Eminor3rd

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 3, 2015 -> 06:14 PM) So Rick Hahn blew a $30 million payroll increase and did so while knowingly leaving gaps that could easily screw over his team's chances of being competitive? Wow, Rick Hahn is even worse at this than I could have imagined. You are continually insisting that a team strategy needs to be ALL IN or TOTAL DISASTER with nothing in between. That just is not reality. Look around the league.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 4, 2015 -> 12:16 AM) I'm past that stage. I want him as everyday second baseman. I'm assuming Gillaspie can hit as well as he did last year. 2B is a black hole in the order unless Beckham is in that hole. I'd rather bench Gillaspie than Sanchez at this point. LaRoche/Sanchez/Ramirez/Beckham is actually a good defensive infield.

QUOTE (LDF @ Jun 3, 2015 -> 02:44 PM) i don't know. i feel like i am in a tennis match watching 2 very good players. this discussion a fantastic and i am totally afraid of jumping in. that was me clapping from the sidelines of that tennis game. no offense is intended at any. None is taken at all. I'm just saying that he's exaggerating for effect with that post, but he's not being accurate. There are many simpler explanations for failure that he is not considering.

QUOTE (LDF @ Jun 3, 2015 -> 03:29 PM) your summations is right on. i can't think a a plausible counter. Balta just said the ONLY possible explanations for the poor play of this team are radiation, disease, or bad coaching. LDF, you very much CAN think of a plausible counter.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 3, 2015 -> 03:22 PM) And when I read that..."the whole team is performing far off of their talent level"... I'm compelled to ask again, what force out there could influence an entire roster to perform below their standards? After 2 months it's not just random chance, that's nearly 2000 PAs. Either it's the water at the ballpark, something has gone terribly wrong with the plane and we're accidentally irradiating players during flights, or based on these comments the coaching staff should be in the crosshairs. Again I'm ok with that. It's not 2000 PA for each player, lol. Come on man. It's two months of a season where a team is playing 3 games below .500. If they stay at this level all year, then we need to re-evaluate a lot of things. But we're just not there yet.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 3, 2015 -> 02:12 PM) I just wanna highlight one...Jeff Samardzija's advanced stats have dramatically dropped off this season. His strikeout rate is the worst of his career. His ground ball rate is the worst of his career. His line drive rate is the worst of his career. Right now Jeff Samardzija is a lot closer to a 4.68 ERA pitcher than he is to being a top of the rotation pitcher. Adam Eaton is better than that and is slowly improving, but he doesn't have to be the player he was last year either. And yes, Melky's advanced stats suggest he's due for some improvement, but for a player whose steroid abuse was absolutely key in his switch from "non-tendered after being paid $3 million" to "quality player" I'll believe it when I see it. RE: Samardzija. Right but it's been ten starts. That's the point. RE: Melky. He has performed substantially worse than at any point in his career, even the low points. And he jsut put a 125 wRC+ last year, post-steroids. This is just not his true talent level, and it's far off. But he's just one example, most of the team is doing this.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 3, 2015 -> 02:02 PM) See here's the thing, when we're already losing 99, 89, and on pace for 87 games a year..."wow it would be terrible to lose 95 games a year" isn't scary at all. We're doing that. When I see that sequence of numbers, I see a terrible team, a 10 win improvement, and a number that I'm pleasantly surprised isn't much worse considering how bad the players have been. A little regression and we could see a 15-20 game swing over two seasons on top of an improving farm and still solid financial flexibility.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 3, 2015 -> 01:35 PM) There is 1 team in the AL more than 4.5 games out of the 2nd wild card. If every team currently within 4.5 games of the 2nd wild card thinks they're competitive, then there will literally be 4 teams in baseball selling to 26 other teams. That's pretty much exactly how it's been since the 2nd WC was implemented.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 3, 2015 -> 01:49 PM) Can I undo the mistakes that were done last offseason? Because otherwise I have to do this with no money. Since I can't do that and give this roster a chance to actually grow, clear out the garbage. Anyone who can be moved from this roster, I'm ok moving. Everyone other than Rodon. I mean that. Just start over. We're going to lose for several years anyway, we may as well do so while being cheap and while building up something that can compete in the future. We haven't even finished this LAST "start-over!" At some point, you have got to stay the course. Balta, it hasn't even been a HALF of a season yet. Melky Cabrera is not a 54 wRC+ hitter. Adam Eaton is not a 77 wRC+ hitter. Jeff Samardzija is not a 4.68 ERA pitcher. You haven't even given this roster a HALF SEASON and you're ready to clean the entire organization out.

I'm not sure we have a better option.

I've enjoyed it because he's actually acting like the PBP guy. He obviously doesn't know a ton about baseball, but the cadence of the broadcast feels much more natural. If nothing else, it's finally clicked with my why so many color guys have had trouble pairing with Hawk: because Hawk does both jobs himself, and the color guy has to figure out where to fit in awkwardly instead of being cued like the PBP normally does.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Jun 3, 2015 -> 06:07 AM) The 2013 team was more Rick Hahn's than it wasn't. It wasn't like he came from another organization to inherit that mess. As Asst. General Manager, he had influence on every single individual comprising the roster that year. He also had an entire offseason beforehand to make changes to the roster, and he didn't, really, other than adding Keppinger. So I'd say he is as much to blame for that horrific '13 season as his predecessor. It seems a little far fetched to me to suggest that from 2002-2012, when Kenny was GM and Hahn was Asst. GM, that somehow Kenny was solely responsible for baseball decisions made to the team during that timeframe, and that subsequent to 2012, it has all just been "The Rick Hahn Show". I think Kenny's periodic interviews suggest rather strongly that he is still very influential on any baseball decisions made. So as far as I can tell, since 2002, the White Sox have essentially been run by the trio of Reinsdorf, Williams & Hahn, with only a change in titles for the latter two a few years ago, while maintaining a consensus view between the three in terms of strategy and decisions made throughout these past 13 years. Whichever name you want to assign to each era is fine, but there was a clear strategic shift that occurred beginning with the trade deadline in 2013, and the team is associating that with Rick Hahn's move to the primary executive role for day-to-day operations. I have no doubt that they're all involved, but the Sox have NOT conducted themselves the same way the past couple years. The most recent thread of action is the one we should be judging when considering the effect of Sox leadership currently.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 2, 2015 -> 06:57 PM) So fine, you think Rick Hahn did a great job. I'm totally ok with that, because if this team keeps this BS up and you think RH did a fine job, then you are indicting the manager and coaching staff and making the case for me for why they're the ones who need to go. I don't think we know that. I think it's definitely PLAUSIBLE that the coaching staff is not putting the players in a position to win, but I don't think any of us have any evidence to suggest it's the case. The players seem to like the coaches, reporters seem to think that the coaches are putting in a lot of effort, the reporters are indicating that the team is practicing plenty. Beyond that, what can we evaluate as fans? Why was Abreu awesome under these coaches last year, but just solid now? Why were Sale and Quintana the same way? How did our "legendary" pitching coaches turn Samardzija into crap when they turned crap into gold every year previous? And that's the issue. This board in general is quick to pin it on the coaches because they want to pin it on someone, but we have nothing to suggest that firing the coaches would actually fix the problem. It MIGHT, but Occam's Razor finds a different explanation that is simpler and more likely: the players are failing.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 2, 2015 -> 06:07 PM) If you want to play this game...we've increased our winning percentage by 0.18% this year and spent $30 million more than last year's payroll. Getting to .500 at this pace will require a payroll of $175 million. 1. Do you blame RH for Melky Cabrera's 52 wRC+? 2. Do you think Melky Cabrera will end the year with a 52 wRC+? The season isn't even halfway over. Nearly EVERY player has underperformed. What was RH going to do this offseason that was going to overcome Sale/Abreu/Quintana/Eaton underperforming? Do you honestly think that he should have seen what has happened so far coming from Samardzija and Cabrera? You can say the defense was never going to be good enough, but let's see what the team looks like when it actually IS doing what it's supposed to do before we conclude that it never had a prayer. THe GM can only do so much. RH went out and got a player who can hit, Melky Cabrera is the one that has to actually HIT. I'm going to ignore the payroll/winning percentage thing because you KNOW that's a ridiculous strawman. QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Jun 2, 2015 -> 06:18 PM) Actually, that's not true. The 63 wins in '13 was a decrease from '12, when in his first offseason as GM after '12 his biggest addition/upgrade to the team was Jeff Keppinger. With nowhere really to go but up, yes, he did increase the winning % last year by getting the team up to a whopping 73 wins. And now we are trending slightly better than that so far this year, but we're in last place, so that uptick really doesn't mean a whole lot. So given Hahn has been a major part of the brain trust (such as it is) with Reinsdorf & Kenny over the past 13 years that has garnered all of two playoff appearances, I'm going to need to see a whole lot more than these slight upticks to have confidence he is the right guy to get us out of the baseball gutter. 2013 was NOT RH's team. It was holdover from the KW show. RH was "on the clock" beginning with the Peavy trade. That was his clean slate. Also, Thad, it's June 2nd. Let's wait until at LEAST September before we put a wrap on this season.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Jun 2, 2015 -> 05:57 PM) 63 wins in '13. 73 wins last year. A last place team a third of the way through this season. I'm not sure how much more "bearable" I can take! It's worth noting that our winning percentage is actually currently better than last year's and also that every player has sucked and also that it's June 2nd. And we're THREE GAMES under .500. And we want to fire the GM. WHo has increased our winning percentage every season so far.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 2, 2015 -> 05:33 PM) May I please Avatar this? I certainly don't mind, but I didn't actually draw it -- I just googled "mob with pitchforks" and photoshopped (or Paint.NET'd) the two things together.

QUOTE (Buehrlesque @ Jun 2, 2015 -> 03:18 PM) I am not a KW fan — frankly, I think he is a pompous and past his shelf life with this organization — but the scapegoating of him does get ridiculous. If it's not RV, it's KW or JR or DC or freaking Chris Rongey or something. I made a new logo:

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Jun 2, 2015 -> 02:21 PM) Kenny is rick's boss. He sure an answer questions related to the makeup of the team. I love how everyone is so anti Kenny, but think nothing of theo epstien having Jed hoyer as GM in name only. This board just needs a scapegoat SO badly. Reality be damned.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 2, 2015 -> 01:01 PM) Then spending $100 million of additional funds on this roster with veterans over 30 who you expect to gradually get worse and more likely to be injured each year and trading for a major addition with 1 year on his contract was absolutely foolhardy. If your team isn't ready to compete right now, why on Earth are you spending money on free agents? Why on Earth are you trading players for a guy who won't be here in a year? Because the balls-out/rebuild model is obsolete. Practically every team in baseball is moving to one where they shoot for 85 wins every year now because it makes sense under the current post-season structure.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 2, 2015 -> 12:32 PM) When your staff is mailing it in, not doing what you expect them to do. These guys watch them every day. We don't. People just assume Robin shows up, gets dressed and sits there bored to tears waiting for the game to end so he can go home. Articles, like this one, speak of the entire staff's work ethic. Stone was talking about the White Sox staff the other day saying they are there to help almost all day long. They come early, stay late, give them extra BP, extra fielding, additional side sessions for pitchers if requested. People love to see other people get fired. That's one reason Trump's show is still on the air. From the bits and pieces we get at the full story, not the little you see on TV and assume, the coaching staff and manager is the least of the White Sox problems. This

QUOTE (Special K @ Jun 2, 2015 -> 11:58 AM) Under what scenario do you ever consider changing the manager and his staff? When you have reason to believe that the staff is failing at their job. Unfortunately, we fans may never have that information, but the front office see what we cannot.

Time to slow these f***ers down. I like this pitching matchup for a game 1 win.

QUOTE (Lemon_44 @ Jun 2, 2015 -> 08:13 AM) I think Lucroy is being way overrated. There aren't many players that are going to pull 4 of the top 7 or 8 players from a team's farm system, no matter how bad the system is, and Lucroy is not one of those players. Justin Upton only pulled 2 of SD's top 10(#3 and #7) and 3(#14) of their top 20 plus an outside the top 20 Mallex Smith. It's all about affordable team control remaining. Upton was a one-year rental at $13m, Lucroy comes with 2.5 seasons at a total cost of less than $10m for the duration. That's why he'll be more valuable if he moves.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jun 1, 2015 -> 01:46 PM) Montas, Hawkins and Davidson would probably be the highest I'd go/still be comfortable giving. Maybe throw in Sanburn or another reliever type arm. I just want to hold onto Danish, Anderson and Adams as badly as possible. That won't be nearly enough to get it done, but it could be a blessing in disguise. As good as Lucroy is (and I'm a big fan), he'll be a 30 year old catcher next year who has started to catch the injury bug. Seems like a good candidate to start being worse. Good contract, though.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 1, 2015 -> 11:31 AM) Schizotalk.com If the team finishes 81-81, it'll be the perfect fan identity crisis experiment.