster's having a monster season. Also, my memory of 2010 is as hazy as I hope for my memory of 2012 will be by this time next year, but I don't recall Lilly having any injury issues in 2010 and Demp's been on the DL twice, which I can't imagine GMs not taking into consideration when trading prospects for a 2-3 month rental no matter how he's looking at the time. Another example is Edwin Jackson, who had a 2.2 WAR when the White Sox traded him on 7/27, and they ended up getting garbage for him, although he was immediately flipped in the Rasmus trade.

Not to be a downer, but while Dempster is having a career season vs. Ted Lilly who was having an average season when he was traded, will it be enough to convince other GMs to give us that much more for Dempster than we got for TRL? I'm aware that we have better guys running the show now, but I have a hard time believing that Hendry would have taken a pair of fringy relief prospects and a guy that the Dodgers were pretty much done with if he felt he could have had that much better. Was Wallach in the Dodgers top 10 at the time?

I'd be all for it, depending on how much they're willing to give up. Too bad even Theo can't convince them that Tony Campana is a comparable alternative to Dexter Fowler or Ben Revere.

While I do trust the word of the guys like Law and Goldstein who make a living watching and analyzing prospects, due to his age, level, and the fact that he seems to have made significant improvements across the board including defense, I'm really not sure what could be keeping him off the top 100 list at this point. In the PCL, he's top 25 in SLG and OPS, top 40 in BA, and top 50 in OBP, and this includes guys who are already in the big leagues as well as AAAA guys in their late 20s.

Yeah, the only guys I would rank ahead of him would be Johnson and maybe Blackburn...and I really don't like ranking relievers too high. Ben Wells is still #1 for me, but Cabrera's not to far behind. Other than that, until Maples or one of the 2012 picks do something, then there's just Rosario, McNutt, Struck, Raley, Beliveau, Loosen, Jokisch, Kirk, and a few others all lumped together. Hopefully, our 2013 top pitching prospects come back in trades for Dempster and Garza. There's no way Struck, Raley, Loosen, Jokisch and Kirk should be lumped in the same group as Rosario and McNutt or even Raley. Also, I dropped Wells about 10 spots once he needed TJS. I did the same with Whitenack last year. McNutt's really worrying me this season. I know he was a bonus baby, but he wasn't on the same level as Wells or Maples, at least I don't think he was. He had 2 great years in 2009&2010, and be it injury related or not, he's simply not been able to recapture what made him a top 50 prospect.