caulfield12

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 09:12 PM) Jorge Soler having a monster year. If he stays healthy, he might end up being a top 20 prospect. We still got the better bargain in Abreu, especially when you consider what they also threw at that LHP who hasn't done anything. Concepcion or something like that...

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 09:25 PM) viva los cubanos Where is old Cubano....would have thought he'd be enjoying this breakout season by Abreu?

Why is Viciedo pinch-running when Leury Garcia is available? What the heck is going on? Just randomly pushing buttons on a computer in the dugout?

What happened? Abreu had to tag up because he didn't read it well off the bat? Oh, well, he scored....complaining about Abreu's baserunning is like complaining about Mike Trout's strikeouts.

Well, the White Sox can pull to within 5 1/2 games if they win (wild card, of course), with Toronto losing. Dozier/Plouffe/Willingham looming vs. Petricka in the top of the 9th.

QUOTE (CWSpalehoseCWS @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 07:00 PM) Don't forget, Saladino is now coming back from TJ, so that is going to push him back even more now. How much faster (if this is even correct) does a position player return from TJ? I can't imagine it is quite as long as a pitcher because they aren't pitching. Well, he's definitely going to be limited from those long throws deep in the hole at SS.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 05:58 PM) I like Beckham and Danks. If trades are to be made I think the off season nets us better deals For what? Guys you'd like to hang out with or do shots?

Well, we needed this not-so-subtle reminder that this team is going nowhere with the likes of Surkamp and Webb in high-leverage situations. So thanks, White Sox.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 08:57 PM) So much for this "easy" homestand. Every game will be a war. That doesn't mean Sox can't pull this one out but you'd have thought with Sale going this woulda been enough runs. Well, considering the only game Sale's lost was one when he gave up a single run to the Tigers and lost to Scherzer, these types of games have been an anomaly for him. Last time with the same match-up, it was a blowout. You could tell from the pitch count in the first inning and tight strike zone it was going to be a long night.

Kiss of death from Phil Rogers Until prospects like Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Addison Russell and Jorge Soler are rat-a-tatting big league pitchers, all of this is educated guesswork. But here's how the Cubs' unprecedented rebuild looks at this point, 33 months since Epstein's hiring, with Hoyer providing some insight from management's perspective: 1. This is going to be an above-average group of hitters, perhaps the best in the National League within two or three years. Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro, will play at 25 next season, should be joined by midseason, 2015, by Arismendy Alcantara (the first anticipated kid to arrive, he's got a .764 OPS and four stolen bases in his first 18 games), Soler, Bryant and Baez by the middle of next season. Like Rizzo and Castro, Bryant and Baez (at second base) should provide above-average production at their positions, with the possibility that they'll quickly develop into elite players. Others are coming behind them, including Russell (a shortstop with a complete game) and outfielders Albert Almora, Billy McKinney and Kyle Schwarber (who could provide a left-handed complement to Welington Castillo at catcher. Hoyer calls pitching "a huge priority'' going forward but believes the abundance of hitters will be the foundation of future success. "We know [we need pitching],'' he said. "That said, look around baseball right now, what bats changed hands? Nobody is trading bats right now. If you need a bat in a pennant race you were probably out of luck at this Deadline. I like the fact that we have a lot of volume of something that people don't necessarily have right now.'' http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/phil-r...p;vkey=news_mlb According to THE PLAN, the Cubs will be competing for a playoff spot in 2016 (and everyone's projecting World Series and up for the Cubs and Astros in 2017)

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 04:30 PM) According to Bruce Levine Bruce Levine @MLBBruceLevine · 23m White SoxGM Rick Hahn said he thought had a significant three way trade that fell though at the deadline . Bruce Levine @MLBBruceLevine · 22m Hahn said he still hopes the white sox are active on waiver wire deals that can be made this month . Bruce Levine @MLBBruceLevine · 20m Hahn said the reporting on trade rumors for his club were at an all time low for accurate names and destinations . Bruce Levine ‏@MLBBruceLevine Hahn on watching 7 All Stars traded without his club participating " I felt like the kid looking out the window ,watching his friends play " Line four sounds like a bit of a shot at KW, who simply loved July and playing games with the media and putting himself front and center. Just a guess, but Viciedo might have been one of the pieces going to Mariners...until he cooled off to the point where his value was back at an all-time low. Marlon Byrd was out there as well. OTOH, thinking it was Danks and at least relatively close makes me believe there's a shot we can trade him and Dunn in August.

What is the White Sox record when tied going into the 7th, 8th and 9th innings? It has to be one of the worst in baseball. We pretty much agreed a better bullpen would have us around 3 games over .500. They've lost 6 games they were leading in the 9th and come back to win 3 times, but what's our record in tie games? Feels like we have had a ton of those swing against us in the 7th-9th, especially on the road (and yes, this tends to happen more, as closers are used more frequently to preserve tie games at home in hopes the offense will mount a quick assault to win in the bottom half of a late inning.)

1) Brandon Moss isn't going to be traded by the A's, just because Cespedes was... 2) Those trade ideas for Heyward and Danks.....Viciedo/Anderson, etc., won't work. And buying Miller at his highest value, not usually the best idea for the bullpen. In fact, it seems the Orioles panicked and overpaid when they had some legit options there already, so all they ended up doing was giving a divisional rival a guy who might end up starting against them for 6+ years. And why would we want a player in Heyward who also strikes out a ton and we're going to mightily struggle to control after 2015, anyway...we're not quite in the same situation as the Red Sox, where we can trade a basket of assets for an immediate payoff. We need those players who will help us the most 2016-18. 3) This board isn't going to be very enjoyable in the off-season if they bring Adam Dunn back, no matter what the price.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 10:14 AM) Semien has already been moved to OF I meant at the major league level...as a serious consideration, instead of just an experiment like it would be with Micah.

QUOTE (beautox @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 01:59 AM) Lineup: handedness | name | position | '15 opening day age L Eaton CF 26 R Semien SS 24 L Gillaspie 3B 27 R Abreu 1B 28 S Grandal C 26 L Wilkins DH 26 R Garcia LF 23 L Johnson 2B 24 R Castillo RF 27 Bench: handedness | name | position | '15 opening day age S Nieto C 25 R Viciedo DH/OF 26 R Saladino UT 25 L De Aza OF 31 Rotation: handedness | name | position | '15 opening day age L Sale SP 26 R Maeda SP 27 L Quintana SP 26 R Noesi SP 28 L Danks SP 30 Bullpen: handedness | name | position | '15 opening day age R Petricka CL 26 L Torres SU 27 R Putnam SU 27 R Webb MR 25 R Belisario MR 32 L Surkamp LO 27 R Carroll LR 30 Our payroll commitment for '15 is just a bit north of 46m, nearly half of our payroll from '14 and down 73m from 2013. 2015 is still a rebuilding year but there is an opportunity to be a dark horse. The white sox greatest needs going into this offseason as chitownsportsfan said are "C, LF, 2B, SP, PEN & DH". C & Pen - Trade Flowers, Davidson and sell high on the helium of Ravelo to the padres for Grandal and Torres. Grandal is having a down year but still offers a ton of upside and torres is relatively young and cheap. Hedges is their long term solution at C, flowers is just filling in till he is ready, Davidson is having a down year as well but he himself offers a fair amount of upside in power and Ravelo isn't going to be manning 1B for the sox anytime soon and the sox don't appear to be willing to move him back to 3B or the outfield. LF/OF - Castillo could be a great addition the white sox and they've got plenty of money to make it happen a right handed Brett Gardner patrolling RF with the range and ability to be a center fielder? sign me up. 2B - Middle infield is backed up with talent that needs be afforded the opportunity to showcase what they have at the major league level between Saladino, Semien, Johnson & Sanchez. SP - Maeda has publically said he wants to be posted by the carp and while he isn't on the same page as Tanaka he does compare favorably with someone like Anibal Sanchez, Paying premium rates to regular FA pitchers at 30 or closing isn't a great use of the sox fiscal resources. DH - I can't see the sox going 3 years with a mutual option to land Martinez after the year he is having and quite frankly it would another waste of money. Knowing that this is a rebuilding year I wouldn't mind seeing what a platoon of Wilkins and Viciedo could accomplish for relatively cheap. Saladino provided he comes back from TJ alright was crushing it down at AAA but especially left handers to the tune of .330/.396/.543 - .939 they had him playing all over the diamond this year including the outfield so i think he would be a great piece on the bench to platoon with Conor seeing how Micah actually hits left handers fairly well and might even have a reverse platoon split and eaton is pretty neutral across the board. Lastly I would love to see Erik Johnson get back on track and eventually replace Noesi and live up to his hype as a #2/3 starter and ideally Danks expiring contract and solid performance next year affords him to be moved when Rodon is ready. I think you are severely overestimating the value of Davidson, Rusney Castillo and Maeda. Comparing him to Anibal Sanchez...that dude has one of the best ERA's in baseball over the last 2-3 seasons. Expecting that out of an even more unknown Japanese pitcher is just a recipe for disaster.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 31, 2014 -> 11:01 PM) I'll break it down positionally. Catchers Tyler Flowers Wilin Rosario (traded for Dayan Viciedo) Infielders Jose Abreu Alexei Ramirez Marcus Semien Micah Johnson Andy Wilkins Conor Gillaspie Leury Garcia Outfielders Adam Eaton Avisail Garcia Alejandro De Aza Moises Sierra Marcus Semien Micah Johnson Leury Garcia Starting Pitchers Chris Sale Jose Quintana John Danks Hector Noesi winner of ST battle between Scott Carroll/Erik Surkamp/Erik Johnson Relief Pitchers Jake Petricka Ronald Belisario Zach Putnam Dan Webb Surkamp (if he loses 5th starter battle) Carroll (if he loses 5th starter battle) Tom Gorzelanny Jesse Crain (if Johnson is not winner of 5th starter battle) Not the most eventful offseason, culminating in us buying low on Wilin Rosario and selling low on Tank who might profile better for a COL team that plays in a hitter friendly park and is getting sick of Rosario. Sox treat catcher position as open position, but hope Rosario earns it with his bat and remains adequate defensively. Rather than target a full-time DH, that position will be used much like it is now in Charlotte to get extra at-bats for guys and partial rest days for guys. Same with LF - no obvious full-time player there, but instead a way to relieve the glut of infielders you have. And while Gillaspie is your starting 3B, but may lose most starts against LHP. I would say there's some chance Sanchez gets the nod over Micah to start the year. We don't target SPs in FA due to barely adequate depth and desire for continued payroll flexibility. By the time SP depth looks like significant concern, hopefully Rodon emerges from a MiLB stint as SP. Sample lineup against RHP Eaton CF Ramirez SS Abreu 1B Gillaspie 3B A. Garcia RF Wilkins DH Rosario C Johnson LF Semien 2B against LHP Eaton CF Ramirez SS Abreu 1B A. Garcia RF Rosario DH Gillaspie 3B Semien 2B Flowers C Sierra RF If everything goes right, it's a good team. If not, you're looking at a year like this one...except with this team, you'll know exactly what holes you need to fill to have a really good team the next season. This year we're in a bit of a holding pattern because there are several young players in the high minors and MLB that we aren't sure about just yet. Why would you bother keeping DeAza then? What makes you think Sierra's a better option than Viciedo? Why would you think Micah Johnson is ready for the majors, and that it should be in LF, where he's never played and probably not very comfortable...? Semien will be moved to the OF before Micah Johnson, in my opinion.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 09:03 AM) I think teams would have traded for Burnett, Papelbon, Hamels, Utley, and Rollins with no problem, and he could have possibly traded Byrd, Bastardo, Hernandez, Ruiz, and Lee too. What was the reason he (Amaro) gave to the media for not making any moves? That they weren't willing to meet his asking price, blah blah blah??? Glad that jackass isn't anywhere near the White Sox.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 08:43 AM) I think that at least most of us should all be able to agree on the following, going forward from today through the rest of the season: 1) The season is over, it has been over, this is garbage time only, and any dreams of hotstreaks and 2nd wildcard spots are foolishness; 2) Because of the above, the focus needs to be entirely on 2015 and beyond ONLY; 3) Because of the above, we need to use the remaining schedule, the remaining PA and IP available, also the remaining defensive innings positionally, to "see what we have" i.e. answer as many questions as possible heading into the organizational meetings where we will really put forth an action plan for the offseason Now given those 3 above points which by now we should really all agree on, I think this is what we need to do: 1) Still do everything possible to dump Danks (if we can, but probably not) 2) Open up playing time everywhere and anywhere possible for anyone we think has at least *some chance* of being part of our future, whether it is a more of longshot like a Carlos Sanchez or Andy Wilkins, or a pretty solid bet like Marcus Semien 3) Still do everything possible on the waiver wire and/or in small trades at the MiLB level - keep in mind that only players protected on the 40man need to pass through waivers, the same trade rules as before apply to prospects not on the 40 - to acquire at least 1-2 pieces worth throwing out there in late August & September 4) Realize that 2014 payroll costs are fully sunk, completely unrecoverable, a total waste of time, and that the 2015+ payroll situation is really what matters. So you are prepared to dump Dunn & Beckham at full salary, especially if another team somehow by some great miracle decides to offer you a longshot prospect/reclamation project that is actually worth trying out for a month plus. So Hahn needs to get busy. That's not going to happen for another 2-3 weeks, not while the White Sox are within 5-6 games of the WC. Where are you planning to play Carlos Sanchez, in Alexei's position? You can't have Semien and Carlos playing at the same time, unless you stick Semien in LF/RF, which probably isn't the time for on-the-job outfield training...granted, Viciedo's been a disaster, but it's not the best idea to have on-the-job outfield training in the middle of a pennant race. Same thing with Saladino...the White Sox are stuck with 4-5 "gamers" in Leury, Sanchez, Saladino and Semien and MAYBE Semien becomes an everyday player and the other the utility guy. But the betting money's still on Micah Johnson over Semien at 2B, at least at this exact moment in time.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 08:38 AM) This is all that needs to be said. One thing Theo has had great success with the last few years is getting guys on short-term contracts that played great the first half of the year, and then he turned around and traded them for some strong packages. Unfortunately, Paulino/Downs/Belisario have been busts. Feldman, Garza, Arrieta, Hammel, etc., all had their moments. (Still it's not like every prospect turns out, there are 50 Olts and Brandon Woods for every Adrian Beltre). We lost Crain and Floyd last year, both could have been great trade chips. This year, Gillaspie became so good (more valuable to the Sox than others) he wasn't worth trading with Davidson tanking. Erik Johnson went from our #3 to the #3 in Birmingham, somehow. Then you have the disappointments with Flowers, DeAza, Viciedo and Beckham. Noesi and Putnam, same category as Conor. Jones and Lindstrom were knocked out of being tradeworthy, as well. And we don't know anything new about Avisail we don't know a year ago, except maybe about his work ethic and desire to get back on the field before the end of the season...of course, Juan Pierre was the first to show up at the stadium every day and the most popular member of the White Sox clubhouse, and what did that get us?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 08:14 AM) It could be worse - the Sox GM could be Ruben Amaro Jr. He made 0 trades yesterday when he could have realistically made like 4 or 5. He should have traded Hamels (instead of asking for 3-5 prospects in return for someone who's already paid like Price), Byrd, Papelbon and Utley, along with Bastardo (RP). Lee wasn't realistic, more like the Sox dumping Danks at the moment. Same with Howard and Rollins, fwiw.

They probably want Beckham for his ability to turn the double play and his history with Ramirez up the middle...because otherwise they'd be better off just running him through waivers and seeing if anyone bites. Personally, I think Semien learned a lot and would inject some life and excitement into the line-up again, to go along with Eaton at the top. But that's just me, I'm sick and tired of Beckham, and Viciedo/DeAza too, for that matter. I have a feeling that Dunn MIGHT be claimed or a deal could be worked out, but then the White Sox are still theoretically close enough to the Wild Card and .500 that trading him while the Sox are in the race to give Wilkins a shot isn't in the cards...if they really believed in Wilkins, they'd have done something like DL or send down Garcia or Konerko or some other piece of chicanery. Finally, DeAza's definitely needed in the OF until Avisail comes back, unless you're going to run Sierra/Jordan Danks/Michael Taylor out there instead. That's not exactly a move that a team on the cusp of wild card contention makes yet, either.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 08:09 AM) The White Sox are better at the most important position, especially now. You can be better at C,1B,2B,SS,3B,LF,CF,RF and DH, if you pitcher isn't as good, you could be in trouble. Except a lot changes IF IF IF Buchholz returns to form and they get back Lester or sign Scherzer or Shields. I'd say Shields is the most likely add, from everything you read. He's down to 4 years (supposedly) and could be had for around $80-90 million now (coming down off the $144 million Greinke contract comp)...that amount's very close to what they wanted to pay Lester, fwiw. We currently have a Cy Young candidate, a very solid #2 in Quintana, a decent 4 in Danks and a okay/so-so 5 in Noesi right now...and we're not even a .500 team. What would the White Sox record be if James Shields had been pitching for us all this season? Most would argue we'd be 3-5 games over .500 and maybe as much as 7. Of course, the bullpen might have blown a number of his leads as well, so let's just say a 3 game swing in the standings to be conservative, although 5-7 is arguable as well.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 07:32 AM) If I'm trying to build a championship team, I'd rather have the three studs than a roster full of guys who are marginally better than the rest of our guys. The problem is that we need to upgrade 5 members of the line-up (including the most important position, catcher)...half of our bullpen...and at least one 2/3 starter. We all know from the Santana/Jimenez/Garza debate about the merits of such a pitcher. And we've exhausted the Paulino disaster as well. The question is whether Hahn can find another Beckett/P.Hughes/Milone/Tim Hudson/Kazmir/Hammel at the back end. Hammel's already getting exposed in the AL in a month, for example. That's assuming Rodon is a #3 or better starter. Because there's no way we even kick the tires on Shields/Scherzer/Lester. And Masterson's going to get so much exposure pitching for the Cardinals he's going to be either too risk because he completely falls apart or he's going to raise his value up quite a bit the final 3 months (and that's another risk, assuming he could jump back to the AL and continue that success).

Bradley and Craig are both well down into the 600's for OPS, although Bradley makes up for quite a bit of that with his stellar defense. I guess it also depends if you prefer Bogaerts, Mookie Betts, Bradley, Vazquez/Swihart, Middlebrooks, Rubby, Workman, Ranaudo, etc. They definitely have more pitching depth at the AA/AAA level. Cespedes>LF Eaton would have to have the advantage over Bradley, but not by a huge amount Craig and Garcia is a wash right now, who knows Gillaspie and Bogaerts/Middlebrooks...well, do you really think Conor's worth more if they were both put on the trade market today? Ramirez has the advantage over Marrero Pedroia vs anyone, not even close Abreu over Napoli Ortiz over Dunn/Konerko/??? Red Sox catching over White Sox Red Sox have 4 White Sox have 4 Garcia/Craig a wash I wonder how close they were to trading Uehara, and what offers were on the table, if he actually was made available in the last week or so....?

Nelson Cruz would have been nice, but he’s 34 and it appears the Orioles want to re-sign him. Nick Markakis and Melky Cabrera are good players, but there would be competition for them and no guarantee the Red Sox would get them. So the Red Sox used their pitching resources and flipped Jon Lester and John Lackey to Oakland and St. Louis, respectively, for righthanded boppers Yoenis Cespedes and Allen Craig, and also received 26-year-old righthander Joe Kelly from the Cardinals. The Red Sox now have firepower in the form of righthanded hitting in the middle of the order with Mike Napoli, Craig, and Cespedes. Will Middlebrooks will return to the lineup Friday night against the Yankees, and he too can provide righthanded power. The Red Sox may even be too righthanded, as Xander Bogaerts goes back to shortstop. He will give the Red Sox a good glimpse over the next two months whether he can be their long-term answer or whether the team will engage in a Devin Marrero/Bogaerts debate in spring training, with Marrero now playing well at Pawtucket and a much better defensive shortstop. Cherington is right to think that it will be easier to replace the pitchers than it would have been to revamp the offense. Having dealt with the offense, his job now will be to bring in two starting pitchers through trade or free agency armed with a lot of prospect pitchers and positional players, as well as financial resources as a result of getting rid of big contracts and not re-upping those high-priced players. www.bostonglobe.com Seems that Viciedo is likely to go nowhere, if Allen Craig with a similar OPS, 30 years old and a big contract for a limited defensive player is a key trade acquisition target. While Craig has more of a track record, but he has age going against him, as well as his higher price tag in terms of salary. Unless the White Sox can sign Yasmani Tomas or Nelson Cruz, they're going to be fighting with 10-15 other teams over the likes of Melky Cabrera, Nick Markakis, Victor Martinez and Colby Rasmus. That's not a good position to be in... The White Sox have the seeming advantage with Sale and Quintana at the top of their rotation (Boston has Buchholz and Kelly, who might not even be a starter long-term, to go with Rubby/Workman/Ranaudo), and Rodon waiting in the wings. Abreu's more or less the equivalent of Ortiz/Pedroia, but the White Sox are lacking the resources in terms of minor league talent to swing for an impact bat like Cespedes...not unless they deal Quintana and/or Ramirez. Then there's the huge catching issue. And that's not even mentioning the bullpen, yet, since 2016 is now the target for competing and not 2015 thanks to a number of factors (regression from Viciedo, Garcia's injury, non-performance from E.Johnson/Semien/Davidson, Flowers being at the bottom along with AJ Pierzynski in OPS for catchers with 225+ plate appearances, etc.) Boston has a young core in Bogaerts, Marrero, Bradley, Jr., their young catcher that AJ was DFA'ed to clear the way for and Middlebrooks. The White Sox have Eaton, Garcia, Abreu and Gillaspie...to go along with the veteran in Alexei Ramirez. So both teams have a lot of offensive holes to fill, with the White Sox possibly replacing 4-5 players in the offseason. The Red Sox line-up now offensively is more settled... Cespedes, Bradley and Craig in the OF Bogaerts/Middlebrooks, Bogaerts/Marrero, Pedroia, Napoli in the infield. Ortiz at DH. Then you have Christian Vazquez with Blake Swihart behind him (according to Callis) possessing Buster Posey-level skills You also have Mookie Betts somewhere in the mix. Which team do you think is in a better position? The Red Sox have to add more frontline starting pitching, but they also have a seemingly more settled line-up for 2015, a better bullpen, veteran continuity and stability with Ortiz/Pedroia/Napoli and more resources from which to draw from to fix things in one offseason. Not to mention two pretty high quality catching prospects, especially Swihart.