chitownsportsfan

QUOTE (Jake @ Mar 19, 2015 -> 12:15 AM) I think you shortchange Sanchez a bit. I would not put him in with Bonifacio and Beckham as you do, calling them "known commodities." This works both for and against Sanchez. If Sanchez is anything like the (younger-than-Johnson) guy he was last year in AAA, which seems to be ruled out as an impossibility by most, he'd be an excellent choice at 2B and would never get pushed off the spot except to (possibly) move to SS. There's intriguing upside with Sanchez and, more importantly, a fair amount of mystery. More nit-picky, I think Johnson having "far more speed" than Sanchez is probably a stretch. Maybe not literally so much as the extent to which it makes for a meaningful difference between these two players. I'm also inclined to believe that Sanchez is such a far superior defender to Johnson that this aspect is not being adequately considered, but I'll admit to seeing very little of Johnson's D. More generally, I'm concerned about Johnson's poor production in AAA and his general up-and-down production that is typically only "up" when his age compares favorably with his competition. I also think that a bad run in MLB is not harmless, but rather that a stretch of really poor play in MLB can really hurt a player's development and confidence. Likewise, even if the bad play doesn't do it, the demotion can do it. Sanchez has nothing to prove in MiLB so I don't see a great reason to protect him from MLB failure at this juncture. great post. the last paragraph is spot on.

You can go ahead and ink in Soto for the backup spot barring an injury: "Obviously, Soto [.318) has swung the bat well, the pitchers are enjoying throwing to him and how he’s calling the game,” general manager Rick Hahn said Wednesday. Seems my fears about his arm and it pissing off the staff are overblown. Honestly I think Flowers has to be feeling some heat, especially given Hahn's comments today after the game. It's a "hey, you're the starter, but that can change" message and I'm all for it. Soto is no great shakes, but neither is Tyler. If the Sox can catch some lighting in a bottle, excellent.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Mar 18, 2015 -> 08:54 PM) Good for Nieto and Trayce. Hawkins must be doing something right he's still around. I wonder if they want an extended look before they assign him to high A or AA. Personally I'd start him in high A he's still young for AA and he'll be in Birmingham by July unless he totally falls back anyways.

someone explain to my why on God's green earth we had a pitcher batting in spring training????????????????????????

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Mar 18, 2015 -> 04:28 PM) Quintana is batting? What? Why? yea WTF

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 18, 2015 -> 04:48 PM) Phil Rogers ‏@philgrogers 1h1 hour ago #WhiteSox decision to send Adrian Nieto to minors is a good thing for Nieto. He impressed as Tyler Flowers' backup but needs to play. another "no duh" Rogers moment. Nieto should be thanking his lucky stars every single day he was a rule 5 pick. Not only did he get a year service time, big league p**** for a year and all the perks he also got a year of MLB quality instruction as the backstop. I don't know if Nieto will ever pan out but he held his own last year and if he cleans up his receiving he could easily have a 10 year career as a backup catcher. Not sure he'll ever hit enough to be a regular.

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 18, 2015 -> 02:39 PM) I think Thompson should feel thrilled. He almost certainly showed off a major league asset in his defense and some nice hitting. His confidence should be high after some meh last few years. Yea he showed well. He puts together something like 270/330/470 for a couple months in AAA he could find himself up in July and in a pennant race.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 18, 2015 -> 11:53 AM) At this point i wouldnt be terribly surprised if Soto broke camp as the starter. Flowers is batting a robust .105 No way they do that. Soto appears to have problems receiving and from every indication the Sox' first priority in a catcher is "don't piss off the staff". Can you imagine Sale the first time Soto throws the ball into CF or misses an easy block? Same thing for Shark and all the staff.

They must really like nieto.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 13, 2015 -> 02:56 AM) This is good stuff. I love the hardball times. cFIP makes sense, it's not perfect but it's better than FIP it seems.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 18, 2015 -> 12:22 AM) there were other options avail. options that were and will be backup next yr. as i said, i do want to bash the owners nor beckham, but this loyalty things the owner has to a little too much sometimes. oh I agree in my world Paulie would have retired after a symbolic first AB last year or something like that. It's annoying. I'm a bulls fan as well, yea it's annoying.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 09:11 PM) let me also say, i am not trying to ugly here and bash Gordo or the owners group. but sometime i am wondering if the owners group are fully aware how fragile this team is without full backup options. i mean not playing favorites or looking for the right deal. this team is so freaking close. Of course they are but what are you going to do? Nobody that's talented enough to be a starter is going to sign to be a backup, and a s***ty backup like Beckham costs 2 million. Other than the Dodgers and Nationals and maybe the Mariners or Red Sox there isn't a single team that could survive injuries to say 2 of their top 5 players. Yea the Sox need Sale and Jose and Eaton and so on to say healthy -- but so do the vast majority of teams. Nobody really has a great bench, otherwise those guys wouldn't be on the bench. Occasionally you get super teams but not very often anymore. I'd be shocked if anyone in the AL won over 95 games and I think 88 will take the 2nd wildcard. edit: they should have signed rickie weeks instead of Gordo, but Gordo has a history here and the Sox are loyal beyond belief.

I'm going to go ahead and throw this out there: would the team be better served with a purely defensive 4th OF -- aka Thompson? Yea you'd like to get him more AB in AAA and see if a breakthrough happens but on the other hand -- he's clearly the best defensive CF outside of Eaton in camp.

Hell let Thompson stick around another couple weeks and see what happens. Let him battle for a spot. His defense is an asset now at MLB level.

hang whifff'em for Garcia. another bullet, this time right at Miller however.

LaRoche looking good. Anderson running for Jose scores easily.

Jesus ackley showing serious oppo power. Not a bad pitch from Montas.

Montas in throwing gas.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 04:35 PM) Surkamp isn't making this team Thank god they have more options this year.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 04:28 PM) I think the better pitching attacks him realizing he has a tough time with fastballs. I don't think it is a lack of patience, I think they are comimg after him and he can't do much about it for the most part. I doubt when he was successful in the minors, the pitchers had the same plan. Yea no doubt. Why nibble? Yea he's got some power, he also has a long ass swing.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 04:18 PM) I think he did lol he'd be the perfect Brady Andersen type, someone slip him some juice.

Conor hit the weight room bro.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 04:09 PM) "At best" he's better than a 1 WAR catcher since he just eclipsed that and has done it before without the high BABIP. What about his .261 BABIP in 2013 when he played hurt all year? That was the only major league season where he really wasn't worth anything. ZiPS likes him the most at a 95 wRC+ and 1.5 WAR, Steamer likes him the least with a 75 wRC+ and 0.7 WAR, and everything else is in between. I'd say "most likely" he's a 1 WAR catcher and we can live with that. Fair enough. Good catchers are hard to find. Having a guy that is proven 1 WAR catcher isn't the end of the world but I just feel Flowers has zero margin for error. If he doesn't have a BABIP of .300 or higher he's going to slash 190/230/340. Plus, aesthetically, like Rock said, the guy is hard to watch.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 04:03 PM) He had a pitch his first at bat he should have crushed too. 20 days Yep you'll see I mentioned it his last AB as well. Oh well, fake games.

wow I thought Jose was going to hit that a mile. Hanging breaking ball popped up, too bad.