Balta1701

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 11, 2013 -> 10:56 AM) Their minor league system is a LOT better than it was, with all the trades over the last couple of years for guys like Hunter Pence and Wandy Rodriguez. They had the first pick in the MLB draft last year. They have the first pick again this year. They're ranked around 8th-10th now, right? I know, how impressive is that? 4 straight losing seasons, 5 losing seasons in their last 6, fewer than 60 wins over the last 2 years, selling off every player they can figure out how to sell off, and they're barely a top 10 system! That's awesome, I know that's the decade I want for my team.

I voted.

The Earth's atmosphere crossed the line to 400 ppm of CO2 yesterday for the first time in ~2-5 million years.

QUOTE (Jake @ May 10, 2013 -> 10:18 AM) Dayan is still at an age where he could fathomably become a better outfielder. That is by no means a cinch to happen, but a 24 year old could easily still be on the upswing when it comes to his defense. I would keep him in the OF as long as possible. I felt like, by the end of last season, he was fielding at least at a CQ level of defense. He was starting off pretty damn slow this year though. Considering that seemingly the entire team forgot to do basic fielding practice during spring training, Viciedo can be criticized a bit for struggling out of the gate with that, but he just took the same step back that the entire team took when they spent spring training using the slip and slide rather than doing fielding drills.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ May 10, 2013 -> 09:52 AM) Just kind of as an aside to this, in the next CBA or hopefully before, there needs to be language that allows any team paying any player X amount per year or higher (like 7-8M or something) to option a recovering player down to the minor leagues as long as they feel is necessary for up to 1 full season and without having to pay out an option year whether there is one available or not. I think money, player egos, agents, option years, etc. can all kind of force teams to take back a player when he shouldn't be out there and that isn't going to help anyone involved. I hope in Danks case that he can come back when he's ready, but only when he's ready, without hurting the team, and I hope that egos and attitudes don't get in the way. Danks seems like a pretty likable guy so I hope there's no hard feelings if he has to stay down there longer than he wants to. If the team does not believe Danks is ready to go, they can slap him back onto the DL and then restart his rehab stint. Not sure if there are any specific rules about that, but as long as they're not using it to hide a player who isn't hurt, MLB won't complain.

QUOTE (farmteam @ May 9, 2013 -> 10:08 PM) I have no idea what Fibonacci Day is necessarily, but wouldn't it have been yesterday? 5-8-13 makes more sense than 5-9-13. EDIT: Though I suppose that wouldn't make sense for any year but 2013, so...carry on. Could be his birth, I guess. It was 5/8/13. Stuff about it should have been popping up on wednesday. 0...1...1...2...3...5...8...13...21...34... 5/8/13.

You should have thanked him for putting Scott Podsednik's number in your hair.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 9, 2013 -> 01:30 PM) That Albert Pujols contract is just f***ing brutal. I wonder, if he spent the next 8 years putting up numbers close to what he's averaging today (.740 OPS or so) whether hanging on like that would impact his HOF case.

I could take issue with other things btw, but right now, Dylan Axelrod is not a "space filler who you keep until you find something better" and "ranked below adam dunn. He may not have that much trade value, but if the guy can sit at the back of the rotation for a few years, pile up 2-3 WAR a year, and hopefully pile up a decent number of innings, he'd be a solid contributor. Teams in the race don't necessarily trade for those guys, but the fact that he doesn't have a big fastball doesn't mean he can't be extremely valuable for several years to the White Sox.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 9, 2013 -> 10:16 AM) we'll see Rose around Halloween. They've succeeded at making me doubt this.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ May 9, 2013 -> 09:55 AM) Does Jordan Danks make enough contact to be a lead off hitter? No.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 9, 2013 -> 10:00 AM) Maybe Williams should go GM the Dodgers then where he can spend $8-10 million on a 1 year flyer. When has Williams ever done that? He's done the "Incentive laden 1 year deal" a couple times (Garcia, Colon), but those were minimal salary.

QUOTE (Capn12 @ May 9, 2013 -> 06:11 AM) Of course, I'm biased, Cornell could sing opera and I'd probably still enjoy it. I think that'd be awesome.

Then Phegley will go 1/10 in his first at bats and ST will decide he's a failure and its time to replace him.

QUOTE (buhbuhburrrrlz @ May 8, 2013 -> 10:18 PM) Stacey King saying Kirk might need surgery Wasn't his injury just called a bad bruise?

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ May 8, 2013 -> 05:57 PM) I don't understand why Gillaspie isn't our #2 hitter. What about him says he isn't a solid fit for the #2 hole, besides lack of good speed? Lefty, handles the bat well, doesn't strike out a ton, leads the team in OBP, has gap power, I just think he is such a natural fit for that 2-hole. What am I forgetting? There's a lefty hitting #1 right now, that could play into it.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ May 8, 2013 -> 04:18 PM) Just looking at the size, age and money thrown at these guys, they have to have SOME stability. You don't think any of these guys have ability/potential to make top 20 prospect lists in the next couple of years? I mean with the amount of Latinos in baseball and most of them coming through signings like this we should see at least one of these guys in Chicago at some point. Am I right? Couple years? No. The bust rate on guys like this is extraordinary. They're signed incredibly young, they've never done anything close to competing against minor league talent, and they have, in most cases, 5 years of development ahead of them before they can talk about being on a top 20 prospect list. They're 16 year olds. Their bodies have years of additional development before they even stop growing. Some of their skills are projectable, but just assume a 95% or worse chance that none of these guys ever makes it to the big leagues. If you do better than that, great, but if you're signing 10 guys like this a year, you might come up with a serious hit every few years.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ May 8, 2013 -> 04:08 PM) Thanks for the response and info. So, in the past these are the guys the Wilder was using to make money, am I right? While I am sure it is too early to tell but it seems that these guys have pretty good potential. I mean, if they're throwing 93 and getting signed for hundreds of thousands, you have to think the organization has decent hope for them? These guys are expensive lottery tickets. The odds of any individual one making it to the big leagues are very low, but if you throw enough of them out there, eventually one of them you hope turns into a King Felix type signing and makes your organization better for a decade.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 8, 2013 -> 03:39 PM) Maybe it's just me, or maybe it's just the lack of success, but Keppinger's effort hasn't impressed me this season especially for someone described as scrappy. To me he appears to be mailing it in, content he got paid. I can't disagree with this. His defensive play has been erratic to the point that it makes Alexei look focused. Yes I know that he's not used to 2b, but if you're signing a "utility guy" he better be ready to be a utility guy. I'll give him some time for his numbers with the bat to even out, he's due for a lot of hits to fall in that sense.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 8, 2013 -> 03:30 PM) Yep, they can still trade Peavy and have a solid pitching staff (even if I have no confidence in Danks ever being an average starter again). The one thing this organization can't have happen is to strikeout on trades like they have recently if Peavy is dealt. Of course, striking out on prospects is the norm, not the exception, but for now we get to ignore that and scream "tear it down!".

QUOTE (fathom @ May 8, 2013 -> 03:21 PM) It's pretty simple, if Hahn and company think the Sox can compete next year with Peavy and whatever additions they feel they can make, then you keep him. However, if you think that everything in the world must go right in order to even compete with the rest of the AL Central, then you unload Peavy. If the Sox stink this year and don't make upgrades this offseason, it wouldn't shock me if Peavy is vocal about getting traded. There's one other option...the Sox could very well look at their roster and think they can be competitive in 2014 even without Jake Peavy. Like I keep saying, we have 6 starting pitchers under control right now counting Danks. Sure, someone could implode this year, but then we still have other guys such as Johnson on the way up. The Sox could go into this offseason looking to spend $40 million while still cutting back on salary from this season if Peavy was dealt, and if dealing Peavy can fill just 1 offensive hole...

ESPN put out a poll asking "Who is the best coach in the NBA" to a group of associated NBA "experts". Thibs is right where he should be, 2nd place.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 8, 2013 -> 02:50 PM) I don't really think this observation is accurate...what prospect did we not have patience with that has turned into some success story that we had all left for dead here? How long has it taken for guys like Tyler Flowers to be declared failures? How long did it take you to declare that Viciedo would never learn to hit? Axelrod didn't even get a chance to start before people wanted him replaced because he didn't throw hard enough.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 8, 2013 -> 02:42 PM) It doesn't matter. This is the White Sox fan base we are talking about here. This is a team that couldn't get fans to go with being in first place for 126 days last year, and has every excuse in the book not to go anyway. This is also a town that was calling the Edwin Jackson trade of two years ago a white flag deal. Edwin Jackson had no where near the standing and representation as Jake Peavy does. A better question would be what proof is there that attendance wouldn't collapse? What proof is there that Sox fans would stand behind an obvious rebuild, because I sure don't see it. I know the one thing I keep thinking when I watch the commenters here is..."Boy, these guys would be so incredibly ready to allow a prospect to struggle for a couple years while they develop, their patience is christ-like."