Y2Jimmy0

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 1, 2014 -> 01:56 PM) Then you have to be a Cub fan, because the Sox wouldn't have a fan base left. Where did I say in here that I thought it would be a good idea for the White Sox? The White Sox could never rebuild that way. Never said they could.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 1, 2014 -> 12:57 PM) Well that and 464 losses over a 5 year period. Okay great. What's the difference between 464 losses over a 5 year period and filling in gaps to "Compete" while falling short of the playoffs? I'd rather have the losses and everything that comes with it: higher draft pick, more bonus pools both internationally and in the amateur draft, higher waiver priority during the season, payroll flexibility).

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 29, 2014 -> 02:44 PM) Ray Donovan was pretty good this season. I thought the first season was kind of dull except for Jon Voight. But season 2, he was just as spectacular, and the rest of script definitely picked up. Yeah I agree. I really enjoyed Season 2.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 1, 2014 -> 12:37 PM) Because not everyone can buy it hook line and sinker. There are a ton of variables in this plan, and a lot of people have elevated the cubs prospect core as 100 percent cant miss prospects. Javier Baez was supposed to signal the beginning of the next phase, and he came up and peed down his leg, and caused a lot of people to slow down the hype train a bit. There is a good chance this team will be very good in a few years, but right now they are banking on a lot of prospects turning into gold. We all know prospects arent a sure thing. I don't think the Cubs are banking on a lot of prospects turning into gold. Their fans are. Some will be good. Some will be bad. A couple will probably be really really good. Some of them will be traded and some will be held on to for too long. The point is that they will have a ton of flexibility and will be able to deal from an area of strength while playing in a major market that won't have the typical payroll restraints of other teams that are rebuilding. 7 of the top 100 will not all be good ML players. But I'd rather have 7 of the top 100 prospects in baseball than not have them.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 1, 2014 -> 12:36 PM) To sell newspapers. Well they aren't doing a very good job of that either though. That Saturday Sun-Times is like the size of a McDonald's napkin.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Oct 1, 2014 -> 12:25 PM) not according to wittenmeyer. he said on the radio that he was only reporting what he was told. I have not doubt it was a "don't quote me on this directly." because at this stage of his career why would he. Also who is Bryant's agent? Boras. Boras was quoted as saying that the Cubs were wrong not to bring Bryant up. Boras frequently works behind the scenes this way. Unless bernstein has sources that contradict this, I would believe that Boras leaked it to him just to show his displeasure with the Cubs. I have no doubt that Boras will hold this grudge. It's bulls*** though. If Kris Bryant is awesome he will be on the Cubs for 6 years. If they offer the most $$ at the end of those 6 years, he will remain a Chicago Cub. He's not going to go somewhere else 6 years from now because he has a feeling that he was slighted. He was never slighted. Your agent is good at his job, sucks the most $$ out of teams, and refuses to sign contract extensions. Bryant chose that agent and because of it he has to wait. Same thing will happen with Rodon and the White Sox. When Rodon doesn't break camp with the team, Boras will be on record saying that he should be on the White Sox and blah blah. Just wait. It's coming.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Oct 1, 2014 -> 11:46 AM) I don't know, Bernstein seems to really like the cubs plan more than anyone. He almost wants to be he guy to sit back and say, see I told you they were right. True. Bernstein also said that there is no guarantee that the plan is going to work. The Cubs have been very upfront about what they are doing. The writers at the ST ask questions that have already been answered. If you are one of those people that hates the plan and the way they have gone about their business, then you shouldn't be following Kris Bryant throughout the minor leagues and cheering on all these kids. It's a contradiction. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but some people have stupid opinions. Spending money on free agents in a race to 81 wins is f***ing stupid if you are at the same time trying to infiltrate your system with young talent. Everyone else understands for the most part. The Sun Times is taking this contrarian viewpoint for whatever reason. Not sure why.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Oct 1, 2014 -> 11:23 AM) what did Bernstein say about Gordon Wittenmeyer yesterday? Wittenmeyer told Mully and Hanley that Bernstein could kiss his ass (well butt) this morning. Bernstein called out Wittenmeyer and Telander and basically everyone at the Sun-Times for being stupid about the Cubs. Bernstein was 100% correct too. The SunTimes doesn't listen when the Cubs speak. They are like the voice of the meatball fan. Wittenmeyer wrote an article about how Kris Bryant would leave the Cubs in 6 years because he's mad that they are jerking him around. Bernstein was saying that is totally false and that Bryant is on board with the way the Cubs have handled the situation. Bernstein was asking if there were any quotes from Bryant to backup Gordon's claims and of course there aren't any. Wittenmeyer is a goof.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 1, 2014 -> 08:55 AM) The one thing I can say is that I still can't fathom why Adam Dunn was not on the A's 2 days after the Lester trade. Ok it's not a perfect match but by all accounts you're downgrading your lineup by taking Cespedes out of the middle of it, if you're paying the kind of price you paid for Samardzija then why on Earth would you go cheap about adding in a replacement bat? Do you think the Sox would have taken Sanburn at the actual deadline? I think that is a pretty good prospect in return for Dunn. Beane really gambled and gave up a lot this year. He'll trade-off and recoup some assets this winter for sure.

QUOTE (VAfan @ Oct 1, 2014 -> 08:29 AM) Did anyone else enjoy seeing Billy Beane's trade deadline strategy go up in smoke last night, at the hands of the lowly Kansas City Royals? I'm talking about the Jon Lester trade, which Beane must have thought was his ticket to the NLDS should the Angels somehow pass his A's and he be forced into a one-game wild card game to get in!! There he was, Jon Lester, out on the mound in the bottom of the 8th, having outdueled James Shields and the first couple guys out of the vaunted KC bullpen to a seemingly insurmountable lead of 7-3. But Lester couldn't finish the 8th, and Oakland goes on to lose 9-8 in 12, blowing 1 run leads in both the 9th and 12th innings! All while Adam Dunn, in his only postseason game in his career, sits on the bench! With the Sox out of it, we have to take our pleasure somewhere!!! Discuss. No. I like Billy Beane. He's really good at his job. I was hoping Oakland would win it all.

I don't think it's realistic to have a lottery in a league without a salary cap. It's not an even playing field. Sometimes the best strategical option is to strip it down to bare bones and roll with a $30 million payroll for a few years and draft really well. Smart teams shouldn't be forbidden from doing this.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Sep 29, 2014 -> 07:44 PM) Ideally, Rodon starts the season in the bullpen and becomes a starter in either June or July to save his arm. That's not ideal at all. It's a horrible idea, actually. None of Rodon's service time should be wasted in a big league bullpen and he should not start the year with the team.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 29, 2014 -> 10:40 PM) I wish more people would post their grades, then mine wouldn't be so scrutinized. I never thought this thread would turn into this. You make a compelling statement/sentence, but I grade them based on the factors I've listed in my many posts: acquisitions, record of the team. I just am stupified that people think he's way better than a C, which is an average grade. Believe me, if the Sox ever contend again til the final week of the season I WILL give Mr. Hahn credit. I'm not posting grades for irrelevant players that have no bearing on the future of the White Sox. Sale and Q both get A's. Abreu and Eaton get A's. All 4 lived up to or exceeded expectations. Avisail is an incomplete because of the injury. The front office gets an A because there wasn't more they could have done. It's well been well documented throughout this thread how good of a job Hahn has done. I mean of course terrible baseball players will get terrible grades from a message board poster. I don't have the time for that though.

Carlos Rodon will not be pitching out of the bullpen. 1 year ago, scouts were talking about him as 1 of the 10 best pitchers on the planet after his Soph season at NC State. He won't start the year with the White Sox but I'd be stunned if they waste any of his big league time pitching out of the bullpen.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 29, 2014 -> 11:59 AM) You can't look merely at the surface and say "the team was bad so Hahn was bad." That's shallow, naive, and wrong. He didn't bring in any bad long-term contracts. He got a guy who has a bit of talent in Nieto. He brought in enough minor league free agents and other young relievers that we can say "hey, maybe they have the makings of an OK bullpen heading into next year." He brought in a #4/5 starter for the cost of a waiver claim. He got something for Beckham, De Aza, and Dunn. He signed Jose Quintana to one of the best contracts I've ever seen in my life. He drafted a guy represented by Scott Boras and then actually got him signed, and said player is already one of the best prospects in all of minor league baseball. He continued expanding the Sox horizons in Latin America. He didn't trade away any valuable, long-term pieces from the minor league teams. Oh, and he also signed some Jose Abreu guy. Frankly, I'd like to hear your reasoning for why he deserves anything other than an A. This is a great post from wite and similar to what I wanted to say in the thread as well. He signed Sale and Quintana to great below market deals, traded for Adam Eaton, enhanced the farm system, signed Rodon, and won the bidding for Jose Abreu. It has been a tremendous year for him. I am looking forward to another offseason of acquiring young, controllable pieces and the further addition of high end talent to the farm system. Since this time last year the Sox have locked up Sale and Q long-term, and acquired Eaton, Abreu, and Carlos Rodon. Not to mention the other moves that were made. Hahn has done a fantastic job.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Sep 29, 2014 -> 08:55 AM) Now I know why the Raiders let Houston walk. Nice player, but not worth anything close to the money he got. They didn't let Houston walk. They offered him more money than the Bears did. He decided to leave. Same thing happened with their LT that went to Arizona.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Sep 29, 2014 -> 10:27 AM) Russell, Maeda, and some bullpen help please. Robertson maybe? Maybe. I like Maeda. I wouldn't be surprised if the Sox went with Maeda or a guy like Masterson/McCarthy. In the bullpen, there are a lot of free agent options. I'd gamble on Joakim Soria at age 30, and sign him to be the closer. Zach Duke and Luke Hochevar are other intriguing names.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 28, 2014 -> 05:02 PM) That's great! I can't remember a time when we recently had that draft spot and wound up with a complete bust. Oh. Haha I thought of this as well.

QUOTE (Knuckles @ Sep 28, 2014 -> 04:55 PM) Sox lose, Cubs win, Sox get 8th pick? Yep. White Sox have the 8th pick in the 2015 draft.

Is there a poster or someone that a poster knows who can get Bulls tickets?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 26, 2014 -> 11:08 AM) The key ones for us There is also this one: @Jaypers413 (IL): Thanks for the chat, Bill. Had he qualified, would Rodon have unseated Jackson for the top spot? What were your impressions of him during his time there, and do you see him breaking camp with the Sox in April? Bill Mitchell: Considering that Rodon was arguably the top player in the draft and that he’s closer to the big leagues than anyone else in the AZL this year, it’s safe to say that he would have ranked at the top. I saw both of his brief outings. He was rusty at first and had trouble locating his pitches, but by the second inning of his last start he was dominating. I see more minor league time in his future, but he should be in the big leagues to stay at some point in 2015.

Spencer Adams was listed as the #5 overall prospect in the AZL by Baseball America. Here is a chat transcript with other White Sox related questions in the mix. http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2014...prospects-chat/

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Sep 26, 2014 -> 10:29 AM) I think you guys are right. Perhaps I'm underestimating Q a bit. I looked around the league real quick and on most teams Q would slot at #2 and even #1 on few others. Heck, Buehrle was the Sox #1 for some years and Q's K's and ERA are better than Buehrle's were at age 25. In order for Q to be traded, the return would have to out weight Q's value to the Sox and future Sox teams. I think some people need to remember that Hahn put Q on the no trade list last winter with Avi, Sale and Abreu for good reason. One more thing. The Sox do not need to explore a trade for Q, other teams explore trades for guys like Q. This is correct. Quintana is a stud and he will be the White Sox #3 starter a year from now. The White Sox will have 2 aces at the top in Sale and Rodon. Slide Quintana in behind and it's one of the best rotations in baseball. If Q were to be traded, he would bring back quite the return. Using Pittsburgh as a trade partner it'd be Alen Hanson and Josh Bell as the starting point. With that contract, Q is a very valuable piece.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 25, 2014 -> 03:11 AM) Is anybody THAT high on Petricka? I mean he might be the best of our rotten bullpen and I wish him the best but is he a great prospect? No I don't think anyone is that high on Petricka. He's very similar to what Reed gave the White Sox though. If Hahn turned around this offseason and traded Petricka for a position player prospect, that was highly regarded with 6 years of control attached, everyone would like that deal too.

QUOTE (knightni @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 09:00 AM) Even today, I'd rather have Davidson than Reed. Davidson's upside is huge. Closers are replaced every year. Great post. This is how I feel about it as well. Reed just isn't a valuable piece to the White Sox. Davidson might be.