LDF

QUOTE (AustinIllini @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 10:02 PM) If it weren't by division, you would be right. The issue is, if you're comparing the Central, you're comparing Anisimov and Panarin to the last deserving forward, which is probably Toews. Neither Anisimov nor Panarin deserve to be in over Toews. and you may have made a excellent point, but i am looking at the performance of this yr.... but also, we are talking of only 2 players making it, craw does deserve that spot as well. nice post.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Jan 7, 2016 -> 12:49 AM) I predicted that overpay because we're not a great team and he wants paid. they will need to do something like that, pretty much as the hawks did with hossa signing. so as i have mention in the past, instead of going 6 yrs why not go something like a shorter yr.... with more money, esp in the front side of the contract and have an option yr or 2.... now in my fanciful idea, gordon may not fit that mode, but maybe upton and even cespedes. 2 yrs, will help the most at this point and help build up some credibility as a team on the brink of doing something or assembling a team of players who can help make the playoff.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 09:45 PM) If he isn't they should trade him before ST. with all due respect, why??? just get another depth sp and go into ST with a handful of sp's and let them all compete for their role on the team. instead of giving a position and hope they will perform.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 09:27 PM) Not signing Beachy or Jackson is not blowing it. and you may have a point, i think i mention other viable options. not just them.

QUOTE (Saufley @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 09:05 PM) Who's idea was it to bat him second? RV? in my opinion, it wasn't the idea of batting him 2nd was a bad idea, it was the fact that the sox did not have a viable #2 hitter and imo they, the sox and rv was hoping to get a strong #2 hitter and hopefully everything else would fall into place.

QUOTE (blackmooncreeping @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 06:18 PM) Edwin Jackson and Brandon Beachy are 2 starting RHP's that have been signed for next to nothing in the past week, $1.5 million-ish a year I believe. Either could've potentially been a good get to the back end of our rotation which has big question marks in the 4th and 5th slots as we stand. Is the front office too focused on one of the FA outfielders that they are missing cheap opportunities to improve at the very least our pitching depth? Food for thought... yes..... the sox are blowing it with all the good work they did to redo this team. there are plenty of good temp sp .... sp who are RHP that the sox could have picked up for depth sp's......

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 09:06 PM) The only thing I saw was the White Sox offer was 3 years. Maybe a team offered him more, but not significantly more. If a team offered him $30 million more he would have a lot of union pressure because he basically would be suppressing the future earnings of a lot more players than himself. it is the same thing that has been somewhat announce on the most baseball links and rumor page. and i am of the opinion that if this is all the sox will get to further improve this team, it reminds me of all those wasted yrs the sox had a major chance to do something and failed. b/c of the owners telling the fans base the same old story...... their budget is max at 120-130 mil. even after the tv deal, that bottom line still has not change. 4 yrs either for gordon or 5 yr for cespedes is not a bad deal.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jan 6, 2016 -> 05:45 PM) NHL released its all star roster. Toews is in with Kane. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=796221&...id=nhl:topheads Some well deserving names are in and some... maybe based on name recognition are in. Sad to see Crawford snubbed. He deserves to be there much more than Toews. Crosby not making it is probably the biggest shock right now though considering he's one of, if not the face of the league even in a bad year. i agree with you, i think craw and no one has mention keith. but i really think him and kane and craw are the more deserving ones to be there. there is a reason the hawks righted itself and there is not strange coincidence it happen when keith came back. a strong argument can be made for anisimov and panarin.... but oh well, can't get too greedy.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 3, 2016 -> 11:06 PM) Walter Goggins is as close as it gets...but even that's not so cut and dried. i can see goggins as now being a permanent part of the QT family of cast members in any forth coming QT movies.

QUOTE (AustinIllini @ Dec 30, 2015 -> 03:08 PM) The "just make the playoffs" sentiment is a good one, IMHO. That being said, if the Blackhawks don't have four legitimate defensemen on the first two lines, you'll get your early bounce. i just don't know about that. i will always say, when the playoff comes and your team is in it. strange things happen. players will step up in their game, the superstars players maybe will take it to another level, the goal tender can become unbeatable..... or none of this. it is a strange nhl world, the world of playoff time.

for me, Reservoir Dogs then Pulp Fiction for QT best movies that he made. now the others are very entertaining. but not to the scope of those 2.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 29, 2015 -> 02:59 PM) I hope the Royals get Bruce. He sucks. i agree big time on bruce.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Dec 29, 2015 -> 03:02 PM) If anything was going to bother me about that situation, it wasn't the affair -- that's his business. It would be that he lied about it under oath. But I also expect politicians to lie when convenient. you make a really valid point. i have a problem that i have never been able to sort out. the main, big politicians. ....lying. if the main politician lies to protect life, then it is ok, but if he lies to cover up something it is not ok. now the main thing here and as you mention, it was under oath. but where does one draws the line???? a lie is a lie

as i have posted several times, i still think the sox need a sp.... if it wasn't to be Mark B. then i was really hoping for a couple of the ones i was looking at. the main one being - Henderson Alvarez. well that is not going to happen.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 29, 2015 -> 03:28 PM) Agent would never go for that. Too much risk of injury to risk losing a huge guaranteed amount. you make an excellent counter. but let me clarify something. i am talking about a 5-6 yr contract with a series of yrly options... since i do not know the in's and out's of that baseball legal systems in baseball contracts. i am wondering why that would not work. the contract is valid for 5-6 yrs???? i do not know the answers .... i am just asking.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 29, 2015 -> 02:22 PM) It makes sense for Upton because of his age and ability to remain at or near peak three years from now...but not for Gordon and Cespedes is debatable. Part of the problem is the White Sox historically have never been known to break ground in the escalation of player salaries...and a deal similar to Heyward's would do just that. And I can hardly think of a time where they front-loaded a deal, let alone massively fron loading. If anything, they want to limit the payroll impact...you could imagine $15 million this year, $25-30 million in 2017, but that's still going to restrict financial flexibility to put together those 2-3 smaller ($5-10 million) signings to make the roster as competitive as possible going into the most important year of the current contention window. ref the bold, you make a great point, i am just not looking at that, that far down the road. i am looking at next yr group of FA's. give a nice front end contract to make their wild to sign and then next yr they opt out. the hitters in that yr fa's is..... well not as strong. plus the will mean money coming off the books with danks, laroche and just maybe one of the of'ers that was sign???? even make a promise you will not give them an QO ...... to sweeten the deal. i know it is just a wild arse pipedream of trying to think out side the box.....

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 29, 2015 -> 12:55 PM) This underlines the fact that baseball really does need a cap to have all teams remain competitive not just the most money wins. However there needs to be a floor as well to keep owners honest and not just grab for more profit at the expense of the team. big time. the owners screwed it up in the last cba...... but here is a rhetorical question, would the players and the union allow that to be on the table to negotiates in the next rounds of the cba????

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 29, 2015 -> 01:58 PM) Really, it's just a Loria cap, and he did spend the money on Stanton at least. Probably not Fernandez, too. Risky. Actually, Oakland, the Rays, Astros and DBacks were lower. And it's hard to really fault those two teams because of their stadium issues... Amazingly, the Pirates were 25th in their third consecutive year in the playoffs with that $85 million or so. yeah, but really look at the team talent.... can you imagine that team if they would have gotten a price and and latos ....... it is the same with cle..... this is my opinion. sox has to look at 2 teams this off season while trying to field a team. the northsiders and cle.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 29, 2015 -> 12:28 PM) The problem is very simple...the White Sox don't want to go $30 million into red ink when they would prefer to spend $17.5 million. Neither Cespedes or Upton is worth that amount alone. Neither is quite a superstar. You're going to be devoting 20-22.5% of the payroll to a single player, and neither's as good as Chris Sale or maybe even Quintana. At least not to an organization with a middle class payroll and mid-market mentality. It was true in 2005, it's just as true today. Even having two of the best pitchers in the game like Kershaw and Greinke that would warrant such a deal...they weren't even able to get the Dodgers to the World Series. you make a great point, but why not a series of 1 opt contract with the last one at 33. for both the player and the team. now this scenario would work with cesp b/c there the team will not loose a draft pick. who knows, maybe even upton, he is young enuf. but the lost of the pick would hurt. now the mid market statement. i hate to bring up another sport, but look at the hawks and the signing of hossa. like the hawks, maybe, just maybe the sox will need to over pay, maybe in the front end. this is just a guess or an opinion.

ref harper..... i stand corrected and many thanks for that update on the info.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Dec 28, 2015 -> 08:09 PM) Seth Beer graduated early to start school at college, he isnt even eligible for the draft, so that 2nd website shouldnt really be bothered with. i am not saying yes or no to what you are stating. i am asking if this is like the bryce harper situation, where he graduated early so he can get drafted??? my my memory is faulty, wasn't there something about that, with him?? i am not too sure of the whole events and how it was finally solved. but in ref to that second site being a site to be taken serious. maybe..... but all it does it add to the reading of more prospects and seeing how it develops. just good reading material, for those who likes to follow the draft. no offense.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Dec 27, 2015 -> 10:39 PM) Stevie Wright, 68...lead singer of The Easybeats. Stevie Wright even thou this is about wright, they also had another musician in that group name young. they both wrote music. the name young is known as the older brother of the super group ac/dc, he produce the music. R.I.P.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 28, 2015 -> 03:48 PM) The problem with extending Frazier and Lawrie to a lesser extent are the recurring arguments about a longer-term Gordon contract at age 32. Lawrie...hopefully he plays so well that it becomes an issue to legitimately worry about. At least we're not preemptively extending like with Teahen when it wasn't warranted. you make a point, but i am way to preoccupy with fielding the team first. but you do make a point as i said. this is on me and me being limited frame on mind right now.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Dec 28, 2015 -> 03:38 PM) It's the unknowns that concern me and here's a short list. 1- Frazier's '15 second half collapse concerns me and moving to the AL and needing some time to adjust to new pitchers. His 19 errors last season are also a concern. These are the reasons I wasn't a big fan of the trade and in fact was against the idea before he was traded for. That said, I have accepted the fact he's the Sox 3B and will obviously be pulling for him. 2- the big three are all left Fielders. That means we see one of Melky or Avi in RF which is scary. I'm fine with Melky's bat but not feeling very confident in Avi's bat. 3- LaRoche. I think that speaks for itself. 4- Danks- not the worst #4 starter but would be better suited as a #5 in the rotation but even still we just don't know what to expect with him. One game he can come out and throw 7 shutout innings and the next get lit up for 7 runs in 3. Big question mark imo. 5- Erik Johnson- not sure what to expect from him. Last time he was given a shot he failed miserably and hopefully the mechanical changes he made last year translate to success in '16. He's pretty much an unknown gamble until we see what he can do. His BB is also a concern a well. 6- lack of starting pitching depth. If the Sox lose just one starter, they are in trouble and especially if it's one of Sale, Rodon or Q. Turner and Beck are the Sox depth and both had injuries in '15 so they will be trying to not only stay healthy but build their innings up in '16. 7- the '16 payroll limit. It's been assumed JR would raise it and yet nothing has been said by he FO so to get hopes up of signing a player that will add 20-25M to a payroll thats already at is limit is a foolish assumption. I'm not saying it won't happen, just that I'm not willing to assume it will. These are merely concerns I have and I absolutely hope I'm wrong with these concerns. I'm just trying to be realistic about the current roster. If you don't mind I would like to point out some potential positives I see. 1- Frazier- if he plays well in '15 and forms a good bond with his teammates and FO. I think he could be a good extension candidate that could be the Sox 3B for the foreseeable future and should his skills slip at 3B he should makes fine 1B. 2- Lawrie- I love that trade and am extatic to have him and his inense energy. I see him as a potential extension candidate much like Frazier and would love to see it happen at some point. 3- Saladino- love his defense and I think he will hit surprisingly better than we might expect. I don't expect him to hit for a high average but I think he will get a pretty good amount of extra base hits due to his short quick swing and his speed. I'm excited to see what he can do a the SS position. 4- Abreu- need I say more? 5- Sale, Q, Rodon s the front three. Again, need I say more? 6- Sox back end of the bullpen. I expect many doors to be shut by Robertson and Jones. IMHO, the Sox will undoubtedly be better in '16 but even with he addiionn of Upton or Cespedes or Gordon, I still don't think that's enough. you made a great post. my only input is soooo minor i will not write it up. good job.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxLifer @ Dec 28, 2015 -> 03:36 PM) Too many bench pieces. Bench would be 4 players cause the Sox generally carry 12 man pitching staff. That leaves 13 for position players and with 9 including dh that only leaves 4 players for bench come spring, i think we as fans will be able to see what is going to happen.