Balta1701

I think we've pretty much always felt that Carson has an excellent attitude and presence, both on the mound and in the clubhouse/interviews. I would expect he's content with how yesterday went and also understands what additional work he needs to do.

That reply was perfect. Thank you.

Everyone has noticed who the last player Chris Davis got a hit off of was, right? I can't stop smirking every time I see that in an article.

IMO, your best bets remain: 1. Cover as many positions as possible internally 2. One or two free agent or trade acquisitions at most, to fill positions you simply couldn't cover elsewhere 3. Trade deadline acquisitions to finish things off. I think that's a good summary of the last group of teams to make the world series. The worst, most troublesome thing you said is the statement about the pitching, because I'm pretty sure you can find posts by me in mid-2017 saying something along the lines of "Rick Hahn is gambling his entire rebuild on the ability of the White Sox to develop a strong starting pitching rotation out of all of the pitching pieces he acquired and if that doesn't work then there's not going to be any hope for this franchise". I'm still inclined to believe that's an unavoidable result of the moves they made.

I fully continue to believe that the only way to avoid the bolded is to avoid the free agent market almost entirely, at least at the "Middle levels" (maybe excluding the very top $200 million+ guys). It's not just a matter of being better or worse at it, it's a game where you have a 50% failure rate, a 25% mediocre rate, and a 25% success rate. If you are going out to sign guys, you are likely to wind up with that quality. It's just unavoidable.

IMO, trading your low-priced guy for a mid-priced guy and then having to sign a mid to high priced guy in FA is a particularly high risk strategy. It only really makes sense if the low-priced guy is years away from being useful to you, and even then it is somewhat a step to undermine your future for the present. The Cubs have made that move several times - signing guys like Zobrist, Heyward, and Darvish while trading Eloy, Cease, and Torres. It definitely helped them "Win Now" when they had to do so, but in the long term we've seen how that raised their costs and removed their flexibility.

And if Madrigal develops into even a decent player...we have a clear hole at 2b. Madrigal made sense as possible trade bait when we might acquire a top level free agent infielder, this is no longer the case.

That assumes enough of the White Sox's outfield talent pans out for them to have extra resources to trade.

Just so someone says it - It is very disappointing that they're still seeing surprisingly big walkup crowds, even for day games with good weather, to reward the franchise for how they behaved this offseason.

I don't know about mad, but disappointed and frustrated yes. Because would you pay the $100 million contract to keep a solid #3 starter around after 2021? Would your team give up top flight talent in a trade for a #3 starter at the deadline? That's not the worst possible result, if Kopech and Cease turn into stellar pitchers in 2020 and 2021 then he's useful, but otherwise it leaves the White Sox with very little to show for him. He won't be a difference maker helping this team turn around their struggles if he's only a #3, he won't command a king's ransom in a trade, and he won't be a particularly good free agent buy if he's a mid-rotation starter at best.

Click on the image if it doesn't show the last line. Worth it.

Would the response of one of the many geologists who are currently troubled by the way this article was handled be of interest to you?

This statement costs the White Sox ~ $4 million.

Chris Davis: .000, 0 Hr, 2 RBI. 2 at bats away from longest consecutive hitless streak.

Yeah but Santana will be going on Tuesday so he does need to be up. Yes, Palka does have options left, but I guess since Cordell already was sent down they prefer to send him down as he's already burnt an option? I dunno.

Nova has been slower than average since he was with the Yankees.

There's a dollar amount I would do it for too, but yeah asking me to do that for a pitcher, they're gonna be giving an awful lot of options if they want a $25 million guarantee or whatever. So much more nervous about doing that for a pitcher than for a hitter. Dominate AAA for a few months and maybe I'm more flexible.

Thomas, of course, has already played to the end of his career, and that did drag down some of his numbers like his batting average at the end. Cabrera still will have several more years to hit, and he's hit .256 over the past 2+ seasons.

Let's be honest - comparing anyone to Frank is unfair to that player until they're hitting at a HOF level. No matter how adept your comparison, you're comparing that player to the biggest offensive force of the 90's that didn't involve steroids and that's going to deserve a "wait a second". Talk to me when Eloy has a 1.000 OPS and I will be ok with starting to compare that.

Are you going to outspend the Yankees for Cole? Are you ok with spending $20m a year on Bumgarner if he can't pitch more than 120 innings a season? If not, what front line starters are left?

I will totally let them out of all their bad contracts if they agree to give up their 2016 trophy. They'd agree, right? They're a great example of why "consistent winning" over multiple seasons gets really tough. Win your title while you can.

I believe that is why people are confused on the pricing.

land or world

I've said this before - but I think if he hits only a "couple homers a year" he'll struggle to be a "really productive player" because that will be a symptom of a larger problem - that he isn't driving the ball. In the modern game even if you're really good at making contact in the minors, you're going to strike out more once you get to big league pitching and major league defenders are going to get you out more than minor league defenders. If he isn't hitting 10+ home runs then he very likely also isn't driving the ball into the gaps for doubles/triples, he's relying on weak contact. The end result would be a low BABIP and a situation where he'd struggle to hit close to .300. Give me 10-ish Home runs a year, the associated doubles and triples that come from driving the ball and hitting things hard, and then he's hitting the .300+ like you said. That's a "really productive player". No one in the big leagues hit over .300 with fewer than 9 home runs last year, and the only guys who were close to .300 with fewer HR than that were guys with fewer than 503 at bats, so their BABIP could carry them a bit more and their HR numbers are a bit depressed from a low number of plate appearances.