Chicago White Sox

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?

My favorite Ozzie moment was at the end of Aug'11, when we were heading into a big series with the Tigers (only 5 games back at the time), Ozzie felt that was the correct time to publicly demand an extension, despite having a year left on his contract. The reason? He didn't want to enter the following season as a lame-duck manager, obviously a pressing concern. Anyways, Sox end up getting swept by Detroit and go 11-17 in September to close out the year. He proved in that moment that he cared more about himself than the fans, team, or organization. How anyone could defend this douche blows my mind.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Aug 21, 2013 -> 11:38 PM) I'll take a good staff over good hitting prospects and its not even close. And let's clarify, we have a good, young, major league staff. These guys are actually producing at the major league level right now. That can't be understated. The Cubs' offensive prospects are very talented, but until they prove something at the major league level they remain what they are, prospects with a high percentage of busting.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Aug 18, 2013 -> 05:18 PM) LOL seriously? He's been the most consistent hitter all year on this team. And he has a .690 OPS to show for it. Again, not saying Alexei is the problem, but he's part of it and moving him gives us more financial flexibility to fix the other parts as well.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Aug 18, 2013 -> 04:52 PM) He had another strong game against the Twinkies today. A lot of people on this board don't like him, want him gone, and I don't get it. I think he is still a heckava shortstop. What is the problem with him? Is it the lack of homers (four)? Geez, he is hitting close to .290. Would an extra 3-4 HR's make a big difference? Is it his 20 errors. The guy has missed something like 3-4 innings this year. Does that not count? I hope we keep him for at least a couple more seasons. Just wondered if I can get a concise evaluation of his play from those who don't like him. It's the 16 BBs that's the issue for me. On a team with a strong lineup 1-7, then Ramirez's skillset works well batting 9th. The problem is we have too many low OBP hitters as it is. At some point, we have to remove some of these guys from the equation and Alexei is one of the more expensive variables. I still like Alexei, I think he has value, but his bat doesn't work well on our team IMO.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Aug 18, 2013 -> 01:29 PM) If it's a serious conversation why would you say clone Dunn? How would you improve he team's OBP? Trade Ramirez and start Semien at SS would be a good first step.

One thing to remind everyone about Santiago is he only had 27 minor league starts. The kid's control could easily improve with more experience as a starter, which is scary given how good his stuff is and how well he's pitched at the major league level so far despite being pretty wild. Give him some more time with Cooper and we may have something special. I would want a king's ransom for him and that's not Logan Morrison.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Aug 18, 2013 -> 11:38 AM) Axelrod to the rescue. I don't remember who's sig says "half our roster is designed to kill the other half's rallies," but it was so perfectly true. I agree completely. A guy like Axelrod can do us a lot of good just by being his sucky self.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Aug 18, 2013 -> 11:14 AM) C Phegley 1B Abreau 2B Beckham SS Semien 3B Keppinger/Gillaspie LF Logan Morrison CF De Aza RF Garcia SP Sale SP Quintana SP Santiago or Johnson SP Danks SP Rienzo Deal Santiago or Johnson for Morrison, when Dunn goes after 2014 shift Abreau or Morrison to DH. De Aza Beckham Morrison Abreau Dunn Garcia Keppinger/Gillaspie Semien Phegley Santiago or Johnson for Morrison would be an absolutley horrific move. We're talking about a guy who is arb-eligible next year and has basically shown as much as Viciedo at the major league level. On top of that, he's an infamous "LF" which you've personally claimed you don't waste time developing, since they are so easy to come by. Trading our best pitching prospect or a major league starter with top of the rotation potential to get said player makes this the strangest and most contradictory suggestion you have ever made on this board.

We should all definitely want the Sox to lose, but not at the expense of development. This season is a sunk cost in terms of winning, but some good can still come of it if the young guys can continue to learn and start connecting the dots. I'd love to get the #2 pick, but if a guy like Garcia or Viciedo goes on a tear and prevents that from happening I'll be even happier. Hopefully the bullpen and poor fundamentals will lose us a lot of games going forward though.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 16, 2013 -> 05:48 AM) What I find puzzling is why whatever issue this is would bother him in the field but not on the bases or at the plate. I thought the same thing, but clearly there is more time to zone out in the field than at the plate.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Aug 14, 2013 -> 09:34 PM) Keith Law said today that Abreu is worth no where near what Cepedes and Puig were because he is not an athlete like they are. What's funny is I actually used the athletic & positional differences to argue why I didn't think Abreu would get that much more than Cespedes & Puig. I do think he'll get more total money, but I honestly don't think it will that much more the Cespedes on annual basis. Probably 5 to 6 years at $10M to $11M per. Regardless, he doesn't need to be a great athlete to be a good hitter, which is really all we need from him. If the scouts really like him, I think we have to be aggressive with him and maybe go a little above what we're truly comfortable with. I just think if we're going to wait 3 to 5 years for our system to develop some middle of the lineup bats, then we might as well blow this thing up.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 14, 2013 -> 08:31 PM) with sandoval's weight/health concerns? no way At some point you have to take some risks. We're not going to fill all of our needs from within and free agency isn't what it once was.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Aug 14, 2013 -> 12:42 PM) I didn't really think there was much to read into any of this, and I don't really see why people are having such a hard time seeing the obvious. Maybe it's too obvious? Or maybe I'm crazy? It doesn't seem like any sort of mystery. Walter White will be found out as the drug lord Heisenberg (well, actually, he already was). As it unfolds and super-angry Hank does what a super-angry DEA agent does and moves forward with the "bust", it will be a big f***ing story as "former science teacher and current car wash owner runs drug empire from suburban home". At some point during this Hank will either give Walter a headstart or Walter'll just straight-up flee. House is seized and emptied and then left to be vandalized. Walt returns 6-9 months later for the ricin, presumably he's been on the lamb and POSSIBLY thought to be dead. Carol is really f***ing surprised to see him. Or maybe SS2k5 is right and Hank just randomly decides to torture Walt. What a great guess! I'm more curious if Skyler will be implicated. Thank you, spot-on summary of how things likely have gone down. The only question IMO is who wrote "Heisenberg" on the wall. Probably just some kids vandalizing, but perhaps there is some fallout from a past meth connection. We have already seen that chick from last season ask Walt at the car wash for his help. I could see some people she's associated with not being happy he turned them down. Maybe there will be a dual manhunt with both the Feds & drug cartels hunting Walt down.

As long as our scouts are 100% sold on Abreu, I think we have to go all out for him. The 2015 free agent list is horrific on the offensive side, with 3B being the exception. We desperately need to add a couple of young middle of the order bats to build around. I think Garcia can eventually be one of those guys, but outside of possibly Viciedo I don't see anything in the system helping us anytime soon. Signing Abreu for 1B this offseason and one of Headley, Sandoval, & Ramirez for 3B the following offseason would go a long ways toward fixing this offense.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Aug 14, 2013 -> 06:44 AM) He is an exciting prospect. He's just 21 and he improves every year. Big jump to AA next year. I agree, the ability to hit for contact and draw a lot of walks is rare. Plus he's shown excellent gap power this year. If some of those doubles start turning into HRs, we might something special here. Obviously that remains to be seen, but the rest of his game is further along than most prospects his age.

I can't believe a guy with an OPS below .700 is batting third for us.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 13, 2013 -> 08:23 PM) It is very possible Hawkins, Mitchell and Walker all wind up below .200 this season. Which just goes to show how horrible our player development has been. On the plus side, Rangel Ravelo is in the top 5 in the Carolina League is AVG, OBP, SLG, & OPS.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 13, 2013 -> 06:12 PM) JEFF BERRY!!!! You're thinking of Jon Berry, easy to get the two confused.