DirtySox

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Nov 1, 2011 -> 11:16 AM) If you look at the economics/baseball reasoning that you provided then it's fairly obvious they are morons. Feel free to expound. Though the issue is about dead via the CBA anyway.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Nov 1, 2011 -> 11:13 AM) Then baseball is full of morons. Insightful.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 1, 2011 -> 10:37 AM) That is exactly it. Baseball is such a crapshoot draft that to expect any results out of it, you really have to spend between $8-15 million, and there are teams that are going above and beyond that. One of the reasons the White Sox don't do this is because they have been burned by big signing bonuses in the past. It's actually a stupid reason because that kind of stuff simply happens, but it's true (it's also why they generally don't hand out big free agent contracts...Reinsdorf has opened the purse strings a bit in the past 5 years and it has bit him squarely on the ass, so I expect him to reign it in a bit over the next 5). There is also the idea that Selig has in mind for slotting, and Reinsdorf has done quite a bit to stay within that, which is dumb from a business perspective because if you are the only one following the rules and it isn't unethical to break the rules, then you are putting yourself at a disadvantage. Spot on. Luckily hard-slotting isn't even remotely close to becoming a reality. A tax for exceeding some sort of bonus cap/ceiling is a much better idea.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 1, 2011 -> 10:58 AM) I agree. Hard slotting helps small market teams a lot more than it hurts them. You are in the absolute minority that thinks that. 95% of baseball hates the idea. This is not hyperbole. It's why hard-slotting isn't even close to becoming reality. Thankfully.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Nov 1, 2011 -> 09:36 AM) Obviously I know why the players don't want hard slotting, but your first reason doesn't cut it. There are more teams that would benefit from hard slotting than teams currently taking advantage of the system. From a parity standpoint, hard slotting is a must. Sure, if you're a Red Sox, Tigers, or Cubs fan, you want to keep the current system. However, the poster who said there shouldn't be hard slotting is a White Sox fan, so his claim makes zero sense. I'm also a fan of baseball and not just the White Sox. Hard-slotting hurts small market teams that aren't able to lure the big time free agents. Teams like the Rays, Royals, and Pirates realize that it's absolutely necessary to be able to develop their own players and they spend accordingly to make up for other deficiencies they can't control as much. I'd rather not see that taken away from them. It also pushes multi-sport and certain prep talent away from the draft if bonuses are set in stone. Hard-slotting is widely viewed by almost everyone as a terrible hindrance of an idea. It might be good for the thrifty White Sox, but it's awful for the rest of baseball.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Oct 31, 2011 -> 12:46 PM) Well, that's not going to happen. We just need to hope that the new CBA will include hard slotting or else we'll continue to be at a disadvantage. Also, having some presence in Latin America (outside of Cuba) would help. Hard-slotting isn't going to happen, and it shouldn't. Sounds like a tax will be imposed if teams spend over a certain amount in the draft overall.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 31, 2011 -> 01:58 PM) I think the only reason why this would happen is if he really wants to stay in Cleveland. Other teams will simply be willing to risk more money on a guy with his injury history. Indeed. He might like it in Cleveland, or feel he owes it to the organization though. I'm not sure what type of person he is or what motivates him, but it's not out of the question.

The Indians are also interested in bringing him back, but at a lower salary and with incentives. He might end up staying put.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 31, 2011 -> 01:04 PM) Clearest sign so far that Sox are All In again. Nothing says all in like spending on adequate relief pitching!

Meh.

MDGonzales Mark Gonzales Sox picked up $3.75 million option on reliever Jason Frasor. 2 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Oct 27, 2011 -> 05:48 PM) WTF? I gagged after I read that. The sooner AJ is gone, the better.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Oct 26, 2011 -> 03:10 PM) Wow, our minor league system stinks... It does indeed. It won't be getting better with Kenny trading for middling major league ready talent either.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Oct 25, 2011 -> 08:23 PM) I'm calling BS big time. No way this roster isn't adjusted as much as possible. I hope so. Standing pat is just delaying the inevitable. Being stuck in between contention and rebuilding/retooling is maddening.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 22, 2011 -> 07:11 PM) I'm glad he said he wants major league ready talent for anybody he trades. The Sox don't need to be in a total rebuild. Those things are awfully ugly. A return of major league talent is all fine and dandy, but don't expect anything too significant. A team is much more likely to receive impact talent if it's further away from the Bigs. The while risk versus reward thing comes into play here obviously. Personally, I'd much prefer prospects with great upside in A or AA, versus middling major league talent that will be thrown into the current mess.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 22, 2011 -> 11:48 AM) Who replaces Peavy? Hopefully a new GM is in charge of replacing Peavy.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 22, 2011 -> 11:31 AM) On the other hand, if Dunn hits like he hit before 2011, which is probably doubtful, and Rios plays like he played the first half of 2010, again, doubtful, the Sox right now would be as good as any team in their division. Doubtful indeed. The Sox will be unloading productive pieces soon as well. Couple that with questions marks all over the roster, and I fear this team will need almost everything to go right in order to be competitive next season.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 22, 2011 -> 11:08 AM) No, they're not in the least in that bad of shape. However, you're probably right...Kenny would never say "I'll take anything I can get for Danks and Quentin." I'm not sure how one can argue that the Sox aren't in bad shape right now. Overextended payroll, bad contracts, and a barren farm system. Things are pretty s***ty right now.

Ugh. I hope Kenny is just posturing/placating the fans here. Limiting yourself to MLB ready talent only is an awful idea.

Rongey currently defending the White Sox draft/amateur spending on Twitter while being refuted by Southside Larry and Jim Margalus. Rongey makes me want to rage. He's just so awful. This gem is particularly cringe worthy. Yep. Those are the only options.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Oct 19, 2011 -> 10:50 PM) Wouldn't it just be easier if someone just named a farm system they believe is worse than that of the Sox and argue it out from there? Fathom kinda did, and the Marlins are probably the only one worth arguing for. I had thought maybe the Brewers, but they restocked rather nicely via the draft as well as had some breakout prospects despite selling the farm for Greinke and Marcum.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Oct 19, 2011 -> 09:21 PM) This is the problem with "scouting gurus," they outright lie. That's a fun accusation. KG has plenty of MLB organizational scouts and sources at his disposal. He merely relays what he's told regarding these guys in conjunction with what one might derive from the statistics.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 19, 2011 -> 10:21 PM) I think this gets at the difference between... how good is an organization at producing major league talent... versus how much talent is currently in said system. For talent in the system, the Sox are certainly going to be near the bottom on most people's lists. But as Rock pointed out, you are looking at a system that, over a less than three year period, produced its starting 3B (Morel), starting 2B (Beckham), starting RF in 2012 (Viciedo), backup and likely future starting C (Flowers - partial credit), a reliever and 2012 starter (Sale), their closer who converted positions (Santos), another likely MLB starter (Axelrod), a highly touted reliever for 2012 (Reed), their utility man (Stealth Elf, partial credit), and of course a very successful starter they traded (Hudson). That is 10 guys since the 2008 draft. How many other teams can say they did that? Some yes, many no. I think you have to look at both sides. The Sox have gotten decent performance from their system, but their depth of talent is sorely lacking. Two related, but still distinct, viewpoints. I was going to get into this as well with Rock's point. The system has certainly churned out some starters on the current roster, but the jury is still out on the quality of many of them. I wouldn't be touting Beckham currently. He's been rather disappointing in my eyes. Morel might be a solid 3B (and I like him), but we still don't know how he will hit. Conversely, Santos, Sale, Reed, and Dayan I'm quite confident in. Flowers and Axelrod not so much. I would agree the Sox have been improving in said regard though, and Dan had a well stated post about this topic recently in another thread. I just wish the spending and influx of talent into the system could be heightened, but that likely isn't going to happen under Jerry's watch. Cross your fingers for hard slotting I suppose.

QUOTE (SI1020 @ Oct 19, 2011 -> 09:50 PM) Here is the latest I could find. I still wonder how much research they put into it and contend that a lot of it is a guessing game. Just like when rivals.com does its star rankings for HS football and basketball recruits. That being said, the state of the farm system is something KW needs to address if he wants to rehabilitate his reputation with Sox fans. http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/10/2011-farm-system-rankings/ It's very much subjective but you are generally going to find similar rankings across the board. The Rangers are almost assuredly going to be in the top 5 everywhere, while the Sox will likely be in the Bottom 5 universally. Sites like Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus take it very seriously. It's what they do, it's why they exist. Also, the author of that article Frankie Piliere is reputable. Though one needs to note that the article is from February. Sale and Morel graduated and are no longer considered prospects. The piece also was written before the 2011 draft, where the Sox didn't have a 1st round pick, and at the same time spent the absolute least on bonus expenditures amongst all MLB teams.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 19, 2011 -> 06:59 PM) So next year we will have our 3B, SS (kinda), 2B, RF, C, and about 3-4 pitchers brought in organically through our system. Not really bad. I don't disagree, but this is largely irrelevant when the topic at hand is the current farm system makeup. Reed, Stewart, Thompson, Saladino, Escobar, Axelrod, Doyle? Meh.