Balta1701

QUOTE (fathom @ May 13, 2013 -> 06:52 PM) Harper, Trout and Machado are the 3 hitters that I would trade Sale for, no questions asked. As good as Kershaw is, Sale is going to make a lot less money than him for the next 5 years. And since this type of deal will not happen, we need to get the guy who keeps saying "Tear it down and build for 2017" to stop saying so.

QUOTE (Dizzy Sox @ May 13, 2013 -> 06:39 PM) Viciedo did walk 45 times in 500 PAs at Charlotte in 2011. Not a ton, but a somewhat respectable amount--enough to give him an OBP of .364 for the year. I am hoping that if and when he gets settled in at the major league level he'll show the same amount of patience. Viciedo has always reminded me of Carlos Lee, who showed similar growth (13 BB his 1st year, 38 his 2nd and 3rd, then a career high 75 his 4th.) If he starts taking 50 walks a year, he's going to be an absolute monster. He covers everything in the strike zone so well with so much power that if he can force pitchers to throw in the zone, he'll win.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 13, 2013 -> 05:48 PM) Sox would, Angels would not. Then there's literally no reason for anyone to keep talking about Dealing Sale like it's a good idea.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 13, 2013 -> 04:08 PM) I don't understand this. No one is suggesting Chris Sale isn't a valuable commodity. There is a deal that would benefit the Sox involving Sale, it's just extremely unlikely. Sale for Trout?

I've got a post up at Futuresox.com covering the final game of the Barons 11 game win streak when they appeared in Knoxville last week. Enjoy!

QUOTE (jeffro2525 @ May 13, 2013 -> 04:12 PM) It's very possible that the Sox line-up is so bad that Dayan is now looked at currently as the the guy who teams can't let beat them...thus the walks he's taking are a result of teams simply pitching somewhat around him. The difference is...there have been plenty of times that Viciedo simply would not let a pitcher walk him. Being willing to let a pitcher walk him would be an improvement.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 13, 2013 -> 03:43 PM) As for Dan Black, he's got a couple filler guys ahead of him (Loman, Gallagher), who aren't going to be in his way if the Sox think he's got something. But he's on a team with Wilkins, who has been a more highly considered prospect at 1B for years now. We'll see how it plays out. Right now I think they're using the DH and 1b spot to get both into the lineup.

My response goes something like this..."Please for God's sake investigate Priorities USA too!"

QUOTE (Jake @ May 13, 2013 -> 12:10 PM) Better that than be the guy that recommended Dunn or Danks I think whoever recommended John Danks to the White Sox did a pretty nice job.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ May 13, 2013 -> 01:23 PM) His swing is still incredibly violent. If he's in pain, he's the toughest kid to ever put on a jersey because that swing is crippling for somebody with an oblique strain. To me he looks like he has more of a plan at the plate. Usually he reacts, see ball, hit ball. It looks like he's concentrating on a zone now. Yeah, this. There's no way he'd do that swing with a pulled oblique muscle, he'd be back on the DL in 15 seconds.

QUOTE (Lillian @ May 13, 2013 -> 10:29 AM) In the meantime, would you continue to play Dunn, and if not, whom among players already on the roster, would you play in his place? Yes.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 12, 2013 -> 10:55 PM) How good is his defense? Which positions can he play confidently? He was in LF when I saw them, looks like he can cover LF and RF. He's putting up good numbers but he's been old for every level. He's 25 now in his first year in AA.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 13, 2013 -> 08:49 AM) I'm not sure how you can indict him without a consistent argument. If the argument is that he got nothing but bricks in terms of minor league talent, what is he supposed to do with that? At best the argument is that it is inconclusive. If you ignore everything that doesn't fit into your argument, such as De Aza, Viciedo, Harrell, Reed, Sale, Jones, Beckham, Quintana, Axelrod, Santiago, Richards etc. then it turns into a great irrational rant. Did he spend 5 years having zero input into the people who were drafted/signed, particularly on offense? If he did, then the argument that he wasn't selecting the players works, and the fact that he was promoted last year should be a credit to him and an indictment of the people who were doing the drafting. If he had input into some of those drafts...then you can start hanging him with the fact that so few position players have been produced.

Ethier's contract is just about bad enough that I could legitimately see the Dodgers doing a bad contract for bad contract swap with him...but they wouldn't do it for a guy who can only play 1b. And they'd have no reason at all right now to put any money on the table...the only reason they'd move him is to save money.

“@ChrisRongey: Of course, this would all be a whole lot better if this team could SCORE A RUN OR SOMETHING.”

So wait, Viciedo takes walks now?!

Multiple gunmen open fire on a small Mothers Day Parade in New Orleans, 17 people wounded.

Again we repeat: Viciedo's biggest asset in the field is his arm. If you put him at 1b, you lose what is actually an asset. If he's average at getting to the ball, or becomes that with time, then his arm will make him an effective OF.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ May 12, 2013 -> 05:04 PM) He recovered nicely, but I won't be satisfied until I see his velocity back in the low 90s. With minor league guns, you're not going to be satisfied until he's back in the big leagues.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ May 12, 2013 -> 05:05 PM) The team has a real strength at pitching. We are solid with gld glove fielders at SS and 2B. We need a 1Bman only because Konerko will retire soon. We need a 3Bman. We seem to bed set pretty good in LF and if we decide to sign Rios again then we are good at RF. CF could be iffy. De Aza ain't bad but we might upgrade. Catching is an issue. Now we ahave some good looking OF propsects in the minors. How far away are they? Two years maybe? This team ain't bad now but we do need a resurgent Dunn and see if Gillaspie can perform at 3B. Now that one takes a bit of time. With Adam Dunn you just don't know if the time has run out. I hope not but he just hasn't shown anything Right now, expecting the Sox to get an OF prospect ready to come up in 2 years is somewhat optimistic.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 12, 2013 -> 03:30 PM) It's been a long time since we've seen life in the the team or TWTW. Last year, April through August.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 12, 2013 -> 02:25 PM) Because he's on the wrong side of 30 and been in steady decline. Which is why you kept suggesting Josh Hamilton last offseason.

QUOTE (buhbuhburrrrlz @ May 12, 2013 -> 02:11 PM) NBA fines Tom Thibodeau $35,000 for postgame comments on officiating following Game 3. Deng said he tried to work out Saturday and threw up. Merely warmed up today and had to stop. He's out for Game 4. The good news is...the season's nearly done and he can have 5 months to get healthy.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 12, 2013 -> 02:22 PM) There just aren't enough quality position players available to turn this thing around in one offseason. 2017. "We can't turn this around in 1 season despite your arguments I'm not going to refute. Instead, we need 4 offseasons. I HAVE SPOKEN!!!!"

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 12, 2013 -> 02:12 PM) Look, you had this team winning 90 games before the season so I can understand why you are holding on to this fundamentals angle, but quite simply this team doesn't have the horses. And so the solution is to get one of the horses they do have...because we like losing!