Balta1701

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 20, 2014 -> 11:24 AM) Right now, we have ONE position player we can 100% count on for next year in Abreu, and he's seemingly going through an adjustment period as the league is figuring out how to TRY to limit his homer binges. I just think he's also really tired.

QUOTE (buhbuhburrrrlz @ Aug 20, 2014 -> 11:15 AM) if Hahn improves the ballclub again as much as he did last offseason I think that a variety of trades for guys we haven't even guessed about yet, as happened last offseason, is much more likely than the White Sox spending $50 million and giving up several draft picks and much of their signing bonus pool.

Based on that setup, it appears you have the Sox signing 3 right-handed bullpen pitchers (let's assume $12 million between the 3?), a right handed #3 starter ($12-15 million?), and Markakis (just going to guess #12-mil again). That would cost the team what, at least 2 draft picks and probably more than $40 million next year and that is still at best a borderline wild card contender. Says a lot about how attempting to fix this team through free agency will go.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 20, 2014 -> 10:38 AM) Because wouldn't think JR would like to go all the way down to 1.4-1.5 million in attendance and decline for a 9th season in a row and waste another year of Sale and Abreu together, but if they're still content with profitability at this payroll level, more power to them. Actually, I do not know exactly what it takes for Brooks Boyer to lose his job and for the White Sox to try another approach, because it's going to be challenging to emptier stadiums than US Cellular in September. Even the idea of Rodon coming up quickly is going to be met with a shrug by fans unless he debuts and sustains an ace level of performance instead of profiling somewhat like, say, Kip Wells. These aren't arguments for why it would be surprising that bringing up a pitcher with 2 months in AAA would be inconsistent with a rebuilding season. Basically your first post, to me, said "if new leaves grow on trees its probably becoming spring". I said "why is this surprising to you?" at which point you gave me more details about why leaves grow on trees during the spring. None of that explains why I should be surprised that having Beck in the rotation next year would be a strong sign of rebuilding. It might well be surprising that the Sox would choose to continue a rebuilding process, but this doesn't change what you outlined at first.

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 20, 2014 -> 09:52 AM) I'm looking to how Westbrook rarely played back-to-backs and needed rest from same injury here. Rose will need rest throughout season. The next player Thibs gives regularly scheduled rest to in order to keep him healthy will be the first.

QUOTE (ChiSoxJon @ Aug 20, 2014 -> 09:54 AM) I guess Danks would be a solid fourth OF behind Tank, Eaton, and Avi but I'd like to pick one up in FA, maybe trade De Aza for a reliever If De Aza had enough value to bring a return of an A-ball reliever at the start of this season and he wasn't dealt for one then Ricky made a mistake. De Aza will be even more expensive next year if he's even offered arbitration and he's coming off an even worse season with the bat. He isn't being traded for anything. For him to be worth anything in a trade he'd have to get off to a really good start next season, which just like this year, seems extremely unlikely especially if he's stuck in a platoon role and not getting regular at bats.

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Aug 19, 2014 -> 11:29 PM) So after 3 weeks of consistent communication (both face-to-face and via email) with multiple people and with everything going as absolutely perfect as possible, “I’ll be in touch next week” has now turned into 2 weeks of complete and absolute radio silence. I’m not really sure how to proceed or if I should even do anything at all. I'm debating whether it would be proper to send an email asking for an update or not. If they clearly gave you a date when they'd be in contact and they missed it, it's fair. That may be a suggestion that you won't like what you hear though.

Looking like 3 out of 4 years in a row where the Pirates will make no major moves at the trade deadline while in the playoff hunt and then collapse when August hits.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 20, 2014 -> 07:27 AM) If you told me he was going to be in the 2015 starting rotation, I would quickly say it's another 76-86 rebuilding year, unless they've also addressed the significant holes in the line-up and bullpen. Even then, a rotation of Sale/Quintana/Rodon with Beck/Noesi/Danks fighting for the 4th and 5th spots is at least a year away, optimistically. If we were willing to get rid of Danks' contract and/or add another veteran to the back end for stability, I would be a bit more optimistic, as the assumption now has to be they're going to want no part of a FA pitcher over a 2-3 contract. Stop and think a bit more about this post. "If a rookie who has spent 1 month at AAA is in the starting rotation next year it's probably a rebuilding season". That's surprising why?

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 19, 2014 -> 09:51 PM) He needs to be able to limit the damage. He's been hurt by the big inning, especially after cruising the whole game Worth asking...do we ever give him a game where he has any margin of error? Where every pitch doesn't potentially lose the game?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 19, 2014 -> 06:11 PM) Matt Abbatacola @MattAbbatacola · 20h "Chicago doing a great job with RISP. They're 6-for-8." I'll take things you don't hear about pro baseball in Chicago for $500, Alex. He just can't resist, clearly making a reference to Jackie Robinson West LL. Huh?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 19, 2014 -> 04:14 PM) By the way, I just want to bring this back up. I still would argue that anyone that defends Hahn and the design of this bullpen would be mistaken. This pen was set-up to be a disaster from the beginning of the season. I think the goal, from Hahn's perspective, was that some of the young guys would have taken steps forward and given him some cost controlled pieces to utilize in the future when the team was more capable and ready to contend. This pen would have been atrocious from the start. Lindstrom, while a decent middle of the pen guy, is not a closer or set-up guy and that is what the Sox wanted him to be. Yes, Nate's injury has hurt, but this pen is bad because it consisted of by and large not very good relievers, and I think Hahn was okay with that cause he figured he'd be able to use the spots for developmental purposes. Problem is, very few guys who you could probably project to be quality relievers, have stepped up. Putnam has been a surprise but I don't think I'd expect him to keep doing this. Petricka is nice and I won't give up on Webb but that is literally it. Maybe we'll see a few guys emerge late but the farm system has completely failed to provide us with any quality relievers this year. I will agree with you that it was extremely unlikely that this bullpen would be an upper echelon bullpen and I agree with you the pen was constructed to see what kinds of guys they could find who would work, but I will still say the difference between an ~average bullpen and this current bullpen is Lindstrom and Jones being injured. That's a full 1/3 of the bullpen, probably more than 1/3 of the innings, and probably more than 1/2 of the high leverage innings that have been lost to injury, and as 2k5 said Linstrom even when here hasn't really been here since he didn't have a spring training either. If you can tell me that Hahn would have known those 2 guys were going to be goners for the season, then I'll agree it was set up to be atrocious. I think it was set up to be "Tolerable" and the injuries made that not happen.

Success!

QUOTE (Brian @ Aug 19, 2014 -> 09:47 AM) Do cops not carry tasers anymore either? This one did not, and those should be viewed as much more lethal than is generally assumed anyway.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Aug 19, 2014 -> 08:34 AM) I'm pulling for Manziel because the criticism of him compared to other football players is ridiculous and idiotic Manziel is getting into the "I'm sick of hearing about Tim Tebow Manziel" realm for me. Either go out and actually earn all this attention or please stop telling me about him.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 19, 2014 -> 09:35 AM) We'll have a starting OF who is not in the system today. Bet on it. So you're calling Viciedo 100% gone?

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 19, 2014 -> 09:27 AM) This is true, but it's just much easier to fill one spot than two. There is always a mid-range FA outfielder out there to pick up for a not heavy salary if you need to. With this team, the White Sox ought to be trying to find someone like Viciedo - talented guy with several arb years remaining who has failed to break out and whose team has soured on him.

QUOTE (GoodAsGould @ Aug 19, 2014 -> 08:15 AM) Aren't cops trained only to shoot to kill, the rationale being the only time you need your gun is if in imminent danger and shooting to wound isn't safe. Effectively there should be an assumption that there is no such thing as shooting to wound. The circumstances when you can be that accurate of a shot means that you have the time to pause and aim safely, in which case you shouldn't be shooting.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 07:40 PM) Are these the same witnesses that had Mike getting shot in the back as well. The same standard ought to be applied to witnesses here that is applied to witnesses in most cases; assume they're going to disagree, be inaccurate, and not make sense. That should go for the police officer as well.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 07:28 PM) Kendrys Morales is another good comparison for Ravelo power-wise...the average body of work, not his 1-2 outlier seasons. Well, there's Morales pre-injury and post-injury. Um, no he isn't. 20+ home runs in Seattle per year? That's...really good power.

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 06:11 PM) Right, I'm just remembering Sale's year in relation to Strasburg, where Strasburg was sitting. If we do get in the playoff hunt, perhaps they move forward. Only way to stretch out the arm is to pitch I imagine. IMO the White Sox were a lot more willing to push Sale than the Nats were with Stras. Had that team not fallen apart I think it seemed clear they'd continue starting Sale in the playoffs if they had the chance.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 07:32 PM) I like what I've seen from Danks since he's been up. He beat the shift twice with simple ground balls to the left side. That's pretty heady. Then there was the oppo HR to LCF . He'll be way cheaper than De Aza and his bat may be ready to play. Add in more versatile OF , probably a better runner and it's no contest, Danks come out on top. Over a full season I really doubt his bat will appear "ready to play". He hit quite well in short stint in 2013 and then started off 2014 terribly. I think he's probably an adequate backup defensive OF. He's not a platoon player, but he would work well on a roster where the manager never uses his bench, at least while he's cheap. He'll have some hot streaks but doesn't have the power to put up the strikeout numbers he puts up.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 05:23 PM) Q's first full major league year was 200 IP. Sale's first year as a starter was 192. A BIG part of that was the team pushing them due to being in the playoff hunt, it should be noted. Had the team been 15 games back and the staff been given the choice of how many innings to work them for solely based on developing them, different choices might have been made.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 03:44 PM) They aren't tanks, they are MRAP's, and the DOD is literally giving them away for free to communities that will take them FWIW. Apparently the form to acquire one of those is 1 page long.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Aug 18, 2014 -> 03:10 PM) I can't speak for a cop or what their rules should be, but I can tell you what my rules are: somebody breaks into my house, they are getting a gun pointed at them. If their next move isn't towards the exit, they are getting shot. I'm not waiting to assess whether or not they may be hiding a weapon or what chance I have of taking them in a fistfight. And you better hope it's not a member of your family.