Eminor3rd

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 18, 2016 -> 12:22 PM) It's like going to the dentist. It hurts now, but in a week or so, the Sox will be fine and will theoretically have $13 million to play with. I don't know. I can see this being the "excuse" for a disappointing season.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 18, 2016 -> 12:24 PM) The point being those who rip KW constantly are now ripping Chris Sale because he is ripping KW. It's right on point. Come on man, you know that's way off. It's not about KW, it's about whether or not you should publicly denounce your own boss. It's about dissension within a team.

I just wish this never happened. I'd much rather have a $13m boat anchor on the bench. If this team doesn't succeed this year, the media/folklore will be blaming this stupid incident for decades.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Mar 16, 2016 -> 02:54 PM) f*** no. Boston better be paying for almost all of it if it's even remotely true. To be fair, he hit substantially better than LaRoche last year, and is a much better bet to bounce back. But yeah, I'd want most of the contract paid for. Even then, it puts a risky piece in the lineup for many years.

LaRoche is our Gil Meche. $13m of self-respect. Tough to turn away from, but I respect that decision.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 14, 2016 -> 04:47 PM) The tough part of spring training is that these guys aren't always pitching to win. They often are out there working on something specific. If they have Latos working on something, (especially if they are trying to clean up a part of his motion), he could be throwing well, and still be getting hit because of it. This is critically important. Spring Training stats don't mean much for hitters; they mean absolutely nothing for pitchers. They literally go out there sometimes with directives like "only throw fastballs" or "located a changeup down every two strike count." It's like they're going for Steam achievements or something.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Mar 14, 2016 -> 01:37 PM) No you shouldn't unless you have a decreased range of motion that inhbits movement. Over the past decade or so research shows that stretching normal muscle not only causes more muscle injuries but actually decreases power and endurance performance. Instead of stretching, dynamic warmups and cool downs are much more effective. So like jumping jacks?

Whoever they keep as utility guy will be able to spell at all three infield spots. That looks like Saladino but could certainly be Sanchez.

B Team getting wrecked

QUOTE (JohnCangelosi @ Mar 10, 2016 -> 04:43 PM) I personally don't get all the love for Austin Jackson and why everyone thinks he's a lock to be a 160 game starter out there. The guy hit .267 with 9 HR's last year. Avi had an awful year with basically the same stats. I realize there's a big difference in defense but you have to believe at 24 years old Avi has a much larger upside at the plate. If Avi stays hot then I am not sure what they will do out there, although I guess thats a good problem to have. The addition of Jackson is greater within the context of our team and it's makeup. 1. The defensive difference between the two is MASSIVE 2. While Avi's upside is certainly higher, his floor is way lower. Jackson has had several seasons as an above average hitter and is a good bet to regress toward his career line 3. If Avi hits, we can still have his bat. He can platoon with LaRoche, replace Laroche completely, participate in a more equal job share with the corner guys (as forward-thinking teams like the Rays nad Dodgers have been doing for a few years now -- there's no evidence that playing 160 games is good for your health; 120 might be much better), or replace Melky outright. Lots of scenarios where he gets at-bats, the good part is that he only gets them if he earns them

Has Scott Carroll pitched every day?

Upgrading LaRoche to Bruce provides a marginal upgrade at a substantial cost. It won't happen, and I wouldn't even want it to happen at this point. There are better things to do with those resources.

Josh Phegley is bulls***

QUOTE (shysocks @ Mar 9, 2016 -> 03:02 PM) 83. I fear our pitcher-injury luck will run out this year.

I'm really shocked that people still see this as a possibility. In my mind, the Jackson signing closed this door emphatically.

From what I saw, Avi looked really good on both sides of the ball today.

Nice pitch

QUOTE (Tannerfan @ Mar 7, 2016 -> 04:01 PM) Say what you will, fundamentally the White Sox are not a good running team. That's why they're practicing running in practice games.

That was a BOMB

QUOTE (VAfan @ Mar 7, 2016 -> 11:44 AM) Last year, the White Sox had the worst offense in the AL by far, with 622 runs scored. (Next lowest was Seattle with 656 runs.) Hard to believe a team with that pathetic of an offense could win 76 games. The Sox were also last in HR at 136. I believe they were SO bad, that it turned the Cell from a plus HR field into a negative one! Here's what it looked like last year. 1B Abreu 30 2B Sanchez/Johnson 5 SS Ramirez 10 3B Gillaspie/Beckham/Saladino/Olt 16 DH LaRoche 12 LF Melky 12 CF Eaton 14 RF Garcia 13 C Flowers/Soto 18 Bench - Shuck/Thompson/Bonafacio/Brantly 5 Total 136 This year I expect. 1B Abreu 35. Should be better with protection behind him. 2B Lawrie 18. Could go higher if he stays healthy. SS Rollins/Saladino 16. Jimmy has hit more than that himself two years ago. 3B Frazier 35. This was his number last year, when he tailed off in the second half. DH LaRoche/Garcia 20. Could go higher if LaRoche can stay healthy. LF Melky 15. Should show some return to form after a horrid start to 2015. CF Jackson 9. What he hit last year. RF Eaton 14. What he hit last year. Bench. Shuck 0. What he hit last year. Total 182 That would put the Sox 6th in the AL based on last year's numbers. (I wanted to put in a nice table, but I can't figure out how to do it here.) I think you're right that there will be an increase, but it's never safe to project every player to match his career high. It's just never going to turn out that way. I'd lop 15-20 homers off your total and feel like that's a modestly optimistic projection.

Yeah, Shuck is the "benchiest" of the bench guys. I expect him to get 150-200 AB unless someone gets hurt.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Mar 6, 2016 -> 09:17 PM) Looking a little bit better now with AJAX industrial strength outfield cleaner. Word. /thread

Kudos to Hahn for getting this done somehow for $5m. Kudos to the part of the board that steadfastly held faith. I admit that I had lost it. This is great, makes me feel good about the offseason now. I didn't like feeling negative.

Levine uses inexplicably bad grammar to hide the fact that all his articles are personal speculations disguised as reported rumors. He's actually a master of the written word, but he chooses to use his gift for evil.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 4, 2016 -> 02:47 PM) Forget that. Let us all give a moment of thanks for the departure of Raburn from the AL Central. That alone has to be worth 5 wins to the White Sox. Little did we know, Hahn has spent the last three months secretly working to get Raburn to sign in Colorado, under the guise of "pursuing CarGo." When considering all the ways he could improve the Sox' chances, there was simply never an upgrade available that would have a bigger impact on the W-L record.