caulfield12

Well, there has to be a reason the Mariners keep signing Japanese players, besides ownership and proximity to Japan. The White Sox definitely need to do a better job selling tickets to Hispanic and Asian fans in the Chicagoland region, IMO. As far as the Japanese players, It’s going to be the quickest and perhaps optimal way to quickly inject a team-first based approach, spreading out the money across a number of complementary pieces and hitting on at least 50-60% because they’re already well-established in Japan. Ultimately, they’re going to need to import at least one 4+ fWAR position player from the draft, international market, free agency, Lat Am under 23, etc.

Looks like it, over Delmonico. No idea who goes down with Eloy up, maybe Palka...unless they move Leury or Jay to the Nationals.

We’ll see. I guess everyone has pretty much learned to temper any expectations at this point...but Jimenez, Cease and Robert are still being projected as studs, and rightfully so. The obvious caveat being injuries to derail them.

The problem is Lambert and Flores are too far out to push like that...and Stephens would get tattooed. If they believed in him more strongly, there would some more obvious highlighting of him as a potential option, yes? Covey seemingly is way ahead of Stephens, Adams, Guerrero, etc., on the food chain.

Yes, but also noted age difference (at 22) compared with guys like Acuna, Soto, Robles, Vladdy Jr., etc.

Read “Veeck as in Wreck”...we had to for sports admin class back in the day. Just basic stuff. Was lucky to meet Veeck’s son Mike when he was running St. Paul Saints (@ winter meetings) and one of the Florida State League teams. Cool guy, but he still didn’t quite have the same beloved human touch his father did.

Really down on Moncada, specifically. Also wish washy about Giolito and Rodon, tempering expectations on Jimenez (2-3.0 fWAr, low 800s ops). A little more positive on Cease (still concerns about secondary arsenal, stamina, control...starter or reliever profile?) and Madrigal. 70-92 win projection. Originally was thinking 66-68. Nothing on Robert, Lopez or Collins, three of the other key pieces. Pointed towards the next two drafts, and less to Collins/Burdi/Burger. Nothing on promising relievers. Kopech expected back in ST next year but definitely not in 2019, despite his Twitter pronunciations. Throwing from 75 feet. Seemed he thought Sox were around 75 wins with Machado, noted Moncada’s going to lose some of his defensive value moving over to 3rd...Alonso is what he is, slightly above average 1B/DH in need of a platoon partner (Guyer?) against LHP but one doesn’t really exist at DH currently, with Guyer taking mostly OF at-bats (didn't say that last part so directly, just my interpretation/assumption.) Maybe Leury? Rebuild currently down to C+ / B- fromone of the most promising in recent memory , plethora of concerns about pitching injuries and depth behind Kopech and Cease. Guess Erwin Santana now has the locker between Jay and Alonso. Said 30-40% of rebuild momentum has been lost, especially with early struggles, swath of injuries and not signing Machado after investing four months of time and $13 million in Jay/Alonso.

Nobody ever though we would ever break the spending limit on Robert, either...but then NOT spend on anyone else for two years, essentially. “Meanwhile, San Diego's efforts on the international front accounts for one-third of prospects on its new Top 30 and should pay dividends for years to come. Specifically, the club's robust 2016-17 international spending spree, in which it ultimately shelled out more than $60 million (including penalties for exceeding its bonus pool), has stocked the system with potential impact players and pitchers like Morejon ($11 million), Baez ($3 million), shortstop Gabriel Arias ($1.9), outfielders Jorge Ona ($7 million), Tirso Ornelas ($1.5 million) and Jeisson Rosario ($1.85 million), and infielder Luis Almanzar ($4 million). And while the Padres are unlikely to receive much help from their farm in the coming year, a host of prospects -- 14, to be exact -- are ticketed to debut in 2019, including Tatis, Quantrill, Baez and Morejon.” https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/padres/sd-sp-padres-2016-2017-international-class-already-making-waves-20180630-story.html https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/padres/sdut-padres-target-depth-international-signing-class-2015jun26-story.html

Could have a series of Bobbleheads of all the key 1919 players...Collins, Jackson, Cicotte, Weaver, Schalk, Gandil, etc. Invite surviving members to throw out first pitch. Same with author Kinsella. Field of Dreams T-shirt giveaway with sponsor donating shirts as well as money to preserving the actual field in Dyersville. Try to get Busfield, Liotta, Madigan, Costner, James Earl Jones out to a game. John Cusack for Eight Men Out....giveaway of original and/or movie CD’s. Plant 5-6 rows of corn in the fencing area behind the outfield wall in LF. Archibald Moonlight Graham Night when all nurses and doctors get in free...as well as students with school ID studying those fields. White Sox play exhibition games in Dyersville against Brewers...or A affiliate Clinton LumberKings.

Santana...

Witt Jr. is the consensus high school pick over Abrams at this point...

Have they already started selling Jimenez jerseys at the souvenir shop at GRF or is that now allowed until his big league debut?

FIrst of all, I would corner the market on Japanese and Korean players...and make the White Sox the "home team" of many fans in Japan who are currently bored with the Seattle Mariners. Would lure at least 2-3 prominent Japanese businessmen onto the Board of Directors (perhaps Rakuten CEO/Founder, they have a huge sponsorship with Golden State Warriors). Could also start marketing Japanese/Korean brands and pulling sponsors for satellite t.v. viewers. This way, the White Sox would have three countries (Cuba, Japan, Korea) that are huge followers and would boost all the broadcast ratings, souvenir sales and attention/marketing possibilies across the board. Essentially, the foreign audience would be just as important as the local audience until the team started winning. Would target Korea in the same way, but the military service issue is more of a hindrance than Japan. Would sign something like 8-10 players out of those two markets. Two starters (Sugano, Norimoto, Senga, Fujinami and at least 4 more possibilities), 2-3 relievers (nine names under consideration), possibly one catcher (Umeno, Ono, Shima), two of the following (SS Sakamoto, who homered off Mike Leake FRI, OF Suzuki and LH CF Yuki Yanagita), one defensive specialist (Matsuda/3B, Kikuchi 2B) and Yoshio Itoi, who's one of the most exciting players in Japan (outfielder). Someone call fill me in on any Korean players well-suited for MLB, I'm hardly an expert on either market, just started to research this idea about an hour or so ago on the way home from work. I have no idea what all this would cost (you could certainly get a "group discount" if they all came over together as a group due to comfort level), and I'd definitely be much more excited about trying to find a niche than following the "stopgap/retread" veteran approach. The core position players absolutely have to be Moncada, Anderson, Madrigal, Jimenez and Robert. Basically, it's trying for a hybrid style like the 2013-2016 KC Royals had....focusing on contact, advancing runners (bunting/sacrificing with the fundamentally sound players who always execute), keeping the line moving and doing all the things on the field fundamentally well, especially defense and baserunning. Renteria already wants to play this NL influenced style, and so do Vizquel and Justin Jirschele, with one of them quite likely to be the next Sox playoff-contending manager. The other reason this approach will work is that we need to focus on contact with so many pitchers now throwing 95+, and the prevalance of bullpen "openers" and not getting any easy at-bats in any game unless you get into the very back end of a bullpen due to a blowout game either way. It's my firm belief that contact is going to be more and more of an asset than ever before, as the game continues to evolve in new directions with all the specialists. I'd also try to find our own version of Dyson/Gore who could simply steal 2nd/3rd base as soon as someone reached in the late innings after being inserted as a PR (this strategy makes even more sense with an additional roster spot being bestowed.) The idea here is that if the White Sox aren't going to be capable of learning the fundamentals in the minors...they're simply going to be forced to learn by osmosis from exposure to the Japanese/Korean players and Madrigal. If all the players start buying into a "team approach" and become more unselfish (not just 3 outcome players), it will pay off huge dividends over time. You still have Moncada, Jimenez, Robert, Anderson and 1B/DH for power, but it's more of a 2005 White Sox style of attack, where they can beat you in multiple ways. We can definitely use all the pitching depth we can get our hands on. It has been ages since Takatsu and Iguchi, and they both acquitted themselves admirably. I'd also move the RF fence back due to our dearth of LH power hitters....not sure MLB would allow a wall like Houston's, but definitely make LF as inviting as possible for our core RH power guys....whereas the rest of the field would play more like SF, from RCF over to the RF/1B foul line. Finally, I'd invest millions into scouring India and China....2.5 billion people (yes, this was already a movie with Jon Hamm about two young Pirates who signed through speed gun competitions for a grand prize held across the country), there's got to be at least 15-25 who can throw 90-95+. Getting our own version of Yao Ming to succeed in MLB baseball would be huge for drawing at least 3-5% viewership from those countries (Taiwan/Taipei is already huge into baseball, and perhaps we can find a player or two there as well), simply from curiosity if nothing else....cricket and baseball are similar enough the Indian population might even get hooked if there was a breakthrough with a successful big league pitcher (it will take a generation or more to produce a position player.)

Sal Perez or Gordon were the previous choices....probably go with Mondesi Jr., or Soler if I was forced at gunpoint to buy ONE.

White Sox: Eloy Jiménez , No. 6 It's a guess again on the number -- his 2018 number at Triple-A, 16, is retired by the White Sox (Ted Lyons) -- but, like Vlad Jr., everyone's going to have this jersey soon enough. https://www.mlb.com/news/best-mlb-jerseys-to-buy-in-2019 Puig, Harper and Machado on the list. Other AL Central names...not exactly the most exhilarating list compared to the other divisions! AL CENTRAL Indians: Hanley Ramirez, No. 13 If Hanley has a successful comeback with the Indians, it'll be one of the most enjoyable stories of the year. Royals: Billy Hamilton, No. 6 The speedster will be the primary reason to pay close attention to every second at Kauffman Stadium this year. Tigers: Niko Goodrum, No. 28 He's one of the young bright spots on a team that's a few years away, and plus, it's a terrific name. Twins: Nelson Cruz, No. 23 It may be just one year, but what a fun year it will be.

Witt and Abrams would fit the timeline perfectly to replace Anderson after 2023, fwiw.

Makes too much sense not to happen.

Find one scout not related to the White Sox, Hahn or KW professionally who believe Collins will stick at catcher. And I put your thread back on track by supporting the thesis with another secondary source. I mean, c’mon...we really want Zavala and Collins in the same lineup when we already have 12 DH’s and corner outfielders on this team? Unless Collins can play 1b at above-average proficiency defensively, his bat at that position won’t make up for it. Which means best case scenario is a platoon DH.

It’s only spring training (until it’s not.) Starting to worry about how the 17 pound weight loss is affecting Palka as well. Positives this spring? Mendick, Anderson, Moncada (although Ks are still high), Robert being healthy and flashing his five tool potential, Lopez, Leury, Santana’s comeback.

Oops, Collins was a HoFer. “As has been well documented, the White Sox team payroll was extremely top-heavy and the player with the biggest bankroll was future Hall of Fame second baseman Eddie Collins. Collins’s $15,000 salary placed him number 2 among American League players behind only Ty Cobb at $20,000. The college-educated Collins, nicknamed “Cocky” and for good reason, wasn’t well liked by some of his teammates. Perhaps this included a sense of jealousy at his high salary. Indeed, Collins’s salary was nearly double that of anyone else on the team. But that wasn’t unusual in 1919: In Detroit, Cobb was making three times as much as any other Tiger and Cleveland’s Tris Speaker ($13,125) was also making twice as much as the next-highest-paid Indian. But even if Collins’s salary was out of line with those of the rest of the team, the other White Sox stars were paid comparatively well, according to the Hall of Fame contract cards. Four other Chicago players ranked among the top 20 highest-paid players in the American League, including World Series fixers Eddie Cicotte ($8,000, number 8 in the AL), Buck Weaver ($7,250, number 11), and Shoeless Joe Jackson ($6,000, number 15). Another future Hall of Famer, catcher Ray Schalk, was the 13th-highest-paid player in the league at $7,083. Eddie Cicotte’s salary deserves a closer look. The White Sox ace earned $8,000 in 1919 – which included a $5,000 base salary and a $3,000 performance bonus that Hoie says was a carryover from his 1918 contract (but unrelated to the mythical bonus “promised” to Cicotte if he won 30 games; that story is discussed elsewhere in this book). That also doesn’t include an additional $2,000 signing bonus paid to Cicotte before the start of the 1918 season, for a total compensation of $15,000 in 1918 and ’19. When he signed his contract, Cicotte had only one truly outstanding season (1917) to his credit. But he was the second-highest-paid pitcher in baseball behind the Washington Senators’ Walter Johnson, who had a much stronger track record. To put this in comparison, Eliot Asinof reported in Eight Men Out that Cincinnati Reds pitcher Dutch Ruether was “getting almost double (Cicotte’s) figure.” Ruether, whose sterling 1.82 ERA in 1919 matched Cicotte’s regular-season figure, was actually making $2,340. Talk about underpaid!” https://jacobpomrenke.com/black-sox/1919-american-league-salaries/

And I’m guessing there was some type of family connection between the Comiskeys and that particular player...son in law, cousin, there has to be a plausible explanation I’m sure.

Just terrible at talent assessment, FA procurement and development post 2012.

That’s all fine and good. If you want to publicly campaign to block or ignore someone, more power to you, but it’s petty. I think there are quite a few posters who have never blocked anyone. But how about you publish a list of the Top Ten most blocked/ignored posters, surely that will make me want to run away and hide in exile on a Padres’ board, lol. Let’s see these purported stats if you’re going to make an assertion like that (who is “most,” the moderating team?)...it’s only fair when you make a blanket or general statement. How about this, all those who have me on ignore/block, I’d be happy to return the same courtesy,

Okay, odds of signing Grandal next year, because who else is going to play catcher besides Grandal that would be able to improve on Narvaez’s numbers? It seems like the plan is to hope for a comeback from McCann, because Castillo is too now to count on for 2020/21.

You know you’ve got problems when the announcers need to spend 10-15 mins hyping Danny Mendick as a prospect.