chitownsportsfan

If their internal metrics (including the StatCast data) say that his defense is here to stay, then lock him up. If he's a +10 run defender (above average) at SS he could hit 260/290/410 and still be a 3 WAR player.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 20, 2017 -> 03:55 PM) Doubt he would be at camp if it was his kid I have no idea but just to add to the speculation at both Sox games I attended first week of March TA's parents were in the crowd. Hopefully everything is OK with his family and nobody is sick.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Mar 20, 2017 -> 11:01 AM) What does being well versed in other sports have to do with a being a baseball announcer though? And I don't know about you but I feel like Steve is much more arrogant when he's with Benetti than Hawk. Stone is cocky, but at least he knows his s*** for the most part. He's great at the mini games between the pitcher and batter. Benetti is laughably ignorant about some basic baseball stuff but he'll get better with time. Hawk is just dead to me, has been for about 5 years, and I used to love him.

QUOTE (brett05 @ Mar 20, 2017 -> 08:03 AM) We gotta find someone to teach Yoan to cut down on those k's. Even if we can get that to say 25% rate that would be huge. I'd even pay a guy outside of the organization if we have to. He's fine. Trout strikes out a ton and he's the best player in MLB. Yoan is the same type of hitter.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 17, 2017 -> 10:15 PM) Guy has real talent. Should come up halfway through this season IMO. Get some out of the playoffs at bats this guy is a stud. if the sox can develop him at all, he's a 4 war player. If they develop (and he does) more, the sky is the limit.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Mar 17, 2017 -> 05:57 PM) Pretty much how I expected it. Still leaves two spots between Davidson, Asche, & Liriano. I know we've had some positive reports on May but from what I saw down in Arizona this spring he is not a MLB CF. He takes awful routes and it's not like his bat is anything special either. There's really no reason to start his arb clock. Give him more time in AAA and see if he can figure it out. He could still be a decent 4th OF.

Hey, it's sunny in Seattle today and I agree with DA. Miracles do happen. Those exceptions, like Biggio, prove the point. It's the rare athlete that can do it. Moncada might be that guy, but there's no reason in hell to move him at 21 in his first full time spring as a 2B. As noted, the Sawx had him blocked at 2B so they kinda lost a year of real development at 2B for him.

deadspin has been up and down since Leitch left, it's OK now imo. That said, this is poking fun, not trolling.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 15, 2017 -> 11:17 PM) I agree 100%. 70 arm, 70 speed, good instincts but ugly footwork and okay hands sounds like a perfect CF candidate. It's almost definitely too late now, since his bat is on the cusp on MLB ready, but I really wish the Red Sox weren't so stacked in the OF, because I think CF made a lot more sense when they moved him off of SS. CF is not a position you suddenly "learn" at 21. Not especially when you are a on track to be a league average 2B and hit 290/350/500 by 23. I don't know why so many people think that the instincts needed to play a good MLB level CF are easily learned or translated from the IF. They are honed over years of being a CF. If Moncada was a more promising CF then IF, he'd have already been switched. You think the Red Sox didn't say, "Yo, Yoan, go take 500 fungoes in CF" and concluded it wasn't worth it? I mean, yea, eventually he could do it, but at what cost overall to his value and development? A significant one.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Mar 15, 2017 -> 07:53 PM) But speed is a large component of range. Jumps and routes the others but Billy Hamilton disagrees. Moving him out of the IF, after he's played there his entire career, and is on course to be an average or above average 2B, would be one of the dumbest f***ing things this org has ever done, and that's saying a lot.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 15, 2017 -> 07:12 PM) No. Speed does not equal range. He's an IF'er and 2B is a great spot for him Thanks for being a voice of sanity.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 14, 2017 -> 01:34 PM) I think there could be fear, whether warranted or not, that stretching a reliever into a starter does not mean he will come back and be as good if he does not work as a starter. Joba Chamberlain was a "starter" coming up, but in 17 games and 14 games started coming up through the minors, he averaged right around 5 innings per appearance, so he was never really stretched out properly. He was electric out of the pen, was still really good the next year in a mix between starting and relieving, but then was a full time starter in 2009 and was not very good. He never was the same after that. To me, it seems like the best bet just to use him where he is comfortable. Personally don't think it was that as much as Joba's substance abuse issues that derailed his career -- but the Yankees really didn't do him many favors his 2nd year jerking him around. Nice to see Yoan on top.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 14, 2017 -> 05:31 PM) By all means, they should be patient with Giolito. It's fine, Lopez is a beast Yep.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 13, 2017 -> 05:02 PM) The guy with an actual medical degree is saying another 3 weeks. I am going to go with that. It's 3 weeks and try again. The history of this type of injury indicates that setting any timetable is foolish. Season hasn't even started and you're already trolling, or just your usual failure to read between the lines I guess. This isn't a pulled hamstring with a predictable time frame for recovery. It's also the type of injury where the player gets the go ahead for full speed and games, and then doesn't react so well to game speed and has to rest more. I'll go ahead and bet you that he doesn't play in a MLB game before June. Take that bet? If you want me to be charitable I'll even go June 15th.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Mar 13, 2017 -> 03:03 PM) This appears to be the case for all teams, which is why a deal isn't done with anyone. Which is why, if this is true, and it appears so, you wait until mid summer and re assess your options. There will be a lot more pressure relative to Hahn and the Sox, on any team looking to get better near the deadline then in March.

Might be a fluke injury but it's a s***ty injury because it's hard to predict how his pain will be and how the bone will heal. There's no magic fix where you go in and do surgery it's basically just trying to get as much blood into the area as possible (I'm sure they do rehab with him on it daily) and hoping rest brings the pain down to tolerable levels. At this point I'd be surprised if he plays before July in MLB. He'll need at least 4 weeks on a rehab assignment. Just bad luck for the Sox and Tilson.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Mar 13, 2017 -> 03:35 PM) http://www.minorleagueball.com/2016/12/6/1...spects-for-2017 I'm going to disagree with you on that point. The Yankees have one of the deepest farms in the mlb. It's deep but are they willing to trade two of their top 5 guys to get a deal done? It doesn't appear so.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Mar 9, 2017 -> 03:19 PM) considering 2/3 of the lineup hasn't seen an MLB pitch, odds are it would be a poor lineup. Yea but with beer coming around every 3rd inning or more it will numb the pain. More seriously, hopefully half the guys on that list pan out.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Mar 7, 2017 -> 09:42 PM) To start the season I'm thinking something like this. Rotation: Q, Rodon, Gonzalez, Holland, Shields Pen: Robertson, Jones, Jennings, Petricka, Putnam, Soto and Covey as the long man. Lineup: LF- Melky CF- May (RHP) Bourjos (LHP) RF- Asche (RHP) Avi (LHP) DH- Abreu (RHP) 1B- Delmonico (RHP) Abreu (LHP) 2B- Saladino (can backup Frazier at 3B ) 3B- Frazier SS- Anderson C - Narvaez/Soto This leaves one spot open on the bench so I'd go with Yolmer at this point. I think May makes the team thanks to Tilson's inability to stay healthy and Delmonico makes it due to a nice ST and his LHB. That's my take for now but could/probably will change as we move closer to the end of ST. Thank goodness baseball is back. That's a pretty damn brutal defensive lineup. Will def help the tank brigade but not the pitching.

QUOTE (CWSpalehoseCWS @ Mar 7, 2017 -> 06:06 PM) I guess that means the Sox are putting Kopeck at Birmingham? I thought they'd at least have him start the year with the Dash. If he even has a modicum of command on his fastball at 96-100 and one off speed offering he can throw occasionally for a strike he's too advanced for high A IMO -- and won't learn much there. AA hitters will challenge him to throw his off speed stuff for strikes and a few of them will turn his fastball around and make him locate it.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Mar 7, 2017 -> 05:57 PM) Well this thread sucks and I instantly regret creating it lol it was worth it just for the Shields bashing. I f***ing hate that guy. FWIW he was arrogant as f*** during the games I went to in Phoenix last week. Didn't sign any autographs, didn't acknowledge the fans, and generally just looked like he had a stick up his ass the entire game.

Basabe is certainly the wild card in the Sale trade. If he turns into a solid starting CF there's very little to complain about even if Kopech and Moncada don't turn into stars but only solid regulars themselves. The Sox have been killed by having too many "scrubs" a long with their stars. League average production out of CF starting in say 2019 would be a god send for this club.

QUOTE (miracleon35th @ Mar 7, 2017 -> 04:18 PM) Sox were not very good last year so it is not going to far out on a limb to suggest that they might be better this year. If you just look at the 2016 Opening Day roster it is not hard to imagine that, even without Sale and Eaton, this team could be somewhat of an improvement. There have been a lot of additions by subtraction off of that 2016 roster: John Danks, Matt Latos, Matt Albers, Austin Jackson (given that he did not play most of the year), Jimmy Rollins, Brett Lawrie... And Robertson, who blew a lot of critical leads and games will likely be traded before too long. It's laughable the team was looking to contend trotting out Rollins, Danks, Latos and Jackson in retrospect. Albers, whatever (middle reliever) but going into the season with Rollins and Jackson and Danks as major pieces was serious fan level wishcasting on the part of the FO. Hahn definitely deserves critique for that.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Mar 7, 2017 -> 01:28 PM) I'm not too concerned about the Sox finding suitors for Robertson mid season if he is healthy and performing as he is capable of. Sox could always kick in some cash to land a nice package? Doubt that any team contending would even ask for cash considering his deal is well below market rate for a league average closer. That said, it wouldn't hurt. I'd think if they paid some freight (say $6 million) they could get a B prospect back instead of a couple C+ types. Maybe an ORG's 6-10 ranked guy plus a lotto ticket type at best.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 6, 2017 -> 04:48 PM) Thanks for the report! no problem, it was a blast down there. Early spring is def the time to go. Oh, one thing I forgot, we sat behind probably the most knowledgeable rangers fan you'll ever meet. He relayed numerous conversations he had with their management this spring. He goes to the practices and s*** on his days off. Real superfan, only 21. The fans down there are for the most part engaged in the games, plus, there's plenty of eye candy otherwise.