Chicago White Sox

Alright, enough negativity for one day, time for some optimism. Jose Quintana is on the mound and leads the AL in ERA. With Sale's recent struggles against AL Central opponents, Q is our stopper and today he will do just that. I'm thinking he goes 7 innings, giving up just one run and retaining his ERA title. Jason Coats is healthy and batting second eager to f*** some Tigers up. I predict he comes a HR shy of the cycle today. Jose Abreu has had back-to-back games with multiple hits. He'll make it a streak today by getting two more hits today. And finally for a reach prediction, but I'm going to say Rollins reaches base twice today just prove us haters wrong.

I think the big takeaway here is just how worthless Sands is. He's literally a backup platoon DH who can't even get playing time when we're down two OFs. Rick Hahn please get his ass off this roster.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jun 5, 2016 -> 10:36 AM) I guess now we see why Williams and Hahn refuse to go all in in the international market. What the f*** are you even talking about? You literally b**** now without even providing any context to what it is you're upset about. If you're going to pollute every thread with your non-stop whining, can you least put forth some specifics so it can generate some discussion.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jun 5, 2016 -> 10:18 AM) Latos, Shields, Rodon vs Nats. Shields wearing number 25. So Gonzalez is the odd man out I take it?

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Jun 5, 2016 -> 09:47 AM) What if this is Abreu being Abreu? He's been pretty bad since July/August last year, so perhaps the league has figured him out and this is the player that he will forever be. Then we have no choice but to consider rebuilding. We don't have any potential middle-of-the-order hitters in our system outside of a couple guys in A/rookie ball. And free agency looks ugly the next two years. We better hope he rebounds, because there is really no way of replacing him and adding the other impact bat we're currently lacking.

Rollins and his .487 OPS against RHP gets another start at DH. Why is Jerry Sands on this roster again? As bad as he is against RHP, he's at least young (in theory there's upside) and his OPS is 100 points higher than Rollins'. Right now, Sands is our third string weak-side DH platoon guy. Glad that's deemed more important than a guy who hits left-handed, has speed, and/or has defensive versatility. At least Coats is ok and we don't have to see Shuck batting 5th again. One battle won!

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jun 5, 2016 -> 08:19 AM) Catcher is fine they upgrade DH and SS and Abreu turns back to normal. How is catcher fine? Avila is one of the most embarrassing hitters I've seen in recent Sox history. It's June 5th and he has a total of 4 XBHs & 2 RBIs. He's K'ing at a 32.5% rate. Yes, he draws a lot of walks, but otherwise he is a complete burden to the lineup. Having a hitter like him in the lineup kills the production of the guys batting around him. Then you got Navarro who is one the worst pitch framers in baseball. If he was actually providing offensive value, you could live with that weakness. Unfortunately, he's putting up a .614 OPS at the moment. And that's not going to change much if he continues facing a lot of RHP. The guy is a platoon catcher and right now we're able to use him appropriately because Avila is so fragile and bad. Outside of getting a legit impact bat, catcher is our biggest hole and the spot that will really cost us if we don't address.

100% agree that he's the main problem and this team isn't going anywhere without him being close to the hitter was saw over the past couple years. However, he's not the only problem and it's not like addressing our flaws is mutually exclusive. There is absolutely no reason we shouldn't be addressing all issues as they present themselves. Got a s***ty manager? Fire Robin and give Renteria a shot. Have multiple holes in the lineup? Aggressively explore external options while giving a lesser internal option a look in the interim. Have a s***ty bench? Demote Sands and call up anybody that has an actual skill that provides tangible value. Getting s*** production from the back-end of your rotation? Well here's one they one they were proactive about and actually addressed. Point is Abreu's production will make or break our season, but at the same time, all the other issues combined may have a similar or even greater impact. Our team can't afford to wait until Abreu figures it out to start addressing holes. By then we may well be out of the race. And if Abreu doesn't rebound at some point, well then we have a lot bigger problems on our hands.

In addition to a big bat, we desperately need to upgrade our catcher situation. Outside of Lucroy, what guys are potentially available? I'm really worried this a postion that's going to difficult to addres mid-season.

Also, Shuck better not be batting 5th & Rollins better not be DHing again.

Win or fire Robin!

Not sure why people keep complaining that this move doesn't address the offense. The amount of talent we gave up and money we took on doesn't prevent us from adding a big bat. Hahn is simply addressing holes as opportunities present themselves. If Shields can be an effective #4 starter, then this move was well worth it considering the cost and what we're currently getting out of that spot.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jun 4, 2016 -> 09:15 PM) Hahn mentioned in Dan Hayes' column the potential to receive a comp pick if Shields opts-out. Does he know something about the new CBA that we don't? I don't think they are eligible for a comp pick because he wasn't on the team for a full season. Let's hope there's a upcoming CBA change we don't know about, otherwise, that's incredibly worrisome he doesn't know the current rules.

f*** this s***. I've had enough White Sox baseball for one day. No need to watch our 37 year old, 5 foot seven, 175 pound DH strike out or groundout in the 9th.

Sands needs to rip a double right here!

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jun 4, 2016 -> 05:36 PM) He's just not a CF. That's on Robin. He's also not a #5 hitter, which is on Robin as well. Good thing that won't come to bite is in the ass this inning.

I hate J.B. f***ing Shuck.

It's really sad that the front office thought we could get away without adding another proven bat this offseason. Any of Cespedes, Fowler, or Desmond would look damn good in our lineup right now, but instead we went cheap at both SS & OF and didn't even addres the DH spot. It was buyer's market and we shopped in the clearance section.

It's sad when the thought of scoring 2 runs feels like an insurmountable feat.

Sale can't let this guy in. We give up another run, we lose this game.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 4, 2016 -> 05:13 PM) These at bats are just awful Pathetic half inning right there.

Really need to do something here.

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Jun 4, 2016 -> 05:07 PM) To be fair, the lineup Pelfrey's facing is significantly worse, but hey trade for another pitcher, Hahn! You mean the lineup with J.B. Shuck batting 5th & Jimmy Rollins DHing?!

Please score runs.

Motherf***er. Offense needs to score and do so quickly.