chitownsportsfan

QUOTE (LDF @ Jan 27, 2015 -> 09:47 PM) it is getting the car that will be a problem. not old enough to rent or can't drive?

not sure if this will work: play around with hotwire man, plenty of s*** out there, I guessed pretty well: http://www.hotwire.com/hotel/results?searc...=1&sn=sn3_5

QUOTE (LDF @ Jan 27, 2015 -> 09:38 PM) that was some of the things i wanted to ask. how are the hotels and it appears as a car is needed. You def want a car. as for hotels it's not that expensive. Check hotwire you can probably find a place for around $100 a night that's pretty decent, like a Marriott or thereabouts. You could go even cheaper and be fine. I stayed at a place the first two nights I was there (rest of trip was with a friend so that was nice) for like $50 a night that was OK. Even the s***ty hotels usually have a pool down there, land is cheap. I did it on like a $500 dollar budget not including airfare

Spring Training is a lot of fun. Especially if you are coming from a colder climate. I was there for the opener last year, 2nd game got rained out I think the only one all spring. The opener was a beautiful 75 degree partly sunny day and I got Jose's autograph pre-game. Eaton interacts with the fans a lot as well. The park itself is kinda out there, glendale is NW of Phoenix in the middle of desert really. That said, it's a gorgeous stadium and you just buy a cheap seat and move up the ushers encourage it. We had lawn tickets they were like 13 bucks or so, we moved front row in the later innings. The lawn area is cool though as well. Nice place. Dodgers fans are a wacky, wierd, wild bunch, at least the ones that make it to spring training.

lol I just read the first 5 pages of this thread and was like IMMA JUMP IN WITH THE NEW MEDIA DEAL STUFF HOW HAS NOBODY MENTIONED IT. old thread is old. Yea, as said, with the new TV money everyone is MLB is making bank. This isn't even factoring in the MLBAM profits, which every team gets a cut. I'd guesstimate the Sox are gonna clear 50 million this year, as will most teams. The real shame is teams like Oakland refusing to up their payroll for a year or so, now that is stingy ownership.

well it's not like some team wouldn't trade for him if chicago picked up 2 million on his deal. The clubhouse chemistry issue with Alexei and Jose is a non-starter. You think those two All-Star level players don't know you perform or you leave, no matter how good the chemistry? I think they would be offended if that wasn't the case -- both want to win. If Viciedo wants to file a grievance after a negative WAR season let him. The CBA has wiggle room there and I doubt the Union would pick Dayan's case to try and set precedent. I have written more about Dayan Viciedo than probably the rest of the acquisitions combined this offseason, wtf man.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 14, 2015 -> 05:57 PM) Speaking of which, great job of not reading the thread to the end. what, your point about the grievance? OK. It's a fair point but only tangential, thus I didn't bother to address it. He's (imo) unlikely to win, and even if he does, it probably won't be publicized. The real point of this entire discussion is that the Sox are almost certainly not on the hook for the full 4.4 million if they cut him in the spring. That point keeps getting missed over and over and over again everywhere on the White Sox Internets.

Goodness, DICK ALLEN IS NAILING THIS THREAD. Read his damn posts, there are differences in the way you can cut players on one year deals and multi-year deals. It's in the CBA. Dayan was tendered a one year, partially guaranteed contract. If he's cut in the spring, the Sox will owe him for 45 service days; I believe that will work out to about 1 million. I really don't see why there is so much confusion on this point. Dick is being very patient with you all he explained it at least twice in the last two pages.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 13, 2015 -> 09:08 PM) The key a player tendered in arbitration Yep, of course this isn't the case with Dayan, who avoided arbitration. The guy that runs that blog is such a putz, his own f***ing source says this, and it's "so rare" he quickly found two cases of it last year, I don't know if that's rare. I'd say it's closer to "unusual but hardly unheard of" The Sox have nothing to lose by stringing this out as long as they can. Injuries happen all the time in spring. Who knows what a team will offer in March? If nobody offers s*** you just cut him or hey it's a "go for it" year and he's kept around as insurance. Whatever, the entire tone of SSS' coverage on the Viciedo contract has been off, and this just continues it. SSS also says "the whole thing has a feeling of inevitability". GMAFB. The only thing has an air of inevitability is that thanks to all the improvements this offseason Viciedo's status will play out in a rather inconsequential matter this season. Thank goodness.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jan 13, 2015 -> 12:22 AM) What's the Sox payroll at now that Viciedo's 4.4 million is set now? It's not set, if they cut him before the 25 man roster date in early April he's only due 750k.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Jan 8, 2015 -> 10:12 PM) Good lord, Melky should not/ will not be going anywhere near CF. The outfield defense projects to be very subpar at the corners with Cabrera and Garcia. It is a clear deficiency on the team and 'excellent defensive outfielder' is a wise use of one of the bench spots in my opinion (and I suspect others'). If not Danks, I hope they get someone who is a plus defender, like Danks. The Sox don't play in Comerica or Safeco, they play in US Cell. Hitting is marginally more important than outfield defense. There just isn't a lot of room. It's going to be very hard to find a better replacement CF for Eaton than Melky. If you're talking about the handful of innings a "defensive specialist" will get, that role just isn't that important to worry about. One thing Jordan Danks isn't, is anything above replacement. We shouldn't get caught up his utility as a defender because much like Viciedo, any value he brings in one area is more than negated overall. The Sox could still bring in a Danks like player as a NRI in spring, but it's hardly a critical spot. Talking a .5 win swing at absolute most imo.

Pathetic, Raines deserves to be in the Hall. The Voters suck.

Soxtalk has an Ozzie like obsession with the replacement level Jordan Danks. They don't need a fourth OF that can play CF because of Melky. Melky starting 10 or 15 games in CF to spell Eaton isn't the end of the world. Of course, they could always bring in a veteran type in the spring to compete for the role if they feel it's important. This has nothing to do with Viciedo is about clearing space on the 40 man for more moves, if anything. You know, it's not quite the dead ball era 2.0 yet. A 28 year old non prospect that has never seen a breaking ball he wouldn't swing at and can't catch up to MLB fastballs -- will absolutely kill the Sox at 1B.

I see the board has a new troll account. Great.

QUOTE (flavum @ Dec 22, 2014 -> 02:59 PM) https://twitter.com/LtDanJennings/status/547100443529064448 15 weeks I went to the opener in Glendale last year on Feb 28th, was a glorious 75 degree partly cloudy afternoon. Had a lot of fun. Probably won't make it down this year but I encourage anyone that can to go down there, the weather is spectacular that time of year and Camelback Ranch is a nice place to watch a game.

His ZIPS went from like 9 WAR over the next 3 years (2014-17) to like 4 because of his injury last year. People need to give this guy a chance to string together 500 or more PA in a season. I think he's going to impress this year. He's a hard worker.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Dec 20, 2014 -> 09:33 PM) In the world that we live in with Twitter, I have no idea how nobody knows who the team is. I would be VERY surprised if it was us though Can two teams win the posting with a tie bid and then they negotiate the contract and he picks?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 10:20 PM) 1. While I don't think Wilkins is a major league starter, I also think you can't go by a single September call-up to make a real call. 2. I think people are misunderstanding what minor league backup depth is. No one is getting a really good bat to be a 1B/DH in the minors waiting for an injury. If they are good enough, they have a job elsewhere. So this isn't a question of whether or not Wilkins is good, or Black is good. It is a question of who you think is better that would be willing to just sit in Charlotte all year on the 10% chance someone gets hurt. Because that guy is one of two things - a legitimate prospect (who is expensive to acquire and who you are now blocking), or an Andy Wilkins or Dan Black kinda guy. I'd rather move on from Wilkins but in all honestly who gives a s***. Any scenario where Laroche and Abreu are both out is a disaster anyway. As you said, no team has a 2 WAR 1B they stash in AAA.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 08:01 AM) I like this for depth. This is a helluva f***ing move the more I look at it. Sox just got a .5 WAR backup catcher with the upside to be a 2 WAR starter for nothing. Hahn continues to impress. If he sucks are gets hurt screw it, you tried and paid nothing.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 17, 2014 -> 09:01 PM) Ha, I have a picture with Ron KIttle from when I was a kid too. It's funny the year I was born '83, Kittle won ROY, my dad put that in my baby book. Ha. Lotta Sox fans formed around that time. Jeff is a huge Sox fan jeez he was pulling names only most die hards would know.

Yep, it's a new environment. A 690 OPS from a solid defensive catcher is fine. My problem with Flowers is that I expect him to OPS 640 and be .5 WAR or so. Conor is a fine starting 3B. He's not a star, but compared to say 2012 -- the Sox are OK at 3B. The real problems are the 4th and 5th starters. I'm not convinced on either Hector or Danks. They def need Rodon to come in and be a 100 ERA+ guy in July.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 18, 2014 -> 02:50 PM) With the injury time he missed last year, I would imagine he is ticketed for Charlotte. Yep. If he's hitting 300/340/450 in charlotte in July, ok, that's a good problem. From all accounts his defense needs work. Let him season in AAA. Sanchez is just further ahead developmentally, even if his ceiling is lower.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Dec 18, 2014 -> 02:37 PM) I think Micah is going to get the nod. I'm just saying if I had my way I'd probably go with Sanchez with the way this team is currently constructed. I'd be shocked personally. He's not ready. Not even for the Sox' aggressive promotions is he even close.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Dec 18, 2014 -> 02:38 PM) The average 3rd baseman in the American League hit .249 last year, a .701 OPS. That's average, not weak. I point this out because I think people in general are bad at understanding what bad is these days and consequently have a bad understanding of how good Gillaspie was at the plate. He's been subpar defensively. He should be platooned. But the guy has a .765 career OPS against righties and we have him for basically zero dollars. I'd like to think Saladino can do fine with those 150 PAs. Exactly. Protect Conor against LHP.

You guys really need to start reading the tea leaves better. Sanchez is the starting 2B. Micah Johnson has like 300 PA above high A. He's not Chris Bryant either. He needs to prove as much as Davidson this year, if not more, in AAA. Sanchez was given his cup of coffee because he's the de facto starter entering 2015. Now, obviously things can change but as I've said: if Sanchez is 15 runs above average (and he showed last year he can be, he's a very slick fielder with more range than Beckham) then he doesn't need to slash much more than 250/290/340 to be worth 1 to 2 WAR. You can't expect to have studs at every position. Just be glad that for the first time in years the lineup can carry a defensive specialist in the infield because they have enough superior bats around him.