chitownsportsfan

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 04:26 PM) Nice 2nd and 3rd innings for Rodon. Also, I know a lot of people are worried about the 2nd base spot, but I honestly feel like the catching position is the weakest position on the team. wouldn't suprise me to see flowers have a below replacement first half and sox make a desparate move around the deadline. His line last year was awful even with all the smoke and mirrors. Take that BABIP luck away from the first half and it's ugly.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 03:50 PM) Got one up there at 96 that inning. Much better. Rodon will be fine once he starts getting ahead of hitters more consistently. No worries. I'd like to see him dominate AAA for a month or two he really does need to work on stamina and control and command. Stuff is filthy no doubt.

Rodon really needs half a season in AAA imo.

QUOTE (Real @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 04:04 PM) anybody got a stream link? don't think anyone is even filming it.

QUOTE (Señor Ding-Dong @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 02:44 PM) For good reason. If this truly is an "all in" season, I'd much rather have Sanchez or Saladino on the bench instead of Beckham. I know they'd personally benefit from playing in Charlotte everyday, especially Sanchez, but team needs come first and both of them are better bench options than Beckham. It's the same reason we need to have Rodon up here as soon as we can without giving up a year of control. We know what Beckham brings, and that's average to slightly above average defense at 2B, average defense at 3B, the ability to play SS in a pinch, and little to no consistent hitting ability. Sanchez and Saldino are better defenders than Beckham and offer more versatility (Sanchez is at worst above average at 2B, passable at SS, and probably can play 3B as well; Saladino is our third best defensive SS behind Alexei and Cleuluis Rondon and can play 2B and 3B in addition to corner OF). As far as batting goes, they can't possibly be any worse than Beckham, and odds are they're better even if their numbers won't blow you away. Beckham is looking like this year's Leury Garcia without the versatility to play the outfield (well, he plays The Outfield but not the position ). Sanchez and Saladino are better, but Beckham will stick around because of his contract and history with the organization. Great post couldn't have said it any better. If the team is "all in" then keeping Gordo around makes zero sense. Who gives a s*** about Sanchez getting 400 PA in AAA his glove plays better than Gordon's as a utility bench IF. But Gordo has a history here and much like Hinrich he will get the job. Luckily he won't play nearly as much as Hinrich does for the Bulls relatively. _______________________ Dick -- for the last time -- it's IN CONTEXT. Christ, you discover wRC+ and quickly are using it out of context to compare two players' relative utility on this roster.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 01:27 PM) Bonafacio's career wRC+ is 80, and you said the Sox won't miss a beat with him in the line up. You're a weird dude it's like you read half of what people argue, form your own opinion, and then ignore the rest. You don't seem like a big picture thinker no offense. Not many teams have a replacement for 7 positions in the diamond with a career wRC+ of 80. Yes, with this lineup the Sox can easily carry his bat for a month if someone goes down. Doesn't mean he's Frank Thomas. There is a reason one guy gets 4 million, the other 2 million.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 01:21 PM) Gordon Beckham = Kirk Hinrich = LaMarr Houston Beckham will obviously make the MLB roster but he'd better only be here for platoon purposes. I know that's what Hahn said but who knows, things can change. Who is he gonna platoon with? He has a wRC+ of 85 against LHP. Might as well just trot Conor out there and let him try and improve.

QUOTE (59th street @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 01:19 PM) Beckham didn't look completly lost when he bailed Robertson out of a jam by starting a very nice double play. He reaned pretty far to his left , gloved the ball and did a reverse pivot and made a perfect long throw to seco0nd base bag. I know Gordon is the whipping boy for most here but remember why he is here; defensive competence and versitility. Also we don't care if he spends the majority of his time coming off the bench. Let Saldino and Sanchez get REGULAR playing time and develop more that is better fro them and the team than having them sitting. also, I do not believe Soto is a lock for back up catcher. His throwing is very suspect. The Anaheim announcers even talked about it being in their scouting reports last year; stated they could "run hin out of the park". OK, everybody back to complaining about Beckham now. He's not versatile. Go check out his stats at 3B. He's Conor level without the bat. Beckham as the 25th man whatever, he's better than Leury.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 01:12 PM) Considering you went on and on about Bonafacio and how he could be in the line up for long stretches without missing a beat, it's kind of weird you think Beckham at best is 250/290/670 so he should be cut and Bonafacio for his career is .262/.319/.660. Not exactly much better. And if Beckham's spring so far can lead to to judge, Bonafacio is 1-18, and he looks a little lost at bat. It's March 16. They haven't been playing for 2 weeks. Way too early to judge. The difference is obviously that one guy can play 7 positions, all passably and some well, and the other plays a mediocre 2B and 3B. It's tremendously valuable to have the versatility of Bonificio despite his light hitting.

If Soto can't throw the ball I don't know how the keep him as the backup. The Sox have always valued receiving over offense in the backup catcher and so far in spring Soto looks completely out of sorts back there. Also, if anyone should be the odd man out it's Beckham. If the team is going "all in" this year Sanchez's glove is better than Beckham's and he can't possibly hit much worse. Beckham looked completely lost yesterday. His bat is so slow I don't see anyway he does anything more than 250/290/380 at the dish. I even think that ISO is optimistic. His power has evaporated he can't pull anything for power.

damn rocket from davidson but angels 3b makes a helluva stop to get the force out. can't hit it much harder than that.

chance for davidson here, this guy ramos doesn't have much control seems.

challenge it!

brantly rips one out to right

bases loaded for eaton beckham lucky to walk after fouling off two absolute meatballs. streete has nothing today.

beckham has a sloooooooowwwwww bat.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 14, 2015 -> 09:23 PM) Might as well go for a hybrid of Soler Puig Cespedes ... come on he's got a little Ruth in him too.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 14, 2015 -> 07:49 PM) Goodbye Blown Savery. Seems more sour than savery.

lol hawkins guessing first ball fastball -- misses the curve by a mile. not a good AB for hawkins as he swings at a curve a foot outside for a K. oh well.

and another good piece of hitting by Sanchez with two strikes. Hanging curve laced into CF. His curve sucks maybe that's why he didn't throw it to Trayce.

nice piece of hitting from Thompson with 2 strikes. That said, WTF compells you to throw a fastball over the plate on 0-2 to a minor leaguer? Jeez dude, spin it in the dirt, see what happens.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 14, 2015 -> 06:16 PM) Not to mention Danish, Rodon and Montas getting valuable experience. Lots of positives. Yup. Knock on wood they will get through with Sale's injury being the only real downer.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 14, 2015 -> 06:09 PM) Johnson, Saladino and The Hawk tearing it up. Trayce has looked great defensively, and Nieto is essentially a bonus farm piece with potential. from a "young guys you'd like to see do well" perspective it's been a pretty promising start to spring.

Hawkins showing nice plate coverage. Crushed an outside fastball into the RF gap for an RBI double.

Micah is locked in.