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My impression of the Sox fanbase on this board (not everybody, but general consensus) is people on here don't want Jerry to spend big bucks to get the payroll up where it should be for a city the size of Chicago. I get the feeling the consensus is save the money and spend it all on international scouting and the draft and all this sort of stuff. Really, people ... I hate bad contracts as much as anybody (Rios, Dunn, Peavy) but cmon, the Sox have to improve the product. Let's believe for a moment we have a much better GM than Kenny and Mr. Hahn knows WHO to spend it on. In that case, spend, spend, spend. The Sox have to replace a TON of players in the lineup (pitching is fine) and one way to do that is to SPEND. Do you all agree with me there's a reluctance to spend money on here, as if we should give a flip about Jerry and his money??? I say SPEND IT. As far as a trade, package Beckham, DeAza and either Q or Santiago and we should be able to get something of interest.

QUOTE (Tex @ Oct 5, 2013 -> 02:38 PM) Health care is a necessity, as much as eating. Why is the insurance companies' profits added to the health care system? What value do they actually serve to the consumer? Once we can agree on those answers, we begin to create a health care system that everyone can agree on. But, we can never agree on their role. Currently our system relies on people who pay insurance premiums and remain healthy to finance those people paying premiums and needing treatments while ignoring the people who cannot pay and do not have insurance. That inequality was accepted by damn near everyone for a long time. Now, when we say these taxpayers that remain healthy will be financing these other taxpayers who need health care, people rage against the new system. The current system worked great in the 1950s when an office visit was a couple hours wages or you died before running up huge bills. We need a new system that fits 2013. I truly wish the GOP had a proposal that wasn't "this is working just fine, no need to change". People were smart enough to know that meant the system was working just fine for the MOSTLY white, middle and upper class, GOP base. I forgot who said it, we have the party of bad ideas versus the party of no ideas. Great post. QUOTE (mr_genius @ Oct 5, 2013 -> 04:33 PM) it really is a bad situation. but Obama is sinking in the polls http://www.gallup.com/poll/113980/Gallup-D...b-Approval.aspx 51% disapprove and 41% approve. as his attacks on the middle class intensify, i think we will seem him dip much further. hopefully by the end of his term he will be politically radioactive, no politician will want to be associated with his corrupt, anti-middle class, regime. I don't care about polls regarding Obama. He's fallen in polls before. I stand by my comment if he could keep running, he'd keep winning. Once we get near election time his media minions kick in and suddenly Obama is greater than sliced bread. it's really sickening. The man cannot lead.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Oct 5, 2013 -> 05:19 AM) Obozocare...shipping jobs overseas and giving tax cuts to billionaires http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.c...rdable-care-act more anti-middle class Obama regime attacks http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-andrzej..._b_3936877.html Wow. and Obozo is fighting for the middle class? Can we all agree... he is with the 1%? Obama is a celebrity president. Nothing he does affects his popularity negatively. He's one of the most popular presidents ever with the masses who wish they could vote for him another four years, then another. If he could keep running, he'd be president another 20 years minimum. You'd think a guy with his type of popularity could, uh, actually lead somebody. Did you see clip of Melanie Griffith today? She said we should fire all the politicans over the shutdown. Then she waved the cameraman back and said, except Obama, he's "cool." Our country I'm afraid is beyond hope like caufield wrote. We're going to be passed by many nations in the next 50 years. So many things wrong with our politicians and our people.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Oct 3, 2013 -> 11:11 AM) Abreu would be great, and I think the Sox have a chance there. How much of a chance? Better than Lloyd's chances with Mary (Samsonite) Swanson, but not dramatically so. If they overpay for him, there's no money for a catcher (McCann). I like AJ, but he's not a solution, not even for one year. And Choo is going to get paid, big time. The Sox won't be signing him. Well the Sox better get some new bodies somewhere. Maybe get some journeymen like the Indians did and hope they pan out. Sox are going to have to pay for somebody unless they refuse to sign guys to big contracts after the Dunn/Rios fiascos.

QUOTE (Tex @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 01:22 PM) Duke, you have reached an all time low. In my years here I have read some pretty despicable things, yesterday you hit the Hall of Shame. Frankly I am embarrased as a long time member here and a mod to allow your posts to remain visible. I hope that most readers understand that you do not reflect the soxtalk community. As a state employee I personally find your remarks insensitive, demeaning, insulting, and beyond contempt. For the first time since I became a mod I will be recommending that your posting privileges be suspended. My guess is he's gawn. You can't wish ill on a person's family like he did. Hickory has to be feeling pretty low. He needs the money and has to hit his own retirement funds just to keep the family running. We should be starting a soxtalk fundraising effort if he needs the cash rather than Duke's pathetic stance. QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 02:10 PM) Here's a good guideline... when anyone says something along the lines of "ALL (insert any profession here) are (insert demeaning descriptor here)", you can automatically dismiss anything else they type after that. Clearly they are not functioning within the bounds of reality. Awesome post. QUOTE (mr_genius @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 03:23 PM) Total overreaction. I've seen plenty of peoples careers mocked in here, and u joined in. But now you are offended. Boo hoo OMG, Mr. Genius. This is what's wrong with America. We only care about ourselves. Geezus, care about your brothers and sisters. WTF.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 3, 2013 -> 03:37 AM) People who see me post here know I'm usually all about finding compromise. But what the GOP is doing here is not negotiation. It is blackmail. Much as I hate to admit it, the Dems including Obama and even Harry friggin Reid are 100% right on this one. Blackmail has to be met with a stone wall. Can't argue your fine point. I'm sick of government officials. Sick of 'em especially the doofuses in Kansas.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 04:30 PM) If the Sox non-tender De Aza this season, it either means he's a criminal and we don't know it yet, or that Rick Hahn should be immediately fired. This is why fans can't be GMs, too much emotion involved in the decisions we make. No reasonable argument I can make will change your mind that De Aza at ~$3m is a no brainer on this team, but it isn't because the argument isn't good, it's because you don't like him. DeAza is another guy who tends to annoy. 675 plate appearances this year and 147 strikeouts? Just 50 walks for a leadoff hitter. 20 stolen bases and caught 8 times. 17 homers and 62 ribbies. His extended two-year tryout has resulted in an average hitter. Because of all his blunders this year, I'd suggest he'll be shown the door with Tank and A. Garcia 2/3 of the outfield and a newcomer taking over in center.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 08:16 PM) How much money are you going to have to give McCann to choose us over Texas or Boston? You comfortable going up to 5/100 for Choo? Can you afford both of them and still find $70m for Abreu? Which third baseman is available for Beckham and Hector? I don't know, that sounds like a tall order to me. Well, I have criticized the Sox bad contracts in the past (Rios, Dunn, Danks) so I guess all I can say is I trust Hahn to do the right thing this time around. Sox are going to have to pay somebody to fix this atrocious lineup or we lose 99 to 108 games again. Personally I'd suggest signing AJP for a pittance and yes, throw some cash at Grandy or Choo and of course, Abreu and pray it works out. At least my couple of minor deals adds five new bats to our crummy lineup. That's not a bad attempt at improvement (Semien; Garcia; McCann/AJ; Grandy/Choo; new third baseman.

QUOTE (Lemon_44 @ Oct 3, 2013 -> 12:46 AM) I don't understand why people are so down on Viciedo. He has alot of upside and, to me, is the kind of guy you want. He's young, going into his 3rd year, and looks like a guy who could breakout like Dominic Brown did in Philly. I'd like to add a CF and keep De Aza as the 4th OF. I'm down on Viciedo because like many of the Sox prospects, he has started his big league career slowly, some might say poorly. He's 24 years old (allegedly) so nobody's going to be willing to give up on him yet (DeAza will be the guy the Sox dump), but his numbers have been unimpressive. I'm hoping badly it's just a natural progression and he'll get better but I'm not holding my breath. This year he hit .265 with .304 OBP. He had 98 strikeouts to 24 walks in 473 plate appearances. So he swings at everything pretty much. In 543 plate appearances in 2012 he hit .255 with .300 OBP with 120 strikeouts, 28 walks. Considering his lack of speed and average to below average fielding, coupled with his annoying habit of swinging at everything, I just don't like him anymore. He'll get one year or more with our next hitting coach. I hope he develops, but I don't like anything about his approach at the plate right now or the results at the plate. Beckham has had five years to do something, so I'm pretty sure Sox won't give up on the Tank yet.

It's pretty simple: Sign Abreu and McCann or AJP; McCann long term; AJ one year if can't get McCann. Then trade Hector and Beckham for a third baseman. Let Semien play second. Now you then sign Granderson or Choo while trading DeAza for whatever you can get for him. You now have better hitters in the lineup than this year: McCann, Grandy, Abreu, Semien and A. Garcia. That's a pretty fricking good upgrade and IT CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Oct 2, 2013 -> 05:59 AM) Dunn will make ... what, $15 million next season? He's played three years and had about 6 good months out of 18 baseball months. Not in shape. Doen't contribute in the field or on the bases. He's never been a winner anywhere he's played. Until he goes, I don't believe the Sox will be any better than an average team (and I know that would be an improvement over this season). I do agree. But the Sox won't eat the 15 million and we'll have to endure him and the losing one more year. I do agree with the premise of your post, but he's here to stay.

Any Limbaugh listeners? What's his take been on this govtment shutdown and the start of Obamacare? Has he been derisive as usual or has he blasted some of the Republicans? I dont see how he can't go on unless he changes his schtick (maybe he has). Republicans are laughable and I've been a Republican a long time.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 10:39 PM) Ive been going to the Daley Center since 2003 and know most of the clerks on 6-8 by name (not judges clerks, the people who you pay to file cases etc) The supervisor on 6th floor (Mike) knows me by name. Back when global filing began I used to file all my cases on 12th floor (probate) and knew Melissa and Kiran very well. I can remember the first day Melissa began working there, ha. So one day Im standing there when some attorney comes in and just starts berating Melissa. She starts crying because this lady is just going off on her. Eventually the lady leaves. A few days later when Im there Melissa asked me to speak with her supervisor because of the complaint. Basically the supervisor etc were going to suspend her for nothing. I had to explain that some crazy ass b**** just went off on her for nothing. The other attorney was kind of a big deal so it was a huge complaint because the attorney flat out lied about what happened and said that Melissa refused to help her because her client was Jewish. And the peon Kiran, well he used to be an engineer in India and paid for his children to go to some pretty amazing US schools. He gave up a lot to give his children a better chance in this country and its pretty sickening the way many attorneys would treat him. I guess maybe they arent as stupid as you think and they can tell your disdain? Lets be honest, working with people isnt something everyone is good at. What a horrible story. A big deal attorney flat out lying about something racist like that. That attorney should be punished. What's somebody like Melissa to do in a situation like that if you don't speak up? That attorney should go straight to hell. WTF is WRONG WITH PEOPLE???? Were they raised by animals? There is right and wrong in this world and people in power so often s*** on people. Makes me sick.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 06:54 PM) The White Sox organization isn't going back to Guillen again. The one guy who would allow it to happen is 77 years old and making plans for his death. If the Sox hired Guillen again, I'd be a happy camper. I just wish some team would hire him again. He's an entertaining chap IMO. I'd like to see the Cubs hire him to watch that unfold.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 01:34 PM) You know Duke, you can just go f*** yourself right up the ass. I'm getting my furlough letter in about 30 minutes and my family of four is going to be without its sole source of income. I didn't do anything to you or anybody else to deserve this. If you think that there are too many government employees that's fine, but if you think suddenly cutting off the income of a million employees who haven't done anything wrong is fine, then you are a disgusting person. What Duke said was reprehensible. I figure it was some sort of joke. Good luck to you, Hickory. If this furlough lasts too long and you guys need food or anything I'd be willing to contribute to a Soxtalk fund. I think Duke was trolling or kidding. Furloughs bite when families are living check to check. Not saying you are doing that but kids are expensive to raise.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 06:19 PM) I think the Sox plans for 3B in 2014 is a platoon of Gillaspie and Semien. Not sure how that will play out though. So if the team thinks 3B is covered I think 1B needs to be dealt with. I want PK back but I am not sure if that will happen or not. I might also go for a real closer I don't even know why Gillaspie is an option. He's just a body. He's not a good fielder and he's a blah hitter, mediocre at very best. Why is he a White Sox option for anything?

QUOTE (scs787 @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 04:21 AM) Good, hopefully you don't post in the time period. Your boy PK is far more of the reason why this team racked up L after L after L. I mean really, your boy hit .210 with 6 HRs at home this year, whereas Dunn hit .222 with 21 bombs. I mean seriously, c'mon. Lol @ another part of your post where you say you expect him to hit 30 HRs and drive in 90 like that's a bad thing. Thanks for the support and kind words. Why the venom? Like Dick Allen pointed out, I was right on many occasions this year.

QUOTE (JoshPR @ Sep 29, 2013 -> 11:52 AM) Do we really want another free swinging Latino player? Why not? We need bodies to replace the zombies in our lineup who hopefully will have a great hitting coach to work with.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 12:55 AM) He was the second best position player on the team in 2013 by fWAR. Yes but the team was the Sox worst in something like 40 years. QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 01:02 AM) Beckham made more than $2.9 million last season. I expect that would put him at $3.2 or so next season. I'm for giving him one more chance. He was having a solid season but was hurt repeatedly. Came back OK from the first one but not the second. Beckham has it made because he's a former No. 1 draft pick, eighth overall. Sox PROBABLY will let him be mediocre a SIXTH straight season maybe even give him a 7th before finally dumping him. I mean there's probably a small chance he might emerge (it took Alex Gordon a while), but for sure Beckham gets a break cause the Sox made a big mistake in drafting him that high. Another overvalued college hitting star who couldn't adjust. QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 01:37 AM) Isn't we widely considered a good teammate? Do you not realize he was the most productive hitter on our team? With so much garbage on this team, why on Earth would you prioritize getting rid of the best hitter? I do not understand the personal player vendettas on this site. Don't you guys care about winning games? Yes and Dunn is a big reason we lose games. He stunk to begin the season again as we lost game after game. He is buzzkill. What'd he wind up with, 33 homers? That's like Babe Ruth on our pathetic team, but I agree with those who say he's just buzzkill, a bad influence with his horrific batting style of trying to pull everything that he happens to make contact with. No reason to discuss it ... no team will take Dunn off the Sox hands so one more year of the big fella. I'd expect .210, zillions of strikeouts, 30-36 homers, 90 ribbies. QUOTE (scs787 @ Oct 1, 2013 -> 01:55 AM) Ya, dude was 5th in HRs and 15th in RBIs in the AL. Ks be damned you're gonna be hard pressed to find that kind of production when you're also looking to find that sort of production to replace PK. His Ks suck, and him being nothing more than a dead pull hitter does as well but the fact of the matter is if he didn't K that much or he was able to spread the ball around he'd be a bonafide superstar. He's not, he has obvious flaws but that doesn't mean he isn't a good player, you Dunn haters just expect too much. I am a Dunn hater, that is true. But to be fair to us Dunn haters, when we see Dunn we see the letter L - he's played on Sox teams that have suffered L after L after L the last full season and last month of the previous season. Again, he's going nowhere so I better plan on canceling my MLB subscription before it renews itself. I can renew it the following year when he's gone.

I wonder how many guys the new hitting coach will recommend keeping? We have a lot of players that could be reclamation projects if they are not traded/released. We say Coop saves lousy pitchers off the scrap heap. Will the new hitting coach want to try with some of our hitters? This hitting coach ... will he want to try to make a hitter out of an unproductive first-round pick in Beckham? Does he think Viciedo can learn how to recognize a pitch out of the strike zone and learn how to hit? Does he think Flowers and/or Phegs can learn how to hit? Will he even want the job knowing he has to work with Mr. Whiff at An Alarming Rate, Adam Dunn? Can he take Lexi to the next level? Or will he yawn and tell Hahn he only is looking forward to A. Garcia in this current lineup?

In regards to how bad Beckham is ... he had 24 RBI in 408 plate appearances. Is that possible? Getz actually had 18 RBI in 237 at bats. How can Beckham be so unproductive for a No. 8 overall pick in the draft?? Considering how high he was drafted, he has been such a bust. I'm sick of him. Beckham also had five stolen bases meaning he also is a bust in the speed category. Hopefully Hahn recognizes he has a replacement there in Semien and he can try to acquire a 3Bman to replace that black hole as well. Get to work, Mr. Hahn on your plan.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 30, 2013 -> 09:17 PM) Beckham is the only player I think the Sox should replace, and that's simply because they have a player that I believe is a better option. If they keep Beckham and Semien opens the year at SS or 3B or even in the minors, I wouldn't mind. Oh, and Getz is one of the worst hitters in the major leagues. In 1546 career plate appearances at the MLB level, Getz has career splits of .251/.310/.309/.619 with 3 home runs. Seriously Greg, look at the f***ing numbers before you make ridiculous assertions like this. I should have said "good field no hit" then in regards to Beckham. He has five home runs. That means he has no power. Getz has no power. But Getz can field; Beckham can field. OK, Getz is a worst hitter. Neither are a guy you want on your team outside of a utility role.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Sep 30, 2013 -> 07:46 PM) Beckham is as good as he will ever be unfortunately. That ship has sailed. Yes, I think the ship has sailed on Beckham, Viciedo and DeAza. Replace all 3 please. Beckham is as bad as Getz IMO. Five home runs? What a head case. Seemed like Gordon had talent, but he and his many different batting stances are done.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 30, 2013 -> 03:54 PM) 1b needs a warm body. Abreu is my top guy. Would accept others like Morales if somehow we miss on Abreu. With every other position on the roster I can at least say who plays it next year, including catcher. The guy we have at those spots might be someone we'd want to improve upon, fine, but right now the only 1b on the roster is Andy Wilkins/Adam Dunn/Jeff Keppinger. And it's time for our last 1b to retire. 3B IMO is a bigger problem than first base. We have a guy at 3B who could play for one team in baseball apparently, ours, in Gillaspie. If I had to pick one thing, it'd be having Dunn retire. If you give me five things, 1.) Dunn please retire. 2.) Get rid of Kepp/Gillaspie and let Semien play third if we can't get a free agent. 3.) Get a new CF and get rid of DeAza. 4.) Get a new 2B and get rid of Beckham. 5.) New catcher.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Sep 30, 2013 -> 05:31 PM) Agreed. At least they dumped him before he could permanently damaged Garcia/Semien. Semien walk rate in AA: 17.4%. Result: League MVP Semien walk rate in ML: 1.4% Result: .261./268/.405 That's just alarming! Somebody should bring that stat to Soxfest this year. I mean, totally unacceptable. Thank goodness Manto got fired for this horrific offense.