LDF

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jan 29, 2015 -> 02:52 PM) Law's Top 100 should be released today. I'll predict 4 White Sox: Rodon in the teens, Anderson in the 30's, Montas in the 70's and Micah Johnson in the 90's. we should have a friendly survey on who is #4 ... i say Adams..

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Jan 29, 2015 -> 02:55 PM) If they do not acquire a more capable RH OF/DH to platoon with LaRoche, then Soto is a better candidate as a backup catcher than Kottaras because he could get some looks vs. lefties DH. Again, nothing is set in stone, we still have to wait and see who they bring in as the backup OF, and how both Kottaras and Soto fare in ST. Now, is Soto a better option to backup DH than DV? Let me put it this way, the upgrade in defense, position flexibility, and the salary saved in swapping DV for Beckham is more significant than the drop off in production with Soto as the backup DH than Viciedo there. I also don't think you should have expected DV to take more AB's if LaRoche doesn't hit. For as bad as Dunn was he was still getting regular AB's vs righties, because you simply don't sit a player with that type of contract or reputation in favor of a bench player. I think LaRoche will be better than Dunn, so we wouldn't have used Viciedo as much as you thought we would. excellent.

QUOTE (AlSoxfan @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 04:19 PM) I'm pretty high on Spencer Adams and would have him in my top 5 I think. I'll be watching to see how he does in 15. I'm also very curious to see how our guys do on the national top 50/100 prospect list. Thanks for all the insight. i am with you 5 or 6.... for sure. depends on Hawkins.

my take is this, if the season is cut back to the labor day week, there is no competition from other sports let alone the family kids sporting events. 2nd no competition when school is in the middle of the first half of school. compress the games a litle bit to put more games in during the regular season. remember mlb will be competing with nhl, nba and nhl later in sept, oct and nov. extend the wild card to 3 teams, giving mlb a chance to involve a 3rd team from each conference and getting more fans in the playoff environment. lastly too much time between each series. tighten up the games.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 10:51 PM) I think the Sox are a position where they know Sanchez isn't good enough and they know Micah isn't ready so they're relegating to Beckham. EDIT: Not a true starter, but would anyone be surprised if Beckham and Bonifacio end up getting significant time between 2B/3B? One of them starts against RHP and both against LHP. i am more incline to say that Bonifacio will end up starting at 2b at the beginning and then becoming the jack of all trade in other positions, with sanchez and beckman providing coverage. just my hunch.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 10:50 PM) I know we saved $4M, but I kind of wish that we kept DV on the roster. Bonifacio, Beckham, Soto and Viciedo would give us one of the best benches in the league. The drop off between Viciedo and Shuck or Taylor is pretty significant offensively. Ideally, Boni would backup 3B/CF/LF, Beckham backs up 2B/SS/3B, Viciedo backs up LF/RF/DH, Soto would backup C/DH. As of now, I think the chances of Soto winning the backup catcher spot increased a little bit. Historically, he's pretty good against lefties, so it wouldn't surprise me if he gets some look as the DH for LaRoche along with Beckham. Boni and Beckham alone just doesn't provide enough pop at DH. Now let's see if we are tabbed or if we could use some of that money saved to bring in another bullpen arm or reclamation project starter. that is what i have been thinking. the sox will have a backup for a backup at cat and worst case at 1b with a nice sub at dh. that is if he gets his swing back.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 10:48 PM) It's too bad they had to include Bassitt in the Athletics deal but I agree with witesoxfan I think they are fairly high on Beck and hell, by July, even Montas might be pushing for a MLB promotion. They have decent SP depth. They are a top heavy team though. If one of Eaton, Sale or Abreu goes down, they are losing 4-6 wins right there -- but it's better to have stars than not have them. i am not making any assumptions based on a maybe.... i will say, if all goes well in their development, lets not push them, bring them up in 2016 season. let them fully develop.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 10:39 PM) I don't disagree that they could have found better candidates, but I think Beckham is OK if his role is merely a backup and any playing time beyond that is legitimately justified. And I mentioned earlier, it's also not so much that they can't just DFA him if he's not producing. They do have Rodon sitting in AAA for if/when Danks/Noesi needs replaced, plus the veteran Penny who could make a case for coming up too (though I doubt he does). I also think the organization is fairly high on Chris Beck too, and both Montas and Danish lie in the weeds as sleepers for late season call ups too. i thought someone posted a link saying that the sox FO has him pencil in as starting from spring training. i may be wrong.

QUOTE (HBaines03 @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 10:40 PM) Long time follower.....1st time poster. I think the best improvement for this team was improving the bullpen with back end talent and getting added depth. I saw a comment earlier that "Cleto sucks". Early last season I would agree but when he was brought back late last season when rosters expanded he pitched much better with the addition of the change up. He had a 13-15mph difference between his fastball and change. Pretty devastating.....hopefully he can continue that. I looked last year at how the White Sox were in late inning situations and this is what I found. We lost 28 games last year where we lead or were tied going into the 7th inning. Here is the breakdown of those games by division: AL East - 8 games AL Central - 15 games AL West - 3 games NL East - 0 games NL Central - 0 games NL West 2 games That is a lot of games and if you take half of those games and produce wins that gives the Sox a 87-75 record. There were numerous games where we gave up more than 3 runs in one inning in those losses. If we clean that up in late game situations we can improve significantly. welcome to the best sports forum... at least in chi. but i am in agreement with the total without restriction in the rebuilding of the pen. this yr as it stands has a great group of RP's and with backups developing. nice post for your first.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 05:29 PM) I liked the very first one and First Class but others have been lackluster to me. yeah it started to get like ok we have a ok plot, put in some really special effects, lets incorporate wolverine more, oh lets put more special affect, oh lets pay the actors.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 09:52 PM) Jon Morosi ‏@jonmorosi 16m16 minutes ago Two possible fits for Dayan Viciedo: Rangers and Mariners. i would add Rays as a top fit.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 10:48 PM) It is. WAR on the FA market is almost at 8 million per WAR. For a .5 WAR player like Beckham, 2 million is fair value. edit: when you are talking about the 25th man, there is little "opportunity cost". If the 25th man gets more than 150 PA, something went horribly wrong anyways. No team plans on having the 25th man as anything more than plan D. and that goes to show salary has become sooo crazy.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 10:32 PM) I think that a reasonable alternative, though, would be signing a couple more guys AS GOOD AS John Danks. At least then we have a few extra shots. yeah, i agree but that window of opportunity has past.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 10:40 PM) I don't disgree but there is an opportunity cost associated with that 2 million. I would much prefer Denorfia/Ichiro when Eaton ends up on the DL. Beckham brings what Bonifacio can already do. Saladino can very likely do what Beckham can do. As far as the last part, you're right and I think it says a lot about what the White Sox think about GB as a person. unless this was thought to be a fan move, a PR move for something they are going to do, or not to do. this looks so much of a sox move. this is the best i can explain it, a gut feeling.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 09:26 PM) https://twitter.com/CSNHayes/status/560548838566801409 10 days to trade Viciedo. nice... how bout anything on a SP??? jk.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 09:17 PM) I agree to some extent. Some of the crap the White Sox have been counting on the past few years was a joke. Most rookies struggle a bit. Counting on Micah Johnson or Sanchez to be really good is a stretch. You do need some extra starters. But Rodon is one of the better prospects in the game. Johnson was supposed to be a good prospect. Beck, I would be dissappointed if they counted on him to be successful, and Montas, while talented, doesn't have a whole lot of work to hang his hat. Another starter would be great, but right now, unless you are going to spend a ton, you aren't going to get anything better than John Danks. that is how i see it..... oh well.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 09:15 PM) So nobody in this category answered, "Gordon Beckham." would you have??

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 09:22 PM) Bonifacio will be needed to fill in in the OF to give guys days off. Gordon will be the de facto backup utility IF, 25th man. with DV gone, that is how i see it. i really hope this team stays healthy

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 09:14 PM) Yeah, I think Mrs. Hickory Huskers was wanting Beckham and Quentin more for her viewing pleasure than their impact on the team.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 09:01 PM) Pssh don't tell me we don't have enough quality MLB outfielders...HELLO, Brian Anderson! ahhh is this suppose to be green or are you serious.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 08:55 PM) I don't think he'll get more than that over 4 yrs. I still wouldn't be stunned if he ends up going on a 1 yr 25M deal or something like that. There is always someone who gets hurt in FA because they waited too long, etc, I think Shields will be that guy. That said, Tigers are always looming on Shields. well it is either he signs with whom is offering anything, as teams are starting to finalize their team. or accept a 1 yr deal.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 08:56 PM) I hope Micah can come out and be pretty good from the start cause I don't love the idea of Bonifacio getting significant AB's and being our leadoff hitter. And we should just assume Eaton is going to have a stint on the DL (until he proves us otherwise). That said, if he wants to replicate that season he had with Florida a few years ago and put up a .360 OBP, I'd be okay with that. i don't know why, but i still have faith in him to produce.

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 08:56 PM) Assuming they're healthy though, they all were going to play everyday. Not sure ichiro would like the idea of playing once a week maybe? esp when he is only hanging around for the 3,000 hit club.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 08:46 PM) Ichiro would have been the perfect fit. I'm dissapointed we didn't sign him. i too would have love to have Ichiro. i really don't want to jinks anyone but i am not convince that Garcia can go a whole season without injury of some sort. with the lineup the sox have now, Bonifacio is the cf and leadoff if Eaton gets hurt.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 08:39 PM) The Sox still think Johnson could bounce back. They also like Beck and seem to think Montas could be a starter at the major league level in 2015. If Montas was ready, and Johnson can get back to where he was, the depth is there, but they are a couple of huge ifs. Not counting Abreu as a prospect last year, Johnson and Davidson were the most heralded and supposedly most ready, and they were awful. Hopefully, 2015 is a different story, not just with them. i will discuss the bolded. my beef about a startng sp of front end quality is well worn out. the sox needs a pitcher, a pitcher who is better than Danks. someone who can be counted on in important games to be relied on if Sale gets hurt, or to spot start for Jeff S and Q. Rodon had not pitched 100 innings at a Major league level, how many innings are going to be trusted to him?? i will preach 1 thing i have always preach. do not depend on "what if" and "prospects" to produce as potential, not when the system is this thin and the ability to go far in the playoff.