chitownsportsfan

This is almost certainly a hot little fluke run from Gordon, he has like 1200 PA in MLB and his body of work is not good. That said, I hope he continues to mash. We could use a fluke on the positive side for once.

QUOTE (beautox @ May 15, 2014 -> 02:14 PM) I've been saying this going back to last year if Conor can develop against LHP respectably, he has the opportunity to develop into a left handed version of Michael Cuddyer and could be a 1.5-3WAR(PEAK) player. At the very least he has a great role on this team going forward on the bench heading into next year. If Conor Gillaspie gives the Sox 6-8 WAR over the next 4 years I don't think anyone will complain. He cost them nothing to acquire and isn't even arb eligible until 2016. For a guy that doesn't hit with much power he takes a good number of walks, which really enhances his value offensively.

QUOTE (raBBit @ May 15, 2014 -> 02:01 PM) Kind of like how Hahn signed Keppinger for three years and then backed out before he stepped on the field for his second year? Hahn is a leader because he owns his mistake and pulls the cord on it but Law is a dumbass because he recanted his initial Abreu opinion... This industry isn't an easy one that's east to project. It's not as if Chris Sale went #1, he went #13 and twelve other teams passed on him. It's easy to tell why Law isn't employed in MLB anymore and has been relegated to the chattering classes. Can't imagine his hubris playing well in the front office. I love what Hahn has done so far and this move just cements that feeling. Also, good job by KW realizing it was best for him to move upstairs and hand it off to Hahn.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ May 15, 2014 -> 08:16 AM) Gillaspie is a platoon player. He should never face LHP. Yes, as I stated in another post in this thread, I agree. That said, he's the vastly better side of a 3B platoon, batting left at 3B is a huge bonus and if he continues to rake against RHP he should be a big part of the future at 3B. He'll turn 27 in July so the next 3-5 years will be his prime and the Sox are going to have a very cheap, good player on their hands hopefully.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 15, 2014 -> 12:01 PM) Daryl Van Schouwen ‏@CST_soxvan 5m Jose Abreu has shed about 15 pounds since beginning of season. Down a pant size, conditioning coach Allen Thomas said. He's still a big man. When he signed for me in the spring he appeared a little bloated. Maybe he's off the sauce like Miggy...

QUOTE (Jake @ May 15, 2014 -> 01:12 AM) You're practically guaranteeing his future as a bench player if you restrict him to occasional starts against LHP Well right now he's the odd man out due to a number of factors. Hopefully Gordon plays himself off the team in the form of a legit prospect and Semian is the full time 2B the rest of the way. But until then I think you gotta start Conor and Gordon most days.

gillaspie has a wRC+ of 134 verse RHB and a wRC+ of 40 against LHP. He and Semian should be in a strict platoon. Semien's future might well be as a utility player so I see no harm in getting him innings at 3B as much as possible, even if it hurts this year's team a bit.

QUOTE (Charlie Haeger's Knuckles @ May 14, 2014 -> 04:47 PM) Valid points all around, which is corroborated by the Sox front office having to go to the waiver wire to find a warm body to play while Eaton is on the DL. That's a rip on Jordan Danks, not De Aza...

Conor Gillaspie is quietly putting together a very good season. He's been solid with the glove and he's doing what he needs to do at the plate to be a MLB regular. That was a freaking steal by Hahn. The guy always had 1st round talent, just needed a place to find it. If he turns into a good player for us I will give Ventura a lot of credit.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 14, 2014 -> 06:25 PM) I like Johnson, I think he rounds out for us nicely. Yea Johnson has way better stuff on paper than Rienzo, at least when his velocity is above 90. Hopefully his velocity comes back soon and he's back up. Carroll's pixie dust has ran out.

QUOTE (raBBit @ May 14, 2014 -> 06:14 PM) 14.1 straight innings for Belisario without an ER. I like Hahn's approach to the pen, it's for the most part same as KW, you don't pay for "proven" anything cause some random dude like belly is way cheaper and can give you just the same production. Unless of course you have an elite team on paper and you have money to burn, it's not worth it to spend on the pen.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 14, 2014 -> 12:29 AM) Not that it matters, but Robin picked a weird time to call out the team the other day. Why didn't he just call out DeAza? DeAza is who he was talking about. Maybe he sensed some long losing streak and tried to stem it off before it began spiraling out of control. I guess I can't fault him for that but I'd rather have seen him just blast DeAza. or you know he could say nothing at all. It's one thing to send a message to a team expected to contend but really, ripping the guys for coming out flat against a very good oakland team after a 1 run loss? It just doesn't jive with reality. If you want to discipline De Aza do it in house and say he had a leg thing. Robin doesn't have the gravitas to do this s*** it's like Bobby V the players after awhile will resent it and that's not good. I'm not defending De Aza either but it's up to the manager to push the right buttons and Ventura doesn't seem to push any of them -- whether that's with the media, in the clubhouse, or in the games.

Looking at that lineup makes me depressed. Man it would be nice to have more than 1/3rd of our opening day OF healthy.

QUOTE (Jake @ May 13, 2014 -> 05:30 PM) For all we know, it's Hahn that is in love with Ventura and JR who doesn't give a s*** who manages Alright, are you paying for all the booze it's going to take to make me forget this possibility?

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ May 13, 2014 -> 06:03 PM) I agree with this logic to some extent, but batting your worst hitter leadoff isn't the answer. Why potentially give Garcia an extra plate appearance and likely hurt your chances of men being on-base for Abreu? I don't really care if De Aza or anyone feels uncomfortable for a couple of games, they need to put the well-being of the team ahead of themselves. In real life players have different roles they feel good in and roles they aren't as comfortable in and in baseball that means you have to put guys in a position to succeed. De Aza telling Ventura he doesn't like leading off isn't a sign of weakness or a fault it's a reality and I'm glad he said it. That said, Ramirez sure as hell hopefully said the same thing, because there isn't one good reason other than P/PA he shouldn't be leading off. We are putting three awful hitters in front of Abrue most nights (9,1,2) and it's brutal it's actively costing us runs. I'm not asking Robin to be Billy Beane on steroids but I would like him to use common sense. Play the damn percentages when it makes sense.

Players rip Ventura saying he had a "flat" day at the park. First with the lineup, batting the team worst hitter Leury Garcia 1st, and then overmanaging by pinch running for Dunn and leaving himself not enough outfielders. Players noted this wasn't the first time Ventura has appeared flat, noting the time he let Cleto pitch a critical 9th inning and ran out of pitchers due to a slavish obsession with "matchups".

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 13, 2014 -> 12:19 AM) I would be willing to bet about any amount of money that Ventura's not the manager the next time the White Sox manage to reach the playoffs. Yep. Good guy, can't manage fo beans.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 13, 2014 -> 12:09 AM) What I don't get was wasting Dunn and Sierra by pulling Dunn in the 9th as a run that didn't matter Yep. He is in his 3rd year! Wtfkinda move is that and it screwed them ran out of players (again).

QUOTE (fathom @ May 13, 2014 -> 01:04 AM) And that's why you don't want your worst hitter getting the most ABs. Good job Robin Awful. He is clueless when it comes to lineup construction. Actually he is clueless about quite a bit.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ May 13, 2014 -> 12:22 AM) I still can't believe we didn't get something better for Peavey. Better than Garcia? That's a pretty damn good return for an aging, expensive SP. It's not like Peavy had a ton of value.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 13, 2014 -> 12:19 AM) With Rios, you never know if they could have afforded Abreu then. I'm ok with those trades, as it resulted in Abreu and Avi and some decent minor leaguers. The trade that's a killer if it doesn't work out is Addison Reed for Davidson. Uh, no. That's a great return for Reed, there is a reason Towers is about to get fired -- it's a few too many trades like that.

we need to get healthy, sigh.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 13, 2014 -> 12:02 AM) Makes sense to me. We do have some lousy lefties playing. some bad BABIP luck tonight a couple warning track shots and a rocket from conor that went right to CF with two on. That said, way too many poor ABs tonight.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ May 12, 2014 -> 05:31 PM) Viciedo is better than Avi Garcia. I don't know how you can say that with any certainty. For all his hitting Viciedo is still only on pace for about 2 WAR, he gets major knocks for fielding and baserunning. Tools wise Viciedo might compare to Garcia but when you look at their respective careers Garcia was doing big things at age 22 in MLB before he got hurt. Usually players that can hold their own with the bat at 22 in the bigs turn out to be stars. Not always, but usually. That's why ZIPS had Garcia down for about 12 WAR over the next 4 years -- pre injury of course. He was actually looking a good bet to exceed that before he got hurt. Viciedo needs to hit like 300/360/480 to be a 2 WAR player because of his limitations elsewhere. I don't know if he's every anything more than a useful regular. Don't get me wrong, but Garcia's upside is almost certainly higher.

QUOTE (flavum @ May 9, 2014 -> 11:29 PM) Sounds like playing on it, won't make it worse. They'll try to get him a game off on Wed before the Thursday off day. could be a bone bruise or soft tissue injury Robin mentioned he gets foul balls off the ankle a lot and that aggravates it. I couldn't help but think "just like Cabrera" as he limped out a couple hits tonight, dude wants to play every day and will if given the chance and be successful because he has that much talent. Also, having Dunn at 1B makes Jose look downright spry. I honestly don't know how you can be a professional athlete and be so unathletic as Dunn. There are HS level offensive lineman his size that have 5x the movement. He really must not put any effort into getting quicker.