Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 25, 2013 -> 08:11 AM) Love your enthusiasm, but it has never been the style of the White Sox (until Sale) to give long-term extensions to their young players, preferring to go year by year. Danks was the other big exception. If Quintana and Santiago still are pitching this well at the end of 2013 and going into 2014, then it's definitely something worth considering. The other factor to consider is simply the fact that having a 4 lefty rotation isn't something they're going to lock themselves into until they see how it goes first...and they have an even cheaper Erik Johnson trailing behind all those guys you mentioned...so there's always the possibility they'll deal one of them (or two, counting Axelrod) for a position player. I don't think the White Sox prefer going year-to-year, they just haven't had a lot of young talent to lock up or the deals didn't make sense. Some players are not eager to give a home-team discount and would rather maximize their value through arbitration. Can't really blame the Sox for that. Also, Danks was not an exception, he actually went year-to-year until his final season of team control. Again, the Sox tried locking him up earlier multiple times but Danks did not like the terms of those deals. However, the Sox did sign Floyd & Santos to affordable long-term deals. And while Ramirez isn't young, they locked him up as well through his arbitration years. There is no doubt in my mind that if Quintana and Reed keep pitching well, they'll get long-term deals in the offseason. As we saw with the Sale deal, the perfect time to strike is the year before arbitration. And I don't it matters how many lefties we have in the rotation or if we a viable rotation option in the minors, if you can lock up a good young starter to an affordable deal you do it. Makes that player much more valuable in trade talks.

The Sox are trying to win the division or a Wild Card spot right now. They believe Axelrod in the rotation and Santiago in the pen makes them stronger than Santiago in the rotation and Axelrod/AAA guy in the pen. Honestly, it's a real tough call IMO. No doubt if we're only looking towards next year, then Santiago needs to be in the rotation. In terms of winning this year, it's pretty close. I do think that Santiago is the better starter right now, but Axelrod has been more than solid so far and doesn't seem like the type of pitcher to translate well to a bullpen role. Hector can fill a variety of roles in the bullpen, which does make him more valuable than your typical reliever. I'd still probably go with Santiago as a starter right now, just because I value starting pitching over everything else, but I can understand why the White Sox are going with Axelrod for now. Having said that, if the team falls out of the race they better insert Hector back into the rotation and start developing him for next year.

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ May 24, 2013 -> 10:34 PM) Extra innings are just no good for your health in the long run. They're ok when you're drunk and Hawk is going nuts about blown calls. Otherwise, I completely agree.

Awesome win! Maybe this will be the game that gets Keppinger going.

Even Stone is starting to enjoy Hawk's insanity.

I love that Hawk is so pissed he's dropping subliminals against the home plate umpire.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ May 24, 2013 -> 10:14 PM) Can't wait to hear Hawk coming back from the break. He ain't laying up.

NOOOOO!! NOOOOOOO!!!!

Ugh 0-2.

What the hell just happened there?!?

For some reason I get way too nervous when our team tries to bunt.

Oh this is awesome. Don't f*** this up De Aza!

Nice work Kep!

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ May 24, 2013 -> 09:58 PM) Let's get a DP here somehow. Awesome!

QUOTE (fathom @ May 24, 2013 -> 10:01 PM) Righties are batting .400 against Thornton this year, lefties at .172. It makes sense to bring him in for 4 straight righties. Welcome to the Ozzie Gui...I mean Robin Ventura school of managing. No stats/splits necessary.

Man, Thornton is da bomb right now.

Let's get a DP here somehow.

God I hate Thornton.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 24, 2013 -> 08:12 PM) Possibly 6 back of the Tigers after tonight and DET still has two more games to beat up MINN. A week or so ago, thought 8 games the danger zone (especially with CLE still far ahead of us)...but that 8-10 game parameter spells trouble, especially when considering we'd have to make the case for beating DET head-to-head. Too bad Sanchez didn't end up with the Cubs...he's 8th in the league in K's and everyone forgets both him and Fister with how much attention Verlander and Scherzer get. Did you forget we're playing the Marlins two more times and then the Cubs?

We'll score some runs the third time through the lineup. Just need Danks to hold them to two runs.

f*** a Cub. I want all 4 games.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ May 22, 2013 -> 06:14 PM) Sale stubs his toe and he skips a start. Sox are very cautious with this guy. Don't you think we should be a little extra cautious with our young ace who is signed to a below-market long-term deal?

I know Rienzo has been struggling this year, but he's shown some improvement in his last couple of starts. IMO, he's got reliever written all over him and I honestly think he'll be called up at some point this season to fill a bullpen role. Given that several of our starters are struggling to go deep into games, I think you could make an argument that Rienzo makes more sense than Omogrosso right now.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 23, 2013 -> 11:28 PM) Santos Rodriguez with a nice performance. He's going to be looked to as a replacement for Thornton (IF IF IF) he can improve his control. We'll see what Don Cooper can do with him or Olacio. Rodriguez is an interesting guy. Feels like he's been around forever and really not much has changed over the years. Still great stuff, poor control. I believe he's in his first option year and he's only 25, so we still have some time with him. However, he seems like a guy who may benefit significantly from working with Cooper in the majors. I wouldn't mind them calling him up when rosters expand and getting him some innings with Cooper this year. As bad as Matt Thornton has been at times recently, he won't be easily replaced and Rodriguez definitely seems like one of the better in-house options.

I've got to be honest, I'm literally blown away by how stupid some people are. Why on earth would you stick around the area when two bloodied psychopaths have just butchered someone in the middle of the street? Hell, one woman actually walks right past the guy with the cleaver while he's giving that interview.