caulfield12

As long as they're not afraid to make the right moves with guys like Giolito and Fulmer, instead of worrying about the PR implications of perceived failure. A week or ten days ago, it was Moncada when he was down around a 600 OPS. Obviously, they finally cut bait with Hawkins. That's a start, at least. There does come a point with any pitcher where you have to assess the benefits of getting hit around at the major league level..."on the job training," versus a period out of the spotlight back in AAA. Nobody at SoxTalk can make those decisions. We're not psychologists. We can only play them on television commercials/SoxTalk. Most of us were already predicting that Fulmer would eventually end up in the bullpen (how that will improve his control issues is uncertain, maybe concentrating on just two pitches at max effort will do the trick). That wasn't a HUGE surprise to anyone, right? So it's really ALL about Giolito (right now)...whose smooth sailing to end last season probably created unrealistic expectations this year that he would continue a smooth/linear upward trajectory. And maybe Avisail Garcia's downward slide, to a lesser extent. (On the plus side, Lopez has been almost as impressive, control issues notwithstanding, as Gio has been terrible.) One can also hope that the pressure on the front office to bring up Jimenez and Kopech doesn't effect the front office...that the ONLY consideration is readiness for the big leagues. I'm not 100% sure that was the case with bringing Moncada up last year, but what's done is done on that front. BIG PLUSES Davidson and Yolmer...Nate Jones' health Rutherford/Booker/Basabe Dylan Cease/Dunning Omar Vizquel's managing Micker Adolfo (until the last 3-4 games, at least) Zavala's hitting

Rodon isn't a free agent until the 2022 season. His contract goes right through the heart of the rebuilding and into the first two "competitive years" in the window, and possibly three (years) if they add any significant free agents after this season.

Alvarez's upside is a slightly better Saladino...hopefully with the same positional versatility (age is the biggest factor working against him at the moment)

Lip meant Burger, not Bummer. Also, there was another huge red flag that PTAC noticed a long time ago. Rodon was going to have issues both with repeatability of delivery (leading to control issues/inconsistency) and possible injury issues down the line (partly related to his reliance on the slider, the rest...mechanics). Now I don't know who else would have been the obvious pick there (certainly not Schwarber) and we all felt lucky that Rodon fell to us (Aiken/Kolek going ahead of him), but there was a reason his stock had fallen a bit (partly due to boredom at NC State?) He certainly has the talent to be a Chris Sale, TOR starter...but he also has the floor to end up disappointing (White Sox career-wise at least) like Wilson Alvarez.

There are LOTS of reasons to believe in the players we've acquired in the last 2 years. The counter-arguments are also obvious: 1) Misjudging Tatis, Jr., although I think everyone got ahead of themselves to believe a raw 19 year old could basically skip over High A and light up the AA circuit, where the pitching is much tougher 2) A disastrous list of free agent signings dating back to 2011 (Dunn) under KW/Hahn...and a lingering question mark whether he can pull the trigger on the right players when it really counts 3) Hawkins (although KW's pick, supposedly) 4) A plethora of question marks abound with higher draft choices like Fulmer, Collins (the hitch), Burger (positional versatility and general concerns about his size and athleticism) 5) The backsliding of Avi Garcia this year still leaves us without many success stories on the development/sustaining success side of things...Tim Anderson is probably the best example, so far (although still incredibly raw, albeit talent off the charts) 6) The fact that the Nationals were willing to part so quickly with Giolito in hindsight was a big red flag...LUCKILY, it appears Lopez and Dunning will be able to compensate, but we really need 2 of those 3 to do something productive or the trade can't really be considered successful...we can't say this was an "absolute steal" of a trade anymore 7) Moncada is holding his own so far...but he's still more "future/potential" than realized success, and the K rate is 10% too high even though he seems to have a 2.5-3.0 fWAR floor based on defense, OBP, XB power and baserunning alone ? (was supposed to be 9, but this is fitting) Chris Getz is still largely unproven/untested...the W-Salem results so far are encouraging, but is he the right man to put the entire future of a $1+ billion organization's talent development in the hands of...we shall soon see

Greg/WBWSF, this is the equivalent of an “intervention” for a family member with an addiction. A rebuild is tearing apart something you love to make it better or stronger. Any other approach was enabling. Or, if a failure, selling the team and giving someone else a shot.

Dash attempted to rally in the bottom of the 10th but came up just short. Adolfo had a chance for a walk off home run but hit into a force out up the middle, after Rutherford had barely missed tying the game with another double down the RF line. Still no homers, but 7 doubles already. Dash have won three games in walk off fashion under Vizquel, the Booker steal of home and two squeeze bunts. Fun team to follow.

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.jsp?sid=milb&org=145&ymd=20180422

Weird to see Dodgers, Nationals, Cubs and Yankees on the wrong side of the cut line.

Mostly deck chairs on the Titanic. Maybe J. Gomez instead of Infante...but they went with Infante twice now. I think Giolito and Fulmer both get at least 3-5 more starts before getting sent down unless they continue to absolutely get blasted like last night. Fulmer might as well go right into the pen this year if they pull the plug on him starting. Santiago gets first shot at starting, then Volstad. Start Thompson pretty much every day and send Engel down. Cordell’s injury limits options here, and Charlotte is filled with corner of/1B/DH guys, unfortunately. Leury going back to starting everyday in CF feels unlikely with no backup infielder now that Saladino’s gone. Not close to ready (yet) to see 300+ Skole or Palka at-bats in RF. Not sure what to do with Avi besides moving him down in the lineup. Theoretically, he was supposed to get more fastballs with Moncada (and now Anderson) getting on base in front of him. We still have to let Delmonico play mearly every day to see how well he can hit lefties and if his defense shows any signs of improvement. Bringing Kopech up before he’s 100% ready to hit the ground running makes absolutely no sense and will only lead to more fan frustration if he gets hit around instead of dominating from the getgo.

Oops, I meant the White Sox were now 27th, ahead of TB, Pitt and Miami. Another article on this topic... https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2018/03/13/inside-the-numbers-why-mlbs-attendance-could-be-down-in-2018/

White Sox almost drew 24,000 last night...Rays had 10,106 for a weekend game against the Twins. 16,258 average. Would be about 1.3 million for a full season. Back into 28th place for attendance. Pitt and Miami also worse. Cincy, Minnesota, Detroit, Baltimore, Oakland, KC and Cleveland ahead of the Sox. Basically, the entire AL Central is bottom 10, which makes ten years of no playoffs even more incredible. In 2028 ... no kid pays for a ticket MLB has a demographic crisis: In 2018, 30 million seats (more than 10,000 per game) sat empty, a trend that only got worse the next few years as the median fan age drifted into the mid-50s. So seizing upon an idea the Orioles tried in 2018, every club mandates that all adults who buy tickets can claim free tickets for their children. A new generation has easy access to the game, and embarrassing empty sections in non-sellout cities fill up. Even the few ballparks that resist -- Wrigley and Fenway, especially -- concede to a new social norm: Baseball is free if you're a kid. http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/23117307/what-nfl-nba-nhl-mlb-wnba-look-2028

And, like the White Sox...they had Jose Martinez, but didn’t develop him like the Cardinals somehow managed as he hit his late 20’s. Even the might Braves with their development staff whiffed here. http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?ID=141436 We could use a hitter with a 1.010 ops about right now.

The Royals were set up well to be successful in 2016 and 2017. Moore made some pretty terrible calls on free agents. Yordano Ventura died. Alex Gordon fell apart. They foolishly traded Wade Davis for Soler, which looked at least logical at the time. 2016, they had a rash of injuries to key guys like Moustakas, Cain and Perez. Their relievers became unaffordable to keep or got injured (Holland/Davis) or ineffective (Herrera). They had breakthroughs from guys like Whit Merrifield, but Cuthbert, Orlando, Escobar...regressed. Zobrist and Cueto were too expensive, etc. And they traded Wil Myers and a ton of promising pitching as well...guys like Odorizzi and Manaea, who just no hit the Red Sox last night. https://www.royalsreview.com/2018/4/5/17202302/old-friend-alert-where-can-you-find-former-royals Alexander, Scott Dodgers Buchter, Ryan Athletics Chavez, Jesse Rangers Cueto, Johnny Giants Davis, Wade Rockies de la Rosa, Jorge Diamondbacks Finnegan, Brandon Reds (DL) Greinke, Zack Diamondbacks Hendriks, Liam Athletics Jeffress, Jeremy Brewers Madson, Ryan Nationals Manaea, Sean Athletics Minor, Mike Rangers Montgomery, Mike Cubs Moylan, Peter Braves Odorizzi, Jake Twins Reed, Cody Reds Santana, Ervin Twins (DL) Shields, James White Sox Smith, Will Giants (DL) Soria, Joakim White Sox Stumpf, Daniel Tigers Triggs, Andrew Athletics Vargas, Jason Mets (DL) Wood, Blake Angels

Sale with the tough luck loss...poor Royals, Manaea used to be their property Jeter definitely needs some PR advice http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2771797-derek-jeter-calls-bryant-gumbel-mentally-weak-when-asked-about-marlins-tanking?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

https://www.mlb.com/news/ian-hamilton-could-be-sleeper-for-white-sox/c-183473134

How much for assisted living in Chicago or KS? Quad Cities...around $4500-5500 per month where my mom will stay (age 89), all out of pocket.

I think we have some pretty decent insurance there in Hansen, Cease and Dunning. Let’s not forget this upcoming draft as well.

Maybe they oversold the notion that his fastball was so much more deceptive because of Lucas’ length and extension. Unfortunately, we now have the pitching version of Konerko/Beckham/Quentin on our hands...very articulate/cerebral, overthinks things, too hard on himself, wants to please everyone. Getting through to the other side feels like an iffy proposition right now (assuming there’s not a physical issue.)

Let’s forget the fastball for a moment. He could get away with that if he was displaying the curve, slider and change he has showcased in the past. Five years ago, 89-92/93 was still slight above MLB average. As long as you had that 10+ mph differential with your offspeed stuff.

If Giolito is overthrowing to try to get more velocity, I’d hate to see him underthrowing. That looked Jon Rauch-esque out there. Not trusting his stuff. Tentative. It’s easy enough to understand when your fastball has lost 6-8 mph post TJS and you’re facing the best team on the planet that absolutely destroyed the Sox the previous night.

https://sports.yahoo.com/verlander-calls-white-sox-unwritten-rules-violation-10-0-win-160508328.html Between the TA/Verlander beef and Farquhar health emergency, this might be the last time the White Sox make the headline/national news twice in one day...

Obviously you missed The Catcher in the Rye in high school...?

Giolito 20 ip,18 hits, 20 er, 19 walks If he throws 50 shutout innings in a row, he will still have a higher ERA than 2017.

But then why does Avi get away with assuming Altuve won’t tag? Because he’s already so fragile mentally it might tip him over the edge? Has Anderson ever been benched for similar reasons?