caulfield12

What the hell happened to Eaton already? He and Avisail are a recipe for disaster on the same roster...will keep Herm Schneider busy at least.

QUOTE (CWSpalehoseCWS @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 04:04 PM) Pretty sure the Sox can't send down Sierra. I think that's how the Sox got him from TOR to begin with. I hope it's De Aza. It's a risk, another team COULD claim him. Maybe a 75% chance he makes it through without being claimed. He does have a 766 OPS with the Sox, so there's that. All things considered, I would definitely DFA DeAza if I couldn't find anyone to claim his contract or willing to trade for him...regardless of the return, just trying to save $1-1.5 million or whatever.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 05:27 PM) That's how arbitration generally works. The team would probably offer something close to $4.5 mil, his side would ask for $5.5, and they'd settle somewhere in the range of a 20% increase in-between. If Frieri had anything close to resembling a decent season...basically, the question is would we be willing to pay him roughly the same amount we paid Matt Lindstrom to be a set-up guy this year? I think he ends up closer to $4.5 million than $5. That's not the most important question in the bigger picture, it's whether they can identify something (fixable and) wrong with him mechanically comparing this season and last.

It's not the WORST idea in the world. Then again, we already paid Lindstrom and Downs $4 or 4.5 million or whatever (not to be closers at the time of signing). That said, we'd do it only by providing him a trial as closer for 1 1/2 months and THEN deciding whether to offer salary arbitration for 2015. Based on being traded and then basically released, it's hard to imagine he's going to automatically just get that 20% increase...not with that statline across two teams.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 02:50 PM) De Aza's batting .283 with a .765 OPS against righties on the season. You would think some NL team could use that platoon bat. If he was VERY GOOD defensively, but he's not. Otherwise, I'd want a guy with an 800+ split against righties for a platoon partner. He also doesn't steal nearly as much as he used to...although part of that's due to his position in the batting order.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 03:17 PM) Why would you say that? Because they have 10X the amount of practices between games, and preseason and off-season training. Almost all of their pitchers throw a lot more than MLB pitchers do between starts, and pitch counts of 125-175 in actual games aren't so unusual. They drill and drill and drill on fundamentals and team-based drills, calisthenics, it's almost like military training over there the way they approach it. MLB players have a VERY cushy life comparatively, even if the regular season is longer.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 03:09 PM) I can very easily make the case for keeping Baez in AAA longer. He got off to a terrible start this year and has only had a fairly brief hot stint, and all the while his strikeout totals have still been Tyler Flowers bad. So far the K rate is 25%. Of course, the OPS is 1.188. He'll need 150 at-bats before any conclusions can begin to be drawn about his readiness. Even then, some will argue he's facing some AAA/AA call-ups for non-contending teams in September.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 03:15 PM) Most teams say that. I'm glad they lost out on Tanaka. Sometimes an Asian player's success is not long lived like Ichiro. MLB must a real grind compared to Japan. I would say it's actually the opposite.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 02:54 PM) His agent is Scott Boras. You can absolutely bet that Rick is going to do everything he can to maximize Rodon's team control. It makes no sense whatsoever to call him up this year. Dumb thread. Tell MLB.COM then that they're dumb to have it as their headline story this afternoon. Or Merkin's dumb, although I still have a more favorable opinion on his fluff than Rongey's obfuscation/belligerence/arrogance. I agree, it's a DUMB article, not sure where Merkin's getting his ideas, other than speculation, which Ventura clearly wasn't going to get into on behalf of the front office.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 02:15 PM) Im sure Hahn bases all of his moves on responding to moves that the Cubs make Seems like Merkin is...I wonder if Hahn approved of that release going out? He's in Washington, D.C., now visiting the city with his son.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 01:57 PM) Beckham, Leury, De Aza and Dunn should all have seen their last PA's in Sox uni, is the gist of it. These are opportunities wasted, and it's making a poor midseason for the rebuild (so far) worse. Leury's spot is irrelevant unless it would have been Saladino, as those guys in AAA (Micah, Marcus and Carlos Sanchez) need to be getting regular at-bats and wouldn't even if they were promoted. Whether Marcus or Carlos could benefit from sitting on the bench again, that's arguable. They wouldn't do it with Semien, so it's really do you want Carlos Sanchez to be playing 1-2 times per week instead of Leury Garcia?

Rodon, Timmy Anderson, Hawkins and Montas. That's about right.

Cubs have officially added Jacob Turner for two minor leaguers... Still has his velocity, according to Epstein, claims they've had good luck with turning around struggling pitchers and that the expedited path that Turner had in his contract forced him up to the majors too early and there are some issues they can iron out to get him turned around.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 01:51 PM) Except this team lost money last year. Great job Bruce. I think he was referring to the fact that Reinsdorf mentioned they weren't going to be losing money this season, no matter what happened with attendance and sponsorship revenues.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/white-...p;vkey=news_mlb Wonder if any of this was in response to Baez, or simply the fact that Hahn was with the Dash for three days this week and watched Carlos' start along with Buddy Bell? It's interesting, in the sense there's little here but speculation from Merkin, with nothing coming from Hahn or Bell and Ventura not even wanting to address the situation with anything but "the more the merrier" remark. RocketRod2 just now He could at least serve as the mop up man on the mound following Adam Dunn. Of course, that had to come from a Cardinals fan. Couldn't resist, I guess. @scottmerkin: RT @KenFinan: @scottmerkin My old man says despite the troubles, this is the most fun season he has seen since '05. @scottmerkin: Regardless, there's a solid young nucleus developing on the South Side that needs to be supplemented accordingly @scottmerkin: But fans have to admit that IF Rodon is ready, seeing him pitch a few games in Sept. certainly would create a little more buzz I disagree. 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012 were MUCH MUCH more enjoyable...

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 01:37 PM) Avi for De Aza or Viciedo or Sierra Wilkins for Dunn Any two of Semien, Sanchez and Johnson for Beckham and Leury Should have been watching this for a week already now. Make it change soon, RH. They're not going to waive or send down Viciedo. They are much more likely to do that (DFA) with DeAza, IMO. Or simply send down Sierra until September. DeAza HAS to be living on borrowed time, one would think.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 01:26 PM) As I said, it isn't perfect. The idea that a full rebuild could be done in less than one year is lunacy. Big picture, things are better, and the organization is moving forward. It is waste of time to still be complaining about details. That's what White Sox fans do. Otherwise, we would be Cubs' fans. Bruce Levine was on the Score this morning, and he was seriously floating the idea out there that Reinsdorf only cares about the team not losing money/profitability for the owners/board of directors, and that lower payrolls and the state/local subsidies that kick into place when the attendance sinks to below 1.5 million (or maybe it's 1.2-1.25 million, something like that) will give the Sox a lot less incentive to make big moves in the free agency market....sort of saying they're going to still be profitable as the 28th team in attendance, and can follow the Loria/Marlins/Expos blueprint.

We'll go back to 2008, because 2006 would paint an even more depressing picture for the Sox. Cubs....3,300,000 White Sox....2,500,000 2014 paces Cubs...2,650,000 (20% decrease from 2008) White Sox....1,724,166 (31% decrease from 2008) The Cubs have actually lost fewer fans, and certainly a much lower percentage of fans. If you go back to 2006, it's a 41.6% loss, which is mind-blowing. That's more than double the Cubs' loss percentage-wise, and that's with the Cubs in their 4th year of rebuilding already, not first or second like the Sox. And those numbers can be turned around in a heartbeat, unlike with the White Sox, where only a deep playoff run would set them up for 2-2.25 million in attendance again.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 01:08 PM) The big assumption there is that nothing changed since the day that they started the rebuild. One thing did change. The Cubs are now in their 6th straight season of falling attendance. With the amount of debt that ownership took to buy the team, and then looking at the extra money they are wanting to pump into Wrigley for their remodel, it is pretty easy to see a need to sell more ticket and generate some excitement before 2015. If this was purely about the rebuild and trying to put together the best possible window to succeed, Baez wouldn't be here today. If they were really looking to succeed short term, they wouldn't have dumped their last top line pitcher for more prospects which push the timeline back. How? They didn't plan to offer Samardzija "ace" money for beyond 2015, and they weren't expecting to compete next year. It's the same reason the Rays traded (some would say dumped) Price for a lesser return... If anything, it now gives them a HUGE trading chip in either Baez or Addison Russell (900+ OPS in AA) that they didn't have, along with a possible starting OF in Billy McKinney, another top Oakland draft choice. Then there's the possibility they can bring either Hammel, Samardzija or Lester (in Epstein's RED SOX way of thinking) back into the fold. The White Sox have been declining in attendance for eight seasons in a row, too. We're not far off the point where the city/state subsidies will start kicking in to keep the White Sox from going into the red on attendance. That would be yet another public relations disaster.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 11:54 AM) I think I was one of the most optimistic people on this team, and for the most part, the biggest pieces of the rebuild have gone incredibly well if you look back to where we were 14 months ago. -We have our powerhitting star 1B.With no protection. -We have a very solid starting 3B But can he field well enough and repeat this year offensively? -We have both a leadoff hitter and CF, who is also a pretty darned good defender. Can he stay healthy and play in 150 games? -The farm system is deeper than it has been in what... a decade? A year ago Carlos Rodon was a wet dream. Now he headlines our system.But it's lacking in future All-Star/impact talent, other than Anderson, Hawkins, Rodon and MAYBE Montas -Sale is still Sale, Quintana is still the feathery serpent, and Cooper can still create starting pitchers out of thin air.Except Paulino and most random relievers rejected by other teams. -This has been a super unusual injury year, and that has hampered a lot of our players and progress. Looking at the big picture, the state of the union is positive. Is it perfect? Obviously not, but I know that no one expected a title team in a year, or probably even two. This organization is moving in the right direction. I don't think they are wasting too much time on the minutia of things, and have a plan that they are sticking to. The fans might not like it, or even understand it, but so far things are going about as well as can be expected after having a 63 win team last year. I'm guessing another year down the road we can look back and see many other problems solved. Greg has a good point about the defense. Other than Ramirez and Eaton, we don't have any above-average defenders. Arguably, we'll be getting worse next year with Avisail Garcia and possibly replacing Alexei Ramirez. That's not exactly a recipe for success when you're building a team around pitching and just enough power to be middle of the pack. I noticed you didn't mention Viciedo or Flowers. There's good reason to play pro's and con's with both those guys. One positive is that Beckham and Dunn will be gone and we can finally move on, along with Konerko's retirement. The page can finally be turned. Plus, we have increasing reason to be concerned about John Danks' contract.

Epstein and Hoyer have said they want players to get a full season at each level. That timeline has been met with Baez, between 2013 and 2014. Moving Soler up to the big leagues would be ahead of schedule, but he'd probably start next year at Iowa going with that "get a full year of success in at each level" theory. (Hitting .370 with 11 homers in 135 AB's on the season, at .289 now with the I-Cubs). At any rate, these Cubs' prospects are coming up with pressure to perform, but not in the same way White Sox hitters were normally promoted into the heart of pennant races and had to perform or find themselves on the bench, demoted to traded. Think of how long it took Crede and Rowand to break in for this reason. Then there was Brian Anderson pressured to hit in 2006, Fields in 2007 (one year the pressure was lower, but then in 2008 it fell apart), Beckham in 2009 being moved from 2B to 3B...Borchard would be another example, where he never really got 3-4 consecutive months at the big league level (see Tyler Flowers and how many opportunities he's gotten). Or Brandon McCarthy and Daniel Hudson not getting extended looks in a big league rotation.

Davidson almost hit a homer, then hit a double over the bag down the 3B line. 3 hits today, Wilkins has 2 (another homer, of course). Mitchell's rebounded to have a pretty good game, although his throwing from the OF can use a ton of work.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 12:45 PM) Scary to read about Micah's lack of defense as well as Anderson. Also is Hawkins good or not? Hawkins is just fine for a corner outfielder, probably a tick above major league average from the video I've seen (granted, those are usually "good/highlight" plays and not errors.) Anderson has the raw tools, but is not refined yet. Jury's still out. Scouts seem to love him, almost across the board, in terms of projecting his future. I think there's more concern about Micah Johnson being a lesser version (both offensively and even defensively) of Ray Durham, and lacking some of Sugar Ray's XB pop at the major league level as well. He had all the steals last season and seems to be concentrating on other aspects of his game, so I'm not sure how easily he could put up a 40-50 steal year in the majors. It might take him some refining that technique and time to learn opposing pitchers and catchers. He's not an absolute terror like Billy Hamilton, at least not this season. At any rate, he's got to steal a lot more than Adam Eaton (successful at an 80% clip or higher) to be a major league regular.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 12:35 PM) Of course, there's a downside in that too. They're likely to be a top 10 pick this year. If they want to wait to play the FA market in 2016 for pitching, and those guys aren't terrible, then there goes their first round 2016 pick. I'm sure they can live with that, all things considered. The Esptein Regime's going to be in a world of hurt if they have only one productive prospect out of the Core Four (now Fab Five with Russell). However, they're more likely to use McKinney/Almora/Schwarber/Vogelbach and Baez/Castro to acquire pitching, if you believe all the "cash strapped" rumors out there.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 12:01 PM) I still struggle to believe that Billy Beane wouldn't have $4 million to spend for the rest of this season by claiming Adam Dunn, especially after they just removed a middle of the order, high power, high strikeout bat in Cespedes. See Manny Ramirez in 2010.