LDF

QUOTE (Dunt @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 08:17 PM) I have a hard time believing the White Sox rank that low. I would have them more around 16-17. i know it is an opinion but why?? what has they added to move them up to 16+. btw, i am just using this as a discussion, not as an argument.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 07:19 PM) Good for him, he deserves it i agree..... i am a fan and i hope he does well with the team.

AL East Boston Red Sox AL Central Chicago White Sox AL West Anaheim Angels NL East Washington Nationals NL Central St. Louis Cardinals NL West San Diego Padres that is all i am going to play.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 07:31 PM) I haven't the slightest clue what you are trying to say here. Are you saying the Sox don't take any risks? They just spent $61 million on relievers this offseason and last offseason they gave $68 million to a player who had never played in the Majors. Those are about as big of risks as you can take, but you've been harping in every single thread about how they won't spend any money. i am not trying to make this a money thread but you are forcing me. yes, they spent money, they are making more than enuf and still JR mention that if the fans do not come out, they can not afford b/c they did not the money to invest in players. no matter how it is added, the final money tally still is skewed. they are making more than enuf. this is not an ownership that is practually poor like the Veeck era, and how MS. Veeck made the logo and they went out and got softball uni. this ownership started off by threatening the fans, when they first brought the team, that they will willing to move them to another state if they don't support the team. again as a backhanded slap 25+yrs later, he mention that the fans has to support the team, again and this was but last Nov when he said it. sure i can go and cheer for another team, but i am a diehard sox fan..... with an opinion. that is the difference with sox fans. we are not programmable fans, we, as Veeck used to say, a working group or a 40 hr week who wants a winner. but let me say this, i am soooo happy that the sox were successful for sooo many yrs, do you really know the talent that has been fielded by this team..... and only needed 1 more player to make history... 1 more player. so while they spent a lot of money, and i am talking about the majors, then they could have spent a little more for a 1 yr contract for a SP instead of, how did you say it, a low risk involvement that didn't cost much.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 06:16 PM) Definitely, thanks. Did you get a scoop that Barnum would be in WS vs. B'ham? I figured that would be a close call. And I'm guessing you gathered they prefer Engel to May, for instance. that is going to be a close call to make.... this yr will show who has more upside. May or Engel.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 07:05 PM) They can throw in some perks like a luxury box for his family and s*** so they can attend the games. They probably won't get a "hometown discount" but they can offer some amenities nobody else can just due to his family being in the area. If they are offering a couple million less than the best offer that put them over the top. i am all in for Robin V washing his car weekly

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 07:03 PM) Thanks for this. There's certainly enough B level prospects and higher that a handful should pan out. Been at least a decade since the system was this deep. most assuredly, get and get more bodies, and let them separate themselves by their best performance. maybe i am being silly, but this freaking org hasn't look as good as this, since the early 90's.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 05:53 PM) i think they would stay in the AL East i can see that, my thinking is b/c where Det is in they might want to make it close.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 06:52 PM) Doug Padilla ‏@ESPNChiSox 3h3 hours ago Hahn: We'll make it tough for Samardzija to walk away http://es.pn/1DlPXKB i like it, a nice subtle aggressive statement of not letting him walk.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 06:48 PM) Jon Morosi ‏@jonmorosi 2h2 hours ago Rob Manfred with some positive comments on Montreal as a baseball market in this story: http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/manfr...an-new-stadium/ … good, i hope they do it. btw, this is jumping the gun, but what league, American or National??

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 05:36 PM) Some of them will get hurt, some will wind up in the bullpen, some will struggle when they get to the big leagues or higher levels some will be traded. The trick is: if Rodon is as good as he is supposed to be, then all we need from those guys is to fill back-of-the-rotation roles, and if they're any better than that then our rotation is loaded. Chris Beck absolutely has the talent to be a mid-rotation pitcher. Will he get there? No idea. But, if we get a #4 starter, a guy who puts up an ERA in the low-mid 4's out of him who is cheap for 5-6 years, that's a huge asset regardless. ahhh i totally agree, the main wild card will be, if they fully develop as hope.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 05:25 PM) Not a chance. I start him in April in Charlotte and see what happens. That's being way too cautious for me. The thing he needs to do most this season IMO is pitch >150 innings. If he clears 160-170 innings this year then I'm suddenly happy with him being penciled into the rotation full time next year with a 200 inning goal. you know you are right..... and yes i am being overly cautious. i can feel it, this team is ready to kick the freaking door down. so yes, whatever plans the coaches have plan, i am sure they will be looking for the best in the sox interest. now that spring is almost over and again, his agent can see the sox are not holding him back. next yr, #3 in the rotation and defending the WS title.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 05:06 PM) really, i thought he was peaked at 90-92.... wow. looking good. i may need to rethink of his value. btw, this is another pitcher to put in the group of pitchers the sox have developing...... dang the future looks great..... Beck, Fry, Adams, Danish Montas all knocking on the door.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 06:19 PM) http://www.baseballamerica.com/internation...-spending-team/ imo money well spent..... all the sox will need is to have 1 player make it and the reward is there. i hate it when JR and the sox org, prob took a self punishment of not signing, scouting or anything b/c of the wilder situation. he is a arse hole and the sox had to pay for it.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 06:10 PM) Would you give this a rest? JR has always spent money when it makes sense. They aren't picking up guys like Noesi and Drabek to come in and be saviors. They pick them up because they see some potential and there is basically zero risk involved. They scooped Quintana up off the scrap heap after 2011 and look at what he's become. They could have gone out and spent 8 figures on CJ Wilson or Edwin Jackson that winter but they're smarter than that. Apparently you want them to spend money just to spend money. You buy enough lottery tickets and eventually you're going to win. you are looking at one point to find an argument. i am not and that is why i paraphase my sentence the way i did, to acknowledge their is 1 important part of my statement that i did not want to dwell on. but it has to be said. zero risk involvement, and that is why the sox has 1 WS win when they could have had more. Zero risk involvement maybe to the undoing of this great team assembled this yr. Zero risk involvement is what the owners want the fans to think about and accept, with blinders on. so pls keep on looking at it with zero risk involvement not to have any voice.

QUOTE (southside hitman @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 03:48 PM) http://www.baseballamerica.com/majors/2015...alent-rankings/ Baseball America released a farm system power ranking of sorts, reposting their top ten and highlighting some sleepers. nice find. i agree..... in actuality, i was hoping that the sox would not fall.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 05:38 PM) When I saw him in person last year he topped out 94-95. Good speed on his fastball through 5 innings but he tired out in inning 6 and that's when he started getting hit around, you could see his average FB drop below 90 at that time. He has plenty of velocity and he's also supposed to have a good sinker IIRC. really, i thought he was peaked at 90-92.... wow. looking good. i may need to rethink of his value.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 05:37 PM) The ideal way to bring him into a pennant race is September 1 coming up and maybe giving 1 spot start but otherwise working out of the bullpen as an extra, high-octane lefty who might be able to be a dominant bullpen lefty if there's a playoff race, similar to what happened wiht David Price. The question is whether the Sox's 4 and 5 starters will be good enough and starters 1-5 will be healthy enough for that to happen. dang, a really good question. me, i am limited in my knowledge of pro ball. i am thinking as a fan so i have half baked ideas. i am at a dilemma of the right way of doing this. i am glad the pro's know what to do, in other words, coaches. but i would shut Rodon down, now that he and his agent knows he is not ready, and rest. start him back up during the all star time and start getting him ready for the playoff time. but like i have always said, what the hell do i know.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 05:36 PM) I disagree. That just seems like a guy the White Sox have had whispers around for years, ever since his first TJS or so, as a guy that maybe we could do something with his mechanics. We've got a history of doing that successfully. well i can accept that you disagree and per your opinions are valid ones. but this is a sop for the org, to get these players and hope to get them where they become a viable option for the club. i will hate to add this but.... but it all comes back to the money. trying to save money by not addressing the total need of the club. now, the rhetorical question.... how many times has the club done this?? how many times were the club close to be a major players in the playoff?? just b/c they didn't want to spend for that last player. in the last yr or 2 the answer is 2..... Hector. now it is simple.... keep dumpster diving and there are other players being release who HAS to be a better option than Penny.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 05:17 PM) Hes familiar with him i remember a sox pitcher, when, i can't remember, but he only had 1 catcher who caught for hm. and this catcher made the team b/c of that. so the question, imo is a valid one.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 05:12 PM) As a relief pitcher? Maybe, because he'd be going all out every time. As a starter even on a pitch count IMO almost certainly. He's never thrown more than 130 innings in a year in his career and even had some fatigue issues with fewer than that last year (people said the coach at SC was leaving him in games too long). At some point you do have to pitch through it, but there's a difference between pitching through it in August at Charlotte and pitching through it in September against a team you're 1/2 game behind in the standings. you got it..... everything you mention is what i was slowing getting at. but those dog days of summer leading into sept, the sox in the middle of a fight for the playoff. (man, i get chills just thinking of this) how will Rodon perform.... no matter what, he still may get fatigued by the long concentration of playing ball. competitive ball, playoff kind of ball.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 05:10 PM) The time I saw him on air he looked good. Crisp, hard to hit his fastball. No radar gun was available. From previous impressions though it's going to be "lasting 6+ innings" that could still be the task he needs to overcome - involving both stamina and working in offspeed stuff. Always hard to judge offspeed stuff in AZ since it's dry, desert, and hanging. i like him, but my concern is for his speed of the fastball. yeah a nother yr of developing may make him a better overall pittcher.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 04:06 PM) I think Drabek with two major arm surgeries has a bigger red flag then a guy who has simply failed at the major league level. Drabek can't stay healthy, and when he is, he can't find the strike zone. When he does find the strike zone, he can't get major league hitters out. The difference is that Kyle Drabek is going to be on our major league roster come April 6. In reality, bringing Drabek isn't any different then bringing in Viciedo on a minor league deal. well this is another subject, but i wasn't too keen on getting Drabek. i think this is a owners looking out for others in the family kind of deal. there has to be better options that are being release now. it is an understanding

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 04:02 PM) Drabek had two tommy john surgeries, they arent even close to the same thing. This isnt Drabek having 4 years in the majors and failing by doing the exact same thing over and over. Viciedo cant play defense, he cant draw walks, he cant hit for average. So he can hit 20 homeruns....maybe. This isnt sox colored glasses, this is a reality. Im done with him, im glad they let him go Im not mad, I just think it is a waste of time. To be honest I would rather they hung on to Sierra in the offseason i totally agree, for DV it is a hr or nothing, a team can not carry a hr kind of guy anymore. times have change.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 31, 2015 -> 03:59 PM) We bring in these types of guys all of the time. It isn't a waste, it is looking to exploit a market inefficiency. That is exactly why we claimed Kyle Drabek. What do you think Hector Noesi was? Zach Putnam? Javy Guerra? Dayan Viciedo has a higher ceiling then all of those guys. On a minor league deal, it hurts no one. pls don't get me wrong, its like finding a diamond in the ruff so to speak. but the sox has a history with DV.... here is a perfect example. runners on 1 and 2, DV is up, all he needed to do was move them over. a simple hit to the first base side, sacrifice your at bat.... did he, no he hit it to LF. 2 yrs ago, now for the disclaimer, was it the coaches fault or DV..... did DV blew off the coaches. the sox have a history with him, plus, would he accept a minor league deal??