witesoxfan

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Oct 6, 2014 -> 08:41 AM) The boston herald is reporting the same. They say Boston is going after Sale and Stanton this offseason. OK. I am also going to try and make a run at Kate Upton this offseason as well. Wish me luck.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 04:31 PM) Whatever happened to southsidesox.com or southsiders.com. Forget what it was called? southsiders.net. No idea. SSS is still very much up and running, though I'm not sure what happened with The Cheat/Gene Honda Civic. He was all kinds of awesome.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 02:15 PM) There are still intangibles in sports like momentum and magic. That team was a runaway train. It was steamrolling and couldn't be stopped. The starting pitching was amazing and Ozzie/Coop didn't feel the need to take the guys out in the seventh inning when one bad matchup existed. It was magic and the Sabes numbers sometimes didn't apply. Don't stop believin' baby. It was fate and hard work and momentum combined. Take that Billy Beane. Your teams haven't had the mojo yet. Except, if not for Crede's walk-off agianst Cleveland, that team could have easily fallen out of first place late in the year and then who knows?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 01:17 PM) The IOC Demands That Helped Push Norway Out of Winter Olympic Bidding Are Hilarious It is now down to Almaty, Kazakhstan and Beijing. It's basically a Jerry Jones Saturday night minus the hookers.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 11:02 AM) The problem is that the tender deadline comes up pretty early in the off-season. Of course the Sox would love to make a trade, but Viciedo probably isn't any team's Plan A, and by the time they get to Plans C and D, the tender deadline will be passed and I really don't think the Sox should commit $4M to him. If you trade him to a rebuilding team that wants to take a chance on him and thinks maybe they see something they can correct and they have their own failed prospect that they do not believe will is fixable, then they can trade him at that point in time.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 10:38 AM) I think that sort of comment is pretty premature given that he is a solid athlete. Guys can improve defensively. I absolutely agree and it's worth it for him to stick there until he shows he absolutely cannot handle it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 10:27 AM) More hints from the front office. Reading between the lines here, forget about a top named starting pitcher. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/wh...ml#.VC6ihPldWSo I read "long-term targets cost a lot, short term targets cost less. We will figure out which make sense and which do not based on market availability."

This really is a great read for all of our followers and anybody interested in baseball period. We WILL be wrong, but based on the information we have, we provide people with the best analysis we possibly can. There are going to be people who disagree, and that's great! That breeds conversation and debate, and makes us consider new takes and information that we previously didn't have, making us better at our job. We are not professional scouts, but we provide what we can so that people can have access to information like this and they can become more informed and knowledgable fans. And, when the time comes and that young prospect comes up, you will know who he is and what he can bring.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 08:42 AM) I've heard it's free? That seems kind of crazy but that's what I've been told. And they serve beer!!! That might be the greatest weekend in the history of weekends. The only thing that sucks is the Sox aren't in town that weekend, they're actually in Minnesota. We may also go to the Cities for the draft as that's where we're hosting our tenative draft party this year if we don't go to the draft itself.

Anyone ever checked the prices of tickets for the draft? A few of us are thinking of going next year, and I can't find any info on the price. I can't imagine it's anything that'll break the bank, but just wondering.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 07:43 PM) Also, for all I know this was posted somewhere, but below is a snippet, including a question answered from NS (FutureSox): I understand the importance of defense, but good bat/below average defender at 3B is better long-term than a good bat/above average defender at 1B. They'll stick with him at 3B until he shows he can't play it.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 08:25 AM) I think Julius Peppers could have been a great TE. He ran away from Jerick McKinnon on that INT. At age 34. If there's anything Julius Peppers has ever been accused of, it's not being unathletic.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 09:06 PM) It's amazing we got one year out of a lot of those guys. That's the whole point. How is that helpful, long-term? You want sustainability. Getting guys to put up career years one year at a time does nothing for that.

The book on USCF is basically that it's a below average park to hit in for average, a slightly above average park for homers for LHH, and a very friendly park for homers for RHH.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 04:09 PM) Jones and Paulino need to be re-instated to the roster so the roster is effectively at 40 until Paulino's option is declined. Those roster requirements aren't necessary until after the postseason is over. If they wanted to speed up the process, they could certainly DFA a few of these guys, but there's no rush for that.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 03:55 PM) Whatever it is - scouting, drafting, training, pure luck - Sox pitching has been near the top of the league in the last 12 years, while the hitting just has not. I'd say Cooper has a good amount to do with that. That's a 12-year sample. 2014 - 4.30 team ERA, 13th out of 15 2013 - 3.98 team ERA, 9th out of 15 2012 - 4.08 team ERA, 8th out of 14 2011 - 4.10 team ERA, 8th out of 14 2010 - 4.09 team ERA, 8th out of 14 2009 - 4.14 team ERA, 2nd out of 14 2008 - 4.06 team ERA, 6th out of 14 2007 - 4.77 team ERA, 12th out of 14 2006 - 4.61 team ERA, 10th out of 14 2005 - 3.61 team ERA, 1st out of 14 2004 - 4.91 team ERA, 11th out of 14 2003 - 4.17 team ERA, 4th out of 14 I didn't note 2002 as Nardi was the coach for half a year there and Cooper was cleaning up a mess. On that list, I see 2 teams that had great pitching, 2 teams that had above average pitching, 4 teams that were pretty mediocre, and 2 teams that were bad, and 2 teams that were very bad. That's a fairly stable bell curve Cooper has working right now.

There are actually a lot of guys I have issues with on that list. How many of those guys were one year wonders? How many were successful before getting with Cooper? Why can't Cooper fix guys and keep them fixed? How many of those guys were going to be good no matter who was pitching coach? How many of them are just not very good to begin with? It's pretty subjective in that manner. Like I said, I'm not trying to say Cooper is a bad pitching coach. I like him and like what he does, but so much of the coaching game is having good players.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 02:17 PM) KW says the same thing every year about not being that far away. Please show me where he said this prior to 2014. More likely was Williams saying "I think this team can compete." For a while, they were close enough that you could say they were one good 15 game run away from being in it. It never happened and the true talent played out. Do you really think this team is as far away as your typical 73-89 team? I sure don't. I think this team is a really good offseason away from being an 85-90 win team. I think more reasonably we should expect somewhere around .500, but this team being in it until the end won't surprise me in the least.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 11:36 AM) Very understandable. Hes youngish and definitely available though so I put him. What are everyone's thoughts on a staff like this....... 1. Chris Sale 2. Jose Quintana 3. RHP #3 type (Masterson, McCarthy, Volquez, etc) 4. Hector Noesi 5. Chris Bassitt 6. Carlos Rodon (Most likely by June) Bullpen RHP Soria RHP Putnam RHP Guerra RHP Petricka LHP Duke LHP Snodgress I like Surkamp a lot more than I like Snodgress, and I think Webb might make the team too, but it looks like a reasonable foundation. QUOTE (Dunt @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 12:10 PM) Is John Danks just disappearing? You would hope you can do something in a trade where you don't have to eat his entire contract.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 12:06 PM) Our front office has done an absolutely atrocious job of finding new hitters since the younger core days of the early to mid 2000's. We have done nothing but add bad hitters, by and large, over the past 5 or 6 years. This offseason was the exception where we added Eaton and Abreu. Gillaspie has been a nice find too, even with the struggles against LHP.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 11:21 AM) Yeah it pretty much comes down to Joe Crede being the only guy in 9 years that Greg Walker can show off and a little Jermaine Dye. Thome was literally a hall of famer. Paul Konerko was a beast before Walker got here and oddly enough had his worst full season ever in Walker's first year here. No idea why Alex Rios is even considered. Hes like the posterboy for Walker's suckage. He was way better before Walker got to him and mostly better after too. He was pretty much dismal under Walker. Dye was an all star caliber player before he came here but managed to improve with age. I have no problem crediting Walker here. Now compare that to Don Cooper who has put guys signed to minor league contracts into Cy Young conversations. Ignoring everything else, who are the guys (plural) that the Sox signed to minor league contracts and turned them into Cy Young pitchers? I can think of Loaiza, and that was one, isolated incident who never had another season like that again. My problem with giving Cooper a pass and chastizing all of the hitting coaches is that I don't see much of a difference. Who are the pitchers that Cooper has helped recuperate? Please note that, based on your criteria (ie Konerko), I can exclude anyone who has had success before or after Cooper too. I really like Cooper, I felt that Walker should have been let go when he was, I had no problem with Manto being let go, and I still really like Steverson, but what are we basing that off?

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 11:03 AM) What? 2004 Thome was great. 2005 he only played 59 games due to elbow injuries and sucked. 2006 Thome was great. Unless Walker is a doctor, I don't see how he turned Thome's career around? Maybe not Thome

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 11:00 AM) I'll take a stab at it: Justin Masterson, Zach Duke, Joakim Soria, Pedro Alvarez, and Dustin Ackley. The only name where I think they'll aim for something a bit more proven or with a better track record is the left handed power bat. There's just a ton that can go wrong with Pedro Alvarez and only a little that can go right. They may have interest, but I'm guessing he'd be about 5th or 6th on the list and it's just as likely, if not likelier, that someone else would scoop him up before the Sox would.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 10:43 AM) Ehh not really. They don't really have any weapons. And Newton isn't the same player right now. He's really banged up. Benjamin looks like he's kind of a beast, but yeah, Jerrico Cotchery, even if he's caught a few balls, shouldn't strike too much fear into the hearts of the opponents.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 10:46 AM) Um that's the whole point. Greg Walker has failed absolutely miserably with his biggest projects throughout his career here. He's never had a guy outperform expectations like ever. Meanwhile we spend next to nothing on the pitching staff and Cooper succeeds often with waiver wire scrubs and such and has our Gordon Beckham of pitching actually performing like the all world talent he's supposed to be. Paul Konerko, Jim Thome, Jermaine Dye, Joe Crede, Alex Rios...there are a ton of players that would say that Walker helped them turn their careers around, Joe Crede especially. Prior to 2006, he was a .250 hitter who hit 20 home runs and would always pop out to 2B from pulling off the ball. He worked his ass off that offseason with Walker in staying on the ball better and he had an absolutely phenomenal year until the back injury that ruined his career creeped in.