caulfield12

Did we really just get another baserunner foolishly picked off and ruin another inning?

QUOTE (Knuckles @ Apr 22, 2013 -> 08:13 PM) To answer the question: no rebuilding, retool on the fly. See Kenny Williams. You can do that IF your minor league system is producing enough position players to reinvigorate the starting line-up. That's a dubious proposition at best right now. For the time being, our only solution would be to sell off pitching depth, both at the major and/or minor league level...in order to fill eventual hitting needs.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 22, 2013 -> 08:09 PM) Would be going for 101 if not for Brian Anderson Definitely the highlight of his career. That and the catch at the end of Game 163. Otherwise, I only remember him from the 2005 World Series video hanging on the railing with Rowand (I think) as Konerko's grand slam went into the air. (Or was it Podsednik's game winner?)

Announced attendance yet? Usually it's in the 7th inning.

Ironic, with all of our high priced talent, that Gillaspie and Gimenez, 2 guys making the minimum possible MLB salary, had the biggest hits so far.

How close was Dunn's ball to going out? Did Harrelson give it the obligatory "stretch" even? On the computer, it simply reads "flew out to deep center."

Well, that's something new. Unfortunately, it just ties the game, as we already gave them one run.

QUOTE (Cali @ Apr 22, 2013 -> 06:41 PM) Not at all. Unless he's been faking it his entire career, since he's always been a goofball. The rod up your ass, stiff clubhouses under Dye/AJ/PK are not going to be something I'll miss when PK is gone. Don't forget Thome, too.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Apr 22, 2013 -> 06:39 PM) This team is just terrible to watch. I wish you would take Chris Rongey's spot. Maybe the fans would be more likely to support the team if the front office/PR people were more honest, instead of selling something the fans are unwilling to buy.

Now the excuse will be DeAza's not used to playing LF...

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Apr 22, 2013 -> 06:33 PM) I'd still take him. Buying high and selling low after 1 down year was just awful. It's easier if we blame it on Ozzie's ego, rather than KW not doing enough due diligence (see the Molina acquisition), and not anticipating easily foreseeable chemistry/clubhouse issues with those 2. Trying to fit him into the CF hole/lead-off hole was also pretty much insane.

QUOTE (Cali @ Apr 22, 2013 -> 06:32 PM) Yep. Marquez, Nunez, and Betimit really took this team over the top! Betemit went on to have a decent career after that...Nunez only had an interesting spelling of his first name. But the comparisons with Marquez to Jon Garland or even Greg Maddux were pretty laughable. Of course, Molina and Zach Stewart were hyped up too when they were acquired...even Simon Castro, a little bit.

This is the worst 6-9 in a White Sox line-up I can remember, with the possible exception of some of Ozzie's Sunday Specials. I almost miss the days of Mark Johnson and Royce Clayton at the bottom of the order. Almost.

How did Keppinger get on base? Was it a clean single/line drive? With Dunn hitting 4th, no opposing pitcher will give Rios anything decent to hit. It's almost like the Mike Stanton Experience in Miami.

Bulls in the playoffs isn't enticing anyone...without D. Rose?

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 22, 2013 -> 05:24 PM) Trading our best offensive player doesn't seem like a good way of helping the offense. And you don't trade Reed for something "decent". You only move him if you're blown away. Like the Sergio Santos deal? It's almost like they knew he was going to get injured and figured out their extension was a huge mistake (almost too late). That was one of the weirdest signings/trades in recent Sox history, and confused the heck out of nearly everyone because they were giving John Danks his long-term extension at the same time. It sort of worked out, financially...and Reed was pretty good last year, but we don't have anything to show for Santos, either. I would be pretty shocked if a team was willing to buy "sky high" on Addison Reed unless he was this good for 3-4 consecutive months. He doesn't have a dominant fastball (at least not in 2012) and his slider was very spotty.

And Gillaspie's going to hit well over .300 for most of the year? He's already starting to fall off.

QUOTE (Jake @ Apr 22, 2013 -> 04:39 PM) There is an underlying assumption here that being bad gains you something. It doesn't. There is no reason to give up good players for the sake of doing it. If, in July, we're out of contention, you deal the people that certainly won't be a part of your squad when you expect to be peaking. Paulie, sayonara if that is the case. If Dunn plays well enough to become movable, he'd be gone. Gavin, goodbye. Peavy is signed affordably for the next 2-3 years. You want to be in the playoffs again before that contract ends. Same with Rios. We have money coming off the books with PK and Gavin leaving, a good core of pitching under contract for a while, and a 5-tool OF under contract to build around. Viciedo looks like he should be part of future clubs for years. Alexei is here to stay and appears to be in the midst of a bounceback year. Flowers is probably the C of the next few years and has a decently high ceiling. ADA should be a mainstay, it seems. We have some OF prospects that may come into the fold in the next couple years. Like I said earlier in this thread, it only takes some clever moves to turn you into a contender. We were rebuilding on the fly in '05. We made some savvy moves and won a World Series. A full rebuild that year, which would not have seemed entirely unwarranted, would have made those value pickups moot. IMO, you don't give up good players just for s***s and giggles. "oooo, we could have a top 10 draft pick!" Keep your team as good as you can get it. The key differences are where you big expenditures of money are. You won't sign a Dunn if you don't think you're on the verge of competing; you won't let PK play out this contract if you're not on the verge of competing. However, Rios should be one that stays in the fold regardless. That is, unless you are absolutely blown away in young MLB talent in trade. Then, of course, anyone is fair game. Ramirez and Rios are getting older. You usually don't build a major league team to compete around an extended window when 2 of your top 3 or 4 remaining position players are that age. Rios is great for now, but are we sure that will be the case in 2014 and 2015 (when the team option kicks in)...? I have been one of the biggest Viciedo supporters around, but he still hasn't proven he can hit RH pitching or anyone with a dominant type of fastball, even when he's waiting on it, because of the length of his swing and plate discipline issues (I think he still doesn't have a walk the entire season). DeAza is also going to be getting more expensive soon and he's seemingly been battling nagging injuries in the last year. Not to mention the fact that he's not as comfortable playing CF as LF and has made a number of big mistakes out there which have cost us. I'm actually fine with keeping DeAza if he's going to be in CF (and he can play at least average defense), but he doesn't make sense in our long-term plans as a LFer. In an ideal world, Trayce Thompson would be able to play CF and hit for 25-35 homers and a .240 average, Viciedo would be an everyday player in LF/1B (another scenario which allows DeAza to stay long-term, but you have to have a power-hitting CFer in that situation)....but if Thompson/Mitchell/Walker all flop, then you're having to go out and find another big bat again, and that's going to be expensive.

QUOTE (Cali @ Apr 22, 2013 -> 12:24 PM) Yeah that would be their highest point, but a lot of it comes from non-fans, which would also be the case for the Yankees. More style than substance. Jersey sales would be more accurate, since it's a lot easier to just toss on a hat of a team you're not a fan of than spend $90 + on a jersey. Yep. Just watched Oblivion...Tom Cruise sporting a classic, 20's/30's style Yankee cap in that one while on another planet. (Well, to be more accurate, one of the moons of Saturn).

Finished with another K. 6 1/3, 3 H, 1 BB, 9 K's... Oh, and I forgot, Saladino yet another struggling/disappointing Sox hitter after a decent start. Seems like he's hit a wall in the last year...not sure if he will emerge on the other side or not.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 22, 2013 -> 12:10 PM) That extra $25 million is a joke. Everyone gets that. It doesn't help the Sox at all, because everyone is getting the same amount. And as has been posting a million times before, bad teams hurt revenues other places, such as advertising and TV contracts. Average teams that are veteran filled, underachieving, that almost nobody in the fanbase believes in 100%, with no interesting players or superstars and on the cusp of losing its last "franchise" player in Konerko... That's not a recipe for just a bad team, that's a recipe or formula for a team NOBODY cares about...and apathy is the worst possible result for management. If you're going to be average or below average, at least make the summer interesting SOMEHOW.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 22, 2013 -> 12:10 PM) That extra $25 million is a joke. Everyone gets that. It doesn't help the Sox at all, because everyone is getting the same amount. And as has been posting a million times before, bad teams hurt revenues other places, such as advertising and TV contracts. How is it a joke when it would allow us to make the same amount of money even if we lost another 25% of our fanbase, and that's assuming we don't also cut payroll, which surely will be the end result of this year being similar to 2007/2009/2011. (And that's another huge assumption, that we would automatically go down to 1.5 million in any type of rebuild). Besides, have you ever thought the fans might send the message to management that what they're doing RIGHT NOW isn't working and that 1.5-1.6-1.7 million in attendance in 2013 is a legitimate possibility already with the slow start? You're also assuming that all of those other teams out there will put that $25 million back into operating expenses and signing free agents. That's not going to happen. The bottom 4-5-6 teams will do what they always do, which is sit on those profits.

QUOTE (Cali @ Apr 22, 2013 -> 12:03 PM) Let's be honest, the White Sox are just not a popular team. They're not going to lose so many of what their aren't a lot of to begin with. I wish there was some sort of smart guy algorithm that could tell you how popular all the MLB franchises are nation or world wide. Something that takes into account attendance per game/year, TV ratings, Hat/Jersey Sales, National Coverage, Pop Culture relevance etc. I would guess that the Sox would wind up around 20+ on that list. Just for fun, I would guess the Top 5 would be: 1. Yankees 2. Red Sox 3. Dodgers 4. Cubs 5. Cardinals There is a list...although with our hats, we're fairly high on the merchandising side, thanks to all the celebs/rappers, haha. You're forgetting the Giants and the Rangers....they're both top ten franchises now, as well. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, with all that star power, huge attendance and LA market. You can't forget the Mets, simply because of the NY market, but they're definitely down now, despite the new stadium...plus all the financial issues with the Madoff/Wilpon connection. In the end, you can make a credible case for the Sox as high as 14-15-16 and as low as 24-25. The value of the franchise is closer to 12th....and our ticket prices, at least before this season, were averaging around 4th-6th highest in baseball. Had we made the playoffs and finished last season strongly, it would be a completely different picture and feeling, IMO.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Apr 22, 2013 -> 11:02 AM) Alright. My first game thread this season, and hopefully the first of many as the Sox begin a winning streak tonight. Young Dylan Axelrod takes the hill against a guy the Sox hitters couldn't figure out last time around, Justin Masterson. It's time to end this offensive slump and this terrible start to the 2013 campaign. Finally, Spring-like conditions will greet the teams as they battle it out at The Cell. I think you mean for the last year, pretty much. Maybe he had one loss in there, but his ERA career-wise against the Sox is in the mid 2's, and that's with most of his bad starts against the Sox in the beginning of his career, much like Verlander. Supposed to feel like 60-54 degrees throughout the evening...no sign of showers until late.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 22, 2013 -> 11:44 AM) Which means, based on baseball history, you would be in the middle of it when your TV contract comes up. Not too smart. JR has all the leverage. He owns/controls 40% of ComCast, and has the Bulls, most importantly... There's nothing to prevent the White Sox from creating their own RSN, bundling the Sox and Bulls together...at some point. 2019 is a LONG way from now, anyway. If that's the primary reason for NOT rebuilding, they should change to a different business strategy ASAP.