Chicago White Sox

Yikes at Rollins batting 6th. The scary part is if you scratch May (who is batting 9th), this very well could be our lineup in NL parks. Hahn better stop f***ing around and add an OF or else we'll need big rebounds from over half of our regulars.

Good thing we got J.B. Shuck on the bench or we'd be in a lot of trouble!

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 5, 2016 -> 08:34 AM) Your team base running is good if your players are good base runners. Coaches aren't going to magically make them better or faster Who do you think calls for the majority of stolen base attempts? I seriously doubt most players have the green light at all times (and if they do that falls on the coaching staff). If Mark Parent was that guy, getting a new bench coach could help significantly.

I would take a chance on Bruce if it were a pure salary dump. No way am I giving up talent for him though.

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Mar 4, 2016 -> 10:48 AM) I'm driving the Jerry Sands bandwagon. The guy at least looks like he could do some damage. I'm all for Sands being LaRoche's platoon partner, but I think we're jumping the gun a bit when talking about him being an everyday starter.

J.B. Shuck in CF for any extended period of time would be a complete disaster. What the f*** are these guys thinking?!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 2, 2016 -> 07:47 PM) Link That's hilarious as me and my wife semi joke about that all the time.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 2, 2016 -> 08:28 AM) Sands has a lifetime .846 OPS vs. LHP. Not a bad guy to give LaRoche a break. I'm with you, he basically is Raburn. Yeah, I feel ok with him as LaRoche's platoon partner. The problem is LaRoche himself is a question mark and Sands really isn't an everyday option if Adam struggles again. It's the reason why we're much better off with Avi starting the season in that backup/platoon role and serving as LaRoche's insurance policy. If we're forced to make Schuck a starter at any point this season, then we're in a lot of trouble.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Mar 2, 2016 -> 08:10 AM) Eaton is a 3-3.5 WAR CF. Trayce Thompson is a 4th OF. This is absurd. And for all the b****ing about not selling high, the Sox were able turn a guy with a spotty minor league track record into a main piece for an all-star 3B. The Sox sold ridiculously high on Thompson, not sure why GreenSox can't see this.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Mar 1, 2016 -> 05:19 PM) They likely traded for him to play 3rd; then they work out a deal for Frazier. That trade, modest cost that it was, really was unnecessary once Frazier was here. (aside from obvious preference for veterans). Sox FO reacts with no real plan; they just aren't creative. I wanted to trade Eaton (to shore up 3rd or some other position) because I think we saw a career offensive year and his defense isn't good and the rest of our OF defense is bad. And we had a more than capable CF on the roster. Lawrie > Sanchez and trading Eaton would have been a terrible idea.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Mar 1, 2016 -> 05:23 PM) Avi's D is his D; but it wouldn't surprise me if he hits pretty well. The list of players who have finally developed at 26-28 is pretty stout (donaldson, e.g.). Avi takes walks and hits the other way; if you can do those things, which are hard, you should be able to do other things that would help and are actually easier for most players. Avi Garcia has a completely different hitting profile than Josh Donaldson and he's unlikely to take another big step forward unless he finally learns some plate discipline (which is unlikely IMO).

This article really scares me...starting to think no OF help is coming.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Mar 1, 2016 -> 07:26 AM) If anyone didn't see John Oliver on Donald Trump the other night, it was pretty fantastic: Absolutely hilarious...thanks for sharing.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Feb 29, 2016 -> 01:13 PM) That's not true, it was a story about a man running away from tragedy, a tragedy that saw him fail his wife and daughter. And when he's at his lowest he stumbles upon Furiosa and the wives. The movie talked about mental illness and had a very strong feminist overtones and imagery. It had a ton of depth. Maybe we didn't see the same movie. Dude, GTFO with this nonsense. The plot was almost non-existent and anyone saying otherwise is spitting some serious art school bulls***. I enjoyed the movie a ton, but let's not pretend it is something that it's not. Also, Max never had a daughter, so I'm not sure where you're getting that part of the plot from unless you're assuming that little girl haunting him throughout the film is actually his daughter.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 28, 2016 -> 04:47 PM) There are likely 4 bench spots. One goes to a catcher, the other a 4th OF (almost assuredly JB Shuck). That leaves two open utility roles. Sanchez won't likely win the starting SS job, but if you add up the chances of them carrying 2 UTIL INF's (which is substantial) plus the chance one of Saladino or Rollins is gone and/or hurt (which are smaller but possible), I'd say 80% is a good number. That was my approach, anyway. I don't see them carying two utility IFs. There is a much greater need to have a guy who can platoon with LaRoche than two guys who can cover the entire IF. Right now, I'd go with Saladino, Schuck, & Sands or Olt, but I'm still expecting another OF to be added which would force Avi into that last spot. I fully expect Sanchez to begin the season in AAA if he's not traded beforehand.

QUOTE (AustinIllini @ Feb 28, 2016 -> 01:03 PM) Of all the "I don't want to play this position" samples, Schwarber may be the worst one. He must know he's not an everyday major league catcher. That happens to catchers all the time. And as far as regression goes, the Cubs are stacked to the point where one bad season isn't going to derail the plans for the future. They aren't really stacked when it comes to pitching though. And while I think the Cubs are all but a lock for a playoff spot, I could see their rotation go from a strength to a weakness fairly quickly. Increasing Arrieta's IPs by 90 last year was a risky move and one that could really bite them in 2016.

Not that it really means anything, but Scott Gregor believes our roster is pretty much set.

Nice value signing for the Rangers. If Desmond has a good year in 2016, they'll get that pick back in the following year's draft. I'm ok with the Sox passing on this deal, but this makes it even more important to land a guy like Austin Jackson at bare minimum.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Nov 21, 2014 -> 07:53 PM) To me, this move signals an even stronger possibility that one Mr. Matt Kemp will be the outfielder we eventually get from the Dodgers. Kemp isn't so great defensively himself these days, so with us he would become the DH against LH starters, with a soon-to-be-named RH 4th outfielder starting in LF on those days. Then, in two years, Kemp slides over as the full time DH. Meanwhile, the middle of the order for the next couple of years would feature Abreu, LaRoche, Kemp and Garcia. Not too terribly shabby! I hate bumping old threads, but I also hate when posters rip a move with the benefit of hindsight. Thad, I got no beef with you, but you've been ripping Hahn quite a bit lately on the LaRoche & Melky moves. And based on the post above, it doesn't appear you were against the LaRoche signing at the time. In fact, I'd say you were mildly excited based on that "not too shabby!" comment.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 25, 2016 -> 03:31 PM) The lefty candidates would be Ethier, Reddick and Bruce. I agree with you fathom, either they're determined to find a left-handed power bat to slot between Abreu & Frazier or they're still high on Avi turning the corner. I'm still hopeful it's the former as it would explain a lot of the rumors/quotes but overall lack of action to date.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Feb 25, 2016 -> 08:09 AM) The Sox led the AL in fWAR last year as a starting staff. That was with Danks/Samardzija in it. I think the White Sox and Indians have the best rotations in the AL. That is a strength that is being underrated quite a bit in my opinion. We also had a historically bad position player group. Frazier & Lawrie are nice upgrades, but we're still relying on too many players to rebound/improve next year. Melky, LaRoche, & Avi combined for a -2.8 fWAR and we haven't added one player to push them for playing time. Saladino and/or Rollins are likely an upgrade at SS, but the question is how much? Same goes for C. Our team is better and I think we can possibly contend as is, but a lot of things would have to go right, including near perfect health from our pitching staff. Adding a guy like Jackson just makes too much sense, as he provides more value to the team than his indivual WAR contribution. He allows Eaton to slide over to RF, improving the OF defense significantly. He also allows Avi to start the season in a bench/platoon role pushing LaRoche and possibly Melky for playing time. Honestly, I don't know what Hahn is thinking if he doesn't add another OF, because this division is very winnable with one more move.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Feb 24, 2016 -> 05:14 PM) Frazier replaces Gillaspie, Olt and Beckham. Lawrie replaces Sanchez and Micah. Avila/Navarro replaces Soto and Magic Glasses. Rollins/Saladino replaces a well respected but aging Alexei. Latos was added for some ratation depth ( we'll see how the knee holds up). Jones is back and 100% Trying times for Sox fans everywhere! Ugh, I hate posts like this. We're coming off a poor season with a position player group who was historically bad and you're actually ripping fans that aren't satisfied with the addition of one impact player and two other solid positional upgrades. No doubt we're better, but the question is are we good enough to be legit contenders? The AL Central is going to be incredibly competitive next year and it is easily could come down to a game or two. Starting both Avi Garcia & Adam LaRoche in the same lineup without anyone pushing them for playing time is a recipe for disaster, especially when you consider how flush with OF talent the market was. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if the front office didn't have the means to pull off a complete offseason, then they should have gone in a different direction and took advantage of the insane pitching prices. Right now, the Sox have half-assed and I don't get why you constantly applaud them for that. Hopefully they add another OF in the next few weeks and make this debate pointless, but until then let's stop ripping Sox fans who aren't simply happy with "better" than last year.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Feb 24, 2016 -> 01:03 AM) Why aren't you guys buying your games on Amazon Prime or Costco? $48 and $49.99 respectively. If you buy a lot of games, then Best Buy's Gamers Unlocked program is the way to go. New games are 20% off ($48) plus you get $10 in rewards certificates if you also pre-buy the game.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 23, 2016 -> 06:39 PM) I said it in another thread but Hahn did Avi no favors with his comments after the Frazier deal. Also I dislike LaRoche way more than Avi. Avi always hustles....LaRoche just sucked last year. I remember the interview, but what specifically did Hahn say? And it's entirely possible that Hahn wants to move on from Avi but KW wants to give him one last shot. Obviously there is no way of really knowing, but if you were at SoxFest I didn't get the vibe the organization was down on Avi. In fact, Hawk said Avi was the player he was most excited to see in 2016.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Feb 23, 2016 -> 06:29 PM) Yeah, I don't get it. If they sign Jackson for peanuts I get it. If they trade for Ethier without giving any of our big prospects I get it. If Avi is still our primary RF come opening day then don't get it. Fowler wasn't perfect by any means, but he would have been a significant upgrade over Avi and that's all we really need to have a good shot at winning the division.