CaliSoxFanViaSWside

Anisomov buries his breakaways when he gets them . Wish I could say the same for Hossa. I've seen Anisimov bury 3 and Hossa miss 3 . Kane's goal and his assist to Teravainen were both things of beauty.

QUOTE (reiks12 @ Nov 1, 2015 -> 09:08 AM) Just having fun, nobody believes that we are cursed. I have seen at least 10 such posts , probably 3 or 4 in this thread alone. I honestly think some people think the Sox have a black could hanging over their heads.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 1, 2015 -> 08:42 AM) I think there is a pretty good chance of a bounceback from LaRoche between that, and being his second year in the AL. I think it's more hope than actually thinking he will bounce back. He was pretty damn bad and 2 of his last 3 years haven't been good and he be 36 in a week . LaRoche couldn't hit anything but a fastball and sinkers last year and from July on he wasn't even very good at that. He ws miserable against anything off speed. http://beforeitsnews.com/sports/2015/10/ar...im-2630010.html He was terrible at home all season, terrible in the second half everywhere, terrible against LH's , terrible when behind in the count and terrible batting 5th. And when I say terrible I mean batting averages well below .200 . OBP's around .250 and OPS anywhere from .350-.550. The only way he can rebound is if he gets ahead in the count consistently.

At the July 31st trade deadline the Mets were 53-50. They acquired Cespedes, Uribe, Kelly Johnson and Tyler Clippard . Uribe and Johnson were pretty much non factors but Cespedes did so well he was mentioned as a possible MVP candidate . They finished the season 90-72. To be fair a few other Mets also had good 2nd halves of the season and David Wright returning was a major plus. But that just goes to show what I said in my initial post about how things snowball once a team starts to believe in itself.

QUOTE (reiks12 @ Oct 31, 2015 -> 11:36 PM) The Royals would have signed LaRoche and he would have put up Morales numbers. We would have signed Morales and he would have put up LaRoche numbers. I don't see why I see this kind of post so often. We are not a snake bit team or have a curse of anything of that nature. It just was an ill advised signing of a player who was too old and could not contribute every day . These kind of "eeyore" posts are kind of silly. Instead of putting the blame where it belongs it gets put on some kind of Sox karma thing.

All you guys make Charlie Brown seem like an optimist. For those saying we still would 've sucked , want to take a stab at how many more good position players , relievers, starting pitching it would take to be around 10 games over .500 ?

QUOTE (bear_brian @ Oct 31, 2015 -> 10:43 AM) Last winter I made a series of suggestions as to what the Sox should do. Among those was acquiring Kendry Morales. There were a group of regulars on this board who scoffed at that notion. He certainly would have been a major improvement over LaRoche, and would have given the lineup that much more flexibility as a switch hitter. Unfortunately, Hahn spent more money on LaRoche, and we now have to live for another year with that decision. The only possible silver lining is that LaRoche's hand was really sore all of last year, and he will bounce back this year. You do have to have a thick skin when giving your opinion. I get scoffed at often but you have to chalk it up to most people stick to their guns regardless of strength of argument. It's also very difficult to keep track of most things we say on here and saying I was right you were wrong comes off as arrogant and self serving. I think I'm right a lot of the time and will point it out but it takes a lot of time and effort to search for anything . I never gave my opinion on how the Sox would 've done with Morales instead of LaRoche but I'll just say they could've been 15 games better. I know that will get scoffed at too. My reasoning is KC probably isn't as good especially if they sign LaRoche instead. Sox, Cleveland ,Detroit were all pretty equal with Minnesota only slightly ahead of them. I think Morales would've propelled the Sox above everyone except the Royals. Maybe Abreu gets a little more selective at the plate and does better. Maybe Eaton's base running improves knowing he doesn't have to take as many risky chances with 2 good hitters behind him. Maybe Robertson gets 40-45 saves instead of 34. Baseball is a chain reaction sport. Playing well begets playing well. Hawk often phrases it as "its contagious " .Bad things and good things snowball then develops into either a winning or losing attitude. Getting on a roll and getting TWTW cannot be understated . L know I lose credibility quoting Hawk but not everything he says is nonsense .

We all know that hindsight is 20/20 but what I'm getting at is what difference does making the right decision instead of the wrong one mean in terms of wins and losses ? I will try to examine as many things as I can and let you draw your own conclusions. When the Sox signed LaRoche he had just turned 35 and the left handed hitter coming off a good year with the Nationals with a line of .259/.362/.455/.817 with 26 homers and 92 RBIs. He had 82 walks and 108 strikeouts over 140 games an OPS of .817 . His stats against LH pitching had been in a steady decline so the Sox had to know they were getting a guy who realistically could only be productive against RH's . He only had 19 doubles so if you had to make a comparison to a similar player Adam Dunn had to come to mind . NL player with high OBP with plus power and high K totals His 2014 was a bounce back year . In 2013 his line was .237 /.332 /.403 /.735 62 RBI's with more K's and less walks and even less production against LH's. His home and road splits also were radically different in 2014 . Home line was .305/.406/.510/.916 . Road line .212/.316/.400/.716 . So the Sox had to ask themselves could an aging player similiar to Adam Dunn feel at home in a new league surrounded by new team mates ? LaRoche was signed to a 2 year $25M contract and his 2015 line was .207/.293/.340/.634 When the Royals signed Morales he was 31 years old and would turn 32 during the season (June 20). The switch hitting Cuban born Morales signed in December so he was available when the Sox signed LaRoche . His whole career to that point was played in the AL. His 2014 was a disaster . With Scott Boras as his agent he held out looking for the big pay day which never came because teams did not want to give up a draft pick for a DH only player even though he had a good year in 2013 playing in a career high 156 games with a line of .277/.336/.449/.785. He ended up missing spring training and the 1st 60 games of the season after finally signing with the Twins in June . Since it was after the ML draft the Twins did not lose a draft pick. He never recovered from having missed so much time and between the Twins and Mariners his final line was .218/.274/.338/.612 . If the Sox looked at him as a possibility they would have to look at his years before 2014 and hope for a bounce back. Between 2009 and 2013 — not including a 2011 campaign lost to injury — Morales owned a cumulative .286/.339/.494 line while averaging over twenty home runs per season. That was good for a 128 OPS+ . As a switch hitter he could always hit both righties and lefties but was a better LH hitter when it came to HR's by a wide margin. He had also dumped Boras as his agent and is a countryman of the Sox most valuable position player , Jose Abreu. Morales agreed to a two-year, $17MM deal. He could earn an additional $750K per year through performance incentives. The contract included a mutual option for a third year. His final line : .290/.362/.485/.847 with 41 doubles , 22 HR's and 106 RBI . To be fair KC has a more spacious outfield than the Cell but his home/road splits were very similiar and his OPS+ was 128 at home and 140 on the road. Also the Sox lineup is certainly not as good as KC so RBI total would be worse most likely. How much better would the Sox have been having Morales over LaRoche ? A very consistent bat home and away who could hit from both sides of the plate in the middle of the lineup makes a huge difference. Abreu wouldn't have to swing at as much junk as he did knowing he had a professional hitter behind him in the lineup. Maybe the Sox take a lot more leads into late innings . It's something I find very difficult to figure out. I hope some of you don't just look at their respective WAR and see the difference is about 3.5 Wins and answer the Sox would be 3-4 games better with Morales having the same type of year in Chicago as he did in KC . I don't think baseball is an exact science like that. I know that answers will be hard to quantify but give it your best shot .

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Oct 24, 2015 -> 06:53 PM) So is there any possibilities from the farm that we may see within 5 years? It's kinda sad when there were guys like Bench, Fisk, Munson and Simmons. They were household names. My how baseball has changed. Omar Narvaez, Winston-Salem (98 games): The 23-year-old backstop proved he could keep his mind centered between both parts of his game in a strong first full season in the White Sox system. Not only did Narvaez reach base at a .352 rate in his first taste of Class A Advanced, but he also threw out 35.4 percent of would-be basestealers. A little old for the level so to make it by age 25 he would have to be fast tracked and he still has a lot to prove but initially looking strong .

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Oct 24, 2015 -> 08:12 PM) Toews with the GWG 17 seconds into the OT Good power move with bad defense but it was pure Toews and totally awesome !

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Oct 23, 2015 -> 07:30 PM) What two Russians? Only Panarin has that clause. Anisimov is an established pro & Tikhonov has done nothing to make me care if he goes to Rockford, Russia or the UC's press box. Dano hasn't exactly been good in Rockford. If he keeps that up he won't be up this year at all. He'll be back especially if Q can't find anyone to put with Toews and Hossa. The first few days of training camp Dano shined with Toews and Hossa and Q liked him right away but then the preseason games started and in the 1st game he took a hard hit to the head and after that he couldn't keep up with Toews and Hossa. Maybe I'm making excuses for the kid but on a playoff Columbus team he was physical and a good 2 way player . We often forget guys play through injuries. Once he gets his sea legs back under him he should spend at least half the year with the Hawks.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Oct 25, 2015 -> 06:17 AM) You temper it because we did not include the preceding 2 months of .151 and .157. That means 3 months way under it. The point was hitting .252 in 2nd half was really one hot month. But I agree w so many bigger problems, 2nd base can be a 2017 problem to fix if Sanchez has another poor year at the plate. And we untemper it since it's his 1st exposure to MLB. He'll be fine. Love the D he'll grow with the bat.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Oct 23, 2015 -> 01:49 PM) Unfortunate that he didn't address one single issue that Sox fans are concerned about today regarding the state of his franchise (of course he may have agreed to the interview only under certain conditions, he has done so in the past...) Basically a fluff piece. Mark Yep the next time JR says anything remotely revealing concerning the state of the franchise will be the first time.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Oct 24, 2015 -> 04:51 PM) I would temper your .252 after AS break with he hit .323 in July-.247 in August and .171 in Sept. As the roster is now, he is the incumbent at 2nd but really for his glove. Him being in the lineup means you need offense from SS and 3B to offset. Now if he can play SS w the same defensive skill. that makes him much more valuable. Why temper it ? Those are normal baseball stat months . 1 month way over .252, 1 month way under it and one month right about at it. He is the starter . He is way down on the list of Sox problems.

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Oct 23, 2015 -> 01:47 PM) A lot of people are concerned about the D but to me, once Keith gets back and Daley starts playing like Q wants him to, there won't be issues. It's the 3rd and 4th lines that I'm concerned about. It's no secret that Desjardins/Kruger/Shaw aren't out there to score, but the Teuvo/Hinostroza/Garbutt line is a train wreck. Garbutt is a 4th line player and Hinostroza isn't a pro quite yet. Teuvo is going to be a great player but unfortunately he's surrounded by guys like Garbutt, Hinostroza, Desjardins, Shaw and Bickell for now. If they want more production out of the 3rd line, I think eventually Panarin gets flip-flopped with Teuvo. It'll help when Dano returns. I keep thinking he might have suffered a concussion but there's not even a hint that happened.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Oct 15, 2015 -> 07:15 PM) Engel 0-3 Delmonico 0-3 Brennan 3IP 2H 1ER 0BB 3Ks Tago 1IP 1H 0ER 0BB 1K Brennan started that game which the Desert Dogs ended up losing 9-2 , So Brennan and Tago weren't really hit hard in the combined 4 innings.

Delmonico was 1-3 in the opener .. HR and game winning SF.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Oct 17, 2015 -> 09:57 PM) That's an interesting theory, and if you have any evidence to back it up, I'm sure we'd all be interested in hearing about it. In the meantime, let's be very clear in what most of the rest of us are talking about as it relates to the state of things today with the White Sox. No one other than Dick Allen with his post here has suggested that Mr. Reinsdorf has "screwed all of us", per se. But he has FAILED US. Failed us on so many fronts over the years, they're too numerous to count at this point! Thad I think you are rather unbiased in your assessment of the Reinsdorf years. Facts are facts and you present them in a calm and rational way. What's sad is that because of the WS win his era is a rousing success compared to the Veeck and Comiskey years .

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 18, 2015 -> 08:30 AM) Anti-Racism/political correctness lobby will not condone....showing KW in an unflattering light. You think Kenny with a Moe haircut is politically incorrect ? Could give him the Curly bald head . That would be pretty close to his normal hair though but he really deserves a Moe or Larry.

I thought one with Rick Kenny and Jerry with 3 Stooges type haircuts would be good. Maybe nobody would figure it out but Moe and Larry haircuts are pretty distinctive as is the Curly bald head. Too dated ? Maybe Robin with that emo looking Shemp haircut.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Oct 12, 2015 -> 06:54 AM) Q would be moved not Rodon. I fully expect Q to be moved for an impact bat or package for a blockbuster bat. Probably neither should be moved at least for another year. If Q continues to be the pitcher he has been ,the Sox hold options on him through 2020. Not sure how long the Sox have Rodon for but you'd have to think if he continues to develop there's only a very slim chance of him signing an extension like Q did. I think that ultimately makes him more tradeable but not until he establishes more value. The Sox also need more time to see how Eric Johnson and Fulmer and Montas progress so a trade of a starter doesn't hurt as much.

QUOTE (daggins @ Oct 12, 2015 -> 06:46 AM) Not me. Schwarber would instantly be our best hitter, and Candelario and Baez are far better than any of our infield guys. Q hurts, but Montas is a bullpen arm and Carlos Sanchez is a bench player. Gotta give to get. The "Montas is a bullpen arm " irks me. He is only 22. Plenty of good pitchers don't figure things out until they are over 25. His stuff is really good.His slider is becoming a plus pitch and once he improves his stamina , command and change up he has the potential to be an ace. I was looking at his last start when he went 4 innings and K'd 7 and they were all swings and misses at pitches from 86-88mph . Had to be his slider . You ultimately could be right but the Sox would be foolish to use him in the bullpen now and should give him every chance to be a starter. He would be way more valuable if he makes it as a starter rather than just another bullpen arm.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Oct 11, 2015 -> 10:07 PM) White Sox baseball is my hobby, man. Sorry if you got a problem with that. I like the optimism but yeah, way too early. But on the other hand it's a lot better than imagining Hanley Ramirez coming to the Sox. I'd go so far as to predict the Sox don't make any deals that pick up another teams failed high priced losers. Right now the most optimistic I can be is that LaRoche retires and forfeits his salary for next year and they move on from Alexei and keep Q or somehow move him for a King's ransom.

The Sox already have a team full of DH's . There's no way in hell the Sox want him under any circumstances. There is no need for any more declining players who have no defensive abilities with 3 more years on their contract ? Yeesh !

No home team was won yet.