ILMOU

After this season, the DH situation will obviously be very different, and quite an unknown at this juncture. To be our "DH of the future", I think I need to see an 800+ OPS from Tank, or something very close. Otherwise, he needs to improve a lot in the field, and I'd put money on the former, rather than the latter. I've been a fan from the get-go, so certainly pulling for him. Eventually, I want a fast and excellent defensive OF backing up a top-shelf pitching staff. We've got a few of these speedy OF guys in the system, some others that may convert to the OF, plus Eaton now. Hopefully, DV is primarily a DH by that time - or gains value as a trade piece in the interim.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 19, 2014 -> 12:49 PM) He had a stellar 2012 season and a monster 2nd-half 2013 (1st half injury slowed him down). Give him another year, 25/80 hitters are not easy to find. ? to bolded, but yeah, he gets the whole year. We're talking about DV, right?

QUOTE (hammerhead johnson @ Jan 19, 2014 -> 11:59 AM) Viciedo's presence would not be good for hitting camp morale. When Abreu discovers just how incompetent Dayan is, he'll probably bust his balls and tell him to raft back to Cuba. We'll want Dunn and/or Konerko around to break up the fight. If there's anything that Viciedo is good for, it's screwing over the team, so it stands to reason that he could potentially injure Abreu if there's any beef. Wow. Quite the DV fan! Dayan will likely get all of this year to improve greatly, or he'll be gone before '15. Either way, it's a strategy I can live with. Personally, I would have had both he and Gordo at the camp - Steverson is their last-chance tutor. Dv COULD still become something, and isn't blocking any of the future core, currently. Gordo, who's had way more chances than Tank (and perhaps deservedly due to competent+ D), should get 1/2 season, and due to near-ready competition from prospects, I'd probably trade him even if he has a good first half - perhaps especially so. Only if he performs at a star level would I consider keeping him long-term.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jan 18, 2014 -> 01:39 PM) Probably just a clerical error, but check it out: http://mshop.mlb.com/family/index.jsp?cate...mp;doVSearch=no Donnie Veal plaques still available!!

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 15, 2014 -> 09:17 AM) Sanchez also hit .370, and it was only over 30 games. For the year, his IsoOBP was .055 and IsoSLG was .070. If he's not hitting for average, he's going to be fairly unproductive. Think Placido Polanco. Semien's IsoOBP in the minors last year was .117 and his IsoSLG was .195. The differences between the two are vast. You can make a lot of comparisons, but his numbers are not that far off from Chase Utley's in the minors. I like Carlos Sanchez and I think he can be a good big league player, but let's put things in perspective. Marcus has definitely shown some nice pop. His bat and OBP skills, if he maximizes his potential, fits great as a 2 hitter, at either 2nd or 3rd base, maybe SS if he's up to it defensively. Sanchez really needs to stick at SS as an average-plus defender, and show consistent OBP/BA skills.

QUOTE (PorkChopExpress @ Jan 15, 2014 -> 06:27 AM) Maybe the brass doesn't expect them all to be there to start the season. Surkamp, Rienzo, Leesman, Castro, Bassitt and/or Snodgress would all make nice pieces in a trade. I as well expect to see Leesman and Castro as pen pieces going forward. Stewart's presence should not be allowed to inhibit ANYone's placement.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 14, 2014 -> 08:01 PM) Call it 10 starts in AA. He pitched in the AFL in relief and if memory serves everything was strong except he was walking dudes at like a 1/IP clip. I like Bassit. He has succeeded every year in this organization and now has the semblance of a nice repertoire. I do think a move to AAA would be premature on the organization's part. This guy has just established himself as a starter and you're going to rush him through the system like that? Doesn't make sense to me. They rush pitchers quite a bit and I can't recall it ever biting them in the butt - Hector and Nate never saw Charlotte, for instance. All depends on what the braintrust thinks of him in late March. He's 25 in February, I expect him to be "challenged".

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 14, 2014 -> 04:59 PM) He only had 8 starts in AA. I'm sure they'll start him in Birmingham and if he continues to succeed they'll bump him up in June/July. Plus 2 dominant starts in Southern League playoffs and an AFL appearance. I'll be surprised if he doesn't start in Charlotte. May depend on how he does in ST. There's also a smaller chance he'll be among the group of Sox pitchers (that includes Hector, Boone Logan and Nate Jones in recent memory) who, to the surprise of everyone, make the team with little prior expectation. Not expecting this certainly.

Nobody should actually worry about any of this. For guys like Abreu it's purely a shot in the dark. So many others don't have enough sample size to expect any accuracy. A guy like Danks could have a huge variance depending on level of recovery. ~31 days til pitchers and catchers report.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Jan 14, 2014 -> 10:51 AM) No. Buddy Bell will keep doing it until he finds one that works so he can show everyone he knows best. Most organizations send their hitters to learn to have success, the Sox send their hitters to learn to be overmatched. They have a pretty good track record for handling pitching prospects, but this "challenge assignment" philosophy is a huge fail as it not only gets prospects on a bad path, it also saps all of their trade value. If Hawkins was allowed to play a full season of low A ball and put up the numbers he did in his limited time there, he would be a top 50 prospect, but since Buddy decided that 65 AB's in low A is good enough, he is on the verge of being viewed as a fringe prospect. If you dont give a guy enough time at a level to struggle when opposing coaches/players figure him out, they don't learn how to make appropriate adjustments to get back to that level of success. Instead we send a guy up to be overmatched and his adjustments get him back to being overmatched. Even thoguh Trout dominated Low A, he still played 85 games there over two seasons. Byron Buxton played 68 games at low A. Both hitters more advanced than Hawkins and the Sox decide 16 games are sufficient. It is such poor handling of hitting prospects that it is almost criminal. Amen. Will Hahn be able to clean house as he knows he likely needs to, or will BB have the job for life? Our position player development has been the org-killer - this should be obvious to JR and everyone else.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 14, 2014 -> 10:23 AM) Also, I can't see how anyone can rank Davidson above Erik Johnson. I look at EJ as a guy with a high ceiling and Davidson as a high bust rate. There is a much bigger chance EJ is an annual producer in my mind. Totally agree. The huge disparity among the opinions of experts merely underscores how inexact the projections are. I don't sweat it. I think there's a general slight bias against our system right now, primarily for position players, and it is indeed justified until somebody shows something at the MLB level.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 14, 2014 -> 02:02 PM) Bassitt is well back on the list, he has half a season of AA under his belt and that's it. He'll likely start at AAA, considering how strongly he finished. If he has a good three months, he'll be right there with Surkamp as a call-up consideration. What I'm saying is that there are a group of guys, likely Beck and maybe even Snodgress, who might be more likely than Axe to get a look come July, depending on performance in Apr-June. Axe is merely insurance against worst case scenarios, god willing.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jan 14, 2014 -> 02:03 PM) Those are relievers, and not even closers at that. I'd be shocked if Coop hasn't been asked for input on whether or not to give a starting pitcher $100M+. I would guess and hope that they also consult Coop for high draft picks like Sale, Johnson, Beck, Danish etc.

I'm just glad we'll have competition for the roster spot in ST.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 13, 2014 -> 12:29 PM) Colleen Kane ‏@ChiTribKane 22m Gordon Beckham and Alejandro De Aza are the White Sox's remaining arbitration-eligible players. And those should be a similar cost, maybe a little higher, especially in De Aza case. I think.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 11, 2014 -> 04:36 PM) Once Tanaka goes off of the board, Garza will heat up very quickly. Yeah, likely several of the guys will sign between the 24th and the end of the month.

Was the Serpent ever in the Yanks or anyone's top 10? Also, how many teams passed then? We're good at precisely this, so I'm confident he'll become useful.

Glad to have Raylan, Boyd, Art, Dewey and the boys back again. And it's good that the show seems to be greenlighted for a final 6th season as well. I've thought the Justified season finales have been somewhat hampered by a need-to-wrap-it-up-cause-it-might-be -the-last-show-ness, due to ratings limbo.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 04:52 PM) I may be in the minority, but I do believe he can be effective with us. If the Sox simply only want to run 20 year olds to the mound, then I can understand not paying Garza the big bucks. But to say he will suck for us because of the way he finished the season in Texas is irrational. I want Tanaka more than the next guy, but is it realistic? And since it is not likely realistic do you guys simply want give our prospects a chance to develop in spots 4 and 5? I can respect that but them Hahn BETTER go after Scherzer next winter for sure. Many will re-sign/options exercised between now and then, but the SP FA class next year is fairly loaded: (age during '15 season) Brett Anderson (27) - $12MM club option with a $1.5MM buyout Homer Bailey (29) Josh Beckett (35) Chad Billingsley (30) - $14MM club option with a $3MM buyout Joe Blanton (34) - $8MM club option with a $1MM buyout Wei-Yin Chen (29) - $4.75MM club option with a $372K buyout Kevin Correia (34) Johnny Cueto (29) - $10MM club option with an $800K buyout Jorge De La Rosa (34) Ryan Dempster (38) Gavin Floyd (32) Yovani Gallardo (29) - $13MM club option with a $600K buyout J.A. Happ (32) - $6.7MM club option Dan Haren (34) - $10MM player option if 180 innings reached in 2014 Roberto Hernandez (34) Luke Hochevar (31) Hisashi Iwakuma (34) - $7MM club option with a $1MM buyout Josh Johnson (31) Kyle Kendrick (30) Clayton Kershaw (27) Jon Lester (31) Colby Lewis (35) Justin Masterson (30) Brandon McCarthy (31) Brandon Morrow (30) - $10MM club option with a $1MM buyout Jeff Niemann (32) Ross Ohlendorf (32) Felipe Paulino (31) - $4MM club option with a $250K buyout Jake Peavy (34) Wandy Rodriguez (36) Max Scherzer (30) James Shields (33) Carlos Villanueva (31) Ryan Vogelsong (37) Edinson Volquez (30) Lots of possibilities, if needed.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 04:42 PM) I know he is older, but he will also be $50 million cheaper, I think Garza and Coop can really work well together where he is more of a ground ball pitcher. He is only 30 and has won some big playoff games. 2009 ALCS MVP. We need a veteran right handed SP who can split up the lefties. Garza can eat innings and is a gamer. Also lastly, he will not cost us draft picks. Now IMO that is just as big enough reason to go after him if you ask me. All the other veteran starters FA's will cost picks. That was 2008, and he's still living off of it. Somebody earlier posted MG has 6 total WAR over last 4 seasons - that speaks for itself. Just say no.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 02:02 PM) I think Garza makes a ton of sense. He will not cost the organization any draft picks and that seems to be the only way they will sign a FA this winter. I know he is not as young as Tanaka but he will be MUCH MUCH cheaper. I hope Hahn explores this option as well. Maybe a 3 year deal? I know this team will not be playoff contenders this year, but I believe in 2015 they will be right there. Wait, didn't TX make a qualifying offer? Not that I want him anyway. EDIT: Saw that he was ineligible due to mid-season trade. I reluctantly give TheoJed credit for finding the most desperate trade partner - TX got raped with Edwards alone, assuming the others amount to nothing.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 02:07 PM) Just for fun, some brief pre-draft scouting reports on each of the three C's mentioned above... Fisher: So he's likely very raw at the position, converted from 3B, but pretty advanced with the bat. Which makes his draft year numbers a bit disappointing. Haupt: Not much to go on there, but the arm strength and him being more of a native catcher would hint he is more mature defensively at the position than Fisher. Wimmer wasn't even on any reports we could find, and is older. My guess he's behind the other two on any depth charts, but that is only a guess. Thanks NS. I guess we'll see who gets the bulk of C play in Kanny.

QUOTE (Paulstar @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 06:47 PM) *Jose Abreu (I don't count him as a prospect but if going strictly by definition he'd be no. 1) 1. Erik Johnson 2. Matt Davidson 3. Tyler Danish 4. Marcus Semien 5. Chris Beck 6. Keon Barnum 7. Trayce Thompson 8. Tim Anderson (I don't think he will stick at SS which drops him down) 9. Courtney Hawkins (hated the pick, don't think he'll make it, but he is loaded with potential) 10. Micah Johnson 11. Jacob May 12. Eric Surkamp 13. Scott Snodgrass 14. Daniel Webb 15. Trey Michalczewski Like your list. Probably closest to my own. Not Top 20-25, but based on position, left-handedness and hitting performance at Great Falls, let me add catcher Zach Fisher to the list of spects I'll be watching closely. A few of the other GF rookies; ZVoight, TShyrock, Jake Morris and CStringer may also be worth a follow this season. Any info folks can share on ZF is greatly appreciated.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 10:00 AM) Gotta disagree with you here. We aren't hurting for money and Danks is four good months away from being a valuable trade deadline chip. Trading him now for pennies on the dollar would be incredibly short-sighted. And for our own competitive purposes, Danks at 95% of his peak performance is still a much better starting option than Rienzo, Paulino, & Surkamp. I'll take my chances he'll be close to his former self in 2014 rather than just give him away in fear he'll never come close to returning to form. This. Regardless of Tanaka, best to wait on Danks. Value rebuilding could begin with his 1st start, if he's ready.

Voted approve/agree that it's premature. The major source of my anxiety is that the two guys from AZ only achieved upper-level success in the PCL, and those types of guys are numerous, and dicey. Cautious optimism.