chitownsportsfan

QUOTE (shysocks @ Aug 22, 2014 -> 09:35 PM) Home plate ump has taken two walks away from Dunn now. Despite Hawk's claim, he has not had a good game back there. Yea kinda was harsh on Dunn with my post. He should have had a walk.

Sigh, if only Dunn was gone as well.

Solid contact, right at him though.

LMAO, Michael Kay: "that what he specializes in, the double play". Uh, pretty sure he specializes in gasoline throwing and match play.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 22, 2014 -> 09:23 PM) This duo should be present at the draft next year when the Sox have a top 10 pick. Yea, I was just thinking "I'd rather see Rodon right now then Belly"

John Danks to Bellasario, out of the fire and into the frying pan.

QUOTE (Bigsoxhurt35 @ Aug 22, 2014 -> 09:19 PM) @ChuckGarfien: Don't ask me to explain the home plate obstruction rule. They might as well put a swimming pool at home plate and let runners jump into it. The Diamondbacks won't let anyone in!

what a stupid decision. Maybe we'll get a gift run on blocking the plate.

That ball is 3 inches outside, what a joke

Nice read by Avi on that ball. Of course, after mostly Viciedo out there this summer even a semi-competent defender looks like a young Barry Bonds in RF.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Aug 22, 2014 -> 07:17 PM) Prado 2 run HR 3-2 Sox You could make a lot of money in vegas if you knew the next time a John Danks start wouldn't feature at least 1 HR.

Sanchez showing what he can do, I like it. Avi put a charge into it maybe next year with a bit more flexibility and bat speed he hits that one out.

YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOARD, YES!

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Aug 22, 2014 -> 07:16 PM) Hawk said GB biggest problem after rookie year was he overanalyzed everything. Yep, he's a headcase.

Looking forward to the next month should be fun to watch some of the youngsters and Eaton will be back late next week as well.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 22, 2014 -> 01:51 PM) Also mentioned that they are expecting to bring in some salaries over the winter, thought it could be through a trade where they bring a contract "with some cash on it" or through free agency. Good, trade for McCann or even Kemp. If the Yanks for Dodgers want to throw in 20-30 million it's a no brainer imo, there isn't any talent in the minors MLB ready in the OF or C, they are going to have to get creative.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 21, 2014 -> 10:52 PM) I really would like Johnson to start next season in AAA, as I don't think he's nearly ready for the majors yet. I agree with a lot of the posts in this thread that suggest Semien is the best of the bunch. With that said, I'm excited to see if Sanchez can make a case to start at 2nd next year. When the rosters expand, they better not continue to play Alexei every single day. I think they will to pump up his trade value. Ramirez has and is going to have a good year. This will be back to back years around 3 fWAR and 3 bWAR. Pretty much everyone, saber guys, scouting guys, casual fans, like Alexei and there's no doubt why -- he's a talented player. He should command a pretty good return in any trade. The risk is holding onto him too long or not long enough. Tough call but if Hahn gets bowled over obviously make the deal Ramirez is great but father time is undefeated.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Aug 21, 2014 -> 10:51 PM) For those talking about how we had a chance to see Semien earlier this year, let's not ignore the fact that he only had 142 PAs in AAA prior to his brief major league stint. Clearly he wasn't ready for the majors and was only up due to Beckham's injury. Drawing too many conclusions from those limited at-bats is quite short-sighted IMO. Good point and his play in AAA has been solid. He does combine tantalizing OBP skills with a bit of speed, contact and pop at potentially multiple positions. If anything, his holding his own for a bit in MLB at the start is a point in his favor long term. He reminds me of the guy I trade for in OOTP that has the potential to be a 3-5 WAR stud all over the diamond but almost inevitably proves he can only play 1 or 2 positions and hit for around a OPS of 730. Not a bad player, but not a star either.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 21, 2013 -> 11:40 PM) All the Semien fans are up in arms over Sanchez getting called up and Merkin saying Johnson is the future at 2B are forgetting the Sox saw Semien as a 3B. Sanchez is not the answer. If he can't make contact against AAA trash, his destiny is determined, not to mention he is not a good defensive player. I changed two things.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Aug 21, 2014 -> 11:12 PM) No idea what this board's love affair with Gillaspie is....he's a fine UTL guy to have off of the bench, but no idea why anybody thinks he's a long term solution for this team. I fully expect him to be replaced by the time we are serious contenders. May or may not be by Davidson, but he's below average in the field, average at best speed and has little to no power. And then there's his wildly unrealistic to repeat .350 BABIP this year....again, Davidson may not be the answer, but other options should definitely be explored. Same with 2b and DH Well he's youngish, cost controlled (aka cheap) and has a wRC+ of 142 against RHP and 116 for his career. His defense is cromulent if not ideal and baserunning? How many 3B can run? Anyways, he's a pretty nice asset. He needs a platoon partner but it's the easier (righty) side to fill. Hell, it could be davidson next june.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 21, 2014 -> 08:27 PM) If any move that the Sox made to start this season has been proven to be 100% correct it was having Conor Gillaspie at the starting 3B and sending Davidson to Charotte. yea lol, jeez.

QUOTE (flavum @ Aug 21, 2014 -> 11:15 PM) Hahn on the Score at 8:30 tomorrow morning. too bad that's 6:30 am on the west coast, no doubt sox talk will fill us west coasters in.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Aug 21, 2014 -> 11:26 PM) How's about a left-handed platoon mate? I'd like to see them stash Nieto in AAA next year and try and find a guy to compete with Tyler for the starting job. There is no way he should come into next spring the de facto starter but I'd have no problems with him winning the job over another cheapish, 1-2 WAR type. They might have to get creative but I wouldn't even mind taking a flier on McCann. They have money to spend, that might be the best way. I trust Hahn more the KW to take on big salary responsibly. We'll see if Hahn can get creative when the Sox are near contention with end of the roster type stuff that was KW's strong suit.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Aug 21, 2014 -> 11:06 PM) The comp I keep coming back to for Semien is Ben Zobrist. Zobrist is basically a .270-.280 type hitter who gets on base around .360-.370 and is a 20 HR bat playing all over the infield. Ok, well, that's nice and all but there's only one Ben Zobrist and it ain't Marcus Semian. Semian hasn't even proven he can play 3B competently let alone 6 or 7 positions. Let alone sustain a 275 type average. His problem in April and early May was getting too deep into counts for the sake of getting deep into counts. It's one thing to be Jose Abreu or Mike Trout and do that (with the strikeouts) but if you don't have elite pitch recognition skills and hand eye ability you're not going to be very successful doing that. Adam Dunn is a good example of that idea in the extreme. But Marcus has good speed, scouts say what, like 55 or 60? So he should be able to sustain a high BABIP and help drive his average. But he's gonna have to take the bat off his shoulders a bit more. And oh yea, stop making a lot of errors. He's a good prospect with a lot to like imo but it's hardly a given he's even a solid starter let alone a borderline superstar like Zobrist.

QUOTE (Señor Ding-Dong @ Aug 21, 2014 -> 10:45 PM) I don't think it's fair to label Sanchez as merely a utility guy. The utility label could just as easily be applied to Semien. Sanchez is young, had a good bounce back season in AAA, and showed by far the most pop of his career. Perhaps there's more power potential there than initially thought; his body is filling out now afterall. I think he can be an above average starter at 2B and perhaps average at SS. Not to discount Semien at all, but we got a look at him earlier in the season. Now let's see what Sanchez has before they battle it out in ST. Besides, Semien will be up in a little over a week anyway. Yes, he's still one of the youngest players in AAA at 22 and he's putting up an OPS+ of 110 with solid defense. I think he's almost criminally under rated as a prospect because (Rick Hahn voice) progress isn't always linear and he took a step back before taking a big step forward this year.