GreatScott82

When Pierzynski signed with the Rangers, my Dad was extremely upset. I told him we need to give Flowers a chance. He responded with "Are you kidding, we are stuck with another Ron Karkovice" Moral of the story here is, my old man knows his baseball and I was wrong. Flowers is indeed crap. He would make a decent backup but he has proven to us that he is not a good every day catcher. His defense is well below average and he can't hit water if he jumped out of a boat. The fact that we have two guys on our starting lineup hitting below .200 is an absolute joke! This team's current standing is a reflection of Hahn pretty much sitting on his hands this past winter.

The Sox need to develop their younger guys and desperately restock the farm... the MLB squad will mediocre probably for the next couple of years until they either make some splashes in the free agent market OR draft well....

If there has been one thing that i've learned so far in the 2013 season- it is that our lack of farm depth has finally caught up to bite us in the rear. With all the injuries to Beckham, Viciedo, Floyd and Keppinger- there really hasn't been anyone to plug into those positions with exception of Gillapsie to help us compete. Wise is terrible, Jordan Danks is not that good, Greene does not belong in the bigs and Axelrod is a legitimate 6th starter/ long reliever at best. It appears as if it will be one of those injury-riddled type seasons. Unfortunately, our farm is just too weak to overcome something like this. So yes... Ranger is right...this team will need to be patient...very very very patient before they are competitive again.

I will give Tyler Flowers one more month to prove me wrong...as of right now- he has proven to be s***. I hope May will be much kinder month for him. Unfortunately for him, he is in the A.D.C. (Adam Dunn Club). To qualify for this club you must hit below .230 and have a minimum of 20 ABs. Current Members: Viciedo- .229 Keppinger- .202 Flowers- .177 Dunn- .143 Wise- .091 Close Calls: Konerko .235 and De Aza .237 Its safe to say that our offense SUCKS!

Other than seeing Gillaspie develop into a solid every day 3b, I really don't see a lot of good that will come from the 2013 season.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 23, 2013 -> 03:43 PM) Mark Gonzales ‏@MDGonzales 18m Sox lineup not posted yet, but game notes reveal they're 4-6 in 1-run games, 1-3 in 2-run games; .204 BA, .174 RISP in last 10 games

QUOTE (ROC Sox Fan @ Apr 23, 2013 -> 07:39 PM) I guess a day off is better than another loss, but if it would have been a win I miss being able to watch the game right now. I missed baseball too much over the off-season to get myself too worried right now about the s*** show. But it's not even a s*** show, the pitching has been there pretty much! Bats gotta come around eventually, I hope. If not they should fire Walker!

QUOTE (Knuckles @ Apr 22, 2013 -> 10:08 PM) Drunk man's words are sober man's thoughts. LOL I wish this wasn't the case. Its going to be a loooooong summer.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Apr 21, 2013 -> 07:36 PM) Caulfield, I know you have been around here for a while. I remember you back from the WSI days. I have been on Sox boards since 2003 and the one recurring theme all these years (aside from hating ownership, the GM, and some of the best pieces of franchise history) is that the fans always want to rebuild at the first sign of trouble/weakness and yet at the same time they absolutely cannot stand losing. What the Sox have done is turn that 2003 team (remember all those rebuild calls after choking on the Twins?) and turned it into a World Champ 2 years later. Then they turned that stacked, but ultimately disappointing 2006 team into another division winner 2 years later, a veteran team of course, but one led by youth in Danks, Floyd, Quentin, Alexei. After that came the Ozzie ego years, but there is no doubt those 2011 & 2012 squads had the talent to win. We're here where we are now because the players didn't win, and so we're in another down period where we're waiting to form our next core, which BTW with potentially 4 good LHSP we're probably not too far away from. I agree with the 'finding a new core' of young players mentality. This is similar to the 2008 squad (Alexie, Quentin, Danks, Floyd). However, its time to cut the strings on guys will no longer be apart of the 'next core'. Guys like Beckham, Dunn, Floyd need to move on to make room for younger talent. Beckham can sure field like a Gold Glover, but the dude can't hit! He has had waaaay too long to prove himself. Aaron Roward didn't even have this much slack before he turned things around with the bat. He was replaced in 2003 with Everett and it wasn't until 2004 where he found himself offensively. Dunn has been a nightmare to watch as a fan. His RBI production was nice last year, but his average and strike out rates are an absolute JOKE! I think Hahn has a lot of work to do this winter and perhaps even at the trade deadline. We need to plan for the future. They cant be afraid to trade guys like Beckham and Ramirez any longer. Lets bring in some new outside talent...lets reestablish that core and be competitive again....One thing I have always admired about KW- was his creativity with deals. Finding guys like Jenks, Floyd, Thorton, Iguchi, Quentin, Ramirez, Viciedo out of nowhere is what a successful GM has to do. I am not sure if im that as confident in Hahn at this point to be creative and re-tool a roster that obviously needs a face lift.

Q has nasty stuff! I know this sounds silly, but his form and technique reminds me of a young Johan Santana.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Apr 17, 2013 -> 08:43 PM) what a great start by Q! I'm starting to feel much better about this guy. Love Q! The dude has great stuff!

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 16, 2013 -> 08:52 PM) Viciedo's struggling this year, but he's had some very important hits so far this year for the team. Viciedo is a big part of this team's future. Its very nice to see him come up with some clutch hits this year!

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Apr 16, 2013 -> 07:47 AM) Enough. I believe you are the only one on this site that thinks Viciedo is a bust. He's not. He had a decent year last year hitting 25 HRs. He needs to hit right-handers better, and that will probably come. Besides, he's not a drain on the payroll. You don't like him, fine. But enough with the "he's a bust" and "platoon him with Juan Pierre." I agree. I think Viciedo should be one of the guys we keep once they start shipping out some veterans. He is very young and cheap! From what everyone is saying in the organization- it appears as if he may even be Pauly's replacement at 1B next year. Guys I want to keep: Sale, Viciedo, Quintana, Santiago, Reed and Jones. They can trade anyone else on this roster for all I care.

After listening to the score this morning, it made me wonder about the current direction of this team. If the Sox continue to tank and are 7 to 8 games back by July 1st, would should Hahn do? KW said last season that the White Sox are in the process of a modified rebuild. This meant that the Sox would insert young guys into the every day roster in an attempt to still compete in the process. Last year it worked. In fact, it almost worked too well. They were about a week away from clinching the American League Central before falling short. They let AJ go and inserted Flowers but they signed Keppinger and Peavy. They are bringing in veterans but yet involving younger talent. They traded away Quentin last year but kept guys like Rios and Dunn. Is this because they could not move their contracts or because they truly think they will be pivotal components to a winning team? The direction of this team is just flat out confusing. Quite honestly, if this team falters in 2013, (And I'm not saying they well!, its only April!) I want to see a many changes for this MLB roster. With exception of our young pitching, there is not one guy I would not mind trading away for prospects. I know it sounds foolish to just gut the team, but why do a modified rebuild and win 80 games, when we can do it the right way and obtain better draft picks. Isn't that the goal essentially? To continue to acquire talent for our below average farm system? Here is what I would do if they fall out of it early: This Summer: 1) Trade Peavy- His contract is reasonable and he proved to be a bulldog last year. We can likely get some mid range prospects for him. 2) Trade Rios- He is our most attractive piece right now- Can hit, play defense, run the bases- his contract expires after 2014 so he will also be attractive at the deadline. This Winter: 1) Say goodbye to Mr. White Sox- Paul Konerko. I am predicting that he will likely retire after this season. He had done it all for us but its time to move on. 2) Let Floyd, Crain walk via free agency. 3) See what the market looks like for guys like Ramirez and Beckham. Honestly, they have had more than enough time to prove they can hit consistently in the big leagues and have struggled for way too long. I am ready for a change in the infield! 4) Insert Carlos Sanchez to SS, move Keppinger to 2B and insert Connor Gilepsie to 3B. 5) Move Dayan Viciedo to 1B. 6) With the trades of Rios and the position transfer of Viciedo, this leaves two OF positions open. This would create room for guys like Trayce Thompson, Courtney Hawkins, Keenyn Walker & Jared Mitchell. Not to mention potential prospects that the Sox would get back in return from the trades of Rios and Peavy. It is time to go young, open up some payroll flexibility and move on. Obviously, if the Sox do turn things around, they can think about doing these types of moves in the winter.....

Desperate for a win over here! WAKE UP dudes!!!

It is only April 13th.

I agree. I definitely think Dunn needs to be dropped to 5th or 6th. Konerko is starting to hit the ball, meanwhile Dunn is striking out 1/3rd of his at bats again. I'm sorry, but his occasional homerun and walk does not replace the fact that his averages have been pathetic since his arrival.

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 09:54 PM) So can we go back to where Peavy walked the guy after the homer, and Ventura left him in? Maybe...the bullpen was pretty bad tonight as well. (Other than Lindstrom) Kudos to the offense for not giving up. Lets tip our hat to the Nats... they have a good team! Hopefully we can kick their butts tomorrow and possibly even pull off a series win on Thursday.

Man! LaChooch is killing us tonight.

QUOTE (Baron @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 08:58 PM) Get use to this Tyler Flowers....Looks good a few games. Strike out king the next few. I don't mind it if he strikes out every once in awhile, but when he does it looking- i get upset! If its close and your down 2 strikes- SWING the bat!! Oy Vey!

Lindstrom= GOOD!

As I mentioned before....Peavy is OUT of gas. This is totally on Robin....

YIKES! That was a moon shot by Werth...Peavy is out of gas!

QUOTE (whitesox901 @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 01:42 PM) For me, it's hard to say because I believe in the butterfly effect in baseball. Just because he figured it out in Oakland, doesn't mean he would have figured it out in Chicago. Given the record pitchers have here, odds say he does, but you never really know. This is true... but the guy has wicked talent. Billy Beane knew what he was doing! Another interesting thing to think about was the Torii Hunter situation of 2008. The White Sox were coming off a miserable 2007 campaign and were in the desperate need for an upgrade in the OF. The White Sox pretty much had Hunter signed until the Angels swooped in last minute to offer him a ridiculous deal the he couldn't refuse. If the White Sox sign Hunter, they do not trade for Swisher and essentially keep Gio. In regards to the Jackson deal, the White Sox pretty much traded a young talented power pitcher in Hudson for an older more expensive power pitcher in the hope of then swapping Jackson to Washington for Adam Dunn. After Washington declined the offer, KW was left in the dust feeling bad. Since we pretty much traded both Swisher and Jackson for next to nothing, it makes me wonder about how often teams lose top prospects who eventually pan out on other teams?

This was interesting to read again. Looking back at the history of KW trades will always be an intriguing thing. The one thing I hope Hahn learned from some of those poor trades (Hudson for Jackson, Gio for Swisher) is to put a premium on talented young arms. They did it right by locking up Sale long term. I hope another young pitcher comes out of nowhere this year.... I still believe Quintana has the potential to be really good!