caulfield12

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 24, 2014 -> 08:24 AM) I get a kick out of everyone kicking Reed saying he won't be anything special, but once you start mentioning forfeiting the second round pick, guys like Reed, because he was a 3rd rounder IIRC, suddenly get mentioned as guys you don't want to lose the opportunity to acquire by signing someone their former team feels is worth at least $14 million for a season. The bottom line is if Davidson sucks, the deal wasn't worth it. It is up to him. There is some team out there that would have given up a useful piece for Reed. The White Sox felt Davidson was that piece. If he is a below average 3rd baseman, they aren't going to be happy about it. Atlanta's in "win now" mode, definitely. And they didn't sign him for 3-4-5 years. They really had little choice, they had to do something right away. We're not in that same situation. Look at the Rangers, they could probably use Beckham now that Profar's out for the first 3 months. They have to realistically assess if they can afford to get behind in that division. For the moment, we are freed from all those types of "instant gratification" personnel decisions that were perhaps best illustrated by the Hudson/Jackson trade.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 03:50 PM) So what does it say for next years NBA draft when the consensus top two picks for next year, who both have huge talent around them, lost before the sweet 16? That ANYTHING can happen, and probably will. The Kentucky kids (especially Randle) will continue to get their showcase. Early's stock definitely is on the rise. Ennis, not so much. It might hurt Wiggins a BIT, because he has the reputation for disappearing already...but that won't discourage someone from taking him. He's not nearly as consistent as Parker, who reminds me of Carmelo Anthony a bit. McDermott will be another of those controversial selections like Fredette who will polarize a fanbase...unless he's marketed correctly. And everyone will get to see a lot more of the talent on Arizona and UCLA on a national basis. UVA too. It's easy to keep forgetting they were a number one seed.

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Mar 24, 2014 -> 08:04 AM) I assumed this had to be a joke band. At least I hope it's just a joke band. Yasiel being Yasiel© ...? I'm sure they're just leveraging the Puig name/brand to make themselves more famous, nothing more. Plus, they're from SoCal and Dodgers fans. And they've succeeded in getting a lot of national attention for it, very outsized, compared to their lack of musical ability.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 24, 2014 -> 08:02 AM) So if he is a RH Conor Gillaspie and Reed has a productive career, the deal was worth it? Seems to me it would have been a waste of an asset. As long as the guy is good, years of "control" are nice, but if he isn't so good, who cares? Most of this board is very upset over the years of control the Sox have over Adam Dunn. Sergio Santos for Molina was the waste of an asset. Edwin Jackson for Zach Stewart was the waste of an asset, largely. Davidson just has to hit 18-24 homers per season and play slightly above league average defense. How many times have we been over this "closer" issue? Jones, Belisario, Lindstrom, Webb and maybe even Cleto all have the ability stuff-wise to close....as the White Sox have proven since Joe Crede/Uribe left, it's MUCH harder to find a 3B OR to find a leadoff hitter than it is to find short relievers/set-up guys. At some point, you need a reliable, 80-85-90% closer, but it's not the biggest issue facing the club right now. And Reed's never going to be anything special....just that low 80% type of save guy, like Santos was as well.

It might not even be evaluation, so much as the coaching (hitting, especially) and not having a systemic or system-wide approach. Of course, it's easier to argue on the evaluation side since very few Sox youngsters have left here and excelled elsewhere...you can also make an argument that most of our youngsters have been moved around a lot (Beckham, Viciedo, Semien seems to be the next), and, finally, the argument that veterans like Rios, AJ, Ramirez and DeAza aren't the best types of players to influence or serve as role models. It goes back to that leadership issue, the laid back thing (Konerko, Dunn, Thome, Dye, etc.) That's what Eaton and Abreu and Garcia were brought in to establish, not only talent, but to follow in the example of Abreu's professionalism, work ethic and approach to each pitch and each at-bat. Last year, a lot of hitters were just freelancing and doing whatever they felt like at the plate....DeAza, Ramirez, Viciedo, Beckham the 2nd half of the season, Rios, Dunn. There wasn't really anything resembling a team-wide approach. That situation can't be allowed to persist. "That Rangers' system was incredible with all the young guys," said Olt, who has made a remarkable comeback from vision problems and is a contender for the Cubs' starting third base job. "It starts with the way I learned over there. It started when I was younger and they let us work with the big guys. I learned a lot from them. I think it has a lot to do with how they coach everything. "The talent is incredible, so that helps. But then I come over here and I'm starting to get the same feeling." Olt, 25, a supplemental first round pick of the Rangers in 2010 who was part of the Garza trade last July, relishes his first major league spring training in 2012 when the Rangers were coming off their second consecutive World Series appearance. "I was extremely nervous just to talk to those guys," said Olt, referring to Adrian Beltre, Michael Young, Ian Kinzler and Mike Napoli. "They were superstars and I thought them listening to me ask questions was the last thing they wanted. (But) I learned a lot about approaches (at the plate) and fielding balls that takes time for people to figure out, and they were going to teach me at a young age. "It was awesome." Beltre, who reached the majors at 19 with the Dodgers, sensed immediately that Olt was a good listener. "I like Mike Olt because he wanted to learn as much as he could," Beltre said. "He's a good kid. He can have a good career. "Older players helped me when I was young. That's what you should do."

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 24, 2014 -> 07:31 AM) Matt Davidson could absolutely play in Chicago right now, but Gillaspie has experience and a lot of times guys who play their first full season in the majors come back the next year and perform better. It's worth seeing if Gillaspie improves. However, that's only the surface and the only aspect to which Ventura and Hahn will admit. See, the real reason is that if the Sox wait until June - for Davidson to "work on his fundamentals on defense" (because he couldn't do that at the big league level, obviously) - is that they'll be able to save a year of service time for him. However, if they were to admit that exact thing publicly, the player's union would be on their ass so fast and so hard that they'd probably be forced to give up that year of service time regardless of how long they had him in the minors as they'd be suggesting that he's the best player but they want him to hang around a little longer. And here's the skinny on that trade: Addison Reed is a reliever, one that got touched up quite often over the past two years. He has good stuff, but he's a fairly average closer type, which is to say he'd be a fantastic set up man, but he's still just a reliever. He also only has 4 years of service left before he reaches free agency. Meanwhile, the White Sox will control Matt Davidson - a position player - for 6 full years. If he is even a below average regular at 3B over that time frame, he will have been worth the deal. If he is average or above average, the Sox win that deal in a landslide. They just need "average" production out of him, as long as it's not the 600ish OPS of Morel/Hudson/Youk in 2012. With Abreu expected to excel and be a top 5-7 MLB first baseman, everything can be balanced out as long as the starting pitching is dominant. The key is going to be finding the correct LH complement to go with Abreu...and of course Garcia/Eaton/Viciedo hitting as expected. They can afford to have complementary/glue guys like Semien/M.Johnson/Sanchez in the middle infield...but they have to defend and do all the little things well in the best Twins/Iguchi fashion. And catcher, obviously, everything revolves around that position, and it's their biggest weakness.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Mar 24, 2014 -> 06:42 AM) Why do the Sox have to carry 12 pitchers? With all of the off days and probable snow outs, why so many? Maybe to protect Sale, Quintana, Johnson (expected short starts occasionally) and Paulino...especially in bad weather situations or situations where they have to start games and then delay them.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Mar 24, 2014 -> 06:23 AM) Yes, if Keppinger and Beckham do start the year on the DL, then that will be the roster and I think Webb gets that last spot. There's no way in hell they're going to carry three lefties.

Very simple. 2015 Opening Day. Sale Quintana Rodon/Beede/Hoffman/Nola/Weaver/Finnegan Danks Johnson or Beck/Bassitt Paulino/Rienzo (trade bait) 1B Abreu 2B Semien or Micah Johnson SS Ramirez/Semien 3B Davidson We're either going to have to trade Ramirez this year or quite possibly hold onto him because of the difficulties of producing or acquiring another major league quality SS if we're legitimately in a position to compete in 2015. It would be extremely challenging to compete with 1st/2nd year infielders at 2B/SS/3B, unless they all get extensive experience this season. Then you have Viciedo, Eaton and Garcia in the outfield. That leaves two big issues, DH and C. If you keep DeAza around (in 2014), then you can split DH amongst the four outfielders with occasional opportunities for someone like Keppinger (assuming they won't just dump him), L.Garcia/Semien/Johnson/Sanchez, and/or by resting one of the regular infielders. Basically, you'd have a rotating DH. Every trade chip left over goes into either acquiring a C or the right DH (probably a LH) candidate...and/or buying one off-season. Or they're simply going to have to trade someone in the bullpen, either Jones, Belisario, Lindstrom, Cleto and one of our 2 lefties. In a perfect world, John Danks would rebound and you could get his contract off the books without eating too much. Otherwise, you're stuck with him in the rotation. That would leave for April 2015: Sale Quintana College Pitcher from 2014 Draft Johnson Beck/Bassit In essence, this team is built to be really competitive in 2016-17-18, and definitely COULD compete in 2015 with the right C and DH combination, assuming no major injuries. You're probably going to go through one more year of growing pains with all those young pitchers. This is where adding a Santana/Jimenez/Garza type for the 3/4 spot in the rotation would actually make some sense, for 2015...especially if Johnson and Beck both struggle and our collegiate pitcher isn't quite ready to be Chris Sale Version 2.0. Of course, there's always the possibility of holding onto Paulino as well for one more season, but the key for the moment is flexibility and constantly reassessing needs and wants over the next 12 months. There's also the possibility they hold onto Danks as well, because he's pitching so well again they want to keep him around and make a legit run at the 2015 ALCD. It all depends on how all the young pitchers perform. Ideally, they'd succeed and you could plug the savings into tinkering with the offense to get it up to league average.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgersnow/l...y#axzz2wrZmrZB9

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 08:38 PM) Well done, I was gonna do the same thing. Sox general manager Rick Hahn said the team wanted to give Boggs an opportunity to latch on with another team before opening day, but the club would welcome him back if he wanted to start at the Triple-A level. Not quite yet, he could start in AAA. The odds are probably 50/50 he will be at Charlotte.

And why would we need to entirely depend on Beck/Bassitt/Rienzo/Danish when we're about to pick a polished collegiate pitcher at #3 who would you have at least a shot at pitching in the 2nd half of 2014? That's one of the biggest arguments out there for not sinking money into Santana/Jimenez.

I don't think it's really fair to say WSU lost that game, as much as Kentucky just beat them and played as well as they have in recent weeks. Early was amazing, no doubt about it. Could have gone either way...one of the most entertaining games of the tourney, where every position was "live or die" almost, kind of like the equivalent of watching the movie GRAVITY for the first time.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 03:49 PM) However, you did not address the actual given point, that Wilkins's OBP last year is made up of a .380 OBP at birmingham and .310 at Charlotte, and thus the .350 average is irrelevant. You ignored it. Instead, you responded with an ad hominem attack, changing the subject and attacking on an irrelevant issue because you will not say that you expect Wilkins to put up a higher than .312 OBP if he is brought up right now. Josh Phegley's average OPS between Chicago and Charlotte last year is .765. That should indicate that he was an above average contributor using the exact same standard you just used, so why aren't you up in arms about him being at Charlotte? And yet I would be willing to wager any amount of money he's not upset about Paul Konerko being on the roster again this year.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 07:56 PM) And the NBA has what to do with baseball? Oh that's right, nothing! Nobody here needs me to rush to their defense. I just don't see eye to eye with you on , well, anything really. You change topics left and right in an effort to run and hide from a topic of conversation that you've been proven to be wrong or shown that you're making no sense. Kind of funny how its always you against everyone else so is everyone else the problem or maybe, just maybe, could it be you? Always looking to play the oh woe is me victim. Sad. The idea that Andy Wilkins will be the everyday DH for the White Sox is pretty much preposterous. This is where minor league statistics are just ONE tool in analyzing a prospect. Theoretically, he could be part of a platoon, but that's like arguing that Conor Gillaspie and Tyler Flowers are surefire everyday players and will be on the White Sox roster in 2016 and 2017 when they're really attempting to compete with the rest of the AL Central.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 01:36 PM) Over. Not my best prediction, especially since I hadn't even watched Boggs pitch recently...guess it's the classic Bobby Thigpen/Marmol/Linebrink/Scott Shields diminished stuff from overuse or aging. From everything I read, his problems seemed more mental than physical. But, as Dick Allen always points out, Cooper can't work miracles. At least we SEEM for the moment to be right on Cleto and Belisario. Keeping Lindstrom and the wisdom of signing Downs remains to be seen. That said, there's always a possibility he stays in the organization and goes to Charlotte. Remote.

Don't bother watching NEED FOR SPEED, even if you're a Jesse Pinkman fan. Wait for DVD. Well, the cars are cool, at least. And the English actress is adorable. Have been on a Japanese animation kick recently: Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo, Up on the Cliff, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Nausicaa in the Valley of the Wind

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 07:10 PM) Yeah, bringing up your player track record hits too close to home. Today has been quite enlightening. This is ALMOST as bad as the Iowa Hawkeye message boards where everyone's mad at Steve Alford for winning NCAA tourney games, mad that Iowa State still won despite Niang's injury, mad that fifth year players like DeAndre Kane can transfer, mad that Creighton is almost in Iowa and gets to the NCAA's every year, mad at Fred Hoiberg for being a great recruiter, mad that Wisconsin used to be a Big 10 doormat but is now automatic for every NCAA, still mad at Jason Bohannon, mad at Bob Bowlsby, Roy Williams, etc. The White Sox boards are almost a relief from that insanity, because it's assured we'll see a comforting return to the same argument over and over again without so many vexing subplots. Minions? Has a certain someone who shall not be named actually seen Despicable Me? Or just sitting behind his keyboard like Megamind thinking of posters on the board as his henchmen, lol?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 07:03 PM) In your world, no. In reality, yes. I would rather hear the marketing ideas that are not simply a result of bringing in this superstar talent across the board... Rather than rehashing Santana, Garza, Jimenez and Paulino over and over again. Just for entertainment's sake. Along with some Ayn Rand thrown in. Let's not forget BJ Upton, too. He has to be somewhere in the outfield. Probably right next to Lillian's Grady Sizemore and Hamilton.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 06:32 PM) Mike Cameron? Chris Young?

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 05:54 PM) This ownership has publicly tried for 30 years now, but they always come back to taking half-measures for the problems they have. Isn't this a quote from the Revolutionary War, The Rock or Vigilance from Person of Interest? Maximus: The time for honouring yourself will soon be at an end. [bows his head] ... Maximus: The time for half measures and talk is over, Senator. Gracchus OR Winston Churchill.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 05:34 PM) You will come out and actually predict that a guy who put up a .312 OBP in AAA will improve significantly by coming up to the big leagues. Sigh. Because it happened with Jose Iglesias, lol. IT CAN HAPPEN.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 12:57 PM) Actor in a whole lot of things, most recently "Homeland", James Rebhorn has died. My personal favorite was MY COUSIN VINNY.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 01:11 PM) Excuse me do you have to take it so literally ? Give it a rest . I know talents like Trout come along very rarely but he's big and fast and an outfielder with big upside. He's the cloest thing we have to Trout so he is OUR Trout. Jared Mitchell and Courtney Hawkins are ALSO our Mike Trout, haha.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 01:00 PM) Look, we're not going to be a major league quality catcher for De Aza unless we target guys at the low/mid A-ball level that are multiple years away. We're just not going to. Apparently they're willing to run him out there as a backup, I would not have been, but they've made their call. I'd personally have taken "best available offer" eitehr right before training camp started or right now. Keeping DeAza and Konerko are definitely the two most puzzling moves of the offseason. Hopefully some team will need an outfielder in the first half of the season and come calling. If they're only going to play Viciedo against LHP, it's pointless to have him on the roster, since he hit better against RHP last year and there's going to be no fair way to gauge what he could do in a full year of everyday play if he only plays everyday for 3+ months of the season (and especially considering September can make stars out of Josh Fields or Brent Morel). Has Ventura mentioned anything about how he's planning to split time there?