chitownsportsfan

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.

QUOTE (ron883 @ Aug 21, 2014 -> 10:39 PM) I think this dude is prime time. At every level he has posted a good OBP, good walk rate, strikeout rate, and above average slugging% for his position. The guy can be an allstar in my mind. I can see him putting up a great OBP in the future. Everything about the guy is good. I'm disappointed they brought up Sanchez instead of him. This probably didn't need its own thread but I will take the bait: I don't think anyone is "sleeping on him". I think most on this board would have preferred him to Sanchez at the moment. He is probably being held back at least partially by Super 2 concerns. Someone with expert knowledge of the CBA and his service time could probably clarify that point.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Aug 21, 2014 -> 10:34 PM) Gordon started out way better than BA ever did. Like was mentioned earlier - he has talent. However, we gave him every chance to realize it. Even if he becomes a Hall of Famer, the Sox gave him every opportunity to succeed and are not wrong to cut ties. what talent does beckham have? He has one tool at the MLB level -- arm. That's it. No power, no average, no OBP, not much speed or natural baserunning ablity and not much range in the field either. I guess you could say he has soft hands but that doesn't do him much good on balls he doesn't get to. He was never that high of an upside guy in retrospect -- he was a player that matured early physically and despite all pre draft indications -- he does not have a MLB level mental makeup. He's tinkered his swing into utility infielder levels. People are saying he has talent based on what, (not saying you are) his 1st round pick status? His 200 fluke PA his rookie year? Hawk Harrelson's mancrush?

QUOTE (Andy the Clown @ Aug 21, 2014 -> 10:28 PM) I agree. Semien's pitch recognition skills are superb, yet the "athletes" are rated more highly by the organization. Typical Sox. I could be wrong but I think that Semian is very close to super 2 status. This move could have something to do with that, maybe everything to do with it.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Aug 21, 2014 -> 08:23 PM) Semien has a better OBP and better OPS than Sanchez this (and every) year. Yea I'm not really sure what they are doing with Marcus it's not ideal IMO. I don't trust their evaluation of position players. At all.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Aug 21, 2014 -> 07:58 PM) Those people are just sad, I'm sorry, its embarrassing. I know every fan base has those fans but ugh. Go figure they are all clean cut white guys they are pining for...if only the Sox could field a 100 win team on the cut of the jib.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Aug 21, 2014 -> 06:00 PM) You just don't get it, he's a good not great defender at 2B that can't hit. That's not very valuable, especially not for +$5M. No kidding. HE'S AWFUL. Anyone holding onto the "1st round draft pick" has lost touch with reality. The Sox did a very good job to get ANYTHING for him. And, most importantly, they have freed up a 30 game look at Sanchez.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Aug 21, 2014 -> 06:32 PM) Scott Merkin ‏@scottmerkin 4m Micah Johnson, your big league future is coming very soon So he doesn't know they just shut him down for the year with a hamstring? If anything, it's Sanchez's job to lose coming into spring. Looks like they don't see Marcus as an everyday infielder at this point. WTF has Johnson done to justify the hype? He stole a bunch of bases in A ball? From all reports his defense is shaky at best and his batting stats don't shout "certain MLB starter" far from it, they suggest "needs more time in the minors". edit: not saying Micah shouldn't be a rated prospect but the idea that he is somehow locked in to a MLB job in '15 is ludicrous. Look at his struggles in AAA.

YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 21, 2014 -> 01:18 PM) He only signed a 1 year deal with a club option for year 2. The buy out is $250k. He's not coming back. Thanks for that info.

Paulino is just going to get DFA right? Are they really going to keep him around? If he has any sort of shot to get his career jump started it would be with Cooper as a non roster invite next spring IMO.

Just doing a quick rundown of the expected 2014 lineup with no changes Star: Abreu Eaton (assume for argument sake he plays 140 games next year) Garcia (assume he takes next step forward. He looks good. Projection systems and scouts really love him, I think there is a reason why. He can makes the game look easy at times, eg that sliding play tonight and hr) Solid Starter: Conor (needs a platoon partner but mashes 2/3 of the starters in MLB, aka righties) Ramirez (aging, but still solid, obviously is trade bait) Adequate starter: Flowers (hey, the bar at catcher is low, the defensive metrics like him and so do Cooper and Hahn, that's enough for me) De Aza (is going to finish around 1 fWAR although is trending downhill, again, trade bait) Gaping Holes: Beckham (his wRC+ is currently 62. He'd have to be Ozzie Smith to carry that bat, and he ain't even half that. There are other players (Marcus Semian hello) cheaper and probably better on the 40 man) Viciedo (his time in Chicago is numbered, clearly out of favor against RHP when team is healthy the only way he comes back is as a part time platoon DH/OF and even then he's a marginal roster spot at median case) Dunn/DH (should be easy to fill but DH has dogged the Sox for awhile now.) I trust the Sox to find better pitching assuming they spend some money. As for the position players they are going to need some luck and some positive influxes from home grown youth in order to fill out the every day lineup. The good news is that a lot of surplus value stars like Jose, Q, Sale and Eaton are already on the team. They have the stars. Now they need some scrubs, and better ones than Beckham and Carroll and pretty much anyone everyone in the pen.

QUOTE (peavy44 @ Aug 20, 2014 -> 11:28 PM) They need pitching. They don't need replacement level pitching at 4th starter cost. I know nothing of the Angels but surely they can do better than John Danks. There are literally dozens of guys available to them that would make more sense just because it doesn't require a 20+ million dollar commitment. If the Sox want to pick up 10 million it's hardly even worth it imo. Just see if he can rebound at all if that's the price to offload him.

QUOTE (peavy44 @ Aug 20, 2014 -> 10:24 PM) Garrett richards just got injured for the angels tonight would they be interested in john Danks. no offense to John, who had a tough injury, but that's like totaling your brand new Mercedes sedan and replacing it with a '94 Ford Aerostar. As others have said, John's already passed waivers, I doubt anyone is interested in the guy with the worst peripherals in MLB among qualified starters and an ERA, in a deadball era, over 4.5 as well.

Damn the ball sure does fly out of the Cell. That was a high fly ball that lands at the warning track in April.

QUOTE (Andy the Clown @ Aug 20, 2014 -> 07:51 PM) If Edwin were a white guy from the South, Hawk would be licking his nuts. I'd like to see him say the same thing about Gordo, who was a top 10 pick himself and way more of a headcase than Jackson. At least Jackson has had a solid career, Beckham hasn't done s***.

Noesi def deserves to enter next year with a spot in the rotation. He'd be a great 5th starter and an OK 4th starter. Need to find that 3rd.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 20, 2014 -> 07:39 PM) What did he say? He was "not going to name names" but "we had a guy here that had great talent but was over thinking, was 30 seconds between a pitch" and "cooper couldn't get through to him so we traded him". I'm paraphrasing but that is an accurate summary of what he said.

QUOTE (Bigsoxhurt35 @ Aug 20, 2014 -> 07:33 PM) Am I crazy if I'm fine with Rodon and Noesi as 4&5 for '15? You're crazy if you think Danks is the 3 in that scenario. I can easily see Rodon and Noesi as 4,5 however.

Come on Hawk it's obviously Edwin Jackson. Stop bad mouthing guys it's not a good look.

QUOTE (Bigsoxhurt35 @ Aug 20, 2014 -> 07:35 PM) @ChiTribKane: Avisail Garcia showing off that well-practiced slide in the outfield near the right-field line. There are guys that could train their whole career and not make it look that easy. Kid has immense natural ability. Now, if his power tool develops look out.