Chicago White Sox

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.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 08:10 AM) How dare the White Sox disrespect the great Dan Johnson and his minor league contract! I think it was more a shot at the Sox for having a player as pathetic as Dan Johnson in the roster mix up to a week before the season starts than a respect thing.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 27, 2012 -> 07:46 AM) Our pitching staff might well come out of the gates strong...but there are 3 of those guys who might start being gassed at about 100 innings. The only one who should have a chance of getting gassed that early is Sale. I'm not concerned with Peavy's arm strength, I'm concerned about his ability to stay healthly. If he can avoid the serious injuries that have plagued him since joining the Sox, he should be able to pitch 200 innings IMO. Humber should also have a good chance at 200 innings. Somewhat off-topic, but we've got four 1st round picks in our rotation. I wonder how many teams can say that.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Mar 26, 2012 -> 10:12 PM) I would agree, with the added wildcard. It's not pitching nor defense that concerns me, it's scoring runs. Scoring runs is definitely my main concern too, but a productive Dunn changes the entire complexion of our offense and his spring has been very encouraging.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 26, 2012 -> 09:39 PM) I'm not as optimistic as you, but that's why I'm suprised so many people pick the Sox to finish last. They could arguably have the 2nd best rotation in the division. SI picked us 5th and predicted less than 70 wins. I'm just not sure how's that's possible with our rotation. We'd have to suffer a couple serious injuries to our rotation suck that bad IMO. We just have too much talent and potential otherwise to be that bad.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 26, 2012 -> 06:40 PM) Rotation is official: Danks, Peavy, Floyd, Sale, Humber (shocker) Rangers will start Darvish on April 8th or 9th. 8th is the Sox on Sunday Night Baseball vs Floyd. I'm really excited about our rotation. If they can stay healthy, I think we'll have a chance at making the playoffs.

Could Nate Jones actually make the opening day roster?

This is just another example why every newspaper article and tweet does not require its own thread.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 20, 2012 -> 10:28 AM) Kind of surprised McPherson survived longer than Martinez or Kuhn. The battle lines now are... BULLPEN DEFINITE: Thornton, Crain, Ohman, Reed BULLPEN CANDIDATES (2 or 3 - I bolded my prediction of who makes the roster): Axelrod, Bruney, Jones, Santiago, Septimo, Stewart, Stults BENCH DEFINITE: Lillibridge, Flowers BENCH CANDIDATES (2 or 3, probably 2): Escobar, Gallagher, Johnson, McPherson, Olmedo, Saladino, Danks This means there isn't a true backup for CF, but De Aza and Rios can both play there. Everything else is covered pretty well. Sounds like Santiago is pretty much a definite based on Merkin's article. Also, I really hope Bruney doesn't make the opening day roster.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 12, 2012 -> 01:31 PM) Beckham in particular...needs to hit his way there, after his last 2 seasons. But if it's between him and A.J., I'll take a chance on the guy who might be able to fill the role well rather than the guy we already know can't.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Mar 12, 2012 -> 09:01 AM) The number one characteristic or ability of the number two batter is to take pitches. This enables the lead-off hitter to see a pitch or two and get a read on the pitcher before deciding to steal a base, as well as give the number three hitter on the on-deck circle and the clean-up guy in the hole a chance to observe a few pitches before coming to the plate. With that said, you could arguably make the case that AJ is the last person on this team who ought to be hitting in that slot. He swings at the first pitch about as often as anyone in the league, and while he does make a lot of contact, often times it's weak, resulting in easy grounders to the right side. So if DeAza continues to be the get-on-base type of player he was last season, you'd hate to waste those efforts with a guy who could erase things in the blink of an eye with a 4-6-3 double play. Just my opinion, but for me, it's 'no way, AJ!' as the number two hitter. Having the top of the lineup take a lot of pitches also helps wear the opposing starting pitcher out. Honestly, there is no good reason to have A.J. in the two hole. There may not be a clear cut choice at this point, but clearly A.J. has none of the traits you'd like in a #2 hitter. I'd probably just start the season with Beckham as the #2 hitter.

Right now, I see these guys competing for the last 3 bullpen spots: LR (RH) - Axelrod/Stewart, with the loser starting in the season in the Knights' rotation. LR (LH) - Santiago/Leesman/Veal/Hernandez, with Santiago the early favorite. MR (RH) - Infante/Marinez, although a spring standout could land this spot.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Mar 4, 2012 -> 03:01 PM) What's the MLB record for GIDP...?! Yup, I think GIDPs will be a huge issue with top half or so of the lineup.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 3, 2012 -> 03:45 PM) AJ's still a crappy option as the 2nd hitter, but the people need to earn it otherwise and prove that there's a better option. The lineup gets very right handed from 3-9, especially if Dunn struggles at all. Viciedo, Ramirez, Morel, and Beckham might never see a left handed reliever. I agree that A.J. is a crappy #2 hitter. I want some OBP from that spot and A.J. has a career .324 OBP. Then you have Rios in the 3 hole sporting a career .323 OBP. Plus those two guys hit into a ton of double-plays. So my question is who is actually going to be on base when Konerko gets up to bat? I'm glad De Aza is penciled into the leadoff spot right now, but I'm not feeling the rest of the top of the lineup. I know there aren't a ton of great options on our team, but I'd be willing to roll the dice on Beckham in the 2 hole. Not sure about the 3 & 4 spots, but I'd most likely just use some combination of Konerko and Dunn.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 1, 2012 -> 03:10 PM) Scott Merkin ‏ @scottmerkin Don't completely rule out Nestor Molina for a bullpen job, although he really would have to be dominant over next month That would be f***ing stupid. No matter where Molina begins the season, which should be AA, he needs to be starting. He needs to build up arm strength and be positioned to replace Peavy in the rotation in 2013.

Linebrink.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 29, 2012 -> 09:21 PM) I kind of liked Jerry's quotes in that story. We might suck, but I can't argue with his reasoning of how the team conceivably could be good. As long as you have starting pitching, you always have a chance. I have no idea how our staff will ultimately turn out, but a rotation of Danks, Peavy, Floyd, Sale, & Humber has a chance to be very, very good. That's why I think it's foolish to completely rule out the Sox next year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 24, 2012 -> 01:45 PM) I almost want to throw the "I'd ban myself" cliche post for Morel hitting 30 homers in a season. I just can't see it happening in the game today. Only four 3B hit 30 HRs last year, so expecting Morel to do so is crazy. However, the position is less of a power position now as evident by no other 3B hitting more than 17 last year. If Morel can get hit 20 with his defense he'd be incredibly valuable.