Chicago White Sox

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!

Sometimes you just got to take a breather from the Sox. After last night's game, I don't blame anyone for taking an extended break. Also, playing in the Eastern time zone and the Bull playing the Heat ain't helping.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 8, 2013 -> 01:31 PM) Because Peavy is far from a guarantee of pitching at a high level for much longer. Name more than a handful of pitchers that are? Verlander and who???

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ May 8, 2013 -> 01:30 PM) Do you think we're signing Peavy after 2014? I don't see us doing much in 2014 no matter what approach we take, so I'm fine moving him. If you can get something of value, that would sure help more to the long-term success. Plus, if we have trouble developing players, we should just give up on that whole route? At some point that needs to be fixed or you'll never win much of anything. We have an option on Peavy for 2015.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 8, 2013 -> 12:42 PM) You make a good point. The city understands the idea of rebuilding more now than ever. The Cubs didn't even sellout last night despite being 80 degrees outside and playing the Cardinals. Hell, my wife couldn't even sell her bleacher tickets for 75% of face value. That's how bad things have gotten there. Cubs fans have and continue to abandon ship. They'll come back when the team starts winning, but I'm sure they'd much rather be at games this summer when it's nice outside. Hardcore fans may accept rebuilding, but no one enjoys it, and casual will never truly understand. In another year or two, Cubs fans will be real pissed if the team isn't winning yet.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 8, 2013 -> 09:09 AM) If the Sox had signed Josh Hamilton this past offseason, most of us would have been doing cartwheels. If he had the same numbers he had now, Hahn would be called an idiot, Manto obviously would be an idiot, and people would be saying his contract has sent the franchise back 10 years. Choosing the right guys to give the money to isn't easy. See Dunn, Adam. If the Sox go that route, and I would imagine they are going to spend some money next offseason with some coming off and the extra TV cash, it will be interesting to see who they spend it on. You basically have to spend on offense or rebuild the team. Both are risky propositions, but I'll try my luck in free agency rather than take on a 5 to 7 year rebuilding project.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ May 8, 2013 -> 08:52 AM) For everything he does, Cano would be the biggest get. I don't see any way the Yankees let him go. Cano would be the perfect addition from a production standpoint, but he's going to get crazy money. And quite frankly, I don't see how the Sox can outbid the Yankees for him. I do think Chase Utley could be had, especially if you jump early while other teams are waiting on Cano. It would have to be a short-term deal, because he's starting to get up there in age. However, I think if you go after one big free agent Brian McCann would make the most sense. He'd be a tremendous upgrade over Flowers, is still relatively young (turns 30 next year), and hits enough to be a decent DH if it came to that near the end of his contract.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 7, 2013 -> 10:02 PM) You're probably going to have to part ways with Peavy to be able to fit all three of those guys into the payroll...but it's worth the risk, IMO. Of course, all of this is predicated on John Danks being at least a decent contributor and not a 2001-2004ish 5th starter. Or you go crazy and try to acquire Headley and build the offense around him, Rios and Viciedo. In the position we're currently in, acquiring those three via free agency would be much better. I was only suggesting two of the three, most likely Morales and either McCann or Utley. I don't think we'd need to move Peavy to accomplish that. The point is improving the offense without sacrificing the rotation.

If you want to improve the offensive quickly, it will have to be done in free agency. Three guys who make a lot of sense are Utley, McCann, & Morales. Add two of them to replace Konerko, Flowers and/or Beckham and you suddenly have a better, more-lefthanded offense. Unlikely I know, but I'm but sure what other options there are if you're tryin to compete.

It's amazing that Birmingham scored 16 runs and yet Walker went 0-3 with 3 K's.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 7, 2013 -> 09:16 PM) Absolutely. What bothers me is it's the same make up every year. Hard throwers who can go 1-inning. They need to find a guy who can pitch multiple innings and 3 times in 4 days. Yes, easier said than done. Just tired of the same plan every year. But at the same time a manager needs to know how to most effectively use his relievers. I know that's easier said than done, but we saw plenty of times in the past where Ozzie completely ignored a pitcher's splits or tonight with Robin going two innings with Nate despite the fact he hasn't pitched well in multiple inning outings. Relievers are volatile and if you over-extend them too frequently you're likely to get burned.

At least Birmingham won by slaughter rule today. Makes feel little bit better about tonight's awful offensive performance.

QUOTE (Jake @ May 7, 2013 -> 08:53 PM) Losing to the early favorite to win the Cy Young with no DH and your starting LF on the DL isn't really the thing that should motivate you to start moving around the lineup. How about a player batting 2nd with a .400 OPS?

Here's my question. Say we hold on to Sale, Peavy, Danks, Quintana, & Santiago peg them for our rotation next year. What moves can be made to fix this offense between now and opening day 2014 if you're actually trying to compete?