LDF

QUOTE (Dunt @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 07:16 PM) For reference: Sox 3B fWAR last season: -1.3 Todd Frazier fWAR last season: 4.4 Sox 2B fWAR last season: -1.2 Brett Lawrie fWAR last season: 0.6 Those 2 changes alone add roughly 7.5 wins to last years team, so a pretty significant difference IMO. nice info..... but bringing up stats that is based on last yr team is not the right way of looking or comparing. those stats, is to improve a team, when a team is starting off the season, it is something to look for as an improvement factor. when all things being equal, will those additions help???? yes, with all new outlook.... i can say i can be somewhat excited, but damn, i want the sox to finish what they started. to hell with 2017 when some salary relief can help, it is the now, that the fans want. we have had all the "next yr" bs.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 06:56 PM) Depends on which Sox fans you talk to. "At least we are better than last year" certainly doesn't cut it for me, and seemingly for the majority of the fans who frequent this board. Unfortunately the track record for the organization is so poor that the fan base has been conditioned not to expect much. When your team has only made it to the postseason 5 times over a 55 year period, how in the world could you expect the fans to have the mindset that "anything less than earning a playoff spot is a failure"? I want the team's performance to improve to the point that we are all operating under that kind of mindset. But we'll only get there once this team starts setting a precedent with some sustainable winning. That's what this organization so sorely needs to get this fan base invigorated and interested in the product. nice post, but i am leaning on the side of saying, in the past yrs, the sox team had great players but it was the FO that failed the fans of the sox and by default the baseball fans of chi,

if any posters who are older than i.... lets say 65 yrs young, can anyone relate to the impossibility of sustaining that hope of a continuous hope of next yr, the the first of many seasons of my team competing in the playoff..... shiiite, i would even hope for those days of hoping of being a team, a team of substance....

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 06:21 PM) Do you honestly believe that any of the guys you listed can fill in if one of the better starters (Sale, Q, or Rodon) gets hurt? Fulmer is the only one out of that list that has any potential and he likely won't be called up until September or 2017. if and i do mean if, the sox does address the Of problem, why would any one roll the dice on 1 player, a sp, who may put up nice stats was not what he was before surgery and another sp with a whole lot of questions associated with him.... that mean 2 positions of the starting 5 that are ..... well i will let you answer, b/c i am afraid of writing what i really want too.

QUOTE (captain54 @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 06:16 PM) Was talking to some Angels fans…. the FO starts the season, and the fans come to expect nothing less than at least a playoff spot every year, a chance to compete for a World Series in October.... the mindset is that anything less than that and the season is a failure.. Here in Chicago, Sox fans are pleased that. "at least we are better than last year" Pretty sad that our standards are so low.. with the owners and management that the sox have or had, can't anyone see why we as fans have low expectations.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 04:40 AM) They are giving us hope by not coming out and saying the roster is set you know, i will acknowledge that... i am really pissing tonite so i will leave at this time. btw good post.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 03:27 AM) I see nothing wrong with what he said well to me, i see it as spin doctoring it, sox as the underdogs, offense if they score .... blah blah. of course anyone can say if their team can score, it might mean a different story. but this is the AL Central. the toughest division in the american league, the top 3 of the league can be anyone of of det, cle, kc. and i am looking at the sox, if nothing else being done, #4 in that division. cle imo will be the surprise team of the AL.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 05:56 PM) And because it's funny, Adams routinely out dueled Kolek. How many times did they face off? that is my guy Adams..... and mayo as his as a #3 sp. shiiiite i should not post this. i can not compare my skills to the experts. but i will say i still have high hopes for at least a solid #2. sp.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 04:20 AM) http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox/robin-...al-be-dangerous Cue one-liners in response... what kind of BS is he shoveling?????

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 03:34 AM) Agreed. Going into the off season the Sox had positional holes at RF, DH, 2B, 3B, SS and C. That's two thirds of the lineup. Half of those holes have been filled so some progress has been made. I'd like to see if the Sox make any more additions before I light my torch and prepare to storm Castle US Cellular to slay Count Reinsdorf. ahhh that infamous castle is still holding strong..... damn!!!

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 04:18 AM) ...and it's abysmal record of achievement. Therein lies the problem. and many, many ways to count it. nice post. oh but you misunderstand, the sox can not afford the higher payroll. i know i should post this is green.... but is it really sarcasm?

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 03:16 AM) Sox not being competitive last year hurt in so many ways. There weren't supposed to be so many holes for 2016, but Hahn wasted a ton of money last offseason on players you wish weren't in the organization. man, i got to give you and many posters tonite credit. i was sooo frustrated that i didn't read my post over, man that was crap english. sorry. but ref last yr, i had so much high hopes and it came crashing down. the jury, imo are still out on robertson and mekly but laroche? it is just bs that they are going to pretend that lat season was an anomaly, that the sox have confidence of his rebounding. what kind of bs are they stirring and do they really think the sox fans are that naive, (i really wanted to use even a harsher word here).

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 02:55 AM) Cespedes is receiving a ten million dollar signing bonus over the next 30 days. I doubt the Sox had that in their budget. A lot of these playoff teams are using their revenue from the playoff games and utilizing it on signing bonuses. Thus it doesn't count towards their 2016 budget. you make a very valid point there. however, that is the cost the sox would have to pay.... to cost of doing business. or in this case the cost of screwing up the org soooo bad that the sox needs to over pay players in order to get them to play here. the the sox FO to look in the mirror to see who screwed this org up,

did anyone seen the 5th wave yet???? your take on the movie.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 02:41 AM) Not good when you have this situation and a DH you tried to pay 8 million dollars to another team to take. move avi to dh and platoon with adam and get a of'er and someone player else.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 02:23 AM) Do you realize how asinine it would be to give Cespedes $30M for one year then an opt-out? 1. there were rpt at the end, the last week or less that the sox were not even bidding. so who knows if they were or weren't. 2. if the sox would have made a entice offer for 3 or 4 yrs, with mutual options or player option with money on the front side, who would have said that Cespy would have opti on the first yr. 3. the bat and presence alone would be even a nice help, even if it was a 1 yr and opt. 4. the total salary was something like what, 25 mil + /- per for 3 yrs with a nice front end on the first yr..... if the sox were to be in the bidding still, no one is going to tell me the sox couldn't have beaten that. he didn't take the nat'l money, is b/c of the structure of the contract. again, no where was the sox in the mention after the smoke cleared. lastly, as to the money, but sorry, that is the market now. there is nothing anyone can do about that.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 10:47 PM) If Avi is the starting RF again next season and he struggles, the front office should be cleaned the f*** out. That is not the horse I'd want to hitch my wagon to if I was Hahn. i thought i replied to this, but i couldn't find my post, so, if any posters tries to lay the blame on Hahn they are wrong, the main blame should fall on the shoulders of the owners. it is they who gives the budget to Hahn on how much to spend, it is they who approves of any fa signing, it is they who needs to pass of on any trades. this is all on the owner.... but hey, they did something great this off season, with a team salary of around 115 mil + / - , they should make a real nice profit.... counting their money while Avi patrols the outfields .

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 12:52 AM) Not sure if this is thread worthy but RV was just on SportsTalk Live on CSN. Kaplan asked him about Cespedes/Gordon pursuit and if it was a real thing. He said that interest was definitely real but it's ultimately up to those guys and they both wanted to return their teams. Who knows if that's really the case or not but it's a good discussion point. He said they were realistic options though. He also said that everyone called about Tim Anderson all offseason. bs..... money talks, even the sox, if they wanted to, could have beaten the mets offer. this is all lip service, damage control. why now, 1 day before soxfest.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 04:47 AM) I don't think mlb.com is for sale, guys. no comments needed..... funny....

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 04:25 AM) No. And I need to make up my mind whether to buy mlb.com this year. I don't think our offseason acquisitions make us a contender. I have zero confidence in Robin's ability to get the team to overachieve. Sox desperately need one more stud hitter to go with Abreu. Abreu almost single handedly gives me a reason to get the mlb package though to go with Sale and Q. if the sox do nothing else, i will not by mlb.com or direct tv or anything that could show sox baseball. if they get an of'er i will buy something. if they get an of'er and a sp.... i will fly into chi for several games on 2 separate times to catch the sox games.

QUOTE (CyAcosta41 @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 03:49 AM) Count me shocked as well. 10 reasons: 10 -- Great pitcher's park, especially for flyball pitchers; 9 -- great defense; 8 -- GREAT battery mate. REASONS 1-7 ... Pitching all year in the National League. Yeah, All year. In the National League. I'd put the over/under for his Giants ERA at 3.20. Heck, John Danks is probably sub 3.50 in that park in the NL (and I wouldn't be surprised if Danks is a deadline acquisition this year for some NL team if the Sox are out of it). speaking of pitching, do you guess that the sox will find that final piece in the OF and call it a day, or do you imagine the sox may want to pick up a sp of of sorts??

i have been reading and there is a lot of compelling arguments, from both sides, that made this reading enjoyable. however the object of this discussion is not for an org to have the most talented, a system of unequal talents.... the main reason, as far as i can understand is to provide a steady pipeline of talent, whether it is thru trades or not, to make the parent team, all that much stronger... to help the team get to the playoff. it would be nice to have a good system that can do that, and an equally great team at the major level to utilize them, but the sox don't... the last time the sox really provided great talent from the minors to the majors were in the 90's. i am not including the several yrs.

imho .... the only blue chipper the sox have is anderson. now whether BA or any other org think highly as we the fans of the sox, that can be debated. the next group is one other player and maybe by himself, and for me, that would be adams. the the wildcard in this is fulmer, will he be a sp or a pen??? this reason was why i was apprehensive on him and still am. i want him to be a sp soooo bad. now danish, guerrero, beck, lowry and levers are in the next group of pitchers ..... however what i have learned, and this is still a hard lesson to grasp, my, our opinion on the sox prospects are way different in how another org may value them. so can a pkg of positional prospects added to a pitching prospect will be enuf???? don't know, but that uncertainty is what make being an armchair GM so much fun. the "what if" possibilities ......

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 26, 2016 -> 12:31 AM) I think BigFinn's post does a great job of summarizing some players that are available. The Astros can be added to the list since they have so many outfielders like Gomez, Tucker, Marisnick, Springer, Rasmus and Applin. Would love to get one of Tucker, Marisnick or Applin from Houston. One thing I keep reminding myself is that Avi has set the bar so low that any upgrade could be a difference maker when compared to Avi. That's why I'm open to the idea of players I normally wouldn't want much to do with, like Markakis and Gardner. that was or is harsh, but sadly it is the truth. i really have a feeling, if the sox really not improve the OF, i can see many rants, but i bet they will wait til after soxfest....

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jan 26, 2016 -> 12:40 AM) And those guys will cost legitimate young players. That's why the Sox needed to sign someone so as not to further deciminate an already thin pool of young talent. well for starters i agree, but there are some or will be such a jam of 2nd level pitchers coming up, starting with danish, beck, guerrero, lowry, lever.... and then hawkins, may in the OF.... so yes, the sox can use any of those that i mention. they have fulmer and adam in the wings for the next yr and 3 yrs down the road. the window of opportunity is now, and with the sorry state of the team, the sox have no choice to deal from strength to fix this team with smart moves. teams want cost control pitchers and players, that is what the sox have.