Dam8610

Buy Cespedes and Ramos, win a world championship while the other side of town "waits til next year" yet again.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Sep 28, 2016 -> 11:30 PM) A change should be made because it is due, hell it's past due but Robin never had the horses to be in the race. Didn't the division champs lose practically half their team? That's the problem I have with that argument.

QUOTE (soxforlife05 @ Sep 28, 2016 -> 05:16 PM) This team is the biggest laughingstock in ALL of sports right now. We have now surpassed the Cleveland Browns. The only sports team that could possibly surpass the Browns as a laughingstock in sports is the Jacksonville Jaguars.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Sep 23, 2016 -> 03:07 PM) 1) I don't really know, I'm just trying to respond to others' arguments which seem to imply that at least a top 10 OBP is necessary. what tier of OBP do you think is necessary to have a better chance of getting it the playoffs? Don't some top tier OBP teams also have excellent pitching (I.E. Cubs)? 2) I added their hits, walks and HBP up and divided by at bats, walks, hbp and sf. 3) fine. What OBP would the team have to have to have significantly improved chance at the playoffs, and given the OBP of the five players listed, what 2B/OF/C/DH combo gets you the OBP you need to improve to that mark? I've been saying "buy Cespedes and Ramos or sell" since about June, so...something along those lines.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Sep 23, 2016 -> 01:00 PM) No, what southside posted was the OBP has a bigger correlation to winning than home runs do, but he posted that without really taking into account something like park factor. I would argue that in the Cell, home runs play a bigger factor than they do in other parks, and when you look at the success of the Giants and the Royals, the reason they win was because they designed their team for their stadium. Other teams can't win when they go in and try to hit home runs, so if they get a bunch of doubles and triples hitters and use speed and pitching to their advantage, they're going to come up aces a lot of the time. I'm really not sure I'd look at the failing careers of Adam Dunn and Adam LaRoche and categorically write off the idea of going out and acquiring guys who hit for power, but if that's your take on it, good work, I suppose. So... if we accept the OBP argument, I'll ask the question I asked upthread and didn't get an answer to: If we are moving forward offensively with Abreu/Anderson/Cabrera/Frazier/Eaton and their OBP is an average of .327 (which would be 8th in MLB in OBP) and if a top OBP team is required to compete and a top five OBP percentage is north of .328 - what combination of 2B/OF/DH/C in 2017 that fits into our payroll and takes into account available players is going to get you an AVERAGE OBP of .328+ from those four positions? If the answer is "the White Sox are just f***ed" then why aren't we dumping EVERYONE and starting over? To the bolded portion, I have the following points: 1) Why would a top 8 OBP team not be good enough to win, especially with a dominant pitching staff? Why is the arbitrary Top 5 OBP team that you picked necessary? 2) Please explain how you calculate the average you list above. 3) I find your presentation method a bit dishonest. Yes, a .327 OBP would be 8th in MLB, however, you neglect to mention that a .330 OBP, just 3 tenths of a percentage point higher, would give the vaunted top 5 OBP offense which you seek. Which, again, leads me back to point 1.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Sep 23, 2016 -> 09:49 AM) The Sox are 18th in the MLB in K% this year and were 18th last year. They actually strike out less often than average, but that clearly hasn't helped. The bottom 5 walk rate they've had (haven't had a walk rate in the top 20 since 2009) is far more concerning. Of the top 5 offenses in the AL in terms of runs scored, 4 strike out less than the White Sox, and the 5th leads the AL in walk rate by nearly a full percentage point. Walking is definitely important, and is something that can be helped by not striking out.

I think the problem with the offense is, as has been stated, striking out too much. This team does not seem to value not giving up outs. Not striking out means forcing the opposing defense to make a play to get an out. Considering that a given player's defensive value is typically increased by not screwing up, there is value to putting the ball in play. By striking out, an offense is limiting the amount of times that the opposing defense must make a play to record an out, thereby limiting the number of times they will screw up. Not striking out puts pressure on the other team and gives your offense more opportunities to score runs. This is a skill the White Sox should value more than they currently do, including teaching it throughout the system.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Sep 20, 2016 -> 07:03 PM) I just now heard the story from the Philadelphia announcer. Now I wonder what the kid's Visa status is/will be for next season. I hope he can stay here. I believe a child who has a parent with a visa is automatically granted one in the same category as long as they are a minor.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Sep 16, 2016 -> 04:17 PM) If the penalty is really 30 days in September, well, that's no penalty...it's an incentive to cheat. I see Rob Manfred attended the Roger Goodell Institute for Appropriate Discipline in Professional Sports.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 16, 2016 -> 09:21 AM) 7th inning is still the key. KC spent $12.5 million alone on this spot in the pen (passed on Madson returning) and it ended up crippling their team because they made the wrong choice in Soria. And, looking at his 2015 statistics, there weren't many obvious tells that he would help sink their season when Davis went down. Not to mention all the time he spent in his first stint there, you couldn't know a player any better. It's like the time KW overspent on Linebrink and Dotel in reaction to the disastrous 2007 pen. If they truly believe Putnam and Petricka can get the job done....great, but they're definitely rolling the dice going in-house. Ventura lost his trust in Putnam last year, his stuff isn't all that overwhelming as he relies more on movement and keeping that splitter down in the zone. Same with Petricka, he was going backwards with Robin. Theoretically, there will be a new manager with a fresh start for everyone. Why do you bring up the Royals so much? I'm honestly curious, since this is a White Sox board, but in nearly every post you make, you're either comparing the White Sox to the Royals or bringing up the Royals in some other way. Why?

If there actually is a rule against what they did, then this is SpyGate level bad and they should be sanctioned heavily.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Sep 14, 2016 -> 04:09 PM) It probably is pretty taxing but to be fair I can't think of a pitcher who is/was a good enough hitter to make trying this worthwhile. Even a guy like Bumgarner would be a pretty s***ty DH. There was talk of Bryce Harper being talented enough to pitch and catch when he was drafted #1 overall, but that may have just been hype.

Hard to argue against it.

Is starting every 5th day and DHing otherwise considered too taxing? I'm guessing it must be considering no one has done it yet. It would be interesting to see if this guy could pull it off.

QUOTE (3GamesToLove @ Sep 14, 2016 -> 11:37 AM) So we get 162 home games. Nice. That means no Hawk! Nope, only 161 home games. The season finale on October 1 is in Cleveland.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 11, 2016 -> 02:11 PM) Then you better be planning to also have the best pitching staff in the league, including a top flight rotation and top flight bullpen and strong defense. Because a "top 5" pitching staff wouldn't have put that team in the playoffs, it took a top 1 rotation. In an era with higher offense, that team put up a 3.61 ERA. The best ERA in the AL this year is 3.80. There's no rotation in the AL right now dominating like that one did. Put a rotation out there that good and you're fine with an acceptable offense. In 2016, the "5th starter", which I am defining as any starter that is not Sale, Quintana, Rodon, or Gonzalez, has pitched 219.1 innings and has a 6.93 ERA. The 4 starters mentioned above have combined to pitch 635 innings with a combined 3.37 ERA. They seem to be a lot closer than you think to having the type of pitching staff needed. Just add a semi competent 5th starter and a bullpen that isn't a gas can with matches (which really seems to be somewhat of a crap shoot from year to year), and you'll have that requisite dominant rotation, especially if Rodon takes a step forward and Gonzalez doesn't regress horribly.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxLifer @ Sep 9, 2016 -> 07:12 PM) but sources now say they knew by the last day or two their price of five prime prospects or young players would not be met, and Sale would stay. Well at least they had the price right.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxLifer @ Sep 9, 2016 -> 07:12 PM) but sources now say they knew by the last day or two their price of five prime prospects or young players would not be met, and Sale would stay. Well at least they had the price right.

QUOTE (gosoxgo2005 @ Sep 10, 2016 -> 09:16 AM) Question what does "hire a good manager" mean? It's not like they are gonna pluck Joe Madden from the Cubs. Who's a "good manager" that they can go out and hire? Also, RV's contract is up this year, so no firing would be necessary Valid points. I'm sure Joe Maddon isn't the only good manager on the planet, and I'm not necessarily looking for them to hire a proven track record. Seeing them go through a process where they interview people and choose the best candidate rather than begging someone out of retirement that doesn't even really want to be there would make me think that maybe they've actually found someone who wants the job and can do well at it.

Well, since you asked: 1) Fire Robin Ventura. 2) Hire a good manager. 3) Sign Yoenis Cespedes. 4) Sign Wilson Ramos. 5) Sign a 5th Starter (Iwakuma, Fister, Hellickson, Nova look like decent options). 6) Trade for Puig if the Dodgers truly are giving him away. Before anyone goes off about "this is unrealistic", remember that the thread title is "What should the Sox do this winter?" This is what I think they should do this winter, and sadly is in no way reflective of what I think they will do this winter.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 9, 2016 -> 08:42 AM) The regular season just finished last night for the last White Sox affiliate (Great Falls, who begin their playoffs tonight). So it's time for the final 2016 Prospects of the Month awards! Who among these late season performers are you most excited about going into 2017? Hard not to be excited about Alec Hansen the way he performed this season. Really, almost all of the 2016 draft class gave us a lot of reason for hope and excitement going into 2017.

QUOTE (maxjusttyped @ Sep 4, 2016 -> 12:22 AM) I'd rather see Fulmer get shut down when the AAA season ends, then start back in Charlotte next year. I don't think he's ready for the majors, yet. But it's nice to see him pitching well. Sure, but are the White Sox going to do that? I doubt it very much.

http://mlbfarm.com/index.php?team=CWS Fulmer and Adams with strong starts. Fulmer looks ready to supplant Shields rotation spot if he can pitch like he has his last 2 starts.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Sep 1, 2016 -> 07:32 AM) A Puig Cespedes Eaton outfield would be really good imo. Move Melky to DH RF Eaton SS Anderson CF Cespedes 1B Abreu DH Cabrera 3B Frazier RF Puig 2B Lawrie C ? Tell me that's not a good lineup lol Who plays LF? You have Puig and Eaton in RF.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Aug 30, 2016 -> 11:47 PM) I expect the Dodgers to pull him back and make him available again this winter. A trade for Puig and sign Cespedes will get me all hyped lol. Although, I'd rather see a rebuild. You'd have to also sign Ramos to be looking at a team that would be likely to make the playoffs, but that's a team I think I'd be excited about, too, especially since I don't particularly want them to trade Sale or Q, I think Rodon could take the step forward we were hoping for this year to an elite pitcher, so then the 4 and 5 rotation spots and bullpen just need to be solidified so that they're not a dumpster fire that would take all the positive value away from the rest of the club.