Balta1701

I do kinda want to see Carlos up against Trout and Pujols.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Aug 11, 2015 -> 01:11 PM) I really hope we're not loyal to a fault with Robin. He must go. Maybe they keep some of the staff (I hope not). This staff needs blown up and fresh blood brought in. This team doesn't have the level of focus it needs to succeed. If you flip through the last couple pages you'll see me being extremely skeptical that they'll do anything with him. I'm genuinely expecting a contract extension - he's signed through 2016 and I don't think they'll let him got into the season without one. That's consistent with just about everything we've heard from the front office. I feel like the other times they've replaced someone - Ozzie, Bevington, etc., you could see it coming a mile away, everyone sort of agreed "it was time and they waited too long". Maybe fewer people care about this team any more, but it doesn't seem like they've reached that point.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Aug 11, 2015 -> 01:08 PM) I'd bet anything that Saladino won't get in the way of upgrading 3B. This front office needs another big offseason. Not good enough clearly, to just go out and make minor moves. I'd still like to see him get a shot at SS next year. But I wouldn't do that if I were counting on this team to be competitive next year.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Aug 11, 2015 -> 01:06 PM) Im hoping we start to hear some rumblings that he's gone. Need some inside info on this board badly in this thread. Literally everything we've heard is how much the organization loves him. Not just the public votes of confidence, but even the statements in private.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 11, 2015 -> 12:50 PM) We made a big trade and several big FA signings last offseason and then counted on rookies at 2b, and guys with limited track records of success in RF, 3b, and C, and many of those positions stung us all year. If we're going to play these guys again next year and hope they get better...great. They may very well do so. But don't go spending huge amounts of money on guys in their mid-30s or trading for guys a year from free agency if you're going to do that. QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 11, 2015 -> 12:53 PM) At the time of those trades and signings, Saladino was a minor leaguer coming off surgery. He wasn't even on the team to begin the season. It doesn't appear in any way, shape, or form the White Sox were counting on him immediately. The judgement they passed was he wasn't ready to contribute. But don't let facts ever get in the way of your whining. QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 11, 2015 -> 12:50 PM) We made a big trade and several big FA signings last offseason and then counted on rookies at 2b, and guys with limited track records of success in RF, 3b, and C, and many of those positions stung us all year. If we're going to play these guys again next year and hope they get better...great. They may very well do so. But don't go spending huge amounts of money on guys in their mid-30s or trading for guys a year from free agency if you're going to do that.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Aug 11, 2015 -> 10:57 AM) We really only had one piece of value to sell and the way the market unfolded, the return would not have been that much better than holding onto him and taking the compensation pick (and the associated draft pool money). Every time I read this comment I want to go back to the Samardzija trade thread where people kept insisting we'd be able to get equal or even better value for him at the trade deadline. I then want to slam my head against a wall.

QUOTE (harkness @ Aug 11, 2015 -> 12:44 PM) I don't think anyone is "giving" him a starting spot. How many times do you see young players not make it and get sent down? It happens all the time/over and over... there is nothing close to set in stone about any of these young infielders. Not even sure what you are talking about. We weren't making any big trades this season and we shouldn't have. I'm also not saying we shouldn't sign or trade for a big time 3b... It also doesn't change my initial reasoning which is none of us.. including you or I have seen the guy play enough to make any rational final conclusions about him. We made a big trade and several big FA signings last offseason and then counted on rookies at 2b, and guys with limited track records of success in RF, 3b, and C, and many of those positions stung us all year. If we're going to play these guys again next year and hope they get better...great. They may very well do so. But don't go spending huge amounts of money on guys in their mid-30s or trading for guys a year from free agency if you're going to do that.

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 11, 2015 -> 12:04 PM) I really would like to finish at .500, to know we did improve somewhat. But I know that getting top 10 protected pick would help us a lot more. gulp. We absolutely did improve somewhat. Just not as much as you'd hope we'd improve with $50 million in new FA spending and trading multiple AAA pieces for a mid-rotation starter. The real worry might be...if you factor in guys getting older...just to stay in the same place next season we might have to spend a good amount of money or make a similar trade.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Aug 11, 2015 -> 02:19 AM) Very reasonable. How dare you ! You must immediately pass judgement on a rookie ! If you're going to spend big money and make big trades to fill other positions and make this team competitive right now while giving that rookie/young player a starting spot...you are passing judgment on him. Your team can't afford for him to disappoint if you do that.

QUOTE (spiderman @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 08:57 PM) Outside of a bullpen arm, should we be expecting anything else (anyone need Ramirez)? I think he'd be an upgrade over Stephen Drew.

@scottmerkin Tyler Flowers was pulled from game yesterday due to dehydration and got a bag of fluid after. He's back in the lineup today.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 06:14 PM) I don't understand why you would trade Petricka or Putnam for a class A arm unless it is a really nice prospect. They make no money and have as much potential as anyone you would receive., if you want to trade one or both for an equally ranked hitter, that makes some sense. I could still see someone giving up a quality price to improve their bullpen at this point in the season, and the White Sox are still in that boat of "having to shuffle arms around", esp. now that Jones is back. If they could get a warm body for Albers that would also be smart.

QUOTE (LDF @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 05:18 PM) ref to rf and dh, i am ok with Avi in the outfield. and what to do with adam laroche. he is under contract and the owners are not going to pay him to sit. if the sox do sign shark then i am looking at the trade route. i can see a lot of help in trading to acquire the missing pieces. If you're ok with Avi in the OF, you're ok with Adam LaRoche at 1b. They each have similar chances of being worth something next year IMO. Play Avi and see if he turns into something useful, play LaRoche and see if he can turn around next year while playing for one last shot to stay in the league. If neither happens, then you're clear of LaRoche's contract and you know you need to replace Avi in RF.

QUOTE (spiderman @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 03:51 PM) 3B is probably the toughest position to fill (if you allow that catcher is probably going to be a continued combination of Flowers / Soto). I don't think Saladino is a major league hitter, and we know Beckham isn't. The White Sox have some decent defense at that spot, but it's the one area where they need to find offense at. To answer your question, I'm not happy with either guy starting at 3B next season. I don't get why people are assuming Soto will be around next year. I'd imagine he's going to command a decent contract as a FA and maybe a chance to start from someone.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 02:40 PM) With the moves Toronto made (and seeing how hot they are now), even if the Sox were .500 right now, it'd be over. If we were at .500 we'd be ~4 games behind the team we're starting a 3 game series with tonight.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 02:27 PM) Makes sense although season tickets only increased minimally per Hahn. Last projections i saw said Sox would draw 1.9 mil based on advanced sales compared to 1.65 last year. But they have to worry about longer term season ticket holders dropping out as well. When did Hahn say that? I remember the opposite, them stating specifically during the offseason that a season ticket sales boost provided them the revenue they needed to sign Melky. My trick for estimating season ticket sales is usually to look for games in April that no one in their right mind would buy a single game ticket for and compare year to year. The lowest home attendance this year was a game against Cleveland at 13,055. IN 2014 game 2 had an attendance of 10,625. There are probably a few single game tickets sold in both those cases, especially 2015 since that Cleveland game is a little later in in the month, but I think it's a pretty safe bet that they sold ~2000+ additional season tickets this year.

Interesting insight. One quote left me with some befuddlement. Was this line directed at something specific? The last reference to something coming out of Guillen's mouth that was controversial was with regards to the 2012 season and the Castro remarks. This quote implies to me something happening since then but I'm not sure if I'm just reading that wrong?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 01:18 PM) I can't imagine intensely following something I hate. Honestly it has more to say about the person, then anything else. Ah, I misunderstood what the masochists was aimed at, thought it was referring to the multiple losing seasons they went through.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 01:01 PM) Soxtalk is full of masochists. I agree. Could you imagine a fan base enduring something as awful as 4 losing seasons in 5 years?

I was just starting to think we had heard unusually little about players being put on waivers this yera.

Right now the Barons are leading their division for the 2nd half which would put them in the playoffs. That's both a "playoff baseball experience" for those guys and extra games under pressure for guys like Tim. Charlotte has a shot but right now they're 2.5 games out of the "wild card" spot for their league.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Aug 9, 2015 -> 09:21 PM) Ironically attendance is up so far as they are averaging over 2,000 more fans per game. Now I would assume attendance will drop over the next 6 weeks but they will probably still outdraw last year's team. They had a big surge of season ticket sales last offseason after the team did they're "we're going to compete this year" set of moves. They were going to beat last year's attendance based on that, and they still have series against the Yankees and Cubs coming up to help also. The problem is going to be that the season ticket renewals after this season are going to be pretty rotten.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Aug 9, 2015 -> 06:12 PM) Pulling for a Blue Jays - Mets WS. I wish we traded Shark and a reliever to the Jays to help them out even more. I'd enjoy seeing Mark get another ring. Sure...sending them Samardzija would "help" with their pitching problems....

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Aug 9, 2015 -> 05:17 PM) WEll he doesn't strike out enough batters to use to get out of jams. I guess he's just not a very good reliever. Actually, he's okay -averageish. I feel like he gets out of jams the way he did today - with the GIDP.

Well that makes 10-13 since the AS break, 3-12 against teams other than the Indians and Red Sox, 0.5 games ahead of the Indians and tied with them in the win column, 2-7 since the trade deadline and Rick Hahn saying "If we keep playing like this we'll be right there in the end".