Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (shysocks @ Jan 5, 2015 -> 12:29 PM) I don't get that feeling at all. Think the Sox have Bonifcatio pegged as the 10th man and they'll give Sanchez his shot. Just that platoon numbers from year-to-year are pretty small samples. You're talking no more than 136 PA's against lefties in any of those three seasons. Look at the career numbers (.291/.340/.380/.720) and it's clear he's capable enough. I really think Micah is the favorite for the 2B job. If you assume he's the long-term answer and anywhere close to ready, then giving him the starting job this year is the better alternative than spending two full seasons developing rookie 2Bs (Sanchez in 2015 and then Micah in 2016). And quite frankly, I think the Sox believe a healthy Micah Johnson is ready enough for a shot at the majors. His speed gives him a tool that will make him at least somewhat dangerous at the bottom of the order even if he struggles with the bat. And they may feel that working with the major league coaching staff and playing alongside Alexei would be good for his defensive development. Not saying that's the right call, but Merkin has pushing him hard since the end of last year as the starting 2B for 2015 and this is one of those rare occasions where he actually might have some insight into what the front office is thinking and is not just spitting out the normal fluff.

I think it's all but certain that Hawkins starts at AA next year.

I think some people are using the term "utility guy" incorrectly in regards to Zobrist. It's almost as if some people feel that him being a "utility guy" is a bad thing and makes him less valuable. Just because he plays multiple positions doesn't mean he's not an everyday starter. If a team wanted to use him exclusively at one position, he'd still be well above average at most spots. In fact, I'd argue that his versatility makes him more valuable than his individual numbers alone suggest. His presence allows for more matchup plays and provides insurance at multiple spots in the event of injury. Neither of those can be quantified very easily and his rolled into his WAR, but both make him more valuable to the team.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Jan 1, 2015 -> 01:57 PM) What a baseball team should expect of it's manager: 1. A good sense of humor. 2. Gets drunk. 3. Goes off on asshole radio guy. Check, check and check!! Ozzie wins over Robin or for that matter anyone else. thanks, douglas POTY!

QUOTE (LDF @ Dec 31, 2014 -> 05:51 PM) a great set of questions, but i would like to add 1 more. after #10 which is about Matt Davidson, i will also add will Erik Johnson rebound as well. i am still thinking the sox will like to see how Davidson rebounds, even tho no one from the front office is saying anything about that. I still like Johnson's odds of rebounding more than Davidson's. A 30% K rate isn't going to translate well to the majors without elite power and I think it's clear that playing in Reno and the PCL league inflated his previous AAA numbers (both BABIP & ISO). At least with Johnson there's some hope that a physical problem caused his stuff to detoriate last season and that with an offseason of rest his arm could return healthy next year. Obviously I'm not banking on that, but I think it's a more likely outcome than Davidson solving his significant contacts issues.

QUOTE (Douglas Rome @ Dec 31, 2014 -> 07:06 AM) who's the better manager, Ozzie or Robin? thanks, douglas Robin is funnier IMO, so I'll go with him.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Dec 30, 2014 -> 03:10 PM) Albert Breer @AlbertBreer· Baltimore's Eric DeCosta drawing big NFL interest. Jets asking again, after a hard run in '13. Bears unlikely as long as Phillips is there. Wow, this right here shows how bad it is having Ted Phillips involved in football decisions in any capacity.

QUOTE (MAX @ Dec 29, 2014 -> 06:38 PM) Yeah, people are free to make there own sexual choices. Crazy I know. Wow, you are one messed up dude. Sleeping with a teammate's wife is acceptable, but past steroid use is completely disgusting? I can tell you for a fact that all 25 men on the White Sox roster would find your position on this laughable, with Avi Garcia being the lone exception. There's absolutely nothing worse for a clubhouse than a guy who is banging a teammate's wife. But hey, freedom for sexual choices!!

QUOTE (MAX @ Dec 29, 2014 -> 05:20 PM) I don't really care if he does tbh. As long as he hits the s*** out of the ball. Hold the f*** on, cheering for a guy that used steriods would make you sick to your stomach, but you're cool with a dude who banged his teammate wife?? I really hope you're just f***ing around, because otherwise you got some f***ed up morals.

Is the HD version of the Wire on ComCast OnDemand?

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Dec 26, 2014 -> 08:19 PM) (beside the fact that most are woefully overrating what Longoria did in the past). Dude, what the f*** are you talking about. Longoria is 2nd in total WAR from 2008 to 2014. What could we possibly be overrating? He's been without question one of the best players in Major League Baseball over the course of his career. You're love for prospects is actually skewing your ability to reason.

I'm not a Robin Ventura fan by any means (manager-wise), but who gives a s*** about his personality. His job is to win baseball games, not to entertain our fan-base during post game interviews. It's amazing in this day and age that someone would actually want to see a head coach/manager fired simply because they're "boring".

QUOTE (oldsox @ Dec 25, 2014 -> 06:40 AM) Are we talking $50 large Up Front? Or spread out over a few yrs? The money will be paid up-front since it's a signing bonus, but how the Sox account for the expense is unknown. Most businesses would consider this type of move a long-term investment and would allocate the cost over the life of the asset (or contract in this case). Baseball is obviously a different animal so who really knows. Either way, I think the sacrifice of future Latin American signings of any significance is the bigger reason why they won't sign Moncada.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Dec 24, 2014 -> 07:10 PM) The Conor platoon talk is getting out of control. Apparently most of Soxtalk hit their primes career-wise at 24 years old and never wanted to get better at anything...or you all got fired after a year. Buncha spoiled jagoffs- merry Christmas Dude, he had a 52 wRC+ (.565 OPS) against lefties last year, which is way better than his career numbers. Conor has showed no signs of being an effective hitter against lefties and it would be foolish to give those 100+ at-bats next year if we're serious about competing. Maybe a Christmas miracle happens and he finally figures out how to hit lefties at some point in his career, but we've done our due diligence and should accept him for what he is currently, which is the strong half of a 3B platoon.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Dec 24, 2014 -> 01:31 PM) I wonder if Danny Valencia could be had from Toronto. I think he'd be a great fit. I wouldn't mind signing Chris Denorfia for his defense and taking him out of the hitters' hells he's been in. C - Brantly/Kottaras 1B/3B - Valencia INF - Saladino/Garcia/Sanchez OF - Denorfia Denorfia makes a ton of sense for us. Strong defensive OF who's been very good against LHP in his career (obviously not last year). When we face lefties, we could play him in RF, shifting Avi to DH and taking LaRoche's bat out of the lineup. How is his CF defense though? Not sure I love the idea of him being our only extra OF given how often Eaton gets banged up.

Where does this idea that Longoria will be cheap come from? He had a down year in 2014 (still very solid), but has been without question one of the best players in the game for a good half decade. Given his relatively affordable contract, he'd cost a f***ton. Last year won't change the price nor should it.

QUOTE (flavum @ Dec 22, 2014 -> 01:47 PM) I'm all for optimism when it comes to prospects, but can we cool it a little? Sale, Samardzija, Quintana, Danks, and Noesi....that's a rotation good enough to win 90 games if they make their starts and the rest of the team is healthy. Rodon is 22 and could use a couple months in the minors. At the very least, play the first 54 games without him and then evaluate. While I love all the improvements the Sox have made this offseason, we're still on the outside looking in as far as contenders go. Part of that is the back-end of our rotation. Even as a rookie, Rodon could be a big upgrade over Danks and/or Noesi. Given our expected margin for error, I really don't think we can afford to wait two months or more if an upgrade is presently available. Also, what does 54 games get us? No super 2 status? I'm all for the extra year of team control, but avoiding super 2 status isn't worth the cost if you feel that Rodon is better than Danks or Noesi.

I may be in the minority here, but I want him with the big league club ASAP while getting that extra year of team control. Not sure if that's mid April or early May, but I truly believe he's a better starting option than both Danks & Noesei and I don't think we can afford to wait 3+ months for him to replace one of those guys in the rotation if we're serious about competing. Also, I don't think spending a full season with Cooper as a starter in the majors is going to be any worse for his development than dominating minor league hitters for most of the year. Rodon is a special talent and IMO he should be pushed along more aggressively.

I may be in the minority here, but I want him with the big league club ASAP while getting that extra year of team control. Not sure if that's mid April or early May, but I truly believe he's a better starting option than both Danks & Noesei and I don't think we can afford to wait 3+ months for him to replace one of those guys in the rotation if we're serious about competing. Also, I don't think spending a full season with Cooper as a starter in the majors is going to be any worse for his development than dominating minor league hitters for most of the year. Rodon is a special talent and IMO he should be pushed along more aggressively.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Dec 21, 2014 -> 05:25 PM) could be done. Hopefully, they don't. Of course Preller didn't trade his top prospects either. He protected most of his top prospects. The only 1 he traded was for Myers. This board would have all in on trading 3 top prospects for Myers. He traded the elite Grandal for Matt Kemp. It also helps when you have a strong farm system. Not a thin one like the Sox have. Hold on a second, you wouldn't trade any three prospects in our systems (excluding Rodon & Anderson) plus Gillaspie for Evan Longoria? Please tell me I'm misinterpreting something here, because Evan Longoria is easily one of the best players in baseball and signed to a relatively affordable deal. If that really is the case, then you definitely care more about prospects than winning World Series.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Dec 20, 2014 -> 08:23 PM) We tried to and still are trying to move Viciedo to fit Melky under our payroll. One way or the other, Viciedo's contract won't be on our books come opening day. Now if we want to sign more free agents, we'd need to move John Danks, and good luck finding any takers for him. I definitely think we'll move Viciedo, but it has nothing to do with Melky's salary. Hahn made it pretty clear that Reinsdorf agreed to increase payroll in order to sign Melky. Any savings by moving Viciedo will likely go towards adding bench pieces that are better fits than Tank. I really don't think we have to clear salary at this point.

This Freddy was a rental talk is absurd, the Sox knew they'd be able to extend him when they made the deal. GreenSox, it seems you care more about winning trades than winning World Series.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Dec 20, 2014 -> 07:27 PM) There are no rumors of him to the Sox. I can't wait to see the board go sour on him when it's revealed to be the Cubs. EDIT: After Melky signing, Rock hinted that we done with signings and need to move contracts to just fit Melky in the cap. This guy could cost anywhere from $15-50 mil, so don't get your hopes to high He's looking for $5M to $6M a year per his agent. If that's the case, we could free a big chunk of that by moving Viciedo. And we definitely don't have to move contracts for Melky. Reinsdorf gave the ok to increase payroll before signing him.

Not that it matters, but I think his name is spelled Jung not Jeong if a mod wants to change.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Dec 20, 2014 -> 06:53 PM) Texas is out: Max Wildstein @MaxWildstein · 23m 23 minutes ago #Rangers did NOT place the winning bid of $5MM on Jung-ho Kang, sources tell @StevensonFWST. #MLB At this point it has to be the White Sox, what other teams are left that make sense?