LDF

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Sep 28, 2015 -> 01:21 AM) I would love to see McDonough try to perform his "magic" with this fanbase and this ownership. He wouldn't last two years. not with the ownership .... esp if they would need to give up some of their day to day power and decisions.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Sep 27, 2015 -> 01:54 PM) I doubt they sign any of those guys. I also doubt they move any of our prospects worth a damn for any hitters. Don't really know how we are going to fill the many holes we have in the lineup. i am wondering if the if the sox gets the protected 10 by the end of the season. would they really venture in the fa market???

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 27, 2015 -> 02:53 AM) Yeah, as much as I love baseball I lost interest in September for sure. Once you KNOW your team is out of it it does change things, for me at least. I need meaningful baseball. greg, i really don't know, i am a sox fan, all the way to the til the end of the season and will keep b****ing about the mistakes. but i am there til the end. however this season, i hate to admit this, but i was really watching and keeping an eye on the scoreboard for the other teams.... you know the teams in the protected top 10 rankings. i am at a cross road, i want the sox to win, but to loose at the same time.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Sep 27, 2015 -> 05:29 PM) But the Blackhawks being good is the best thing to happen to hockey. I have no doubt the NHL wants the Hawks to retain their good players. Caps will rise as necessary. yeah and i think what i am remembering is after the 1 SC, the nhl came out with the stats that show the growth of the fans, advertising and commercial media .. that was an increase by huge proportions. now i may be wrong in the words to describe it, but yeah the nhl was also winners with the hawks winning.

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Sep 27, 2015 -> 01:31 PM) Nobody has any idea how good Panarin will be over here. very true and i agree. but i just don't know. good post.

ref the games this week and looking at players. i am now intrigue with with these players Baun - can he be the power forward in the future, prob another yr in the minors. too bad. Panarin - i really like what he brings to the hawks. i wouldn't be surprise he is on the #2 line. Tikhonov - i like him, a solid #2 line but will be prob line up on the #3 line for the hawks. what ever happen on the beginning off season. the gm did bring in a nice return of players and signing of FA's. with this surplus of extra, quality group of players on the team, i really can see and hope the hawks can do so major trades. i would settle for nice draft picks and or a young stud potential goaltender of the future.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Sep 27, 2015 -> 01:36 PM) Good for Seabs. His leadership, physicality (literally the only d-man we have now who is physical) and clutch goals have all been essential to 3 cups. Glad he's staying and likely retiring a Blackhawk. and within those parameters .....yeah i too am happy he will prob retire as a blackhawk. let me add this in your post, he now will have a nice security blanket, for his family and newborn....

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Sep 27, 2015 -> 05:13 AM) I like the Seabrook deal. For those complaining about its length- you know Hossa is signed through 2021, right? and you make a compelling counter. but lets also add keith, hammer, kane and toews for 5tyrs more. i like that idea of signing up the main core, or first identify the main core and locked them in. now ref to hossa, the hawks needed to change the face, they needed to bring in the first fa who want to have a future of a nice salary. but it showed to everyone, the hawks are changing the way they do things. they are wanting to win. ref seabs, i am glad he is good at this point, and he is 30 going on 31 yrs old. this contract will end when he is 39 yrs old. this contract will hold the hawks back if his skills will start to diminish.... then the contract will hold the hawks back like bickell contract is. i guess if there is a clause in his contract of a buyout. then i can live with it. don't get me wrong, i am a fan of his.... i like that the hawks signed him, but i have problem with the 8 yrs.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Sep 27, 2015 -> 01:13 AM) The only major free agents next year are Tikonov, Shaw, and Kruger with around 3.5 million in cap space at the current salary cap. If it goes up, they will have more space then. Brickell only has 1 year after this. Which means, much easier to trade (full or have to retain a little), or you can just buy him out and get 2 million in cap space. if all goes well, i don't seem to understand .... my bad, it me. bickell at 4.5 mil (per hockey ref) , who puts up stats of at least maybe 25 pts per yr. who will want that kind of production and player??? the only way to help get space in the salary cap will be trading someone

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Sep 27, 2015 -> 12:28 AM) Hawks better pray cap goes up next few years. i been thinking long and hard on this idea of what i am about to say, for a week or so. they will need to trade a player with a high salary next yr. since they screwed up in getting rid of bickell.

QUOTE (captain54 @ Sep 27, 2015 -> 01:20 AM) White Sox on a path to have their relevancy surpassed in this town by the Chicago Wolves Way to go Jerry Reinsdorf and the entire Sox organization! Awesome job! ! who is going to do the ugly job of telling the owners that they are the best example of being "Mr. Irrelevant". the owners has to have their eyes forced open and realize that, they can't do the better job of running this team with ref to the baseball side... they need a real team president and a real team manager. it needs to start there.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Sep 27, 2015 -> 12:32 AM) I know I'm the only one, but not a fan of that deal, don't see him aging well. i too do not like this deal..... 8 yrs???? are the hawks going to have another bickell in the making, toward the end of this contract.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Sep 27, 2015 -> 12:10 AM) Also easier said than done. explain ~~~ ok i think you are stating that his plan is easier said than done.

QUOTE (VAfan @ Sep 26, 2015 -> 09:53 PM) I think to have an offseason plan, you have to decide first what the Sox' flaws are. Only then can you start thinking about how to fix them. FIRST = CHANGE THE MANAGER The biggest flaw the White Sox have, IMHO, is having Robin Ventura as their manager. Do managers have WAR? Of course not. But maybe they should. Because some manager help their teams win more games than perhaps they should, while other managers clearly cost their teams wins. I think Robin Ventura is in the latter camp. I would put his negative WAR as somewhere around 5-8 games. If you can get that number back to 0, that's like adding a top player in terms of wins. Unfortunately, I don't have any replacement manager names at the tip of my tongue. But if you want to fix the Sox, that's where I'd start. Why do I think Ventura has to go? Because ever since his first year, when he was the anti-Ozzie and had a veteran club that could run itself, the Sox have been HORRIBLE at fundamental baseball. Terrible at fielding. As bad or worse on the basepaths. Can't execute basic plays. These things scream out at me as managerial problems. Well-disciplined teams have good managers. Ozzie used to tweak him to no end, but Buck Showalter is an example of an excellent manager who gets a lot out of his clubs. I'd say he's worth positive WAR. Joe Maddon is also very good. The minute he took the reins of the Cubs, he said they were a playoff team, and he's proven himself right. SECOND = ADD POWER The second biggest flaw I think the Sox have is a lack of power. The White Sox are tied with Cleveland for next to last in HR in the AL, one ahead of KC. KC can get away with a lack of power because of the ballpark they play in. Even though US Cellular is now ranked below average in HR, I think you can't have a winning team at the Cell without much more power than the Sox have. We have 1 HR threat in our lineup -- Jose Abreu -- and his HR numbers are down from a year ago. That just won't cut it. Ideally, I'd like to see at least 3 guys with 30+ HR. If you can't get that, you need Abreu plus at least two more guys who can average 30 between them. This is one reason why I don't see the value for the Sox breaking the bank for Jason Heyward. Yes, he had 27 HRs one year. But he's really a 12-15 HR guy, which is what we're getting from Garcia in RF already. Sure, the D is much much better, as is the OBP, but I just don't see how his bat is going to make that big of a difference in our current lineup. If I had to pick two guys to add to the Sox, it would be Josh Donaldson and Yoenis Cespedes. Obviously, we can't actually add Donaldson. But he's the type of player you would want to add, at a position of need for the Sox. Cespedes could be a possibility, if the Mets don't re-sign him. Though you'd have to decide if he'd produce at the same level he did when he switched leagues and went on a total tear, hitting 17 HR in 51 games for the Mets v. 18 HR in 102 games for the Tigers. The point is, the Sox desperately need a power boost if they want to win more games. 3B, DH, and RF cry out for power bats. Other positions might as well, but the Sox seen pretty set in LF, CF, and 1B, and have gotten 18 HR combined out their catchers, plus 10 at SS. THIRD = REDUCE THE OUTS The Sox have the worst OPS in the AL. This is because we are last in Slugging percentage. Which is why we need to ADD POWER. But we're also horrible in OBP, at .308. This is near the bottom of the league. We have only 2 regulars above .319 OBP -- Eaton and Abreu. And we have a ton of regulars, or guys who've received significant ABs, who are below .300 OBP -- Sanchez, Saladino, Gillaspie, Beckham, Flowers, Ramirez, and LaRoche. That's your infield for most of the year. SUMMARY ON THE HITTING SIDE I'll come back to pitching. On the offensive side, the Sox have two players worth keeping and building around -- Jose Abreu and Adam Eaton. Melky Cabrera is also probably locked in for the next two years with his contract. The rest are up due for upgrades. FOURTH = DON'T DECIMATE THE PITCHING A lot of the ideas in this post suggest the Sox trade pitching to bolster their offense. Seems like robbing Peter to pay Paul. Not sure it's a solution. Assuming the Sox tender a QO to the Shark and he turns it down, that leaves the Sox with Sale, Quintana, Rodon, Danks, and all the guys they have in the minors, led perhaps by Eric Johnson. In other words, 3 quality starters, an expensive journeyman on the last year of his contract, and a bunch of rookies. I just don't see how you take out Quintana from this equation and stay competitive. On the bullpen side, it's a little easier. Robertson is locked up as the closer, and the Sox have decent depth behind him, with Nate Jones having returned, and Frankie Montas a flame throwing possibility for next year, plus Petricka, Putnam, Duke, Jennings, et al. CONCLUSION I'm not sure it's all going to get fixed in 2016. If we were 1 or 2 guys short, then free agency would make sense, especially if we finish at least 10th worst this year and can protect our first round pick. The problem is, we aren't there. We have 2 regulars who are plus players -- Abreu and Eaton. Cabrera could be a third. Everyone else could be chucked (though Flowers is good for the pitching staff). There isn't enough money in the budget to buy new guys for all of those slots. So what do you do? Not totally sure yet. I'd be looking for bargains. Guys without big names or big contracts, but who have decent to good OBP and SLG numbers. Then perhaps you splurge on one power hitting guy who can help anchor your lineup with Abreu. If I had money to spend, I'd spend it all on offense. I think we can patch together enough on the pitching side if we don't jettison anyone but Shark. That's my initial take. you did a great job in getting all this done.... well thought out. i hate to say anything today, b/c this is a great post.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Sep 26, 2015 -> 06:26 PM) If it wasn't for Boras I'd think there was a chance he'd take a one-year deal somewhere to rebuild value but like I said Boras is his agent. no offense but i know that. that is why i don't trust them accepting any deal other than max deal.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Sep 26, 2015 -> 06:10 PM) Sox were in on a McCann a few years ago. Granted he has a better track record than Wieters, but I can see them being in on him too if there is no QO attached to his name. i really do understand that, but if this season is a result of his now playing stats.... and with his agent. i really don't want to see the sox be laiden contract that they will not can move. no thanks

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Sep 26, 2015 -> 05:43 PM) Southsider brought up Matt Wieters and I scoffed at the suggestion because of the QO. Rumors out of Baltimore, according to Heyman are that he may not receive one. If he doesn't get a QO, the White Sox should be all over Wieters. Could be an interesting option. was really against this option for 2 reason. i am still questioning his ability to perform as he has in the past and his agent will want a 5 yr contract at least.

QUOTE (spiderman @ Sep 26, 2015 -> 03:43 PM) It's possible that the White Sox could bring back almost their entire pitching staff. - I would offer the QO offer to Shark. I don't expect him to accept it, but I'm willing to gamble, on a 1 year deal, for that draft pick. The White Sox need young talent, and they can't afford to potentially get a high draft pick. Given that his market is still strong, I would be pretty shocked if he accepted the QO offer. Even if he did, it's a 1 year deal. - Re-sign Matt Albers, but it would have to be a 1 year deal. He has done a great job this season, but there is a lot of arms, including Nate Jones returning. Albers was the best of the group after he came back, but I don't want to give middle relievers multi-year deals. Duke and Robertson already have deals, I think they need to be flexible here. - If the first two items below happen, the pitching staff would largely return next season. The starting rotation would likely include Erik Johnson as the 5th starter. Carlos Rodon showed high end potential so the team has to feel pretty strongly about him, which could open the door to a Quintana trade if they believe that Rodon and Sale can anchor the rotation. The pitching staff has to be the strength of this team next season, and I would expect a quiet(er) off-season since that shouldn't change much unless they decide to really shake things up with a Quintana trade. If not, I think they have to get internal improvement offensively. 1) Melky Cabrera needs to have a strong rebound season. He can't wait until June or July to start hitting. 2) Tryce Thompson, playing most days, can improve the team defensively and has shown he can hit. He still is a question mark in that he hasn't done it over a full season, but I think he needs he enters spring training as a starter. 3) Can Carlos Sanchez hit consistently in the majors? He's showing signs and plays good defense. Up the middle, with Thompson (potentially) and Sanchez, the White Sox are better than they have been in a few years out there. 4) Being open to alternative options. M.Johnson can hit (or it seems as if he can hit). If he can and doesn't have a position, here's a DH for you. Give the White Sox a speed option to create offense. They don't have enough of that (sorry Eaton). - Offensively, I do not support signing Ben Zobrist or any other higher end free agents. I would resign Soto for starters, but I realize that the catcher spot will not be a strength and this is a continuation of the Tyler Flowers era. - I would decline the option on A.Ramirez, but would explore re-signing him to a 1 year deal. I don't believe they have another SS (Tim Anderson, not being ready) who can step in next season. If Ramirez leaves, I would then go Saladino as the fall back option, knowing that they are probably worse at SS next season. I don't believe he is more than a fringe MLB player. - If T.Thompson is the best defensive player they have, and his best position is CF, that's where he enters spring training. He still has to earn a job though. If he does do that in spring training, he's the starting CF and Adam Eaton slides over to a corner spot. - Micah Johnson enters spring training with a chance to make the team and play 4-5 days a week as DH. Adam La Roche could change these plans, but he's got to earn his way back into playing time as a DH. He'll clearly play 2-3 times a week at DH, and maybe 1 time a week a 1B so he'll be out there occasionally. - 3B: No options exist outside of Saladino, and I wouldn't overspend in free agency. If there's a stop-gap option who can provide decent production, that's about as much as I can see them doing. you make a good argument. however Ben Zobrist can be that player who can help in several ways. however as you said, we don't know what he will command in the FA. this is one person no one is thinking about..... Jacob May. granted he will be 24 and had only 1 yr in AA. i hope the sox keep him in AA for another full yr.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 24, 2015 -> 08:42 PM) I continue to expect that they'll do what you think, try to be "aggressive" and "win now", and you'll be equally disappointed by the results because that type of plan is extremely high risk, much higher risk than even the organization wants to admit, as we've seen this year. I continue to think "Being aggressive" is exactly the wrong approach with where this organization is. We were way too aggressive last year and it led directly to this season. Being aggressive was a major part of what went wrong. When you're close to a competitive team, being aggressive can make sense. When your organization is this weak, and you try to be aggressive, good chance you hurt yourself for the following seasons. as i said yesterday, this is a good counter. but i came up with something. while what you said is true in most cases. however the sox didn't spend what was needed to do and uses assets to make it work. they will need to, if the owners can allow it, go in the negative profits. not a lot but a little for the getting the big trophy. i still think they can go to at least 160 mil payroll. the following yr, Danks - 15.7 mil and Adam LaRoche - 13.0 mil total of 28.7 mil in their contract will come off the book it can be done.

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Sep 26, 2015 -> 03:07 AM) Was it Baun? He was given a 2 year deal out of college last year from the Hawks and I believe played against Minnesota. I don't think he makes the team out of the camp but he has that 3rd line feel to him if the Hawks find a way to LTIR or deal Bickell. i went and got his profile in from the hockey future. http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/1290...p-20-prospects/ he sound really promising .... i hope he really develop as hope.

totally unrelated to the kane story and i am not rehashing old missed trade opportunity .... so what i am getting from the little news concerning the hawks and the amount of players they have. according to some rumors, there are some prospects who can start the season in the nhl .... but with the depth the hawks have, they will not make the team. ryan hartman mcneil and some others. now i am wondering if the hawks can will enter the trade scene sometime this season. now i also wonder if the other team will not be willing to trade unless it is a 1 side trade.

QUOTE (AustinIllini @ Sep 26, 2015 -> 02:10 AM) Thank God Morin is gone. He looked great in the AHL and fizzled in the NHL. yeah if this was baseball. he would be a AAAA kind of a player. too bad. the hawk had high hopes for him when they first traded for him, the first time around.

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Sep 26, 2015 -> 02:07 AM) Was it Baun? He was given a 2 year deal out of college last year from the Hawks and I believe played against Minnesota. I don't think he makes the team out of the camp but he has that 3rd line feel to him if the Hawks find a way to LTIR or deal Bickell. yeah it was him .... thanks for the update. ref bickell, trading him ... that ship has sailed. the best place was arz before the draft. someone screwed up. so what did arz do to get the team from below the salary cap floor, to get at the floor of the salary cap they traded for pronger who is permanently injured, so his salary will count against the salary cap. that trade should have been bickel and player and 2 draft picks. but that ship sailed. oh well.

hawks won 5-1.