GreenSox

I will repeat my periodic observation that Melky "professional hitter" Cabrera also had a negative war, and he is paid a substantial contract. He was also not in his first full season of play. They both need to get better. It may be that they keep 2 reserve outfielders; this may be necessary to platoon with Laroche at DH and to get better OF defense in late innings. That will put a lot of pressure on the reserve infielder; and Sanchez play 3rd, or do we have to go the L Garcia route and completely give up any thought of offense from that position. The biggest offensive question on a macro level is who hits second? At some point they can use some of the second-tier prospects to get an outfielder if needed. And that leaves them with those three early pics to invigorate the farm with three pieces of top talent. In the meantime, 2+ war out of melky and 1+ WAR out of Avi and this team contends.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Feb 17, 2016 -> 06:52 PM) My friends that are D-Backs fans talked about how they didn't hurt their future. My response was that they did and even if they didn't think that, the package they gave up for Miller could have netted a lot better pitchers. Arizona's farm is always turned out a lot of talent so it may be true that they didn't hurt their future. But it's also true that they could've improved by a lot more than Shelby Miller, while not hurting it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 16, 2016 -> 01:02 PM) The 40 man roster is finally full, which means if they want to bring in another major leaguer, they would have to cut an additional player if they made a claim like this. Plenty of AAAA candidates on the 40 man right now.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 16, 2016 -> 10:52 AM) Leyer at 8th is ridiculous in my view. He's got a very nice fastball, runs mid to upper 90's with some movement and he can locate it. But this supposedly good change-up, according to every report I've seen might maybe flash average or a little better, but is inconsistent at best. His slider is mushy, and the change is just not there. Despite all his innings. I think 20's is even a stretch. Fun fact also - he loves the radar gun. One of the affiliate contacts I work with said he was worried Robin would strain his neck because he always whipped around to see his speed so fast after delivering a pitch. That said, Law seems to always throw in some weird flier on this list. Andrew Mitchell was his guy last year, and he's disappeared entirely. Didn't the Sox leave Leyer unprotected in Rule 5? 10 seems a real stretch. I have always liked him a bit, though.

Signing Desmond is hard to understand considering SS is at least covered defensively (and Desmond may be a downgrade defensively) while the corner OF positions are not covered defensively. Some justification might be a)They think he can play quality OF as well as SS; b)They plan on signing Jackson as well, which would cover 2 positions for price of 1 draft choice; or c)They still think Avisail can hit (and I do think it's at least a year too early to proclaim he can't). d)Desmond is more amenable to a short term deal to fit this (imo contrived and bogus) 2 year window.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Feb 10, 2016 -> 02:09 PM) I thought this was funny: dbet: Could Justin Turner and Ryu get Chris Sale? 12:55 Dave Cameron: Yes. You could have one be the driver and the other be the kidnapper, and combined, they could put him in a van and bring him to Glendale. I think the White Sox would call the police, though. That's a silly trade. But just a comment on Turner - talk about a late bloomer. He's dogmeat for years, gets traded at age 29 and explodes with the Dodgers. Yes, Law likes Hahn.

He said the Angels have easily the worst farm system he's seen in all of his years of ranking systems.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 10, 2016 -> 09:48 AM) Lineup should include Anderson, May, Coats, some combo of Ishikawa/Davidson/Hayes/Delmonico/Olt (all of which should mash in AAA) on the corners, and Smith/Brantly at catcher. That's a lineup that should hit AAA pitching pretty effectively, even though many are not solid prospect-wise. May had a pretty rough round at Birmingham last year. I guess the AA-AAA move isn't as huge as the movement up the lower levels (considering the number of AAAA players in AAA).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 10, 2016 -> 08:34 AM) Which tells me it comes down to scouting, not numbers. It probably does. They got him for nothing so if he can pitch, he can pitch. Another pitcher in the mix for the pen is Tommy Kahnle, for whom they traded 21 year old Almonte who blistered A ball (modest K totals are the only neg I see on Almonte). Kahnle is another one of those high K pitchers, with command and control issues that they like to try to fix. Hope they can. I assume they made the trade thinking he had a good shot for a pen spot. Bullpen is getting crowed. Putnam is pretty much the only reclamation project that has worked out in the last few years. He can be inconsistent, but he gets Ks.

As it stands (and I know these things change) that Charlotte roster looks rough. I guess Anderson is the only real prospect who figures to be there to start the year. I guess they'll figure a way to shove all of the Olts and Ishikawas into Charlotte. The major league roster doesn't room for a corner infielder bench player.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Feb 9, 2016 -> 04:23 PM) 2nd in total pitching WAR to the Dodgers since 2010. 2015 9th 2014 23 2013 16 2012 12 Then 2011 2 2010 1 2 pitchers in their mid 20s, Danks and Floyd, basically at their peak these 2 years. those 2010-11 teams had good starting staffs. Anyway, regarding EJ, check out Floyd's cup of coffee numbers with the Phillies. They were terrible in 3 tries. As for Jacob Turner, he was horrible by any measure in 2013 and 14 (pitched 9 minor league innings in 2015). his GB % is 47% and it's not like he's striking out a lot of guys. Charlotte doesn't seem the answer for EJ.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 9, 2016 -> 06:45 PM) FWIW, if I were a GM of another team, I wouldn't give you one scrap of talent for Erik Johnson. Not until he proves it in the big leagues. I look at his minor league record and major league/2014 implosion and think he's at best a rebuilding project if my organization were to pick him up, and I can just wait until the White Sox let him go when he runs out of options if I want to try my luck at that. What was 2015 Charlotte, if not rebuilding? 1.12 WHIP, BB under 3/9 and over a K per inning? There are questions about whether he can pitch in the majors, but more minor league time won't help that. He dominates AAA.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 9, 2016 -> 04:05 PM) His walk rates are still pretty high for a guy who is under a K/IP pace. His homer rate was also really scary for pitching your home games at USCF. And bottom line, the Sox have had years to evaluate Erik Johnson, both in the majors, and in the minors. If they don't think he can cut it, I am going to trust them. I give the White Sox the benefit of the doubt when it comes to pitching. I guess. But Sox overall pitching has mid mid-pack for years. A couple of really good pitchers surrounded by some dubious sorts.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 9, 2016 -> 03:55 PM) It wouldn't be the first time that writing was on the wall. For all of the starting pitchers they used last year, he was sure in Charlotte an awful long time. Yep. He sure was. And this is an org. that gave Noesi a full year (over 2 seasons). Noesi, of course, was Cooper's guy. As for peripherals, Johnson's strikeout total on the Sox last year was pretty good. If they want to trade him, then trade him...but it would be nice to do so for a similarly situated young hitter.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Feb 9, 2016 -> 03:50 PM) Look him up. He's the type of guy you would have loved as a starting outfielder on the Sox a year or two ago! LOL I do like to see a bit more than 1 good (not great) AA season.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Feb 9, 2016 -> 03:28 PM) I see plenty of names on that 40 man you can get rid of Yep Aside from the Olts and Brantlys, there's some guy named Daniel Fields...never heard of him.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Feb 9, 2016 -> 03:36 PM) No chance. He'll be starting in Chicago or in Charlotte. I suppose he could get traded, but I doubt it, and there is zero chance he goes to the bullpen. Why not? He can gain good ML experience in the pen. Plenty of starters have served time in the pen (like, oh, Sale, MB).(uh, no pun intended). Another year in Charlotte is utterly pointless.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 9, 2016 -> 03:33 PM) Some strange things relating to Johnson over the last few years: - inexplicable velocity drop - going to an outside source for help - rumor that Sox were looking to trade him And, then of course, a huge bounce back season. But I suspect that the bold is what bothers the insular Sox.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 9, 2016 -> 03:15 PM) Robin is known to have a slow hook. Latos was irked by the quick hook with the Dodgers. It doesn't at least appear Hahn is thinking about trading Johnson. From the email the White Sox sent out: "Mat adds another quality veteran arm to our rotation and also increases our overall pitching depth, which always is essential to having a successful season," said Rick Hahn, White Sox senior vice president/general manager. "While we believe in the futures of several of our young starters, the chance to add a pitcher of Mat's caliber was too good of an opportunity for us to pass up. He has proven over his career that when healthy, he takes the baseball and logs quality innings." Or maybe the kiss of death, shrouded in language so as to minimize trade value diminution. Certainly reads as if Hahn/Cooper have Latos penciled in the rotation.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Feb 9, 2016 -> 02:32 PM) The money screams Hahn and the player screams Williams. If this is an example of some FO synergy I will take it. I think that's the synergy we've seen for 2 offseasons - Williams picking the players, and Hahn executing the trade/signing. Johnson could probably be good in the bullpen for 1 year. Another young arm there will help. Another year at AAA for him is pointless. We'll need him in the rotation in 2017. If he's a jerk, that's okay. Maybe adding a jerk can help to modulate the clowning that's been going on.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Feb 9, 2016 -> 01:53 PM) Steamer had Johnson projected at .5 WAR for the year & Latos at 1.8 WAR. Make no mistake, this move should help the Sox. One could make that analysis about 75% of the young players. The "proven veteran" is more likely to have the mediocre WAR. And Williams has been following that philosophy for years, and the results bear it out: mediocrity (usually, not even that). If anyone's dealt it should be Danks for someone like Ethier (Danks should fit well in Dodger stadium), but knowing the Sox and Cooper, it's far more likely to be EJ. That said, given the Sox limited budget and insistence on veterans, it's a good signing, and I hope they keep all 6 starters for depth.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Feb 8, 2016 -> 09:21 PM) Cabrera pretty much produced as expected. Expected by whom? I hope the Sox brass expected a bit more than a .704 OPS with bad defense for their $42 million + loss of draft choice investment. The offense should be okay They didn't want to spend on more elite hitters, so go on the cheap and fix the defense. Sign Jackson or the like. To contend anyway, they need to fix the outfield defense and get more out of pitchers 3-5.

Donaldson is just a great deal from start to finish for the Jays.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 9, 2016 -> 10:27 AM) Nevertheless, we only have one position player currently projected to be a big league regular at the moment. I'm not sure where you get that. But even if true, it's because we traded a bunch of them. The As and Dodgers thought more of our farm than the Sox brass or the writers did (although Law did have us in the top 15 last year).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 9, 2016 -> 10:14 AM) Ben Badler ‏@BenBadler 2h2 hours ago Here's what's next for Yulieski and Lourdes Gurriel, and why they might not play at all until 2017: http://bba.am/kagpIn That's even better. Top spenders can't go after him now; Sox should be planning on breaking their bonus pool anyway this year.