2nd_city_saint787

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 26, 2014 -> 05:35 PM) Honestly I'd rather just take a complete athlete like Waters out of Missouri undrafted or 6th or 7th and try and coach them than use a pick on a backup TE. We still could use more young OL depth. I just don't really care about TE at all right now. I haven't read much of anything about Waters (probably because CBS has him ranked as the 35th TE in the draft) but it kinda sounds like you want Fendi Onubun, who was resigned. I just don't know what to think about Rosario. He seems like he could be a solid backup he's not really someone I'd like to see out there if Bennett were to go down. Last offseason we heard a lot about 2 TE sets (even some rumblings about them taking Eifert in the 1st despite already signing Bennett) so if that's something they really do wanna utilize I'd like to see someone better than Dante. Perhaps taking one in the first few rounds is a bit of a stretch, but I certainly think they could/should draft a TE, esp. if they end up trading down and grab a few more picks. Maybe taking a chance on Colt Lyerla in the 5th or 6th might be a more plausible pick, and one that I would love. Lyerla is a guy who has huge talent but he's had run ins with the law.

I'm sure some of you follow the White Sox facebook, but in case you don't or just kinda skipped over it.... Here's a look at at the new grub, the new Sale K cards which is kinda cool (ala the Kings corner in Seattle), and the Hawk/Stone/DJ/Farmio race things. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1...8297&type=1

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Mar 26, 2014 -> 03:05 PM) Agreed, for the most part. If somehow, say, Greg Robinson fell to #14 (there is zero reason he would), then the Bears would have to take him. You can't pass that up. Same probably goes for Sammy Watkins. Neither of those things will happen because they just won't. But it's the reason I didn't say OL or WR. I included QB and RB as absolute no-go's because I there isn't a single QB or RB I'd take in Round 1 over a defensive player. You can add TE to my list too. Ebron would be a whole lotta fun if Trestman wants to use a lot of 2 TE packages....But ya, I'd still take Donald/HaHa and maybe Watkins/Robinson over him.

Fun fact....If you use Guerra's 2012 season, between him, Belisario, and Downs they gave up a combined 5 HRs in 156 innings. Addison Reed? 6 HRs in 71.

Right now I'm thinking Donald or Haha. If theyre both gone I'd try to trade down. I like Pryor as a box safety, but I also think Mundy can be that guy and if you take Pryor they'll still need a FS who's good in coverage. If Haha/Donald are gone I'd love to see them trade all the way down to 30 with SF and pick up another 2R pick. I'd then go with something like.... 1R(30)- Jernigan/Hageman/Tuitt/Nix- The last few mocks I've seen have Jernigan going late 1st early 2nd. Nix/Hageman are probably gone but there's a chance they're there. Tuitt would be my last choice but still one that could look real good at DT. With the thought that Houston will line up inside on passing downs I'm ok with them taking a run stuffer like Jernigan/Nix. 2R(51)- Terrance Brooks/Lamarcus Joyner/Keith McGill- Bucannon could be thrown in there as well but he's more of a box guy, though he did have 6 picks last year. Brooks would be my pick if he's there, he has a CB background so he should be solid in coverage. Joyner could be a good pick but at 5'8" size is a concern. McGill is listed as a CB but he does have a safety background, if he's willing to convert back to safety he could be a good pick. MGoing out on a limb here... 2R(56 or 61)- Austin Serefain-Jenkins- Yes, that's right, I went TE. We heard a lot about 2 TEs sets and the Ace package last offseason, so I don't think it's that far fetched. Jenkins is said to be a pretty good blocker along with being a good receiver, so he could be used more as an in line TE, hopefully eliminating the need to throw a swing tackle out there while also giving them another huge offensive weapon to work with. The Iowa TE in the 3rd might be a better option with more depth on D needed here. 3R- Pierre Desir- Tillmans understudy and next years starting CB 4R- Best RB/QB 5R- Best RB/QB 6R- Best OL/DL 6R- Best OL/DL ------ If Haha is there at 14 though, he's my pick.

Stoked. I still want Donald. In passing situations Allen-Houston-Donald-Young would just be sexy as funk.

QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 25, 2014 -> 02:19 PM) I Hope Ambrose can succeed when SHIELD eventually splits, is all. I agree about Harper. He doesn't look like much but all of his singles matches have been solid. I'm a little skeptical of him succeeding myself. Maybe they'll team him up with his old tag partner Solomon Crowe down the road to continue to kind of hide him down the road.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 25, 2014 -> 02:52 PM) The NFL will penalize the goalpost dunk next season Laaaaaaaaame They might be raising the goal posts 5 feet anyway so it's gonna take a special kinda freak to dunk on that anyway

Psh, have you guys seen that 1.67 era Paulino had his last year?? He really should be the OD starter, but I understand giving Sale that honor since he's been here longer.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 25, 2014 -> 02:22 PM) I'm not making any prediction. Well that's just no fun.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 25, 2014 -> 02:15 PM) One of the options above is a block of between 80-83 wins. This.

I went with 80-83. If Eaton is anywhere near the lead off hitter HE hopes to be (the .400 obp he predicted) and Abreu is the impact bat we all hope he is I don't think .500 is that far fetched at all.

QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 25, 2014 -> 05:44 AM) Ambrose is the only one I'm not really a fan of. His promos are good but he is so dull in the ring to me. I know, I know, I shouldve seen him in ROHCZWXtreme Wrestling but in WWE, he doesn't do much for me. I'm glad they Mania card looks strong without Punk. The more he is gone, the more it pisses me off. 6 months left on a deal and he walks and gives up money. Just dumb. If you remember, I actually said I was kind of surprised by the WWE signing him because he was more of a "hardcore" wrestler who was just really good on the mic. But ya, like Rowand said, he's the mouth piece, and he's probably there to take a few big bumps or stiff hits along the way. Also....Luke Harper is such a boss. His last 2 matches with Cena have been fantastic. I really hope he gets a singles run at some point

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 24, 2014 -> 07:04 PM) It's unlikely that all of these prospects turn out well, that said aside from catcher and probably another LH hitter somewhere I'm willing to roll dice on the position players. I think it's still debatable whether Quintana is a #2 or #3 on a playoff team with the contract he signed though it doesn't matter because if nothing else that boosted his trade value. If Quintana settles in as a #3, he may be able to be packaged with a Beck or Bassit for an established #2 with Johnson hopefully sliding in at #3. IMO Q is a solid #2. When you look at his stats, and I'm not even looking at fangraph stats here, you can make a real good argument that he was one of the top 25 pitchers in the league last year. Among pitcher who pitched at least 120 innings... 23rd in era 19th in whip 18th in Ks It's pretty hard to argue against those numbers. If the Sox had a better offense/bullpen and even 1/4th of his no decisions turned into Ws he'd have 13 wins. Only 14 pitchers had more than that. Hell, looking at those numbers you could really build a case that he's a #1 on a bad team. For sure a solid #2 on a good team if he pitches like he did last year. He's not that dominate ace who has lights out stuff but we saw with a guy named Mark Buehrle that having that lights out stuff doesn't necessarily mean you can't be a really good pitcher. As for the other part of your post, I agree there's a chance some of them flame out, but that's also why I wouldn't go balls out on a guy like Ervin Santana who's getting up there in age and could flame out before they either they contend. Lets see what these guys got before we go all willy nilly with the payroll.

QUOTE (buhbuhburrrrlz @ Mar 24, 2014 -> 06:34 PM) no jared allen decision yet? Nope, still waiting. You'd have to think they're gearing up for someone who's gonna get paid more than the vet min. I'm undecided on whether I'd rather have Allen or Clemons (the safety). On 1 hand having a guy with Clemons range playing CF would be real nice. On the other hand, lining up Allen-Houston-Ratliff-Young in passing situations could be pretty sexy. I'm kinda thinking Allen would be more of luxury and Clemons would give the team more.

That was all sorts of awesome....I'm starting to like Rollins more than Reigns now. Both have huge potential if used correctly.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 24, 2014 -> 06:40 AM) If you would have told me we'd still have the holes we have and an $85m payroll at the beginning of the offseason I would have been surprised. This can't be a rebuild that sets up a 5 or 6 year run built from the minors if they keep Sale. We're not even at year 1 of the rebuild and we have few tradeable assets left. If they signed a mid-tier starter that would at least give them the flexibility to deal a Quintana or Johnson. The only hole I see is catcher. You CAN make the argument for Paulinos spot in the rotation, but the fact of the matter is we just don't know yet whether or not he is indeed a hole or not. I said it many a times Paulino had one real bad start the last 2 years he was healthy and sans that game he had a 3.40 era stretched across 157 innings. The guy has a ton of upside if he stays healthy.....With all the question marks, not holes, but question marks on the bats of the youngsters we have, I'd much rather take a cheap risk on him than take a risk on a guy who could end up being no better than the guys we have eternally This is certainly a team that can start competing as early as next year with staying power. Semien and Micah Johnson look like they will be joining the core very soon. Those 2 along with Eaton/Garcia/Abreu/Davidson all look like they could be apart of a real good young core. If they keep Dayan around to DH him you have 7 of your 9 starters set for the foreseeable future. They don't need tradable assets if all those guys play like we hope and the Sox are players in FA.

OH I like that.

That write up on Lopez is extremely encouraging. I hadn't heard much of anything about him, or at least enough for his name to stick.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 24, 2014 -> 12:22 AM) And why would we need to entirely depend on Beck/Bassitt/Rienzo/Danish when we're about to pick a polished collegiate pitcher at #3 who would you have at least a shot at pitching in the 2nd half of 2014? That's one of the biggest arguments out there for not sinking money into Santana/Jimenez. You mean 2015???

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 10:27 PM) I thought we'd be further along quite honestly. It all came to a halt after the Davidson trade. If nothing else I figured they would've rid themselves of Dunn by now. It's frustrating at how long it takes this organization to fix fixable problems. Eat the money and give those AB's to someone who may have a future.o I think it's going to be difficult to put together the rotation quickly enough internally to maximize Sale's value. Maybe Beck and Bassit can be used to trade for an established starter. I think they'll have to make a decision to keep or deal Sale by offseason of 2015. I think they're about where I expected them to be. I expected an improvement at the catchers position but past that everything I wanted them to do they did. I thought a table setter and a middle of the line up bat would be the 2 most important acquisitions of the off season and they got that. I've been somewhat of a Dunn supporter for the last 2 years, I think his bat has it's place in the lineup. We saw 2 years ago that the Sox can indeed compete with him in the lineup. Injuries bit both he and PK down the stretch and it really killed them. If 1 or both stayed healthy they more than likely make the playoffs.....The closer we get to the trade deadline the more value he gets. A few years ago Mark Reynolds got the DBacks a guy who has saved a few games for em. They won't fix all of the rotation internally, but I don't see them signing mid tier guys for big money who might end up being on par with what they already have internally. Much like this season when they went after Tanaka I can certainly see them going after a top guy next year. Only way I see them trading Sale is if Garcia/Eaton/Abreu/Davidson all prove to be busts which would make them much further away than I thought.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 07:53 PM) Probably. I just don't see how they are going to get from where they are now to a championship with Chris Sale if they are not serious players in the free agent market going forward. Waiting on Beck and Bassit only devalues Sale. If they are fortunate with the draft this year that could fill a rotation hole, but I still think they're going to have to spend big on a couple free agents and their history shows they likely aren't going to do that. To me, they were trying to be serious players in FA. Again, if reports are true they tried to get the top catcher on the market, arguably the top pitcher on the market, and they landed a guy who very well could end up being the best bat on the market. I imagine next year they will once again be players for the top tier FAs yet again, esp. considering they'll have 15m+ coming off the payroll. There's a good chance Beck emerges next year, we're not talking a 2-3 year wait here. I, personally, am really intrigued/excited by the direction they're heading. It was never gonna be a 1 year rebuild, a team as bad as they were last year is not gonna turn it around by signing mid tier guys like Santana. Just because they targeted major league ready prospects doesn't mean they have to go for it right now, that's being a bit short sighted. As is thinking we should trade Sale if they don't plan on competing this year .

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 06:54 PM) This ownership has publicly tried for 30 years now, but they always come back to taking half-measures for the problems they have. Wouldn't signing Santana after missing out on Tanaka be taking half-measures? I know you'll say he's better than Paulino, but he does offer an intriguing upside if Coop can get him to harness his stuff. It's entirely possibly that Coop thinks Paulino could be better than Santana. If that's the case it makes sense to see what you have in him while also seeing how guys like Beck and Bassit develop.

The way I'm understanding him is it's either go for younger prospects and trade Sale or go for ML ready spects and drop big money. It's not a dreadful view on his part IMO, but the fact of the matter is they DID try to spend big on Tanaka and McCann, and they did spend big on Abreu...After missing out on those guys you can make the argument that the other guys were just not worth it. So now, I don't see any problem in waiting till next year, when they'll have even more money, to spend on actual impact players.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 01:20 PM) Well if you haven't seen a single regular season game then yes it's short sighted. Wiggins was their leading scorer last game. So judging players by one game in the NCAA tournament is pretty bad. Precisely why I added those points (haven't watched em/very short sighted)....I don't question that they're still big time talents, I was just hoping to see these uber talents go off on the biggest stage. Disappointed to see both of them gone.