beautox

QUOTE (gatnom @ Aug 4, 2014 -> 07:53 PM) The fact that he's so young is a big part of the reason he shouldn't be in the top 20. A ball is so far away from the majors. If he continues to miss bats and get results next year at a higher level, you'll start to see some more love for your boy. the fact that he is so young is what makes him even more promising, because hes a 19 year old kid that hasn't hit his physical maturity and he already has elite stuff and could stand to gain a tick possibly two on his fastball. His fastball is currently sitting where Jake Peavy's was in '07 during his CY year, theres a real possibility provided health isn't a factor that Danish gets a cup of coffee at age 20 with the potential to be in the rotation at 21 in '16

I'm still a firm believer he has the stuff to make it as a starter as he moves up the ladder and he has the frame and projectability to add another tick to his fastball. If he finishes this year with 130IP, i don't see a reason he can't push two levels next year and make it to AAA with the possibility of a cup of coffee in september out of the bullpen for '15. I hope Erik Johnson can get it together and get back to being a projected 3 starter, I wouldn't mind dreaming on one of Montas, Danish or Adams to make the sox rotation in '16. Sale, Johnson, Quintana, Montas/Danish/Adams, Rodon.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 10:45 PM) I saw mid-April for Saladino Yeah, I'm under the impression that if extended spring training goes well and his last sip of coffee at AAA are solid he will be a part of the 25 man roster come late April, especially when you consider the dearth of left handed starting pitchers in the bigs outside of the sox, and the sox no longer carrying a mascot.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 11:16 AM) I think you are severely overestimating the value of Davidson, Rusney Castillo and Maeda. Comparing him to Anibal Sanchez...that dude has one of the best ERA's in baseball over the last 2-3 seasons. Expecting that out of an even more unknown Japanese pitcher is just a recipe for disaster. I disagree, Davidson is still on pace to hit 25HR and while his other stats are depressed I can see there being a real interest in him because power is down across the game and he could possibly be a cornerstone for their organization in the wake of moving headley. Also Grandal is having a very down year because he is attempting to hit more home runs and mortgaging his batting eye for it, career low 12% walk rate career high 27% strike out rate and career high iso of .170. At this stage of the game international free agents are quickly becoming less of an unknown. Castillo has played on all the biggest stages sans MLB and his stats in cuba transfer over very nicely and Maeda was the other ace of the '13WBC japanese team, everything about his scouting report screams a #3 just like Anibal Sanchez. Lastly between '10 and '14 which of Sanchez's years look like the outlier? he pitched out of his mind last year but hes a very solid middle of the rotation starter.

Lineup: handedness | name | position | '15 opening day age L Eaton CF 26 R Semien SS 24 L Gillaspie 3B 27 R Abreu 1B 28 S Grandal C 26 L Wilkins DH 26 R Garcia LF 23 L Johnson 2B 24 R Castillo RF 27 Bench: handedness | name | position | '15 opening day age S Nieto C 25 R Viciedo DH/OF 26 R Saladino UT 25 L De Aza OF 31 Rotation: handedness | name | position | '15 opening day age L Sale SP 26 R Maeda SP 27 L Quintana SP 26 R Noesi SP 28 L Danks SP 30 Bullpen: handedness | name | position | '15 opening day age R Petricka CL 26 L Torres SU 27 R Putnam SU 27 R Webb MR 25 R Belisario MR 32 L Surkamp LO 27 R Carroll LR 30 Our payroll commitment for '15 is just a bit north of 46m, nearly half of our payroll from '14 and down 73m from 2013. 2015 is still a rebuilding year but there is an opportunity to be a dark horse. The white sox greatest needs going into this offseason as chitownsportsfan said are "C, LF, 2B, SP, PEN & DH". C & Pen - Trade Flowers, Davidson and sell high on the helium of Ravelo to the padres for Grandal and Torres. Grandal is having a down year but still offers a ton of upside and torres is relatively young and cheap. Hedges is their long term solution at C, flowers is just filling in till he is ready, Davidson is having a down year as well but he himself offers a fair amount of upside in power and Ravelo isn't going to be manning 1B for the sox anytime soon and the sox don't appear to be willing to move him back to 3B or the outfield. LF/OF - Castillo could be a great addition the white sox and they've got plenty of money to make it happen a right handed Brett Gardner patrolling RF with the range and ability to be a center fielder? sign me up. 2B - Middle infield is backed up with talent that needs be afforded the opportunity to showcase what they have at the major league level between Saladino, Semien, Johnson & Sanchez. SP - Maeda has publically said he wants to be posted by the carp and while he isn't on the same page as Tanaka he does compare favorably with someone like Anibal Sanchez, Paying premium rates to regular FA pitchers at 30 or closing isn't a great use of the sox fiscal resources. DH - I can't see the sox going 3 years with a mutual option to land Martinez after the year he is having and quite frankly it would another waste of money. Knowing that this is a rebuilding year I wouldn't mind seeing what a platoon of Wilkins and Viciedo could accomplish for relatively cheap. Saladino provided he comes back from TJ alright was crushing it down at AAA but especially left handers to the tune of .330/.396/.543 - .939 they had him playing all over the diamond this year including the outfield so i think he would be a great piece on the bench to platoon with Conor seeing how Micah actually hits left handers fairly well and might even have a reverse platoon split and eaton is pretty neutral across the board. Lastly I would love to see Erik Johnson get back on track and eventually replace Noesi and live up to his hype as a #2/3 starter and ideally Danks expiring contract and solid performance next year affords him to be moved when Rodon is ready.

JOSEE!!!

When Eaton and Micah are both on the sox, I would think Micah would be better served in the 8 spot in the line up when he initially comes up for three reasons, take pressure off of him while getting acclimated at the major league level, provide speed at the bottom of the order and line up construction so opposing managers can't just use a LOOGY for two outs in Eaton, Micah and Conor at the top of the order.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 28, 2014 -> 02:32 PM) That could easily be a death knell for Saladino's career. There is a lot of luck and timing involved in breaking through as a mid-level (or worse) prospect, and the time for him was probably now. He might be in a position next year where it simply doesn't matter how well he plays. I still think he might get chance as a backup MI and platoon partner for Conor .330/.396/.543 - .939 all though his splits against right handers are pretty good too .300/.353/.455 - .808.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Jul 23, 2014 -> 02:08 PM) Why the f*** is Beckham batting 2nd? Lets put our worst hitter 2nd in the line up so he gets the 2nd most at bats. What a fantastic plan there Robin. What the hell!? Ned Yost would say "Hes just out thinking himself"

just stop hawk, its past comical at this point...

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 22, 2014 -> 08:07 PM) Wonder how much Despaigne will fetch on the open market, when/if he's declared eligible...? By all accounts, he's the best, most-polished hitter out there among the Cubans. Moncada is the most interesting younger prospect, along with Tomas. Frederich Cepeda at 34/35 is just a bit too old. Gourriel's closing in on too old, although there would still be a lot of legit interest if he ever became available. Despaigne hasn’t defected yet, but he will be playing in Japan. MLB said it does not have an agreement to honor Mexican League suspensions so that shouldn't be an issue once he decides to defect. He'll be 28 to start next season. Tomas reminds me of Juan Rivera and Castillo has been described as Brett Gardner with more power, with the ability to play RF. I would love for the sox to go after Despaigne if he decides to defect and post for right handed starting pitcher Kenta Maeda who appears to be a #3 starter, similar to Anibal Sanchez; he'll be 27 at the beginning of next season. Maeda would slot very nicely: Sale, Maeda, Quintana, Noesi, Rodon with Johnson if he can get back on track and Danish and Montas off in the distance. Three top of the rotation lefthanders, a #3 that is young and won't cost a compensation pick and fits nicely with our window and a #5 that might have the ability to develop under our pitching coach and turn it around to a mid tier starter. Sign me up

me and and a few friends will be in attendance on Saturday evening. We'll be down that way for his bachelor party and the bourbon tour.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 22, 2014 -> 04:37 PM) But $14.25 million each of the next 2 years? That's pretty significant. moving Danks at the deadline clears about $35 million in commitments. But what are you going to commit that money combined with the other 30-45M coming off the books going into the offseason? top tier FA pitching is a horrible idea when you consider that Shields, Lester and Scherzer will all be 30 or older and especially when the sox have a legit #1 and 1A in the rotation with Rodon near major league ready. The best looking free agents that fit our needs are as follows: Russell Martin 32 next season - who doesn't fit our development timeline age wise Victor Martinez 36 next season - doesn't really fit our window timeline and would seemingly cost the sox their first round pick and a minimum three year commitment Billy Butler 29 next season - Maybe, but everyone is going to look at him as a buy low candidate(provided the royals don't pick up his option) which will inflate his price a bit and is right handed. Colby Rasmus 28 - left handed fits nearly everyone of our needs and is having a down year, so its possible we can get him for a reasonable price So what is the point of having even more money if they're already flush with cash and the international FAs won't command nearly as much as Abreu or Tanaka?

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jul 22, 2014 -> 02:06 PM) IF they can get a good near MLB player then yes you do it....But if the "Dump him" crowd are right/get their way and they get nothing more than cap relief, which the Sox don't need, then that doesn't really set them up to be a sustained contender. They have money to add a SP and a DH while also keeping Danks. If you trade Danks you then need to add 2 SPs and what are the odds they'll be able to get 2 better than Danks, salary ne damned. Exactly, the sox don't need a salary dump and have plenty of money when you take into account Dunn being off the books next year and raises across the board and kepps 4m. The Sox could easily add 40-60M in player contracts and not bat an eye even more so if they move Alexei and Danks' combined near 26M. But quite frankly they aren't far enough along on the win curve yet to where that makes sense so they would be better served going after international free agents (3B Jeong Choi, OF Rusney Castillo, OF Alfredo Despaigne) and extending the guys we already have on this team (Eaton, maybe even Garcia to a Marte or Tabata like deal). If Danks is getting moved the sox should be looking to bring back two prospects in the 40-100 range and a lottery ticket. He's a #3 being paid like a #3 with some surplus value in his affordable contract.

I'm very curious to see how Ravelo performs when he is pushed up to AAA he is already 2 and a half years younger than his competition at AA and when he gets pushed up he will be a tick over 5 years younger than the average competition at AAA. I recall Stoltz saying "he repeatedly displayed above-average athleticism", could he be a potential solution in the corner outfield if his power continues to develop knowing full well that its often the last tool to develop? Ravelo could spend the next two years at Charlotte and still be on a slightly above average career arc for the show. Lastly has already shown great plate discipline and bat on ball ability and has a third baseman's arm, I think he couldn't possibly be worse than what we've shown defensively in right and left with Garcia and Viciedo.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Jul 21, 2014 -> 11:43 AM) As of today, the Sox would have the #14 pick. I expect that they will probably end up in the 9-10 range. It would be nice if the Sox could pick up a supplemental pick at the trade deadline this season. is that taking into account the astros pick for aiken? and does protection extend to #11 because of that?

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Jul 21, 2014 -> 10:40 AM) This is the camp I'm in. We're all busy here comparing the relative merits of the two, perhaps because we anticipate the 2B opening soon and want our guy to get the first crack. I happen to believe that Micah has a little higher ceiling due to the one dynamic tool and is a little behind Marcus in overall development due to injuries through his career arc. Who gets the first shot is not the be-all, end-all for me. I think there's room for both, and soon, because I anticipate Leury's days are also numbered. Agreed I would like to believe that Marcus and Micah can be assets to the sox organization for the next 6 years while our window opens up again. I agree I think Leury's days are quickly coming to an end and honestly I would like to see Saladino give the opportunity to take his ABs and position on the roster he might also be a legit platoon partner for Conor .330/.396/.543 - .939 I realize power is down across the game but I wouldn't be opposed to Hahn building a line up in a similar fashion as the cardinals. Going into '15 Name Age - Pos - Hand Adam Eaton 26 CF L Marcus Semien 24 SS R Conor Gillaspie 27 3B L Jose Abreu 28 1B R Victor Martinez 36 DH S Avisail Garcia 23 LF R Yasmani Grandal 26 C S Micah Johnson 24 2B L Trade or Fa RF R I believe the tigers are going to offer Martinez a QO but the sox should have a protected pick and could offer him more years; a 3 year deal to possibly get it done. Having said all that I hope Beckham goes on a tear up till the deadline and we can get a fallen prospect like Manny Banuelos for him.

I'm ready to move forward with both Semien and Johnson. If Conor is for real I wouldn't be opposed to moving Davidson for a down on their luck major league hitter like Yasmani Grandal seeing how the padres need a 3B for their future, all though defensive wonderkid Hedges has struggled at AA. Marcus for july has gotten back to what I think most who are in his corner believe his potential to be in terms of BB and K%s .323/.421/.631 - 1.052 10BB/12K As for Micah he has progressively gotten better every month he has spent at AAA, which seems to be his MO. May & June were relatively similar in terms of production for him and now he is breaking out in July to the tune of .346/.370/.442 - .813 When both Beckham and Ramirez eventually get traded I would like to see Marcus brought back into the #2 hole and Micah broken in around 8th or 9th in the lineup.

and the bed has officially been s***.

lol @ sierra choking abreu out with a towel

great job keeping them right there danks... have to keep reminding myself this is a rebuilding year..

easy hawk for as much as you talk about Micah where the f*** do you think he is going to play?

would love to see any one of the sox four promising young MI prospects instead of beckham.

I would gladly take him, put him in CF or RF depending on who among him and Eaton rates better defensively and move Garcia to LF where his arm is still an asset but with two CFers patrolling center and right his defense could be covered up a bit.