Balta1701

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 6, 2016 -> 03:12 PM) Then why play for the high picks? Once Houston makes it's first selection, the rest of the draft, the Sox would have had the better picks correct? I would much rather pick 18th than first in the second round. Well, the White Sox's first round pick would be better than Houston's second round pick, but Houston's second round pick would still be at the top of the 2nd round, so they'd be drafting 40th while the White Sox would be drafting 58. And again, that's if your team is dumb enough to screw up the top pick, which obviously is a possibility we can't ignore with this franchise. Plus, at least under the current system that also frees up additional funds to be used on international signings or moved around the draft elsewhere. Right now the White Sox need everyone to succeed for them to have a chance. They lost 2 relievers this year and Kenny declared it the end of the world. They stretch themselves so thin that no one can afford to underperform in the slightest. They combine that with poor scouting, so that it is likely players will underperform. The only way they're going to be able to succeed given the poor scouting is to throw so many players at it that eventually the odds simply overwhelm the poor organizational performance by a lot. (or they could fix the complete failures, but hey, Rick's a nice guy so we can't do that).

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 6, 2016 -> 02:39 PM) Even the supposed genius organizations pick some clunkers high in the draft. This sets up being really bad a really long time. I am happy they want at least some sort of immediate major league help for Sale or Quintana at this point. That probably shows their hand a bit as well. No total rebuild. Maybe trade a pitcher or 2 for some hitters. I do think their minor league staff and maybe a few scouts are going to change. I am sure Robin is gone. I would imagine most of the coaching staff will be gone as well. Let's point out though - "picking some clunkers high in the draft" does not destroy a franchise these days. The example continues being the Astros. 3 #1 picks, completely blew 2 of them, still a legit playoff contender with a lineup that should only get better next year. That took 5 years, and they started from a point of having much less to trade away than the White Sox currently have.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 6, 2016 -> 02:29 PM) Maybe they learned their lesson they can really totally shop at Walmart. I just don't understand how anyone can think these guys could be better at projecting minor leaguers than major leaguers. That's harder for anyone. If you think the guys they want to throw millions at can't play, why would guys they get for Sale or Quintana be able to play? Why wouldn't they be Avi or Leury Garcia? Or Jon Adkins, the guy they got for Ray Durham? It's not like they have struck it rich when they did trade for prospects. Because you bring back 8+ of them, and you stop trading away the guys you currently have, and you receive higher draft slots. Force the numbers to have some shot at overwhelming the poor scouting.

So, apparently in New York State it is legal for one party to record another without the other's express permission. This is relevant today because as of last week we started hearing rumors that Gretchen Carlson had been taping comments by Roger Ailes and others for the last several years. Within a few days of the rumors that there were tapes, Fox News settled her sexual harassment claim for $20 million, along with several other claims by other women today, and issued a public apology. For the most part, people such as Sean Hannity who tweeted that she was a liar have yet to comment.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Sep 6, 2016 -> 10:22 AM) Reddick is a good RF. Maybe move one of them to left and acquire a CF making Melky the DH? I really want them to bring back Morneau though. As of right now, here's the list of CFs available as free agents this offseason: Several of those guys are people you really don't seem to want in CF any more - Cespedes for example is better as a corner OF. Gomez had a terrible year with both the glove and the bat. A couple guys - Jackson, Crisp, are either up there in age or seem like backups at this point. Jay has played 120+ games once since 2012, Rajai Davis seems to hit a ceiling of 450 PAs and will be entering his late 30s. Basically that leaves you needing to sign Fowler or Desmond to make an impact in CF, or you're going to have to trade for someone. Not sure I'm a fan of any of those options, but that's the list.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Sep 6, 2016 -> 10:16 AM) I can get on board with Reddick. I think he will end up signing for less than a 5/$90-100 that I saw predicted for him a few months ago. This of course pushes Eaton to CF. Which, of course, seriously dents the value of the signing.

QUOTE (bmags @ Sep 6, 2016 -> 10:05 AM) WhileI don't think she is trying to necessarily step in front of Donald before he shoots himself in the foot, in a normal campaign her normal activities would be covered. but her big rally in OH last week to talk to Veterans was not covered...because Trump went to Mexico and then doubled down on deportations. What did come out was a series of articles with scary tones about the Clinton Foundation that had zero actual allegations of improprieties that were backed up in the articles. Meanwhile, Trump Foundation actually did illegally donate money to an AG race Florida just after she said FLA might join the suit against Trump University and then suddenly declined after the donation. Trumps strategy is to suck all of the medias oxygen in the room with outlandish tactics. It works, he gets all of the coverage. Now, obviously doing outlandish things is not a great strategy for the voters who take the president's job seriously, but it is effective in what it aims for - to be what everyone is talking about all the time. Last week she also spent a good amount of time on a mental health issue treatment and response plan and put out a newly-developed policy statement on creating a commission that would have legal authority to issue fines for "excessive" prescription drug price hikes and issue emergency orders to get around them when they happen.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 5, 2016 -> 01:13 PM) So there was an earthquake in Oklahoma Saturday that was almost a 6.0. People felt the tremors all over the place, Kansas, Arizona, everywhere. I was wondering if you think fracking is the problem. Oklahoma is getting hit with quakes all the time now. I am thinking we are messing with mother Nature too much. We're just asking for massive earthquakes by fracking. Is there any solution to this? My fear is some bigger quakes are coming. This one was pretty close to being catastrophic. Another point or so on the scale and it would have been a problem. This is not "fracking" per se, it is however linked. The Oklahoma quake surge is driven by pumping oil and gas wastewater into deep, basement-adjacent geologic units and in the process reactivating faults. This has been going on for years. The 2011 Oklahoma quake was estimated to have caused over $100 million in damage. The only link to modern fracking though is that the more oil and gas exploration there is, the more wastewater is produced. OK is now slowly trying to shut off another set of pumps after the quake last weekend, but the basic reality is that if they want to keep producing oil and gas they're just going to have to live with these for a while. They can and will take steps to limit them, but they can't turn off the disposal wells entirely and there's been so much pumping over decades there that the quakes are just jumping from well to well.

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QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 6, 2016 -> 07:28 AM) As opposed to the risk of adding players that bust, which is MUCH higher historically. I read this line first after seeing Weiters's name above and my brain processed it as a warning against playing the free agent market because of the bust risk. I then stopped, looked at the rest of the post and the context, and realized - oh wait, it's not referring to that risk, it's only focusing on the rebuilding risk, as we usually do.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 4, 2016 -> 04:48 PM) Why is it when the teams sucks, the manager gets blamed, the hitting coach gets blamed, and when it's good, they really don't get much credit. Yet, with Cooper it is exactly the opposite. He gets credit for all their success, no no blame for their failure. His rotations have remained decent based on 2 guys that were developed 5 years ago. But as I tried to point out a couple weeks ago - pitching development isn't keeping up with the standard they're demanding either.

Interesting take on MLB network just now - Robertson was measured as having the "longest stride" in the big leagues and when his fastball was 93 the long stride made it harder to pick up the ball, but if he were to lose a little in velocity in their opinion that could trigger a really dramatic dropoff.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 4, 2016 -> 04:16 PM) Well, Carson Fulmer and Beck starting in significant games against AL Central opponents would be entertaining. Maybe we could rush up Burdi as well. Heck, forget about Collins developing as a catcher, he's got a big league ready bat right now so we can live with him behind the plate. Instant playoff appearance. They could try a 3 man rotation?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 4, 2016 -> 04:07 PM) Whatever. There is no question the Sox need to be deeper. If you have no depth, injuries hurt more. But since the Sox waved the White flag, they re going to lose more games than they would have had they been in contention. Ranaudo and Shileds wouldn't be pitching, and most of these minor leaguers wouldn't be getting a shot. This right now is part of rebuilding, something supposedly many want but constantly complain about when these guys are in the line up. Note that the guys who were "white flag" traded were Navarro and Duke, neither of whom is obviously going to replace Ranaudo or Shields. Well maybe Shields. Navarro probably could have outpitched him.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 4, 2016 -> 03:58 PM) Your argument is ridiculous and you know it, the White Sox can't compete with the Dodger financially, and that extends to the minor leagues. Then we need to be happy with 3rd and 4th place finishes. Because sticking your fingers in your ears and pretending that injuries don't happen does not actually prevent injuries. Every single year there's a team like this. The Cardinals were banged up to hell and back last year and won 100 games. The Dodgers have basically lost their entire starting rotation this year. And of course you ignored the note about the Indians losing Brantley, some of their starters for short stints, and Byrd. But please, tell me again how the White Sox lost 20% fewer games to the DL this year than the Royals but the Royals and Indians are these payroll juggernauts and the White Sox can't compete with them financially.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 4, 2016 -> 03:49 PM) The Los Angeles Dodgers can also throw many around like no other team. While we all fret about the $20 million the Sox have to pay Shields the next 2 years, they can piss that away and no one thinks twice. It may be the dumbest comparison ever. Take away Kershaws $30 million and they still have a significantly higher payroll than the White Sox. Well then I guess you make a strong case why we need to be happy with 4th place.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 4, 2016 -> 03:26 PM) Really, you think the Sox should and could be be like the Dodgers? That may be the craziest thought ever. The Los Angeles Dodgers lost Clayton Kershaw for what, 1/2 the season, and are still in 1st place? I never want to hear how losing Zach Putnam and Jake Petricka totally doomed this franchise while the Dodgers lost Kershaw for 1/2 the season and are still in 1st place. And he was only like 20% of what they've lost to injury. Good teams deal with injuries. The White Sox whine. Hell, the team that is going to win the AL Central lost their #3 hitter coming into the season for the entire year and had another OF get caught. And somehow, they had a good enough roster to overcome that. But we'll never match the Indians payroll, they're juggernaut.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Sep 4, 2016 -> 03:13 PM) Injuries. Dodgers.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 3, 2016 -> 08:54 PM) I don't think anyone was advocating go after Shields entering the 2014-15 offseason. This is almost two full seasons later...everyone could see his stuff degrading with KC in 2013 and especially the following year. There's just no way you can throw 200+ innings for so many consecutive seasons without it catching up to you. It even took a huge toll on Buehrle, who never got by with his arsenal of pitches alone. I'll chime in here - I thought Shields made more sense than Samardzija.

QUOTE (JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ Sep 3, 2016 -> 04:49 PM) Are we talking about the same Mat Latos that only threw 116 innings in 2015 and has contended with injury concerns since his 2013 season? When the Sox signed him I said they'd be lucky to get 20 starts out of him and I'm pretty sure most on this site said the same thing. I'd expect more from Volquez and Fister absolutely. There is no question they are a tier above Latos and fully capable of filling out the back end of a rotation. And Doug Fister has been healthy every year? And Edinson Volquez has been a successful pitcher every year and you can ignore his ERA of 5 this year? Like I said, it's a classic Rick Hahn Special. "Oh look we've improved the 4th starter spot, now we're totally good enough." It's a completely failed thought process. But as long as you're ok with where this team is right now, keep it up.

QUOTE (JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ Sep 3, 2016 -> 04:11 PM) No one is happy with how the team is playing this year but there is no denying the fantastic front end of the rotation that has developed which has an ability to become even deeper if Fulmer reaches his potential. There is nothing wrong with signing a veteran on a short term deal for additional depth and to support the back end of the rotation. Heck even everyone's favorite team around here the Cubs signed 33 year old Jason Hammel to a 2 year deal to do exactly what I'm describing. Similarly Doug Fister was signed to a 1 year deal by the Astros. You just can't count on these guys to be front of the rotation starters but a low to mid 4 ERA and 160+ IP is a perfectably reasonable expectation and very valuable. Nobody expected that from guys like Latos, Paulino, etc. but I would expect that from guys like Volquez and Fister, which are another tier up. JR has to be willing to spend that extra $ to get guys that are serviceable rather than scrap heap headed out of the league types. This would mean expanding the payroll another $15-20MM next season. Why that was more expectable from Fister than Latos I have no idea. Latos put up an 89 ERA+ in 2015 before the White Sox signed him, Volquez is at 88 this year. Fister is slightly better but also worth noting that both of those guys will be 33 next year. This is exactly how we got to where we are right now. Signing guys to be "good enough". This is the Rick Hahn Special thinking. Sign a guy that is good enough and your team will be good enough to make a run at the 2nd wild card when nothing goes wrong. This thinking has failed us repeatedly and will keep failing us. Stuff always goes wrong. Stop trying to build a team that is "good enough". Stop thinking about the wild card at all. The teams winning the wild card most years are teams that are plenty good to win a division the year before or the year after. Stop trying to assemble a team that is good enough and hoping that nothing goes wrong. Build a team that is clearly the best in the division. Build a team that is clearly the best in the league. Build the best organization in the league. Do that, and when something goes wrong, then you still have the Wild Card and a system that can support you with trades or callups when something goes wrong without it destroying your franchise. This mindset is how we got articles about how much better the catcher's slot would be this year than last year. This is how I got convinced that Keppinger was a good signing. This mindset is how we wound up with every other Rick Hahn Special. If we keep it up, eventually we'll win that 2nd wild card. As long as you're happy with 1 second-wild-card appearance every decade or two, then that's the mindset for you. It's how we got where we are right now, so as long as you're happy with where we are right now, then go right ahead. I want that thinking tossed out the window, because I'm tired of where we are right now.

I'll admit, I lived through the 1990s, and I was totally unprepared for an entire week of press reports and investigation that found Hillary's State Department service was impressively clean...treated like a week of scandal reports.

QUOTE (JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ Sep 3, 2016 -> 07:55 AM) I think a lot of people lose sight of the fact that Rodon is only 23. I fully expect an ERA in the 3.30-3.50 range next season over 180+ IP. Legit #2 numbers by AL standards. As far as Shields is concerned, the new manager should not let him make or break the back end of the rotation. The manager has to have the balls and the ability to throw him in the pen if Fulmer is the better pitcher next spring, which I fully expect he will be. As I stated in another thread, I wouldn't be opposed to taking a flier on someone like Fister or Volquez on a 1 or 2 year deal as added insurance/depth since they will be relatively cheap. After all, the "Rick Hahn Special" signing is how we got where we are today, and since we are happy with where this franchise is today we should keep doing the same thing.

I'm in as one of the angry, because it was so easy to see it coming.

(Source)