Thad Bosley

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 22, 2016 -> 06:14 PM) To me it is the most important point. Sure there were OFs, but if you can't afford to sign them, it doesn't matter. Uninformed speculation - art or science?

When assessing this particular offseason for the White Sox, you have to consider where they started from. Last year's team was a disaster: dead last in offense and near last on defense. And so to be "all in" or wanting to seriously compete for this season, "many" upgrades needed to be made. Yes, of course, the Todd Frazier addition was an outstanding one. High applause to the FO on that deal! Acquiring Brett Lawrie wasn't quite on the same level but it appears to have been a deal worth making, and does represent a net upgrade at second base. The catching situation, well, it's no longer Tyler Flowers. Enough said on that! The problem is our team was so bad last year that to become competitive this year, which management claims was its goal, still more needed to be done, particularly in the outfield and at DH. That's why I am 100% with the always-terrific poster Eminor when he laments the team's inability to convert on one of the premier outfielder free agents this offseason. If this team under this current owner and management team couldn't obtain a premium free agent talent under the conditions which were present this winter, when will it ever? So very disappointing. Because this was the golden opportunity to put the finishing touches on an offseason to take the team where it started from at the end of last season to a level as legitimate contender for this season. That has not happened. Instead, the conversation has been redirected to talking about the merits of the dumpster diving efforts to acquire Latos and Rollins. As many others have mentioned, the plan and execution this offseason appears to have been half-arsed, at least to this point. This point, I remind you, is at the beginning of Spring Training. However, I will hitch my wagon onto the optimism of some of the other rosier posters and hope Mr. Hahn is able to pull off a deal (or two) this spring to elevate the team up the notch or two it needs to compete for a chance for postseason play this season. But as of now, as we enter "Year 2" of the "3 Year Plan", it's looking a little iffy.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 19, 2016 -> 02:38 PM) Chicago White Sox ‏@whitesox 14m14 minutes ago "As we sit here today, we feel well positioned to contend." - Rick Hahn Earth to Jerry, Kenny & Rick: your ace starting pitcher today said he has yet to play in a "meaningful game" in his entire career, and that nothing else matters if the team doesn't make the playoffs. That of course echoes what many of us here have been saying for a long time now. So as you sit here today, Rick, you had better hope you either add another missing part or two, or hope beyond hope that the underperforming assets from last year figure it out and make it happen this season, cuz Mr. Sale's patience? It be wearing thin!

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 19, 2016 -> 02:38 PM) Scot Gregor ‏@scotgregor 9m9 minutes ago From GM Rick Hahn, sounds like only adds #WhiteSox might make would come through trades. Chicago White Sox ‏@whitesox 14m14 minutes ago "As we sit here today, we feel well positioned to contend." - Rick Hahn Has there ever been a year at this time when he hasn't said these exact words?

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Feb 19, 2016 -> 10:55 AM) 1. And yet, it IS a defensive upgrade. 2. Fowler is a bad defensive center-fielder. That almost certainly means he will be at least a significantly better defensive right-fielder. Southpaw would be a defensive upgrade in right field. Let's keep this in perspective!!

QUOTE (SoxSteve @ Feb 19, 2016 -> 01:22 AM) Yes but Fowler would be a defensive upgrade at any of the corner outfield positions and Desmond would have been a defensive downgrade. Plus Fowler has a much better OBP than Desmond. Desmond was a terrible fit on this team at so many levels. Strikeouts, low OBP, over 24 errors averaged over last 3 years. Not too mention our best minor league player is a shortstop. Don't want him no matter what his ridiculous War number is. Only in a discussion about the White Sox outfield defense would Dexter Fowler's name ever even remotely be mentioned as a "defensive upgrade". We should keep this in context, as in, we'd be replacing really bad defense with bad defense if he were to join the team.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 03:03 PM) If you are Rick Hahn, are you willing to go to Jerry Reinsdorf and the Board of Directors and tell them that Dexter Fowler is the guy you need to put you over the top? That might be an easier conversation to have than trying to explain how this team is going to compete with Avisail Garcia as it's starting rightfielder.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 16, 2016 -> 04:19 PM) So, bucket said we may trade for an OF. One of the very available OFs now is De Aza. What would your response be? Mine would be shrieking. Lol - so in the past couple of years, our outfield defense has gone from De Aza/Viciedo to Cabrera/Garcia. I am sick to death at puking over our outfield defense! Time to start catching the ball out there. So a big "De NOza" to De Aza!!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 16, 2016 -> 03:20 PM) I think you can throw out the 73 and 90 win predictions as ones that would take a couple standard deviations of "luck" to happen. Even the 76 win team we just had contained some terrible years by guys who usually weren't terrible. Adding Frazier, Lawrie, and the new catching duo to this mix should really pick up three of the worst positions on the field. I think the low to mid 80's is a good baseline for win prediction. Right now I would say 84 or 85 sounds right to me. When you look at the current situation this way, where you are just bumping up against a possible postseason appearance but also maybe just coming up a bit short, it almost seems worth it to give up the draft pick and just go and get Fowler and replace Garcia with him. Could literally mean the difference between making the playoffs and not.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 11:23 PM) The Mets operate in mostly the same fashion. They play in New York City. The Cubs and Yankees exist. Angels and Dodgers, Red Sox...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 10:13 PM) They don't operate like a large market team because their fan base operates like a small market team. The current team that manages how this team operates, JR, KW & RH, are 2 for 13 as a team, with a homer (grand slam in '05), and a bunt single (in '08). That pencils out to a .154 avg, which I'm sure you would agree is not very good. You ought to be benched for that lack of performance, but we all know that's not going to happen, so we're stuck with them until further notice. So let's just hope as we enter Year #14 of their collective stewardship that the stars somehow align with the team this year and the team goes on a long run of sustained success, one worthy of a dedicated fan base, and then the fans will reward as appropriate.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 09:49 PM) LMAO. The guy who started a thread last year how he was going to change allegiances because the team didn't win enough. He decided not to because he would rather complain, so in essence he would rather complain about a team than have them win. And this is one who refers to someone else as being childish. OK. I've told you this before, and I'll tell you this again. You've got me confused with someone else, somebody else who you relentlessly attack here, with this "change allegiance" silliness. I never said such a thing, nothing even remotely close. Go back and find this thread - I'd love to see it myself - and if you can't, and you won't, then please stop with the misinformation.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 09:42 PM) That is good. No surprise you have no answers. If you are going to act like a child and derail conversations the way you like to do, you'll be treated like a child.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 09:34 PM) If you have all the answers, why don't you either let them know or share them with us. If you have a question, raise your hand and wait until you're called upon.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 09:29 PM) Send them your resume. Only approach the bench when summoned, please.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 09:07 PM) You actually make the exact point. The Sox aren't a large market team, and expecting them to spend like one when they don't have that sort of revenue base is completely irrational. They ARE a large market team - they play in the city of Chicago. They don't operate as a large market team because they haven't ever figured out how to win in a sustainable fashion in order to build up this revenue base of which you speak.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 12:37 PM) I went to five games in September of 2012 and I never waited in line in the bathroom during a pennant race. I was there when Sale and Quintana ran out of gas and the offense dissipated. I'm sure you were there every game given your rhetoric, but there was no crowd excitement, no 75% filled stadium or anything. This team hasn't won 90 games in a decade, has come in first only once during that time (and that, it took them 163 games to do), with only one playoff appearance, and a meek and brief one at that. And so when the fan base is slow to react to that rare team in recent years that is competitive for a change as was the case in 2012, it's all of a sudden a bad fan base of sorts. Give me a bleepin' break. And again the question, was the fan base "fickle" and "weak" these past three seasons when there was also "no crowd excitement" at the 'ol ballpark? Or is this fickle & weak argument just pointed towards the 2012 season?

QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 11:16 AM) I am sorry, but coming from you, this is ridiculous. You complain about one topic and you're known on this site for what has become a shtick. If you don't think the Sox have a fickle fan base I don't know what to tell you. Certainly there's a lot of great fans of this team, but as a whole, the fanbase is weak. The real "schtick" is the oft-unfair maligning of the fan base at this site. White Sox fans are not weak, they are not fickle. They are consumers just like anyone else responding to the product they've been routinely presented, which has not been very good for a long time now. And let's be very clear here. There's a difference between "blind loyalty" and "brand loyalty", the former reserved for family and friends, and the latter for when the brand is actually good. So is it fickleness or weakness of the fan base that they haven't flocked in droves to the Cell the past three years, or the fact that the product or brand on the field has been flat out horrible. Which is it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 10:48 AM) Some fans just live to complain, even if it has no basis in reality. LOL! Oh, for goodness sakes, SS2K5. You complain as much as anyone else around here. There are topics you cling to and complain about for whatever reason, such as your thoughts about the imaginary "fickle fan base". You've complained a storm up about that over the course of time!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 10:24 AM) The White Sox got 2 of those 3 contracts by spending for market level contracts in the free agent market, so obviously the way to fix that is to spend on more big free agent contracts at market level. No, the way to fix it is to spend money on better players.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 07:59 AM) Neither WS team had a $120 million payroll last season. In fact, both started last season below the White Sox. The Sox have had some much better than average team payrolls the last 5 or 6 years. And while I agree, the model to go into a season short hoping to add, is one this franchise has played out, cheap is not been what this team has been, especially if you consider thing like attendance. http://www.stevetheump.com/Payrolls.htm What wins games is talent, not how much you are paying him. If Sale were paid market rate, and Quintana for that matter, payroll wouldn't even be discussed. Oh yes it would be. If the team was managing to an unimpressive payroll in this day and age of $123M, AND they were actually paying their core a market rate, just imagine the junk they'd be surrounding those guys with. Third tier players all around!

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 07:51 AM) It's a pretty average amount and one that we surpassed as far back as the 2008 & 2011 seasons. An average amount with 35% of it all wrapped up in Danks, Cabrera, and LaRoche. Yikes. To channel my inner-Hawk: don't tell me how much you spend. Tell me who you spend it on!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 13, 2016 -> 04:14 PM) How much do they have to spend? Probably more than what they are spending now, given how presently constituted the current payroll of $123M is still rendering the team at below average in four spots in the lineup (Garcia, LaRoche, Cabrera, & Saladino). But it's obviously a matter of spending the money wisely, with less spending on the likes of the LaRoche's, Cabrera's, and Keppinger's of the world, if that can be avoided.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 12, 2016 -> 10:18 PM) The allocations approved could very well have been either dependent on moving out other money, or they could have been a one time approval for just that player. I'm just worried if the Sox will have enough to make the rent payment and pay the utilities bill next month over there at 35th and Shields, given how tight you claim the budget to be all the time. And after that $3M hit they took on Latos? Jerry's probably in touch with every bankruptcy attorney in the city as we speak!!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 11, 2016 -> 01:15 PM) That doesnt' sound like the description I've heard of it. There was a moment when the season ticket holders got to talk to Hahn after the Rodon signing and asked him how it went and he had a sarcastic "working with my friend scott boras" line where the group could tell Hahn was being tongue in cheek because he hated the negotiation. It's a relationship that "works when it has to". I think the relationship with Boras depends on the class of player we're talking about. Ever since the experience the team had with trying to woo Alex Rodriguez back in whatever year it was before he eventually to the Rangers, the Sox just don't go after any big ticket item whom Boras is representing. On the other side of the scale, the team got Andruw Jones signed a few years ago with no problem. Somewhere in the middle, you never know. The team did do a dos y dos with Boras several years ago in an attempt to get Johnny Damon, but in the end it didn't work out. Whatever attempt there is right now to bring Jackson on board feels similar to that experience, at least to me. We'll see. I do think there is a line the team won't cross when it comes to negotiating with Boras, and in most cases, I don't blame them.