Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 07:27 PM) How about this, in 646 career PAs against right-handed pitching he's got a .322 BABIP, .294 Batting average, .813 OPS with 17 homers. That's a valuable player to have considering he can get 500+ PAs against righties per year. I agree 100% Vance. The BABIP may be high right now, but even if it falls to the .320 to .330 range, he's still an incredibly valuable hitter. I think you have to listen to offers on him, but I would be hesitant in trading him given our lack of left-handed hitters.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jul 14, 2014 -> 07:06 PM) .370 BABIP. Sell high. What would you expect his BABIP to settle at in the long-run?

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jul 13, 2014 -> 09:42 PM) They won't get anyone of that caliber. Maybe a top 100 guy. You can't really trade Ramirez unless you get a really good deal though. Maybe like a top 100-150 type, someone from a system's 6-10 range, and a couple of flyers. I'm not sure I would call that a good deal. I think bare minimum you have to get one top 100 prospect (preferably in the 60 to 75 range) to even consider moving Alexei. Whether or not that's possible I don't know, but positional scarcity should help somewhat. Despite Hawk's insane overhyping, Alexei is a top 10 SS and signed to an affordable contract. You don't just give a player like that away, you've got to get some value in return or else you wait to the offseason when there may be more interested parties.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jul 11, 2014 -> 09:59 PM) Come on, that's ridiculous. He's hot lately, but that doesn't mean we can conveniently forget his poor two months to start the season. He's 22 in high-A with a .729 OPS. I would argue that's not a very good season and his stock should still fall from where it was before the season. If he stays hot the rest of the year you can say he's maybe inside the top 20 or 15, but top 10? No way. To be honest, I was going to put May at #10 on my list earlier this year, despite struggling horribly at the time. The fact is the kid has a great set of tools, amongst the best in the system. He definitely deserves top 10 consideration IMO.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jul 12, 2014 -> 07:18 AM) Heath was scratched "in case the White Sox need him". Wonder if something is close. Ugh, I won't be watching that start. Heath has proven he doesn't belong in the big leagues. Pretty sad this is the best we can do in terms of call-ups. And why wouldn't we just give Surkamp the start?

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jul 11, 2014 -> 06:59 AM) The reality is that left-handed people are amazingly awesome and all you right-handed people are just jealous that you aren't. This is very true...hoping my son is left-handed. Teach him a knuckleball and he'll have a 50/50 shot to make the majors.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 11, 2014 -> 06:25 AM) Why is it OK to have 4 or 5 RHP in a rotation, but not LHP? Just get 5 good pitchers. Who cares what hand they throw with? I think the argument you'll get is that there are a lot more RH hitters, but I agree who really cares. Good pitchers can get both LH & RH hitters out anyways.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Jul 10, 2014 -> 10:18 PM) Yankees are deep in catching prospects make it happen. If the Yankees show interest, that's exactly what you ask for. Filling the catching void should be our #1 priority and few teams have multiple high-end prospects. The Yankees are a perfect match for us, just depends how desperate they are for SP and if they rely heavily on advanced metrics when evaluating Danks.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/23420...rade-For-Boozer Sources indicate that the Chicago Bulls hope to pursue a sign-and-trade with the Los Angeles Lakers involving Pau Gasol and the expiring contract of Carlos Boozer. The window to use the amnesty provision on Boozer officially started on Wednesday night. By trading Boozer in a deal for Gasol, the Bulls would keep their exceptions to target players such as possibly Nikola Mirotic, Trevor Ariza, Shawn Marion, Kirk Hinrich and Ramon Sessions. It is unlikely that a deal with Gasol would be longer than three years. Gasol is reportedly considering the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs and Lakers in addition to the Bulls. Via K.C. Johnson/Chicago Tribune

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 10:35 PM) Marcus is fine. .206/.315/.373 line and that's greatly affected by a BABIP in the .220s. Big thing we should be looking for and we've got is an improvement in his BB:K ratio more in line with what he did at AA last year. Completely agree. I still think he's the guy called up if Beckham is traded.

How much was slot? Seems like he got a lot over. Regardless, this is great news.

Thank god!

f*** you Robin you god damn cocksucker

Come on Jake, Sale's sub 2 ERA is in your hands!

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 08:10 PM) Garcia is not the prototypical outfielder in terms of body type, and his speed will leave him as his body continues to grow and you'll find guy with bodies like his either playing first or DHing. I think that Garcia could be a plus defender at first and maybe even an upgrade at first over Abreu, who's glove hasn't been that bad in his defense. Plus if you have Abreu and Garcia as your 1B/DH it allows to put another athlete in the outfield, which could help out the teams defense. And can he please switch out of #26, it looks horrible on him. What makes you think a guy that has never played 1B could be a plus defender at the position?

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 04:36 PM) Those teams were already constructed with power hitters. If the team did not hit well, it was because the power hitters (having few other worthwhile skills) failed to hit for power due to injury or other. The 2005 team did not win the World Series because of power hitting. They had a slightly subpar offense. 9th out of 14 AL teams. They scored 741 runs. You can get to that mediocre number a million different ways, hitting a lot of home runs is not a requirement. They won the World Series because of their pitching. The 2005 Sox hit 200 HRs, which was 5th in all of baseball.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 04:45 PM) Our payroll next year is basically $4. We should be buying some proven power in FA or in trade. Who are the power hitters that will be available in free agency and will they sign with us? What will it cost to acquire one via trade? Worst case scenario, Viciedo gives us an insurance policy in the event we don't like those answers.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 04:19 PM) Why not? All the park factor does is move the standard for normal for both teams. If we have a bunch of power-less hitters, they'll still hit more homers at USCF than at a neutral park. And that will be equalized by the fact that opponents will too. You're telling me all hitters benefit the same from playing at the Cell? I'll call BS on that.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 04:17 PM) Not seeing the logic here. Park factors act as moving reference points; they don't change the amount of runs required to win. They affect both teams equally. Except we play at our park 81 times and the opposing team does not? Why wouldn't we tailor our offense around the characteristics of our park?

QUOTE (Andy the Clown @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 04:05 PM) We should focus on getting good hitters, power or no. Correct, but we also need a balanced offense. Can't play 81 games at the Cell without multiple power threats.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 02:38 PM) When you're the 4th pick in the draft you better expect some hype. And all experts considered it a huge reach? No one should be surprised that the most advanced hitting prospect in the draft is dominating low A ball. That should have been the expectation. However, until he shows he can succeed against against AA pitching AND can stick at catcher (incredibly unlikely), he's just another 1st rounder and should not be mentioned in the same sentence with guys like Bryant, Russell, & Baez when talking about the strength of the Cubs system.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 03:12 PM) How do you know that. Nieto was a quality A ball catcher last year. .285/.373/.449. Heck that looks better than some Cub top 20s out of A ball. Ready? No. Future catcher? May be. Time will tell. AJ is not a good player anymore and he has a grating personality - that is the downside. And if they do it to sell tickets - that's no better than having a Beanie Baby Sunday. The Sox are trying to get Nieto through the season without destroying his confidence. They know better than anyone he has no business being on a major league right now. Keep giving him his token start each week and then put him in AAA next year to finish his minor league development. There is really no good reason to give Nieto more playing time and watch him get exposed.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 02:54 PM) If they do this...and it's not just for publicity/attendance's sake...then they should release Phegley as well, because that would be a complete slap in the face to him. If we're not trying to compete this year AND we're not trying to develop our future catcher with valuable major league experience, what's the reason for it? Phegley is not going to be our future catcher so why give him playing time? And who cares if he rots in AAA, there are plenty of AAAA caliber players in the same position. We shouldn't be making roster decisions based on what the Josh Phegley's of the world will think.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 02:47 PM) I wouldn't call it nearly that likely, but it's an obviously correct move. Honestly, I think it's all but certain. Even in the unlikely event Hahn isn't a seller, moving Beckham still makes sense if you can get any halfway decent prospect for him. IMO, Semien has a decent chance to out-produce Gordon the rest of the way if given the opportunity.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 02:44 PM) I thought Garcia and Eaton were the new clubhouse leaders? That's not going to be a disruption? Anything's better than Flowers, but weren't we just saying there's no logical point to bringing in veterans who won't be part of our long-term plan and will keep the next Sox catcher from getting valuable experience with our staff, specifically Sale/Quintana/Rodon? If they don't want Phegley to be that next guy, then they should go ahead and cut him and Flowers loose and admit defeat. Will AJ want to come back for just one half season....or will he want it to be 1 1/2 seasons? For the rest of the year, it's fine...but they would be much better off finding another (younger) catcher before Opening Day, 2015. If they bring back A.J., it's only with 2014 in mind. No way they would consider him a 2015 starting option, not unless they struck out on every other catching option on their wish list.