Chicago White Sox

At what point do you send him down to AAA and have him totally revamp his swing? I was all for giving him one more full season to prove himself, but now I'm thinking spending some down time in Charlotte without the pressure of immediate results may do him some good. Not saying we should make the move now, but if he keeps this up throughout the rest of April and into May it must be considered. The good news if we go this route is we have a guy at AAA (Tyler Kuhn) who can take Beckham's spot on the roster and who can compete with Lillibridge for playing time at 2B.

I didn't see the game yesterday, but my guess is that Dunn was simply stressing a bit since it was his first home game after a historically bad 2011. He still took 30 pitches in his four ABs, which I doubt he did many times last year. IMO, Dunn looks incredibly better this season even if the results aren't there yet. People need to realize that Dunn is going to strikeout a s***load even when he's playing well. I feel like he's seeing more pitches and making better contact than last year. If we give him some time, the power will eventuallh be there. As for Beckham...

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 13, 2012 -> 07:20 AM) Pretty unusual stats for a 19 year old Venezuelan infielder. Let's hope Sanchez keeps up the good plate discipline. That's why I'm so high on him. You rarely see such discipline from a 19 Latin player. I wish I knew how his defense was though. I found it interesting they had him play SS last night and moved Semian over to 2B. If he's even a half-way decent defensive infielder, then he's definitely a top 10 prospect for us right now.

Carlos Sanchez has his OPS up to .858 with a slash of .304/.467/.391. He also has 7 BB's vs 4 K's.

Some members of the media may still be bitter over how bad we underperformed last year. Regardless, I think the hate the Sox are getting is beyond ridiculous. But then again, a huge number of people on this site are sleeping on this team too. There is simply too much talent on this roster to not be in the mix of things this year. People are also underestimating how much damage Ozzie caused last year with his terrible managing. Robin will certainly make some rookie mistakes, but he's going to be worth a couple wins over Ozzie IMO.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Apr 11, 2012 -> 07:30 AM) De Aza - CF Morel - 3B Dunn - DH Konerko - 1B AJ - C Ramirez - SS Fukudome - RF Dayan Viciedo - LF Beckham - 2B Danks - P I really like seeing Fukudome in for Rios against Masterson. Other than Morel batting second, I really like this lineup.

I think the Sox score a decent amount of runs after last night's debacle.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 8, 2012 -> 06:25 PM) And I really don't like Robin juggling the lineup this much. Guys need stability. Think of a good place to put somebody and let them stay there until they prove to you they can't hit. I agree, but it's the beginning of the season and he's seeing how guys look in different roles. Unfortunately, outside of De Aza, Dunn, & Konerko, the rest of the players don't really have obvious spots in the lineup. I have no problem with Robin taking a couple weeks to get the order set right and that requires trying different combinations.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Apr 4, 2012 -> 07:39 PM) I'd be stunned if Olacio starts right away. I'd be more stunned if he doesn't struggle right away. He walked more than a batter an inning in the DSL. I don't care how good your stuff is. You have to throw strikes. Don't forget Jeff Soptic in that extended ST group. I still think the Winston-Salem rotation is much better for that level. We'll see what the top level teams are throwing out. PS here's my Dash preview on FS. I plan to have the Barons' and Knights' previews up tomorrow assuming the rosters are out. You were right. The rotation at Kannapolis to start the season will be Walters, Webb, Snodgress, Parrent, & Vance. Vance wasn't a guy I thought would be a starter, but he posted a hell of a K rate in relief for GF last year.

Carlos Sanchez, especially if he can play a solid 2B. He doesn't turn 20 until June yet he's already displayed a high a walk-rate for a Latin prospect. He may not have a ton of speed, but I like that he's a switch hitter. I think he has the tools to become a very good #2 hitter down the road for us.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Apr 6, 2012 -> 06:43 PM) FWIW Ventura said we might see Lillibridge on Sunday. Yes, Morel and a god awful game but put me in the camp that wants to give him a chance, let's not write him off after 1 game. He needs to relax. Yeah, but he shouldn't be batting second. Honestly, Alexei should probably be in two hole.

I still think that Cabrera at 3B will be a disaster and will offset a lot of the gain going from Martinez to Fielder on offense. Verlander remains the key and I don't see him repeating last year. The question is how close he comes.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Apr 5, 2012 -> 12:37 PM) Ibis started it all...? (b****ed out KW in the parking lot for trading Freddy) I thought it was for firing Oney. Regardless, all this nonsense makes me hate every single Guillen in this world even moreso.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Apr 4, 2012 -> 10:21 PM) Bingo! Shirek is the opening day starter for Charlotte tomorrow. Do you know the rest of the rotation?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 4, 2012 -> 09:20 AM) W-S and B-Ham are the two squads with starting rotations I will be excited to see. I think all five of these pitchers are intriguing. Even Kannapolis could have a pretty good rotation. Snodgress and Olacio are two of our better pitching prospects. Walters and a couple other guys look decent. Plus you got Erik Johnson and Myles Jaye in extended spring training to start the season. I'm guessing they'll head to Kannapolis at some point. A rotation with those five guys would be pretty damn good, especially considering how weak our system is.

QUOTE (CWSpalehoseCWS @ Apr 3, 2012 -> 05:56 PM) I think the only reason Heath was in the rotation was so he could work on pitches. He opened last year in Charlotte's bullpen if I remember correctly. No doubt, but I'm guessing they'd rather give him the innings than Veal.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Apr 3, 2012 -> 03:29 PM) I could see the AAA rotation being Leesman, Veal, Axelrod, Doyle & Olsen. I completely forgot about Olsen, so he should be in the rotation assuming he is still around. I didn't realize Davis was cut, for some reason I though they brought him back. So I guess there's one spot available for Veal or Heath. I went with Heath simply because the Sox tried him as a starter last year for a little bit and they put him on the 40 man roster over a guy like Doyle. Who really knows though, there could be another minor league free agent in the mix that I'm not aware of.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Apr 3, 2012 -> 10:09 AM) Dubler has to be in B'ham, Jared Price & Adam Ricks were released and there is no other catcher in the system that I'm aware of that would be AA ready. I know Silverio had a good run in High A last year, but he'd be a better fit for Winston-Salem than Birmingham. Third base in W-S is going to be manned by Jake Oester and Carlos Sanchez. Unless Silverio has been moved to the outfield, that might work for B'ham. I only have Jose Martinez, Jared Mitchell & Kenny Williams Jr. projected for B'ham. Corey Smith could go to Charlotte, but there's no room for him there Regarding Silverio, they may just be sending him to AA so Sanchez and Ravelo can play everday at A+ and A respectively. Those are two of our younger prospects and should play everyday. Having said that, a move to the OF would make some sense for Silverio and with Short out for the year there may be an opening that needs to be filled.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 3, 2012 -> 09:04 AM) Castro's going to BHam? Are you sure? That'd be a disappointment. Yeah, there's an article on whitesox.com that says that. I could be wrong, but it looks like Charlotte will have the following rotation: Dylan Axelrod Terry Doyle Charlie Leesman Doug Davis Deunte Heath The only other guy that could be a possibility is Donnie Veal and I don't see that happening. Honestly, the only logical reason Castro is starting in AA is to gain some confidence at a pitcher-friendly park. There is simply not enough to block him from going to Charlotte fairly quickly.

Birmingham is going to have a fun rotation to follow with Molina, Castro, Hernandez, and Quintana in it. Not sure who the 5th starter will be, but I'm sure Petricka will be up fairly quickly.

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 2, 2012 -> 07:12 PM) This is the lineup for Tuesday in Houston. May be what Robin has in mind for Friday: 1. De Az CF 2. Morel 3B 3. Dunn DH 4. Konerko 1B 5. Pierzynski C 6. Rios RF 7. Ramirez SS 8. Viciedo LF 9. Beckham 2B God how I hate A.J. batting 5th.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Mar 31, 2012 -> 04:03 PM) Bruney's terrible. Jones may need more minor league time, but he can also K a batter, and he throws hard and has a good curve, from what I've read. Agree, I'll take Jones any day over Bruney, who we all know sucks. I don't think anyone really knows what we'll get out of Jones. KW mentioned that they made Jones a starter a couple years ago to work on his changeup. Therefore, it's somewhat foolish to over-analyze his minor league numbers. I'll trust KW and Cooper's opinion of him. A refined third pitch and working out of the bullpen could make a significant difference for him. Even if he struggles and needs to get sent down, Bruney will be available. I don't see any harm starting the season with him, especially with K rate he has put up this spring.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 30, 2012 -> 12:07 PM) I could see KW being quick to trade Viciedo this year, in all honesty. Why?

I'm just excited to see how the organization responds to no longer having Guillen and his family of f***ups. Not just the players, but the coaching staff and even the front office. I think there should be a lot of positive energy throughout the organization and I'm hopeful this will lead to better results. Plus I'm crossing my fingers that Robin, despite his inexperience, will make better in-game decisions than Ozzie. That f*** cost us so many games last year with his ego-driven decisions. At the very least, Robin should bring some much needed toughness and killer instinct that clearly was lacking under Guillen.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 09:03 AM) That makes it even worse. We are talking about the 25th man on the roster. Looking around MLB we aren't exactly talking about stud players here. Not agreeing or disagreeing, just figured I'd clarify as I was confused a first too.