MLBTR’s Jeff Todd runs down the latest from around the league before being joined by Scott Merkin of MLB.com to discuss his experience covering new Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. in his days with the White Sox as well as the outlook of the ChiSox after a disappointing 2015 season. Specifically, Jeff and Scott talk about the Sox’ philosophy, the potential of further additions to the roster and trade talks that have taken place between Chicago and Colorado.
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The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast runs weekly on Thursday afternoons.
I hope the trade talks are for Charlie Blackmon not cargo
I would love either on the nationals
Honestly, Cargo would be crazy for the White Sox, it would destroy what’s left of their system that was fine before the lawrie and frazier trades. Blackmon would probably be considerable as well and would most likely have to include Erik Johnson and/ or Jordan Guerrero as well as Chris Beck. Not sure it would be a smart move to go down the trade route
Not really. Given his contract and performance, he probably wouldn’t cost much in the way of talent. Just take on his salary and the Rockies will be happy.
For the White Sox they don’t have much to spare and they don’t have many mid level prospects left. Deal could potentially be something like Johnson, Danish, and Zangari which would be horrible for the White Sox in terms of future and present outlook
CarGo still needs to prove he’s good outside of Coors. Lifetime .324/.382 /.604 @ home and .255 /.310/.441 on the road. His BAPIP is .360 @ home and .300 on the road. He’d still be good of course hitting about 25hr and 30 dbls a year but you don’t trade the farm for a guy who might be a .750OPS dude.
He’s essentially current Matt Kemp in any other ballpark
Remember that he plays a lot of road games at pitchers’ parks; AT&T, Dodger Stadium, and Petco are all pretty difficult places to hit. Look at a statistic that’s park-adjusted like wRC+, and he still grades out as average or better (102 wRC+ in 2015, 101 career).
That’s kinda my point. He’s good for sure. You’ll take his away stats all day. But his home stats are inflated and you’re not getting near that batter in any other stadium. So trading a lot for him and expecting his normal numbers isn’t wise. you’re getting a top 60 OPS maybe not a top 20 like his career avg.
Not to mention transitioning from the N.L. to the A.L. which could cause some early production problems offensively. This will be a concern also with Todd Frazier in 2016 who has very poor splits in inter-league play. The White Sox have had their share of issues with players transitioning to the A.L. with Adam Dunn and Adam LaRoche in recent years.
The only advantage Carlos Gonzalez offers the White Sox in comparison to Yoenis Cespedes is a left-handed bat along with less total years and dollars of commitment on a contract. Otherwise:
1-Both are the same age at 30, with birthday’s one day apart.
2-Cespedes would only cost money with no qualifying offer attached to him. Gonzalez would cost a significant return in either MLB ready talent and/or high level prospects, something the White Sox don’t have an an abundance of…all for two years of team control.
3-Gonzalez is owed $17M (2016) and $20M (2017) in those final two years of his existing contract. Scott Boras is his agent, so any thought of an extension are virtually nil. Cespedes will likely wind up settling for a similar annual salary for 5 or 6 seasons, but at 30, may still be open to a long term contract with a player opt-out 2 to 3 years into it.
4-Cespedes has had few, if any health concerns while “Cargo” is coming off a serious injury that limited his time in 2014 to just 70 games played. He’s also had other injuries during his career that have impacted his playing time. Up until last season, he had never appeared in more than 145 games (2010) and followed that with 127, 135 and 110 games from 2011-2013.
5-Gonzalez has significantly better splits versus right-handed pitching as one would expect. Cespedes splits are more uniform and actually a little better versus rhp, negating much of Gonzalez value as a left-handed hitter in the White sox lineup.
6-Gonzalez has a huge discrepancy in his home and away splits, again no surprise with him playing half his games in Coors Field. Except for two months in Boston, Cespedes has called pitcher-friendly parks in Oakland, Detroit and Queens, N.Y. his home.
7-Gonzalez has played exclusively in the N.L. while Cespedes has toiled in the A.L. except for the final three months of 2015, including the postseason. There is less worry with a league transition drop-off from Cespedes than there might be with Gonzalez.