caulfield12

Well, one thing's for sure...we're not going to hear from KW or Hahn how the unprecedented level of support in terms of tickets sold is allowing the White Sox to not only add Melky Cabrera, but we're now even able to acquire XYZ player (probably Manny Ramirez again) because the Sox fans believed in this team even when they were 10 games below .500 and also due to the anomalous 30th out of 30 local tv ratings, haha.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 02:49 PM) If they sweep Boston, with a middling Twins team playing the Pirates, we'd likely be within a game or two of the wild card. Sweep another four game series in a row? Danks vs. Joe Kelly Shark vs. Miley AND Morton vs. Pelfrey Q vs. Porcello AND Liriano vs. Erwin "Not Johan" Santana Sale vs. Wright AND Mariners' TBA vs. Pelfrey No Gerrit Cole for PITT. Most likely scenario is 3-1 White Sox, 1-2 for the Twins, but still 3.5 GB in the Wild Card (just because it has to be, that's the same exact number of games we trailed the Indians when we made the White Flag trade). That also means the Blue Jays, Tigers and Orioles among others would cease to exist. Although it's still possible the lead would be 3.5, we can't control what all those other teams are doing. Yankees, by the way, have never lost a series at Target Field and have now won six consecutive series in a row.

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 02:41 PM) After the Cleveland series, this team is definitely not a "seller" anymore. The only question is "are we a buyer?" Do we go out and get a bat? Or do we not mess with the outstanding chemistry this team has developed? I know its dangerous to mess with a roster that is already a World Series contender, but I'd really like to see us add someone who can hit 20 HRs and drive in 50 runs down the stretch. I really think this is the missing link that could insure us the first championship in 10 years. Let's experience the joy of 2005 over again in the coming months! What are you willing to give up for Justin Upton? Garcia would be the DH against LHP. But you're hardly guaranteeing a championship, let alone a "one and done" wild card game on the road with Chris Sale against the Astros or Angels. And I seem to remember a 9-2 stretch before the All-Star break being followed up by a 1-6 run that knocked us out of it again.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 02:46 PM) LMAO. Now Finnegan is a mistake? If you draft a pitcher in the first round and he's a reliever his entire career, I guess that's now NOT A MISTAKE because of how important pitching has become in the game. Or have you forgotten when the White Sox drafted Royce Ring and Aaron Poreda...or were smart enough not to draft Addison Reed in the 1st or 2nd? Some would argue that he paid off in 2014 alone (pitching-wise), considering many first round draft picks never make it, let alone are turned into former Cy Young winners via trade. So that's actually an excellent return on investment on a pitcher not even taken in the first ten picks. Could Courtney Hawkins (similar draft positioning, actually a bit higher) be the centerpiece of a Cueto trade? I think not.

Well, if you add Finnegan as the lefty to go with Neshek (Sox killer) and Gregerson, that's a long way to explaining how they went from the worst or second worst AL bullpen in 2014 to one of the best by the end of this season.

QUOTE (Baron @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 02:41 PM) Yeah I dont believe that for a second. Although it would go along with the crowd that wants to give Hahn a pass. Or testify to the fact that Hahn doesn't have any faith or confidence in his own recent blueprint eventually working out. Of course, we don't have the benefit of firsthand knowledge of what Samardzija offers were on the table at that time. A week ago, Alexei Ramirez was dead as a doornail and on the way out. Now, if you had a poll, you might have a majority thinking he's going to be back at the starting SS next season. Ever since that Cubs' series before the ASB, his defense has returned. Hard to explain. There was an article saying "he's back in a good place" but I didn't read it. Presumably, it's about things going on off the field and how his head's (and heart) now back in the game.

QUOTE (Al Lopez's Ghost @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 02:33 PM) Probably won't. Not before the end of this season, but coming into 2016.

There's got to be a veteran at-bat available somewhere/somehow before July 31st...or, worst-case scenario, a targeted hitter passes through waivers.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 02:34 PM) I didn't realize that they're already 1.5 out of the wild card. 2.5 with the Giants likely winning today.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 02:23 PM) great breakdown. about LaRoche...feels kind of like the Dunn situation in that the Sox are just going to let him work himself out of it or not work himself out of it. They don't even seem willing to move him down in the lineup or spell him with players like Schuck (who ran out a base hit today showing why speed is always a plus). Same with Flowers. Not sure why when they obviously got fed up with the play and production at 3B. Maybe it's the investment they made? That one's obvious, Soto can't physically catch everyday and Brantly/K.Smith/Nieto aren't the answers, either. We honestly should have just kept Viciedo (to face LHP) and never signed Beckham/Bonifacio (relying on the combination of Saladino, Johnson and Sanchez for 3B/2B and back-up/utility). Of course, there was uncertainty about Saladino's return from TJ and being ready physically at the beginning of the season.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 11:07 AM) Starling has been awful since he was drafted. Presumably he would have been the lottery ticket like Montas when we traded Peavy.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 11:24 AM) The Tigers have lost quite a few prospects over the past 5 years or so in an attempt to go for it all. The Royals are now in that same boat. I guess if there is a positive over the past 5 seasons, it is that the White Sox have gained prospects, while competitive teams like Detroit and KC have lost them. This year, we should be gaining more as the deadline rapidly approaches. The Royals seemingly made a 1st round mistake thinking that Finnegan was going to make it as a starter (they did get a meaningful contribution from him down the stretch and in the postseason, though). Maybe the Astros will give him that opportunity. Yes, they also dealt Lamb, but you have to take into consideration they still have Zimmer, Manaea and Kris Medlen for insurance on the starting rotation. That's not a bad place to be at all.

QUOTE (BrianAnderson @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 02:05 PM) The way I look at it let's just call the divisions locked up. Angels, Yankees, Royals. Then its Wild Card. Astros landing Kazmir is huge. That hurts us. Twins are next in line. They just "acquired" Ervin Santana in a way. Their team probably does falter a bit. Still.. we are 6? back of them. That's not that simple. The rest of the teams I'm scared of in order are: Toronto, TB, Detroit. Just don't see us getting it done. Twins and Toronto go on 3-4 game losing streaks? Maybe I'll get excited again. The Twins coming into duress and being wiped out of the AL Central race by the Cueto acquisition and Ventura looking like he's been resuscitated from the dead pretty much forces DET to fight back into it, which is good for Samardzija.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 02:13 PM) We have the best pitching by far. I don't think we should sell. Maybe tinker with the lineup though. Gotta grt Laroche outa there or down by Flowers. I'd put Alexei after Abreu amd Avi after him. Laroche is an automatic out right now. Alexei, Abreu and Melky were three of the better Sox players this past weekend.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 02:11 PM) Since when are the Rangers sellers? I thought they were looking to buy. Looking long-term buy on Hamels and short-term sell (and then re-sign) on Gallardo. Have the depth of C. Lewis, Martin Perez, Harrison and Nick Martinez all not in the projected rotation for 2016.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 02:07 PM) Twins lose today, it's 5 games. Scary. 1 1/2 games away from the White Flag deficit against Cleveland. Of course, that was only ONE team we were chasing, not 5-6.

Looks like we're now six games back on the Twins. Btw, the Twins and Indians have four more series together in the final months...talk about an unbalanced schedule. And Yordano Ventura came back and threw a pretty dominating start at the Astros. Only one run surrendered through 7. Just seemed that some of the hitters that normally give us fits like Brantley didn't have as much fight in them today. Outscored 26-5 for the series.

Dammit, Garcia. Sigh. Never an easy win with this team. I know, I know, he lost it in the sun. At any rate, seems like the Indians have packed it in early.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 10:47 AM) It was Zimmer who had the questionable medicals in KC. Now there are three names that have been thrown out there by Rosenthal and the KC Star. Kyle Zimmer, Sean Manaea and Bubba Starling, who just got hurt running into the wall last week in AA. Both those pitchers have had injury issues coming into this year. Other names being mentioned are Finnegan and Mondesi, Jr.

QUOTE (LDF @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 10:16 AM) if you read any of the james bond's books, esp in chronological sense. he fell in love twice, which when they were killed, it drove him deeper in a murderous despair. all this goes back to his parents being killed in front of him as a youngster. eva's character was the first in his path of being a 007. all the books are easy listening. That was the one almost nobody has watched, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, with George Lazenby (the one time he played the role, I think Sean Connery was being phased out but then he proved to be too popular and had to be brought back). NORTH AMERICA: Weekend Estimates: 'Ant-Man' Leads Again with $24.8M; 'Pixels' #2 with Lackluster $24.0M Start; 'Minions' #3 with $22.1M; Solid 'Southpaw' ($16.5M) Outpaces Soft 'Paper Towns' ($12.5M) Pixels was expected a week ago to make as much as $38-40 million, so yet another in a long line of Sandler disappointments. If not for Grown Ups 1/2, he'd really be under water.

QUOTE (LDF @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 10:31 AM) i agree..... with cueto going to al west, they are now forcing other team to rethink their positioning and maybe make a bigger effort to more trading. Except it's Hamels who is going to the AL West and Cueto to the AL Central (KC).

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 10:35 AM) Let's just say Hahn wants a young player to plug into the lineup right away this year to plug either the DH, C or RF hole. That means besides Shark the Sox could move any relief pitcher except Robertson , Adam LaRoche, Avisail Garcia, Micah Johnson, Montas, Anderson , Soto, Flowers , etc just don't include Saladino, Sanchez, Alexei , Abreu, Eaton and Melky . Defensively not a bad INF currently hitting well .. So say the Sox target Dalton Pompey of the Blue Jays a toolsy OF no power , very good defense but pretty young at 22 ,or 31 yr old Chris Colabello who can play 1st base and OF though probably not a good OF but hitting very good this year . BJ's get Shark let them choose the relief pitcher they want or sweeten the pot or add more players for either guy and/or more. Maybe in a separate trade LaRoche can be booted in a salary dump and Colabello becomes the DH . There are a lot of ways to mix and match players to improve this year and in the future while plugging holes . A guy like Colabello might not be valued here because he wouldn't be a core piece or have much upside but he is what we are lacking now and that is a solid hitter . Toronto's offense might not suffer too much without him getting back the pitching help they desperately need and our pitching might not suffer too much if Eric Johnson does a semi Shark impersonation but the offense gets better. Maybe you get them both (Colabello and Pompey) and give up Avi . It's doable. Therein lies the problem. Those are incremental improvements, at best. With Collabello, he was red hot for the Twins a year or two and completely disappeared. With the Blue Jays' line-up, he has a lot more protection around him, in the sense that he's one of those 2-3 guys a starter won't worry about, then, boom, he ends up hurting you because they don't walk to walk him and put him on base for some of the big boppers. Pompey would be fine, but then that diminishes your power even more in the outfield, giving you two guys in Eaton and Pompey that in most years would be expected to combine for 12-15 homers. Unless his defense is Gold Glove caliber, like a Juan Lagares, it's not going to work. And I'm not sure that they can trade LaRoche without taking a big hit in terms of eating part of the financial commitment for 2016 and Avi's value is pretty much at Viciedo mid 2013 level. They pretty much have to ride it out the rest of this season with him and wait for another two months to make a determination for next year unless they plan to shock the world by going after Heyward, Gordon or Cespedes.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 09:59 AM) I don't even like Samardjiza, so you really have no idea what I think. But if it is for some #15 and #30 guys in some team's system, if you want to go by the math, the odds are better you hang on to him and the potential draft pick than the others panning out. LaRoche and Garcia will start hitting again. The others won't keep up this mini pace. We heard the same thing about Beckham and he simply disappeared from the face of the earth. There's no way we're not going to get a player in some system's 6-10, or two guys in the 11-20 range. The odds are not better simply because we've failed to produce any position players in a decade, let alone one drafted outside of the top 30 players. We're talking a Keenyn Walker or Jared Mitchell like player in terms of draft positioning. If there's a choice between guys like Iglesias and Garcia who can contribute in 2016....versus waiting on a prayer for 2018-19, there's just no way to justify "further rebuilding" when you have a rotation ready to contend. If the White Sox were allocating $200 million to be added in additional payroll before next season....sure, but it's more likely to be $25-35 million in new monies that we spend than $125-135 million.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxLifer @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 10:09 AM) Actually the Rangers were/are trying to trade gallardo plus he's a free agent after this year There's lots of speculation both ways. Some insiders are saying he's gone but they will try to bring him back (like Jason Hammel/Cubs), others that they want to hold onto him for the rest of the season and then sign him in the offseason, so anything's possible. Guess it just depends on what's being offered. As far as the Cueto deal goes, along with Manaea, the other injured player being speculated about was former 1st rounder Bubba Starling, who got hurt running into the OF wall about a week ago with AA NW Arkansas.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 09:59 AM) Yes it is. Toronto, LAD and possibly Houston bidding on Samardzija can only help the Sox return on a trade. Houston's going to wait until the last second and see if the sticker prices come down or another veteran surprisingly becomes available, but for them to trade a top 3-5 minor league right now would be pretty shocking.