Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 04:19 PM) Why not? All the park factor does is move the standard for normal for both teams. If we have a bunch of power-less hitters, they'll still hit more homers at USCF than at a neutral park. And that will be equalized by the fact that opponents will too. You're telling me all hitters benefit the same from playing at the Cell? I'll call BS on that.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 04:17 PM) Not seeing the logic here. Park factors act as moving reference points; they don't change the amount of runs required to win. They affect both teams equally. Except we play at our park 81 times and the opposing team does not? Why wouldn't we tailor our offense around the characteristics of our park?

QUOTE (Andy the Clown @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 04:05 PM) We should focus on getting good hitters, power or no. Correct, but we also need a balanced offense. Can't play 81 games at the Cell without multiple power threats.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 02:38 PM) When you're the 4th pick in the draft you better expect some hype. And all experts considered it a huge reach? No one should be surprised that the most advanced hitting prospect in the draft is dominating low A ball. That should have been the expectation. However, until he shows he can succeed against against AA pitching AND can stick at catcher (incredibly unlikely), he's just another 1st rounder and should not be mentioned in the same sentence with guys like Bryant, Russell, & Baez when talking about the strength of the Cubs system.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 03:12 PM) How do you know that. Nieto was a quality A ball catcher last year. .285/.373/.449. Heck that looks better than some Cub top 20s out of A ball. Ready? No. Future catcher? May be. Time will tell. AJ is not a good player anymore and he has a grating personality - that is the downside. And if they do it to sell tickets - that's no better than having a Beanie Baby Sunday. The Sox are trying to get Nieto through the season without destroying his confidence. They know better than anyone he has no business being on a major league right now. Keep giving him his token start each week and then put him in AAA next year to finish his minor league development. There is really no good reason to give Nieto more playing time and watch him get exposed.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 02:54 PM) If they do this...and it's not just for publicity/attendance's sake...then they should release Phegley as well, because that would be a complete slap in the face to him. If we're not trying to compete this year AND we're not trying to develop our future catcher with valuable major league experience, what's the reason for it? Phegley is not going to be our future catcher so why give him playing time? And who cares if he rots in AAA, there are plenty of AAAA caliber players in the same position. We shouldn't be making roster decisions based on what the Josh Phegley's of the world will think.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 02:47 PM) I wouldn't call it nearly that likely, but it's an obviously correct move. Honestly, I think it's all but certain. Even in the unlikely event Hahn isn't a seller, moving Beckham still makes sense if you can get any halfway decent prospect for him. IMO, Semien has a decent chance to out-produce Gordon the rest of the way if given the opportunity.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 02:44 PM) I thought Garcia and Eaton were the new clubhouse leaders? That's not going to be a disruption? Anything's better than Flowers, but weren't we just saying there's no logical point to bringing in veterans who won't be part of our long-term plan and will keep the next Sox catcher from getting valuable experience with our staff, specifically Sale/Quintana/Rodon? If they don't want Phegley to be that next guy, then they should go ahead and cut him and Flowers loose and admit defeat. Will AJ want to come back for just one half season....or will he want it to be 1 1/2 seasons? For the rest of the year, it's fine...but they would be much better off finding another (younger) catcher before Opening Day, 2015. If they bring back A.J., it's only with 2014 in mind. No way they would consider him a 2015 starting option, not unless they struck out on every other catching option on their wish list.

Anyone else think it's 99.9% likely Beckham is gone before August 1st? I'm not expecting a crazy return, but it seems like there are enough teams in need of a 2B for us to get something of value for him. And quite frankly, I think the Sox feel like they can give one of their AAA IFs his ABs the rest of the way and not miss a beat.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 01:16 PM) Schwarber was an advanced college hitter who is beating the snot out of 2nd year high schoolers and journeyman pitchers. He should be expected to hit A-ball pitching. For comparison's sake, Mike Zunino hit .373/474/.736/1.210 in A ball and he's been a very mediocre hitter in the majors thus far. Thank you, not sure where all this Schwarber hype is coming from, but it's gotten ridiculous. Let's see how the dude does in AA before we include him amongst the elite Cubs prospects.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 9, 2014 -> 01:19 PM) If they don't think they can get T-Flow to bat better than the .095 he's been rocking for the past 5-6 weeks, and they don't like Phegley (not much, if any, better offense and awful D), and they think AJ can offer good handling of the pitching staff...I can see it. Yup, the reason this is a possibility is that A.J. has handled a lot of our pitchers before. I wouldn't be completely against bringing him back for the rest of the season if Robin felt he wouldn't disrupt the clubhouse (not sure if chemistry played a role in his departure). Having said that, it's still in the realm of possibility that Hahn acquires a young catcher at the deadline, which would leave no room for A.J. anyways.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 8, 2014 -> 01:08 PM) The average hitter in the PCL isn't going to be a starter in the major leagues. He did well in Reno, but their team put up .283/.342/.428. And Adam Eaton put up a wRC+ of 163 with Reno. That should put Davidson's season in context.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 8, 2014 -> 05:21 PM) Where is this idea coming from that we don't control Viciedo's rights through at least 2016, should we so choose to? We control his rights through 2017.

If we trade Q, we might as blow the whole thing up. IMO, he's just as important to competing in 2015/2016 as Sale & Abreu.

Come on, the notion of signing Buck is ridiculous. Not only is he old AND bad, but he isn't familiar with our pitchers. Why would we want our pitching staff having to work with a new catcher who has a 0% chance of being on the team next year?

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Jul 7, 2014 -> 10:57 PM) Ravelo is the most intriguing prospect in the system to me. Dude just hits. takes his walks. Doesn't whiff much. power seems to be the only missing component. Also props to Sox pitchers. Addison russell 0-9 in two games against the Barons. And the kid is just 22 years old. There's still reason to hope that power will come. Having said that, I wonder if there have been any internal discussions on trying him out in LF. His hit tool and plate discipline project extremely well, it would really suck to lose out on his skillset in the event he's strictly viewed as a 1B and the power doesn't develop.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jul 6, 2014 -> 07:44 PM) What AL teams could use an upgrade at DH? Anyone want to take a crack at this?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 7, 2014 -> 08:02 PM) Still think it's insane to trade him for a relief pitcher and then run Sierra/Taylor out there. How likely are those guys to be improvements? Taylor is already 4 years older than Dayan. With Gillaspie not hitting for power, catcher not giving us anything, Semien/Johnson/Eaton not power guys...and losing Dunn as well, you just can't give up on him quite yet. Farrell mentioned Abreu, Dunn, Viciedo and then Ramirez hitting with pop this year. Losing all three of those guys isn't a great idea at USCF. 100% agree. I also think it's hard to evaluate Tank only using a half season of ABs. He had a crazy April and a horrendous June and in general is a pretty streaky hitter. However, I do think its promising that his BB rate is up and his K rate is down and both those trends pass the eye test (much better approach at the plate this season). Now we're fianlly starting to see that power return to his game. IMO, it's ways too early to truly judge his 2014 performance, but I think he's shown enough so far to be given the rest of the season.

Tank officially a league average hitter with a wRC+ of 100.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jul 7, 2014 -> 07:38 PM) Good take. You hope Nieto can get through the year, continue to improve in the offseason, and then maybe be ready to compete for a starting job next spring. That is extremely optmitisc however. As of now I'd proceed as if we have zero starting caliber catchers on the roster. Assuming anything else is ludicrous. I will say that Tyler Flowers def scraped against his floor as a prospect but did it the exact opposite most expected. He can't hit for s*** but he's a decent defensive catcher, go figure. My guess is Nieto starts next year in AAA and serves as the organization's #3 catcher. Ideally he spends the entire season there and is ready to contribute by 2016 (likely as a backup). I really think Hahn is going to find a way to acquire a legit starting catcher before next season though. We really can't waste another season not attempting to develop a long-term as answer to the position.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 7, 2014 -> 07:27 PM) Tyler Flowers. Yikes. 9 for his last 96, with 43 K's. OPS now sinking below 600. How long before they pull the plug??? For Nieto? Honestly, I think it's quite clear at this point that our intention with Nieto is to get him through the season with the least amount of damage to his confidence, which means limiting his playing time. The good news is that Flowers will not be our starting catcher next year, Hahn isn't blind and can see how horrific Tylee is offensively.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jul 7, 2014 -> 06:47 PM) Jon Morosi ‏@jonmorosi 7m Sources: White Sox are willing to move Gordon Beckham in the right deal now, but Jose Quintana remains unavailable. @FOXSports1 Good to hear on both fronts. If this team is realistically targeting 2015 or 2016 to compete, then a rotation built around Sale, Quintana, & Rodon is a must. Might as well move Beckham now so that Semien, Sanchez, or Johnson can get a couple of months of development at the major league level.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jul 7, 2014 -> 02:15 PM) I am shocked Baez is still in their top ten. Apparently striking out in 32.2% of his PAs is of no concern to them. He'd probably strike out in 40% of his PAs in the MLB. I get that he's only 21 but what does this guy have to do to lose some of his shine? It's really apparent to me that he is being overrated at this point. I'm not trying to hate on the Cubs system, because it's clearly one of the best in baseball, but it does get over-hyped to some extent. 2014 Baez is a perfect example and some of their secondary prospects get more kudos than they deserve. Again, it's a great system, but a lot of these prospects get extra hype for that very reason and would definitely be rated lower if they were in another organization.

What AL teams could use an upgrade at DH?

The way I look at the situation is like this. Unless you can get some actual value for Viciedo right now, we're better off giving a full season and using him as an insurance policy in LF/DH heading into the offseason. If Hahn is somehow able to upgrade both positions, then dump Viciedo for whatever you can, as someone will absorb his $5M salary. Otherwise, you at least have a young, high potential hitter with multiple years of team control to roll the dice on. Again, we need to look at the bigger picture here. We have multiple needs to fill where we don't have internal options. To realistically think we can acquire a starting catcher, a #2/#3 caliber RH starter, a left-handed power bat, and several RP in just one offseason is already quite ambitious. I don't see a reason to create another hole right now unless value is there.