Chicago White Sox

Can we please stop using WAR as the be-all-end-all? If we add McCann & Abreu, we don't simply add their respective WARs to our 2013 W/L record, we'd be changing the entire complexion of the offense and that would be worth a lot more than the sum of the individual parts.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Sep 14, 2013 -> 10:33 AM) When the alternative is adding to this team from the available free agents, yes. So B.J. Upton at $15M/per over the next 4 years plus a B prospect makes us better than Abreu at $12M/per over the next 5 years?

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Sep 14, 2013 -> 10:22 AM) You're missing the point. It's to rebuild the team correctly. Throwing away our financial flexibility on some B prospects is the correct way to the rebuild the team?

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Sep 14, 2013 -> 10:03 AM) I hope there are opportunities to use their money over the next couple of years to take on bad contracts for prospects instead of signing any free-agents. Seems like a fool-proof strategy to rebuild this team quickly.

QUOTE (Lemon_44 @ Sep 14, 2013 -> 05:42 AM) Maybe as a LF but I'd like to keep his bat around. Even then, I think there a lot worse problems on the team than him and his play in LF, which has not been good. Yeah, I'm in no rush to get rid of a 24 year old with 4 years of team control left that has hit well when healthy this year and has more power potential than anyone on the team not named Adam Dunn. And while his play in LF hasn't been great, at least he is new to the position unlike the rest of these bums. Unless you can get something signicant for him, I think he should be our starting LF in 2014. And no to 1B next year. I think he has to make or break it as an outfielder or at least demonstrate plus offensive numbers before you consider a move to 1B.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 13, 2013 -> 01:28 PM) I think last year was scheduled to be played at night and they either changed it, or made sure it was a day game this season so the Jewish fans could participate.Last year, it was an important game. This year....not so much, at least for the home team. I thought that was because Youk was on the team?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 13, 2013 -> 12:31 PM) However, we do have an owner with a last name "Reinsdorf"... I know he comes from a Jewish family, but I thought Jerry was an atheist.

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Sep 12, 2013 -> 06:51 PM) Chapelle certainly isnt nearly as relevant as he was in the past but his "Killin em Softly" special is imo the best stand up comedy ever. I agree he shouldnt be on the current list, just wanted to chime in on how great I thought that special was. That special is the best standup I've ever seen. Absolutely hilarious.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Sep 9, 2013 -> 03:23 PM) Exactly. 2014 is a "transitional year." You go into it with the primary goal of seeing what you have. The kids get a chance to break out or fade away. Now you know what your core is, and you set to gradually improve each year going forward. It isn't splash time. The problem is that free agency isn't what it used to be. Therefore, if there are guys out there this offseason that solve critical needs and may not break the bank, like possibly Abreu & McCann, you pretty much have to pursue them. Obviously you don't do anything stupid, but you don't pass on them because 2014 might be a transitional year. Otherwise, you may be waiting a long time before there's anything worth using your financial flexibility on. In all honesty, if we're afraid to spend some money in free agency this offseason to fix the offense, then we might as well blow the whole thing up. No reason to waste our young pitching staff while we wait 2 or 3 years for our better offensive prospects to even be ready for callups. Either sign some free agents and try to compete while buying some time for your top prospects to develop or go the full rebuild route. Throwing away the surplus value our young starters will likely provide us is by far the worst decision the organization can make right now.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 4, 2013 -> 08:33 AM) I think, generally speaking, these teams are leveled to whatever the teams want them to be, but about Bristol or Great Falls for sure. You see both Caucasian and Latino names spread throughout the leaderboards, but young players abound for sure. I think, just generally speaking, it's a transitional league. What's funny is that the Sox had an AZL team before - from 1998-2002. It's funny because that's when their system was bonkers good. I think this allows us some more insight into Hahn's philosophy. Yup, we had an AZL team back in the day and then switched to Great Falls in 2003. Not sure why, maybe the Pioneer League is considered more advanced. I guess I didn't even realize that teams can have more than 6 U.S. affiliates, but it looks like some teams do. Don't see how it could be a bad thing.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 3, 2013 -> 02:41 PM) I bet he doesn't drink as much now that he's unemployed. Obviously I have no proof. I wonder if I'm the biggest Ozzie fan on the planet. That's food for thought. I could be No. 1 Ozzie backer, though I'm sure there are others running around the South Side. Are you Oney Guillen? If not, you can't be his #1 fan or backer.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Sep 3, 2013 -> 12:47 PM) For a backup job? Of course there is. Veteran presence and another perspective for Phegley. And if we do try to compete a lefty simy makes way more sense. Yeah, even if McCann is out of the equation, Saltamachia seems like a possible platoon partner for Phegley. I was all for Flowers being given the starting job this year, but I don't think he should be considered option A for the other catcher's spot. If an upgrade can't be acquired, then I'm ok with Flowers starting the year as the backup. But I really think is a spot Hahn will try to improve.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 3, 2013 -> 11:40 AM) Birmingham Barons ‏@BhamBarons 53m Congrats to Marcus Semien on winning the 2013 Southern League MVP Award! Hit .290 with 15 homers, 90 runs and 49 RBI. pic.twitter.com/2G0A9BoP8I I know it's twitter, but I would have found a way to squeeze in his .420 OBP. That's what makes his season so spectacular.

QUOTE (TRU @ Aug 31, 2013 -> 09:25 AM) You know whats worse? In 2011 I was in both of my leagues championship games. My opponent? My wife. And I lost both of them. Lol...that's definitely worse. I know I couldn't endure my wife talking s*** about beating in fantasy football for a full year.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Aug 30, 2013 -> 07:27 PM) You know what's not fun? Losing by .9 in the f***in championship. These wounds will not heal. You know what's worse? Going to bed as the champion of your league by 0.7 points only to wake up and find out you actually lost due to a stat correction on a Danny Amendola fumble taking 2 points off your total score. My take went from $550 to $50 overnight.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Aug 30, 2013 -> 01:30 PM) The case for him to make the list is overall, he had a very good year. He was still hitting near .300 in WS not too long ago, but he had a really bad two week slump, which brought down his overall number a little bit. If he fares well in AFL, it will be more telling to us and the baseball world, in the sense that he will be facing more advanced pitching, versus A ball pitchers. It won't be easy for him to put on a strong showing, so this is a huge caveat. So if he plays well in AFL, overall, he will have as good a year as any prospect in the Sox organization, and he has enough skills and tools to be considered a high floor guy which is why I think he has a chance to make the list. Marcus Semien > Micah Johnson. If one of them is a top 100 prospect, Semien is the guy IMO.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 30, 2013 -> 12:17 PM) The only qualified guy that deserves top 100 right now is Johnson. I don't think that is even a question in my mind. Semien should definitely be a top 100 prospect based on his tools & production, but my guess is he'll miss some lists because of the bias against Sox prospects.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 30, 2013 -> 08:11 AM) One prospect guy (can't remember who right now but its a name you might recognize) had him in the 30's just recently. I want to say maybe it was Kiley McDaniel. Honestly, I think he should be anywhere in the 30 to 60 range. The only thing that really hurts his prospect value is that he doesn't have ace potential, but I seriously doubt you could find more than a handfull of SP prospects with higher floors than him. Short of injury, he will be a solid starting pitcher at the major league level and I think the odds are very good he's at least a #3 starter long-term. IMO, he should be closer to 30 than 60, but most of these sites value ceiling much higher than they do floor. Either way, Johnson proved this year he's a legit prospect and hopefully is a key part of our rotation for years to come.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 29, 2013 -> 04:50 PM) Who is starting these threads about f***ing Ozzie? It's not greg. Should I not respond in the two recent threads about Ozzie? Just give it a rest...you throw out the same garbage over and over again and never listen to any else's counterpoints. You also make outlandish comments like "Ozzie is guaranteed to win a World Series with the Marlins" and despite being horribly wrong on a regular basis you keep flinging this same crap against the wall. You're clearly trolling, stop f***ing denying it. Also, did you really just speak in the 3rd person?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 29, 2013 -> 04:47 PM) If Ozzie could have stifled himself he'd have worked forever. His resume will forever include the only Chicago WS title in modern history. Odds are neither Chicago team will win another one in the next 20-50 years so he's going to be a legend a long, long time. Baseball is different. Too much money out there in other markets for a Chicago team to win one. The Marlins' owner was furious at him when Ozzie made some potshot about how everybody was to blame including the owner. Bye bye Oz. That owner in Miami, prick that he is, wasn't going to stand for that. Stop f***ing trolling.

QUOTE (glangon @ Aug 27, 2013 -> 03:56 AM) The spare money will be spent the year after once we get Dunn's contract off the books. On what? I keep seeing people say we'll spend money after next season, but the 2015 free agent group is hot garbage. There will be players available this offseason that can help us and if we're serious about fixing this offense we need to start now. Free agency isn't what it used to be as teams are being much more proactive in locking up their young players. Financial flexibility is nice, but when there is no one to spend it on it's only worth so much. If we don't spend money this offseason we may seriously regret it, because we may be waiting until the 2016 offseason or later for enough good players to be available. With this pitching staff, that doesn't make sense.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Aug 26, 2013 -> 08:46 PM) He's a product of the pussified everyone gets a trophy generation. Athletes have to throw fits because it gives the fan an impression they care. This post makes no sense.

Not realistic but what I'd like to see happen: 1. De Aza, LF 2. Beckham, 2B 3. Dunn, DH 4. Abreu, 1B (free agent) 5. McCann, C (free agent) 6. Garcia, CF 7. Viciedo, RF 8. Gillaspie/Kep, 3B 9. Ramirez, SS IF. Garcia IF. Kep/Gillaspie OF. Danks C. Phegley #1 Sale #2 Quintana #3 Santiago #4 Danks #5 Rienzo #6 Johnson (at AAA to start 2014) CL Reed SU Jones SU Webb MR Logan (free agent) MR Petricka MR Leesmam/Veal LR Castro

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Aug 26, 2013 -> 01:08 PM) The thread title is "Realistic Lineup", and realistically, this is going to be the lineup. Well no, realistically Hahn will actually try to improve the lineup by going outside the organization. I think the odds of us going with only in-house guys is slim to none, especially with the financial flexibility we have.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Aug 26, 2013 -> 12:58 PM) vs RHP De Aza 7 Beckham 4 Dunn DH Viciedo 3 Garcia 9 Gillaspie 5 Ramirez 6 Danks 8 Phegley 2 vs LHP Beckham 4 De Aza 8 Viciedo 7 Dunn DH Garcia 9 Ramirez 6 Gillaspie 5 Phegley 2 Keppinger 3 Bench: Danks/Keppinger, Flowers, L Garcia, Morel SP: Sale, Santiago, Quintana, Danks, Rienzo/Johnson RP: Reed, Jones, Veal, Lindstrom, Leesman, Purcey, Axelrod So you're not even trying to compete next year?