Balta1701

QUOTE (Jake @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 01:56 PM) Gillaspie is a versatile hitter and left-handed. I have no idea what a versatile hitter is but I'd prefer the #3 slot to be a good hitter.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 01:28 PM) 1) You also want to show case and play him so you can get fair value. If you don't play him, he won't stay sharp. 2) Ventura wanted to start Konerko. Konerko asked to be held out of the lineup. 3) Conor Gillaspie put up a .261/.324/.414/.738 line last year against righites, and Ventura obviously feels that a guy who makes better contact is suited for that spot. 4) The Sox are 0-0. They are trying to win the game every day. Until it's readily apparent in real life that they are out of the race, they are in the race. 1. So what happens to the guy we're actually trying to develop? He sits on the bench too, doesn't stay sharp, and then we wind up cutting him loose next year when his arb cost goes up? 2. All sorts of problems with that. Why's he even there if he's not going to play in games like this? Why's he making lineup decisions? 3. And that line is supposed to impress? It's tolerable as a back of the lineup/platoon guy, but that slash line would be among the bottom of the league in slash lines out of the 3 spot. The MLB average in 2013 out of the 3 slot was a .799 OPS. 4. Then they should have put a roster together to act like it. Instead they're carrying a guy as a tribute and another guy who shouldn't be above AA ball, and they have so little confidence in the rest of their lineup that they have a platoon 3b who put up a .734 OPS against righties last year batting 3rd.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 01:20 PM) Neither of those two want the limelight. Then he should have retired after the year he had last year. Just by coming back this year he asked for it, and since we said yes he should get it.

Just to make this connection...this lineup is a really good example of why I disliked this roster construction so much. We're playing the "win now" guy in LF and benching the guy we need to develop because of RH/LH matchups. We're spending a roster spot on a guy to give him his last hurrah and he's not playing on opening day. We're playing 2 "win now", lefty-righty matchup guys to try to win the game, and then throwing out a completely inadequate #3 hitter who has his replacement already procured. We constructed a roster full of starters who need time to develop and a long-time tribute guy, then threw in a couple "win this game today" platoon guys and suddenly we're playing the win-now guys because gotta win the game. Just a great example of why I complained so much about the roster construction.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 12:50 PM) I wonder what weight is attributed to a regional judge for the NLRB on the question of employment at a university and how that changes IRS definitions. I'm sure a court will have to affirm the decision before it really means anything legally. Not only that but it has to go through the full national NLRB as well for clarification IIRC.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 10:18 AM) This would be like had I said that Jordan Danks is going to be the cleanup hitter at some point. The fact that he's in the organization gives it a chance, but unless about 5 or 6 injuries happen, there's no chance of it happening other than in the technicality world. If Connor Gillaspie can hit 3rd on opening day...

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 12:27 PM) This is a realistic choice. Good call. He's a straight platooner, but we don't really want Viciedo in LF that much anyway, right? Viciedo's arm actually makes up for some of his deficiencies out in LF, or at least it did in 2012 before we adopted circus music as the team's official theme in 2013. He'll never have spectacular range out there but he's shown he could potentially be a tolerable fielder out there if he hits well enough to hold down the position.

I really would like to see Wilkins get a chance in the 2nd half of the year (or hell, even Black if he tears up AAA) just to see if either of them could be a legit option to fill this gap. Would be really nice to be able to pull a #5-6 hitter out of the minors for cheap.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 12:35 PM) Right but who is the starter at 3rd against LHP then? They don't have anyone to put there. Gillaspie starting every day will be a nightmare. His platoon splits are really bad. In 368 PA's vs RHP Gillaspie had a .738 OPS with 12 homers. Against LHP in 66 PAs, Gillaspie had a .451 OPS. Obviously a small sample, but I don't need to see any more Conor Gillaspie at bats vs a LHP. Eventually it'll be Jeff Keppinger.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 09:30 AM) But Beckham is hurt, and so he IS playing in the Majors now. So how he performs during the season SHOULD count toward whether or not he stays. I don't THINK he's ready either, but since we're going to find out now anyway, it would be senseless to jerk him around if he's raking. If he still looks rough around the edges, then sure, send him down. My point is just that there should be a scenario where he keeps the job, and that is that he looks ML ready when he's filling in. If Beckham is out for 6 weeks and Semien tears it up, fine, I'll count that, but we're still talking like a week of time at the most right? If he goes 15/20 on the week, is that a sign that he's ready? I can use the Josh Phegley example here, 10 for his first 36 with 3 HR, then 15 for his next 86 with a .386 OPS.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Mar 30, 2014 -> 10:30 PM) I'd take Nick Johnson before Aaron. If I'm the Bulls, there's a lot of great options in their range. If the Bulls want to go with a backup C and PG, they could be in range for Tyler Ennis and Adriean Payne. If they want offense, 2 of LaVine, McDermott, Young, Hood and Stauskus and Selden should be there. Unless they're looking to deal Noah, I feel like the Bulls should keep targeting offense in the draft and just expect that the combination of Thibs and Noah will take care of most of their needs on D.

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 30, 2014 -> 10:42 PM) Brian Wilson's era will be like 47 tomorrow Alas, only 18.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 12:38 AM) Alexei is now one of the elder statesmen. How long do you think he'll be around ? Alexei is 10 yrs. older than some of these guys. Just my personal guess, I think they'll wait for someone to pay a really good price for Alexei in a trade. I think it will happen either this year or next year.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Mar 30, 2014 -> 07:33 PM) But since Micah is in AA and Davidson entrenched at 3rd that leaves SS and 2nd base at AAA between Semien and Sanchez which is why I asked who's the better SS ? Which one would be playing out of position ? I don't think either one is a natural SS . I guess best case scenario is both make it to The Show ,Semien as the starter at 2nd since he has more pop and Sanchez as the versatile backup since he's a singles hitter so you play Sanchez at SS in AAA. But there's only so long you can let the incumbents show their worth and if Beckham hasnt shown much in all this time chance are he isn't going to. Other GM's know Hahn is rebuilding for a quick turnaround. He doesn't have time to always let guys like Beckham prove they're worth a decent prospect. Dunn and Konerko are gone next year if not sooner. Decisions have to be made fairly quickly on Beckham, De Aza, Gillaspie and Viciedo. Beckham has maybe to the trade deadline to show big improvement to net us anything of value. The next candidate needs time to show he can hack it at this level too. The more that happens the longer the rebuild takes. They should alternate between 2b and SS, giving them both a chance to work at the various positions and potentially give us replacements who can cover the full middle infield. This isn't as hard of a problem as you're making it out to be. Worst case scenario they can't really cut it and occasionally back up Alexei there.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Mar 30, 2014 -> 07:06 PM) Finally depth at 2nd base with Carlos Sanchez and Micah Johnson means even if Marcus gets sent down where will all these guys play ? Who's the better SS Semien or Sanchez ? Does it make sense to get sent down and play out of position ? Micah is starting at AA, he only spent a month or so there last year. Sanchez, Semien, and Davidson all have room to play in AAA for now, you could even add Leury in possibly as a utility guy as well.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Mar 30, 2014 -> 05:49 PM) I still hate this line of thinking. I get why the comparison isn't apt, but man, Semien's history and his numbers last year just scream "give me a couple months at AAA".

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Mar 30, 2014 -> 05:40 PM) Come on Balta, you're better than this. This post is something I would expect from Marty. I clearly explained where I was coming from and why. "Beckham has had a fair chance for 5 years" is, by my definition, an emotional judgment. It's basically saying we're tired of him. It's simply not the best thing for this roster right now. Consider what "we're going with Semien" means right now. It means fully releasing Beckham, eating a couple million dollars unless someone claims him, and getting nothing in return. If there was a solid trade sitting there waiting for him I'd imagine we'd have made it already (same statement applies for 3 guys on this roster). There's no reason to do that. Semien can still get plenty of big league time this year and can have time at the minors as well. Semien in the big leagues this year is the same sort of rushing of guys upwards we've done over and over in this franchise with virtually no success whatsoever. No matter how many "Chances" Beckham has had, he's the starter right now and there shouldn't be any way for him to lose that job because of this injury. That was the statement they made when they offered him arbitration and by all accounts that was the right move at the time.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Mar 30, 2014 -> 05:30 PM) Its not about emotional joy, its about moving forward from a player that has had more than a fair chance for 5 seasons now. So in other words, it's an emotional reaction.

Would the emotional joy of getting rid of Betemit be worth the risk of having Beckham jump to the big leagues without much time at AAA? -In hindsight....no.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Mar 30, 2014 -> 04:52 PM) Beckham has had 5 straight years of over 400 plate appearances in each to prove him self, how much time does he need? Would his return in a trade be worth as much as the experience Semien would gain this year playing 2B for the Sox? Would the emotional joy of getting rid of Beckham be worth the risk of having Semien jump to the big leagues without much time at AAA (when we already saw him struggle somewhat last year with the 2nd jump, with his walk rate declining both from AA to AAA and then big time from AAA to the big league cup of coffee)?

Strained hamstring for Shane Victorino, supposed to have MRI in Boston today.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Mar 30, 2014 -> 02:28 PM) Ehh. It's not Little League though. It's not their best lineup. Play your best lineup. We're not trying to win the division this year, so we may as well treat it like "little league".

If you want "weak hitting catchers in their early to mid 30's who can probably give you a couple years while you look for a better option" there are again going to be several available as FA's next offseason. Kurt Suzuki, Russell Martin, HGeovannyH,Ryan Doumit, with some other veterans like John Buck, AJ, Olivo, David Ross who could fill in some time if needed. And that's not counting trade options.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 30, 2014 -> 12:27 PM) You are touting an article that talks about Ryan Hannigan helping a team win a World Series, and in the same breath chastising people for believing in prospects developing? Ok. Ryan Hanigan during the season when he turns 34 is not likely to be the difference between this white sox team making and missing the playoffs and he's extremely unlikely to be the white sox's long term solution at catcher.

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake gets about 7 seconds of on-air discussion from Vin Scully before he goes back to PBP.