Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 13, 2014 -> 01:06 PM) The problem is when Eaton is out, the Sox don't really have a leadoff hitter on their roster. So no matter who is there, when a game is lost and the guy leading off doesn't have a good game, Robin is an idiot. Nope, batting the worst hitter on the team leadoff is incredibly stupid. I don't care if there isn't a clear answer to the leadoff problem, what is clear is that Luery is not the solution. Unfortunately, White Sox managers equate speed to leadoff hitting and have done this same bulls*** for years. But please continue to justify every stupid decision Robin makes.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ May 13, 2014 -> 07:19 AM) He should rip himself for batting Leury Garcia 1st. When in doubt, speedy guy on bench = leadoff hitter.

HS pitchers typically have the highest bust rates of 1st round picks, but if Rodon is gone I'm not sure how you justify passing on Aiken or Kolek when there is such a disparity in talent between and the next tier of college arms. Regardless of your risk tolerance for HS arms in general, the decision seems like a no-brainer to me if Rodon is off the board when we pick.

I'm sorry if this offends someone, but seriously suggesting that Jared Mitchell gets called up should be a bannable offense on this board.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 11, 2014 -> 10:57 AM) Think big. You can't get an ace if you're the White Sox via trading prospects without dealing our system away, and we're not going to be able to afford Scherzer/Lester/Shields and Masterson's not quite a 1 either. If you look back over the last 10-15 years, Contreras, Peavy and Freddy Garcia are the only "aces" we've acquired from outside the organization via trade. All of them were brought in under unique circumstances (Contreras failing against the Red Sox and in NYC pressure cooker, Peavy because of salary cutting, Garcia because of the relationship with Ozzie). Among the other "aces," Buehrle and Sale were drafted, along with Gio Gonzalez. Now is not the time to be timid. We missed on Tanaka, and we're unlikely to be in a position to outbit everyone on the next Japanese/Korean superstar unless our attendance picks up dramatically. Dude, I don't know where you come up with some of these narratives. We're going to have a ton of money available next offseason, way more than this past winter when we were hard after Tanaka. To say we can't afford James Shields is ridiculous and pretending our attendance this year will have a major impact on next year's offseason is also crazy. The Sox will spend big money if they think they're close. Given how this year is going, I think it's probable we'll major players in free agency.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 10, 2014 -> 07:44 PM) In my mind, Montas and Danish are the top two pitching prospects in the system. Was literally about to post this exact comment.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 8, 2014 -> 09:17 PM) Nathaniel Stoltz also had a comment about him regarding he saw him hit one ball hard in the few games he saw him, and it was foul. Seems like injuries might have prevented Barnum from ever getting his minor league career on track. Too early to write him off. I think the Winston-Salem may have been too aggressive, so let's see how he does in the 2nd half of the season.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 8, 2014 -> 11:05 PM) The velocity story with Johnson seems to be becoming a big issue Yeah, it's definitely worrisome. He's so damn important to our future as we don't have any other top flight pitching prospects in our system. A couple guys could get there, but they're far major league ready. Johnson at his old velocity paired with Sale & Quintana gives you something to build around. Without him we're looking at a lot of question marks.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ May 8, 2014 -> 01:26 PM) Theo is really smart and I agree with what he is doing as well. He will get it turned around if the owner doesn't get in his way. Bernstein isn't wrong about that praise. Rick Hahn is another smart, forward thinking GM that Bernstein has applauded many times. Bernstein has stated many times how good of a job Hahn has done and how the team is in good hands. Go on hearing what you'd like to hear though. I think you're one of the more intelligent posters on this site, but I find your faith in Theo to be unfounded. He's rebuilding the Cubs in small market fashion because he no longer has the loopholes that were available to him while in Boston. I'm not very impressed by that, look at some of the moves Rick Hahn has made in the past 12 months. He's been able to add a significant amount of young talent to our offense in a short period of time by being both creative and willing to take calculated risks. I have not seen Theo do much during his tenure so far that made me say "Wow, that was a smart move". Don't get me wrong, I think Theo is a very smart guy, but so are the vast majority of GMs in baseball right now. His plan may end up working, but it's entirely dependent on a few minor leaguers becoming major league stars. As good as those prospects are, that's a big if IMO. And even if that happens, he'll have to compete in the division that has one of the best run franchises in baseball. To say that Theo "will get it turned around" with this much confidence is incredibly premature. That's the same issue with Bernstein as he honestly believes Epstein's plan is foolproof.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ May 7, 2014 -> 11:24 PM) Give me one of Rodon or Aiken and I'll be very happy. Yup, at this point the best case scenario IMO is if the Astros take the local kid in Kolek. I still prefer Rodon over Aiken, but I would be more than happy with either of them.

Man, we really need Eaton back in the fold. Beckham & De Aza are never going to get on base enough to maximize Abreu's value.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 7, 2014 -> 07:49 PM) He is fine. They have hit 1 ball hard. You don't have to throw 95 to be effective. Come on dude, even you have to admit it's a bit troubling that his FB has actually decreased from last year. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Bernstein was quoting numbers that Danks had the slowest fastball among all qualified starters. If this velocity is here to stay, then we're looking at a #4 caliber starter best case scenario, which is not what we're paying for. I was all for resigning him too, but anyone being objective has to be concerned with how he's looked so far this year.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ May 6, 2014 -> 09:57 PM) Downs' ERA down to 6.17 Stop tempting the baseball gods by quoting these types of stats mid-inning!

Honestly, with the way Beck has been pitching this year, Danish probably will overtake him and become our #2 pitching prospect after whoever we take in the draft. I think that Anderson, Hawkins, & Micah Johnson should all be above him without question. You can make a case for a couple other guys depending on how the rest of their seasons go (Thompson, May, Sanchez, Ravelo), but right now I'd predict him coming in at #5.

The more I think about it, the Sox have to take the best pitcher available at #3, regardless of signability concerns. I know that drafting Rodon is a risk, but if he's the top guy on our board in terms of talent we really need to roll the dice on him. I don't think we'll be drafting in the top 5 again anytime soon and it's absolutely critical we get a front of the rotation starter of this pick. If Rodon has the best chance of becoming that player, then just take him at #3 and force him to pass up millions of dollars right now if he's really demanding 1-1 money.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ May 2, 2014 -> 07:11 AM) Been playing Windwaker a lot lately. Love it. Download only unfortunately. System does support external hd I believe if that's an option. QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 2, 2014 -> 07:15 AM) Time to get an external HD or just trade in/up for the Kart bundle I'll never know why Nintendo ever came out with a 4 GB in the first place. I typically only download virtual console games, so I didn't think it would matter, but you seriously can't download anything. NES Remix honestly eats the entire storage. Paying for an external HD eats away a big chunk of the benefit of a free game, but maybe I can find something cheap. I'd really like to get Wind Waker for free.

I think Salazar is starting for the Indians.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Apr 30, 2014 -> 09:47 AM) Sup Kyle Nintendo is giving away a free game with Mario Kart 8. Windwaker HD, NSMBU, Pikmin 3 or Wii Party U. Europe list is 8 games long so I hope they expand the American Offering. Either way I don't have Pikmin so I'll get that too. Great deal. Disc or download? My 4GB system can barely handle NES Remix, so if this is download only then I'm f***ed and so are many others.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 29, 2014 -> 10:43 PM) Holaday didn't get the squeeze sign. And Ventura isn't going anywhere during a rebuild so anyone who continues to think that's going to happen should just give up now. I'm not blaming Ventura for the loss, but putting a player in a position to fail should go against the manager. Can't just blame the player for a lack of execution.

As bad as Tank has been at times, he's still new to the position. I won't completely right him off yet, but he does profile better at DH obviously.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 29, 2014 -> 10:36 PM) So that's managing and not execution? Classic. Maybe I'm wrong here, but Semien hasn't looked good on bunts. A good manager needs to know what his players are capable of. Therefore, that play was both bad managing and bad execution.

I thought that last "stretch" by Hawk may just push it out.

De Aza, Flowers, Semien. Gotta cross our fingers here.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Apr 29, 2014 -> 10:24 PM) Good comeback for Belisario who has allowed zero runs in his last 7.2 IP Why the f*** would you post this s***?

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Apr 29, 2014 -> 10:22 PM) How many times does Dayan not only not catch it, but also bobble it trying to pick it up? I swear every time he doesn't reach a fly ball he takes a good 3 seconds to pick the f***ing ball up That's what pissed me off too. Allowed Jackson to get into 3B easily.