Balta1701

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 19, 2016 -> 04:15 PM) 10 years ago also was the peak attendance of the franchise. The thing is, they drew a lot more last year than any year before Reinsdorf owned the team. So has the whole league on average.

QUOTE (AustinIllini @ Jan 19, 2016 -> 02:44 PM) The only thing Paxson and Forman are guilty of is not having LeBron James. Period. Only one team in the league gets LeBron. The Bulls didn't. That sucks. I'd still bet that if Rose's knees never gave out, we'd have taken down the Heat at least one of those years. With what Noah did, that team defense, and Butler's growth...that team would be one tough fight.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 19, 2016 -> 02:22 PM) Doesn't adding Frazier and Lawrie make this team better and more competitive over the next two years? Should the Sox have stuck with what they had last year and watch attendance continue to fall due to the same old s*** on the field? Cespedes isn't the only player capable of upgrading Avi/Melky. Correct me if I'm wrong but are you one of the fans that said relying on the free agent market to build a team is not the best way of building a team? A sentiment that I do agree with you on. Again, if I'm wrong please correct me on it. yes, the FA market is a terrible way to build a team, and yes, Frazier and Lawrie are upgrades over what they had last year, but a team that needs everything to go right to challenge for the 2nd wild card and is much more likely to be at the bottom of the division again "IS" the same old s*** on the field.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 19, 2016 -> 02:08 PM) if you would have read all of what nitetrain posted instead of glossing over the things you disagreed with, you would have seen a lot of the good things that they have done Using 20/20 hindsight, they absolutely could have been better, but you can't play that game. If you're going to criticize them for not being aggressive enough going after a big name player in trades, then the "keeping Butler" thing becomes relevant, because I haven't seen anyone who told me in 2013 that he was going to become one of the top 15 players in the league.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 19, 2016 -> 02:10 PM) Yes. In one interview RH basically said that Frazier is here until Trey M. is ready. He's basically a really good stopgap. And they said Micah was the starting 2b on a team supposed to compete for the AL Central in 2015, then shipped him away and you've spent weeks telling me how the White Sox didn't give up much when they gave him up. The idea that we're projecting a 3b who hasn't even seen AA yet with so far a .720 OPS in his minor league career as a key cog in the team the last 2 years before Sale and Abreu hit free agency is ludicrous.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Jan 19, 2016 -> 02:07 PM) Danks and La Roche will be off the books, Lawrie and Frazier would be good rentals for the right contenders, or could be held one more year, and offered QO's, in order to acquire still more draft picks. Who would you trade next off season, if this scenario were to come to pass? Important note - MLB will be operating under a new CBA by the time those 2 become free agents. The rules are unlikely to change for this year since the CBA won't be in force until December 1 and the QOs need to be made before that, but it seems likely that the PA is going to continue making it tougher to get draft pick compensation for players, as they've done in each of the previous CBAs.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 19, 2016 -> 01:53 PM) The White Sox are trying to build a team, not build a team around Cespedes. As ive said a few times in this thread already, Cespedes and his demands were not realistic for the Sox in the first place so i never counted on the Sox signing him. Sure i hoped like a few others but never did see a fit. The Sox needed upgrades at 3B and 2B so they went out and traded for the best of what was available. You know as well as the rest of us that the 3B market had little to choose from. Should the Sox have signed Freese instead? Or signed an old veteran like Rollins for SS/2B? Should the Sox have not made those upgrades and rolled with Saladino at 3B, Alexei at SS and Sanchez at 2B? That recipe didn't work in '15 so the Sox had to make changes from what was available on the market and I think they did pretty damn good in their upgrades at 3B/2B. Too many fans are mentally looking at the trades of Lawrie and Frazier being based around the assumption that the Sox would or even could sign Cespedes, a player that has said since last September he was seeking 6/150. Bad assumption... What isn't said in reply is how having Lawrie and Frazier walk in 2 years helps the White Sox "build a team". Through specifically the Frazier move the White sox said bluntly they have a 2 year window before a major offensive piece hits FA. They need to act like that. If they weren't prepared to act like that, then they managed to make their job of "building a team" much more difficult.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jan 19, 2016 -> 01:25 PM) They aren't only 2 wins better though. If the White Sox roster got better, but the rest of the division and the league also got better, then an improved roster could lead to treading water on the record or even stepping downwards.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 19, 2016 -> 01:10 PM) Lol, yes they will be mad. Agree with your points. If Cespedes wants to be in NY or gets his 6 year deal from the Angels then its no fault of the FO. If the white sox weren't willing to pony up for what it takes for this roster to be competitive in the next 2 years then why did they trade for 2 different guys who are free agents in 2 years?

QUOTE (LDF @ Jan 19, 2016 -> 07:06 AM) and in addition, 28 mil will be coming off the books at the end of the 2016 season and on the 2017 more will be coming off, with starters on 15 mil of melky. no one is mentioning that. second, while the team is waiting for the prospects to develop and step in, how are we to know if they are a player that can't maintain their weight in a batting avg or no better than a backup???? alot if being placed on these prospects to being a great player. But, just for the guys the White Sox have under contract right now, $9.75 million of that is eaten up in salary increases. That doesn't count increases to Lawrie, Frazier, Putnam, Petricka, Garcia, and Jennings (if the latter ones are kept) who are arb-eligible, or any opt-out related increase for ABreu. About 1/2 of that $28 mil is therefore already spoken for.

QUOTE (glangon @ Jan 19, 2016 -> 05:35 AM) No, but it can't be any worse than Samardzija last year. Also in the 6 starts that Johnson had last year, he never gave up more than 3 runs. In the same timespan, Samardzija gave up 4 runs or more in 4 of the 6 starts to end the season, giving up a whopping 10 runs against Oakland. I think Johnson will be a serviceable starter and if we get the John Danks that pitched in the second half of last season, we could have a solid rotation. Starting on Sept. 1, Samardzija pitched 32 innings, Johnson pitched 35. Over that stretch, Johnson gave up 49 baserunners and 8 home runs, Samardzija gave up 42 baserunners and 6 HR. Johnson had more strikeouts which helped his setup, but for EJ that's a WHIP of 1.4 when he was getting a lot of balls put in play. At the very least, if he does that same kind of performance this year it won't be long before he's giving up 4+ runs in most of his starts. Again, rookie, needs work, can't project much based on September numbers, all the caveats. Those earned run numbers should be looked at in context and the context doesn't impress for EJ.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 10:04 PM) Upton won't be a part of that one though, his opt out is for the class before that one. You're right, my miscount.

QUOTE (Baron @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 10:01 PM) The question is would Cespedes want an opt out? Upton is younger. Not sure Cespedes would opt out getting well into his 30s. Gotta figure some of these guys will pass on theirs (Ian Kennedy needs an opt out? Really? He's going to get more than that?)

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 09:56 PM) Opt-outs are as annoying to me as transfers in college basketball That 2018 free agent class is going to be so crazy.

QUOTE (Sockin @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 09:39 PM) It's not that much different than the lineup they put up last year. Well that "Upton" guy is better and that "Cabrera" guy is pretty good if he's there for the full year. That's something. It would definitely look a lot better if they could say with confidence that Victor Martinez at age 37 would be closer to his age 34 season than his age 36 season. It also helps that Verlander might have found a legit groove in the 2nd half last year. That said, I still wouldn't call them favorites in the Central or for either of the WC slots. They could have a shot at both, but they still need a lot of stuff to go right.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxLifer @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 09:30 PM) sources: upton will be getting long-term deal from tigersTigers https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/689273621907410944 That's a "change the headline of the thread" kinda post to me.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 09:24 PM) Classic Tigers. I can't remember, do they usually leak before they make moves?

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 09:17 PM) http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/texas-rang...er-justin-upton ESPN senior writer Buster Olney wrote that, "If Justin Upton gets to the point when he seriously thinks about a one-year deal the Rangers may well be the best option." "Texas has an excellent lineup already, they inhabit a really good hitters' park, and Upton wouldn't go there expected to carry the offensive load himself," Olney observed. "He could slot in among Prince Fielder, Adrian Beltre, Shin-Soo Choo, Rougned Odor and others and do some major damage there, which would give him an excellent chance to play in the postseason before hitting the market again next fall." God if that team gets some pitching out of Darvish that would be one helluva scary opponent. I kinda want to see them do it, set up a lineup that if they stay healthy compares to Torotno.

2015 Spring Training: White Sox The White Sox have plenty of talent to contend in 2015 with rotation ace Chris Sale and the additions of Jeff Samardzija and Melky Cabrera By Scott Merkin / MLB.com||4:02 PM ET

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 03:44 PM) I am looking for honeymoon locations out west (Montana and Wyoming, ideally). Anyone have experience with any of the towns there? Know it a lot (Geologist). Elaborate about what you want to do?

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 04:04 PM) I don't take that as "he's never been coached." I take it as the Sox played him at 2B/3B and didn't view him as a SS. He settled in as SS. Though the A's have always neglected defense as a whole. I think it's a matter of player evals rather than coaching. Games played per position in the minors for the White Sox: SS: 250 3B: 40 2B: 77 LF: 11 That's a lot of games to have played at SS to "not know" about the basic footwork.

@JamesSmyth621 As of 10:34 ET last night, we are closer to the first pitch of the 2016 MLB season than we are to the last pitch of the 2015 World Series

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 12:59 PM) I'm not the biggest fan of GarPax, but this thread is hilarious. Faulting them for not signing the big free agents? They've made the attempt and have offered max contracts. If the player they want doesn't want to sign there what are they supposed to do? Sure they've made a couple bad trades but what GM hasn't? If Derrick Rose's first ACL tear never happened we may be looking at GarPax's legacy completely different. They had back to back seasons as the number 1 seed in the East and failed in the playoffs. Hard to blame the guys upstairs for that. I understand calling them out for being overly hesitant and it's probably a fair complaint, but take a look at the results. If they were overly hesitant on trading young guys in the late 00's, that definitely contributed to that team breaking down and maybe they should have aggressively moved Deng or Gordon sooner. On the other hand, right now we're looking at having the #2 Shooting guard in the NBA (by quick check of PER) or something like that because we didn't make the aggressive move the last few years. At the very least it's not an open and shut case. If you could have gotten Bryant and we turned it down, then that's a pretty clear mistake, but that's complicated and there's no guarantee we'd have won a title with him anyway (the Gasol trade mattered a ton there). Maybe we should have traded Rose or the rights to Rose before he got hurt, but I still haven't seen anyone say that. If the Bulls were relying on Rose playing up to his contract any of the last 4 years, which they almost had to - the injuries have killed that. Especially now that we're seeing Butler dominate after the Bulls were patient with him and didn't trade him, the "Bulls FO needs to be more aggressive about trading young guys for stars" doesn't look like an always winning argument any more. At the very least, it's a case-by-case setup; maybe making the move in the 00's would have been the right move, but you're not going to tell me that any proposed trade centered around Butler would have made this team better.

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 01:47 PM) Some Chicago restaurant needs to offer Cespedes free deep dish pie for life...... http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/14595961...d-signs-orioles Are we really sure we want that? Not the best way for an athlete to stay in shape...

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 01:09 PM) Do you have a source that says it's the first time he has ever been coached? There's one of the several money quotes on it from that article.