LDF

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 10, 2015 -> 05:30 PM) He absolutely has the power in him, the problem is that in the game he doesn't use it. His approach is all about going to the opposite field and it sacrifices his ability to use that power. He barely pulls the ball with authority and that leaves him especially vulnerable to pitches on the inner half. He can take pitches that are away and drive them the other way but if you can't pull the ball middle of the plate in, you're not going to be able to exploit that power, and that's right where he is now. Patience is fine with players like him as long as we're not counting on them to lead us to a playoff spot before guys reach free agency. Oh, and he's also a first-year arb guy next year, so after 2016 patience starts having a clock. you know how many young hitter can't even do that??? i say, let him continue to develop.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 10, 2015 -> 05:52 PM) I wouldn't say the primary pieces are "bad" but they certainly haven't been "really good" so far this year overall. Some "really good" streaks for the primary pieces with some "really bad" streaks in-between. that is why i am agreement with you. i am believing that this club, hopefully offers an exciting summer, but i believe they will not keep up a sustainable winning streak. believe me when i say this, but i hope i can be proven wrong come aug or sept.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 10, 2015 -> 05:45 PM) The importance of the pen becomes on the closer, set-up guy, and 7th inning guy. You shorten your pen to 4 really good guys and with 3-4 really good starters, including one of the 3-4 best in the game, and your odds are strong. Much different story. You could have a mediocre bullpen because your secondary pieces are bad vs. a pen where the primary pieces are bad. Defense in the post-season also becomes more important due to fewer runs typically being scored in post-season (better pitching staffs push down run production, typically, not to mention fact that you don't face teams #5 starters and the early inning guys in the pen). that is the wild card and thinking outside the box. i guess we are all saying something similar..... many thanks.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 10, 2015 -> 05:38 PM) They dont have to play minimum games to keep a 3 man rotation. Days off allow for the top three to stay on schedule And the pen doesnt have to be more important if Sale/Samardzija/Quintana are going 7+ innings, they just have to do their jobs excellent point. ref the top 3 going 7 innings, i guess i am chicken or have little faith. i rather not risk on that to happen. i would rather have a backup plan.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 10, 2015 -> 05:07 PM) Shorten the rotation. You pull Danks out of the rotation and you have aces and extra off days, so you can pitch your top guys in your pen more while having your best starters who in theory can also go deeper. In the playoffs, depth in the pen and rotation becomes far less significant. In fact, depending on rest, you might even have Rodon working out of the pen at times. i am not disputing the logic. i am trying to think that the pen would become more important in the playoff. that is why a great pen would help out much more, esp when the team goes on the short rotation. i will still keep Rodon in the starting rotation. no team will play minimum games in the playoff.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jul 10, 2015 -> 04:51 PM) Batting 2nd- Tyler Saladino. I bet the casual Sox fan is saying, who? and i am screaming NONONO!!! they should have kept what has been working for them. oh well it is what it will be.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 10, 2015 -> 06:00 PM) If the splash brothers can find enough ball to go around, im sure Jimmy and Rose can as well. They need to both play though. they really havent played a lot of games together due to alternating injuries you got a very good point. thanks

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 10, 2015 -> 05:54 PM) Also, for those who didn't see it. Jimmy's agent had a few interesting quotes yesterday that would seem to dispell notion that any feud between Rose / Butler would be mega. I think this is basically a, they aren't best friends, but they absolutely respect each other and largely get along, however, they still encounter the ocassional frustration and are still learning to play with each other. Reality is it takes time, especially given that Butler was emerging into a more ball dominant player this year so any off-season practice and initial game plans had to be altered as well. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baske...0708-story.html and there is this bridge that people been trying to sell.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 10, 2015 -> 05:52 PM) My answer to why Butler might not become a mega-star is that the bolded is really tough from here. Legit all star last year, if he takes another step forward we're talking about an all-star starter, one of the top 10 players in the league. That's a tough step to take. butler by himself and another player in the back court, i can see it. but when you add Rose into that equation, Butler will not have the ball in his hands long enuf to make it happen. Rose needs the ball and i am not a fan of rose since his rookie yr.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jul 10, 2015 -> 04:10 PM) I agree with you. he needs to show more power though. thanks, i would be happy to get thru this season without being hurt. baby steps. esp when this season is all fvvcked

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 10, 2015 -> 03:56 PM) Which is why I've long said if this team were to get into the playoffs, you shorten the rotation, you shorten the bullpen, you might have a chance, but that would be dependent on at least fixing the defense and of course getting that 2nd wild card spot is still an absolute stretch. However, it is why Kenny and Hahn can't panic and can look at tweak team but key is having view on 2016 and 2017 while still potentially giving yourself a shot for this year as well. i think i would disagree here. if the team shorten the rotation, i would think you will need kickarse pen to take that extra work, or the important workload.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 10, 2015 -> 03:50 PM) I've been saying for a long time, this team isn't that far off and it isn't in this horrific shape that some posters here would want you to believe. The defense is a real problem and we need some good hitters to go with it. Will it be easy to fix (in the sense that it is a slam dunk), no, but it is totally workable and doable and I expect while we will see the club sell, we might also see us have a trade or two where we buy (using some of our prospects for young position players or getting in as a 3rd team to pick up something that fits our roster needs better). 3B and SS are two major needs in my mind and I'd also like to see us pick up a good defensive outfielder who can run and ideally hit a bit (that might mean using Garcia as bait (along with others to fill other needs) or moving LaRoche and freeing up some flexibility for Mekly / Garcia to DH a bit more. I still don't worry a lot about 2B because I've long been high on Micah and think that having him continue to develop and work some defensive kinks will be good for him to do now. Catcher is an area we could make an offensive improvement but defensively Flowers isn't horrid, so at least he has that going for him. To be frank, biggest defensive improvements would probably be warranted at 3B and corner outfield. I'd bet on Eaton and Ramirez trending closer to their career norms and thus you see natural positive defensive regression their. When it comes to Avi / Melky, if you play them in LH / DH (presuming you move LaRoche) and take care of 3B, that is replacing two positions where we have had awful defensive production that is not driven by small sample sizes. It could be Ramirez is horrible but his issues seem to be more mental then physical and even though you'd expect range limitations, you don't expect him to maintain this poor of play and I feel similarly with Eaton. I also have no problem if you find a CF that you prefer and move Eaton to LF either (either way, we need to upgrade defense without making offense any worse). with what you are saying i can understand. but if this team was hitting and scoring runs like many know that they can, the lack of defense would not have been that magnified. what ever the sox owners and fo did to the baseball gods, make sure they don't do it again.

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Jul 10, 2015 -> 04:17 PM) I actually have more interest in this year's Circus Series than I have in recent years. I guess that's not too surprising in a year that the Sox crashed and burned before they ever took off while the Cubs walk around hiring magicians, farting rainbows, and holding on to a Wild Card spot in mid-July. it was during spring training when the 2 match off, and the sox lost big time. it was then i thought the sox were in trouble. now for me, if the sox put a thrashing to the sCrubs, ahhhh redemption.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jul 10, 2015 -> 03:35 PM) Actor extraordinare Omar Sharif, 83. alot of old time stars are passing. what ashame. for me, he was a great actor. and i bet he had...... many females companion for a nite. lucky devil.

i don't know if it is me, but he is still really raw. he still has time to continue to grow.

QUOTE (gatnom @ Jul 10, 2015 -> 02:39 PM) The only worry would be how much gas he'd have left in the tank that late into the season. you, KyYlE23,and SS2k5 have all good points, my point is the pitch count the coaches have Rodon on. plus trying to stretch him out all the way to Nov. that will be a feat. fvvck, if this season didn't started like shiite, no matter who is at fault. the playoff would have been very doable.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 10, 2015 -> 02:04 PM) The 4 and 5 pitchers are rarely an issue in playoffs, its all about the top 3 very true and sir you are correct. however there are times when a team will need that 4th starter. also the team first needs to get there.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 10, 2015 -> 01:36 PM) Does Mark share agents with Brandon Saad? but Saad already has his 2 cups, now he can concertate on making money.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jul 10, 2015 -> 01:45 PM) I'm rather confused by the direction of this team. They win some games bringing hope and then go on a slide so I'm not sure where I stand to be honest. I admit I have a difficult time accepting they can reach the post season so that being said... Assuming a team would trade for LaRoche, opening up the DH would allow Avi to move to DH. I know it would hurt what value he has but as long as Avi remains one of the core players then I'm not overly concerned about value. The Sox could give Thompson a look in RF or move Eaton RF and Thompson plays CF. Either way the OF defense would improve. Problem with that idea is, imo, Thompson's bat could use more time at Charlotte. Thompson has made impressive progress this year and would like to see that continue before giving him a look with the Sox or at least wait til September. Another idea would be Avi to DH with Shuck moving to RF which still improves the defense although not as much as Thompson would. Again, all this based on the Sox not being contenders and me as a fan being rather confused as to the direction of the current team so please take this post with a big grain of salt. i agree on many parts of this post. i really enjoy the sox winning and at the same time posters convincing themselves that post season is still possible. i don't see the post season being possible. i would rather put Shark on the trade market now, as some teams may to take advantage of the early market of trading. i only want comp picks as a rtn of Adam L and as you siad, move Avi to dh. \ lets start the trading now. look at Miami on mlb rumors, they are now stating on opening for trades now....

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jul 10, 2015 -> 02:20 PM) The unfortunate part of this team having been so bad this year is the fact that with this rotation we would be more than capable of winning in October. i agree for the most part. i think the #4 and 5 pitchers will be a problem in the playoff. remember Rodon is a rookie and he would be maxing his pitch count and Danks being the 4 and 5 pitcher. but it would be fun to be in the playoff.

remember or reminiscing on Mark B and his contract is nice. i had doubts on how many were talking on how it went down. now for me, i missed Mark B and he being the embodiment of the sox attitude, pretty much how Sale and Shark recently shown. that is my opinion. so what i am going to say is, if Mark B did sign, this team will, in my belief, have signed, Jose A, and drafted Sale. the whole reasoning will not be there. so for me, as much as Mark is a fav player, i enjoy the core of the team being Jose and Sale. i would love to see Mark come back and end his career as a sox.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 9, 2015 -> 10:25 PM) I would like to see not a lot of movement. Would be happy with conservative play this year. Maybe see Fullmer in Single-A i on the other hand would like to see movement of the minor leaguers, i would really love to see some of the surplus of players that the sox have, to be moved for comp picks and slotted money, even in the int'l side as well. now the draw back will be some of the teams in the minors, would suffer. a dilemma i can not figure which i wanted.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 9, 2015 -> 05:10 PM) He's a utility player, if he can't do that...then he should be DFA'd. and i wouldn't mind him being DFA.

QUOTE (reiks12 @ Jul 9, 2015 -> 03:34 PM) Didn't the Astros have the worst system in the league a few years ago? i am talking about players who can fill holes that the sox have.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 9, 2015 -> 03:10 PM) Have you seen Bonifacio play this season? That would be your answer. He hasn't hit, he can't field, but he can be the 2015 Toby Hall in the dugout. That probably isn't worth $4 million a year. I do think, if they are going to send Sanchez down, they should give Emilio one more shot before bringing back Micah. IMO, the White Sox have to be very confident the next time they call up Micah, it's for good. but did he have the long time at that position to really get comfortable???