caulfield12

This one was a personal favorite of mine. Ichiro is a free-agent after next year and the Sox will have traded Viciedo for BJ Upton in June anyhow. Marty34 Looks like we don't have either player on our roster. The blame has quietly moved from Kenny Williams to JR, though...but he's never once thought trading Paul Konerko would be a good idea, even though, in his estimation, the team won't be contending until 2015.

We have zero incentive to trade Alexei Ramirez today. Or tmrw. 3-4 months from now, sure, maybe....same with anyone on our roster like Rios or Konerko, if the price is right. Carlos Sanchez, at his best, will be more of a complementary piece, an Iguchi with more speed and less power. We're not talking 2008/2009 Gordon Beckham here. If they're wrong about Keppinger, Beckham, Viciedo and Flowers, it won't matter anyway..we will have no choice but to rebuild (the line-up, but most importantly, not the pitching staff), but we've definitely go the pieces to fix the outfield in the next 2-3 years. And there's a danger to having a 2B/SS/3B at USCF where perhaps those three positions will give you no more than 20 homers combined. If you're going to have two slick fielding middle infielders, then you need some power from 3B, not just OBP. Plus, Ramirez consistently improved hitting-wise throughout the season. If he was getting old, then wouldn't he start out hot and fade the entire second half? The entire offense choked/collapsed in September, are they all done, too, like Mr. Dunn? Ramirez OPS April 498 (usual cold start) May 581 June 678 July 806 (typical hot/warm weather Alexei) Aug 801 (see above) SEP 562 (entire offense collapses/chokes)

Alexei Ramirez has been a consistent 700ish OPS guy his entire career before last season. In four of his seasons, he was between 727 and 792. Very predictable, offensively as well as defensively. (Maybe we can attribute the falloff to a new hitting coach, yes??) If you go by the theory of decline, then the team's totally screwed because Rios, Dunn and Konerko are all one year older, right? But then how do you explain AJ's 2012 season? Or Rios? Simply steroids accusations? Or Paulie dominating baseball for much of 2010 and 2011 in his mid 30's? Why does someone with an unathletic body like Konerko or AJ NOT decline.....whereas Alexei Ramirez is automatically doomed to end up like Angel Berroa or Carlos Febles?

Why did the 2006 Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers even bother to show up after the White Sox went 11-1 in the post-season and added Javy to a rotation where Brandon McCarthy was on the outside looking in? These projected dynasties only last as long as Verlander and Scherzer's arms/shoulders/elbows stay attached, Prince doesn't balloon up to 350 and Miggy doesn't have a relapse with the alcohol demons. Things are never as gloomy nor as bright as they seem in baseball. (I feel bad being forced into an optimistic viewpoint on 2013, haha....Dick Allen is probably waiting in the weeds with "why are you (all) even White Sox fans if you feel so gloomy and depressed and negative about the team's chances of returning to post-season again...?" Better to support the Angels, perhaps. Or the dreaded Cubs, because they don't have to worry about revenues and capping payroll. Or do they?

QUOTE (Andy the Clown @ Mar 8, 2013 -> 08:19 PM) Still miles better than 2012 Lexi. Game, set, whatever. What are you talking about? In what world is Gillaspie playing SS? In what world are minor league OPS's 100% indicative of future MLB performance? There's hundreds of thousands of guys who put up 800+ OPS numbers in the minors and had no prayer of playing in the majors. Nobody knows what Ramirez will do in 2013, but he had a range or parameter of statistics that make it more predictable. By your argument, we should have given AJ Pierzynski $10 million because of his 2012 season, or we should be expecting DeAza to continue to decline in OPS because he slid from 2011 to 2012. Nobody can say with any certainty what's going to happen. Half of this site would probably bet Alex Rios will have a 750+ OPS in 2013, the other half would be convinced he's going to be a sub 650 guy again.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 8, 2013 -> 08:01 PM) Set.Game.Match. Except who's to say that we've ever seen a 100% healthy Brent Morel? These arguments are a bit reminiscent of the Dan Johnson ones last year...and yet he was quite successful in his brief stint with us, when used correctly. Ross Gload's another that comes to mind. Sometimes a player can thrive in a new environment...and he was obviously a fairly high draft pick, so someone believed in him and felt convinced he could make an impact at the big league level. That's not to say I would 1) trade Ramirez or 2) give significant playing time to Gillaspie in April.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 8, 2013 -> 04:27 PM) Are they a likely playoff team with Ramirez this year? No Are they a likely playoff team with/because of Ramirez in 2014 or 2015? No. Building block beyond '15? No If they're not trying to compete in 2013/14, why sign Peavy? Keppinger? Keeping Wise on the roster instead of trying Mitchell or Thompson? Heck, by that argument, Gordon Beckham should also be gone, but clearly they're rolling the dice based on the belief that he would put up better numbers than anyone in their minor league system, including both Sanchezes. Would you have preferred to have Brent Morel coming into 2013 as your starting 3B? And how many tickets would have been sold at this point had they 1) let Peavy go, 2) announced Morel as the incumbent, 3) dumped Alexei Ramirez for an unknown, 4) dumped Thornton/Crain and not signed Lindstrom? It would be a train wreck. Then you'd be turning around and saying JR should sell the franchise because he doesn't want to invest the money in say, Josh Hamilton, who would be lucky to play 130 games and would end up more of an albatross contract in his 30's than Dunn, Rios or John Danks. What's next? Now that we've signed Chris Sale to a very friendly, cost-controlled/projectable/insurable contract, we trade him off to the highest bidder for the top 3 players from another team's minor league system?

His career minor league OPS (granted, only two seasons) is .752. He put up 769 for the majority of last year in A ball and 564 in Charlotte. He's going to turn 21 June 29th. People are crazy to think his offense RIGHT NOW is going to be anywhere close to what Alexei Ramirez will put up at his very worst.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Mar 7, 2013 -> 11:55 PM) meh, would've liked more years since we'll lose 1.5 to TJ... but... not bad. How can you have more years than the possibility of going through 2019? Those later years aren't guaranteed for a very good reason...BUT, it's a good combination of length and years. He could easily earn the entire value of his contract in just 1 - 1 1/2 seasons.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Mar 7, 2013 -> 07:58 PM) I still think this kid has a chance to be a special player. He doesn't turn 25 years old until October, so he's pretty much age appropriate for AAA, plus he really hasn't had that much development time given his injury. The physical tools remain there, even if his speed isn't quite as elite as it once was. The kid is always going to strikeout a lot, as he takes a ton of pitches and as a result a ton of walks. He just needs to learn how to make adjustments so he can get his contact rate to a respectable level. Honestly, I have no problem at all with a high OBP/low AVG leadoff hitter with above-average power and speed. He just can't be Adam Dunn bad with the strikeouts, which is what he was last year, especially in AAA. Just don't know if we can afford two similar players in DeAza and Mitchell at USCF. Mitchell's probably going to end up being a 15-25 homer guy, but nowhere close to Carl Crawford's 50+ stolen bases. As everyone knows, walks and K rates and putting up at an OBP of at least 330 will be the key. He's definitely an exciting and dynamic player, and my hopes are much higher for him than Walker. You could definitely see a Mitchell, Thompson and Hawkins "dream outfield" if all three of those guys can make contact, because the athletic and defensive tools are plus ones.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Mar 7, 2013 -> 09:36 PM) Congrats your post was so ignorant it compelled me to make my first post here in years. The value of a win is about $4 million. The Sox are going to be paying Ramirez 26.5 million over the next 3 years with an AAV of 8.9 million. Even with his career worst year at the plate last year due to the paucity of legit MLB caliber shortstops and his solid glove, bWAR had Ramirez for 2.2 wins and fWAR had him down for 1.8. That means he was basically worth his salary (note he only made 7 million in 2012). I will concede that the arc of Ramirez's career is not promising, but thanks to regression to the mean all the projection systems have Ramirez somewhere around a wOBA of .300, which would add about half a win over his 2012 numbers -- assuming his glove grades out about the same. It's probably fair to project Ramirez for about 7 WAR over the next 3 seasons -- at 4 million per win he'll be making...about exactly what he "should be". The idea that Ramirez's contract is some albatross hanging over the Sox is ludicrous. You'd rather rush a 20 year old to the bigs (and starting his arb clock no less) that projects a worse WAR just so you can jettison a 2 WAR player (aka a solid starter) that is being paid a fair salary. I've held back, but seriously? GTFO with such non-sense. Agreed, except for the last line, lol. If there are any albatrosses right now, they are Dunn and John Danks, to name just a couple. Chris Sale easily could become one if he suffers an injury. Rios is still not going to get you anything more than salary relief unless he can prove that the Brett Saberhagen Effect hasn't set in for 2013.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Mar 7, 2013 -> 08:59 PM) The scouting report on Sanchez is that he is very good at short or second. That skill translates immediately, and won't take time to develop, as hitting does. He is supposedly very good at handling the bat, and I'm still not convinced that he couldn't be an effective number 2 hitter, even now. You have to be impressed with this article: http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=2...;vkey=news_milb Anytime you start comparing a player to Roberto Alomar, I'm sold!!! Alomar and Bill Mazeroski were the two best 2B of all-time. Let's not get carried away with hyperbole. I'll just go back to Brian Anderson in 2006. If we did trade Ramirez, and stuck Carlos Sanchez in that position and the offense was really struggling (not inconceivable that we'll have to rely more on pitching to beat the Tigers), then there would be pressure to send him down if the White Sox were falling behind in the standings. You have to give him one more year...or at least 4 months, to develop with his hitting at the highest levels without all the pressure. Trading Ramirez sends the signal to the team and fanbase that the team has already given up on 2013. In that case, why sign Peavy? It would make ZERO sense. If the team's 15-20 games back at the ASB, sure, go ahead and look at ALL options, including Konerko as well. The only tool Sanchez has right now that is better than Alexei is plate discipline/OBP/making contact, but he's not ready quite yet from a hitting standpoint...if Carlos Sanchez tore up the Arizona Fall League or in spring training, but even then it would be a stretch. Not only that, but Beckham's going to be given his final 3-4 more months (at least) to make a statement that he belongs or he doesn't. But you could still advocate for playing ANGEL Sanchez there instead of forcing Carlos Sanchez up too early and stunting his development. Finally, you're in a position of selling low or close to dumping Alexei. Looking at his career, there's no reason to think he's not due for a hot streak that will elevate his value...there's a greater chance that he will improve offensively, compared to mitigating any downside risk. Not to mention the fact that he has a thin, wiry frame which tends to stand up in your 30's more than someone who's carrying more weight.

Man, Compliance really makes you feel uncomfortable. Reminded me of a somewhat similar movie called HARD CANDY.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Mar 4, 2013 -> 09:25 PM) Possibly, but that's not the point. How did opposing offenses perform at the Cell last year? Is it really that hard to believe that both us and our competition are affected by the park? That was point he was trying to make. Being 4th in runs doesn't necessarily mean we had a good offense last year. But then, conversely, our pitching always has to be deemed better than it shows statistically, too.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Mar 4, 2013 -> 09:26 PM) He fractured the scaphoid which is a bone on the other side of the wrist. That is a much bigger deal as it is one of the keystones for the wrist motion. I always thought it was the hamate bone. I remember Jose Canseco did that, as well. When did they report their initial misdiagnosis? peeepl.com/people/elia-hamate/ - 翻译此页您已公开地对此项 +1。 撤消I thought it was ugly, ... The Elias Sports Blog: Remember Carlos Quentin. Part of it could be the hamate bone surgery he had last year which saps a lot of power. Carlos Quentin broke his hamate bone last year in the middle of an MVP season

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/one-more-tri...ew_default=true The financial risks behind Oz: The Great and Powerful First 15 reviews up, 10 are positive at RT.com. Looks like it will land between Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland in terms of box office. A lot depends on international box office, obviously, whether it's ultimately profitable or not.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Mar 4, 2013 -> 05:46 PM) See the comments in his AAP. Not a big deal. Except it really did seem to affect Carlos Quentin. He was never the same hitter with us as in that 2008 season before the hand injury.

QUOTE (ScottyDo @ Mar 3, 2013 -> 10:49 AM) I think Melton may have actually performed admirably in this regard, in that I didn't notice him butcher Gillaspie's name (my have called him Gillespie). If Melton can do it, anyone can. I'm pretty sure Melton's autograph reads "X" The SD radio guys were wondering why the Sox didn't have anyone doing the Sunday ST game, no DJ and Farmer, and then went on to ask someone in the White Sox PR department if Harrelson was around the park and the response was "Heck (expletive), no!"

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-leag...25325--mlb.html

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 3, 2013 -> 11:05 AM) Really? Was I the only one who saw our opening day starter be terrible and then go down for the season with surgery? Ask yourself what would happen to any number of other teams if they had exactly that sentence happen to them. That's not "Nearly everything" going right, that's a huge loss. That's 3, 4 wins we might have lost. That's the margin between us and a playoff spot. And it forced trades that depleted our bench for good measure. If you want to reply "yeah but I said nearly", then let's throw in our opening day 3b's back going out, our 1b's wrist, the month we lost from our opening day CF, the time we had 7 rookies in our bullpen. A lot of stuff went wrong last year. Our GM and farm system just overcame enough of it to keep us in the race. Except for much of last season, Quintana arguably pitched better than Danks was projected to...at least until he wore down the final 6 weeks or so, he was our ace for a stretch there, even though he didn't always get the wins to prove it. Rios, Dunn (to some) and Peavy all outperformed expectations, as did AJ, by a wide margin. We're basically stuck with that 75-85 win team for the time being. For whatever reason, I don't honestly expect Keppinger to repeat his 2012 performance. Everyone's well past being trying to be convinced Gordon Beckham has finally turned the corner and is back to 2009 levels.

QUOTE (Jake @ Mar 2, 2013 -> 09:56 PM) I'd argue that The Invisible War was more deserving for doing what the best documentaries do: affect change. The Invisible War leads to policy changes, even before opening By that line of thinking, Bowling for Columbine would have to rank up there (in your definition), although you have to subtract points for its one-sidedness and lack of objectivity. Whereas, for example, Fog of War was more philosophical and it would be much harder to get any concrete reforms out of it directly, but you could make a reasonable argument it's 10X more important than any of the Michael Moore films, even Roger & Me. (Although I'm sure some will argue that Moore movies are not even documentaries but are a different category, political commentary and satire pigeon-holed into the doc category). Measuring influence of a documentary by lives changes, laws passed or reforms enacted doesn't touch upon that idea of human inspiration and hope and never giving up that is at the center of the Rodriguez story. Biography has that ability, that a single topic or issue simply doesn't because of scale and scope.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 2, 2013 -> 09:31 PM) It is, but they REALLY like Mitchell. You should have heard Buddy Bell glow about him when I asked about Mitchell. Hawkins was the only other guy he was THAT charged up about. He said nice things about everyone, of course, but his tone was different with Mitchell. It was more personal. Probably because he didn't give up on him after the devastating injury....with all the doomsayers wondering why we (and everyone in baseball but the Yankees and Angels didn't have Trout on their radar screens)...his difficult conversion from a WR/athlete to a baseball player, and his upside/potential to be a Carl Crawford Lite and add some spark and excitement. Plus, Mitchell and Viciedo were our only legit prospects at that time, so he's been around him from the very beginning, from the time he was drafted, through the ups and downs of the 2011 and 2012. It looks doubtful he will ever be a great basestealer at the major league level, and you have to disagree with him having the same type of baseball speed as Carl Crawford at ages 23-26, but he's got more natural power than Crawford, too. How many opposite field homers has Crawford hit in his career? I'd guess just a handful.

Searching for Sugar Man has to be not only the best documentary of 2012, it's probably the best overall movie/entertainment of the year. Amazing story. Too strange to be true. I had watched War Witch and 5 Broken Cameras (another excellent documentary), but I've never seen one quite like Sugar Man....and, with all the controversy over Zero Dark Thirty, Lincoln and Argo playing around with the truth and events being compressed, made up or overly dramatized, well, nobody could make up the Rodriguez story if they tried for 100 years.

Some of the pitchers obviously like throwing to Gimenez, and Phegley's had some impressive AB's as well in early spring. It's going to be an interesting battle. Anderson has the advantage of being a lefty bat, so that seems like a good match. As far as Mitchell goes, he's shown this type of burst in spring training before....and then he's gotten ice cold. Same with 2012 in the minors. He has to do it consistently. The opposite field homer off Galarraga was nice, but where has Armando been since that no-hitter in 2010? There's really not much point in sitting him (Mitchell) on the bench in Chicago, although certainly there are some who view him at this point as nothing more than a 4th/5th infielder type and who feel there's definitely some benefit or upside to learning under the tutelage of the major league staff and from DeAza and Rios. Tekotte and Wise are in the mix, but you'd have to think that Wise is still the favorite until they go with future/upside over the veteran leadership. Somewhere in the rotation is Jordan Danks too, on the outside looking in, clearly. Does Melton get worse (didn't think possible) every spring? And I'd almost prefer Rongey or Brooks Boyer to whoever that guy was today. He misidentified a Reds player coming in to make a catch as Viciedo. And Melton arguing that Viciedo's going to strike out a lot less because of his new leg kick. Well, it will be believed when seen. Who knows, maybe Melton can be right at least 15-20% of the time just by accident.

Haha. I thought it was for 2013 and expected him to be touting/hyping Conor Gillaspie, Angel Sanchez and Bryan Anderson.