LDF

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 05:07 PM) They also get much longer the closer you get to the majors without having refined the stuff. This is a big year for Montas moving forward. Not that he's done as a potential starter if he doesn't get to that point this year, but you really, really want to see significant progress. i think wasn't there talk about the end of this yr should tell whether he is a starting pitcher or relief.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 28, 2014 -> 08:59 PM) The remarkable thing about that is...you can say in no small part that the White Sox won that world series thanks to the system that Kenny Williams helped build in the last years of the 90s when he was head of minor league development. Guys including Buehrle, Garland, Crede, Konerko were part of that system and other pieces (Carlos Lee) from it were used as trades to fill in other holes. They would not have had the ammo to build that team had they not relied on a strong minor league organization. excellent and all true. too bad it was only (oops) 1 ring that was won. now that torch, the rebuilding lie squarely on Hahn shoulders. dang, i can't wait for spring trng.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 28, 2014 -> 06:59 PM) Kenny Williams. some blame can go to people beneath him failing at their jobs but he's the guy at the top. He was the one who made poor draft choices based on a philosophy of finding guys who would be tradeable like Broadway and McCullough, he was the guy who made the decisions to trade away the guys we did produce like Gio, he's the guy who chose to spend money on the big league roster while limiting spending on the draft, he's the guy who was willing to give up draft picks to sign Adam Dunn and Scott Linebrink, he's the guy who employed Dave Wilder who screwed over this frachise for several years by fraudulently promoting international prospects and falsifying their ages. They spent more than half a decade with an official policy of neglecting the farm system in favor of the big league team. In the meantime they happened to ignore the fact that they were being defrauded. The end result is exactly what you'd expect. in spite of all that bull crap, we won a world series the first in in how many wonderful yrs. the yrs that has a little of history in itself. dang it hard to be a loyal sox fan, sometimes. psst, the next will be sooner that that.

i like prospects and draft choices just as anyone else. but lets take a look at it in several ways. draft picks are a gamble. prospects and draft choices are not a sure thing, if it was, many teams would have this abundance of players in the farm. then if the org does find one, it will take what, 3-4 yrs maybe to make it and still it is a gamble. however if that player does make it, the sky can be the world. what was stanton, a 2nd round pick, how many teams passed him up??? now on the other side, the investment to really improve the team is a 2nd and a 3rd. those picks can come back and bite the sox in the arse but that is the price that had to be paid. the window of opportunity is now.... btw whose fault was it for the abysmal state of the farm???

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Dec 28, 2014 -> 04:19 PM) Actually White Sox attendance has dropped every year since Ozzie left and Robin took over as well. So I don't think the manager affects attendance. But the GM probably does. So KW is probably most responsible for 9 straight years of declining attendance. Certainly if attendance continues to decline( and I don't think it will), then the White Sox franchise is in serious trouble. Sale and Abreu alone should sell tickets after last season. Has there been any stories yet on 2015 Season Ticket sales ??? the team sucks plain and simple. as bill veeck said, you put the product on the field, and coaches who knows what to do, the fans of the southside will come out and support. this was said when he brought the team.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Dec 28, 2014 -> 05:15 AM) As long as he doesn't sleep with anyone's wife. ouch .... i wonder if he will ever let that one down.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Dec 18, 2014 -> 11:49 AM) Leury Garcia was on the roster last year because the Sox chose to keep a backup 1B/DH on the roster, forcing them to have a bench player who could play 4+ positions to compensate. Look, as much as it might hurt to think of it this way, when the Sox decided to keep Konerko around for 2014, it was a pretty clear sign that they didn't believe they had much chance to contend. there are or has to be other factors on why the sox kept Paulie around another yr. the thing is, we, as fans are not privy to those reasons. we can make educated guesses and we may be near the truth. second thought, the sox, and i would put even money down on this, was totally surprised at how well most of the team performed. there by fast forwarding the rebuilding plan timetable.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 27, 2014 -> 11:28 PM) Exactly. I don't expect them to do the right thing here. we are talking about the Bears, of course they won't do it right???

QUOTE (hi8is @ Dec 27, 2014 -> 08:25 PM) Actually, all hell started breaking loose in 1913. Everything since has been complete brainwashed zombie garbage. So if we're gonna be cranking up the time machine in the name of "better times" -- lets at least get it right.

anyone seen >> Unbroken or the Gambler???

QUOTE (hi8is @ Dec 27, 2014 -> 09:08 PM) Did you have a bowel movement today? Just wanna make sure everything's smooth down there, Doug. i have been wondering where you been lurking about. i would have thought you would have been on this. btw. bowel movement. classic. merry xmas

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Dec 27, 2014 -> 07:17 PM) I had my eyes on Denorfia for a couple of years now. He can play all 3 OF positions and provide great D, especially in RF. He's hit over .300 against lefties even though he had to play half of his games at Petco from 2010-2013. On days against lefties, he can easily play RF and we can slide Garcia to DH, which improves the lineup both offensively and defensively. I wouldn't even mind locking him up to a multi-year deal (for as long as LaRoche is on the team). He might have slipped a bit in 2014, but had a 4.0 WAR season as recent as 2013. He's a good buy low guy. sounds like a nice plan, esp getting all the rest to the main core players. its is going to be a long season for some of those players who never played in the playoff and longer.

QUOTE (BigFinn @ Dec 27, 2014 -> 06:55 PM) First, I hope for all the best for Marco Scutaro. He seems like a good man. He has always been a tough competitor on the field, and that attitude will help in after his surgery. That said, Brian Sabean, the Giants GM, is not going to "Panik" over losing Marco Scutaro. Their big loss this off-season was Pablo Sandoval. They are hoping that Casey McGehee will fill in at 3B, but they may be looking for a LH bat to take some at-bats when McGehee would be overmatched by a tough RH pitcher. Sabean is the last GM to overpay for a player, let alone a player on the cusp of being over-the-hill like Ben Zobrist. Zobrist would be useful for the Giants (or the White Sox, or any of the other MLB teams), but he isn't worth sending Tampa Bay any top prospects. I think Longoria still has some all-star caliber seasons left, and I would be willing to sacrifice a little of the White Sox future to bring him on board. But if somebody told me that Longoria was going to start a slow but steady decline upon entering his age 30 season, I be hard pressed to argue the point. By a little, I mentioned that a package for Longoria could start with Trey Michalczewski, but now, I'm not so sure. Michalczewski just finished his age 19 season at High-A Winston-Salem. If he spends half a season at Winston-Salem and half a season at Birmingham, he might be ready for a September call up at age 20 and a full-time MLB job at age 21. Do you send a ballplayer who could become the next Robin Ventura (Michalczewski) to Tampa Bay to get the back half of Buddy Bell's career (Longoria) complete with the cumulative nicks and dings that come with age? That's why Rick Hahn gets paid the big bucks! Did you know that Bonifacio's most similar player through his age 29 season was Alan Bannister? Alan Bannister of the 40 errors for the South Side Hit Men of 1977! That brings back memories! I know — Bonifacio is a much better fielder, the similarity scores are for offensive stats only. But it was funny to see, nonetheless. nice post, a lot of thought went into it. however .... ~~ i wish posters quit bringing up what will not happen. Longoria ship has sailed. Tpa will not trade him. ~~ i mention Ben Zob b/c Tpa and according to their xmas rpt, will look into moving him i figure why not, what will be the cost. now when i read this morning or SFO 2b getting hurt, i also wonder out loud if SFO will go after him. then the rumor page starting posting that SFO may be kicking the tires on Ben Zob as well. ~~ there is no panicking going on, the supply and demand will dictate what teams will be willing to send in prospects / players and cash.

QUOTE (Jake @ Dec 27, 2014 -> 06:24 PM) I think if you want your organization to not have the atmosphere of a circus, you don't hire Jim Harbaugh i disagree. the bears in that now more than ever, remember mike d, george h. the bears do well in that environment.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Dec 27, 2014 -> 04:58 PM) I guess there's one by-product from all of Hahn's moves that I didn't see coming at all. Hopefully every addition here translates to an extra 5,000 asses in the seats per game. someone mention that the season tickets sales went up..... does anyone have an actual number of increases???

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 27, 2014 -> 03:03 PM) It's not right and wrong, it's a bad team all around. I'm not absolving Cutler of blame, a large share of it is his own. I'm just disagreeing with LDF that it all falls on him. and lets be real here, that defense is tissue paper weak. Even if Cutler could score more points, look at that bulls*** I just posted. That doesn't have to do with Cutler. He actually had an amazing first half against the Packers and it didn't make a damn bit of difference, Rodgers started the game hitting something stupid like all of his first 15 passes. jeeze .... i don't know if i should take this seriously or not..... not. well, in all about these Bears, i really can't frame an honest opinion on the coach. i do not like QB and i have been wondering on the selections the GM has made in the past. i will say one thing, Cutler lead the league this yr in turnovers, there by putting the defense on the field sooner.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 27, 2014 -> 05:10 PM) The 50's called, and they want their stereotypes back. i like it. Sox in '16

QUOTE (flavum @ Dec 27, 2014 -> 04:01 PM) 100 days until Opening Day Pitchers and Catchers probably report about February 21. really .... dang it, i miss the mark again.

QUOTE (flavum @ Dec 27, 2014 -> 03:05 PM) 100 days excellent a countdown to spring training.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 27, 2014 -> 02:40 PM) http://chi.scout.com/forums/1752-halas-hot...trestman-tucker 7 of the top 15 most efficient passing games against the Bears happened against Trestman and Tucker in the past two years. That doesn't fall on Cutler ahhh how bout the GM for assembling the team

here is another question, not related to the whose at fault, should the Bears really make a effort today, just continue with the backup QB. being in the top 10 in next yr draft looks enticing.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 27, 2014 -> 02:10 PM) The Bears have the worst defense in the league. Not sure the QB had much to do with that. the QB does, if he can't keep the offense on the field.

QUOTE (Brian @ Dec 27, 2014 -> 02:49 PM) Sources in Bay Area now saying he's signing with Michigan. Probably already agreed upon. I'll believe it when he's announced on Tuesday. yeah i would think so, i was hoping that he always wanted to also coach the Bears.

this is my opinion on the Bears and maybe their problem. is it really the coaches fault? i think the real fault to should fall right on the shoulder pads of the QB. before the Bears got him, he was practually ran out of Denver. how many times he couldn't put it together when the team needed him. wasn't there some rumblings several yrs ago that he was a bad attitude. now i will say that i never did like him and i stop watching, for the most part, the Bears b/c of him and that he was not going to win. so again, is it really the coaches fault, even the coaches in Denver couldn't get him prepared. now, here is where i am wavering, and this is but a small example. when the Blackhawks hired Denny, i thought good, he earned the chance. but when Quenneville became available the Hawks fired Denny and hire Q. it was a great move and nothing else need to be said. while the Bears coach deserve another chance and with a different QB, getting Harbaugh may be like the Hawks getting Q.

i was reading and i saw that the Giants 2B Scutaro may have a career ending injury. now i can see a team other than the Sox going after Ben Zobrist, they have the trade chips to use. how bout Bonifacio, this really change what we as fans will be a nice addition to the team.