Jerksticks

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 25, 2013 -> 10:00 PM) Interesting. As far as hitters go, I still think batting average, on base percentage, RBIs, runs scored and how a guy hits with runners in scoring posn are pretty basic stats. Can't you tell if a guy is a good player or not by BA and on base percentage?? I would agree with that for the most part.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 22, 2013 -> 03:26 PM) The best approach to rebuilding is moving your aging assets in years where you're clearly not going to contend. Paul Konerko Alex Rios Gavin Floyd Jake Peavy Parts from one of baseball's best bullpens. Good God, sadly, that's it. That's how bad this team is. There's NOTHING to build around, though, but are we that much worse an MLB team without the players above? If the Sox are going to suck (and they are) with or without these players, they might as well be gone and moved to bring in some good prospects. There are teams ready to compete out there willing to move young players - it happens every year. The White Sox have to stop acting like they're trying to win when they're not trying to win. This offense is abysmal and there's just no chance this team is going to win 80 games, let alone to sneak into the playoffs and get swept in the first round. Does anyone else think the Sox would have made the WS last year if we had held on? Detroit had a cakewalk through the al playoffs. I still think this team can win.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Apr 21, 2013 -> 07:36 PM) Alexei = FA signing out of Latin America, as was Dayan, and we've made a few of those recently. CQ got here by trading Chris Carter, who at the time was another prospect with major flaws in his game who couldn't get recognition as a game-wide top-100 prospect. The guy we got in return would have had an MVP if he hadn't been angry and stupid at the same time. We're still holding talented-but-unheralded prospects other teams want, and there are always players in other organizations that have fallen out of favor. There's no reason to believe we can't come up with something, maybe not like Q, but good enough. Floyd and Danks got here by trading a young SP from an area of excess (check) and trading a vet with a year remaining (check). With the right moves we can do that again. Paulie we picked up via trade for a good young MLB player we developed but thought we didn't want/need. We have this also and can make that kind of deal with Viciedo if we found the right guy. Jenks = waiver claim. We're in a good waiver spot now. AJ & JD were smart FA signings on a budget. Hahn's best trait so far is his contract negotiation ability. Out of all those players you mentioned we have developed only 3 of those players ourselves: Buehrle (38th round, 1139 overall), Rowand (1st round, 35th overall), and Crede (5th round, 137 overall). Note how the highest pick wasn't all that high and he's also the lesser of the 3. Caulfield, I know you have been around here for a while. I remember you back from the WSI days. I have been on Sox boards since 2003 and the one recurring theme all these years (aside from hating ownership, the GM, and some of the best pieces of franchise history) is that the fans always want to rebuild at the first sign of trouble/weakness and yet at the same time they absolutely cannot stand losing. What the Sox have done is turn that 2003 team (remember all those rebuild calls after choking on the Twins?) and turned it into a World Champ 2 years later. Then they turned that stacked, but ultimately disappointing 2006 team into another division winner 2 years later, a veteran team of course, but one led by youth in Danks, Floyd, Quentin, Alexei. After that came the Ozzie ego years, but there is no doubt those 2011 & 2012 squads had the talent to win. We're here where we are now because the players didn't win, and so we're in another down period where we're waiting to form our next core, which BTW with potentially 4 good LHSP we're probably not too far away from. What the Sox have done, at least since I've been hanging around these miserable online fan forums, is basically spit in the faces of the rebuilders again and again and prove that they don't need to do it Cubbie style (another name for rape IMO) and can put out good, quality playoff type teams after short down periods by capitalizing on their scounting ability, mainly with players in other organizations. By making that list you've pretty much admitted they've done that but yet here we all are with our hate and anger and fire breath, and I don't think that's called for. This is pretty spot on. I think the team is underperforming quite a bit right now. The pitching looks good, now and in the future. We should give Hahn more time to make the tough calls with our young position players.

He's the worst thing I've ever watched. I've never respected his style of baseball. You gotta be dangerous, and to be dangerous, you have to be able to constantly adjust based on situation. Poor guy

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 18, 2013 -> 09:28 PM) Yes 1-33, 11 K's, 2 BB He even managed to play crappy defense at 1B too. Wow can he please do that lower in the order? How long until 5th becomes 6th? I'm saying 2 weeks

But does he HAVE to be in the heart of the order because of his contract? Yes we are stuck with him but why does he have to bat between Rios and PK? I'm not knee-jerkin 15 games in. This is based on 1000 AB of no contact and my opinion that 1000 more are coming. Can't he bat 8th before Flowers?

How long does he have to struggle like this before Robin moves him way down in the lineup? How much say does the Front Office have in the matter, due to say contract issues? Obviously the front office has way smarter people applied to this than us, but let's get it all out on the table. Do we really have to watch him sink the ship for another 2 years? If we replace him with a feared hitter we could be talking playoffs; it's that simple to me. Why isn't he held accountable for underproducing? Why is his psyche too fragile to be moved down? If he can't make contact, he can't hit fourth. f*** him. We need another feared hitter to team with Paulie. Playoffs c'mon lets go!

Man that's a priceless nugget of information!

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Apr 16, 2013 -> 06:55 PM) Winning baseball 101. Absolutely. 2 good hitters in the middle can carry a club. Dunn is just awful. Now he would be nice in the 9 hole or something on a good team for sure.

If Hawkins makes it to AAA when he's 20 I will do backflips. 20! He's 20 man! Not even a grown man, killing 22-35 year olds right now.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Apr 14, 2013 -> 05:26 PM) This is more power than Phegley has shown during his pro career. Any explanations? good pitching across the board today. Are any these pitchers solid prospects? Maybe just got a little better?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 13, 2013 -> 01:57 PM) This thread could exist every year for every team in every sport. f***in A. Part of the beginning of the season is seeing what you have, who responds to what. It's also for knee jerkin

The players haven't been executing at all. That's the only reason this thread exists.

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 12, 2013 -> 06:23 PM) 5 games plus a few postseason games. He's still 19, and know he's raw. He should be learning the professional game at a lower level. Maybe he's just caught in between a bit? Thankfully really smart guys weighed all the pros and cons and decided this instead of you or me!

We need a hard-throwing righty SP. I want Peavy to be our 2nd righty. Then we are set.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 05:45 PM) That is a beat the s*** out of Gio lineup if I ever saw one. Weaver is out for at least 4 weeks, I don't respect Detroit's pitching at all and I think the AL east is the weakest it's ever been. I think we can come out of the next few months in the top 2-3 teams in the AL. Here's why: We miss Weaver 1 or 2 times for those May bouts with LA and outside of a Rangers and Rays series, we play a pretty soft schedule until July Tigers. This of course depends on thinking the A's, Indians and Royals are soft. I know one series at a time but damnnnn, let's hit the gas!

That is a beat the s*** out of Gio lineup if I ever saw one.

2nd this motion. It would be cool to have a "Bench" as well with the length of sentence visible...like a penalty box.

I think Hawk and Stone evaluate players the exact same way and I almost always agree. Spot on IMO. They recognize intangible tools and it's a delight hearin them complement other teams' players. Of course the rehashed stuff bothers ya, that's not a new or insightful observation. Everyone feels that way. Quit thinking selfishly because it's for the kid who hasn't heard about keeping his butt down or the late teenager trying to hit curveballs. I just take the bad with all the good because I know I'm gonna miss the hell outa him when he goes. Can this thread be deleted so those of us that can still tolerate Hawk don't have to see this thread title everyday? Or at least change the title to "I've lost that loving feeling".

QUOTE (Knuckles @ Apr 6, 2013 -> 05:21 PM) His post game interview was kind of awkward. Why? Cause there were no clichés? Seemed like a humble guy with enough brains to tell it like it really was.

Tank please

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 1, 2013 -> 09:42 AM) The only way this is a make or break season is if the team flops hard and early. This franchise has been running with a reloading strategy for a few years now, moving older higher priced talent out, and replacing it where ever they can with cheaper talent from the minors. I would say this year is more important for what minor leaguers do, than major leaguers, if all goes according to schedule with the big club. Guys like Rienzo, Beck, Mitchell, Castro, Molina, Sanchez, Ravelo, etc, are the keys here. Spot on. I think the Sox' strategy has been about as smart as it gets the last few years. People who generally nag on the FO and want a rebuild totally miss the filtering process. It's been slow but it's also been steady. We've had a wonderful shot every year while at the same time slowly been able to filter dead or older weight. Like you said, if some of these guys in the minors take big steps this year...look out. The thought of selling everybody just seems like stupid, counterproductive business. We're good enough to make a run at the playoffs. if we had outlasted Detroit last year I would have liked our chances against Oak and NY.

Do we have to sign up somewhere? I'll take some Kep on Wednesday.

Sure looked like they were having fun though!

I tell ya when it comes to feelin good, I rank opening day right up there with pissin, cummin n s***tin.