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QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 29, 2015 -> 11:49 AM) how do you develop the minors if you have to trade prospects to get your "extra" pieces? The only purpose of the minors is to help the MLB team win. This can be done by bringing the players to the MLB team or trading them to another team for proven players. Either way the players developed in the minors and left the minors to help the MLB team.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 29, 2015 -> 01:16 AM) I'm optimistic about the team and this year. Totally. But that said, those of you thinking about upper 80s to 90 wins are - in my mind - completely out of touch with reality. BP is projecting 78 wins, and while we usually beat PECOTA by an average of 7 wins/season, that STILL only puts us at 85 wins. Things would have to swing astronomically in the right direction for us to be in the playoff picture. 5 more wins is a lot to get out of this lineup/pitching staff. Not impossible - it happened in '05 - but unlikely. I don't think there's any world in which Robin gets fired this year UNLESS the team does worse than last year, which I also don't see happening. Side note. Gordon Beckham is a better baseball player than Emilio Bonafacio, so in that regard, I like the move. I think your predictions is off base. With the additions I do see an upper 80's win total.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 06:46 PM) My thoughts exactly. I wonder how many will be able to stick. Anderson should be ahead of Trea Turner but whatever. 4

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 08:57 PM) Have we seen any indication that Ventura's (or Hahn) envisioning a strict platoon system with LaRoche, or just our idea based on the splits? They will not do a strict platoon with any players. Just my feeling from comments but Ventura will play this new bench more but it will not be a strict platoon.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 04:51 PM) I think the Sox are a position where they know Sanchez isn't good enough and they know Micah isn't ready so they're relegating to Beckham. EDIT: Not a true starter, but would anyone be surprised if Beckham and Bonifacio end up getting significant time between 2B/3B? One of them starts against RHP and both against LHP. I think the idea is more what Hahn said. Ventura now has a veteran bench that he will have confidence in. They also have 2 players that he can slide in the IF positions if someone gets hurt. Young players typically do not make good bench players and now Ventura can use the bench. No one had confidence in Garcia last year.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 27, 2015 -> 03:32 PM) On the other hand, wouldn't he also be faulted later on for not properly saving for his own retirement? Doesn't matter. It is a 10-15 year loan. Pay the money back that you agree to pay back, then you can take the money you were using for the payment and put it toward retirement. You should have at least 20 years or so to save.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 27, 2015 -> 03:19 PM) So I shouldn't take advantage of a program that exists. Instead I should make sure I have less money as I get older. I should act against my own self interest. In other words, I should act like the majority of folks who vote Republican. Got it. No you should follow the rules, which allow you to do this. However, the rule sucks. If you make money you need to repay the money you borrowed. If you down make money you don't have to repay the money you borrowed. If you have enough money to save for retirement, you should have to pay the money you signed for to borrow. Basically, I'm going to pay for your student loan because you aren't going to pay it. I don't blame you for taking advantage of it I would to. Unfortunately, I make some money so I'm paying back the loans. I paid 10 years for and undergrad loan and am in the middle of paying 15 for my graduate loans. It's not like I have kids getting ready to go to college or anything that I could put the money towards.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 27, 2015 -> 10:52 AM) Ugh, thanks, I was hoping it was something more material than this. I agree with your opinion. Law has very much become supportive of the Sox in a number of different ways since Hahn has taken the GM spot. I don't know if Law had a bias against KW or a bias towards the more "new school" front office types but he's definitely changed his tune. It's worth noting that our system was utter trash from '08-'12. Before Dick Allen comes at me, yes, he was conservative on Abreu but the media was almost uniformly tepid on Abreu. Side note - I hate how talking about Law objectively makes me seem like a Law fanboy because his fanboys are lame. "Keith how did your cinnamon, gluten-free scallops turn out? Hope you enjoy your lunch today!" Yeah, It's pretty obvious it was KW for either or both of those reasons. His comments drastically changed once Hahn became GM.

QUOTE (LDF @ Jan 27, 2015 -> 08:44 AM) haha krause really screw the pooch on that one. i believe he just let the success go to his head. the best would have been is stay in the background. that team had too many people with egos. It wasn't Krause's choice or idea. He was fine with the way it was. Jackson said he wanted more power or he was leaving. JR sided with Krause and let Jackson go.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 27, 2015 -> 10:24 AM) Indiana will be expanding their Medicaid program: Healthy Indiana Plan expansion gets green light from federal government Indiana is in the black due to massive cuts in many areas in their current administration. Illinois cannot afford this as they refuse to cut spending. The latest figures I saw were 35 billion in revenues, 43 billion in projected spending and 12 billion in unpaid bills from last year.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 27, 2015 -> 09:41 AM) Baseball has been played this way forever. You can ignore numbers and say it is the reason scoring is down, but it is not. Again, if you have 3 guys on one side of the infield, there is one covering a lot of ground on the other. Learn to hit the ball to the other side of the field. It doesn't have to be hit hard. You do it a few times, your shift is gone. There is a reason radical shifts aren't used with runners on base very often. But look at Ted Williams's numbers. He had 3 guys on one side of the infield, and still pulled everything. Adam Dunn got the shift most times he was at the plate. The thing is, most of the time, you would have had the same result for him had they all shifted to the bench in the dugout. Cut down on the strikeouts. It's not just another out, like the guys playing today were told. Your batting average when you strikeout is .000. Your batting average when you put the ball in play is around .300. I don't diagree with the thought that it isn't the reason that scoring is down, necessarily. However, if it doesn't decrease scoring why are so many teams doing it and stats show it's effective? To the other point, it is not easy to hit the ball the other way with authority (in my Nuke Laloosh accent). If it was it wouldn't be such a valued skill. There is one player there and if you just hit it lightly odds are they will get to it. The other aspect is money. Players do not get the big contracts by lightly hitting the ball the other way. The Slugging and home runs get the big contracts that is what players will do. Some of this comes from the SABR group showing research that a strikeout is the same as any other out and that bunting is not an efficient tool. Again, I'm not disagreeing with you personally, I'm just saying theseare the way players think and what they are encouraged to do. The only disagreement is that it is easy to hit the ball against the shift especially when there is no incentive to it.

Probably just my old age but where was the last X post?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 27, 2015 -> 08:49 AM) Invisible electric fences. Seriously, how is this even a consideration? There have been shifts, not to the extreme they are now, all throughout baseball history. Ted Williams hit into a shift, and did pretty well. Infield in. That's a shift. Corners in close. That's a shift. CF shaded toward LF. That's a shift. Strikeouts are what is killing offenses. For a while it was known as just like any other out, which is BS, and if you do put the ball in play, there are some odds it will become a hit. This is the generation where strikeouts didn't matter. Once this cycle is complete and an emphasis on making contact takes hold, the runs will return. The shift in today's vernacular really refers to moving one player to the other side of the field not movement around inthe "usual" area. So what your saying with the Ted Williams comparison is that since one of the gresatest hitters of all time can do it, all players can do it?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 27, 2015 -> 08:30 AM) There was a more in depth article about this with dates, etc. JR isn't pursuing tampering charges because he considers Beeston his best friend in baseball. What I don't understand is how can he be up in arms over this, if he really is, and not be over the Ozzie to Miami move which was even more clearly, tampering? I think most of his anger is the workings behind Beeston's back rather than actually tampering. I'm sure every team, including the White Sox, has technically tampered at some point. Because he didn't mind Ozzie leaving. JR has a history in believing that it's more important on how a team is built as opposed to who coaches it. The players are more important than the coach. Krause vs. Jackson.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 27, 2015 -> 08:23 AM) how would you even do it? have "zones" marked on the field where the different position players have to be in? or what? automatic walk? Two infielders on each side of second base. It's fairly simple. That eliminates overloading one side to take away a hitters tendencies. That is really what the shift is.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jan 26, 2015 -> 05:39 PM) Maybe I understood this incorrectly because I skimmed the article, but tickets are all digital now? That sucks. It's a tradition for my Dad and I to keep out ticket stubs and write down anything memorable that happened during the game on the back of the ticket. I have a few of those computer printed tickets, and they just look cheap and don't fit nicely with all the regular sized tickets. Also, I have my ticket from Buehrle's no-hitter framed and I think that frame would look awfully dumb with a computer printed ticket behind the class. This is true. The season tickets are j ust printed from the account.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 26, 2015 -> 04:52 PM) You joke, but Baseball Prospectus had him at 2, with Anderson at 1. You asked for predictions. Nothing is guaranteed. I just know how the admins on this board think. Rodon is the hype.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 26, 2015 -> 04:57 PM) What about depth? That still doesn't preclude you from playing 2B in short RCF as is common against guys like Dunn. Maybe not pulled so far towards right, if the SS has to stay on the left side of 2B. I really wouldn't define that as a shift then. For Dunn didn't teams move 3 players to the first base of second base just put one of them deeper in the OF?

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 26, 2015 -> 02:59 PM) STOP THE PRESSES THEY FOUND THE BALL BOY WHO DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sir, I did it all on my own. I knew what Mr. Brady liked and I changed them myself. To my knowledge no one told me to do this.................. As he shields his eyes and drives away in his brand new porsche.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 26, 2015 -> 03:18 PM) It's rankings week at FutureSox! Tomorrow (Tuesday) we are going to publish prospects 16 through 30 with capsules... then Thursday the full list including capsules for 1-15, the 16-30 list, and a list of players who just missed. There will be a pinned PHT thread for it tomorrow. Meanwhile... any predictions? Rodon #1

QUOTE (PlaySumFnJurny @ Jan 26, 2015 -> 04:01 PM) Rather than make up silly ass new rules, I'd prefer he'd decree that umpires enforce the ones already written and call the rule-book strike zone. The rule book strike zone would decrease the time of the game but would also decrease the offense. Right now every strike is a center cut pitch.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jan 26, 2015 -> 02:31 PM) I've seen several articles mention that this would be a less disruptive change than something like lowering the mound. I totally disagree with that. Especially from a fan's standpoint, you wouldn't have to know anything had changed if the mound was lowered. There would just be a little bit more offense. I would say, though, that for a lot of guys the run to the mound is a meaningful part of the warmup process. It is. And they would be allowed to do it if they ran. It's the 2 minute stroll that they want to eliminate.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 26, 2015 -> 01:47 PM) Chris Sale's side-slinging ways give his four-seamer a unique advantage -- no one has more horizontal movement in the Pitch FX era: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/chris-sale-...er-great-pitch/ This is why pitchers who throw the slider drop down as well. This gives it more of a different look than other breaking pitches. This is also why many people predict he will have significant elbow problems and have said this since he was drafted. Anatomically and mechanically it makes sense. It's just that so far he has defied the odds.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jan 26, 2015 -> 01:30 PM) An interesting idea thrown out there was forcing relievers to face a minimum of two hitters per appearance. First of all, that would speed the game up some, instead of having a pitching change every batter. Secondly, that could help decrease strikeouts. With all these specialists whose only job is to face one batter, they have become very good at striking that batter out. If a LOOGY also had to face a RHB when you brought him in, that would change a lot. That's not bad. Another one that I heard someone bring up is to have a vehicle bring in the reliever. This will speed up the slow walk from the outfield bullpens. I know it's not much but it's in this same line. The is a time saving element with every pitching switch.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 26, 2015 -> 12:51 PM) Dave Cameron weighs in: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-problem...em-with-shifts/ I like his take in basically saying that the biggest issue right now is not guys hitting the ball to other defenders but that they are striking out at an absurd rate. Guys striking out is not a big deal on a micro level, but at a macro level, it's getting out of hand, and that's the biggest reason why we're seeing the numbers fall. That's not to say that there may not be background factors working towards an increasing strikeout percentage - namely steroids - but that the surface reasoning is that shifts have much less to deal with repressed run scoring and a lack of contact has more to do with it. This is all true. However, the league cannot force players to make contact. They can change factors in the game to make contact more effective. I'm not saying I agree with them but the league is going to try to make the game more appealing to the masses. The two variables that seem to generate the most interest in the game are the time of the game and offense. This is just like when they lowered the mound to make increase the hitters ability to make contact. This is just like all of the rule changes in football to make it tougher for the defensive players thus to create more offense.