ILMOU

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Nov 22, 2014 -> 09:20 PM) Next thread: Carlton Fisk is asleep in a field Still in his car, hunched over the wheel, passed out, leaning on the horn, oblivious to the noise waking up half of Frankfort.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 14, 2014 -> 03:59 PM) I wouldn't read a ton into that. The key guys the Sox drafted - Rodon, Adams and Fry - were all pitchers. And yeah, it is really, really early. Next year will tell us more with these guys. Also, Jake Peter had arguably one of the top 3 overall performances in the system, and he was a 7th round infielder. And let's not forget the Eddy Alvarez signing, who is at least intriguing at this point. What do you think of him, BTW?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 03:36 PM) if it means just losing the Intl Amateur dollars alone? Then a 19 year old Moncada is a better gamble than a handful of 16 year olds at high 6 or low 7 figures, IMO. Going beyond that? Some is OK. Blowing all the money for filling major league holes for 2015? Then maybe not so much. This. Let's get him unless it's crazy.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 09:10 PM) What makes you think that? I really hope so, though. Just a gut. Makes a lot of sense, I think. Unlike many here, I don't believe they'll spend (significantly) on a closer, and may go mid-level reclamation on the RHSP front. Masterson?

QUOTE (Andy the Clown @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 08:46 PM) This f***ing sucks. But it's very White Sox. Cabrera is the obvious choice, but we decide to play it cheap and waste $25 million in the process. This is why we're an also ran franchise for most of our history. This is a complete waste of money for a DH who will be lucky to slug .430 next season. Very KW. Very KW. Who am I kidding? This will never f***ing change until JR passes on to the next plane. If they get Cabrera too, will you then be happy? I think it might be the next move.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 08:13 PM) 1. Eaton CF 2. Ramirez SS 3. Gillaspie 3B 4. Abreu 1B 5. LaRoche DH 6. Garcia LF 7. Viciedo/FA Signing RF 8. Semien 2B 9. Flowers C Already better than last year I want to bump up the 4-7 hitters, and get my two best OBP guys in front of Abreu, dropping Lexi to 7. 1. Eaton CF 2. Gillaspie, Semien 3B 3. Abreu 1B 4. LaRoche DH, Viciedo/other, preferably as platoon 5. Garcia OF 6. Melky/other OF 7. Ramirez SS 8. M. Johnson/Sanchez/Semien all have chance to win starting 2B in ST as we stand today, imo. 9. Flowers C Yeah, something like that could win, with the right pitching staff, and hopefully some defensive improvement in a few areas.

Smelled this one coming for awhile, and I like it, if he's used properly, i.e. not hitting vs. LHP if at all avoidable. Haven't gone through the thread, and I imagine it's been discussed, but I'm hoping the plan is to NOT have Tank as the lefty-hitting platoon partner at DH, as the last two years have had him performing almost equally crappy against both types. Has to be someone else obtainable that could better fit the bill. Is Tank even movable in a power-starved market? I guess we'll know soon enough.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 01:47 PM) Rondo Ranchero Rear LovAngel. Uh, oh.

Currently, the focus is Panda. If they somehow win that battle, then Gillaspie/Tank become the default DH platoon for the immediate term, and you concentrate on a lefty/switch LF/RF to round out the offense. Assuming they lose out on Panda, they may get involved with VMart yet.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Nov 10, 2014 -> 08:48 AM) Here is the list posted this morning on the web site. The story is pay. Here is a link. http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2015...p-10-prospects/ Not a vote of confidence in Hawkins. 1. Carlos Rodon, lhp 2. Tim Anderson, SS 3. Spencer Adams, rhp 4. Micah Johnson, 2B 5. Frank Montas, rhp 6. Micker Adolfo, OF 7. Tyler Danish, rhp 8. Trey Michalczewski, 3b 9. Courtney Hawkins, of 10. Rangel Ravelo 1b Micker and Rangel getting far more love here than I would have expected.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Nov 7, 2014 -> 05:44 AM) GreenSox, having lived in Denver for many years, I have seen a lot of Cargo. I am as aware of his danger signs and his contract as you are. But, he is not a poor defensive OF. Far from it. If you stick him in one outfield spot and leave him there, we're talking gold glove consideration for that position. I don't care what defensive metrics are out there on him. While on Cargo, there is an excellent article published a few days ago at purplerow.com. It gives 5 reasons for and against moving him. I cannot get the link, however. Maybe one of you guys can. Tks. The old guy speaks the truth. Cargo is a very good defensive OF, still, and is likely exhibit A for why you shouldn't really trust UZR. The outfielders are excessively spread out in Coors by necessity. All the extra hits, that literally wouldn't have been caught by ANY OF, have worked against his metrics. That's the theory I'm going with anyway, because 600+ games of the eye test tell a polar opposite story from the DRS. Injury, and the chronic nature of his finger issues, specifically, are the giant caveat with Cargo. If the medical evals are solid, I'd love to get him.

Castro just 2 years from FA at this point. Not really fitting the profile of what Hahn wants. Ship has likely sailed and we'll be rolling with TFLow, imo, as bigger needs are now elsewhere.

With the nice NSS breakdown, it looks like Coats, May, Hawkins in the OF, which should be fun. Outside of Anderson and likely DeMichele in the IF, lots of possibilities for the other positions, imo. Hoping they're aggressive with Eddy A, who seems ready to handle it.

QUOTE (flavum @ Oct 30, 2014 -> 01:17 PM) Buddy Bell already said Hawkins will be in Birmingham to start the season. The real question is how many seasons will he be there. Thanks, had not read. Typical Sox aggressiveness I guess. He may be overmatched like 2013 at WS. Hope not.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Oct 30, 2014 -> 07:29 AM) I wouldn't be surprised if Danish and Montas are both in the Birmingham rotation in AA. Tim Anderson and Courtney Hawkins will most likely both be there as well. I believe that CH is the only ? in the group for starting in B'ham. He's the toughest call, imo.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 13, 2014 -> 03:23 PM) The only way we trade Danks is either if the Sox pick up a ton of salary (um, lol) or bring back a bad contract in return. Tell me which of those you prefer, and then I will consider a proposal containing the idea that John Danks won't be back next as "serious". The Sox history shows the biggest possibility is that the Sox do exactly what is bolded above, as they have shown a history to do when a guy isn't a problem in the clubhouse in addition to sucking. I'm saying that he will be back in '15, but potentially he can become tradeable again, even if some money has to go along with him. By Memorial Day, he'll have around $24M remaining on the deal. He may be attractive at $15-18M for that time frame if he's performing well enough.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 13, 2014 -> 03:11 PM) Actually, it's a fairly complimentary comparison. Yeah I'll take a future Cy Young along with the "disgusting fatbody" jokes.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Oct 13, 2014 -> 02:19 PM) Yeah people need to realize that no one actually wants Danks, we are most likely stuck with that contract. Agreed that it's unrealistic to expect Danks to be tradeable currently, unless it's a painful Teahen-style riddance. Hopeful that he plays his way into tradability early next season, and that RH seizes any opportunity.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Oct 11, 2014 -> 11:01 AM) How high of a ceiling can be projected for a player that's struggling to hit his way out of AA? That's why I say, AT THIS POINT, when I refer to his ceiling is lower than Danks floor. Danks has made it to the big league club, something ( at this point) I doubt Trayce will be able to do. I hope I'm wrong. As NSS has said, the ceiling is based upon the tools, at least until a certain age is reached. The ceiling is not necessarily a realistic outcome at a certain point, and Trayce's multiple repeats of the same level with little if any discernible improvement, have made his potential for reaching it (or anything close to it) rather minute. Still, the skills are there, so the ceiling remains. But sure, the floor is a bit lower than Jordan's because Jordan has had decent success in AAA and a few mlb cups-o-coffee, and there's a good chance Trayce never makes it even that far.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Oct 13, 2014 -> 09:31 AM) Ugh, I'm not even going to start.... Assets are limited. Can't afford to torch them. Much is needed to get the team where we want it. But apologies for bringing Davidson into it OT - that one's sticking in my craw.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 13, 2014 -> 09:53 AM) Not sure why you responded to me on this? Pretty sure I never said my belief in him (or lack thereof) was somehow established by this one report. There have been reports of varying depth on this guy for years, and there are patterns in the noise. Those are things I highlighted, along with pointing out the difference between individual pitch command and overall control and strike-throwing. Sorry. Was meant to be a general response to the value of the report.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 10, 2014 -> 09:23 AM) There is a difference between control and command, and the scouting report kind of tells you about that. He has general control over his arsenal such that he can throw strikes, but he doesn't have good enough command on any of them to throw the right strikes consistently with each. His individual pitch command is what needs work. Of course he has a long way to go, but also it's rather silly to put too much on three innings in a first outing in the AFL. Completely laughable, really. Montas was throwing 100+, a few ticks higher than his usual, which tells me there's an excellent chance he was overthrowing in an attempt to impress. This typically leads to a loss of command. The excellent reports of his performance while healthy at WS this year indicated significant strides in command as well as control. He was typically mid to upper nineties in those outings, not 100+. You can put a lot on these infinitesimally tiny sample size reports if you wish, and there's no other data input currently, so people will. This guy's repertoire is a starter's if the changeup improvement is real.

Love the trade - admittedly held out a little too much optimism for Hector - but Eaton will be a south side hero before too long if he can stay on the field. The Davidson trade was really bad, however, and almost makes up for it. Not because we gave up anything special in Reed, but because we got nada for a 40 save closer. RH may need to do better than 50-50 this offeseason.

How bout MB56 putting nails in Mariners coffin (death by choking) with outstanding close to season? 8 IP 3H 0R 1BB 10K 14 straight seasons of 200+ innings. May never see it again.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Sep 23, 2014 -> 09:14 PM) You are odd. Wow. Maybe Hahn should be looking for all guys over 32 instead of young guys. All athletes are not the majority of athletes. Yea duh that's why I said the majority instead of all. Play the odds he's a SS not a 1st baseman. The position demands just a bit more athleticism which does not increase with age. Besides like Eminor I love the guy and if we can sign my free agents there's really no need to trade him. But like I said I'm leaning in the trade direction knowing the Sox won't sign 3 free agents. Lexi is stealing more bases and more efficiently than at any point in his career. He's not putting on weight. He'll age just fine for at least a few more years. Now, the debate about whether to trade him is different, but I think folks are underestimating the difficulty of finding a quality defensive SS that isn't a black hole on O. Semien, who I like, has 14 errors now in limited time, and has not convinced me he's an answer there.