harfman77

QUOTE (danman31 @ Apr 2, 2014 -> 12:50 PM) Now that the rosters of all four minor league affiliates are online I figured it was time to share the big board I created. I will keep it updated throughout the year. Don't put too much thought into the rookie ball rosters. Those are mostly just filler spots for now. The big league and four full season affiliate rosters are official. Hopefully you guys enjoy this resource and feel free to let me know of any errors. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key...amp;usp=sharing Thats cool, thanks for sharing.

Good start for Paulino, throwing strikes. 13 pitches 8 strikes thus far. Gives up a hit on a softly hit ball.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Apr 2, 2014 -> 11:15 AM) Yeah my mistake. When is Birmingham's roster going to be announced? Yesterday http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=2...47&sid=t247

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Apr 2, 2014 -> 09:34 AM) That Dash roster will be fun. Barnum, Micah Johnson, Anderson, May, Hawkins, and Coats all in that everyday lineup. Micah is in Birmingham, they have org filler Michael Johnson at WS. That is a still a group that means a ton to the future of the Sox. DeMichelle is also there and I still hold hopes that he will put it together.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 1, 2014 -> 03:09 PM) If the Sox grade the prospects available when we draft at three very similarly, I would be shocked if they didn't select a guy who said he would sign for a decent amount underslot to save the money for later. If you have three close grades on three different guys, is it worth an extra say essentially 5th round pick in a much later round to sign a guy who is very close to the top rated guy you have? Agree. Take a scenario where Rodon and Kolek go 1 and 2. You call up Hoffman, Aiken, and Beede and make an offer, the one that takes it is your pick. Then in the second round you use the extra money to sign a guy that slipped like Toussaint, Max Petencost, Derek Fisher or Braxton Davidson.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 1, 2014 -> 12:51 PM) That is really short-sighted IMO. The equity in the network is going to be worth more than getting cash from a deal. JR gets this, and got it WAY before most of MLB did. The equity of a network is directly tied to the quality of its programming, the more programs that draw an audience the more that the network will be able to sell ads. JR has a 40% equity stake in CSN, what does that mean for the Sox payroll? Nothing. All of the deals except the Dodgers deal also included equity stakes in their respective networks. The Astros received a 45% equity stake in addition to their $80M/season. You need to be able to use money to improve the roster to make the equity stake more valuable. Fox acquired an 49% stake of YES, the most profitable regional sports network for $584M. Equity is just equity until you liquidate it. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/dodgers-sen...l-tv-landscape/

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 1, 2014 -> 12:30 PM) I am guessing that their 20% stake in CSN is worth more than any 50% stake they would get (call it a split between the cable network and the Sox) they would get in a place like Indy or OKC. I'd call the network thing as a wash, at best. More interested in the AAV of the TV deal than the ownership stake. Several teams are cashing in with huge AAV's, like the Rangers, Phillies, Dodgers, and Angels. Not to mention what the Yankees get. The Sox get about $45M/season in their current TV deal. Other teams deals that have been signed recently - Padres $60M, Astros $80M, Rangers $80M plus $100M one time fee, Angels $147M, Dodgers $280M, and Phillies $100M. The Cubs and Sox deals both expire in 2019, so Comcast will have them to play against each other in their bidding, unless the Sox want to jump to another network.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 1, 2014 -> 12:25 PM) The Sox are tied to their contracts now. When they are not tied to their contracts, and that day will come before they ever have a chance to flee, it's hard to imagine they can't do better financially in Chicago than in Charlotte or Indy. Maybe Tampa Bay makes sense to move to one of those places or Oakland, but the only place the Sox would move if it's out of the city is into the suburbs. That is probably true. Though I feel the Sox play second fiddle to the team up north a lot when it comes to corporate endorsements and TV $$. I think moving to the suburbs hurts the Sox corporate sponsorship case even more. Really none of this is an issue until 2019, and that is a huge year for the Sox in regards to TV deals and contract expirations, if they don't get a sizeable TV deal, that will be the year the core that is being assembled is broken up.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 1, 2014 -> 12:23 PM) Except if they leave Chicago, the destroy the value of their 20% ownership of CSN. CSN would still have all the Cubs, Bulls, and Black Hawk games, so the network would not be worthless. They could liquidate that ownership stake at any time and not take a financial hit, and odds are they would get a financial stake in whatever new network picked them up.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 1, 2014 -> 12:13 PM) This is where I don't care whether or not I'm a Sox fan. Putting any large amount of money into new stadiums for sports teams is inevitably a giant waste of taxpayer money for states and municipalities. I don't want them doing it for the Sox or anyone else again. The lessons have been learned. Now, I'm fine with little things, or them doing the things only government can do - helping alter traffic/street patterns, zoning permits, help with licensing and other permints, making those processes work for them. No problems there, even though it costs some money (just not very much) to do the little things. Even some creative restructuring of tax and other obligations for a few years to make the transition work OK. Beyond that? Go do it yourself. I would agree for the most part, but I do think driving a portion of the local hotel taxes to stadiums is a wise investment for a community. I do not believe in sales/property tax assessments on the general population to benefit billionaire owners getting a discount.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 1, 2014 -> 12:01 PM) I am not convinced that a really good market is left though. I think it comes down to TV deals. Where could the Sox go and provide a ton of inventory for a regional sports network, which has led to huge TV contracts for teams like the Rangers. Attendance is important, but the TV deals are where the real money is now. There are three markets suitable to support professional teams that have no baseball teams in the region, Fox Sports Indiana, Fox Sports Oklahoma, and Fox Sports Carolinas. You can throw Oklahoma City out because of TV market size, but Charlotte and Indianapolis would seem to be players for any team looking to re-locate and receive a financial windfall. http://msn.foxsports.com/home/page/fsn

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 1, 2014 -> 11:06 AM) Things are going to have to change A LOT in Illinois for the Sox to get a new ballpark in the next 15 years. They just basically laughed in the Cubs face when they asked for dollars for a remodel. I can't see this ownership group taking on a billion dollars or so in debt to get a stadium done in the future. I would not be surprised if there are some other areas in the region using ninja tactics to try and attract a team to their city, and as part of the deal, throw in some pretty sweet public funding. It is probably heresy, but the Sox are probably one of five teams that would benefit most from re-location.

Keith Law has the Sox in fourth in the AL Central at 77-85.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 1, 2014 -> 08:36 AM) It is incredibly disheartening, after the precedent that new Hall of Famer Frank Thomas set, to see a Sox star like Chris Sale using something like dihydrogen monoxide. The value is clearly at it's lowest right now, but indications point to players completely falling off after getting of the the stuff. In today's age, most teams feel that you can enough output from the player after usage has stopped that they'll give up a decent price, so what do you think about sending him to the Cubs for Samardzija (plus others, obviously)? He's a righty, which is nice, plus he throws a lot of groundballs plus I really think he is a guy that Coop can really coach him up. Yeah usually guys wash out once they are off DHMO. I think he would have never even made it to the majors without DHMO, too much injury risk with him.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Apr 1, 2014 -> 08:03 AM) I would argue that this is the farthest thing from a "real risk" that has been presented in this thread. Definitely more of a PR/fan risk than an actual baseball risk.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 04:48 PM) De Aza is going to lead this damn team in home runs if he doesn't net us a good prospect! Trade him. NOW.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 04:47 PM) Avi needs to sit closer to Abreu. No reason to swing at those types of pitches. He is still quite a bit of a project. A lot here expect him to be a stud, but he has some development left in pitch recognition and zone judgement.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 01:29 PM) If Bryant ends up in LF, that would give them 3 with Almora and the pick. Four, with Soler. Assuming he (Bryant) stays at 3B, unless Olt has a HUGE breakout season. Guess anything's possible. I was saying the Twins could take Jackson to pair with Buxton. The Cubs are going pitching all the way at four.

QUOTE (Bigsoxhurt35 @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 04:37 PM) Well Dunn has 2 of his 3 outcomes He has had three good at bats, at least thats something.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 11:55 AM) Nope, he had a bad year at the ripe age of 19. He's a bust. He's also a righty. Though he probably wouldn't hit much worse than he did last year left handed.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 12:14 PM) THey are basically spending $3+ million a year and it wont get them any customers. Its possible they are trying to sub-lease the rights to another group and pull a profit from it.

QUOTE (southside hitman @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 10:50 AM) I think we should be more concerned with what the Twins do at #5 than what the Cubs do at #4. I would say that list is fairly accurate with Aiken being a big time wildcard. Also if the Astros select anyone but Rodon the draft just suddenly got veryyyy interesting. I agree we should be more concerned with that, but the media will make a much bigger deal of a Cubs success and Sox flop than they will care anything about what the Twins do. It would also make Cubs fans even more unbearable. The Twins are probably sitting pretty good with their choice of Jackson, Grant Holmes, and the pitcher that slips to them. I think Jackson would be the favorite as he would give them two potential stud OF's, and it seems they have been targeting the best prep player available at their pick the last few drafts.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 11:34 AM) I can't figure out who plays 3B in Winston-Salem. Curley and Wagner are in Birmingham. None of Michalczewski, Shryock, Stringer or Voight seem ready for that double-level jump. Rondon I have to think is playing short wherever he goes. Where is Basto?

I would love for it to be Jack Daniels Field. Its probably a hard sell right now with attendance down, the team struggling, and companies trying to pull back on some of that type of spending. As far as the US Cellular name goes, it appears did not acquire that piece in their acquisition, and I am sure like most contracts, there is an early termination clause to address situations like this. I think this gives a good indication where that extra money from MLB went if the team has lost its major sponsorship's.

QUOTE (southside hitman @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 09:14 AM) If the Sox refuse to deal with Scott Boras at all, they shouldn't be a franchise. I think his reputation is inflated at this point. If Rodon is there at three and he's the BPA in the Sox's eyes, I am all for pulling the trigger. The difference between 1-3 slot money and 1-1 slot money isn't huge like when Appel fell to 1-8. The real risk for the Sox is passing on Rodon and him going to the Cubs a pick later and becoming David Price. This draft will be forever held under a microscope if the Sox get a bust and the Cubs get a star. The Sox are getting a good player, any of the 5-6 pitchers seem to have ML floors as at least bullpen arms. I think Beede probably has the highest floor, but his ceiling is probably a two or three. Rodon, Hoffman, and Kolek probably have floors as bullpen guys but ceilings as #1's. Aiken, I am not sure what is floor would be. He has three good to really good pitches plus a developing cutter, but his floor is probably MiLB starter and a ceiling as high or higher than anyone else in the draft. Based on what we have heard from various sources the draft would go: 1. Houston - Rodon 2. Miami - Kolek 3. White Sox - Hoffman 4. Cubs - Beede This was before Aiken really blew up, but I haven't seen any team firmly attached to him yet.