Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (greg775 @ Mar 28, 2017 -> 10:10 AM) The guy likes to golf. So do millions of Americans. Let him enjoy his four years. He won't be re-elected. Your trolling has reached pathetic levels.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 28, 2017 -> 08:11 AM) I doubt the cash considerations will cover lunch. His defense has been slipping. He can't hit with power, doesn't hit for average, doesn't make much contact, doesn't get on base, and doesn't steal many bases. He was going to be a mediocre placeholder at best. Seriously, no one was giving up anything of value for this guy. This move is 100% about using playing time, which is an asset during a rebuild, on a player who actually has a non-zero chance of becoming part of the long term mix. Give May the CF job for now and see if Asche can develop into a useful bench piece. Bourjos's poor bat and detoriating defense wasn't going to offer us much.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 28, 2017 -> 07:10 AM) So you would have cut him, but you are annoyed that the Sox traded him for cash considerations? People will literally complain about anything.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Mar 27, 2017 -> 11:15 PM) Liriano can't play CF. Leury is backup CF. Doesn't change much. Bench of: Sanchez, Leury, Soto, and Asche IMO. You're missing CF now that Tilson is injured, which means those four plus May now.

QUOTE (Superstar Lamar @ Mar 27, 2017 -> 01:14 PM) while the bats were in their pre arbitration years and out of necessity Didn't the Ricketts have to take on a bunch of new minority partners to support this new spending?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 27, 2017 -> 12:55 PM) Yes. It's crazy to expect a team that is slashing payroll, going into a total rebuild to bid on what many consider the second best international prospect in the world because it might cost them a 16 year old or 2 the next couple of years. Out of control expectation. I actually think it's lunacy to just expect the same old White Sox. We've gone in a completely direction and the way our front office operates will be different as a result. We literally just traded two cost-controlled stars in one offseason, something that our organization has never done before. Now that our short-term goal is talent accumulation and not winning, it's crazy to think they won't change their ways. And that may mean going over their international budget for the first time, which Hahn has clearly stated is something they are considering.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 27, 2017 -> 10:26 AM) Doesn't seem like the White Sox thing either. Rebuilding doesn't seem like a White Sox thing either, but clearly that's happening. I don't think you can simply assume the way we've operated in the past in indicative of how we'll operate in the future.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 27, 2017 -> 09:40 AM) Capable? Sure. But they just don't historically outbid everyone for players. Even a guy like Abreu had an element of fluke to him. None of the top payroll teams had a place for Jose to play, which left the White Sox as a tall midget. They made a bid on Soler, but were significantly outbid by the Cubs. That is much more typical of the White Sox in the open market. They come in second much more often than they come in first. But none of the top payroll teams can sign Robert. It's very similar to the Abreu situation. If it's us against the Padres, I'll take my chances that we can win the bidding war. To bmags point, the Padres have already spent a f***ton of money on international free agents in the last 12 months. At some point they'll run out of cash, whereas we have spent very little in this area.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 27, 2017 -> 08:46 AM) Yes, there are some of the bigger spenders are out either way. It all depends on what he gets. If he gets what Moncada got, $30 million plus $30 million penalty, I'd be shocked the Sox won the bidding. But Boston can't offer that. Who can? If he is as good as many think, he fits in perfectly with any team, and is exactly the type of player the White Sox are looking to add. Acquiring him is like having an extra #1/1 pick in the draft or an extra ace to trade. Wasn't Maitan considered the top prospect in this past year's class and he only got $4.25M? Obviously Robert is a different situation given his age and proximity to the majors, but I don't see him getting anything close to Moncada money.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Mar 26, 2017 -> 09:58 PM) Who has seen Moncada up close? Does he look overweight? I hope he doesn't room with Courtney Hawkins. He looked jacked as f*** at SoxFest.

QUOTE (Al Lopez's Ghost @ Mar 26, 2017 -> 09:16 PM) I'd like to see them roll the dice on as many unproven youngsters (rather than proven mediocrity) as possible. Meaning May over Burgeous, Delmonico over Davidson, Hayes over Leury Garcia (not exactly a pair, I know, but I'm talking roster spot in this case), etc. Rebuilding time is the time to find out what you have as much as possible. I think Delmonico is better off getting a couple months in Charlotte, but overall I agree with what you're saying. Just don't want to rush guys either.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Mar 26, 2017 -> 08:23 PM) yea, give Davidson a few more months...no harm. It also allows Delmonico to play every day and get his defense squared away. I don't see much purpose for Bourjos on the team; but no big deal. If May plays well in AAA for a month or 2, they can boot Boujos. Bourjos is fine as a 4th OF, but I would hate to waste everyday at-bats on him. The more I think about it, the more I'm willing to roll the dice on May in CF for a month. Probably would end up being a failed experiment, but May is such a fringey prospect to begin with that I see nothing to lose by trying at least.

Roberto Pena with a walk-off hit! Sox win 4-3!

Sox down 2-3 in bottom of the 9th. Basabe just laid down a perfect bunt to move the tieing & go-ahead runs to 2nd & 3rd.

I'm starting to think May makes this team as the starting CF until Tilson gets back.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 25, 2017 -> 03:58 PM) Unlike Obama he is working for the people getting s*** done, maybe grabbing a few p*****s. POTY.

QUOTE (Soha @ Mar 25, 2017 -> 03:58 PM) The Sox got Giolito in part because word was all around baseball that the Nats were down on Giolito. That his stock is down from it's peak was part of the trade - not a sudden tough break for the White Sox. To me Lopez is the biggest piece of the deal, but I still feel really good about Giolito and his future. It might take a few years. Maybe he won't be a #1. Heck maybe he'll end up in the pen. That doesn't mean he won't be darn good someday. QUOTE (CWSpalehoseCWS @ Mar 25, 2017 -> 04:26 PM) Everyone also seems to forget about Dunning. The Sox were very high on him and were looking at him for the second round before the Nets took him. If Lopez turns into a #2-3, Dunning a #5, and Giolito a high-leverage reliever, I don't see how people can't call that a win. These are great posts. Giolito doesn't have to be an ace for this deal to be a win for us. The key IMO is to get at least one #2/#3 caliber starter out of this plus a back of the rotation type or a high leverage reliever. Anything more than that is just a bonus IMO.

QUOTE (maxjusttyped @ Mar 25, 2017 -> 03:28 PM) Spring Training stats are meaningless, but not all aspects of Spring Training are. It is absolutely noteworthy and concerning that his velocity is down 4 MPH from where it was 2 years ago. https://twitter.com/jeffwzimmerman/status/842095102801674241 I'm no expert, but I'm not sure comparing someone's velocity in spring training to their velocity during the middle of the regular season is very fair.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 25, 2017 -> 09:24 AM) The July 2 thing had to be about Robert I would think. You can't go over anymore when the next period begins as far as I know. Here's the full quote from Hahn: It's painfully obvious IMO he's talking about Robert. Obviously I can't say they will land him with any certainty, but I'm very confident they will be one of the most aggressive teams in pursuing him. We have to be sitting on some cash and aren't linked to any of the top guys in the 2017-18 signing class. Throw in the Badler comment and it should be easy to connect the dots here.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 25, 2017 -> 09:26 AM) Lopez is going to have to be pretty amazing if he is all they get for 5 pretty cheap years of Adam Eaton. They need the others to do something to make this trade look good. If Lopez ends up being a 3+ WAR starter, that alone would be a win for us. If you believe our realistic competive window is from 2020 to 2024, then Eaton would have only fit in for two of those years and likely would have been a declining speed-based player by that point. Lopez would be part of our core for at least four of those years and be in his prime. This is why it made sense to move Eaton despite his five years of control, as two and likely three of them would be wasted on a rebuilding club. Having said all that, I'd personally be dissapointed if that's all we got out of an Eaton trade.

I think we should all have some concerns within Giolito's results so far, but it's way too early to jump to conclusions. Even that article spells it out pretty clearly: don't overreact to spring training. Let's give him a few months in Charlotte and see how things progress. One thing that makes me optimistic is how in touch he is with analytics and that he's willing to leverage them to make himself a better pitcher. He specifically mentioned spin rate and how certain mechanical changes could help him in that area. If this kid ends up flopping, it won't be from lack of a effort or thoughtfulness.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Mar 24, 2017 -> 07:43 PM) This. They are gonna try, but they do not have the resources like some other teams. What resources do we not have exactly? Our major league payroll is going to be like 24th in baseball. We've also spent way less on amateur free agents than most of the teams we'd be competing with for Robert. I'd wager we have more cash to work with than most of the teams in the hunt for Robert. It all comes down to whether or not we're willing to endure the penalties that come with signing Robert and based on Hahn's quote the answer is yes.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Mar 24, 2017 -> 07:29 PM) While I have discounted the Sox chances at getting Roberts somewhere in this thread, it is odd and potentially very bad if the Sox are indeed "in" 100% on Roberts. To put all your eggs into one basket is extremely risky. If they don't get him then what ? Then they get table scraps or nothing and that is totally unacceptable at any time but especially now when they have the money to spend on international prospects. Robert is the #2 international prospect in baseball right now. It's not like we're talking about some random 16 year old Dominican here, this kid has a solid chance of being an impact player and in the the not too distant future. I guess I'd much rather go big on one elite talent then sign several of the B & C tier amateur free agents like we have been doing. IMO, our current strategy hasn't been very fruitful, although it's obviously still early with some of these kids. And we'd still be able to sign a bunch of guys for under $300k and trade our excess budget for statewide prospects. To me, it's an easy decision, but I can understand where you're coming from.

QUOTE (daggins @ Mar 24, 2017 -> 11:57 AM) Their rotation is already good and they have decent, quality depth. The top of their rotation is far from good, at least from a certainty standpoint. Yes they have depth, which is what makes a guy like Martes expendable. Quintana completely changes the complexion of their rotation and makes them a much better playoff threat. IMO, the addition of Q would put them neck & neck with Boston & Cleveland.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Mar 24, 2017 -> 11:56 AM) Tucker just turned 20 so it's not like he's blocked over the course of the next 4 years (maybe 3) since he can theoretically come up after they are gone as well or in the last year. That's all true, but the Astros have the makings of a championship roster. You don't pass on addressing what many consider to be their one significant need because of a prospect that might help five years down the road. As a GM, when you have a window you really need to go for it and I think Luhnow is making a mistake if Tucker & Martes are holding back a Quintana deal.