Chicago White Sox

Gordon Wittenmyer was on the Score this morning and said the Cubs were looking for a young starter, under team control for multiple years with a good contact that could start a game 3 in the playoffs. Quintana meets all those critieria and would be an elite #3 starter for them for years to come. I still think they are the best match for us, although I know it's incredibly unlikely the two teams make a deal.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 2, 2015 -> 06:20 PM) Could be a big story here (Samardzija traded or Danks sent to bullpen?) or maybe he's just fatigued. Nothing on twitter so far. Danks is the starter tomorrow, so this may have some legs.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jul 2, 2015 -> 10:36 AM) http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.jsp?c...mp;ymd=20150702 Charlotte- Johnson Birmingham- Jaye & Blackmar Winston Salem- Clark Kannapolis- TBA Great Falls- Banks AZL- TBA If Johnson has another strong start tonight, I'd like to see him replace Danks next time around. We probably won't see him until Shark (or Quintana) is traded, but I really think calling him up to replace Danks in the near future is the right move.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jul 2, 2015 -> 09:49 AM) I just hate how everyone is acting like they have a clue as to whether or not RV is even a good or bad manager. We know he isn't great tactically, but you know who is even worse? Mike Matheny, and his team has the best record in baseball. So that tells you how much difference that makes. Beyond tactics, none of us know anything. You're all clamoring to fire RV because you want someone to blame, period. You have NOTHING to suggest that he's responsible for the failure of the team. The guy you're blaming for instilling poor fundamentals is the same guy you praised for instilling great fundamentals like two years ago. If he's fired, it will be a meaningless move that panders to the pitchfork mob. If that satisfies you, whatever, but it doesn't actually have anything to do with the team. This message board should be better than that. So none of us "have a clue as to whether or not Robin is a good or bad manger", but if he's fired "it will be a meaningless move that panders to the pitchfork mob". So in other words, you're arguing that managers are essentially worthless, which I find to be a laughable notion. Just because you're unable to quantity a manager's value, doesn't mean they provide none.

OVAH!

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 30, 2015 -> 10:36 PM) Damn thay just bought him another 3 years of good will for the club. Yup, I hate whining about a positive outcome, but Flowers is literally the last guy I want to see put us ahead with a HR.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 30, 2015 -> 10:31 PM) Left after top of the 10th. This offense is so disappointing. Dude, you just missed a Tumbleweed blast!

How soon after this run scores does Caulfield post something about the "Cardinal Way"?

Oh great, the dreaded lead-off walk. Would have preferred the meatball to the slow death it looks like we're about to get.

I hate to say this, but it just seems like one of those games where Duke serves up a meatball to end it.

Eaton's had himself a game.

Good eye LaRoche. This at-bat is pretty much the game IMO.

Alright Spanky, slap one down the line and drive Carlos in.

Lol...Sanchez is due for a HR says Hawk. Who bets a weak grounder to 2B?

It's really sad when you go 8 innings, give up 1 run, score a run yourself, and still can't come away with a f***ing win.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 30, 2015 -> 09:24 PM) It's the opposite, chris hasn't been on their level in anything other than the strikeout title, but I'm too tired to fight this one so I'll just link to the stats. Lol...at least put some effort in if you're going to be a whiny little b****. For someone who constantly quotes fWAR like it's the bible, I'm shocked your using bWAR & ERA as proof that Sale hasn't been on their level. Chris has the second lowest FIP & lowest SIERA in baseball. He's arguably been the best starter in baseball and anyone saying otherwise is simply looking for reasons to complain about this team.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Jun 30, 2015 -> 08:29 PM) Sox should dump Flowers, bring up Kottaras to back up Soto. Davidson will never be as valuable a hitter as Gordon Beckham and obviously not in the same league defensively. That's not good. Maybe, maybe he's useful on a big league roster as a platoon 3B/1B/DH. That would require first getting the left-handed 3B who is better than Gillaspie. If they haven't dumped Alexei, I'd rather they bring up Saladino to get at bats and man 3rd base. He might actually provide value by playing SS/2B in the future. Edit: Kottaras with 6 home runs in 22 games and an OBP close to .500. Trade LaRoche. Agree with everything above. Kottaras is worth a look IMO.

Lol...Sale might as well try to steal 2B if he wants some run support tonight.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 30, 2015 -> 01:12 PM) The optimism last offseason didn't work out so well for those who had it. You continue to speak as if the season has already ended. Why don't you wait and see what happens over the next 180 days before you pollute every thread with your non-stop gloom & doom. Despite your best efforts to convince us otherwise, the majority of the offense is underperforming. There will certainly be some guys who improve in the 2nd half, the question is to what extent. Might as well wait and see where Eaton, Avi, Melky, & LaRoche end up before declaring the franchise is as good as dead. Without question, the outlook should not be nearly as negative as you're conveying simply due to the pitching talent within the organization.

QUOTE (Real @ Jun 29, 2015 -> 06:28 PM) yup, we can't groom young hitters, haven't been able to in decades this is a fundamental problem in this organization and it's actually pathetic that it hasn't been fixed yet, embarrassing really I really think this idea gets exaggerated to some extent. Go ask the A's if we can develop young hitters. They'll say thanks for Semien & Phegley, unless you honestly believe they retaught them how to hit in spring training. IMO, our problem isn't primarily grooming young players, but rather taking too many athletes and not having a clue on how to teach them to be disciplined hitters. Developing hitters is obviously a weak-point of the system, not arguing that, but we don't take a lot of position players high in the draft and when we do they are usually of the toolsy/raw variety. The few times we've taken more polished hitters, we've been somewhat successful (still not great).

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Jun 29, 2015 -> 06:12 PM) He has played basically one full season with the Sox (via parts of 3 seasons). In 153 games he has hit .272/.317/.414/.731 with 19 HR 79 RBI 42XBH 10 SB (in 18 tries). Those numbers at the plate look fine to me for a 22 - 24 year old during a period of time where the average MLB OPS is about .708. Garcia's usefulness as a starting outfielder will hinge on whether or not he can take his hitting up a notch and his fielding up 2 or 3 notches. As he currently stands, he is not proven to be a building block for the future but his athleticism allows for the possibility he'll improve in the OF in a way that Viciedo was never going to and his approach at the plate makes him more hitter than just whiffing slugger. Tank was given 3 full seasons to try to improve. We'll see where Garcia's at after his first full one is done in September (yes, September, I'm saying it here, this team will not make the playoffs). While I agree with everything you say here, I do think we need to find a way to get him out of RF. He's just too much of a defensive liability out there and I don't see him ever improving enough for that to change. Trading LaRoche would clear the DH spot and allow for Avi & Melky to rotate between LF & DH. Not ideal IMO but better over our current alignment if you can find a plus defender for RF (Thompson or trade/free agency).

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jun 29, 2015 -> 05:51 PM) Oh great. He quit on the team he's dead to me. The day Ozzie brought up his contract when we were heading into a critical series against Detroit was the day I knew with all certainty he was no longer the guy for the job. Dude is a selfish ego-maniac and should never be welcomed back into the organization in any official capacity.

I've never been a fan of Robin as manager and this season reinforces my belief he needs to go. It's not his fault for the gaps in talent on the roster, but I think he should be held accountable for the magnitude of suckiness (sorry Balta, but the offense is not THIS bad), certain drivers of suckiness (1st inning woes and consistently poor base-running, defense, & fundamentals), & the general lack of counter-measures (guys rarely benched for poor play, lineup changes infrequent, etc). On top of that, I simply think he's a poor in-game manager. Maybe he's comes off better behind closed doors, but ultimately I can come up with no justification for keeping him beyond this season. Best-case scenario he's just another guy at the manager spot, and we should at least attempt to do better than that. There's literally no downside of going in a different direction IMO.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Jun 29, 2015 -> 09:02 AM) I love this post. To expand - Buddy Bell's job isn't high profile enough for Rongey to have to fend off angry callers about him, but he should be first out the door. Rongey had him on White Sox Weekly this Saturday and my god does he sound clueless. He literally offered no insights into any of our minor leaguers, but rather spit out high-level nonsense like "a lot of these guys can't do two things at once". He seems like one of those guys that pretends to have all the answers but simply spews a bunch of BS. Without question, Buddy Bell should be the first one to go if we shake up this organization.

Montas with a strong start so far.