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QUOTE (AlSoxfan @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 12:07 PM) A decent starter would push Noesi to the bullpen and we would then have him for long relief or emergency starter if needed, essentially killing 2 birds Which is an excellent point. Especially considering we're talking about 'depth' here -- our bullpen doesn't need back-end studs here, and stashing decent starters is always tricky because they want to find regular gigs. Using Hector Noesi as a mid-innings reliever solves the bullpen depth issue and I'd LOVE him as an injury contingency starter much more than as our defacto 4 or 5 man.

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 11:55 AM) so the 4 added in the top 120 would be..... Rodon, Montas, Anderson..... Adams? Gotta be. The fourth COULD be Micah Johnson, but I don't think Law is high on him.

QUOTE (AlSoxfan @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 11:42 AM) I'm thinking the same thing. We don't seem to have anyone if someone goes down for any length of time. I'm not counting on Rodon till he earns his place and you can't count on him for the whole year anyways. A guy like Carroll would kill our post season chances if we had to use him like we did last yr. Exactly. Even if you DO count Rodon, that's only six 'serviceable' starters, and that's counting Noesi and Danks as 'serviceable.' I think teams use an average of ten or something each year.

It seems like a snippet to me, but please feel free to delete this post if you think it's too much:

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 10:00 AM) Check out his 2013 offensive numbers with the Rangers. Very solid. Soto? Yeah, I'm not sure he isn't the best catcher we have. I think his is a health question.

I'd much rather they get some SP depth.

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Jan 27, 2015 -> 04:56 PM) It's hard to imagine it being Kottaras. To be a bad defense catcher the upside has to be huge on the other end of things, and it seems to fall short of that. In the platoon role he's played, his offense has been worlds better than any of the other players. He's been an above league average bat practically every year. Flowers has never even sniffed that. Soto used to be that, but it's been a little while. Nieto is an okay prospect who is bad defensively, too. I wouldn't be surprised if any combination of Flowers/Kottaras/Soto ends up as the starter and backup. IMO, those guys are all about the same and the best two performers should get the jobs.

Kottaras has been awesome at the plate in a backup role every year since 2010. http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playe...&position=C

I voted Other -- Tyler Flowers

Chris Sale's side-slinging ways give his four-seamer a unique advantage -- no one has more horizontal movement in the Pitch FX era: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/chris-sale-...er-great-pitch/

Tough not to like that guy

Met him briefly about 7 or 8 years ago at his 500 HR statue/wine unveiling thingy. Really nice, humble guy. Seems like he lived a good, long life. RIP

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 23, 2015 -> 10:54 PM) I still see no reason to believe Viciedo is moveable. He's DFA-able though.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jan 22, 2015 -> 08:59 PM) I suppose it was saying there's way too much negative stuff considering the awesome off season but that's how I feel so it is my opinion. I could literally say I don't want to see any negative stuff and that wouldn't effect how people post one bit. I expect all that stuff and without it I wouldn't have anyone to hassle . Doesn't phase me in the least that I know how you feel about Avi because you've literally said it 10 times if you've said it once just as you know I think he's hugely talented. Without your ying I have no yang. Better ? Carry on. Yep, better. Haha

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 23, 2015 -> 12:33 PM) Why throw spaghetti against the wall? That's not only a hell of a mess to clean up, but that's delicious spaghetti you're throwing against that wall! It's a good question. Ask Hahn at Soxfest!

QUOTE (Stev-o @ Jan 23, 2015 -> 12:46 PM) Chicago White Sox announce the signings of Ron Karkovice, Joel Skinner, Jim Essian, and Ed Herrman to minor league deals. We already got Brian Anderson too

QUOTE (Stev-o @ Jan 23, 2015 -> 11:17 AM) Looks like the Sox have cornered the market on bad Catchers! Should be signing Lavernway any day now. Definitely the "spaghetti against the wall" strategy this year. But, you can't have EVERYTHING you want, right?

QUOTE (shysocks @ Jan 23, 2015 -> 10:56 AM) Bah, I was all set to drop knowledge before I saw your edit, but I'm gonna do it anyway. For something like this during an offseason you can go to the Fangraphs leaderboards and select Past 3 Calendar Years as the split. For something a little less cut-and-dry you go into the player's game log, hit All Dates, and then customize the dates you want from there. The second way is easily one of my favorite features on the site. Ohhhh nice. I didn't notice that in the Splits section. That's way easier. Thanks

QUOTE (shysocks @ Jan 23, 2015 -> 10:25 AM) Last three years, their offensive numbers are remarkably similar. Soto separates himself a little with the peripheral stuff. Have to imagine Flowers has the edge for defense/familiarity with staff. Geo Soto: .219/.291/.381, 81 wRC+, 8.9 BB%, 24.5 K% Flow Flow: .222/.281/.381, 82 wRC+, 5.9 BB%, 35.5 K% The two drastic differences there are the walk and k rate, which I'm guessing means that Flowers BABIP has been 40 or so points higher than Soto's. Strangely, I'm not sure how to look at guys' stats over a custom period of time. EDIT: Figured it out -- Flowers = .315, Soto = .262 Here's a custom leaderboard comparing those two from 2012-2014 if anyone is interested: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=...ayers=9134,3707

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 23, 2015 -> 08:38 AM) No chance in hell Kluber gets put in front of Sale. Reigning Cy Young winner? No chance in hell?

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jan 22, 2015 -> 08:41 PM) Who said I wanted to be fair ? Opinions don't have to be fair . You got yours I got mine . If I was all that bothered by negativity I would've been gone long ago. I personally believe Avi wil turn out to be a pretty good player regardless of the flaws that are there. I am counting on him to makes strides mentally, defensivey and offensively . That's the great thing about youth , they can get much better or those flaws will eat them alive. It's the same with all of them , keep up or move aside. I don't see any threads that say "I'm drinking the Kool-aid " so I'm pretty used to the "biting nails" aspect of fandom. The good thing about getting old is that things get put in their proper perspective without all the youthful "gnashing of teeth" . Gnash away one and all but once in a while you'll get chided for it . My response has nothing to do with your opinion on Avi though -- your post is essentially telling people to stop posting if they disagree with what you're saying. You're original post was literally discouraging the expression of a dissenting opinion, it wasn't expressing your own opinion.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jan 22, 2015 -> 08:18 PM) Maybe it was his slider that was getting hit for the HR's and since he basically abadoned the slider the HR's have decreased . Could be. I think there's a way to check that out on Brooks

I'm with Dick Allen here -- at least Soto has shown he's capable of being an above-average bat. He's a long-shot to regain his form, but there's really no significant difference between him and Flowers right now if Soto is healthy.

I love it. No risk at all, has the potential to be our best catcher if he's healthy. If we're not going to pay up to acquire a "real" catcher, throwing a bunch of somewhat intriguing crap at the wall is the next best option. Between Flowers, Soto, Kottaras, and Brantly, we've got a better chance of finding a decent season of performance.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 22, 2015 -> 12:11 PM) I haven't seen the Brooks Baseball numbers and graphs, but I'd like to see how the movement on his two and four seamers have changed over the years. It's just weird to see pitchers with his mileage maintain or increase velocity past 30. Hell, it's weird to see ANY pitcher maintain or increase velocity past 30, not considering mileage on their arm. My guess is that the Royals did suggest to him that he should pitch to contact. Don't be afraid to put guys away, but we have an insanely good defense, so feel free to work quick and work in the zone, because we have guys that will go and get it. I think he'd have to get away from that some in Chicago. What I find most interesting about his pitch selection is the cutter/slider. They are pitchers that are distinctly different but they have similar movement, so I think they can confuse pitch recognition software OR he is consciously throwing his slider harder in spite of movement to sneak up on guys or he's throwing his cutter slower to generate more movement. Again, I can't verify any of this stuff without Brooks and I just won't have time during the day to do that, but let's take a look at the usage (via PITCHf/x; cutter, slider) 2009: 7.1, 12.0 2010: 8.9, 7.9 2011: 4.4, 11.2 2012: 5.0, 15.4 2013: 17.6, 3.2 2014: 25.3, 0 He went to the Royals in 2013. Did they ask him to abandon the use of the slider and focus on the cutter (a pitch with less movement, thus being easier to hit, but also hard to square up) or is his ability to throw a real hard moving slider diminishing to the point that he's really only able to throw a cutter? Without watching [hours and hours] of video, I'd have no way of knowing. I'd also be unable to just call up Shields and ask him. However, pitching theory would dictate that you can use the cutter in the zone more often as it's disguised as a fastball and then breaks at the last second, inducing weak contact. The same cannot be said for the slider, as they work better when moving away from a hitter or, if it's a real honker, back-dooring or front-dooring a hitter, and thus they are not as easy to throw in the zone while getting away with it. I'm sure there's more to it, and the above may honestly be gobbledygook, but it logically makes sense and at least provides some working models for what's caused some of the "lack of velocity" regression without an actual lack of velocity. The pitch mix thing is super interesting. Is it a temporary KC coaching effect, or is it an example of a guy evolving as he ages and his stuff diminishes?