Balta1701

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 2, 2013 -> 09:23 AM) If you are giving up on Morel, then I think it's officially time cut bait. If they want to platoon him with Gillaspie for the next month fine, but going into next year we need a real IF backup, not this Brent Morel/Angel Sanchez/Tyler Greene trash.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 2, 2013 -> 09:17 AM) Good players are infectious. Darin Erstad certainly didn't help the Sox win, but he brought plenty of energy to the table By "Infectious" you mean brought a disease into that 2007 team that crippled it, right?

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 07:19 PM) If Alexei is still around next season, I'd rather have Semien starting at 3b than Gillaspie. QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 07:54 PM) I disagree. If Alexei is around, he won't be around much longer. Semien is one of those borderline SS types, I'd rather him get consistent reps there in AA/AAA to maximize his chance of staying when Ramirez is gone. QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 09:26 PM) Alexei has value because of his defense and the scarcity of the position, but his bat is a major part of our offensive problems. I disagree with your logic of getting rid of him at all costs, but I tend to agree we need to go in another direction at SS. It's too bad we couldn't work out a deal with the Cardinals as he would have been a perfect fit for them. If we do move him, it will most likely have to be in the offseason, because I think there will be a couple teams that claim him this month. I think SS is a position where the Sox need to have a little bit of patience right now. Finally in Semien it looks like they might have a guy who can legitimately be pushing that position, but he's moved up pretty rapidly like everyone in the Sox's system. He's only 22. Let him play out this season at AAA and start there next year (maybe after an AFL stint if he hasn't been there before). If he's tearing it up next May-June, the way Tyler Flowers was, and he's playing SS every day so that he has time to really settle in to that position, then we can start talking next July about having a real good reason to take the best offer we can get on Alexei. Until then we can hold out a high price for him. If Semien starts pushing him, then we have reason for that price to come down.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 09:40 PM) I want to see Beckham at short the rest of the year, Gillaspie at second (groom to be a super-sub of sorts), and Morel at third. The Sox lose valuable evaluation time with every game Ramirez plays. I'm sure it'll stun you to know that I think all 3 of these are terrible ideas. Beckham is fine at 2b and should stay there. It's time for this franchise to call it quits on Morel, even as his defender over the years I'll say that, let someone else take a shot with him. Gillaspie fits at 3rd pretty well and will probably get better there with time.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 2, 2013 -> 01:32 AM) Gillaspie is not a starting 3rd basemen...period. s***ty OBP and not a lot of power. Guy is nothing more then a bench player at best. I think Connor will develop into a solid but not spectacular 3b if he continues to be given at bats.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 06:22 PM) You remain the best fan in White Sox history. I remain one of the worst cause I prefer to blast this joke of a team for its ineptitude. Day after day, loss after loss with nobody accountable. At least the Royals brought in Brett to turn things around. If we weren't going to fire Robin we could have brought in Frank as hitting coach. Just to have him in the dugout like Brett. Brett was a figurehead for KC. He stuck around two months and at least it was a change. The Sox?? Nothing. I can't believe how bad this team is. Sox are losing home games at an alarming, alarming rate to go with the automatic road losses. EMBARRASSING!!! Fire somebody at least! Please for God's sake stop trying to make Frank the hitting coach. Please. Please. Please.

What it will come down to next year if they keep these guys around is...1. Improving the defense and fundamentals, and 2: Getting improved offensive production from Viciedo, Phegley, Beckham (once wrist heals), Garcia, Gillaspie and whoever takes 1b. It's not hanging entirely on 1-2 guys (like the Royals lineup, for example) so that's positive, and there's a lot of room for improvement there, but they really need solid growth from most of those guys to become competitive.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 05:37 PM) Yeah, kind of crazy, but I see no place where we should add a veteran to the lineup via free agency now that we have Garcia. Rios needs to move for him, and there's no point in clogging DH if we manage to move Dunn. We might find ourselves needing a bullpen piece or something. We definitely need at least 1 bullpen veteran arm this summer, maybe more than 1 depending on who from the minors they trust.

QUOTE (Jake @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 05:29 PM) Seems like this just costs all of our best young players ABs - Phegley, Viciedo, Garcia, De Aza yeah, that's sort of backwards with what we ought to be doing with these guys. All 3 of those guys are going to be looking for places where they're the starter.

QUOTE (Jake @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 05:00 PM) Ventura is under contract for next year. Lay off the crack Since when? He actively turned down a contract extension last offseason.

QUOTE (TitoMB @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 04:51 PM) very true. didn't consider that when ESPN mentioned that fact.. seems weird that they would say that when he isn't under contract. Hahn can defend him all he'd like but until he's under contract for next season he's not the 2014 manager.

QUOTE (TitoMB @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 04:44 PM) According to ESPN, we have lost 7 in a row, and are 26 games under .500 for the first time since 1980, BUT OUR MANAGER IS NOT ON THE HOT SEAT. Jesus christ, this is a horrible organization. Our manager is also not under contract for next season.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 04:28 PM) If he is on the roster next year, he will be starting And that makes some trouble, because I see us having 4 outfielders, 1 DH, and Wilkins if Wilkins is on the roster. (Rios, De Aza, Viciedo, Garcia OF, Dunn and Wilkins). We're overbooked if that's how it shakes out.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 04:16 PM) They aren't the same thing, you're correct on that, and I think there's definitely a chance Wilkins gets a shot next year (if not this year). I'm saying I think Wilkins likely role at the MLB level will be as a bench player against RHP, and I think he will prove to be perfectly adequate. It'll be really tough to justify having a rookie sitting on the bench as a backup 1b/DH from the LH side when Dunn is on the roster.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 04:11 PM) If no one wants to give Kotsay playing time, how come he's still playing 3 years after he left the White Sox? Guys like Kotsay and Wise are fine on winning teams in limited roles. For Kotsay...because he's a career .275 hitter as a pinch hitter and in the NL when you have the pitcher's spot that's incredibly important and overvalued. A team like the Padres can live with that guy on the bench because they can use him for an at-bat a game, particularly from the LH side. He's not in the AL, that's why he's still playing. Wise....well, I think Rios has had what, 1 day off this season? Even when Wise was here he wasn't being used. Blame the manager for that if you want, but we need someone on the bench the manager will actually use somewhere on this team.

QUOTE (Jake @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 04:09 PM) As I continue to think about this, our roster was clearly constructed based on the idea that the way above average value positions would be 1B and DH and that was largely the case last year (and we saw everything fall apart as Dunn and Konerko slumped down the stretch). This year, you see how bad the team is without its best players being its best players. Dunn has rallied back but playing 1B takes a nearly insurmountable chunk out of his value. The biggest problem with this team is that Paulie did not hit as well as planned AND nobody else hit a ton better as expected to make up for it. This team is probably a contender if PK is mashing and playing 1B. Sadly, it is hard to get a great 1B. Let's hope we figure something out. Someone in FutureSox said they see Andy Wilkins potentially being a 2-2.5 WAR player. Do you know how much better we would be if we had a 2-2.5 WAR player at first right now?? That's one of the biggest problems, I think the sloppy play all around the field is the other one.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 03:59 PM) It will be interesting to see which, if any, veteran they will bring in to sort of lead the clubhouse, set the tone, etc., once the current crew (Konerko/Dunn/Rios) are gone. I think Danks can set the tone with the staff...he's learned from guys like Buehrle and Peavy. And Sale seems more mature than his age, and a grinder. John Buck's a guy with a good rep, and so is Coco Crisp. He did a lot for those young guys in Oakland. Hunter Pence is another guy who seems to thrive in that role. Anyone think AJ could be that guy? No I think AJ is a terrible idea. We've committed to playing young guys there, we should play the young guys. Phegley should be the starter. Flowers, I dunno, he's still actually not a terrible backup option and still has plenty of room to improve, but the downside is that he hits from the same side of the plate as Phegley. A LH hitting catcher who is actually a backup could be a reasonable addition though. If they're going to bring in a veteran, fine, there is plenty of room to upgrade the bench and we could benefit a lot if we had bench players we wanted to play. But we need to stop signing guys like Wise and Kotsay who no one in their right mind wants to give playing time to. If we're signing a grindy veteran player, fine...just make sure they can at least hit well enough that we put them in the lineup every so often.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 03:49 PM) I guess I'm just not sure that Manto is what "turned" Dunn into our best hitter. I would be more inclined to believe that were it not for that whole "get more aggressive" experiment we had in April that was a total disaster. Dunn got productive when he went back to being his old self. This was 100% my read as well.

QUOTE (Jake @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 02:49 PM) You have to wonder if we had them working on something in particular early in the season that was causing them to take a step back He seemed to be "pitching normally" when I saw him earlier this year, in terms of mixing in a normal amount of fastballs and offspeed stuff. He wasn't obviously throwing one single pitch every time.

QUOTE (Jake @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 03:12 PM) I think Law used to dislike the White Sox because KW had singled him out as an "idiot" in the past. I think he has since, more or less, buried the hatchet. There are reasons not to like Avisail Garcia. When he was asked about Avisail on ESPN, he was very diplomatic. He said there is division among people like him about how his approach will play at the MLB level over time. He first presented the case that many see him being a perennial all-star, but said that his and some others' opinion was that he "has no plan at the plate" and thus is unlikely to hit it big. One thing worth thinking about though is that "No plan at the plate" is a mental issue that can be changed with coaching. A guy can develop a plan at the plate. Paul Konerko dramatically improved his plan at the plate with time. "No plan at the plate" is being stated there like it's a genetic issue, like one of his arms is 30 centimeters shorter than the other one.

So wait, Sabermetrics came within an inch of destroying the world?

Some Futuresox Semien content:

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 03:00 PM) I have a suggestion. Open a thread where people can root for the No. 1 draft pick and cut their little creative jokes about getting the No. 1 pick. Do that and keep it out of all other threads and I PROMISE I will not mention Rios' name again this season. The No. 1 draft pick talk is embarrassing for those of us who don't give a s*** about that. How about we just use this one and see how long it keeps going?

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Aug 1, 2013 -> 02:11 PM) I still don't see where are still money is going next year. I'd be shocked if they didn't make at least one decent signing. We don't have a 1B for next year so I could really see Morales or Hart signed to fill that hole as long as it's a somewhat short-term deal (2-3 years max.) Oh, and the other reason why I no longer expect a 1b to be added is Garcia. The Sox are sitting now on 4 guys who can be starting OF's next year as well as an expensive DH. Garcia is destroying AAA this year so I don't see why he should be in AAA to start next year. That means someone is going to have to move. They didn't trade away the RF or CF so far. If they trade one of those guys, great, then that makes sense, but so far no one seems to have been willing to pay the price for those guys. That means, to give playing time to the guys who need playing time, 1b is the only opening. Personally I'd be more interested in fixing the bench and finding platoon guys right now than signing a 1b. Until Rios or De Aza are traded, I'd expect Viciedo to be the 1b next year.