Marty34

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 12, 2012 -> 01:28 PM) Of course, if recent history is any guide, the "improvements" on the farm will be on the big league roster by sometime in 2013. You'd rather win an IL title. Weird.

QUOTE (jamesdiego @ Feb 12, 2012 -> 01:10 PM) Are you kidding? Kenny was paying lip service at Sox Fest no less. What else is he suppose to really say? Everything would have to go just about perfect for us to have a shot. He isn't going anywhere after this season no matter the outcome. Chairman Reinsdorf got rid of Jerry Krause when everyone said there is no way he'd do it. If this team is as bad as it was last year, Williams will be gone. The fan base is restless enough with this outfit.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 12, 2012 -> 12:40 PM) I'm pretty sure KW even gave himself at least 2 seasons to turn around the ship before he asks JR if he still wants him to be the GM. So you're correct the Sox could lose 100 games KW is going nowhere. The fan base will not put up with another season like last year. Chairman Reinsdorf would definitely make a change under these circumstances.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 12, 2012 -> 12:22 PM) Yeah, Marty's trying to find a way to argue that KW's job is on the line this season, which pretty much requires he argue that the team will be in contention. And Molina and Stewart belong no where near a team 5 games out of the divison. You don't keep Danks and Floyd in a rebuild. If Danks and Sale are the pitchers the White Sox think they are, that's as good a rotation as there is in the division. Williams said at Soxfest, if the Sox hit they will contend.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 12, 2012 -> 08:56 AM) Who is saying the Sox are ready for contention? I sure haven't seen it. If you thought they were contenders 2011, they're really not any worse off now. More than likely better as guys like Dunn and Rios will be better and Peavy is coming off a healthy winter after being a year plus removed from surgery. The Sox should be within 5 games of the division lead come Sept. 1st.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 11, 2012 -> 09:08 PM) And without any doubt, I can say that those 2 are no where close to ready for the bigs right now. Williams said at Soxfest he expects Molina to be with the team sometime in 2012. Remember, Buehrle at the end of a season pitches more like a #4 then a #2-#3.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 11, 2012 -> 08:11 PM) Wrong. That money was coming the second that YT video came out. I'm not saying that's right. But it's pretty much fact. Maybe not $40M+, but certainly much more than $10M.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 11, 2012 -> 08:03 PM) Forget about Dayan. In the end, he signed for, what, $10 million? If all these teams were genuinely interested in him (not just a token glance), he would've went for a lot more. Exactly.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 11, 2012 -> 07:27 PM) But without Mark!, the bullpen is going to have to be relied on a whole lot more. Danks and Peavy will suck up some of 80 of those innings. The rest will come from a combination of Stewart and Molina.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 11, 2012 -> 07:22 PM) That's funny. In like a minute, I found comps to Vlad, Adrian, and Miguel. Search the entire internet please not just Soxtalk.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 11, 2012 -> 07:08 PM) Apparently your google is busted? Yes. Can you post the source of the comparison for me.

QUOTE (JohnCangelosi @ Feb 11, 2012 -> 07:03 PM) Wouldn't you say our bullpen is considerably weaker (at least on paper) going into this year? I agree that Rios will be much improved this year- no reason to think why just a gut feel. I wish I could say the same about Dunn but I am not so sure, as crazy and awful as that sounds. The bullpen is weaker overall, but the 7th-9th innings I don't think will see a huge dropoff. They do have some right-handed relief depth that I think will allow them to patch together an effective pen.

Would like the source of the Cabrera/Viciedo comparison.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 11, 2012 -> 06:33 PM) Viciedo was a very big deal. The dollars just weren't as big which is clouding your judgment. J4L is right Viciedo was not a big deal.

The Sox would likely have to go to at least $50M to sign him one would think. It's a lot for a corner OF'er with the questions Cespedes has, but part of the justification can be that Viciedo will replace Konerko in a couple of years. I'd be leery of spending that much on him in any case.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 11, 2012 -> 02:59 PM) Pierre was worthless last year, so losing him doesn't cost us anything. De Aza does have a bit of improved upside from Pierre, but that's about the only spot in the lineup you can look at and say "This spot is almost guaranteed to improve from last year". Regarding Pierre, that was my point, so how do you come up with 8 losses worse off the top. Also, there's no way Dunn isn't better and I'll say the same for Rios too.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 11, 2012 -> 02:49 PM) Buehrle, Santos, Quentin gone, Sale to the rotation. Pierre gone too. Replaced by Deaza, Viciedo, and Reed.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 11, 2012 -> 02:28 PM) Last year, if everything went right, the Sox could have won 100+ games, but they should have had a margin of error for guys like Morel to struggle, leaving them in a position to win the division at 90+ wins. Drop 8 wins off that list. If everything goes right for the Sox, they're now in a position to be a 90-95 win team. If anyone struggles, if Rios or Dunn doesn't play at an all star level, if Konerko gets a little older, or Sale tires out after 90 innings, then the team misses the playoffs. There is no margin for error. How do you drop 8 wins off the list to start?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 11, 2012 -> 02:25 PM) Can you not add? In fact I can't.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 11, 2012 -> 02:13 PM) If everyone steps up, those 2 can make up for the losses, but then we're just at the 78 wins we were at last year, and still uncompetitive. Then we need Dunn, Rios, Beckham, and Morel to step up, and no one else to step backwards. Then the optimism going into last year was misplaced.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 11, 2012 -> 02:10 PM) But, especially after viciedo got hurt last year and Sale pitched out of the bullpen, you can't expect anywhere near the performance that you got out of the veterans last year. If you get that, great, but that's your entire margin of error otherwise. You never know about young players, but I would not trade the 2012 seasons of Sale and Viciedo for the 2012 seasons of Buehrle and Quentin.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 11, 2012 -> 01:50 PM) Except the fill-in guys now are all rookies/inexperienced guys, and therefore are pretty big risks...and the bullpen and bench right now are actually holes. Viciedo and Sale are the standouts of the young players and exactly who you want to replace Quentin and Buehrle. It's likely that it was part of the plan before last year.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Feb 11, 2012 -> 01:41 PM) The likelihood that all of these things happen in tandem are remote. The Sox will be lucky to finish above .500 this season. How were they better off in February of 2011 as opposed to February of '12 though? They cut what $30M+ off the payroll and didn't create any real hole on the roster.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 11, 2012 -> 01:15 PM) You take Buehrle, Santos, and Quentin out of last year's roster, and we're 8 WAR behind where we were last year. Really is that simple. That's the ground we need to make up just to get back to where we were last year, 78 wins. If we got good seasons from Dunn and Rios, we could still be 2 wins worse than we were last year if everyone else were to repeat their year. If you thought last year's team was good enough to win the division, I don't see why there is as much pessimism about this year's team because in my opinion they didn't lose anything they didn't have a capable replacement for: 1.) '12 Dunn will be better than '11 Dunn 2.) '12 Rios will be better than '11 Rios 3.) '12 Beckham should be better than '11 Beckham 4.) '12 Deaza + '12 Viciedo should be better than '11 Pierre + '11 Quentin. 5.) '12 Morel should be better than '11 Morel Pitching wise Danks, Peavy and Sale should be better than Danks, Buehrle, and Peavy of last year. If Kenny's big money guys produce as expected (Peavy a solid #3) the Sox will contend.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 11, 2012 -> 12:03 PM) Except it starts off 8 wins back of last year's performance. How do you figure? I believe they'll be better at 5 spots in the order and 3 spots in the rotation than they were last year. Konerko and Humber being guys who decline.