witesoxfan

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Mar 19, 2013 -> 11:48 AM) Agreed completely - just f***ing with you. This...arouses me

It's a lot easier to go from the infield to the outfield (other than 1B). There's no way Danks plays any infield position but 1B, and that's pushing it. I'm sure the emergency catcher will be Gillaspie or Sanchez, and one of those two, if anybody, will learn outfield positions. Danks will have a major league career, there's no need to worry about his versatility. There's always room in the majors for guys who play good defense, run the bases, and can hit the ball over the fence, even if they hit .220.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Mar 19, 2013 -> 10:23 AM) Did this actually happen? I have a job so if someone posts someone I expect there to be a link. I went to two sites and found nothing so I assume this is more discussion or there have been some movements that MLB is getting closer to getting all parties to agree to such? Clearly Selig has wanted to do this for a while. MLB suggesting they want it to get done badly and that they are willing to give up major concessions including an increased minimum salary and decreased time before reaching arbitration.

Yes, it was that hard. It's also nice when the person with the original post provides a link so I don't have to go about digging for one myself so that I can speak within the same context of what he or she is posting so as to have relevant information. It's a common courtesy to accelerate conversation. For all I knew, he may have been referencing the idea of a Worldwide Draft that came up during the last CBA. --- I'm curious to know about age restrictions with regards to international free agents into the future. You can sign a professional contract at the age of 16, but will they allow you to be drafted? Will they hold the worldwide draft separately from the first year player draft, or will it work similar to the NBA? How does previous professional experience figure into bylaws (ala Cuban immigrants as well as Asian players and the current posting system)? There are a lot of questions that need to be a

A link would be nice

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 19, 2013 -> 09:19 AM) What if Rose was on Miami and healthy and LeBron was on the Bulls? I love DRose. But even when healthy, he isn't nearly as valuable as LeBron. I honestly think Miami would have a similar record, but it's impossible to know simply because you then have no idea who Rose has a small forward nor who LeBron has at "point guard." LeBron in Cleveland is really not that much different than Rose in Chicago.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Mar 19, 2013 -> 09:09 AM) Rose only played 39 games last year in the regular season - he missed almost half the season. The team is dog-tired and the bench mob blows. They were 32-7 in games Derrick Rose played, which means they were 18-9 in games he did not. That 32-7 is a 67 win pace over 82 games. Before Derrick Rose went down in game 1, people were talking about the Bulls as a legitimate contender, if not favorite, for the NBA Championship. After he went down, they lost 4 out of 5 to the 8 seed (though some of that is going to be emotional let down).

The Heat have 3 of the best players in the NBA. If they lose 1, they still have 2 of the best players in the NBA. The Bulls have lost one of the best players in the NBA. They are left with 2 very good players in Noah and Deng, and a lot of valuable pieces, but no one is going to say they are among the best teams in the NBA. Even if the Heat lost LeBron, that's still probably a 50 win team at the very least.

The Bulls, with a similar (but I acknowledge, a worse) roster, are 14 games worse this year at the 66 game point because they don't have Rose. Miami is 6 games better with a better and deeper roster while having had another year to fine tune their game. There's no one better nor more talented overall than LeBron, but you can absolutely make an argument that there is someone more valuable.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Mar 19, 2013 -> 08:16 AM) People only look at who are the studs you've produced, not the guys who round out baseball teams like back-of-the-rotation guys. With a couple exceptions, we aren't producing All-Star caliber players and the rankings pretty much are geared toward that. I love that we are producing solid ML player, but we still need to start producing more Chris Sales. About the only team I can think of that has produced more top of the rotation arms in the past 8-10 years is San Francisco. We can look at hindsight and pretend the Sox still get the 13th pick in 2010, but a top 3 of Gio, Sale, and McCarthy would look outstanding, and Dan Hudson would be on the mend on his way back. The Sox are producing top of the rotation arms at a pretty regular clip. They need offensive players. Viciedo putting up a .744 OPS is one of the best OPS's a player has put up in his first full season in a long, long time, which is not a good thing.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Mar 19, 2013 -> 08:33 AM) I don't know how this gets resolved for this year, but my guess is that beginning in 2014, any MLB team that shares a stadium/parking with an NFL team will be scheduled to be on the road the first Thursday in September to avoid the conflict ahead of time. Of course, if the Bears would just win the Super Bowl every year, then there's no problem. Every other. They can alternate with the Bills.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Mar 19, 2013 -> 07:10 AM) Vegas over/under for Sox is 80.5 wins. Detroit 93.0 KC 78.5 Minn 69 Clev 79.5 I may actually have to make a bet.

Also, Tupac is still alive

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Mar 18, 2013 -> 03:07 PM) That's a little bit creepy there. Ha. I'm obviously not actively staring at their asses or anything, but Flowers has a monster trunk from which a lot of his power is generated. AJ's power is much more quick wrists and sending the bat through the zone quickly (which is why he can make contact like he does) while Flowers comes from drive from his legs, which is why his bat speed is slower, he'll strike out more, but he'll also hit more home runs. He generates all kinds of power from those legs, and if he didn't have them, he'd be a 6'4, 215 and he'd go by the name Cole Armstrong.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 17, 2013 -> 09:58 AM) Chris Sale under/over 16.5 wins Paul Konerko under/over 30.5 homers White Sox under/over 85.5 wins I'd bet over on all 3.

AJ Pierzynski is listed at 6'3, 235 Tyler Flowers is listed at 6'4, 245 Tyler Flowers is not some giant behemoth who towers over AJ Pierzynski. For all intents and purposes, they are essentially the same exact size. The biggest difference I have ever seen is that Flowers has a bigger butt. That's about it. Add to it that he's younger and has fresher knees, and I would almost guarantee he allows fewers passed balls plus wild pitches this year. I don't worry about a little back twinge in Spring Training.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 18, 2013 -> 02:30 PM) MSU Michigan IU OSU That would be awesomely s***ty.

On 3/16/12, I flew back from Baton Rouge, LA. On 3/16/13, I flew back from Miami, FL. On 3/16/14, I will fly back from Mars.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Mar 18, 2013 -> 02:13 PM) Nope. It's more than likely it was this fine gentlemen. I have told you repeatedly to stop posting my photo on the internet. For the last time, PLEASE STOP

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 18, 2013 -> 11:34 AM) Bump for the addition of SS and CF. These both seem about right to me, though I'm a believer that Alexei will bounce back and be a top ten guy. I also added a running summary list that looks like this: CA: #19 1B: #12 2B: #20 3B: #23 SS: #16 CF: #13 RF: LF: SP: RP: So far we look very, uh, middle of the pack. Pitching will be top 10 for both (or at the very least, should be). RF could be top 10 too. LF will be middle of the pack to low 20s. All told, it will be a team that should be projected to win 85 games with a high floor (I really don't see this team losing 80 games unless there are significant injuries) with some, but not a lot, of room to grow. The 4 biggest areas for improvement come at 2B, 3B, SS, and LF, and I think LF is the only one that could be overall significant (talking 3+ wins added...I see 3B as maybe 2 wins, 3 at the most).

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 18, 2013 -> 08:41 AM) Stuff-wise, you can favorably compare a lot of guys to Buehrle. But a lot of them will make $100 million less during their careers. His command is what sets him apart. I also think how quickly he works helps him immensely. I still don't understand why hitters aren't constantly stepping out of the box on him, especially when he's on a roll. If Q has the command he had when he first came up, he will be really good. If not, he probably will be selling cars in a couple of years. I think hitters tend to have a bit more success when they step out, but Buehrle never lets them get comfortable in the box. They step out, step back in, and the second they look up, there's a pitch coming. He never gives the opposition much time to think. Every pitch he throws looks exactly the same coming out too. It's not easy when you have no idea what he's throwing and you have no time to think. And then when you get in that rhythm, he is slower and more deliberate to get you to overthink at the plate. To me, more than command or control or varying his stuff perfectly, keeping hitters (and baserunners) uncomfortable is what makes him successful more than anything.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Mar 16, 2013 -> 09:54 PM) With Gordon as the utility infielder, sounds good to me. That's not going to happen. Out of those 5, if one is going to be a utility infielder - ie playing all over the infield and not one sole position in a platoon - it's going to be Keppinger because he's been doing it for essentially the entirety of his career. Beyond that, you are going to give Beckham as many chances as long as it makes sense financially. He has shown, though only for a half a season his rookie year, that he is capable of being a power hitting, .800+ OPS player who plays fantastic defense, which would be worth as much as 3-4 wins. Keppinger, at his absolute best, is a .300+ singles hitter who doesn't strike out much, murders left handers, and is mediocre defensively, which is probably 2 win player at its best, and it's just as likely he hits .260 and puts up an OPS in the .670 range. If Beckham shows after about 2 months that he is still incapable, they may option him to the minors and bring up Sanchez to give him an extended shot. That would involve Beckham putting up something around a .625 OPS or worse during those months. If he's at .675, he's going to be on the roster still playing primarily every day. This idea that the Sox will get rid of Beckham any time soon is mind boggling.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 18, 2013 -> 08:49 AM) Why does "Day 1: No Coffee" have to follow a night when I got very little sleep? Because the world hates you

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 11:41 AM) Marc Hulet's top 100 list came out today on Fangraphs, and includes a HUGE surprise. Courtney Hawkins is at #63, but check out #64: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/f...00-prospects-2/ That is the first time I can ever recall seeing the White Sox minor league system dubbed "underrated."

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 5, 2013 -> 03:19 PM) Thrilling? It was awful. 36 turnovers in a game by the #3 team in the country? I was half watching it. I always like triple overtime games, even if the teams play terrible and I don't have to sit down and actually watch it if I don't want to.