caulfield12

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 05:01 PM) His players respect him. His "strategy" isn't nearly as bad as some advertise. When you don't have benefit of hindsight, the moves he was "supposed" to make don't always work out, and the "stupid" moves he makes often do work out and are called lucky. For some, he is wrong even if he is correct. And just like the made up Greg Walker philosophy of lift and pull, the lack of fire and passion Robin supposedly has is totally false. He isn't Ditka, which apparently is the model Chicagoans believe to be the best model, yet no one wants to work or play under that kind of buffoon. Robin keeps White Sox business in house. I don't always agree with every move he makes, every line-up he makes out, but you look at the talent level. At some point this year the Sox absolutely needed a new C,2B, LF, RF,DH, a totally different bench, the SS needed to be traded. The 3 positions people have been happy with 1B, 3B, and CF all spent time on the DL. Only one AL team has a higher team ERA, yet, the team is damn near .500. I cannot believe that could possibly mean the manager was horrible too. That's a bit of an exaggeration. Of course, one week ago, it would have been true. But nobody would be surprised if they finished 10-14 games under .500, as opposed to anywhere close to 80-82 wins.

QUOTE (JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ Aug 9, 2014 -> 12:47 PM) I'm not comparing the sox to cubs. I'm talking strictly about the cubs. And regarding the braves, A's, and twins, they never had the offense to compliment the pitching. Like I said, you need both to win. Not that you need a 95 Indians offense or a 95 braves pitching staff but generally speaking you need to be very good on both sides of the ball to win the world series. Of course there are exceptions, but more often than not, the team that is balanced both offensively and defensively wins the World Series. Relying too much on either offense or defense is a recipe for failure in the playoffs because as soon as that one side of the ball struggles you need the other to pick up the slack to get through a 7 game series. When was the last time a team won the World Series while being in the bottom third in runs allowed in their league? To get that pitching they are either spending big money (which is a big question mark right now) or trading away their offensive prospects. What would it take to get a guy like Chris Sale in a trade? Russell and Baez maybe? Well there goes 40% of their big time offensive prospects just to get an ace. How about rodon and Quintana? Soler and bryant? It's not easy to build a strong staff without spending money on big time free agents (Lester, scherzer, etc). Until they get the pitching, they aren't winning the World Series. That's not jealousy or envy or anything of the sorts. It's just a fact. What players in the majors WOULDN'T a package of Castro or Russell (let's say Russell for argument's sake), Almora and/or McKinney, Vogelbach and Schwarber get you? Maybe Pierce Johnson or CJ Edwards if the other team is balking or wants a pitcher. That's four former 1st round draft picks that are "expendable" and don't force you to trade Baez/Soler/Bryant. Right now, they're getting plenty out of Coghlan, so it's not imperative that they add another outfielder when they have Alcantara and either Baez or Bryant who could possibly be shifted to LF/RF, not to mention Soler. That still leaves you: Coghlan LF/RF Alcantara CF Soler LF/RF Sweeney 3B Bryant SS Castro or Russell 2B Baez 1B Rizzo C ???? As far as pitching goes, I think unless they can get Lester, they're going to pass on Scherzer and Shields. Shields SHOULD get no more than a 4 year contract, and the Cubs still might not be able to legitimately compete for the playoffs until 2017 and 2018. 2016 is kind of the same situation for the Cubs as 2015 for the White Sox. That said, let's say they signed Shields for $90 million over 4 years. That leaves: #1 Ace (acquired via trade) #2 Shields #3 Arrieta #4 CJ Edwards #5 Edwin Jackson #6 Jacob Turner #7 Pierce Johnson #8-10 Wada/Kendricks/Beeler That said, if they don't want to go that route until the 2016 or 2017 season, they can always bring back Hammel as a bridge to the big time free agent/trade acquisition. And Turner, Edwards and Johnson still have time to emerge as well. Take all those players I highlighted in bold, and you can get just about any pitcher out there.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 9, 2014 -> 11:40 AM) But MLB pitchers throw harder. We should leave him in the minors so that he doesn't get hit by one of those pitches. It makes just as much sense. Just wait until he's had 10-15 games in AAA. It takes most guys longer than that to find a groove in spring training. That's not unreasonable, that's 1/2 of a full minor league rehab stint. If he wasn't hitting over .500 and he was at .091 instead, striking out a ton and making weak contact, I would agree that 15 or even 10 games would be better. In the end, it's not his decision, so they probably will hold him back and take the conservative approach. So we have the major league pitchers throw harder theory vs. the higher probability of being hit by a pitch in the minors (although I'm sure AA has a higher rate than AAA, and harder throwers on average than AAA).

And who's going to take the blame when/if Avisail Garcia gets hurt in AAA, especially by a wild pitch that gets away from a AAA pitcher featuring Maikel Cleto's command? He's clearly been busting his butt to get back to Chicago ASAP, if the doctors have cleared him (and I'm not sure how he can be cleared to play in Charlotte but not for the Sox, that's illogical), then there's no reason he can't be back fairly quickly. We all know there's a big difference between 45 games down the stretch (especially against pennant contenders) and the September games against teams with worse records than the Sox and experimenting with rookie pitchers for 2015 rotations.

QUOTE (JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ Aug 9, 2014 -> 09:05 AM) No one expected Barney to be an all star, they do with Baez. Main reason sox fans have been riding gordon so hard. No one expected an average 2b, they expected Dustin pedroia. Cubs fans going to get pretty impatient if he hits .220 with 25 hr and 200 strikeouts the next 3 years. Even with all this potential offense, where's the frontline pitching needed to win? Best lineup in modern day baseball, 95 Indians, couldn't even win the World Series. 2 hof (thome and Murray), 1 would be hof if not for peds (manny), best hitter in the game that year (belle), and 8 guys that were all stars at some point in that era. All world pitching (braves starting staff) beat the all world offense. Goes without saying that you need both to win And the White Sox still have two huge holes in their rotation, even under the assumption that Rodon starts out as a 3. The ONLY player they have to use as trade bait with any value to the rest of MLB is Alexei Ramirez, who just so happens to be our best defender, when we have one of the five worst defenses in baseball. Besides, the easy rebuttal to that is the Braves winning only once in 14 years with all that Cy Young pitching, or the A's and the Twins.

OTOH, Darwin Barney's low 600's OPS was so boring and predictable (offensively AND defensively) in the same way a Gordon Beckham season is... No Cubs' fan wants to watch that, anymore than Sox fans want to continue watching Dunn/Beckham/DeAza/Konerko.

QUOTE (LDF @ Aug 9, 2014 -> 08:16 AM) while I don't know the thoughts of the sox brass, I don't think the plan was not to, but to do the best and continue to rebuild. this plan needed to chg, b/c of the performance of the players. which is compliment for them, b/c their not mailing it in. I also think they the sox brass weren't prepared for all the bad luck, injuries and players not performing as expected. I wouldn't say Ventura's in danger of losing the team again, but they do need to make some personnel changes to breathe some new life into final 44 or so games and remove some of those veterans. They held on for 4 months of the season, but things are really rough right now. We're out of contention and playing some teams with everything in the world to play for. It's a transition phase...I think all those guys like Dunn/Konerko/DeAza/Beckham can feel the writing on the wall and the team's just kind of stuck waiting for everything to play out. Even Abreu's homer bat has disappeared for the time being.

Don't forget Avisail. Garcia, Wilkins and Semien all need to get extended looks right now, like ASAP. No matter where Gordon is placed in the batting order, it's not helping. DeAza DFA if no takers on the trade market. Viciedo and Flowers need to play nearly everyday to see how they finish out the season...with Minnesota locking up Suzuki, that's yet another option off the table for catching in 2015. Sanchez is going to have a position unless you platoon Gillaspie and Semien, rest Alexei with Semien (and also let him DH or play some OF) and then give most of the 2B at-bats to Carlos. Guess it all depends on what Hahn's thinking in terms of Semien and Sanchez, and who has more upside overall to be a starter, with the other more or less taking Leury's role over.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 10:54 PM) Making a change to my earlier post. Been reading up on Kenta Maeda and I think dude can hang in the States. At 27 he probably makes more sense than Masterson esp since the team might be more realistically looking at 2016 instead of 2015. I'd guesstimate a deal in the 7 year 100-125M range. I don't think after what happened with Tanaka they're going to be willing to go that high on someone who doesn't quite have ace/superstar talent written all over him. Sure, it's a possibility...but you could see the White Sox spreading that money over 3-4 different holes rather than taking the risk of another bad pitching contract to go with John Danks. At some point, they're going to almost have to dip their toe into that water again, but I think it's more likely to be for a 4-5 back-end starter rather than a 2-3 $100+ million contract. That's assuming Rodon becomes a #3 or better in 2015, or LOOKS like he could be in 2016 heading in that year.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Aug 9, 2014 -> 01:49 AM) Suck for draft picks or what? I think I'm there now. At 55-62, we currently sit with the #11 pick. Only 4 or 5 GB of a top 5 pick. I think we can do it boys. BELIEVE! http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/reversestandings Now things become quite interesting, as there's really no compelling argument why finishing in the 6th-10th position wouldn't be a lot better than finishing out of the Top 11...as that provides us not only with a higher pick/slightly higher likelihood of getting the exact player we want but also the ability to get a top free agent bat or pitcher without surrendering another high draft pick. It would be pretty hilarious if we passed the Cubs and ended up 6th and took their player again before they could choose at 7.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 11:44 PM) Has this team ever played decent baseball in August? It's like a curse. 2003...until the Twins mowed us down late.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 11:32 PM) Yeah, probably just over-worrying on my part that the old Frank will come back at some point. Get him back together with Perdew in Winston-Salem and he'll be fine. He's quickly evolved into pitching guru #2 after Cooper in the Sox system.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 11:24 PM) Sox have 62 losses. In the AL, you figure Sox will ultimately be passed by Boston (64), Minnie (63). Sox will probably finish ahead of Houston (68) and Texas (70). In the NL, Sox are ahead of only Philly (64), Cubs (65), San Diego (62), Zona (66) and Colorado (70). Barring turning this around, the Sox are probably going to finish ahead of only Houston, Texas, Colorado and Zona and probably the Cubs. Ouch. It doesn't matter....as long as they keep Eaton/Avisail/Sale/Quintana/Abreu/Ramirez healthy. They've all proven they can play...and hopefully Avisail can keep building on his results in Charlotte with the Sox (and soon), where he's just been murdering the ball for a week or so. There's no reason to keep him down much longer, other than having to clear out the major league roster (DeAza, specifically). The next question mark is what happens with Flowers and Viciedo...they still have 45 games left to set the tone for next year or end up being replaced or eminently replaceable.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 11:04 PM) Wonder if they get aggressive and send him up a level in a week or 2. Kid is still just 18 years old so I can understand him staying in AZL. When do the AZL and Kanny teams seasons end? At the end of August (not sure about AZL). They only play 142 games in the minors. What will probably happen is he MIGHT get the promotion to Kanny for a start or two, and then there's always the possibility they push him to Winston-Salem if the Dash are fighting for a playoff spot (they're right on the borderline) and into the post-season. Most teams put their prospects together on one team...so you'd have the Dash littered with prospects in Hawkins, Anderson, Rondon, Danish, Montas, Barnum and May. However, the normal progression for a high school draftee is starting the following season after the draft at Low A/Kanny.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 11:14 PM) Spencer Adams is a joke. Great to see Montas back, could do without the 3BB in 2 innings though. Andy Wilkins isn't just hitting taters, has a great overall line now. Good to see Davidson 3-4 with a double. Carlos Sanchez 2-4 with a walk. Micah 2-4 with 2 doubles. Ravelo went 3-4 with a double. Jake Peter went 2-4 for Winston-Salem. Hawkins 1-4 with 3K, ugh. Engel 2-5. Trey 2-4, 2K. Montas' first night back, he's going to be rusty, just like Rodon his first four appearances.

Taylor was a top prospect in baseball, about 4-5 years ago. Now he's 29. It's POSSIBLE they give him a shot in September, but the odds of him being a long-time OF solution are probably lower than for Sierra.

More pitching talent tonight in Arizona than on all of our AA and AAA rosters.

Alexei Ramirez "posterized" on that pitch. At least he has a sense of humor about it. Garcia's hit will earn him a week of playing time in CF.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 09:50 PM) He has the arm of a second basemen and he'd have more time to react, which seems to be a big problem for him. And caulfield, he doesn't necessarily have to be a 2B on our team. Quickness/agility/range to the hole and athleticism are so important at 2B and SS that I just find it impossible to believe he wouldn't be Dan Uggla bad at second.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 09:38 PM) His future is at 2B or a contact-hitting DH Not when we have 3-4 guys at that position already. If he can't play 3B well enough, it's going to be like Mark Teahen turning the DP at second. If Semien can play 3B better defensively, he might be playing himself into a platoon situation...with Marcus in the Keppinger/Leury Garcia role. Well...1-5 is quickly turning into 1-6. The curse of DeAza's muffed catch. One has a feeling that this nosedive isn't going to be one they recover from and they will end up at -10 to -14. They're also (like the Braves) running into a schedule buzzsaw of teams who are extremely motivated to win each time out, whereas as hopes for the wild card disappeared for the Sox last weekend.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 09:38 PM) That was so predictable. Last place remains a strong possibility, folks. Sox defense is atrocious. No comments on the Royals, haha? So now we can't trust Eaton to stay healthy, Conor to field or hit for enough power...too many questions marks to compete for the playoffs in 2015 without massive overspending in the FA market.

And the error leads directly to a homer. Poor Jose. Seems EVERY TIME that something goes wrong defensively, POOF...crooked number up on the scoreboard. Four pitch walk, error, and then everything goes south. It's almost the opposite of how he manned up in those situations in 2012 whenever the pressure was on. Plus, Quintana doesn't have the stuff to miss too many bats on 2-1 counts (see Danks, Johnny). Watch, next offday Jose Quintana will show up in the stands for a Yankees' or Dodgers' game, haha. Snakebitten. Zunino ties Devin Mesoraco for most MLB homers for a catcher, and ties Olivo's SEATTLE All-Time record.

26th in fielding percentage now. We're not WORSE than last year, but other than Ramirez and Eaton (when he can play), it's a mess. Can't imagine ending up anywhere but last in MLB without Alexei. Which is the conundrum for Hahn. You can't build a team based on speed/pitching/defense/fundamentals when you don't have anyone who can defend extremely well.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 03:46 PM) Food for thought. http://www.royalsreview.com/2014/8/7/59672...e-possibilities I would imagine it is still early for teams to jump on the waiver wire. I'm sure we will hear Jose Tabata's name bandied about more than a few times this offseason for the White Sox...

QUOTE (Brian @ Aug 8, 2014 -> 09:29 PM) We gave the all time leader in hits for the Charlotte Knights!!! Can Sierra play cf? Not really. Better than Mackowiak, but that's not saying much. They could survive for a game or two, theoretically.