witesoxfan

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jul 26, 2017 -> 06:12 PM) Wait a second, you actually think Jimenez is ready because he's done well in High A? His overall game is definitely not ready, but personally, I think he'd hold his own and not completely embarrass himself at the MLB level, 70 wRC+ or something along those lines.

Kopech really is something else. Looking forward to seeing him in Chicago next year.

QUOTE (SonofaRoache @ Jul 26, 2017 -> 05:18 PM) Die hard cubs and sox fans hate each other. Casual cubs and sox fans don't care and can switch at a moments notice The thousands of people who move to chicago don't care about either team and view spend their time and money on the winning team Children growing up will either support who their dad tells them too or pick the winning team. Businesses will give their time and money to the winning team Sponsors will give their time and money to the winning team So when we talk about fan allegiance and marketing we are talking about everyone I mentioned except the die hards. I hope that helps. Again, you are generalizing. I don't believe this is the case. There was a quite a while when I did genuinely hate the Cubs, but I guess just through growing up and realizing that sports are not the end all, be all, I took a step back and realized that hating a sports franchise for being in the same city as the team I root for was juvenile, and hating a person because they cheer for that other team is even moreso. I understand why we as fans or Reinsdorf as the ownership representative would not want them to do well, or to try and avoid giving up too much of the market share, but flat out saying you "hate" them is outrageous to me.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Jul 26, 2017 -> 04:53 PM) Still think contract extension was premature. It's $24 million over 6 years. Get over it.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Jul 26, 2017 -> 04:20 PM) Oh I didn't know that. Thanks. Still encouraging that he has hit along the way. Think he hit more homers in his first year at A+ or his first full go around in AA than he did his entire college career. EDIT: Yep, A+. He hit 12 homers his entire college career and 13 his first go around in A+. He really was not a good hitter in college at all. http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/pro...?P=ryan-cordell

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Jul 26, 2017 -> 04:09 PM) It's actually kind of weird Cordell was brought along slowly. Looking at his stats, he has hit at every level that he's played. Probably more of a "what position is he going to play?" situation. If the Brewers didn't have so much OF depth this year, he probably would have gotten a shot sooner. Went to Liberty University too, I believe, and he was very raw coming out of college. Doesn't surprise me in the least that they took it as slow with him as they did.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Jul 26, 2017 -> 04:16 PM) Now imagine a lineup where Melky is traded in next 5 days and Abreu gets a day off while Avi is on the dl. Knowing this team, they'll do something ridiculous and score like 10 runs that game.

QUOTE (SonofaRoache @ Jul 26, 2017 -> 03:03 PM) Are there any teams you dislike? If yes what are the reasons? This is going to sound cliche, but I don't like whoever the Sox so happen to be playing on a particular night, and, when competitive, I don't like their closest competitor(s). That's really it. I don't hold biases or grudges against teams or their fans.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 26, 2017 -> 03:01 PM) No one ever said that, but White Sox fans who hate the Cubs aren't all meatheads. It's a pretty big rivalry, just check out tonight's attendance. The Sox don't draw that on a Wednesday night for Cleveland or KC or Minnesota or Detroit, teams some would say are the White Sox real rivals. They are rivals and always will be. I would imagine most people living in the Chicago area know more Cubs fans than Sox fans and know more Cubs fans than fans of any other team. It's nice to stick it to them whenever there's a chance. He literally said "Cubs fans hate the Sox and Sox fans hate the Cubs," as if we all hate each other. That is not true. Never said they weren't rivals, just said I don't hate them save 4 games a year.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 26, 2017 -> 03:13 PM) I know and he's got the built in excuse if he stinks the rest of this year -- bad back. I liked the numbers I saw from this guy even though he's old, or at least was intrigued by the numbers so I am moderately excited for him, but it'd probably be better he not get his call up until next season when he's healthy. Let Engel continue to have his day this year. Or, you know, first exposure to major league pitching. In Mike Trout's first 135 plate appearances, he put up a .220/.281/.390 line. Didn't even have a back excuse.

QUOTE (SonofaRoache @ Jul 26, 2017 -> 11:27 AM) The dumb fake rivalry? Living in denial is never a good thing. There is ALWAYS a rivalry between teams in the same city and teams in close proximity of one another. Cubs fans hate the Sox and Sox fans hate the Cubs, the quicker people with your view accept this, the quicker you guys can move on. I don't hate the Cubs, except maybe 4 times a year. Guess I'm not a Sox fan.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 25, 2017 -> 08:12 PM) Are there any "catching whisperers/gurus" out there, like Rudy Jaramillo or Leo Mazzone for pitching/hitting....Rusty Kuntz for baserunning/fielding? What are all the retired Molina's doing? I don't know who they are, but there are a couple in the White Sox organization. Tyler Flowers and Chris Stewart come to mind immediately as guys who are/were phenomenal pitch framers, and Flowers has developed into a pretty damn good hitter too.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 25, 2017 -> 08:25 PM) Fair point. Like I said, I should probably see Cordell a bit before spazzing out but I just see no need for him. We have 25 other guys with 4th OFer potential like this already. That's why we f***ing suck. Well that, and the fact that they've traded away like 20 WAR worth of players for minor leaguers in the last 8 months.

I have liked Swarzak for years, as I always thought he had the stuff to be a pretty good pitcher. Glad he was able to put it together for the Sox. Shack was mentioning it earlier prior to dealing him, but I really wouldn't mind seeing the Sox re-sign him this offseason so long as it's not an outrageous contract.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 25, 2017 -> 08:02 PM) I'm not trying to argue, just thinking out loud. I wonder if incessant losing affects some young guys negatively, like perhaps TA or even a Moncada. Let's say you are a bulldog so to speak and really love competing and getting hits for the greater good of the ol team. The fact your at bats in theory in August and September mean nothing ... could that affect 'some' prospects negatively. In other words, s*** try to hit it out every time since really each at bat means nothing. Probably doesn't matter at all. Each hitter probably wants to get a hit just cause he wants to personally succeed, but when a team is this bad I know it'd be easy to just go take ones hacks rather than maybe work the count, etc., like u might do if the games meant something. Don't take this as a negative post. It's just a thought that occurred to me in reading your post. You were making a good point in that you can see what a player is made of during a losing season. I was just wondering if my scenario could occur as well. A hitter saying, "s*** i might get lucky and hit 3-4 homers tonight if i go up there hacking.' Rather than trying to do the little things like whack a single with a two strike count and nobody on base trying to get a rally going when down 8-0. There will be some guys who really struggle with it, which is why having a guy like Renteria who, full well knowing how bad his team is, comes out every day fired up and ready kick some ass. That kind of guy is really important for a young team, which is why I think the Cubs were OK with him. Heck, they didn't relieve him of his duties until Maddon became a free agent, so they were more than willing to go with him as the manager heading into 2015 before the opportunity arose.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jul 25, 2017 -> 08:21 PM) Had a brain fart, thanks for the correction. Kind of figured that's all it was

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 25, 2017 -> 08:19 PM) Because he might actually be good? If you sign the guy and let him close for you (we still do need, like a closer and s***, even though we suck) and he does well, then you trade him for something more than Cordell? What is stopping the Sox from signing him again in the offseason? Beyond that, maybe the Sox keep him, have him close down the stretch, and another team closer to contention offers him a 1 year, $10 million deal with the guarantee of closing, in which case the Sox lose him for nothing. There are a lot of moving parts in that, and at the end of the day, they got a talented, high floor, low ceiling prospect for him.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jul 25, 2017 -> 08:17 PM) I was completely with you on the last deal but don't agree with you here. Thought I do completely agree with the bolded. One, I like Kahnle's stuff a lot better but even so the big difference is the control left. If Anthony continued to dominate the rest of this season then I'm guessing he ends up elsewhere in the offseason. Comp pick and all that jazz but I like taking a chance on a guy like this for 2 months of Swarzak. The Sox were never going to get a comp pick for Swarzak. They'd have to potentially commit $18 million or so to get a comp pick for him. They had to get what they could, and they got a solid prospect for him. I don't love this move, but as I said earlier, I'm perfectly fine with it.

Watching a couple videos, looks like he has good bat speed but the swing gets long. Really lean. Definitely has good power behind the swing, as he absolutely murders a mistake for a grand slam And with how he was previously used with Texas, I could see the Sox moving him around the field to get him ABs too. Not that I have ways of seeing range and arm strength and whatever else, but he didn't make many errors anywhere he played, save his initial stint at 3B in 2015 with the Rangers. Considering this was a move for a guy who signed a minor league contract, yes, I'm just fine with this move. Guessing the White Sox looked over all the guys that teams were offering them, came to the conclusion no one was going to offer more, and picked the guy for whom they had the highest projection.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jul 25, 2017 -> 07:20 PM) Hopefully this is the lowest point of his career, today. His swings are just so half assed. It's one thing to not have a plan. It's another thing to go up there half swinging the bat. I hope Todd can convince him to just look fastball the rest of this season and to go up there and take a pitch most AB just to see it and then SWING LIKE YOU MEAN IT. Lou Brock said it best - "Show me a guy who's afraid to look bad, and I'll show you a guy you can beat every time."

QUOTE (beautox @ Jul 25, 2017 -> 07:28 AM) my take away was this link not that it matters per se but it'll be an interesting debate through the next three years as too how the Sox, Braves etc stack up as "best farm". I still find it funny that Hansen who was once a consideration for #1 overall isn't getting any love by pipeline esp when you consider how he has performed compared to the rest of the top arms from the '16 draft class, It'll come in time but whatever. As for Collins I understand why he isn't on the top 100, I highly doubt he starts the year at A+ and maybe next year the challenge faced at AA will force him to change his approach as pitchers there don't nibble as much as A+ and he won't be able to parlay his discipline with out focusing on contact in deeper counts. It amazes me to look at that and basically see that they are saying that the Braves and White Sox have like twice as good of a system as the 3rd best team.

I'm OK with that return.

QUOTE (Wanne @ Jul 25, 2017 -> 06:16 PM) well...he had a perfect chance to work on his suicides today...and honestly surprised he didn't do it. Forget who was up but it was second and 3rd with one out in a one run game. If you're going to pull that sac crap in early innings based on "learning game experiences"...why not suicides as well? I completely agree. Like I said, if this stuff is continuing when the team is actually going to be competitive, then Renteria needs to have his hands tied.

QUOTE (harkness @ Jul 25, 2017 -> 05:54 PM) statistically it doesn't increase your chances at scoring 1 run... look at the numbers I posted out of the baseball almanac... There are very few times where a sac bunt should be used... Acting like its some great skill for the future is laughable. I missed that in the last thread. I recall those numbers differently, but perhaps new research has come out suggesting otherwise. Simply missed it - thanks for correcting it! QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 25, 2017 -> 05:58 PM) I totally agree Moncada should be working on bunting for a hit. Squaring around to sacrifice several times during an at bat is not the same skill or technique and that's the one this thread is about. He's been ordered to do that more than once now. I would have no problem if Moncada had been turning rapidly to try to bunt for a hit and turned it into a sacrifice because it went to someone. That is not what he was doing. He held the bat out and gave the 1b and 3b time to charge - that's a sacrifice. But here's where I get lost. You are saying, essentially, that a sacrifice bunt and bunting for a hit are entirely different things. I disagree wholeheartedly. A sacrifice bunt and bunting for a hit are very similar, but the execution of the play itself is different. A sacrifice bunt is used when you square up ahead of time and focus on just making contact with the ball. Bunting for a hit is quite a bit more complicated as the idea is to either push the ball down the 3B line or drag it just past the pitcher but not all the way to the first-baseman or the second-baseman. To improve your bunting for a hit, getting experience straight up laying bunts down is required, and just like anything, it's a completely different experience doing it in game. If you don't have the skill to put down a sacrifice, I highly doubt you have the skill to bunt for a hit. There are slight variations in technique, but you are going to hold the bat the same way for both. Basically, it goes back to simple logic. If you can bunt for a hit, then you can also lay down a sacrifice, but if you cannot lay down a sacrifice, then I'd have no faith in you to bunt for a hit either.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 25, 2017 -> 05:45 PM) And in both of those cases...for example, if Yoan Moncada is bunting, we've failed terribly with our player development. I want Moncada swinging away in those cases, even if it's the 9th inning and we're down by 1 run. Ditto almost everyone else on our next competitive roster. Fine, Adam Engel should be bunting in those situations. Leury Garcia should be bunting. The idea that we need to get Moncada prepped to do that is straight up backwards. I don't think Moncada should be sacrificing, no, but he and Anderson should be trying the occasional bunt for a hit. Both have very good speed, that sort of thing can easily become a weapon for them.