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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 10:29 PM) What I have seen has move more towards the left handed batters box than the right. It has looked like Buehrle's change. That is feasible especially if he turns it over a bit. The lowered arm angle will take the ball more side to side instead of up and down.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 09:33 PM) Scott Merkin ‏@scottmerkin 1m Danks slightly lowered his arm angle and that has seemed to make an enormous difference That makes the ball move differently. It'll run in on the hands of a RH more. It will be interesting if he can adjust once the hitters have seen it a few times.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 10:00 PM) Detroit's front office has to be scared to death at that contract. From my untrained eye, he's not throwing hard and he's throwing meat up there quite often. So we add Verlander to the list of a guy signed to a contract and the team almost immediately regretting it? My god, baseball owners are so dumb to pay these long term deals. Doesn't Verlander make something like 24 million a year? He is still throwing hard. It's just now he has to overthrow to get it there and it is straightening out. He used to throw 96 with movement. Now the 96 is straight. He is going to need to learn to throw at 93 with movement and take some of the breaking pitch and change.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 17, 2014 -> 10:07 PM) Several scholars have been arguing for years that the USA and Iran have very good reason to be allies with one another, due in large part to their mutually strong interest in Iraq's stability The enemy of my enemy.............

QUOTE (Middle Buffalo @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 02:19 PM) So places with less freedoms have fewer problems? In general, yes. Less gun violence in England were those laws mostly ban guns is an example. Planes in Isreal haven't been flown into buildings. They have real strict policies and really long wait in the airports due to security. Things like that where certain fredooms are taken away at the price of safety.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jun 13, 2014 -> 11:12 AM) In Chris Sale's 6 home starts other than opening day, the team has averaged 18,600 fans per game. Pretty much all that needs to be said. Personally, I go to the games because 1. I love baseball 2. I'm a fan of the White Sox. I don't go for a single player. I have weekend season tickets but with two kids involved in sports it's difficult to find the time to go.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jun 13, 2014 -> 02:37 PM) I admit it, you got me. Truth is I am not woman enough to take the full beef, I prefer the turkey. I really do. Chicken as well. I can't ALWAYS live the high life I knew it. You are the Turkey Steverson I am the Turkey Walker

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 13, 2014 -> 10:14 AM) The problem is the White Sox fanbase on a whole has more excuses and complaints than any fanbase around. They didn't go supposedly because the seats were the wrong color. So they changed them. Read the guys on WSI and their excuses. Honestly this is true..the video board isn't big enough., the ushers don't smile at them, there isn't enough food options, they changed the song they play in the intro, and these are supposed hard core fans. The other argument was the policy of upper deck ticketholders having no access to the lower deck. They definitely have loosened this on lightly attended games this year, but the WSI guys when it is pointed out on Sundays or for the K-Zone, you now can get a lower deck ticket for $20 or less, then cry the seat location isn't good enough. The White Sox fan will always move the bar. Like you said, 2012 was an example. Winning didn't draw people. Many said they didn't believe in the team and knew they would fade, so much to their relief in late September the team faded and thus apparently showed they didn't deserve the support the entire summer of the White Sox fan. I think the mentality will eventually change. But it is going to take a lot of winning, for a decent period of time. Exactly, look at the attendance after the WS title. It was good for a few years even with teams that didn't make the playoffs. They either need to win from the beginning of the season for a few years or get another WS title to really get decent attendance.

QUOTE (The Mighty Mite @ Jun 13, 2014 -> 10:02 AM) Where were all the bandwagon fans in 2012, we were in first place for 120 days and couldn't even hit the 2 million mark. Attendance has declined on the Southside every year for 6 straight years, first time that has happened in franchise history. In 2012 the Sox still drew more than what they did in the early 2000's before the WS title. By the time it came to the "magic number games" at the end of the season the Sox had started the downward spiral so they didn't get as big of a jump as they could have with having the division lead in the middle of the year. 2013 was the first really bad team in a while. It will take time to recover from that even with winning. However, you will see an increase at the end of the season if they are in it.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 13, 2014 -> 09:39 AM) The attendance has been bad this year, but is anyone surprised? Last year was a terrible year for the organization, and that resulted in a loss of interest in the team by a portion of the fan base. I actually believe this year has been very good so far in terms of generating some excitement towards the organization. It's nice to see that Abreu and Sale jerseys are on sale at sporting goods stores instead of Konerko and Beckham. The Sox have two superstars to promote to their fans right now, and hopefully they add to that core in the next few years. This is true. Remember though this is still a below .500 team. As exciting as fans who follow the team think it is, as a fair weather fan you look and say "it's a losing team, who wants to see that, I'll find something else to do with my limited entertainment dollars" (yes, that's a quote). As someone said earlier, most Sox fans are bandwagon fans. After last year, the numbers won't come back until they are winning and are near a playoff spot. If they are within a few games of the playoffs in August, the attendance will go up. On a side note, I'm going to Colorado this summer. The Last time I went to Colorado in the summer was 2005 so..............

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 09:01 PM) Beer has everything to do with anything and anything to do with everything, and everything to do with everything and anything to do with anything. If Hahn had put a down a couple refreshing Miller High Lifes ™ prior to calling AA (or more realistically, AA calling him) when AA offered the propostion of Matt Tuiassopsopso for several if not many thousands of dollars of cash money, Hahn would have angrily slobbered out something like "f*** you motherf***er you stupid piece of s***!" or something along those lines. As it was he was obviiously drinking that Crappensteiner junk and thought the whole thing was a great idea. I bet his next course of action (after throwing out all of his razors/shaving equipment and resolving to not only grow a massive beard but to buy organic hemp shampoo for it like a total wuss) was to head out to the nearest Nissan dealership to buy a new Nissan Cube ™ to impress all his other heavily-bearded hipster friends he just met at the last Decemberists ™ concert. Next time you see him he'll be in sandals wearing golf pants and he'll be holding his poodle on a leash talking about penguins or some stupid s***. Thats what happens when you drink that crap. I have no idea what you said but it's impressive.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 05:38 PM) That's believable to me. That's the thing about all the hipster beers, they're all sizzle no steak, and people have the strangest habits of rationalizing their purchases. Like I just can't for the life of me understand why someone would want to pay so much for a beer just for the opportunity to talk about drinking said beer with other people who also have nothing interesting to say either. It's probably why these two trades happened, AA & Hahn had nothing to do but jerk off and watch Judge Judy so they get on the phone and start talking about s***ty players and then suddenly Hahn is rationalizing the superficially absurd trade of perfectly good money for 2 s***ty players, and of course AA is all about it too, like "Oh you're gonna love this guy" and blah blah blah. Same thing with the s***ty beer like, "Ooooh, can't you taste the hops? That was brewed in a galvanized bucket behind an old woodshed by a naked man performing a headstand, just as according to custom, and so that's why it's $8 a bottle." Makes no f***in sesne, the beer goes in one hole and comes out another, just get it down and move on to doing whatever you were doing, you're not Sir Isaac Newton you don't need to get sit there and contemplate it, just drink a good beer and that's that. A good honest beer at a tasty price. And if you're Hahn trade for a good honest player at a tasty price, don't just get on the phone with the Blue Jays and have a verbal circle jerk until Captain Waiver Claim convinces your snobby ass that one of his s***ty players is worth giving up perfectly good money for. So yeah I agree with you wite, we're on the same page here. We need to get Hahn some better beer, put his priorities in order before we end up with another one of these guys. It's called taste. That's called Bud. Life is too short to drink crappy beer.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 12:13 PM) Poor guy is Ceranno. Can't hit the curve ball. Jobu needs more Rum.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 11:01 AM) So here is my rant. Do people not realize that in a free society bad things are going to happen? That the whole entire point of freedom is giving people the choice to make good or bad decisions. That is what being part of a free country is. So even if I think I am right, that I have the best answers, everyone else in America is free to disagree. I hate f***ing defeatists and their mindless followers. While I do think there are problems here, this is the best statement about the USA. With freedom comes problems. The more control anyone including the government has over your life, the less freedom you have. People have the freedom to be violent and morons. I don't like it, but they are free to choose.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 08:24 AM) Maybe you can track down Eddy Ramirez (the Olympic speed skater) and he could help with translation out in AZ...? And also a short story on why he chose the White Sox to show proper respect to him. It's a cool story. Austin would be REALLY cool because he could tell us lots of cool stories about Rodon to whet our appetite for the future...maybe some hints about when he might be signing, what team Austin will be starting off with (assuming it's one of the short season teams for a start or two but it could be Kanny since that's where Rodon would go sooner or later before Winston-Salem). Typically, players don't really enjoy being interviewed to talk about other players. He just signed his first pro contract, he is excited about what's gong on in his life. You don't want to put a potential interview for later by irritating him now. I really like the idea of Ramirez. I worked with him when he was in the juniors. He is a fun guy and would probably enjoy doing it, unless he is being overwhelmed from other sources.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jun 12, 2014 -> 09:20 AM) He'll cost about $6m (half of the entire value of the Keppinger contract) and another season of Semien/Sanchez/Johnson/Saladino being forced out of position or stuck in AAA. I'm not saying that logjam has been or will be a problem THIS year, but it probably will next year. And it'll be Gordon free agent year. It's time to s*** or get off the pot with him. I wouldn't trade someone just because you have suspects in the minors waiting. You trade someone because you can get something good for them and the suspects make it more palatable. The caveat being if his contract demands will cause budget problems. Beckham has not played well enough that his salary will be cost prohibitive.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Jun 10, 2014 -> 06:15 PM) I had thought this was one of those common myths. Usually there is that period before the surgery where the arm is getting weaker but it's not as noticeable, so after the surgery the pitcher is back to what he actually was, even if he seems stronger. I'm referring to the replaced ligament being stronger not the strength of the pitcher's muscles.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 10, 2014 -> 08:51 PM) I would bet on pitching, since it's the White Sox and we've had some previous examples like Brian Anderson, Jason Dellaero, Sergio Santos, Brooks Kieschnick, etc. Those were position players who switched, but this kid has mostly been known for his work as an infielder, and "dabbled" with pitching, right? One of the things the Tigers' broadcasting crew said that Don Cooper keyed on with Noesi was his "fast arm action" and that he felt they could work with him, despite that disastrous appearance for the Rangers against the Sox (7 runs). So I'm just guessing...but there must be something about his arm action/mechanics/repeatability they really liked when they scouted him. We have more than enough infielders at the moment, anyway. Picked up by the Chicago White Sox a month later and signed to a minor league deal, Kieschnick then radically changed his career approach. Up to this point, Kieschnick had pitched in exactly two minor league games in his career—both token relief appearances in blowout games, one in 1999 and one in 2001. Nevertheless, in the 2002 season Kieschnick switched his primary focus to pitching, hoping to better his chances of making a major league roster as a pitcher who was also a versatile utility player. He ended up spending the entire 2002 season in the minor leagues with the triple-A Charlotte Knights, appearing in 25 games as a relief pitcher, 1 as an outfielder and over 40 as either a pinch-hitter or DH.[2][15] He finished the season batting .275 with 13 home huns in just 189 at bats; as a pitcher, he was 0-1 with a 2.59 ERA in just over 31 innings pitched. He was then signed by the Milwaukee Brewers before the 2003 season...and played the most versatile super utility role of all for 2 seasons, both pitching and hitting. I believe RH said he was a draft for his defensive abilities.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jun 10, 2014 -> 06:01 PM) Why would you say that? De Oca had 2 TJ surgeries and he just got out of high school. Rodon is a college player who has never had the procedure. How are they even remotely close? Also Coop likes Rodon so I'm assuming there's not some serious or at least unfixable mechanical issues there. I only read about one surgery. Even so, once the ligament is replaced it is stronger than the original, so theoretically less likely to happen again. Of course, it could. Rodon has all the earmarks of possible arm trouble. Over use prior to the pros, high velocity thrower, reliance on breaking pitches. All of these may lead to injury. He may also be able to handle it. All in all, I would not say that either will have a greater chance for injury.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jun 10, 2014 -> 05:50 PM) I have no problem with signing the guy, in fact I hope we do, and whatever bonus money we have left, we might as well use it all. However I think it's pretty short sighted at best to play hardball with Rodon over some 14th round kid that's probably going to shred his arm before he sees the Major Leagues. In a perfect world we get Rodon in here quickly, Danks and so on rub off on him, and he ditches Borass before the extension talks kick in. Show the kid his respect and get the deal done. The Astros set the bar with Aiken, nobody else is getting more than him, so give Rodon a tick above Aiken, tell him he's the best, then put a uniform on him and send him out there to earn it. And forget about De Oca, if there's money left and he'll take it, great, if not, oh well. Rodon is as likely to injure his arm as the other guy so you may as well attempt to get both. Whose to say Boras won't ask for more than Aiken as he accepted a deal for well under slot.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jun 10, 2014 -> 02:15 PM) I'm not sure about that. You sure? MLB time goes by days on the active roster, I'm not sure there are any freebies. I think the rule there is playoff eligibility, i.e. you can't play in the playoffs unless you are on the roster by Aug 31. Someone on here probably knows the rules of service time better but I'm pretty sure Sept call ups do not get service time. Maybe it's they don't use an option against them.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jun 10, 2014 -> 02:05 PM) I think it's $6.6 - 6.7M. Sox cap it around there & say "Okay we'll pay you as the best player in the draft, now sign & if you do well you'll see the bigs this year and start your clock." And that will be too good to pass up, because taking it all the way to the deadline makes it harder to get more than a couple MLB appearances before the end of the year. As it is, he signs quick, maybe he's here Sept. 1 after rosters expand. That's a whole month plus probably of MLB time & experience. It's possible it will be that high but I don't think it will be quite there. He would need to be called up before Sept 1. to get the arb clock moving. This would be what may entice Boras to sign at a lower number.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Jun 10, 2014 -> 02:00 PM) No doubt, but I think we're more worried about Rodon's demands than we should be. Offer him the Sale fast track, remind him that he could wind up with a team that's in an extended rebuild or a small market that will play arb-clock games, delaying his richness by two years OR MORE, on top of the obvious injury risks. Then shut up, sit back, and dare Boras to give the dumbest advice any agent ever gave. We should get him at slot or very slightly above, if that's what it takes for them to feel like they "won" the negotiation. I don't think that will happen. I'm guessing close to the 6.5 million that Aiken got, Maybe 6.25-6.3

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 10, 2014 -> 07:25 AM) I wonder how many tens of millions more they needed to throw at Tanaka for this board to stop saying this bs I don't think it's BS. They were willing to spend that money on a potential #1 starter. I don't think they would have gone too far with a good first baseman who many people had many questions about. They aren't the same player or situations.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 9, 2014 -> 04:56 PM) Dan Hayes ‏@DanHayesCSN 3m Matt Lindstrom's cast came off today, stitches out. He's here w/ team. Happy to rejoin them. Said team target is 9/1, his a little faster. 2 1/2 more months. That's about right on schedule.