GreenSox

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 4, 2016 -> 10:06 PM) The other danger we've seen with White Sox farm systems the last decade is the fact that we end up with players 4-10 who often wouldn't even be ranked in other organizations. That's clearly changed over the last few years has drafting and development has improved significantly. Excited to see what Engel does this year.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Feb 5, 2016 -> 03:02 PM) I see what you're saying Dick and its a very good point. I think RV catches much more grief than he deserves. I mean, just look at what Robin has been given to fill out the lineup card. Avi, Flowers, Soto, Gillaspie, Olt, Beckham and so on. That's just from last year doesn't include the likes of Keppinger, Rios etc. Not trying to bash the FO but they haven't exactly given RV the best options to work with. I think RV deserves some slack and is a better manager than some think. Overpitches starters, pulls Abreu for pinch runners in late innings in a tie game; intentionally walks the likes of Chris Getz. (he has improved on the latter 2 managerial blunders). doesn't pinch hit enough, when he had a pinch hitter (Soto) on the bench. (and, no, you don't not use a pinch hitter when down late in games, for the minute chance that the other catcher gets hurt). Rarely made defensive replacements. Part of it may be Cooper, who was probably at least 1/2 manager. Cooper is Williams' main man. Too much insularity. Hopefully Renteria shakes things up. And, yes, the front office has been less than stellar itself. One area that has been improving is drafting and development; they just prefer proven and declining veterans to their own young players.

Make sense. They need rotation depth. This is the 2nd year of Williams' artificial/phony 3 year (now 2 year) "go for it" window, where the young players are dispatched for proven and declining veterans....and the team still has numerous holes. And it still remains to be seen if the Sox are a team, despite a few of the holes plugged.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 5, 2016 -> 07:47 PM) The weird part is the Rockies seemingly lowered Dickerson's value by forcing a move with him or Blackmon. Why they would want to get more expensive with at best an incremental upgrade seems bizarre for a rebuilding team. And it's not like Parra has been playing great defense recently...if that was the primary consideration over Dickerson it would make SOME sense at least. Because now they have a closer and a young pitcher. They made a crafty decision using their depth. They thought a couple of moves ahead. Would be nice if the Sox would do that instead of going paycheck to paycheck with zero depth. The Sox reportedly want a lefty; why didn't they look at Parra themselves?

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Feb 3, 2016 -> 11:40 AM) Sands is really good vs LHP though. If Shuck is on that roster, who takes the place of LaRoche vs LHP? That's the problem. That's why I don't get why they are so hell-bent on a lefty. Austin Jackson's the man to sign.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 2, 2016 -> 09:28 PM) Leury Garcia? What would they do with him? Either Garcia, for that matter. The same thing the Sox would do with him; the same thing the other 28 would do. The same thing the old "bag of balls" would do. Point is, you acquire Ethier as a salary dump, or you don't acquire. You can't give real talent for him.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Feb 2, 2016 -> 08:47 PM) LaRoche and Danish for Ethier with the Sox taking on his entire salary. Do you guys think that would get a deal done? No reason to give up that much for Ethier. I believe L. Gracia was suggested before...

Regardless of what salary Dodger eat, the prospect return should be minimal.

Marin pitches well statistically, but the Sox release him, re-sign him only to send him to Mexico, bring him back. He does well as a starter, so they move him to the pen and then back again. It's weird. Which tells me that the Sox think he's a AAAA player.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jan 31, 2016 -> 04:26 PM) If they are .500 I think they will add and try to go to the playoffs. And then try again next year. They won't even consider selling off anything until middle of 2017 in my opinion. Why would they? This team should be in contention and can always add in season. Why should they be? Teams that win in this era have young talent, play elite defense and have strong bullpens...only one of which is a Sox priority; and they actually weakened that priority this offseason (bullpen) by trading Montas.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 31, 2016 -> 10:44 AM) I really would'nt be surprised to see the Sox sign one of Victorino, McLouth, Venable as platoon partners for Avi in RF. Not a prediction, just spit-balling. And those names are another reason why the Sox need to sign Austin Jackson. And what a boost he would give to this defense and doesn't cost a draft pick Signing Desmond would be inane. That's veteran for the sake of veteran. And this veteran would hurt the defense. Sox have a guy who can handle the position defensively, and a top prospect coming up.

If they are .500 they should "go for it" of course. A 10 game winning streak is just around the corner. Honestly, it depends on how they are .500 and what the division looks like at that point.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Jan 30, 2016 -> 11:17 PM) I feel like people are SEVERELY overrating the value of the compensation pick in this situation. Yeah, the Sox need to build their system, but they also need to win NOW while the core is cheap and young. For every Trout that gets picked 25th or so overall, there's also 25 Aaron Poreda's who flame out and never amount to anything significant. The bottom line in my opinion is that the Sox need to win now, and unless the guy that they plan on picking with the compensation pick is a lock (or as close to a lock that a draft pick can be) to contributing soon, I don't mind giving up the pick for the sure thing in Fowler who can help the team out significantly in the present. It's more than one pick. The additional pool allotment can allow you to get 2/3rd round talent in rounds 8-10 if you play it smart. I'm sure Hahn would like the opportunity to do that. Developing this farm is absolutely vital for the next wave. Look at the Astros; look at the Cubs. Their farms are so stocked they no longer have to worry about trading a few prospects for a player, because they have ample replacements below them. Fowler is simply not a difference maker.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jan 30, 2016 -> 10:15 PM) Don't sign Fowler until Jackson isn't available and you've exhausted trade opportunities. It would really sting to lose the 25th overall pick for him. Agree 100% Sox have a big opportunity with this draft and the allotments that they will get. Can't trade that away for an average player when you're trying to build for the long term.

Neither Turner nor Beck have anywhere near the credentials of E Johnson. They need to develop depth, but it also appears they don't trust Johnson (and he's not a Cooper guy). Maybe he's the one they should trade for a young OF.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 08:06 PM) When the Sox say Sanchez is competing to play at SS it is a formality. Well if he can't even legitimately compete for SS, that suggests he can't really play it which means he can't be utility infielder. So what is his situation in this org?

Desmond Jennings has been awful offensively the last 2 seasons. How's he any better than Shuck? He also relies on walking for what little OPS he has...walking doesn't usually translate well to the Sox. He's certainly no better than Austin Jackson.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 02:41 PM) FutureSox.com ‏@FutureSox 5m5 minutes ago "We want to see what Jacob Turner can do now that he's fully healthy." Re: 5th starter Scott Merkin ‏@scottmerkin 6m6 minutes ago Turner in mix for 5th starter. No innings cap on Rodon What about Turner makes the Sox think he's a ML pitcher? High ERA, High WHIP, low K rate. Coop has another "fix 'em" project in Kahnle for this bullpen, a player we traded a promising young A Ball pitcher for. Cooper has been presented with several of these hard throwers that lack control over the past few years, with less than exemplary results. It would be nice for this one to work out, as it wasn't a complete scrap heap pickup.

Who exactly is the Sox 2 hole hitter currently? It seems like a mighty big hole to me. Now Fowler is not great at it and is not worth the draft choice in my view. But I suspect they will do something I like even less, like clearing out the prospects not named Fulmer or Anderson for yet another proven NL veteran. As for the front office, it really should've been cleared out after last year's debacle. Just Williams getting a presidency somewhere elwould have give Hahn more freedom to make certain other adjustments. But whoever's in the front office, they are dealt a tough hand. They don't want to take the time to build the organization, but don't have the budget to get the necessary free agents. And when they trade for/ sign proven veterans, their hit rate is ridiculously low. They've got to cut down on the misses in the proven veteran category

I like that list. It's more dynamic than most of the others, and recognizes improvement and potential in the A ball players. It also recognizes a player like Alvarez, who had a sensational year, although he was old for the group. iI like the top five and they should not be touched.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 10:17 AM) 2) He is left-handed, which will help balance the lineup, and he tortures right-handed pitching (.304/.383/.507 career). Unfortunately he has never been good against lefties, and we might even benefit from sitting him against them in favor of Avi or Jerry Sands. The Sox performed second-worst in the majors against left-handed pitching last year and you might say that adding Ethier would exacerbate things, but the addition of Todd Frazier (.833 OPS career against lefties) and a likely correction in Jose Abreu's splits (.658 OPS vs LHP in 2015, 1.098 in 2014) will offset any additional problems caused by Ethier. Well the Sox wouldn't sit Dunn against lefties, wouldn't sit Laroche until the very end. So I wouldn't count on that. QUOTE (shysocks @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 10:17 AM) 3) He is primarily a corner outfielder so he doesn't require us to move Eaton around, something I'm not a big fan of. He got bad defensive marks at the beginning of his career, but in the last five years both DRS and UZR have him as essentially average. I would like a good fielder, I really would, but Ethier is a guy I can live with. Eaton's not a particularly adept CF, so I don't see a problem with moving him around. This is the kind of player the Sox should trade for Danks; or better, included in a throw in in return for all of the prospects for Frazier. Bottom line, you can't give up any young player above a C prospect for Ethier. As a contender, this team is and would be thin as a reed.

QUOTE (kevo880 @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 02:54 PM) Not much given up for Dickerson. Wish that would have been the Sox getting him. Nice value trade for Rays. The kind of trade the Sox should have been making the last 3 years.

QUOTE (shipps @ Jan 27, 2016 -> 02:54 PM) I think there is zero chance the Sox sign Desmond, which is fine by me btw. Hope you're right.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jan 26, 2016 -> 10:24 AM) Thoughts on Corey Dickerson? Rosenthal tweeted out this morning that some in the game think he's the most likely of the Colorado OFers to go. Rays are involved. Could come cheaper than the others as well. What would it take to get him? His injury is problematic. But in general, this is the kind of player that the Sox should target with their package of 3/4 ML ready prospects rather than 1 or 2 years of these veterans Williams is so attached to. I don't know where they come up with this artificial 3 year (now 2) year window in the first place. It certainly doesn't match Sale or Q's contract. Offer E Johnson for him

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Jan 25, 2016 -> 04:52 PM) Yeah for a poster who likes to harp on Frazier's 2nd half stats, Desmond had a higher WAR after the All-Star Break than the likes of Anthony Rizzo, JD Martinez, and Justin Upton, and was equal to Nolan Arenado. When you have to use 1/2 season stats to justify major investments, it kind of makes my point. Not to mention Desmond's defense is less than exemplary. I wouldn't have gotten either one of them. And a bad 2nd half wasn't the only reason I didn't want Frazier (bad splits; Sox terrible historical track record with NL sluggers; we had 3B hole filled adequately; Frazier cost 3 good ML ready prospects). Not getting one of the big 3 OF is a big miss. If we take Hahn at his word that he wants to build this org. so it consistently wins, you have to use the FA market, esp. one who wouldn't cost a draft pick. And when KW puts forth this artificial 3 year window, which is now year 2, when OF was as big a problem as 3B (bigger defensively last year), and yet they let these players pass, it speaks loudly of lack of coherent front office strategy.