Lillian

“Fire sale” or call it what you will, there are some moves that seem compelling. I’m still hopeful for next year, so I don’t want to see them trade away the young core of Sale, Quintana, Rodon, Abreu and Garcia. Here are the guys that should be moved, and why: Samardjiza - It’s obvious that he belongs on a contender, in his contract year. He holds little value to the Sox. A contending team that needs a RH starter, who can go deep into games, and get outs, should be willing to give up something of value. I favor one top prospect, who has a good probability of being able to fill one of the several holes, for next season. I don’t want a package of 3 or 4 big question marks. La Roche - Of course, they aren’t going to get much back, but that’s not the objective, which should be to clear roster space for the real clean up hitter, whom they must acquire for next season. You all know how I feel on this topic. If the Sox go into next season with Adam as the clean up hitter, I doubt that the offense will be very effective. With him gone, they could go after a free agent, probably another first baseman or DH. He was the wrong choice, and he won’t be the right choice for next season either. Alexei - The Sox are almost certainly not going to exercise the option on him, so this is really his last season. He’ll likely hit better than he has so far, and hopefully some team needing a SS will give up something for him. Once gone, the Sox might pick the best, in organization, candidate and give him some valuable playing time. L. Garcia is still very young, and has had a decent season at AAA. Maybe he could temporarily fill the hole. Just how good is his defense at SS? Maybe Saladino will get going. Whoever it is, he better have a solid glove and arm. I wish they would instruct Rondon to abandon switch hitting and see how he could handle RH pitching, from the right side of the plate. His defense is purportedly so good, that it wouldn’t take much offense to earn a spot. I agree that Anderson is a long way from the Big Leagues. He can’t play defense and he doesn’t draw walks. One of their relievers may have to be included to make a deal, but it doesn’t make much sense to just dump guys who have shown that they can perform out of the pen. I like Putnam, Petricka and of course, Robertson could be a huge plus, if this team can contend next year. Trading Duke just leaves a void with no other lefties in the pen. I’m not worried about Melky. I think he’ll earn his contract and be good enough to fill the hole in LF. Gillaspie will probably hit better as well, and platooning him with a right handed hitting, sure handed third baseman, who can take over, in the late innings could be manageable. The bottom line is that ownership is going to have to spend some big money, in the off season to get this team back in contention. I think that they would be better off acquiring a couple of impact bats, than trying to load up on prospects. By the time those prospects might be ready to contribute, Sale and Abreu could be past their primes. I know that the farm system is badly in need of some talent, but I don't see this organization waiting another 3 or 4 years for a bunch of prospects to develop.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ May 27, 2015 -> 01:04 PM) Samardzija is pitching better and as long as he continues to do so he should bring back a decent return. Color me overly optimistic but I think Alexei will heat up with the weather and turn himself into a trade candidate. Might fetch a decent return. That's about it as far as significant returns by trade, excluding core players like Sale, Q, Rodon, Abreu, Robertson and Avi. Just have to weather the storm Sox fans. Samardzija is the obvious move for the front office. They could always resign him, as a free agent, in the off season, if they really think they want him back. My question is how much better would the return be, if they agree to pay all of his remaining salary, for this season. This organization could really use some more good prospects. Have you looked at how our Minor League players are hitting? Just dreadful!!!

QUOTE (flavum @ May 24, 2015 -> 09:30 AM) LaRoche is a notorious slow starter, so maybe he'll end up ok and be a big part of second half bounce back. The biggest difference between LaRoche and Dunn are the years. After one year of Dunn, the thought of three more years was more scary. We don't even know what LaRoche will be this year, and even if it sucks, there's only one more year. I agree that we don't know what he will do, however I wouldn't be as unconcerned as you would be, if indeed he is terrible for the rest of this year, and next year. I've practically given up on this year, but it will be very disappointing if they can't right this ship next season, with our good young, reasonably signed players. Next year is the beginning of what I perceive is our realistic window to compete. I haven't given up on this year because they don't have a chance. They aren't that far out of it, but they just don't seem to have all of the pieces, and La Roche is one of the problems, if he can't adequately fill the hole, which he was signed to fill. They fixed several problems in this last off season, but they need to fix a few more for next.

Some of you might find the following stats interesting. This is the comparison of Adam Dunn's first two months with the Sox, and Adam La Roche's numbers, with one week to go to reach the same one quarter of a season mark: AVG OBP 2B HR RBI BB SO .190 .333 10 5 23 35 69 .218 .358 5 4 16 26 44 "I'm not say'in. I'm just say'in". I really hope that we won't be stuck with the second coming of Adam Dunn, for the next two years. But it's not lookin' good.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ May 20, 2015 -> 06:31 PM) For what it's worth, I think you, Lillian, are one of the best posters on this forum. Your posts are always well thought out and civil. You come across as intelligent, well informed and courteous. I don't always agree with you but you are never petty, crude or childish. I appreciate your contributions to this forum and I hope you continue to share your opinions despite some of the ridicule you get from some here. What a nice and thoughtful thing to say. I appreciate it very much. Thank you.

Well, let's hope that those of you who are optimistic about Adam are right. Somehow, I just can't help but keep getting flashbacks to the other Adam era, and it's not a pretty picture.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ May 20, 2015 -> 01:19 PM) You expect a guy that has eclipsed a .375 OBP exactly zero times in his career to do it for the first time at age 35? Hmmm... Plus, Adam's OBP is currently in the .360's, so not all that far off. But, a .375 OBP is a fairly high bar to set. I do agree that he should play less against LHP, and we have the bench flexibility to make that happen. Precisely my point. No, I don't expect him to put up an OBP of .375, but that is what I'd expect a good cleanup hitter to do, especially if he strikes out as much as La Roche is doing.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ May 20, 2015 -> 10:46 AM) I don't know, I'm not sure Teddy Ballgame would have been good enough for Lillian. He did struggle against lefties. He had just a .944 OPS against LHP versus a 1.156 against RHP. How you can bring up Ted Williams in a discussion about Adam La Roche, is beyond me. Adam is currently hitting: .207 .281 .310 vs lefties. That is not good enough to play, let alone bat in the heart of the order. Last year, it wasn't much better .204 .284 .336 Pardon me, if I expect better from our clean up hitter. I wish that some of you would think about what you write, instead of racing to try to disparage someone else's observations. Look, you're entitled to your opinions, but I hardly think that criticizing the move to acquire A. La Roche is worthy of ridicule. And, while I'm at it, my interest in acquiring Grady Sizemore, a couple of years ago, turned out to be a disappointment. Ok. so what. He was only 31, at the time, and had been a terrific player, before all of the injuries. All I ever said was that I thought that he would have been a good gamble. He could have been acquired for practically nothing, while other guys, his age, like Choo and Cano, were signing enormous long term deals. Sizemore had put up similar numbers to Cano, at the same stage of their careers, before the injuries. I have always had a soft spot for a comeback story, and with all of the hard work that he put in, to try to come back, it was intriguing to me. So I have been wrong on that assessment, so far, but there were other teams who were willing to make the same gamble. It's a matter of risk vs reward. Put it to rest already, guys. Geez, will I ever live that one down?

Ok. For all of you Smart Alecks, I would be satisfied if Adam La Roche could hit .260, with an OBP of close to .375. If he hits 20 homers and 25 doubles, and doesn't strike out 35% of the time, which is what he is doing now, I'll stop complaining. Oh, and Robin has to find a way to be sure that he doesn't start against any lefties. Does anyone disagree that the Sox would have been better off with K. Morales, Adam Lind or Andre Ethier?

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ May 20, 2015 -> 08:34 AM) Adam LaRoche is far from the biggest problem with this offense. His getting on base at a pretty respectable clip and the power will come around as he's a notoriously slow starter. I'd be willing to bet that come the end of the year his numbers will be every bit as good as Morales's, Lind's or Ethier's. The data does not support your assertion that he is a "notoriously slow starter". Last year, he hit .312 .413 .495 in his first 109 plate appearances and followed it up with an even better May. 2013 is the only year, in recent years, where he started very poorly. He's now 35 and I don't expect him to get much better. I really fear that we will be stuck with years 5 and 6 of the "Adam Bust" era. I hope I'm wrong, but this is just too eerily similar to Dunn's performance with the Sox. This would not be such a big problem, if he were not the only left handed power bat, and were not counted on to bat clean up. To me, this is indeed the most serious problem with this offense. I'm much more confident that Eaton, Melky, Abreu and Garcia will produce, than I am that Adam La Roche will have a respectable year. I'm not even worried about Gillaspie. I've always liked his approach. He puts the bat on the ball, and barrels up a lot of pitches.

In the off season, the Sox could have acquired Kendry Morales, Adam Lind, or Andre Ethier. Yes, I know that Ethier wasn't a free agent, but the Dodgers were rumored to be willing to virtually do a salary dump. Instead, they signed the second coming of Adam Dunn. So far, he is the biggest problem with this offense. But then, I've beaten that horse to death and you all know what I think. This offense is terrible, and La Roche hitting in the heart of the order, as our only left handed power bat, is the most glaring deficiency. If they expect to compete, the front office better try to fix the problem that this lineup has, with a clean up hitter, who is a strike out machine, and is totally inept vs. LHP.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 14, 2015 -> 12:30 PM) Lillian? Yes, I'm here. I've been reading the comments on this thread. You can guess that I'm pleased, as this is what I have been advocating. I don't think that there is much question that Carlos will be starting. They aren't calling him up to sit on the bench. The question is where he bats. I have consistently felt that Carlos could fill an important role, if he can hit. Having another switch hitter, who could take Melky's place, in the #2 hole, gives the Sox the flexibility to move Melky further down in the order, where he can be more of a run producer. That would be especially constructive against LH pitching. If Sanchez could bat 2ND, it would provide an opportunity to bat Melky somewhere in the heart of the order, instead of La Roche, who is simply inept vs. lefties, and should not start on those days. Adam could be a great option as a late inning pinch hitter.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 7, 2015 -> 07:17 PM) Probably not. Unless you want to increase the OBP with walks. http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting/_/pos...rt/OPS/minpa/50 A wasteland. Russell Martin, Grandal (Top 30 in OPS but 0.1 WAR), Nick Hundley, AJ (let's not go there again), Miguel Montero, Derek Norris, Brayan Pena and Jason Castro were arguably the "available" names Rick Hahn had to choose from. I'd be very happy to see some walks from the catchers. This team is terrible at drawing walks.

So what are the options? Here are 3, none of which is ideal; 1) Switch places in the lineup with Micah. Now that Micah seems to be getting comfortable, he might be ready to assume the spot, he will ultimately occupy. 2) Bench Eaton and play Shuck. Micah would leadoff and Shuck would bat 9TH. The biggest problem with that option is Shuck's significantly inferior defense. 3) Bring up Trayce Thompson, in a month or so, if he's still hitting, He's probably still a long way from ready for the Majors, but he has shown big improvement.

I don´t want to hijack this thread, and we were all having this discussion elsewhere. However, since Carlos and Micah´s comparative performances at the Big League level have been mentioned, it might be worth while to consider this. What Carlos did last year, during his call up, probably does not accurately reflect his ability, because he was so young. When evaluating players his age, there should be some consideration given to his youth. He had just turned 22, when he was called up last year. That is very young to be playing in the Majors. What should be noted is how well he is adjusting to the higher levels, and how much he is improving. Of course, it´s all subjective, but my perception is that he is a quick study, and could very well justifiably be expected to perform better, if called up again, now as he approaches 23, which is still young, even at AAA.

No one should blame M. J. for this team´s poor start, and for my part, I´m not advocating ¨firing¨ him. The Sanchez vs. Johnson debate should focus more upon rewarding the player who is currently demonstrating that he deserves a chance. What Sanchez has done in his first 100 at bats, this season, has earned him the opportunity to play at the Major League Level, especially considering his defensive prowess.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ May 5, 2015 -> 11:06 PM) One would think. Can't be any worse against right handers batting from the right side, could he? If all he had was those RHH numbers, he'd be a top 10 prospect. I wondered the same thing last year, until someone pointed out that he had just begun switch hitting. Given that he just turned 21, they probably want to give the experiment more time. Perhaps he could ultimately bat left handed in select situations, rather than against all RH pitchers. I really like this guy, and suspect that he may become the everyday SS, one day. Scouting reports rave about his defense.

It appears as though 'Chitownsportsfan' isn't getting much credit for sound analysis here. I never understand some of the petty, pejorative remarks from bloggers on the Net, which is a whole other subject. Allow me to just say that while I can see merit in both sides of this argument, I don't think that 'Chitownsportsfan' is getting his fair due here. He seems to make some pretty valid points. I especially agree that a young player should get additional 'points' for performing well at a younger age. Baseball is a game of high skills, which take time to develop. The younger a player is, when he can master those skills, the more it should suggest that the probability of his success is very high. I think the difference is in the evaluation of raw tools, such as power or speed, vs baseball skills and acumen. A player may be the fastest, or most powerful man on earth, but if he can't master the skill of playing the game, those tools will be of little value. On the other hand, a player who is skilled at the game, with much less raw strength and speed, can be the better player. The sooner that he exhibits those skills, the better it bodes for his future. There are a lot of guys who have been very good players, who make us scratch our heads with incredulity over how they do it. Nevertheless, they seem to know how to master the skills of the game. A guy like Dustin Pedroia would never be singled out in a crowd, as a professional athlete, but we've all seen what he can do. Of course, when you get a guy with the raw tools, who can master the skills, you have a super star. At this point, I think that Sanchez is one of those highly skilled players, with limited raw tools. Johnson is the guy with the plus, plus speed and raw athletic ability, who may or may not ever become a really good baseball player. If I want to win now, I go with the guy who is further along in the process of mastering the skills. If I'm playing for the future, I might gamble on the guy with the better tools. That's just my perspective.

Regardless of what we think, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the front office is contemplating this exact.move, and maybe even making these same arguments. It will be interesting to see what they decide to do, and how long they wait to make the decision.

As I said; Sanchez is not going to be the savior. The point is that there should be an open competition for that job, and Carlos has done all he can to win it. Of course, one of the two is going to be disappointed. That's tough. Get over it. Micah can spend some time in AAA, where he has not yet had a full season, and reward Carlos for his outstanding effort. It shouldn't be that hard for Micah to appreciate that his teammate has earned a shot. Here is another thing to consider. Johnson's role is to bat 9TH and try to get on and steal some bases. He isn't getting on base often enough to be the difference maker, that he will hopefully become. Sanchez can play a much important role, right now, as the number 2 hitter, where he has been most of the time. There, his switch hitting, offensive production can have more of an impact, by getting on base for the heart of the order. He has demonstrated his ability to put the bat on the ball, from both sides of the plate. And, to reiterate, it would afford the Sox an opportunity to try to get more run production out of Melky. That is something that they sorely need. Shoring up the defense is yet another plus that they gain with Carlos at second.

How do they not call up Sanchez? The offense is under performing so badly, and they have a guy at AAA who is leading the League. You have to bring him up. It sends all the wrong messages, if they don't. It tells your Minor Leaguers that they aren't getting called up, no matter how well they perform. It tells your Big League Roster that they will have job, no matter how badly they play and it tells the fans that the management either doesn't care, or doesn't know what it's doing, or both. I'm not saying that Sanchez is going to be their savior, but that he has earned a chance to be the starter at second base. Micah has done little to demonstrate that he is ready, and Carlos has been on fire since Spring Training. Moreover, his defense could go a long way toward making this team look more like a Major League team, in the field. I still think Sanchez should be in the #2 hole, and move Melky down in the order, where he can drive in some runs.

Do most of you gentleman really think that the front office did such a terrible job, this past off season? I thought that most of the analysts felt that the Sox had made real significant strides, to improve the team. Most of the posters on this forum seemed to like the moves, as well. I myself, was pretty enthused, coming in to the season. The only move that I haven't really been happy with was the La Roche signing. The rest of the moves looked good at the time, and I'm still confident that the new players will significantly contribute. The problem is that this start is going to be very difficult to overcome. The other thing about which I'm a little confused is all of the criticism of Avi Garcia. He has been touted as a potential 5 tool player, and he's really been the best hitter the Sox have had, so far this season. I like his approach, at the plate, and suspect that his natural power will eventually emerge. In the meantime, he's squaring up a lot of pitches, and using the whole field. He's hitting .328 vs. RHP and .400 vs. LHP. He'll almost certainly start driving in more runs, when the guys in front of him start hitting. I just think that he is one of the bright spots, rather than one of our problems.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ May 4, 2015 -> 01:16 PM) Micah or Sanchez is a symbol for everything that is wrong with how this org develops position players. They value athletes over ball players. They value some nebulous thing like "speed" over repeatable, real skills like above average defense up the middle, they rush guys before they've even proven they can tear it up in the upper minors. They talk out of both sides of their mouth. According to Buddy Bell the gap between AAA and MLB has never been higher. So what do they do with Micah? We'll just skip a full season in AAA! We'll hire Vince Coleman and just skip the natural maturation process that happens and try and have him learn how to read pitchers at the MLB level! Micah is currently below replacement in fWAR so yea, he's not part of the solution. I keep bringing him up because on a team that is awful defensively they decided to keep arguably their best defensive infielder on AAA. Ramirez is looking pretty toasty as well. I guess their scouts just missed that or assumed he could play SS until he turns 40. And what else, they sign La Roche and talk about letting him play 1st base 2-3 times a week? How often is he playing 1B? Once a week? They talk about getting better defensively but then you look at their decisions and you realize it's all hot air. If you want to talk about "calling me out" go ahead but I have articulated my position on Sanchez and Micah over and over and over again on this forum. You're free to go through my post history. So far, pretty much every single thing I predicted has come to pass with the two. Micah is struggling, making little to no impact, and the defense has been bottom 5 in MLB. Meanwhile, Sanchez proved in the spring and so far in AAA that he's MLB ready. It's hard to argue with anything you stated here.

The question is: Do the Sox believe?

Well, I'm sure not going to b**** about his article. After all, I just posted the same points myself, the last couple of days. The one thing he didn't say is that the La Roche signing was a bad idea. Other than that, he's probably right. This team is way better than either their record, or most of the individual performances. However, they are not good enough to recover from this hole. That's the point that we all need to understand. I hope they fix the problems and have a 2 or 3 year run, starting next year.