NorthSideSox72

Brian has published his first report from SoxFest, with full quotes you didn't see on Twitter, etc. from Rick Hahn et al. Read here. More content to come.

Brian is now checked in with his media credentials, so keep an eye on the @FutureSox feed (which he has taken over, God help us all) for live updates.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 12:08 PM) An exchange I had at work a week or so back: Phone caller: How much for one copy? Me: Black ink or color? Phone caller: Um, uh, um black. Me: One copy would be $.10 on regular bond paper. There are quantity breaks if you run more than 100 copies. Phone caller: I only need one. Do you have anything cheaper? Me: I could draw it for you... How much for one rib?

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 10:34 AM) Wow, they're high on Anderson. BP has been higher than others on him all along.

So it's been a while, but Dan, Rob and Daniel (danman31, southside hitman, Quinarvy) did a podcast last night, mostly discussing the Top Prospects list that came out recently. Details and links for downloading are here. Enjoy!

I have to say, I really had my doubts about the way the FBI and OSP were handling this, but they seem to have done quite well. Happily wrong on this one.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 02:00 PM) But if that person still votes for Party A 90% of the time because they more closely match their viewpoint, then for all intents and purposes they're no different than a self-identified Party A partisan if we're discussing openings for some 3rd party candidates. I completely disagree. People hold their noses and vote all the time, but would jump ship under the right circumstances. See Ross Perot, who was kind of a disaster but still ended up playing a significant role in the general election. And if he hadn't left then came back, his role would likely have been even bigger.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 01:15 PM) You must love the Clintons! eh, no.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 12:52 PM) Most independents reliably vote for one party or the other almost as much as self-identified partisans. Not the same thing. When presented with two choices, of course most will lean one way or the other. You seem to be conflating independent with moderate. Furthermore, if one has views that are, let's just say, 60% one party, 30% another and 10% not in line with either... that's an independent in my view.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 11:39 AM) Yes. I don't know why we are talking about this though, "brokered convention" and "leads way to a third party candidate" are the most overdone election tropes that come out and never happen. Just a fun what-if. QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 12:10 PM) People just like to say they are independents. Because many are.

Let's have a pinned post for SoxFest reports and bits. Future Sox writer Brian Bilek will be there with media credentials. I suspect other posters here will be there too. Feel free to share stuff here. Link to the SoxFest main page of the White Sox.

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 11:05 AM) But the house hates both Cruz and Trump, so who would they go for? For those old enough, do you remember what the council chambers looked like at Chicago City Hall after Mayor Washington died? That's what the floor of Congress would look like. Chaos. C-SPAN would suddenly be must-see reality TV.

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 10:44 AM) Is it weird that I'm almost more scared of Cruz as POTUS than Trump? No I get it. And I honestly forgot about the true majority rule giving the vote to the House, which would be bad no matter who controls it (it would still be GOP in this case).

QUOTE (southside hitman @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 10:28 AM) Spencer Adams at #1 is surprising to me. Fangraphs called him a"developing frontline starter" and "can reach up to 97" on his FB. The most optimistic projection I've seen on him previously was a solid #3 and when I saw him pitch in August he sat 89-90 and touched 91. However, I will say though that scouts told me he looked much sharper earlier in the year. Adams more than tripled his innings from 2014 to 2015 so I wouldn't be surprised if he was hitting a wall in August. Still, I am not sure I've ever heard of him hitting 97... Adams was as high as 96 in the AZL in 2014. In 2015 he hit an endurance wall, and also was taking on new mechanical changes form his coaches, which resulted in decreased velocity. But I also heard reports he was still getting to 94 at least in 2015. He needs to add some muscle I think.

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 07:33 AM) Cruz vs Trump vs Clinton vs Bloomburg First person to 30% wins! In the general? That would be utterly fascinating. And, as long as Trump doesn't win, might be the right kick in the ass the system needs.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 09:45 AM) Oh, I just assumed he DID reach out. Nope. Unless he had convos with one of our writers and they didn't mention it, which is possible but not likely. Their list last year had some of our videos too, but not this many (it was a different writer too). I can also tell in some cases who his sources were, outside FS. But he clearly took our takes into account, in addition to using the video and other content directly. I find it odd he has Alfaro as high as 12. Just as weird is Johan Cruz being an afterthought.

Some interesting choices there. Lots of FS videos and links to other FS content too - I'd say probably half the media links they use in total are from FS. Kind of surprised he didn't just reach out to us. In fact there are places in there where I get the feeling he may have just been reading our prospect profiles and re-stating some things. Maybe not though, it's hard to say that sort of thing because much of people's views on players will end up overlapping.

In my view, it is very important to also slap penalties on these guys to pay for the damage, and the massive law enforcement operation that was needed. Most won't have a ton of money, but you could seize assets as well. And they should.

We did the position player version of this a couple days ago. This is the pitching version - a look at a handful of pitchers who missed our Top 30 prospects, but are worth keeping an eye on. These are potential breakout or bounce-back candidates. Any thoughts on these guys? Anyone else I should have included?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jan 27, 2016 -> 12:00 PM) Saturn did that and while some people liked it, I think others didn't like it. And the reality is, TV's are on sale, etc, all the time. Very easy to have one person pay substantially more for a TV than another, because one person bought from here during X sale or had X coupons, etc. I don't actually think it is that much different than having people negotiate, other than you can more easily see the "sale" price of the TV at the variety of stores or use a tool like froogle or yahoo shopping. Saturn had an interesting model. Basically, cars are sticker-priced for about 10% money to the dealer. They are negotiated to, on average, like 5%. Saturn basically set a flat difference for dealers in between, like 7%, and that was that.

So, they guy who kept saying he'd die to avoid jail, was shot and killed. The lesser Bundy brother was wounded. The Bundy brothers and six others arrested, for now on interference charges, which is light. And LOL at the Oregon assembly member tweeting out things she has no idea are true to make out someone to be a martyr. The pieces are finally moving.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 26, 2016 -> 06:19 PM) Prediction that Hector Sanchez makes Opening Day roster after Avila gets hurt in ST Wouldn't surprise me if an injury happens, but I am not sure Sanchez then gets the job. I think he's in the pool with Brantly and Smith, and honestly I wouldn't put money on any one of them over the other at this point. I will say that the team won't carry all three in Charlotte, so if both the MLB catchers reach Opening Day healthy, one of those three will be with another organization. Probably Sanchez if I had to guess.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 26, 2016 -> 03:45 PM) Scott Merkin ‏@scottmerkin 20m20 minutes ago Chicago, IL Organization is high on catcher Omar Narvaez, who was among the 20 to receive NRIs to Spring Training today as announced by the White Sox Some folks scoffed at FS putting him in the Top 30. He's got very good zone judgment and bat to ball feel, plays good defense with a strong arm. Has consistently put up some of the best BB:K rates in the system.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Jan 26, 2016 -> 03:36 PM) Serious question: is Coats a better player than Avi right now? Hard to say. Possibly. I wouldn't say definitely. It's all about whether or not Avi is willing or able to make adjustments that he hasn't made yet. If you could tell me right now he can't, and he's the same player as last year, than I'd honestly rather put Coats out there than Avi. Coats isn't the prototypical White Sox OF prospect. He's not super-toolsy on 2 or 3 areas and a disaster in others. He's more of a portfolio. Hit tool is solid, makes good contact, quiet load and quick hands. Some power - he's hit 15 to 17 HR per full season - but he's not going to be a 20+ guy in the majors, probably. Pretty strong and very accurate arm from the outfield, I watched him put on a show in drills in Charlotte. Very good corner OF defensively, and can cover CF in a pinch but I wouldn't start him there. Some speed, nothing like May or Engel but he's faster than average and will steal bags here and there. His weak spot is he does expand the zone a bit and doesn't walk a lot, which hasn't caused him issues yet, but if he's got a weak spot that could bite him in the majors that's it.

My boy Coats. Nice. QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 26, 2016 -> 03:06 PM) Was hoping Eddy Alvarez would get a spot. Really want to see him. I like Eddy too, but these are guys who have some shot at the opening day roster, or are maybe just one injury away from being added. Alvarez is a few steps away, so he's not likely to be there. Also some of those are just plain key prospects like Danish, and Alvarez isn't at that level either. Not yet anyway.