fathom

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 19, 2016 -> 05:12 PM) Which I think is really unfair. Why is that Groce's fault that a player makes a stupid decision? Groce should be fired for his results on the court, not some random act by a player in the middle of the night. He has no control over that. Well, it makes it harder for Groce to plead his case they'll compete next year if it's one of the "injured starters" that won't be back.

Levine says that the Sox didn't think Desmond was a fit due to his K rate and defense http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/02/18/lev...hahn-white-sox/

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 10:20 PM) who thought that? Certainly wasn't the projection systems that had them at 76-78 wins. This year I've seen them lowest at 82 and highest at 88. They are better on paper now then any time in the last few years. There was a lot of talk about them being a playoff contender prior to last year. Even this quick search finds an article with them having quite a few projections for winning AL Central or making the WC: http://espn.go.com/mlb/preview15/story/_/i...2015-mlb-season

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 09:14 PM) my goodness. Where were you in 13-15 then? Those teams were much worse on paper and the system was consistently dead last in MLB. As I've continually said, the ORG Hahn inherited was arguably in dead last in overall system talent: international, minors, and MLB. Now they are clearly middle tier without significantly mortgaging the future. Overall, they've done a decent job. Not a great job, but not a bad one either. I'll wait until the performance on the field illustrates that. Last year at this time, we thought Hahn put together an upper-tier team.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 08:38 PM) Why is that bench so bad? The catcher situation is fine, Sanchez is a fine utility infielder, and Shuck was capable as a backup outfielder last year. None of those guys can hit (outside of the catching spot). I also have doubts about Sanchez defensively at SS. Of course, I half expect Anderson to win SS job during ST and Saladino to be utility player.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 09:34 PM) Is it really much worse than the World Series bench with Timo, Ozuna, Widger, Harris, Blum for half a year? I think people put way too much stock in the bench. That team also had 10 competent hitters on the roster (Everett was able to fill in for Thomas). The current roster has a bunch of weak hitters on it, which is scary considering the possible struggles of LaRoche, Avi and Saladino.

QUOTE (ozzfest @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 08:30 PM) Soxtalk: "Paxson is a great executive." "What did you want them to do?" "This is on Gar not pax" Rest of world: Paxson and Forman are morons They both should be out of their position after this season ends. Reinsdorf not exactly lighting it up with his GM/Manager (coach) combos of late.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 09:28 PM) Maybe we will be pleasantly surprised in the next few days. I know I am more than surprised it appears at this point, the 3 days with Todd Steverson in Miami has the Sox feeling good about Avi. For me, LaRoche is the bigger concern. Not only was he a failure on the field, but it seems like they were disappointed in his clubhouse presence. Hahn even said some of the guys they thought would be good clubhouse people for 2015 weren't due to their struggles on the field (LaRoche and Samardzija most likely). When you add in the Sox tried to pay a team 8 million dollars to take him, it just seems like a bad situation where the Sox have no capable bat to push him.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 09:26 PM) Here are two facts. 1) The Sox will try to contend in 2016. 2) As of now, Avisail Garcia is their starting right fielder. Each day that passes makes it more likely to stay this way. I cannot reconcile these two facts. It does not matter why they are both facts, all the reasons lead to the same conclusion. Mistakes were made. If no other changes are made, it will be shocking to see how poorly the roster is constructed (bench wise). A bench of Navarro/Sanchez/Shuck/Sands (or Olt, etc) is pretty awful.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 09:20 PM) Except when you have that many moving parts it is nearly impossible to know what it is going to take to fill all of them. It isn't like you can say to each team that they need to wait until you get the other four things lined up. They've missed on so many rumored outfield targets that it's hard to comprehend what their actual plan was out there. If they were going to keep Avi in RF all along, then Hahn messed up big time with his comments on the Score after the Frazier trade.

Fowler's probably close to signing, as he finally removed Chicago Cubs outfielder from his twitter page.

Jim Bowden ‏@JimBowden_ESPN 22m22 minutes ago Mike Rizzo just told us that they haven’t been contact with Ian Desmond’s people in a long time…but he said he’ll never say never #Nationals oh yay, this is how the Cespedes stuff started as well

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 08:08 PM) The Golden Son has left. Ironic that Hinrich has been traded to Atlanta...where the other Golden Son for Reinsdorf will be playing (Beckham)

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 07:50 PM) I have said all winter that I don't think it is fear. I think it is a limitation of resources. They have spent all winter trying to get someone, but haven't been able to. That tells me there is more to the story than fear. I think that's very obvious now, and probably why they only were willing to go a 3 year base on the outfielders. I also wonder if Reinsdorf isn't preparing the books to eventually sell the team.

Or did they just misjudge the market, especially in regards to how much the Big 3 outfielders were going to receive with the limited number of teams involved?

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 07:29 PM) That very well could be the case if Avi puts up another below replacement level season and we miss the playoffs by two games after winning 84 games. Upgrading RF by a couple wins is so easy to do when the hole is that large that it will be the most mind-boggling move of the entire offseason if an upgrade doesn't happen, and that's including the Miller trade. Those two moves and Angels not getting another outfielder

Matt Joyce signed a minor league deal with Pirates

QUOTE (shysocks @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 04:46 PM) I am equally dumbfounded. Cognitive dissonance, I guess. Easier to focus on the tiny likelihood of Garcia reaching his upside than admit the front office's failure. None of y'all who are fine with Avi get to complain when the Sox fall short. I'm keeping a list (no I'm not). A part of me hopes LaRoche hits .000 in spring training and forces the FO to make some changes.

QUOTE (shipps @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 05:44 PM) I cant speak for everyone else but I have been on Avi's side since he has been here. I wasnt opposed to bringing in a big bat in place of him but I havent given up on him just yet. And I respect that and hope for the best with him. Just startling to see all the Avi and/or Shuck talk lately on here. Only way that should have happened going into the season is if they were in rebuilding mode, IMO.

It's amazing to me how many people seemingly changed their mind in the last few weeks about being ok with Avi getting all the at bats in RF. The fluff pieces have worked, it appears.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 02:15 PM) Who is available via trade? It looks like the market has dried up. Hence my concern with another full season of Avi out in RF botching routine pop ups. And that they have no serviceable replacement for him if he gets hurt again.

Some reports out that Fowler is seeking 3/45 http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles...0217-story.html

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 02:58 PM) Why do you care about that? Him leaving actually helps them. They get their 2nd round pick back and receive a bigger bonus pool. I was hoping they'd trade Soler and bring back Fowler. Soler is the x factor for them in my opinion, as he has the potential to become a dominant offensive force for them in the 6 spot.

QUOTE (Saufley @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 03:20 AM) If the Sox don't sign Fowler or Jackson I don't care. After the trade for Frazier I was expecting bigger things to happen. My mistake. The Sox and their "no comment" stance on rumors didn't do them a lot of favors this offseason. It seems agents definitely used them as leverage.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 02:03 AM) Jesus f***ing Christ. I hate the Sox sometimes. Careful, they'll call you out on twitter again