Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (WBWSF @ Feb 12, 2018 -> 06:34 PM) 1) They are rebuilding as cheaply as possible. 2) They are rebuilding as cheaply as possible. 3) They are rebuilding as cheaply as possible. Yup, paying $50M for Luis Robert is rebuilding as cheaply as possible. When does this clown get the boot?

I really think Curbelo opens the season with Kannapolis.

We need to get some clarity on Jimenez’s arm because I’ve seen it listed as plus to below average.

CL: Soria SU: Jones SU: Minaya MR: Avalin MR: Rondon MR: Cedeno MR: Infante I think they start the season without a true long reliever. I think they leave some of the more talented young guys (Vierira, Bummer, Fry, etc) in AAA to start the season. That allows guys like Rondon & Cedeno to sneak onto the opening day roster. I also think Farquhar is cut/traded by the end of camp simply due to other veterans being more attractive options.

Now that we’re two days away from pitchers & catchers reporting to Spring Training, I thought it would be fun to do some Opening Day roster predictions. We’ll start with the bullpen, which figures to be one of the more interesting areas in terms of competition. The rules are simple: list the guys who will be in our opening day bullpen and what role they will serve (CL, SU, MR, LR).

QUOTE (SonofaRoache @ Feb 10, 2018 -> 10:34 PM) It sucks that the Cubs are a great team but you are blinded by hate. They've to to 3 stright NLCS's and will go back again this year. He’s most definitely blinded by hate, but you lose all credibility when you speak like a Sith and say the Cubs will be going back to the NLCS next year. The playoffs are always a crap shoot and they really had to battle to make it to the NLCS in 2016 & 2017. They’ll most likely go to the playoffs next year, but let’s check the rest at the door given the Dodgers & Nationals are as good if not better than the Cubs.

QUOTE (WBWSF @ Feb 10, 2018 -> 03:28 PM) I hate the Cubs but I must admit that it must be nice being one one of their fans now. It has to feel good to have a ownership that wants to win now. I’m impressed seeing you troll here and Soxmachine. That takes some serious will & determination.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Feb 9, 2018 -> 02:37 PM) I think Jemeye posted on twitter last night that the Troika from last week picked the teams and Marie made it so that her team would lose and stacked one team so they would throw in Brad. I don't know why MTV cut that part out though. https://imgur.com/gallery/EMFCl I swear TJ said the teams were random, but what you’re saying make much more sense.

I still maintain if we can somehow get JDM on the cheap I’d say do it. Otherwise, I’d stick with what we have on the positional side. I’d rather rotate young guys through the DH spot than get some stop-gap veteran type.

The teams for that last Challenge were so bogus. There was almost no chance Banannas’ team wouldn’t win. I really don’t like the guys & girls competing against one another.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 29, 2018 -> 09:09 AM) Britni is awful. Not a surprise deadbeat Brad loves her. ?

QUOTE (wrathofhahn @ Feb 7, 2018 -> 12:27 PM) Interesting I think the bullpen will be better then that. Also no way the OF looks like that. If Delmonico hits he's our everyday LF. Moncada should hit better then .233 with a .740 ish OPS. Hard to see Anderson hit .265 with a .289 OBP. He may hit .240 with a .289 OBP lol. Is that really predicting 16 HRs from Delmonico in 254 PAs? I may be his biggest fan here, but those numbers are beyond nuts.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 5, 2018 -> 03:44 PM) If they consider him a 50 but with high variance I could see him left off, but I'm hoping they still consider him a 50. Can't wait for team lists to come out to see. He was a 45 on last year’s Cubs list. While I think he should be a 50, I’m not sure that Longenhagen will feel he did enough in 2017 to make that jump. The fact that he’s 22 and hasn’t cracked High A or 100 innings in his career is somewhat troubling. At some point the baby gloves have to come off and Cease will have to prove he can handle a starter’s workload against more advanced hitters. Until that happens I can understand why people would be skeptical despite his insane stuff.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 5, 2018 -> 03:55 PM) Another more hopeful comp could be Kyle Tucker of the Astros. 18 year old out of the draft in 2015 he put up a .647 OPS, 19 year old in 2016 improved to .798, 20 year old in 2017 improved to .874 to make him a major prospect. The home runs went from 3 to 9 to 25 those years. Yeah, I think people need to be realistic with Rutherford and hope for gradual improvements. As long as he shows some reasonable signs of progress next year, I’ll remain optimistic with him. Development isn’t always linear and he has the physical tools to make a big leap at some point.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 4, 2018 -> 02:36 AM) https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-network-top-10...ion/c-264680678 Abreu 6th at 1b, Tyler Flowers 9th at catcher... I am so confused about this post. What does Tyler Flowers have to do with anything?

One nice thing about Rondon is he is only 27 and has three years of control left. If Coop can somehow fix him, he could become a valuable piece.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Feb 3, 2018 -> 01:13 AM) Just what this council needs: the insights of baseball’s most tenured yet most severely flawed and obviously most failed owner with a seat at its table.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 2, 2018 -> 12:59 PM) One of the reasons they would ever be in the ballpark with Machado is the money they save now. I'm not sure I follow. Do mind elaborating?

QUOTE (Sarava @ Feb 2, 2018 -> 12:33 PM) If they have an inkling that they might spend $300+ mil on Machado next winter, then yes I think they would take it easy on the bank account leading up to that to better afford it. And I love the Luis Robert signing. He's a bigtime prospect. He was billed as a guy that very well could be a top 5 or 10 prospect in short order. And did that affect next year's chances? Well, all the numbers come from the same place. But I've thought all along, they spent the $50 mil, knowing the next year's payroll (2018) would be significantly lower. In any event, you aren't going to get a Luis Robert caliber prospect for Kemp's contract. But hey, if you can, then I could accept hurting the chances of signing Machado next year. But it's not happening. The Dodgers are stingy with their prospects. They certainly aren't giving up a haul to remove one contract. Machado’s $300M contract is going to be over 10 years or more. We’re not paying for all of that up front. Taking on Kemp’s contract really shouldn’t impact our ability to land Machado next year. The bigger concerns will be how much of our future payroll are we willing to to commit to one player and how much long-term risk are we willing to take on in terms of contract length. Short-term cash flow really shouldn’t be a problem for us.

I’m all for buying prospects. We practically have zero commitments beyond next season. Adding a portion of say Matt Kemp’s salary over the next two years won’t impact our ability to be major players in free agency from a dollars standpoint. The real challenge we face however is that helping out the Dodgers (or Yankees) makes them stronger competitors in next year’s free agent bonanza. Given that adding a Manny Machado type will already be an uphill battle, I think any deal where we take on a bad contract from a big spender will require a premium prospect return.

I like it.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Feb 1, 2018 -> 06:28 PM) I don't think it is a coincidence that the White Sox and Bulls have both slashed payroll significantly. So I don't see any significant bumps in payroll until the Sox are ready to compete................or JR sells. ? Of course they’re both cutting payroll, they’re both at the front-end of rebuilds. What exactly are you suggesting?

Hopefully Reinsdorf can convince him to get rid of competitive balance picks.

Celeste is f***ing awesome. Also excited for Night in the Woods coming out on Switch today.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 31, 2018 -> 03:21 PM) Jon Morosi‏Verified account @jonmorosi 24m24 minutes ago Eric Hosmer’s camp has continued pushing for a contract of more than 7 years, source says. [He is a young free agent at age 28.] The #Royals’ need to re-sign him (and capacity to pay him) increased with this week’s Brandon Moss trade. @MLBNetwork @MLB Lol...please sign Hosmer to a 7+ year deal Royals. That would be f***ing sweet as hell for us.