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At least Democrat Chris Matthews admits to wanting to bring down Trump. Bring down Hillary next time, buddy. https://celebrity.yahoo.com/news/msnbc-chri...-155329568.html

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 19, 2015 -> 08:59 PM) You're right...the White Sox could probably get to where the Twins are if they get lucky and they spend a ton of money and sacrifice the guys moving up to AAA next year, but what's the point of that? What are the odds that the AL only takes 84 wins to get to the 2nd wild card next year? If you have to blow another $20 million beyond this season and trade away Montas and other top parts from our minor leagues to to get to 83 wins and above .500, it's a normal season where you're 5 wins outside of the wild card, then you fall back out of the playoff picture the next year because you spent everything you could to win in 2016 and have no money left to add any more and you've depleted your minor leagues again, what good is that? If you spend $25 million more and then someone gets hurt and you wind up at 77 wins because of it, what kind of a mess have you made? You know what that looks like? The 2015 season. It looks like the same mess. Yes, there's a lot of status quo. That's the mess we made in 2015. We now have a combination of "guys who are unmovable" and "guys who we can't have any confidence in until they give us a reason to". We can have more excitement, but we're going to have to move someone we don't want to move to make that happen. Either empty the minors on something or move Quintana, Sale, or Rodon. Frankly, I'd rather sit on my hands than trade those guys given that I don't think we'll get the kind of overwhelming deal I'd need to part with them. Anyway, I don't expect the White Sox to do any of that, because of the opening of that post. They're in denial. It permeates this season. "If we keep playing like this we'll be right there at the end" said Rick Hahn at the deadline after a short, unsustainable streak against 2 teams playing terrible ball at the time. We were in denial last offseason - "guys will develop because we say they will" "Defense doesn't matter" "there's no risk on the FA market". We were in denial all season "we're just waiting for a winning streak" "We'll be right there at the end". We were in denial at both trade deadlines - there's no reason whatsoever why Soto and Albers should still be on this roster right now, they should have been turned into something by August 31 even after the Samardzija mistake. And I expect that after the WS ends we'll continue that denial and pick up Alexei's option. We will insist "oh this was just an abberration, if we try the same thing again it's sure to work this time". We will spend some money on mid-level free agents, get our usual "happy press conference", make a big trade of some sort to get ourselves in the news, and it'll probably work just about as well. Maybe they'll prove me wrong and actually act like they understand "this is your real roster". Maybe they'll get lucky and "doing the same thing" will actually somehow work - people do win the lottery sometimes, but it's not a long-term, successful solution for financial planning. But if their "try to win in 2016 moves" work and push them to 85 wins, it'll probably be the worst thing for the org because it'll put them right where they were in 2013 - in denial about how weak their roster really is and convinced that they don't need to worry about a sustainable future path. Good post again. I do agree that Alexei has to be dumped. I do think we'll be actually weaker at short without him though. I think Saladino will probably pull a Gillaspie - that is, regress. Hopefully Anderson could be called up as you said.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 19, 2015 -> 12:21 PM) They have zero chance at last place in all of baseball, the White Sox are about 14 1/2 games ahead of the Phillies right now. We're 6 games ahead of the Athletics for worst in the AL, so we have very little chance of falling that far back either. We're 1 game ahead of the Tigers for last in the Central divison. We're definitely the worst team. I think last is ours.

Brother Rice back on track by pounding St. Ed's in a gimme game. Still don't think the spread no huddle hurry offense with four to five receivers at a time is the answer in sports. Gimme my best athletes on defense and run a more 'traditional' run oriented high school offense with maybe 15 passes a game max. 10 to 15. Defense wins in high school. Great defense.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Sep 19, 2015 -> 06:47 PM) Have you heard of gerrymandering? If anything people tend to vote to give checks and balances. The last time republicans had a majority in the house and senate and presidency... well I don't really need to say more than that. You can bring up Obama and his majority in the both the house and senate in his first term but he just had a year and change of that due to the 2010 elections. Back to your original point about the presidential election. You really have to be blind not to see how this country views a lot these social issues. People are becoming more progressive; that is accepting of gays, not wanting to get involved with a woman's body, and not wanting f***ing religion stuffed down their throats. You watch the debates and these clowns don't have a single idea that could work. It's just defund PP, Obama sucks, the Iran deal is terrible, repeal Obamacare. Trump atleast says, I'll build a wall. That's about the extent of their ideas. They are a bloody mess and they don't have any ideas that are good for the country. People are waking up to that notion real fast. Now that is not to say they can't regroup but their outdated views have been regurgitated ad nauseum. Clinton does suck but I don't think she will be the nominee. I think you are right about the Republican candidates. They are lousy choices. That's why I think the calm, boring Bush will ultimately prevail. He'll lose to Hillary, but not as badly as Trump would. Trump is going to ultimately scare people and will lose in an historic landslide proportions if he gets the nomination. If he somehow outlasts Bush, which he won't, I just hope his opponent is somebody besides Hillary. It sets a bad precedent "letting" somebody take her turn as President.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 19, 2015 -> 01:27 PM) All right, Saturday morning, have work to do later but can do this now. The good news for me is, I expect the White Sox front office to do the exact opposite of this, so I'll never have to be evaluated on whether or not this plan would work. Most important thing we must do this offseason: get the front office's heads out of their collective you know wheres and end the "denial" that is permeating this organization. Your team is this bad. Your team is well under .500 and deserves to be. This is not bad luck. If you played this season again, you would not suddenly have things go better. If you replayed this season, some things would possibly go better, Samardzija can't possibly be this bad again, but some things would be likely to go worse - the unbelievably ridiculous health that we saw this year (0 starters on the disabled list at any time) is going to be almost impossible to repeat. Your team played the way it was capable of, maybe even better. Your organization is still weak. You have little depth, you have even less big league experience for the depth you do have, and you have way too many holes to fill for that little depth to make you competitive next year. So let's act like it. If the roster is this weak, the right response is patience. Some guys will work their way into big leaguers if given the shot, other guys will work their way out of the league. The only way to tell which marginal guys can become long-term options is to play them and find out. If you're playing a number of marginal guys to see what they can do, then it also makes no sense to go for "1 year/expensive/soon to be FA" options. Evidence for that is 2015. Furthermore, even if they're very talented, if you're relying on rookies or young kids in important spots, many of them are likely to struggle their first year. That should be expected. If you say "we're going all in this year and we're going to make the playoffs on the back of Avi Garcia, Erik Johnson, and Tim Anderson", and those guys aren't ready to carry your team, you will fail. Finally, if you try to fill multiple holes on the FA market, you should expect multiple busts, especially if you are not competing for the top-level guys. Mid-level, high priced free agents hit the market because their teams think there are better ways to spend their money. They know these guys and they're willing to let them walk. That is a message right there. Do not do the "KW Special" that we've tried the last 10 years of signing mid-level free agents to big time money. It has not worked at all for us. Scott Linebrink, Adam Dunn, Jeff Keppinger, Melky Cabrera, Adam LaRoche, Zach Duke, the failures on the FA market are not happening by accident, this is a systematic mistake and if we keep trying it, the mistake is likely to repeat again. The only one who has performed anywhere near his contract is Robertson. These high-priced, mid-level free agents are unusually likely to bust. They may not all bust, you may get some that work out, but if you're trying to build a roster out of them you will fail. So take those philosophies and turn them into a 2016 format. We are not a competitive roster in 2016. We'd need a huge amount to go right in 2016 to be competitive. It could happen but it is extremely unlikely and we need to act like it. 1. Decline Alexei Ramirez's option. Tyler Saladino is your starting 2016 SS. He may very well fail badly at this job but if he does then late in the season Tim Anderson takes the job from him. If his defense carries over from 3b, his bat just has to be "adequate" for him to be a really valuable player. If his bat could be adequate, he could turn into a valuable enough piece that maybe we think of moving Anderson elsewhere, where defense isn't quite as important (3b?) or we look at Saladino as a valuable trade chip late in the season. If his bat is inadequate, at least he'll hopefully catch the ball a few times and get experience enough to count on him as a utility player. If Anderson hits well enough and plays solid D in the first half at Charlotte, he comes up and takes that job at the deadline unless Saladino genuinely earns it. Tim Anderson should not reach the big leagues before July under any circumstance other than "major injuries in the big leagues leaving no choice" That position is first on the list because the option we have there is overpaid & a key part of the problem. Picking up his option is the top "we're going to compete again this year darnit!" move. It's the top signal of this team remaining in denial about 2015. That's why I expect them to do the exact opposite. 2. Once Alexei is gone, you have more money to play with. The first place to gamble it is on offering Samardzija the QO. With Alexei's money cleared you can gamble on that to try to get the draft pick, if he comes back it genuinely screws with your rotation, but with Alexei out of the way that doesn't ruin your ability to make other moves. 3. Starting rotation: listen on offers for Quintana and others but it darn well better be a franchise-changing offer. If you don't get that, there is zero hurry to move him or Sale. Sale is signed for 4 more seasons, Quintana for 5. If you would laugh at a trade proposal if it were offered for Sale, then it's just about as bad if offered for Quintana. My ideal starting rotation next year: Sale, Q, Rodon, Johnson, Danks. Rodon needs to work to get up to 200 innings, if he gets in that range and works on the change then in 2017 we're talking a formidable top 3. EJ I'm still unsure about, but he 100% needs to pitch in the big leagues next year. I expect him to struggle some because he's still basically a rookie, but if he pitches through those struggles successfully in 2016 then he's a strong piece in a great rotation in 2017. Danks is finally in his last year and he is gradually improving. If he takes a step back early next season, Fulmer and Montas could be called up midseason to replace him. If he takes another small step forwards in the first half, he becomes tradeable at the deadline. If Danks can make himself a trade candidate, move him. Veteran LH starter at the end of his contract ought to return something if he's pitching well. If Danks is moved, that clears a spot for Montas, Fulmer, Beck, or whoever earns a callup in the first half. Getting another kid 2 months in the big leagues is going to be important if we want to compete in 2017 - that experience won't make them a veteran but it will make them better in 2017. Outfield: listen on trade offers but your 2016 outfield is Melky, Eaton, Garcia, and Trayce. Eaton's defense was down in 2015 but he should continue to play CF until we're sure that's a long-term trend and we verify he can't play there any more. Only way to know that is to play him there. Melky is too expensive to bench or discard or replace, he has to play. If he's this bad then eventually he'll wind up benched, but that won't happen next year. Garcia could be replaceable but even I think he has talent enough to improve and I'll buy the "his first full season" a bit. Play him as a starter again next year and see if there is a lightswitch that turns on. If you're playing Garcia next year, you're admitting right away you don't think you have a competitive roster. Trayce should regularly replace Eaton and Melky particularly against LH pitching. Work him in and get him regular PAs to see what he does with them, but be selective. Don't throw him out there every day unless he forces you to. 2b: Micah and Sanchez both make the roster out of ST. Play them both. See who earns the spot. I wouldn't count on either of them if I were saying "This team will compete in 2016" but since I'm not saying that I would support playing the kids. Both of them have earned shots in the show and neither of them has earned the role of starter. Hopefully one of them will. C: Flowers is still weak there and he'll be a 2nd year arb player next year. Without a better option we need to offer arbitration there, also will keep Sale happy, but we need to be hunting for a long-term option there. I don't know where we'll find that, that's the downside of the denial at this year's trade deadline and last offseason, we have holes like that. We could put up with Flowers there on a competitive team if we were strong elsewhere, but we're not and he'll be too expensive to offer arbitration in 2017 unless his bat improves a lot. Let Soto walk. Find a backup catcher, not sure if that's Brantley or not. Don't pay for anyone expensive here...yet. Look for smart deals the whole year, if you can flip a reliever or a Saladino or a Danks for a catching candidate at the deadline that would be spectacular. 3b: a mess. We have Olt under team control and I have no problem playing him but I also have little confidence in him until he proves me wrong. We have nothing in the minors that can take this spot in the near future. Do not spend big money on this spot, but it seems wise to spend some. The position is also spectacularly bad on the FA market and I'm not trading a big piece for someone like Frazier who is a soon-to-be FA. The Rockies are unlikely to move Arenado even though a Q/A deal might make general sense for both - would listen but won't obsess if the Rockies aren't up for it. Here we need a stopgap. Look at Olt and see if he can find the talent that made him a top prospect a few years ago. Also look at someone like either David Freese or Maicer Izturis (they're literally about the best FA options available) to spell them. If you bring in Freese and he has a bad first half or gets injured, no big deal, if he has a good first half you should look to move him at the deadline. If his FA value turns out to be a bargain (which is still unlikely on this market) perhaps you look at someone like Ian Desmond as a 2-year deal and consider moving him over to see if he can recover, but that's only if he's cheap and I don't buy that he will be. Bullpen: still pretty weak and unreliable. Duke is basically unmovable but has to pitch since money invested. Only real piece we lose is Albers, shame we didn't move him to a contender but again what can you do. With Jones back, bullpen can at least cover the 7-8-9 innings. Manager really likes being able to have someone to take the blame for blowing games other than him, so even if Robertson is overpaid, fine we'll call that a luxury to keep the manager happy and won't move him unless we're blown away by a really good offer. Offer arbitration to Jones. I'm iffy on offering arbitration to Jennings, would depend on what the actual coaching staff thinks of him. If he's gone, then look for a similar cheap lefty pickup. Guys like Petricka, Webb, Putnam could very well be more reliable next year. Continue looking for castoff options & see what the minor leagues may add within a year. DH spot: We're not cutting LaRoche. He's got to play. Maybe he can have another good first half and make himself moveable for a tiny bit of salary savings at the deadline. Make use of TT in your lineup when there's a lefty on the mound, LaRoche should only face lefty starters if Abreu is hurt and he has to play 1b that day. Maybe you also put Sanchez or Olt at DH against some lefty starters to get them more PAs. Clear that contract out and we'll see what happens as the year goes on. This team is not competitive in 2016 and even several big FA moves won't get us there. Selling off Anderson or Montas right now for short-term options is as bad of an idea as the Samardzija trade was last year. Play out the season and hopefully we can go from having "7 holes in our lineup" and "a rotation with several inexperienced guys" to "3-4 holes in our lineup" and "a rotation with 1 inexperienced guy behind 4 strong ones" for 2017. A smart trade or two will help, but NOTHING that is expensive or nearing FA should be even considered as a return for anything. The Free Agent and trade markets will still exist after 2016, but you can't rebuild an entire roster that way unless someone does something stupid and helps you out. If some things go right then maybe you undo the damage you did in-between the 2014 and 2015 seasons. If somehow everything went right then you could even celebrate and be competitive, but if you weren't, at least you haven't damaged your ability to compete in 2017. /Rant Good rant. Appreciate the effort. However, you have so much status quo in there. Besides getting rid of Alexei, which I agree must happen, we're keeping the same guys and I sense a historically bad season on the South Side. Well, at least 95-100 losses. Devil's advocate would say a team with decent starting pitching as the Sox have, ought to be able to have a record at least as good as the Twins this season with some tinkering. Tinkering means getting upgrades at catcher and third and dumping Melky and LaRoche somehow.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Sep 19, 2015 -> 01:18 PM) Last game we had posters thinking the Twins knew something that was tipping his pitchers. They must have shared w the Indians. I think he is just running out of gas down the stretch. He has had a hell of a season so I wish they would let him take it easy for the next few weeks. He is the franchise and they need to keep him healthy. I said two weeks ago we should shut him down. Absolutely no reason to pitch with the team dead and buried. He's not necessarily the franchise BTW. With all pitchers, one simple injury changes all that kind of talk.

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 19, 2015 -> 07:19 AM) for the most part, i enjoy greg's post. he add that little spice that is needed in life. Thanks LDF. Your posts are full of enthusiasm and honesty. I appreciate you and your kind words. Thank u.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 18, 2015 -> 11:01 PM) Greg does get ripped for saying a lot of things that actually wind up being correct. He goes way out there sometimes, I think he would admit that, but he usually as close as anyone when measuring accuracy. Thanks for noticing Dick Allen! Thank u.

I see Hillary sucked up to Obama today. She expressed shock/anger at Donnie for not reprimanding a questioner at a rally. The media decided Trump should have reprimanded a questioner for saying Obama is Muslim. Hey media, why not blast the questioner in the Trump shirt who was obviously a plant? It's not Trump's job to chide some moron for a dumb question. Trump survived it though. I just got done reading Kansas' student newspaper at lunch BTW. Hilarious how students today are so PC. Every article in there was PC-ish, about not offending ugly people, fat people, gay and lesbians, etc. My cousin is a high school teacher in Chicago western suburb and he said after his first quiz grades came out he was flooded with students crying and parents calling him concerning his stringent grades. Everybody deserves an A, baby!!! Kudos to my cousin for dishing out the Ds and Fs where deserved. Kudos to Trump for being non PC.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 18, 2015 -> 11:33 PM) Sabermetrically he is a 2.3 WAR. At $7 million a WAR, which I think is conservative, that is worth $16.1 million. I thought advanced stats had him as one of the five worst pitchers in baseball this year.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Sep 18, 2015 -> 09:07 PM) Disagree. You're saying that because central teams destroy him more is because they see him more then that would mean if other teams in other divisions saw him that many times, then there is a possibility of him getting hit around in another division. Good post. Also, teams in the same division know each other so well, it's tougher on hitters to get hits. Shifts, baby. Baseball will never go back to a true schedule because a.) New York and Boston demand to play each other 19 times and b.) it's cheaper this way traveling to teams so close to home over and over. It's very boring and unsatisfactory the way it is now!

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Sep 18, 2015 -> 11:20 PM) Educate yourself. Check my track record. Greg's opinions 'usually' come true. I'm right way more than wrong. He's gonna get paid despite being a BP pitcher.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Sep 18, 2015 -> 07:59 PM) I hated Ozzie. I hated him at the time of the hire, but just because I thought he was an ass, not because of his management ability. He got a grudgingly acceptance from me for a while because of the WS, but even that wears off. When his petulance because too much, and when his kids just wouldn't s*** their pie hole long enough to at least remove the feet they stuck in there earlier, it was just too much. Glad he was gone, glad he isn't coming back. Can you imagine if the Sox hadn't won it all in 2005? We might never have a modern day title on the south side. We arguably have one of the worst franchises in all of sports. And yet this team won it all in 05. Who was the manager of this team? Ozzie Guillen. Thank you Mr. Guillen!

Oh goodie. We get to play Cleveland again. How did baseball owners agree to this asinine unbalanced schedule? The Sox basically compete against four teams: KC, Detroit, Cleveland and Minnie over and over and over. BORING.

It takes a lot of guts to turn down the Sox qualifying number after putting up the stats he did this season. Basically he's probably the worst starter in baseball and this joke of a sport is about to reward him with something like five years, 100 million. LOL. And the team that signs him has to pay the entire 100 million.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 17, 2015 -> 11:00 PM) 40 consecutive years of Democratic presidents? I guess if we have to...we have no choice right? The way it's set up electoral wise, the Democrats pretty much are assured victory in the presidential election. It would take a massive fluke or something like the election where Gore got screwed out of the title. QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Sep 18, 2015 -> 05:34 AM) I can't really picture a scenario where a Republican wins anytime soon. They are a rotten mess as if you look at the debates it's worse than high school. Amen. Hillary's Veep pick will be loving life. Michelle?

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 17, 2015 -> 10:05 PM) the sox fans did not hate ozzie and in fact, if i remember correctly, they were defending him. instead asking for kw to leave and give ozzie the raise. b/c he won the WS. this was all done after the fact. This board backed Kenny fully. There was almost unanimous dislike of Ozzie and wanting him gone. I may have been his only 'vocal' backer on here. Fans on here had tremendous dislike of Ozzeroo. I kept reminding everybody he brought Chicago a title. Like I said they backed Kenny over Oz. I call it 'hate.' Call it whatever u want. QUOTE (WBWSF @ Sep 17, 2015 -> 11:11 PM) Dan McGrath (writer for the Sun Times) has said that Ventura will not come back next year. He said Ventura is not enjoying his job. I hope McGrath is correct. Wow. I do feel sorry for Robin. It's why former players should probably not manage. It usually ends up sad. I love Robin and even like his style sort of. It's just that his teams do not compete and have a lot of problems. Remember this team was picked by many to win the division and it was really truly a lousy team. I feel sorry for Robin. Truly do. But with him at the helm, there's no hope next year.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Sep 17, 2015 -> 11:36 PM) It's been an embarrassing year for the White Sox, and what's troubling is they can't even sell us on hope. Nothing short of a complete dismantling of office personnel, coaches, scouts and players will help this team. There's no, "oh lets make a few shrewd moves and we'll be able to compete. Nope.....it's going to take all the right moves to contend in 2017. If Hahn doesn't start by trading Quintana for a haul we may be screwed even further. I'll go as far as to say it will be the most important trade easily in the last decade for the White Sox. We have to realize how depleted we are offensively, how pitching is our surplus, and how valuable someone such as Q is considering talent and contract. Hahn HAS to succeed, and we shouldn't expect less as fans Sox should never have gotten in position they have to trade Q. If they hadn't won seven of eight on that road trip they "might" have pulled the trigger and traded Shark, Duke, Lexi and Robertson and gotten the haul right there. Now they have to trade Q? I'll tell you one thing if you trade Q you suddenly have a lot of ifs in the starting rotation. I realize Shark was trash, but now you got 2 starters to replace and Montas or EJ as well as our last No. 1 pick, I forget his name, better be OUTSTANDING.

No offense, but it just dawned on me this could easily be our future lineup of Presidents. Next Eight Years (2016-24): Hillary Clinton. Eight Years after that (24-32): Michelle Obama. Eight years after that: (32-40): Chelsea Clinton. Eight Years after that (40-48): Obama's eldest daughter. Why not?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 17, 2015 -> 10:35 PM) Ozzie had no legal right to look elsewhere unless the team let him out of his contract for 2012. To do otherwise was to breach his contract. Which he did. So the Sox tell him they won't add years to his contract. They give their blessing to move on and yet you guys won't get off the "he quit" brigade. You guys want everything I guess. Sox want Ozzie out - Done. Sox get compensation - Done. Sox don't have to pay him a final disastrous season - Done. Yet at the conclusion of all that: "We still hate you Ozzie. You quit on the team." Makes very little sense. You got everything you wanted and STILL hate the guy. Hate him for his mouth. Hate him for his kids. Hate him for his Sunday lineups and no sense of urgency as he became a fixture and complacent, but don't hate him for some phantom quitting.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Sep 17, 2015 -> 10:23 PM) By the Numbers: 10th time this year Sox lost a game when leading in the 7th inning or later (and the first time didn't happen until May 26th) Second time Robertson gave up a three run home run in the 9th inning to lose a game. 7th blown save this year for Robertson. It's simply the White Sox...no matter who they bring in the results are exactly the same. Mark True. Robertson's performance is just as bad as the worst years of Addy Reed and Bobby Jenks and both were despised.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 17, 2015 -> 10:04 PM) Then why have a clause written in for compensation if he left to one particular team... it was almost as if he had already been negotiating with them before he was released from his contract... I think that's semantics. You asked me to find an article as proof and I found one. The meeting did take place. Jerry and KW said no thanks on the extension and gave him the OK to move on. If he quit, so did Jerry and KW. So to you "Ozzie quit so I hate him" people, how do you justify not saying KW and Jerry quit in letting Ozzie go with 5 games to play? Those were mighty important games u know (obvious joke).

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 17, 2015 -> 10:09 PM) Some of it is that he's burned repeatedly by the defense behind him. Some of it is that it could be worse (2014). Some of it is that he's the only free agent we brought in last year who has been actually worth his contract and therefore is the only one we could move for anything. Makes sense, but I would disagree he's been worth his contract. Now that Nate is back we should close by committee (gulp) next year and trade him because of his outrageous contract during winter. A contender will want him IMO.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Sep 17, 2015 -> 09:03 PM) In his defense, he hasn't had regular appearances so he can never develop a routine. But I get what you're saying. He's overpaid for what he is. That is true. Hope we can trade him this winter.