flavum

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 20, 2013 -> 09:56 AM) Why do coaches even wear numbers? Or uniforms, at all. They probably could do some nice athletic-wear which would be marketable to sell.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 20, 2013 -> 09:44 AM) I would delete Baines & Guillen from that list. And I've never heard of Charley Lau. My point exactly. He and Loren Babe were coaches in 1983. Both died of cancer after the 83 season. For whatever reason, Reinsdorf decided that #6 wouldn't be issued. Walt Hriniak was a disciple of Lau's hitting methods, so he wore 6 when he was the hitting coach. 30 years is enough.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 20, 2013 -> 09:34 AM) There are at least 86 other numbers they can choose from, 87 if you include 00. Frankly, I don't ever want to see anyone else wearing 35 again in a White Sox uniform. Maybe, in 500 years, when there are 25 numbers exactly to choose from, we can have this conversation again. I'm ok with Hall of Famers getting their number retired, or guys that played with the Sox for 15 years. Minoso is ok. Konerko will be fine. Buehrle will eventually--he's borderline. 3, 6, 13, and 19--I'd unretire. And I agree with JPN about the coaches poaching low numbers. Those should be for current players. Baseball is a low number sport.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Dec 20, 2013 -> 09:29 AM) That's his plan. His mother picked it out for him because she thought it would be an easy number to be remembered by. Or he turns 35 in January.

Current and eventual...14 numbers. Seems excessive. 2- Nellie Fox 3- Harold Baines 4- Luke Appling 6- Charley Lau 9- Minnie Minoso 11- Luis Aparicio 13- Ozzie Guillen 14- Paul Konerko 16- Ted Lyons 19- Billy Pierce 35- Frank Thomas 42- Robinson 56- Mark Buehrle 72- Carlton Fisk

QUOTE (black jack @ Dec 20, 2013 -> 07:16 AM) It really irks me that 3 is retired. Agreed. It irks me more that a dead hitting coach from 30 years ago has a retired number too. I think they have some type plaque up somewhere for Charley Lau. That's good enough. Without officially retiring his number, there's no real point to it. Give 6 to somebody that wants it.

I would think there will be a lot of changes with numbers. There have some number change requests listed in the mlb.com transactions, which is kind of weird. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/transactions/?tcid=...2&year=2013

I'll settle for watchable. Higher energy, better effort, better execution. And the young players to be good enough to start 150 games each. It would take almost 100% health, Abreu to be some monster star player, and Ventura to prove he's a good manager for the Sox to win 90+ games.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Dec 19, 2013 -> 02:06 PM) So not a vesting option? Even better if so. I think the vesting portion is still there, but if he doesn't reach the innings/games pitched level to vest, the Sox can still pick it up, or pay him 250K.

ESPN updated: Downs would earn $3.75 million next season, and the White Sox would hold a $4.25 million option for 2015 with a $250,000 buyout.

Deal is now official. 40 man is full. Downs might not be official until after Christmas.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 19, 2013 -> 12:19 PM) Phil Rogers ‏@philgrogers 7m I will vote for Frank Thomas, Jack Morris and others but agree w/Bill Deane that Greg Maddux will be only one elected. System is broken. Good. If Maddux is the only one, they have no choice but to change something about the process.

Before opening day, I'm thinking they get rid of Keppinger, Gillaspie, Flowers, and De Aza, and end up with a new starting catcher--and the group of Gimenez, Phegley, Gonzalez, and Nieto will compete for the backup. Lineup- Eaton CF Ramirez SS Abreu 1B Dunn DH Garcia RF Viciedo LF Davidson 3B New Catcher Beckham 2B Bench--Leury Garcia, Jordan Danks, Catcher, Paul Konerko

QUOTE (scs787 @ Dec 19, 2013 -> 11:36 AM) Bullpen might not even skip a beat without Reed. Jones-Downs-Belisario-Lindstrom-Veal are probably all locks. I can see Webb and Petrika battle for a spot, and Rienzo and Paulino battle for the 5th spot with the loser getting mop up duties. Gotta love the fact that between Downs, Belisario and Lindstrom they pitched 172 innings while allowing a combined 6 HRs....Addison Reed gave up 6 by himself in 71. stat of the day, stat of the day!

Rosenthal: Source: Downs’ deal with #WhiteSox will be one year, $4M range with vesting option that could bring deal to about two years/$8M. Option with #WhiteSox will vest if Downs pitches to his normal workload, per source. Deal pending physical. @jonmorosi first reported close.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 19, 2013 -> 07:40 AM) Ginger Zee is f***ing hot. The end Rongey will always have the memories.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Dec 19, 2013 -> 10:53 AM) He definitely does. Isn't McDade still on the roster too for some reason? No. McDade and Tekotte were outrighted to Charlotte a couple weeks ago.

Kinda figured it was true. Hahn was on ESPN radio yesterday, and said the Belisario deal was probably getting completed "in the next day or so". He didn't mention him by name. Anyway, once Belisario and Downs are on the 40-man, somebody has to be dumped to make room. Candidates--Heath, Morel, Nestor Molina, Santos Rodriguez?

I put the question mark there because we don't know if it's real, but this tweet just happened... https://twitter.com/mblakeharrison/status/413678153962250241 The tweeter is from Kentucky, and so is Downs. And the move would make some sense considering it's just Veal and Leesman, and other non-roster guys.

Viciendo? What is this, 2009?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 18, 2013 -> 01:59 PM) There are a lot of teams who will have interest in De Aza. Just because you don't like them, greg, does not mean that they do not have value. It will be interesting to see what the Sox get for him. I really don't see them getting more than a mid-range prospect, or a run-of-the-mill bullpen arm.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Dec 18, 2013 -> 03:45 PM) Baltimore just traded for David Lough from the Royals. Did they just get their left handed OFer? Giants get Morse. Running out of teams for De Aza? If the O's were looking at De Aza, they aren't now.

I'm ok with one more year of Viciedo just to see if he improves. I don't think he will, but this is the year to find out.

QUOTE (Baron @ Dec 18, 2013 -> 09:42 AM) Yeah I read that too...pretty ridiculous. Also getting tired of people I talk to trying constantly convince me that Jack Morris should be in the HOF. I'm just glad the debate will be over one way or the other. Too negative.

This guy thinks Maddux will be the only one to get in. http://baseballpastandpresent.com/2013/12/...ction-forecast/ Personally, Frank is already a Hall of Famer. It's just a matter of time. So I'm hoping this guy is right, just to show how flawed the process is now. If Maddux is the only one to get in, it will force a change. It just has to.