Whitey

Sitting through the past season, I anxiously awaited the accountability and change that undoubtedly would have to come as a response to the overall ineptitude and lack of effort we witnessed last year. Instead, we get the same coach and management back next year, with no real plan in place. Next year could range anywhere from them being a perennial contender, to them needing a complete rebuild… they just have to let it percolate a bit to figure it out I guess. This shows that they have no real vision at all for the future, and no faith in their own scouting abilities. If they did, they would know exactly where they stand, and they would be hitting the ground running. Instead, they are just flopping in the wind, going day to day (decision by decision) it seems. That is pretty alarming to me.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Nov 15, 2015 -> 07:44 AM) Jones as closer? The same Jones who couldn't get anyone out last 6 weeks of season? Nate Jones? Yes... Nate Jones. The guy who put up a 3.32 ERA coming back from Tommy John surgery. And if he falters, give Montas a shot then. The main point of the moves I mentioned was to rebuild. No matter what, this team is not going to contend next year, so a $12 million dollar closer does not make sense. Just look what the Padres were able to get from the Red Sox for Kimbrel.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Nov 14, 2015 -> 09:46 PM) If we could do that deal, then great. With how the Dodgers and Red Sox seem to be going for it, I'd honestly love to deal Q for Swihart and Devers, then Sale to the Dodgers for maybe Seager, Verdugo/Pederson, and Carl Crawford? C-Swihart 1B-Abreu 2B-Johnson 3B-Devers SS-Seager OF-Verdugo OF-Eaton OF-Thompson/Crawford?? That is pretty close to what I was thinking for Sale (my version was Seager, Pederson, Urias, and a few lesser prospects). But, I would keep Quintana as the ace. To round off my mock offseason, I would also.... - Trade Robertson for prospects. Move Montas to setup, and Jones to closer. - Trade Micah (to NYY for Gary Sanchez). - Trade Melky for prospects. - Include considerable $ with Danks and LaRoche to entice someone to give up a prospect or two for them. - In FA, I would sign one of the Japanese OF's (Hyun-soo Kim or Ah-seop Son), and then bring back Buehrle for his farewell tour in 2016. LF - Eaton CF - Pederson RF - Kim/Son 3B - Seager SS - Saladino (maybe Anderson by the end of 2016) 2B - Sanchez 1B - Abreu C - Sanchez/Flowers DH - Garcia SP - Quintana SP - Buehrle SP - Rodon SP - Johnson SP - Urias/Beck/Fulmer

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Nov 13, 2015 -> 11:40 AM) I see no reason we can't be competitive again by 2017 with the right moves made, it's not like we were as bad as the Phillies this year. A full rebuild means punting on the next 4-5 seasons with no guarantee we'll be any better off, no thanks. The threat of the Royals is way overstated, they're losing a lot this offseason, their starting pitching still sucks, and Holland is hurt all of next year. Except a White Sox rebuild would not have to involve 4-5 years of tanking... We are already 3 years into stinking and getting top 10 picks, and the value of the players at MLB level could get huge returns.

If there was ever a time to rebuild, it is now... The casual (fair weather) fans are all focused on the north side, and the Royals are going to control the division for the next couple years anyways. The team is going to have poor attendance no matter what. Plus, the assets we have at the MLB level could immediately give the Sox one of the top farm systems in baseball. As a fan, I would rather watch a rebuild than last years group with a little lipstick slapped on it.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Oct 16, 2015 -> 08:03 AM) If MB came at the right price, I'd rather swallow the Danks money and let him go or make him the long man in the pen. Unlikely to be a realistic possibility, but any way to got Danks out of the rotation is good with me. I don't think they would have to eat all of Danks money... If they threw in some cash with him, there are teams that would be interested. Buehrle, on the other hand would be a good draw and would be good for the clubhouse. Plus he is still a good pitcher.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Oct 7, 2015 -> 11:31 AM) Yeah the Astros are really the new framework. Power + defense + versatility. Obviously Correa/Springer/Altuve are special talents but Valbuena, Conger, Gattis, Rasmus, Carter, Gomez have all been acquired. Gomez/Gattis came at a decent price but the others... nope. Same thing with the Cubs... Basically their entire pitching staff has been built on trades or free agency. Plus more than half of their lineup yesterday was as well (e.g. Rizzo, Fowler, Russel, Montero, La Stella). This shows it is not just about tanking and getting high picks. The most important things are good management, scouting, and coaching. All areas where the Sox are very weak.

Whether or not you like Robin, he should not be back for the following reasons: - After 3 losing years (and one extremely disappointing year), any team hell bent on winning would not bring him back. - No decent bench coaches are going to join a lame duck coach's staff. - There is no denying that a different/fresh coaching approach could provide a shot in the arm to the team. This on the heels of the LaRoche signing, Shark trade, and failure to trade Shark at the deadline.. Looks like our management is the problem.

Every hypothetical trade scenario I see with Sale involves another team emptying their farm system. Which no team is willing to do. What I never see are any scenarios where a team offers an all-star level position player as the centerpiece in return. That sort of deal is something that would make sense to me.

None of them. I was as psyched as the next guy going into the season (bought season tickets and everything)... But, even then I wished that they would have went for shorter term options that did not require us to cough up a pick or assets (I liked K-Rod, Hammel on 1-2 year deals instead of Robertson, Shark). Didn't know enough about LaRoche to have an opinion. But, since it was only a 2 year deal and did not cost us a pick, didn't hate the move. Never liked the Melky signing. From the short term perspective, it seemed like a nice move. But, committing to 3 years and giving up a draft pick was just too much. However, I was big on making a serious run on Kung Fu Panda going into FA... Glad we didn't do that.

QUOTE (LDF @ Jul 25, 2015 -> 10:12 AM) if you want to think so. I do... I am just going to stay in my world where I use the proper dictionary terms for words, and not insinuate race into everything that happens to be a particular color.

QUOTE (LDF @ Jul 25, 2015 -> 09:14 AM) what do you want in the tv booth, cheech and chong??? vanilla ..... his results as a coach has nothing to do with this kind of racial insult to us the fans and to us who are minorities. give me a freaking break. hawk still have to sell a product that is absolute horrible and he as to make it enticing. how can you do that kind of selling everyday of the season?? for your others.... i will let other post on that. Hawk repels more viewers than he attracts and he is nationally despised. That is not good for a team struggling to engage their fans. Who do they replace him with? I don't know, but this is a big country and there are plenty of up and coming broadcasters. Also, calling my comment on Robin racist shows you are looking way too hard to play the race card... I am saying Robin is plain, boring, and brings nothing special to the table. That's what calling someone vanilla means.

Winning aside, this team does not have any players that the fans can really get into. Their coach is vanilla as can be, and Hawk is polarizing to the point that most Sox fans cant stand listening to him. I'd love for some major changes to start happening... Fire Robin Replace Hawk and revamp TV broadcast Trade Shark, Robertson, and Sale (or Quintana) to load up on young offensive talent

Abreu, Melky, and Garcia are the only ones in the lineup I would be happy to be back next year. Eaton could be a decent leadoff hitter if he remembers how to hit like an actual leadoff hitter and quits flying out all the time. Between Saladino, Sanchez, Micah, and Anderson there could a long term solution for 2B or SS. Thats 5/9 spots in order for the near future, meaning all we have to do is find 4 MLB level starters in order to compete... I say that sarcastically, because there is no way the Sox could swing that financially, and that rarely works via free agency. Its time to sell 1-2 of the starters and 1-2 of the relievers for immediate offensive help.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 2, 2015 -> 01:15 AM) Just Jose's second win since May 13th... Talking about backing up Sale's next start by a day. Would pitch on Monday instead of Sunday because of heavy workload recently...would be Chris Sale vs. Mark Buehrle Monday. With those two on the mound, the game could be over in 2 hours.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jun 27, 2015 -> 12:00 PM) According to dudes on Twitter, Flowers is a Sox until Sale leaves. I have no problem with that... Flowers would be a solid backup.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Jun 6, 2015 -> 12:30 AM) I think down in the order is a good start. He's gotta stop swinging at the first pitch. I feel like you should only do that when you've been hot at the plate for a nice stretch. Its a start.... But, now Melky's average is down to .080 against lefties (versus .275 against righties). I see absolutely no reason to put him anywhere in the lineup against a lefty starter at this point (if you are serious about competing for anything).

The only reasonable adjustments I see at this point are to: - Fire Robin. - Do not let Melky near a bat against lefties at this point (he currently has a .087 BA against them). Platoon him with Bonafacio (who's career splits favor lefties), or trade for someone to take those at bats. - Swap roles for Sanchez and Beckham. - Swap roles for Soto and Flowers.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 25, 2015 -> 02:08 PM) This is approximately the worst case scenario. You can't rule it out, because if both Sanchez and Johnson look absolutely terrible in the spring, I think there's an outside chance at this. If this happened, it would be a very bad thing. Even if we had to endure Beckham as the starting 2B next year, at least he would be hitting out of the 9 spot.

This would be a great signing... Lets face it, Noesi is no slam dunk for next year.

As disappointed as I was with Beckham last year, he actually wouldn't be a bad platoon partner for Connor. His splits versus LHP look good for last year (.293 BA, .780 OPS).

A realistic option would be Brandon Beachy. For $4-5 mil, it would guarantee that the 4-5 spots in the rotation are solid.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 18, 2015 -> 07:08 PM) IMO, if White Sox fans don't want to be the butt of attendance jokes, they should go the the games. I don't understand the outrage here. The draw 1,000,000 more fans a year, and some guy questions him using a team that doesn't draw anything but tumbleweeds as his example. The prices are not a good excuse either... I took the metra rock island to most of the weekend home games last year. Saturday tickets were $10 and Sundays were $5. The metra weekend pass was $7. At the cell, they let you bring in a bottle of water and your own food from outside the park... Its cheap until you start slamming the beers.

Scott Van Slyke would be ideal... Right handed, high OBP, and under club control through 2019. Edit - Of course, he is not a FA so we would have to trade prospect(s) to get him. .

I would have preferred K-Rod on a 2-year deal (over Robertson). It's not a knock on Robertson at all, I just would have preferred a stopgap solution compared to a long term risk. This would have saved a little cash to potentially make another addition as well. Another move I would have made is signing Brandon Morrow.