I think the Bob from Niles bit is horrible so I will not make any negative comments on the above logic.

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Kenny Williams fell for the banana in the tailpipe

I said it was a lot of money compared to Puig and Cespedes who have both done well for themselves in the bigs so far. I said basically what the reports on him were....that he has tremendous power potential, he is 26 years old and age is something always in question with Cuban players, his bat speed has been questioned by some and he can not field to save his life. If he can hit for average as well as power and can walk then it will be a good move. If he does have that bat speed issue and doesn't hit for average then you have issues.

I think they would have been better off spending the 36 over 4 years it will take to get Salty as a catcher or even McCann at the steeper price. Addressing the catching situation is more pressing IMO.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Obesssion.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

These are the times I am thankful for JORR. He is at least objective in discussing the Sox moves. Keyser is over the moon about it because it is the Sox. If the Cubs made this exact move he would be shitting all over it.

I think this is a real solid move for the Sox. It is not that much money in todays market and if you get a power hitter who can replace Paulie then you are good

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Good move. I like it. Young, relatively affordable. 6 years is kind of a long time, but if he is a 25 HR guy, its worth it. At 26 and at that much money, so he is going to have to learn at the big league level which means he is probably going to take some lumps in 2014.

Gotta get rid of Alexei or Dunn this offseason though. Paying one of them just to stay away would better for the oraganeyezation overall I think.

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I agree with your first paragraph but think you are crazy with the second. 9 million per year for Saltalamacchia would not be money well spent.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Can't hate the signing at all. Seems Hahn is going to capitalize on the solid MLB pitching by trying to piecemeal an offense together.

I can't imagine he doesn't hit at least 25 home runs.

I do find it funny that Grantland referred to him as the greatest hitter in the world. Not a knock on Abreau, but any 'greatest athlete playing' needs to be in the universally recognized top league.

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Team Cutler.

Disagree. 11 million would be about market rate IF he maxes out on his HR, OBP and RBI potential. Konerko was making 12 and Dunn 15 last year, which both would have been market rate if they played up to their potential.

Now, what if this guy needs half a year in the minors?

You basically paid known quantity prices for an unknown quantity. Maybe you win the lottery, maybe you don't but the bet is all on you with the length and size of that contract. It placed no risk on him.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Even if he is 28 or 29 I like the move. There were a lot of great organizations looking to throw just as much money at him. As always Jerry is willing to pay for the right guy.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Time in the minors would be very surprising


He's the Best Hitter in the World

I don't think there's anyone that doesn't think he's major league ready. My biggest fear would be that's he's a right-handed version of Dunn.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

You can't put him in the minors. Nothing good can come of that. He is expected to produce in the big leagues with his age and international pedigree. If he goes to AAA and struggles then you are in a pickle. If he struggles it will have to be at the big league level.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Is Jerry Manuel going to call this guy "A-brew" too?

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My viewpoint on the Sox starting pitching may be a bit different than that of most Sox fans. They have a bunch of competent guys and it doesn't hurt to have a bunch of lefties (In the history of baseball, left-handed pitchers have an aggregate winning record.), but we're not in the juiced ball era anymore. There are plenty of guys with sub-4 ERAs. (Sadly, "Losing Pitcher" John Danks isn't one of them.) That and an inconsistent offense will get you an 8-13 record. And in spite of the current conventional wisdom that "W/L record is meaningless", what it shows you is that there are pitchers all over the place as capable of limiting run production as the guys you are claiming to be so solid.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I want to see how the contract is structured. Does it include a signing bonus? Does it include buyouts for option years? Is there an early out clause? It looks like a very good deal for one of the best power bats on the market.

He shouldn't need any time in the minors. Give him a ton of AB's in spring training and he'll be ready to rock and roll.

Peter Gammons was on Mully and Hanley this morning and kicked Mully in the boner over this move. Said the guy had a slow bat and would barely be able to play 1B. Predicted he'd hit .230 with 25 or so HRs as a best case scenario.

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He said he had a slow bat, but he didn't say it was best case scenario for .230 and 25 HRs. He said its possible that could happen, but its also possible the guy could hit .260 with 25-30HRs and an OP% of ~.330.

Real insight provided by Gammons there.

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ANY predictions are absurd. This guy is a complete unknown. I'm sure Gammons was just parroting something from the Red Sox, who didn't want to pony up that much cash.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

I must have jumped in late. I thought it was a dick move to come on and shit all over the move right away.

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They can team him up with the newest acquisition from the Rays, Bierman.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

So he's somewhere between the greatest hitter in the world and a terrible player who can't play first base. Way to go Rick and Kenny in either a sincere or sarcastic way!

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

RPB and Theo would love him if he hit for those numbers.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

That's my feeling. Dewskie would be proud as I will wait to see on this one.

Still, even the best case scenarios don't sound all that great. Pedestrian BA and OBP with good power and absolutely no value added on defense sounds like a skill set I thought the team was moving away from.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Great thing is he can always DH. When was the last time you seen Jerry outbid everyone for a bad player. He doesn't get into bidding wars for bums.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Normally this is true, but they signed Dunn in 2011.

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Buster Olney

Jose Abreu's deal with the White Sox is the biggest contract ever for an international free agent.
DETROIT -- When the Dodgers signed Cuban defector Yasiel Puig to a seven-year, $42 million contract, there were lot of evaluators who thought the deal was reckless, at the very least, and maybe a little insane. And now every team would love to have him at that rate.

There was similar sentiment in the sport when Oakland signed Yoenis Cespedes to a four-year, $38 million contract, and in two years with the Athletics, Cespedes has established himself as one of the better right-handed power hitters in the majors. So it’s always possible that the White Sox will be proved correct for their $68 million investment in Jose Abreu, a 26-year-old first base/DH type who defected from Cuba this summer.

But to put the Abreu signing into perspective: His contract is a bigger deal than any signed by Paul Konerko or Adam Dunn or Albert Belle or John Danks or Mark Buerhle or any other White Sox player in club history. It’s the most money spent on any contract for any international free agent. (Contracts are separate from the posting fees we've seen for Japanese stars.)

And the reality is that Abreu is not regarded by rival evaluators as anything close to a sure thing; the White Sox are seeing something in Abreu that other teams are not. Some scouts wonder whether Abreu has the bat speed necessary to be an impact player in the big leagues, or even an average player. The Houston Astros were aggressive in trying to sign Abreu, and they fell far short, bidding $55 million; the Red Sox were outbid by a whopping $28 million, having offered about $40 million. With the Puig and Cespedes signings, there is some positional flexibility, because both were regarded as players who could play any of the three outfield spots. Abreu is a first baseman who is thought destined to be, in the eyes of some scouts, a designated hitter.

It’s interesting, as well, that the White Sox are locking down Abreu without having publicly settled the future of first baseman Paul Konerko. Maybe Konerko has already indicated to the team privately that he probably will not be back. Maybe the White Sox determined that Abreu is the first baseman of the future, no matter what, and that if Konerko wants to come back, they could always move Dunn while eating a healthy chunk of the $15 million Dunn is owed for next season. (And there would be teams that would be interested, at the price).

But soon enough, we will know -- as we do with Puig -- whether this gamble will pay off for the White Sox. The dollars invested are so extraordinary that there is almost no chance for middle ground. This is either going to be a tremendous, aggressive signing or a historic bust.

More spewing diarrhea. What if he hits .250 and 20? Is that a bust? Tremendous?

Go find some old time Cuban coach who's seen it all and watched this guy a lot. I might be interested in what somebody like that has to say.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Was there a bidding war? I thought it was just a case of the Sox making a proven slugging commodity an offer and he accepted. IIRC he was in the top 3 in home runs over like a 6 or 7 year period. He just couldn't keep the batting average up but he's provided power.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

I think he outbid the Cubs for Jaime Navarro.

BTW, Frank, can you go wake up Biggie and tell him to fix the board?

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

His defense does seem to be a big concern. Sox were spoiled having Paulie there for so long, never had to worry about the D.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."