Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (CWSpalehoseCWS @ Jan 28, 2013 -> 10:22 PM) I don't think the left-handed bat argument has any merit here. Gimenez is a switch hitter, which by that argument would make him the better option. Regardless, I like Gimenez just a little more, but let the two of them fight it out. Reminds me of 2005 with Widger and Davis. I agree with what you're saying, but some switch hitters just suck from one side or the other. What I'd really like to know is if Gimenez is naturally a lefty or a righty. Regardless, I'm not sure how much it matters. While we all like to think about the big picture and how a left-handed backup better complements Flowers, we often forget that it only matters if Robin will use the backup effectively. Unfortunately, based on last year, he didn't really play into matchups much, as it seemed like he always played the backup catcher in day games after a night game. If that's the case, then I'd probably go with Gimenez regardless who is better from the left side of the plate.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 28, 2013 -> 05:07 PM) Hopefully neither, but getting a lefty hitter than can play for Flowers against the tough righties in the division would be great. We talked about this briefly in another thread, but the bench as it stands right now is awful and I'm not quite sure what the front office is thinking. Agree with the overall bench issue. Assuming Gimenez, Wise, & Sanchez make it, I'm still not even sure who the last guy on the bench would be. That's a huge concern IMO given that one of the four guys on the bench is a minor league journeyman catcher and another is a Rule 5 pick infielder. I'm actually perfectly fine with Wise as the 4th OF, especially with Danks, Tekotte, & Mitchell as left-handed OFs in AAA who offer similar skills. A left-handed hitting IF would help big time. Against tough righties, it would be nice to plug in a left-handed bat at 3B, SS, or 2B. Who knows, maybe Hahn thinks Carlos Sanchez will be ready by mid-season and can fill the role then.

Regarding Mitchell, his ability to get on base is why he's still a solid prospect. If he can cut down on the strikeouts and make a little better contact, he can still be a special player. He's got more than enough speed and power as long as he's getting on base at a very high rate. The other thing I'd be interested in his splits. Given that's he a lefty, he could be a very valuable platoon player or 4th outfielder, assuming he hits righties much better than lefties.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 28, 2013 -> 12:27 PM) You need a reality show. For someone with three jobs, he apparently doesn't spend much time at any of them.

QUOTE (kevo880 @ Jan 28, 2013 -> 12:20 PM) Pretty shocked to see Simon Castro at #3. Yeah, I was high on him at the beginning of last season, but I was very underwhelmed with him in the 2nd half. I think he should be more like #9 or #10.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Jan 28, 2013 -> 11:40 AM) If Viciedo only hits 22, I'll quit the Internet. Same here, I think 25 to 30 is a pretty safe bet if he stays healthy. People need to realize two things about Viciedo, first he was extremely raw coming out of Cuba and second he was rushed through the minors. It took him a couple years to start putting everything together, but in 2011 at AAA he showed much improved contact ability and pitch recognition in addition to the power potential he had previously displayed. Unfortunately, people who look at his year end totals won't see the whole picture, as he broke his thumb in spring training and started off slowly as his thumb was still healing. Regardless, his K % increased by 5 or 6 percentage points in the majors last year. That number will go down as he makes adjustments, and as it does he'll make more contact and hit more home runs.

QUOTE (JoshPR @ Jan 27, 2013 -> 09:45 PM) Have you seen how many times De aza k'd last season?? Hint: he was third on the team... I never said anything about De Aza striking out, but he's a leadoff hitter, so who cares if he strike outs a lot. He leads off the game with no one on base and then comes to bat the rest of the game after our worst hitters. Plus contact isn't needed from him, as he won't have a lot of opportunities to drive guys in or move runners along. OBP is what matters for him and he put up a .349 rate last year.

Calling the owner of this site a little vagina is probably a good way to get banned. Well done troll.

QUOTE (ScottyDo @ Jan 27, 2013 -> 10:22 AM) Yeah I was hoping he meant two-hole. That could be very successful. I think having De Aza & Keppinger at the top of the lineup is perfect. Very good OBP from both of them, and Keppinger's plus contact ability makes him a better fit in the two spot than Youkilis IMO. Dunn, Konerko, & Rios should have plenty of opportunities to drive guys in next year.

While I don't think he was being serious, Keppinger in the three hole would be an epic fail.

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Jan 27, 2013 -> 09:15 AM) Had amazing time at Soxfest. Now I'm off to New Orleans :-) What are you, a trust fund baby?

I love this is the Matt Lindstrom thread and yet Marty has found a way to derail yet another thread by spewing the same unrelated garbage again and again.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 25, 2013 -> 12:40 PM) When a guy is in the closer's role and he has a pitch that is being hammered? Yeah, you stop throwing that pitch. If you have a problem with that...then the guy can't be in the closer's role. He was the closer for like a month and it was a stupid decision from the get-go. Not sure why he couldn't throw more screwballs after they pulled him from the role.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 25, 2013 -> 12:32 PM) Trouble with him throwing the screwball, particularly early in the season was...it wasn't a very good pitch. People hammered that ball early in the year. So you just give up on the pitch the rest of the way? His screwball can be a serious weapon, especially if he's going to start or pitch long-relief.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 25, 2013 -> 12:31 PM) Pretty funny Santiago wants to throw his screwball but AJ doesn't call it so he won't throw it. Its the pitcher's decision in the end. How many rookie pitchers call off a veteran catcher?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 25, 2013 -> 12:27 PM) He mentioned Juan Pierre. Like that would have made up 3 games. Pierre was awful in August. And his two years with us he was awful against RHP, putting up OPSs of .621 & .642. The idea was horrible back then and remains ridiculous now.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 25, 2013 -> 12:13 PM) That would be the only real obvious reason for him to back out of the WBC, if he's been explicitly told there's a role for him. Yeah, he did mention that he may be needed in the rotation if Danks isn't ready to start the season. Another interesting thing Santiago said, unrelated to his potential role, was how AJ didn't call his screwball much, while Flowers would call for it a lot and how he wants his pitchers to use their entire arsenal. Based on the interview, you could easily tell that he preferred throwing to Flowers last year and I'm starting to think we might see Santiago make some serious strides in 2013.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 25, 2013 -> 11:29 AM) Shirek went to Korea. I don't think they care about a 3rd lefty, a lot of teams have only one, the rest usually two. And the team has said, repeatedly, it sees Santiago as a starter. Therefore, I feel pretty strongly they will have him starting in Charlotte, or even with the big club if Danks isn't ready yet (then back to Charlotte after that). Axelrod or Stewart are the more likely long men, IMO. Santiago was interviewed on 670 this morning and seemed very confident he'd be on the team. He also implied that Cooper wants to use him in a variety of roles, sometimes as a long-man and sometimes as a specialist. Obviously this could just be a young pitcher hoping he starts the year in the majors and not the minors, but to me it sounded like he's been told he's part of the big league mix by coaching staff or front office.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 25, 2013 -> 10:15 AM) I kinda doubt it. The Sox have at least 5 real, actual prospects that will be starting in Charlotte - Santiago, Castro, Molina, Leesman, Axelrod, probably Rienzo. That's already a crowd, even if one of them ends up being the long man out of the pen. My guess is that Stewart goes into ST vying for the long reliever spot (the only one open in the pen), and either he gets it, or Axelrod does and Stewart is in the pen in Charlotte. I just have a hard time believing he bumps any of those guys out of the way. I think it's pretty much all but certain Santiago will be the longer reliever/spot starter to start the season. I think they really like the flexibility of having a 3rd lefty in the pen, even if his primary role will be a multi-innings guy and not a situational guy. Otherwise, I think you got the AAA rotation nailed down: Axelrod, Rienzo, Castro, Molina, & Leesman. Not sure if Shirek is still around, but he started 20 plus games last year as well. That could leave Stewart with a relief role.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 25, 2013 -> 08:36 AM) Is it possible KC beats out the Sox? Yeah. Likelihood? About 1 chance in 10, at best. Completely agree with this. The Royals' starting pitching is not very good outside of Shields, so to have any chance to overtake us next year, they need to find a way to score a lot more runs. IMO, that starts with Hosmer & Moustakas both producing at All-Star levels. If that doesn't happen, I don't see how they have any chance of making up 13 wins against us, even if the Sox regress some next year.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 25, 2013 -> 08:48 AM) I think its Lindstrom because they haven't been able to announce it yet. Hahn was on CSN the other day and noted Iguchi was acquired after Soxfest, and Thornton and Marte were spring training pick ups. Despite what several panicked posters have posted, he knows there are holes and will continue to try to fill them. I have no idea if he will be a good GM or not, but it is really unfair for anyone to take shots at him now. He did make it sound like there were a couple things in the works. I just don't think officially announcing a signing that was reported like 4 days ago is going to drive a lot of excitement at SoxFest. Then again, neither will a minor bench move. One other thing of interest from his interview was him not committing to Keppinger being the opening day 3B. Said they could still add/move some pieces that could open a spot for Keppinger elsewhere. Also said they could add left-named bat to split time with him at 3B.

Hahn was on 670 earlier this morning and said they may have a move to announce later today. It could be Lindstrom, although that seems like bit of a cop-out, since the move reported a few days ago. I'm thinking they might have bench guy they're getting close to landing.

QUOTE (Rex Hudler @ Jan 25, 2013 -> 12:37 AM) Then again, it's really no one's business. You and everyone else can choose to believe him or not. But he doesn't owe anyone anything. So you think nothing in an athlete's personal life is anyone's business? If so, I completely disagree with you. This country already has a problem with accountability and when high-profile celebrities straight-up lie to the American public's face, it only adds fuel to the fire. No one is saying he committed a crime and no one is saying he deserves to go to hell for this. But Manti should man up and admit the whole truth. I get the initial reaction is to lie, but he just looks a bumbling idiot who can't get his story straight right now and the coverup is always worse crime (if and when it finally comes out).

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 24, 2013 -> 06:31 PM) The fake call record spreadsheet was weird. This whole thing is so creepy. Or how about the tweets with more than 140 characters. This whole coverup is beyond ridiculous. I just hope the truth comes out, because I'm tired of the constant lies.

Holy f***, I'm so sick of the trolling and pessimism on this board. People don't have to be overly positive about this team, but for the love of god please support your negative outlooks with some logic, reason, and/or stats. KC finished 13 games behind us last year. They added one very good SP and two s***ty ones. If you really think KC will win more games than us next year, please go through their roster and our roster and then show us all where their gains and our regressions add up to 13 games. Otherwise, stop with the god damn b****ing and worry about the team ahead of us on paper that is Detroit.