Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 28, 2014 -> 05:03 PM) His last 6 AB Beckham has hit the ball hard 5 times and walked the other. Are you Gordon's agent?

Ravelo is a f***ing beast. Had a slash line of .309/.466/.509/.975 coming into today's game. So far today he's 2-3 with two doubles. He just turned 22 years old which means more and more of those doubles will turn into HRs as his body matures. I'll wait a few more months before I get too excited, but damn has been good this year.

I think Beckham could have used more rehab time: AA slash: .163/.234/.279/.513 (wRC+ 48) Majors: 0-7 with a 42.9% K rate Small sample sizes I know, but if he's not 100% yet then we should have called up Carlos Sanchez if we needed an extra infielder for a week.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 25, 2014 -> 06:43 PM) Hanson through 2, untouched, another K. Buehrle getting shredded/tattoed after leading the majors in ERA at 0.64 coming into tonight...Peavy will get his first win unless he blows a 5-0 lead. Rodon strikes out all three Georgia Tech hitters in the first. 13 pitches, 9 strikes. Strike out #4 to go along with a CS after he walked the clean-up hitter for Tech. And #5. Through 2 innings. 28 pitches, 17 strikes. Least favorite Sox player Ray Olmedo walks against Hanson, to 2nd on a wild pitch. This has got to be the ultimate Caulfield post with bonus points for being in the minor league daily game thread. Hanson => Buehrle => Peavy => Rodon => Hanson

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 25, 2014 -> 04:38 PM) If it's between Rodon and only signing first 5 picks or a lesser prospect and being able to sign everyone...give me Rodon and top 5 picks signed in a heartbeat. If you don't sign your picks, you lose their portion of your bonus allotment. Realistically, teams can only go so much over slot with their first pick under the new draft rules. If we draft Rodon and he wants 1-1 or 1-2 money, then he's going back to college for his senior year. That's the reality of the situation and a legitimate concern with Boras as his agent.

Lol...I think most of us need to go back and redo our HR forecasts.

Would be a good time for Flowers to get that 2nd HR.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 25, 2014 -> 10:51 PM) The Sox were fortunate they were even in the game. Maybe something crazy will happen here. A big Beckham blast. Everyone will say it was lucky, he sucks, but the Sox will win. Dude, give it a rest, Beckham sucks and one HR won't change that.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Apr 25, 2014 -> 01:04 PM) 34% O-Swing! If he keeps that up, I'll fly in to Chicago and have a session on the upper concourse where you guys can all stone me for hating on him so hard. Still waiting for the other shoe to fall, though. Hope he proves me wrong. Eminor3rd, still too early for a stoning, but the results have been extremely promising thus far. Viciedo looks like a completely different hitter this season in terms of his approach. Just from an eye test, you can see him chasing much fewer pitches outside the zone and connecting on more on those pitches within the zone. Glad you were able to provide some stats that support his improved plate discipline. Steverson deserves a lot of credit for his work with Dayan, because it's been nothing short of remarkable.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 25, 2014 -> 07:01 AM) Leesman is the obvious one Wasn't Leesman sent down for Beckham?

QUOTE (Jake @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 10:18 PM) It's early. He's hit very well at every level. Honestly, I don't think his numbers in AAA were that good. He posted a .831 OPS in a great hitters league and a great hitters park. For comparison purposes, Eaton posted a .995 OPS in his full season at Reno. I know there's an age factor at play, but one guy is a scrappy leadoff hitter and the other is a power hitter. There really shouldn't be this significant of a difference in performance between the two. Don't get me wrong, I still like Davidson as a prospect and was 100% in favor of the Reed trade, but I don't think he's proven himself in AAA yet like some people believe.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 10:14 PM) He was a better hitter than Alexei last year despite battling through injuries. He was a better hitter than Alexei in 2012. Complain about Alexei with the same vociferousness. Alexei is a shortstop and plays plus defense at a premium position? Are you really comparing the two?

Micah 3-4 with a 2B & HR. He's been incredible so far this season. Every aspect of his offensive game has been amazing so far other than his stolen base numbers (which aren't bad). I said it last year, but the kid has a chance of being a true impact player. Him, Eaton, & Semien could give us three strong options for the top of our lineup as soon as next year.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 12:06 PM) Again, I never said I don't like Marcus Semien. I just find it hysterical he performs worse than other players who get maligned, and gets praised for it, just because of Gordon Beckham venom. If Gordon Beckham had exactly the same season as Semien, people would be calling for his release. Don't think there aren't Sox "fans" on here that are hoping beyond hope Beckham is 0-4 today with 4 strikeouts so they can tell you how bad he is. They wouldn't be saying, yeah he's on pace to strikeout over 200 times and doesn't get on base much, but those strikeouts are helping the offense. Or they wouldn't be making excuses that he strikes out because he works counts. He's walked 6 times, the same amount as Dayan Viciedo with about 50% more plate appearances. The guy could use some time in AAA, if it comes to that. Personally, I say get him some OF experience. He does have a knack to get the big hit. You could move him around. Playing LF wouldn't be hard on him. I'm not sure what you don't get here. Semien is a f***ing rookie and it's still April last I checked. You are jumping to so many conclusions about him as a player it's crazy. Yes, his K rate is too high and his BB rate is too low. That's going to happen to most young players who are trying to be selective against major league pitching for the first time. Let's give him more than a month before we rip into his performance. All prospects go through growing pains, which is what we're seeing right now. Also, you mention that we'd all be screaming for Beckham's release if he had a season like Semien's, which is hilarious because his career has basically been Semien's current season. The difference is Gordon has had 2,500 plate appearances and Semien is still in his first month. I wonder which player is more likely to improve upon their career numbers?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 07:34 AM) This reminds me of the venom when Ozzie made Crede the 3rd baseman in 2008. People couldn't live without Josh Fields. I wouldn't be surprised to see Semien stay and play 2B, 3B and maybe some OF. A Tony Phillips-like guy. Hawk did mention Tony Phillips during the game yesterday. But as was posted above, besides his clutch homers (I thought there was no such thing as clutch) Semien has shown he probably could use some time in the minors. Why does it always have to come to these ridiculous comparisons? Marcus Semien Josh Fields. Two completely different with completely different skill-sets. Semien displayed elite plate discipline last year in AA. Yes, he is struggling in that department right now like most rookies do initially against major league pitching. However, he's still finding ways to be productive (working up pitch counts, good power, clutch hits) and help the team win games. Also, despite these growing pains, he's only 20 points below Gordon's career OPS of .694. The upside with Semien is legit and we are seeing it in flashes. Beckham has shown over the course of nearly 2,500 plate appearances that he's not very good with the bat. This is a transitional year and we're better off giving playing time to the guy who is expected to be part of the long-term core than the guy who may deliver us a C prospect if all goes well.

f*** a Tiger

My argument for keeping Semien as the starter is that by doing so we can probably get through most of his growing pains this year. That sets up better to be competitive next year and is more valuable IMO than the C prospect we'll potentially get for Beckham if he plays well. Make him a backup, give him some starts at 3B & SS, and hope his versatility and lack of options on the left side of the infield gets you that same C prospect come the deadline.

The real concern here is that they send Garcia down and keep Semien in a reserve role. I still think Beckham should become our backup infielder, but if he does get his starting job back then Marcus needs to be playing everyday in AAA. Two or three starts a week isn't going to help his development.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 23, 2014 -> 06:12 PM) I think we score 6+ runs tonight. Let's get that plus sign now!

If Rienzo minimizes the walks tonight (so far so good), I think we got a real good shot of winning this game. The offense has to keep putting up runs though and a couple more here might take some pressure off Andre.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 23, 2014 -> 06:17 PM) There are a ton teams that are wondering why they didn't bid more for Abreu. But he's got slider bat speed!

It's amazing how much better the entire offense is by having a legit impact bat in the 3 or 4 spot.

f*** yes!

f*** yes!

I think we score 6+ runs tonight.