Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 20, 2013 -> 08:47 PM) Keppinger has been hitting a little better lately. I wonder if there is anything with Beckham playing SS tonight other than to get hi some ABs. Could be a factor in the decision to keep Greene or Sanchez as the backup infielder.

QUOTE (Jake @ May 20, 2013 -> 04:30 PM) I'm okay with it. He has seen lots of lefties, he can take a day off against the best one. Agree. Perfect day to give him a rest.

Getting out of that inning with only 2 runs is a small victory.

I didn't get to watch the inning obviously, but I'm glad to hear D.J. call out the team for sloppy play just now. The number of unearned runs don't even begin to tell the full story of how poor our defense has been this year.

Glad to see all that hard work in AAA paid off.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 14, 2013 -> 09:05 PM) The anti-rebuilding crowd like to throw out scare tactics like "Astros" and "irrelevancy" while ignoring the fact that the Sox have 1 postseason win since 2006. Because we never went over slot in the draft and had no presence in Latin America. The new CBA has changed everything and the organization is actually embracing these changes. People need to give it some time though. The Latin American players we signed last year were only 16 years old. It's going to be a year or two before we even see them over here. It will be four or five years until the Latin American pipeline is running full circle. Same goes for the draft. The 2011 & 2012 drafts were big improvements IMO, but it's going to take more than two good drafts to get the system where it needs to be on a consistent basis. Unfortunately, patience is not a virtue on this board. Also, if you think signing a couple of stopgaps is riskier than rebuilding than I'm at a loss of words. Look where our system is at right now. Give it some time to self correct. Meanwhile, make a few calculated free agent signings to plug big holes and/or fix the offense. They may not work out, but at least you buy some time until your system is finally up and running.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 14, 2013 -> 06:15 PM) And you can't rebuild the offense through free agency. I get that Chase Utley is old, but he's been fantastic so far this year. Would he not be a significant upgrade over Ramirez/Beckham next year? Brian McCann is 29 years old and has been one of the best offensive catchers in baseball outside of last year. Would he not be a huge upgrade over Flowers? Kendry Morales is also 29 years old and is a very solid 1B. Would he not be a big upgrade over Konerko/Dunn? All these guys can help improve our offense. Add two of them, trade a starting pitcher for a young bat, and the offense will be much improved.

QUOTE (gatnom @ May 14, 2013 -> 04:23 PM) The reality is that whatever the White Sox decide to do during/after this season, if we don't want to sink to the depths of the Pirates and such, they need to not f*** it up. The reason the future seems bleak right now is that nearly everything KW has done since 2008 has backfired to some degree or another. It doesn't matter if they rebuild or compete or whatever you want to call it. If the moves turn out like Dunn, Peavy, Rios, Molina, Danks, Thornton, etc. we will suck regardless of the strategy used, and the hemorrhaging of fans will continue. That is the bottom line. I happen to think that selling off in July if we are still in last place is the best move in the long term for the team. Maybe I'm wrong, but I can't see us competing next year if we can't this year. And why can't we improve the offense in the offseason? If you head into next offseason with Sale, Peavy, Danks, Quintana, & Santiago under contract, not only do you have a starting pitcher available to trade for a bat, but you also have $35+ million coming off the books to work with. So unlike this past year, Hahn will actually have the resources necessary to improve the offense. Why don't we see what Hahn is actually capable of in his 2nd year as GM before writing off the team.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 14, 2013 -> 11:35 AM) Yeah, nothing to do with the fact that he's a career backup who is 33 years old coming off a career year. Wow, I love your spot-on analysis. A guy with a career .716 OPS is currently putting up a .378 OPS. I didn't realize he was a career backup (he has over 400 PAs in 4 of the last 5 seasons), nor did I realize 33 was the age when guys normally fall off the cliff physically. Luckily you've explained conclusively why he went from a solid/average player to the worst player in baseball. Thank you for clarifying.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 13, 2013 -> 05:51 PM) I'll be honest, I don't even know what the argument is anymore. No one truly thinks the Sox are going to be trading Sale or Santiago. Outside of that, everyone will be on the market I'd assume and no one seems too against that. That doesn't mean all 23 players on the active roster will get traded. As long as you have the likes of Sale/Santiago in your rotation, it's hard to picture a situation where a full rebuild in the mode of the Marlins takes place. That doesn't mean that you spend a fortune this offseason to try to path every hole the big league roster has. I'm fine with taking offers for Peavy & Rios if we're out of the race come the trade deadline, but IMO you have to be blown away to move either of them. I'm talking about receiving at least one high-end, close-to-ready minor leaguer for either of them. Both guys are under contract for another season at cheap salaries plus they each have an option year. Short of injury, they'll still be extremely valuable next trade deadline. You don't move guys like them simply to move them. You only move them if you feel like the deal(s) has a very good chance of making you better in the near future. If all you can get is a couple of low A prospects, then you should hold on to them.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 13, 2013 -> 02:08 PM) I don't understand this. No one is suggesting Chris Sale isn't a valuable commodity. There is a deal that would benefit the Sox involving Sale, it's just extremely unlikely. Listen Marty, I respect your baseball knowledge, but I've got to completely disagree here. Sale is a legit #1 starter with Cy Young caliber stuff. If your goal is to win a World Series at any point in the future, you build around an ace. There is no other position on a 25 man roster harder to fill and it's by far the most valuable position in the postseason. I get the "no player is untradable" perspective, but unless someone is going to give you a pitching prospect with a 75% chance or better of becoming an ace, then you really can't afford to move Sale. And if some team was willing to make such a move, a red flag would immedietely go off in my mind that I'm getting damaged goods. Teams just don't trade pitching prospects with #1 stuff anymore.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 13, 2013 -> 03:05 AM) I'm pretty sure it was a joke... Unfortunately, some other people have seriously suggested this idea.

I'll go out on a limb and say Keppinger's s***ty play is somehow the result of his broken leg this past offseason. Maybe he was unable to get into baseball shape or simply lost a lot of strength while recovering from the injury, but it seems like he only makes weak contact a the plate now. He's also looked a little sluggish or lazy in the field. There has to be something wrong with him physically. He's literally the worst player in the game right now and when Beckham comes back, he better get sent to the bench ASAP, because I don't expect to see the real Jeff Keppinger until next season.

I'm not going to defend Flowers because quite frankly he's sucked this year, but it's only been a month and a half. You have to give him more time to make adjustments at the plate before you completely write him off, at least another month and hald and maybe even more depending how this season goes. I'm not saying he will, but once you write him off there is no going back with him. Also, I'm shocked that some people here want a rebuild but can't even give a legit prospect with contact issues more than a month and a half to prove they're a major leaguer. This guy was once a top 100 prospect, has incredible physical tools, and put up great offensive numbers in the minors (please look them up before saying otherwise). He's far from a perfect prospect, but very few are and they are not easy to attain. Unfortunately when you rebuild, most of the prospects you'll call up will have some issues just like Flowers does. You hope they can make adjustments at the major league and continue to develop, but more often than not these prospects will fail. I feel like people have let guys like Trout and Harper skew their reality, because most prospects go through growing pains and sometimes it takes year or two before you know what you truly have. On Soxtalk you get one and half months before you're officially issues the bust label.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 11, 2013 -> 10:55 AM) I would trade Alexei and give Beckham a shot at SS the rest of the year. Sox have some promising 2B in the system, and Beckham's value to the organization increases mightily if he can play a decent SS. I actually love this idea. I really like Alexei, but we need to add more OBP and a couple left-handed bats to the lineup. If we keep on struggling, here's what I do between now and 2014. Deadline deals (all for prospects): Ramirez Konerko (if a team wants him) Thornton Crain Lindstrom Move Beckham to SS, play Keppinger at 2B, play Dunn at 1B, call up some AAA arms to replace the relievers traded (I'd like to see Simon Castro be one of them). Offseason: Sign McCann ($15m/per), Utley ($12/per), & Morales ($8/per) and a couple cheap veteran relievers. Money wise I think it's doable (with Alexei's contract off the books), whether you can sign them all is another story. Run with the following offense: 1) De Aza, CF 2) Utley, 2B 3) Rios, RF 4) McCann, C 5) Morales, 1B 6) Viciedo, RF 7) Gillespie, 3B 8) Dunn, DH 9) Beckham, SS Still have a rotation of Sale, Peavy, Danks, Quintana, & Santiago. Seems to me this would be a pretty good team and would allow our system to keep developing.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 9, 2013 -> 02:27 PM) Did you forget the other one already? That some HoT FiRE right there!

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 9, 2013 -> 08:10 AM) This team just needs to score runs. They played TB, Texas, KC and the Mets, all of whom had their aces at one point, and were .500 against them despite hardly being able to score. They have scored the fewest runs they have scored through the first 30 games since 1968. If they can get some offense, despite what Andrew thinks, this is a good team. If they continue to hit like they have hit, they will get buried. I agree. Our pitching staff is strong enough to keep us in most games. You don't throw in the towel in mid May, not when you have good pitching. The way I look at it is that we're 14-18 with basically the worst White Sox offense I can remember. Part of that is due to regression, part is due to injury, part is due to growing pains, and part is due to bad luck. Other than Rios & Gillaspie, our offense has been the definition of Murphy's law. However, this won't last all season. We get Viciedo and Beckham back soon, which will help big time IMO. At some point, guys like Keppinger, Konerko, & Dunn have to play better (Dunn already seems to be getting there). Flowers may not be the player I envisioned in the offseason, but he won't be this bad all year. And if he is, at least we have a wildcard in AAA by the name Joshua Aaron Phegley. I have faith the offense will get better, but whether it will improve enough to make us a playoff caliber team remains to be seen. But isn't that the reason we watch the games though? And at least we didn't dig ourselves an Angels or Blue Jays size hole. There is still some hope with this team.

First off, Hahn is the GM, it's not even debatable. KW may have this elusive "Veto Power", but that doesn't change the fact that Hahn is running the day-to-day operations. There's no power struggle here, managers always have say over their subordinates. This is no different and I seriously doubt KW ever vetoes one of Hahn's trade. Second, Peavy does not have a big contract. He makes $14.5 million/year and only has one more season guaranteed. Look at what Edwin Jackson just signed for this offseason. Hell, look at Danks contract. Peavy is an absolute steal, which is why you don't deal him unless someone is going to compensate you for all the surplus he provides. Finally, Andrew please STFU. Everyone is entitled to be a dick on occasion and everyone has a right to be down on this team, but your only goal as of late is to ruin every thread you enter with the same bulls*** and arrogance. If the White Sox make you this angry, then for the love of god find another hobby.

Lebron is such a douche.

Unbelievable, man on third with no outs and we can't knock him in. So White Sox baseball.

Let's get a couple more runs and have an easy win for a change. Also, it would be nice to give Heath and/or Omogrosso an inning of work in a low pressure situation.

Nice double play!

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 8, 2013 -> 06:59 PM) The most hits in one inning has been five. But consecutive?

f*** yeah! 4 straight hits has to be a season first right?

What's with the offensive explosion? Save some runs for Friday!