White Sox Acquire Frazier In Three-Team Deal

[gocgo]

 

None of the original guys they gave up for Peavy ever amounted to much (I guess Clayton Richard was decent for a few years as a back of the rotation guy), and they kept Peavy on a reasonable extension then later flipped him for Montas (their headliner in this deal) and Avisail Garcia.  I think it goes to show that these "selling the farm" trades often are not so.

 

The Samardzija trade might be worse (Semien, Phegley, etc.), particularly since they only got one (lousy) year from him, although they are still due a comp pick too.

That's right.  They gave up quite a bit for Samardzija and that never panned out.  It's interesting because I don't see the moves that they are making as putting them in position to compete with the Royals.  Does anyone have a steeper cliff in front of them than Detroit?  Although, they do have Kate Upton in the clubhouse...or do they?

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I didn't mean to suggest they were betting the farm, but rather they've been avoiding a full-on rebuild.

 

Again, what specifically should they have done otherwise?

 

After 2012, they had precious few valuable assets to restock their farm system -- Sale at that point had only one year as a starter, and instead of trading him, they signed him to an incredibly team-friendly extension buying out 3 free agent years (through 2019).

 

Quintana has been a step down from Sale but very good, but he probably didn't have much trade value until after 2013, his second season -- at which point, they signed him to an incredibly team-friendly extension buying out 2 free agent seasons (through 2020).

They didn't sign Abreu until before the 2014 season, and he's controlled through 2019 too.

And in the meantime, they extended Jake Peavy then flipped him for 2 good prospects in Montas and Garcia, and flipped Hector Santiago for Adam Eaton (and again signed him to a nice extension, buying out 3 free agent years through 2021, notice a pattern there?).

 

The idea that they've passed on rebuilding opportunities that would clearly have them in a better position today going forward just isn't supported by any facts.  Like all teams, they've made mistakes, obviously, and they're not a perfect team in a perfect position, but few teams ever are. The fact is, despite a weak farm system coming out of 2012, in 2013-2014 they found and locked up multiple stars on team-friendly deals through 2020 or so -- that's almost certainly a better result for that franchise than a non-specific suggestion to undertake a "full-on rebuild" those years.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I think it's been haunting them for a good three years now.

 

That 2012 White Sox team looked an awful lot like the 2010 Twins team. Full of vets in their last few years of decent production with a few nice young players in the mix. Both teams probably over-achieved that year which lead to higher expectations than they should have had.

So the 2012 White Sox and the 2010 Twins were both contenders, but older teams with weak-ish farm systems?

 

The following years (2013 White Sox and 2011 Twins), both teams bottomed out at 99 losses.  The White Sox sold their best veteran trade asset as soon as they fell out of the race that summer (Peavy) for 2 good prospects.  (To be fair, the Twins didn't really have any good veteran trade assets that year.)

 

The next two years, the 2014-2015 White Sox didn't exactly compete but managed to hang near .500 and within striking distance of the second wild card if not the division up to the trade deadline, while finding and locking up 4 stars through 2020 or so.

 

Meanwhile, the 2012-2013 Twins lost 96 games each year, plus a 92 loss season in 2014, never quite staying within 5 games of a playoff spot by late July.  They didn't really find and lock up any stars in this time period.  They did manage to compete in 2015, for the first time in their 5th season post-2010.

 

 

I don't dislike the Twins approach or current position, but I don't see how it's notably better than that of the White Sox.  Both teams have done some good but mostly bad in free agency.  What the Sox have lacked in filling out their the farm system compared to the Twins, they seem to have made up with those stars and extensions and not quite falling into extended irrelevance, which has value too.

 

Put another way, I'd probably complain equally today as a Sox fan as I do as a Twins fan.