What should the Sox do differently to prepare for 2014?

[caulfield12]

Fire away.

 

[Dick Allen]

Send a pile of money, Sale, and whoever else it takes to LA for Puig. Problems solved.

[caulfield12]

Send a pile of money, Sale, and whoever else it takes to LA for Puig. Problems solved.

 

 

I knew you would come around.

 

Didn't think you had such a sense of humor.

 

Of course, when you have posts like this one...it almost is daring Chris Sale to go down to injury and then our franchise future might actually be the bleakest in the game, would you agree?

 

(That's going on the assumption many currently have that A. Garcia, Viciedo and Courtney Hawkins all fail to be breakout stars.)

 

 

For example, there's NO WAY the Angels would trade Trout for Sale, NO WAY. That's crazy talk.

 

Because the only logic behind it is money/contracts, and that will never stand in the way for Moreno, especially now that the Dodgers are making him look silly (mostly the spending on Pujols/Hamilton).

 

 

Edited October 17, 2013 by caulfield12

[flavum]

In a nutshell...

 

Don't do anything dumb in an effort to win 79 games in 2014.

[caulfield12]

In a nutshell...

 

Don't do anything dumb in an effort to win 79 games in 2014.

 

 

That's the problem.

 

They didn't do anything coming into 2013. Just stood pat.

 

 

What's that about the definition of insanity and repeating the same mistake repeatedly while expecting different results?

 

I guess they do have Garcia now.

[southsider2k5]

Catch ball.

[caulfield12]

http://mets360.com/?p=19257

 

Would anyone want Juan Lagares in CF over DeAza, for example? (I liked this article simply because Brian Anderson appeared in it, along with a host of other forgotten players)

 

But it's bringing up an interesting debate about how good a defensive player has to be at a premium position to be tolerated putting up a 650-ish OPS.

 

I think it's also informative on the Gordon Beckham and Alexei Ramirez debates, although one would be hard-pressed to put their defensive seasons in the same category as a Lagares or F. Gutierrez in 2009.

 

Will managers of the future tolerate the likes of Darren Lewis or Wily Taveras moreso than 5-10-15 years ago?

 

With the success of the Pirates' defensive metrics, can you really build a small ball team at USCF? (It hasn't worked well for the Twins in their big stadium, although pitching issues have a lot to do with their poor results as well. The Mariners were seemingly the last team to really try to corner the market on outperforming defensively to mask offensive issues, and it didn't get them into the playoffs, just an improvement from where they were which eventually regressed).

 

Can simply having intelligent shifts mask the problems of poor defensive players, to an extent?

Edited October 17, 2013 by caulfield12

[nickofypres]

I kind of have a hybrid, if you will:

 

Do the Pittsburgh approach, fire Buddy Bell, and replace him with Larry Beinfest.

[caulfield12]

I kind of have a hybrid, if you will:

 

Do the Pittsburgh approach, fire Buddy Bell, and replace him with Larry Beinfest.

 

 

Could KW and Hahn deal with the perceived threat of Beinfest in their same organization?

[knightni]

Find a way for the minor league hitting instructors and the Sox hitting coach to be on the same page.

 

There always seems to be an issue when guys come up that were hitting well, then they just lose it when they reach the majors.

 

It's like they get their approach messed with, then they start second-guessing themselves and slump.

 

 

[Swingandalongonetoleft]

White Sox conference call with Rick Hahn and Ken Hawk; first fan question to Hahn:

 

Can you get Juan Uribe back?

 

[Rowand44]

More steroids.

[Quin]

#TeamGollum

[southsider2k5]

Also Don't be baseball stupid.

[Balta1701]

Find a quality first baseman.

[caulfield12]

Find a quality first baseman.

 

http://www.piratesprospects.com/2013/10/ja...first-base.html

 

For the Pirates, Loney/Gaby Sanchez actually makes more sense because of the risk of Abreu busting. In other words, there's a lot less risk to them spreading let's say $70 million between Loney and Sanchez and getting a "decent/predictable" OPS versus the unknown with Abreu.

 

For the White Sox, you have to go all out for Abreu.

 

 

Theoretically, you could sign Loney and then platoon him with Viciedo at 1B.

 

In that scenario, you'd have someone like Granderson and also Loney facing the toughest righties (along with DeAza)...although aren't Viciedo's splits this season a lot more balanced, compared to the struggles he had with tough righties in the past?

 

 

Of course, the problem is that do Loney and Granderson accomplish much more than adding $100 million to the payroll?

 

Maybe they turn us into an 80 win team, but is it really worth it in 2015 or 2016?

 

 

Obviously, the White Sox are in an incredibly difficult position to be in...where spending can put you back into decency perhaps, but still far away from contention.

 

 

We know they're not going to spend for potential impact players like Ellsbury, Choo, McCann...etc. Napoli and Morales even are seemingly out of range in terms of salary. Salty is likely to return to the Red Sox or become too expensive.

 

And then if you don't have either McCann or Salty catching 120 games, how in God's name can the White Sox be competitive unless they got totally lucky like the A's did with their postseason hero (Vogt) at that position.

 

 

This also leaves the White Sox in their traditional position of taking fliers on guys like Corey Hart or Chris Young

Edited October 17, 2013 by caulfield12

[greg775]

http://www.piratesprospects.com/2013/10/ja...first-base.html

 

For the Pirates, Loney/Gaby Sanchez actually makes more sense because of the risk of Abreu busting. In other words, there's a lot less risk to them spreading let's say $70 million between Loney and Sanchez and getting a "decent/predictable" OPS versus the unknown with Abreu.

 

For the White Sox, you have to go all out for Abreu.

 

 

Theoretically, you could sign Loney and then platoon him with Viciedo at 1B.

 

In that scenario, you'd have someone like Granderson and also Loney facing the toughest righties (along with DeAza)...although aren't Viciedo's splits this season a lot more balanced, compared to the struggles he had with tough righties in the past?

 

 

Of course, the problem is that do Loney and Granderson accomplish much more than adding $100 million to the payroll?

 

Maybe they turn us into an 80 win team, but is it really worth it in 2015 or 2016?

 

 

Obviously, the White Sox are in an incredibly difficult position to be in...where spending can put you back into decency perhaps, but still far away from contention.

 

 

We know they're not going to spend for potential impact players like Ellsbury, Choo, McCann...etc. Napoli and Morales even are seemingly out of range in terms of salary. Salty is likely to return to the Red Sox or become too expensive.

 

And then if you don't have either McCann or Salty catching 120 games, how in God's name can the White Sox be competitive unless they got totally lucky like the A's did with their postseason hero (Vogt) at that position.

 

 

This also leaves the White Sox in their traditional position of taking fliers on guys like Corey Hart or Chris Young

 

Very good take IMO. Abreu is key acquisition. Grandy as well. One thing you did skip is possibility of a trade. There will be a trade or two IMO.