2nd_city_saint787

What are you guys talking about....Micheal Taylor WAS called up today! Norris just got the hash tag wrong. ....Woulda been neat to see both Micheal Taylors called up on the same day.

Man, I really hope Tyler's funky motion holds up and he can be a starter in a few years and for years to come after that. Dude is a boss. Last 10 games the dude has a 1.38 ERA with a 46/14 K/BB ratio. That includes a game where he went just 4 innings and gave up 3 runs. Take that game out and he has a 0.93 ERA since June 9th.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 9, 2014 -> 05:42 AM) I don't think after what happened with Tanaka they're going to be willing to go that high on someone who doesn't quite have ace/superstar talent written all over him. Sure, it's a possibility...but you could see the White Sox spreading that money over 3-4 different holes rather than taking the risk of another bad pitching contract to go with John Danks. At some point, they're going to almost have to dip their toe into that water again, but I think it's more likely to be for a 4-5 back-end starter rather than a 2-3 $100+ million contract. That's assuming Rodon becomes a #3 or better in 2015, or LOOKS like he could be in 2016 heading in that year. Meh, I expect them to be in the race for him just like they were with Tanaka(If reports were true). Might not put in the highest bid, but in it nevertheless. With the contracts they gave to Sale/Q I think they could risk giving money to a guy who fits long term. Any injury to a different player shouldn't really scare them away. Injuries can happen to anyone. It's also possible he more realistically gets in the 75-90 range or takes a shorter term contract to prove what he can do here since he hasn't been billed as an ace.....His numbers compare favorably to what Iwakuma did out there and from the looks of it he only signed a 1 year contract in Seattle.So I may be wayyyy overboard in thinking he gets the 7/100-125 contract I brought up in the previous post.

I can go either way at this point. This past week has me swaying to the "Tank" side and my whole whole "Finish as best as possible to appeal to FAs" statement has me on the other side of things.

QUOTE (VAfan @ Aug 9, 2014 -> 12:46 AM) Not sure how you could go back to those prediction threads, but I'm glad you did. I think it reaffirms my point. Everyone thought this would be a .500 team. Well, .500 puts you in range of the playoffs in the current format of MLB. If you are there at the trading deadline, then you get to make a choice -- go for it, or sell off and try to go for it next year. None of that changes the fact that Hahn blew the bullpen part of this equation, plain and simple. But don't try to tell me that THE PLAN WAS NOT TO CONTEND. That's BS!! And if that was really Rick Hahn's plan, then he should be fired. Here's the poll.... http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=91405 .... So there were more people here who thought this is a below .500 ball blub than at or above .500. The problem with your second stanza is the Sox didn't have any pieces to trade to "go for it". We will just have to agree to disagree on the bullpen being his fault. I laid it out to the best of my ability in my post the other day. I'll wrap that post up to you in one sentence. The org saw Jones, Lindstrom, and Webb as all potential closers, Belly and Downs had both been successful vets, and Petricka earned a spot after looking good last season. Really, I'd soon rather blame KW for not having anyone in the minors to cover for the injuries and implosions of Belly and Downs. Had we had a better arms more far along in the farm system we probably have that depth to cover it. In the last 24 years going from worst to first has happened 11 times, so ya, it's possible to go from a 99 loss team to a contender in a year, but the fact of the matter is everything has to go right in that scenario.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 11:29 PM) Adams now with a 48/2 strikeout to walk ratio Wonder if they get aggressive and send him up a level in a week or 2. Kid is still just 18 years old so I can understand him staying in AZL. When do the AZL and Kanny teams seasons end?

Making a change to my earlier post. Been reading up on Kenta Maeda and I think dude can hang in the States. At 27 he probably makes more sense than Masterson esp since the team might be more realistically looking at 2016 instead of 2015. I'd guesstimate a deal in the 7 year 100-125M range.

Time to get a little racist...kidding. Iwakuma is such an interesting cat. Fastball is usually in the 89-91 range, which is fairly slow for a RHP and yet he's been one of the better SPs in the game since coming over. His success makes me kinda wanna see the Sox make a play on Kenta Maeda. At just 26 he fits in with what the Sox are doing. Sale-Q-Maeda-Rodon in 2016 would be fantastic.

QUOTE (Brian @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 10:29 PM) We gave the all time leader in hits for the Charlotte Knights!!! Can Sierra play cf? He's never played there before from what I can tell... As I've said before, I'd rather see De Aza in CF than watch Leury hit. Go with Tank-De Aza-Sierra..... If Eaton hits the DL I wanna see Taylor.

QUOTE (VAfan @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 05:30 PM) This thread is ridiculously long. I just have a question for all of those posters here who would defend Robin Ventura as the White Sox manager. What do you see as Robin Ventura's strengths as a manager? What is he bringing to the table that is helping the White Sox win ballgames? No manager is perfect. All of them have flaws. But they've got to have enough strengths to overcome those flaws. What are they in Robin's case? What exactly is a strength for any coach?

Zach Miller is looking rather impressive.

Seems to give up a lot of HRs so if Hahn sticks with the whole ground ball theme, if that was really a theme, he's not a fit.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 07:14 PM) f***ing fox technical difficulties Indeed....They said Willie Young beat a double team for a hurry and I couldn't see s***.......Back from commercial and it's still f***ed.

Fox feed messing up for anyone else?

QUOTE (VAfan @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 05:02 PM) This is the point that I think is TOTAL BS!! The team was "SUPPOSED" to lose in 2014?? If Rick Hahn told Jerry Reinsdorf and Kenny Williams that "I HAVE NO PLAN ON WINNING IN 2014, AND IN FACT, MY PLAN IS TO CONTINUE LOSING IN 2014" what do you think they would have said? Like any good boss, they would have said -- come back to me when you have a better plan. You may sit here as a casual fan and spin out 5 years plans and hypothetical trades, and fantasize in August 2014 about next year's lineup, but I GUARANTEE you that's not what Rick Hahn's job is. That's not the reality of running the Chicago White Sox. In the real world, the Chicago White Sox have to try to compete every year, even if they are also rebuilding to strengthen their club for the future. They aren't the Cubs, who get a perennial pass and adoration from clueless fans regardless of the crappy teams they put on the field. So, Rick Hahn did a lot of things this offseason to both rebuild the team, and get it to compete for a playoff spot in 2014. If he didn't care about the latter, there are a lot of things he wouldn't have done, because they have no future with the club. Why keep Adam Dunn? Why not just dump him for as much salary relief as you can get? Why keep De Aza? He's also got no long term future, and is the highest paid outfielder on the team, as a BACKUP! Why re-sign Paul Konerko for another year? He's going to retire at year's end. Why dump money into signing Downs and Bellisario and Paulino? None of these guys could be expected to last even if they pitched as well as they had in the past. Why not unload John Danks at the trade deadline for salary relief, even if you get nothing back? More money to spend in the future. Why is Gordon Beckham still here? You might be "HAPPY" about a Sox team that is going to miss the playoffs again, and is sinking like a rock now that the complete collapse of the bullpen has sapped any remaining chances the team had of making a late season run. I see a team that had tremendous POTENTIAL, that could have made the playoffs in 2014 with a better bullpen plan and a better manager. When that potential is undermined and lost, I'm disappointed. And I think the guy who put the plan together deserves to be criticized, because with a better plan, the team could have made a run. As I said earlier, I think Rick Hahn would AGREE. I'm guessing he's learned a lot from the mistakes he's made, and isn't planning on repeating them. No, this team wasn't supposed to "Lose", it was supposed to get better, and it has. I went back and looked at some preseason predictions threads and sadly I didn't see you post any predictions, but there was a preseason poll that got 41 votes...All but 4 votes had this as an 80-83 win team or less. I'm sure Hahn thought the same thing. This year was about seeing what they had in Abreu, Eaton, Avi, Conor/Davidson, and a few of the other young guys.....Lets say Abreu ended up being a Viciedo clone, Eaton is nothing more than the guy he was last year, Avi was a bulky singles hitter he looked like at times last year, Conor was the player we saw last year and Davidson is the player he is this year?....Why go all out on signings when you have so many questions on offense (and of course pitching wise)/ All the signings you mentioned are all about tradeable assets. Had they performed, they're all probably traded.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 09:28 AM) I think you seriously need to stop talking about the Cubs. Its becoming like you and Puig.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 02:38 PM) That's what White Sox fans do. Otherwise, we would be Cubs' fans. Bruce Levine was on the Score this morning, and he was seriously floating the idea out there that Reinsdorf only cares about the team not losing money/profitability for the owners/board of directors, and that lower payrolls and the state/local subsidies that kick into place when the attendance sinks to below 1.5 million (or maybe it's 1.2-1.25 million, something like that) will give the Sox a lot less incentive to make big moves in the free agency market....sort of saying they're going to still be profitable as the 28th team in attendance, and can follow the Loria/Marlins/Expos blueprint. Wow, either you misinterpreted that or Bruce is an idiot. Would a team that "Doesn't care about winning" outbid everyone on Jose Abreu and be in on Tanaka? That sure doesn't sound like a team just wanting to make money. The plan is, and always has been to build a young core. Once they think that young core is good enough to succeed then we might see some higher price vets in to mix in with those young guys. That might come next year or perhaps 2016 might be a bit more realistic.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 09:13 PM) Leury Garcia is leading off in a major league baseball game. Pablo Ozuna and Timo Perez lead off 36 times for a team that won a title.

QUOTE (LDF @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 07:12 PM) good point let me add, going to 2 known pitchers, a pitcher coming back from a injury, then putting all you eggs (gamble) on a reclamation pitcher and a rookie. I just don't know. it is too much of a question mark starting a season like that. regardless if it is a rebuilding yr or not. The fact of the matter is this, and I'm sure I've pretty much said this multiple times, but it can't be stressed enough. Maybe putting it another way might finally get through to some people. Rick Hahn had a bullpen with a guy he thought was gonna be the closer(Jones), a guy who had closer experience(Lindstrom), a guy who Don Cooper mentioned as a closer(Webb), a guy who previously had success in 3 of 4 seasons(Belly), a guy who has been one of the most consistent LH relievers in baseball(Downs), and a guy who showed some promise and is now our best reliever(Petricka). Now, it didn't work, that's baseball, but when you look at that, I just don't see how you can blame Hahn. The thought was there. On a team that just lost 99 games you're probably not gonna have the kinda depth needed to cover for 2 injured pieces and 2 players that blew up in your face. That's just the way it goes. Yes, in hindsight the pen would probably be better of with Reed back there. It also would be better with Jones, Lindstrom, and past versions of Belly and Downs. As far as the rotation goes, again, depth is not a main concern unless you think the team is going to compete. There wasn't a soul here who thought this team would compete, and I'm sure most everyone in that FO thought the same. Sale-Q-Danks-Johnson were all locks to make this team going into the season. Rienzo wasn't dreadful last season and Paulino has a really good arm that Coop was unable to harness. Again, the thought was there to have a non-trash rotation. The intentions were good about as good as you're gonna get for a team that just lost 99 games, the results were not. I tried to be as clear as I can get, because this thread has gone on way too long. If you're not buyin what I'm sellin then I'm done here.... ...drops mic

Chicago White Sox ‏@whitesox 5m .@AdamSpankyEaton said he felt better & lobbied to play today. Ventura is sitting him tonight but he expects to be back tomorrow. Putnam is expected back tomorrow as well.

QUOTE (LDF @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 06:08 PM) Hahn most definitely should share the major burden of the blame. it was his job to ensure that he has more than a couple of starters ready to step in even if the injury bug hit. putting all your money on Felipe Paulino and Erik Johnson was gambling. they should have gotten another sp. for the pen, Hahn should share the blame with Lady Fortuna. that was some bad luck but then again nothing like Tex Rangers. still rotten luck. Depth on a rebuilding team is never a priority

QUOTE (ptatc @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 05:19 PM) Not very realistic. What if the opposing team had all miguel cabreras? Welll Miggy is only hitting .250 against Sale soooo... I was being sarcastic in response to his all Gavin Floyd comment. Sale and Rodon seem like very similar pitchers as far as their arsenal goes, but they both come from different arm slots and have different motions. I'd say there's no real advantage of facing those guys back to back.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 05:44 PM) WWE announced the release of Alberto Del Rio due to unprofessional conduct and an altercation with an employee. No loss there, he did nothing for me. He was like the Gordon Beckham of the WWE, always given chances, never really doing anything.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Aug 6, 2014 -> 07:41 AM) The other part that many fans ignore is the mental makeup. When Reed was traded , some posters said anyone can close. That is not true. As good a set-up man Matt Thornton was he had problems closing. Obviously some of that may be attributed to being a lefty. We don't know yet if Jones has the mental makeup to close. How does one become a closer if not being tested?

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 05:08 PM) Yikes! 1. Leury Garcia (S) CF 2. Alexei Ramirez ® SS 3. Jose Abreu ® 1B 4. Dayan Viciedo ® LF 5. Paul Konerko ® DH 6. Conor Gillaspie (L) 3B 7. Tyler Flowers ® C 8. Moises Sierra ® RF 9. Gordon Beckham ® 2B Yuck. Woulda went Lexi/Beckham vs the LHP.....Or Lexi/Leury if they wanna put a L/R at the top. At least if Lexi gets on Leury can bunt him over.