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One of the less underrated aspect of Jimmy Butler's game is he is a smart basketball player. He rarely makes mistakes on offense and defense. He is doing a fine job of slowing down D Will on defense right now and taking it strong to the hole on offense and making all the right passes. If he keeps on working that jump shot in the off season, he will be the best 2 guard option we can possibly have

Or the White Sox fans vote for the Cardinals to piss the Cubs off, because apparently Sox won the contest. I think it's got to be rigged to a degree. Or the fans mistakenly voted for the W Sox instead of the R Sox in the second round. Our team almost never wins any popularity contests.

I was lucky enough to be at the game, and from our angle, Nate's shots were of very high difficulty which some of them were "are you fking kidding me" shots, especially those bang shots late in OT. I think he hit like 10 shots in a row or something, he was locked in, late in the game when he had the ball, the whole stadium knew he was going to score. Reffing was BS in this game. Was there some contact? Yes, in some plays. We are in the f***ing playoffs for sake, let them play through minor contacts. At least from what I saw, we didn't get the same treatments as the Nets did. Even some of the calls we got were make up calls for the horrible calls from before. I love at the end of the game when we knew we had this one, the whole crowd was chanting "Ref you suck!", and rightfully so.

Does anyone know what's going on? lol

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 21, 2013 -> 08:53 AM) I can't believe no one pointed out that, according to ESPN on last night's telecast, Derrick Rose said he's 100% physically, but not mentally. It's going to be really hard to care about this b**** again. Interesting. Who brought that up? I am surprised he would tell anyone that. I wouldn't be surprised if that's just ESPN trying to add fuel to the fire.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Apr 20, 2013 -> 10:40 PM) He made the Major Leagues, which is far more than most minor leaguers will ever say. There's no problem with letting him earn a living as MiLB roster filler. Whether he was deserving of that opportunity was questionable. His cup of tea performance is worse than using hitters as pitchers and throwing straight fastballs in extra inning situations. Over the past three years, he's struggled to post a sub 6.00 ERA in Double or Triple A. Like I said, his spot is better used on other minor league free agents out there who is worth a flyer. This guy is 30 years old and we've seen everything out of him. He is not cutting it as a pitcher.

What the hell is Wes Whisler still doing in the system? I would rather give his spot to a local walk on or tryout than to have him pitch again. That guy has no business being a pitcher. Jaye is doing pretty good so far. Looks like BP was right on picking him as a top 10 prospect.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 19, 2013 -> 01:59 PM) No gap power? He had 25 doubles and 7 triples last year in 500-ish AB's. That's not huge numbers, but it is not "no gap power" either. Jon Gilmore? He washed out at lower levels and much higher age, and played 3B. Ravelo is more similar in some ways, but is still at a much lower level, and was a 3B who is now a 1B. Not great examples, and Ravelo is still a question mark. Sanchez may or may not find that power. We'll see. 25 Doubles and 7 Triples in 500+ ABs, put that in perspective, that is .080 ISO+, which is the highest of his career. Again put that in perspective as well, Keenyn Walker, notorious singles hitter, posted at .110 ISO+ last year. While you can bash about Gilmore, once upon a time, we were praying for his power to arrived, he did put up .100 ISO+ at age 20, but never found his power. Not to mention some of Sanchez XBHs can be attributed to speed as well. Like I said, we've been down this road before with contact hitters, I don't have faith in him even becoming a doubles machine. Take it from BP, they rated his power 20/20 at the end of last year.

Ok I will admit I might be a bit harsh on his defense, I saw him as a average defender right now with potential to be above average. But you can't overlook his lack of power, and even BP rated his power at 20/20. Also from BP, while he has good raw speed, he doesn't have the instinct to be an effective base stealer. They see him as a fringe regular at 2B and a very nice utility guy. All these these fit right in with my initial post about Sanchez. Some of you can sit here and wish that he suddenly discovers more power, but it's highly unlikely at this point, as he hasn't even demonstrate any gap power at age 20/21. We've been down this road with young, good contact hitters before, Jon Gilmore, and right now Rangel Ravelo. It's highly unlikely.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 19, 2013 -> 08:50 AM) I agree with a lot of what you said, but... for one thing, Tyler Kuhn? Not really a great comp either. Different hitting tools and styles, and Kuhn was always considered below average (but acceptable) at all those positions. He was specifically known as a bat, and really just a bat. There was even a joke among Sox front office folks, labeling players with a good bat and no position as "he's Tyler Kuhn". Also, the reason they are moving him between 2nd and SS seems pretty clear to me - they want him to be ready for both in the majors. There is a good chance that one of Alexei or Gordon are elsewhere after this season (or maybe Sanchez), so they want Sanchez to be ready for either. Hence I said he can fill multiple positions, but not spectacular in a particular one. The sox saw him as a utility guy at the majors more than anything. I don't recall his defense being terrible at any positions. I am not comparing Sanchez to Kuhn outside of the fact that the Sox don't have a definite position for them. But I do say that the Sox want Sanchez to be able to play multiple positions, and where he ultimately ends up is determine by our need versus if he's better at SS or 2B

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 19, 2013 -> 12:51 AM) The reason I brought up Gillaspie is because there's no set answer for 3B, and nobody in the minors in waiting...Alexei's getting older, and Beckham's a huge question mark. (And this is another reason our players tend to get moved all over the field, because the needs of the major league team keep changing...if you look at the examples of position changes for Viciedo and Beckham, for example). In my opinion, Sanchez only makes sense as a middle infielder, period. It's hard to say really what we have in him, because it's a lot like the Hector Santiago situation, where he just arrived on the scene and "got it" after years laboring in the lower minors. (For that matter, it took Jose Quintana 6 years to get out of A ball, the he essentially jumpe over both AA/AAA in one month). So to judge his past performance as a cumulative whole rather than looking more specifically at last season is a mistake, IMO. The whole idea of playing at one position is overrated...without power hitting tools or PED's, all players need to have more versatility than ever before. Ideally, a born SS with a rocket of an arm stays at that position all the way up through the minors, but we haven't had one of those in ages that we've incubated in our minor league system and brought up to the big leagues after developing them ourselves. And then when he has that kind of season at age 19, it's even more noteworthy...keeping in mind the advanced competition and ages of the players he's competing against. And I sometimes also wish you would make more relevant comparisons. Last time you compared Richar Shelby and Harris to Micah Johnson, now you are comparing Santiago and Quintana's situation to Sanchez? Really? Let's have sanity check here, we all know Santiago became a whole new pitcher after he learned the screwball, and pitcher developments are not the same as hitter developments. And why are you even trying to construe a misleading analyze for Quintana's minor league track? First of all he did not spend 6 years in A ball or below. He only pitched 5 innings as a 17 year old and was suspended his entire age 18. So if you want to count it, that's 3 years in Rk - A+, which is totally typical for a pitcher. He's also been consistently good those 3 years, but scouts didn't view him as a big time prospect because he lacked the "stuff", which he still doesn't have, but he pitches with the poise of a veteran, which is giving him the edge so far. Again, totally irrelevant to a batter's development. Also, why are you comparing Viceido and Gordon's position switch to Sanchez's? For the record, Sanchez never officially switched positions, he keeps bouncing around between SS and 2B, while Viceido and Gordon's switch were long term changes. His situation is more like the Tyler Kuhn situation, where he can fill multiple positions, but not spectacular at a specific one. If the organization doesn't even have a defined position for him, I wouldn't trust your "sources" and label as a plus defender just yet. It's very simple, if the organization feels he's a plus defender, he will be playing one position full time. If he's blocked by someone at his current position or another position opens up, then they will have him permanently switch over to the other position. That was how the Viceido/Beckham situations were handled. Really, none of the comparisons you offered really applies to Carlos Sanchez.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 18, 2013 -> 09:22 PM) There are lots of conflicting reports about his defense. Some describe him as a "plus" defender or having the ability to be elite. If he can play that type of defense at SS, then he has a chance to be a regular, or 2B (assuming they will replace Beckham, which isn't a sure thing quite yet). He doesn't hit for enough power to play 3B. As far as Gillaspie's power goes, we'll have a better idea two months from now, especially when the weather starts to heat up in Chicago. He has three big assets going in his favor right now. His walk/contact rate, his speed (maybe a 20-25 SB guy at the major league level) and his age. Sometimes I wish your posts stays on one point. Who's talking about Gillespie's power? Not to be a downer, his contact tool is not plus plus, maybe a plus, if that. He's only put up one .300 season so far. He has some speed, but he's been caught stolen far too many times to be an effective base stealer, see Alexei. I am not sure if it's a result of his technique or lack of top speed, I am hoping it's the former. Last thing, I wouldn't buy the scouting reports of him having a great glove, the organization wouldn't have him split between positions every season and slow down his development if he's elite at one position.

Guess I was reading out of context

That's gotta be the worse k% I've ever seen. Between Mitchell, Walker, Thompson and Hawkins, I think our system is jinxed. Keep in mind Tyler Flowers also went through the same crap a few years ago, where he started striking out a bunch and lost the ability to make any contact at all. As far as Sanchez, I don't see him being a regular at the majors. There is no indicators of power at all. He's never shown any gap power with doubles or triples in his minor league career. A no power, average defense player isn't going to be an everyday starter. The most likely projection for him is a slightly better contact version of Chris Getz.

QUOTE (Jake @ Apr 18, 2013 -> 04:07 PM) I will insist to myself that anyone can win the NBA title simply by getting in and getting hot, like other sports. Couldn't disagree more. In baseball or football, you've seen wild card teams get hot and win it all. But basketball is the most superstar driven sport of them all. No team in recent memory won it all with a superstar except for the 04 Pistons. And I couldn't remember the last time a team outside of the top 3 seed has won the championship. I also don't think anyone has ever won the title without home court advantage beginning the first round.

It's sickening how the refs keep baby sitting these turds, there is no way that is a clear path foul or least anything that deserves a review.

I vaguely remember having this same race/comparison debate last season lol. Semien and DeMichele are worth following, in our system. We just don't have a lot going for us even this year in our farm. Another guy I am looking at is Jason Coats down in Kanny, he would have went in early rounds had not for the injuries. If he starts to put up big numbers down in Kanny, it's something we can really get excited for.

Jimmy is averaging 44.6 minutes in 16 games he started this season, insane minutes while having to deal with the oppositions' better or best wings throughout the game. He could be our two guard of the future, Thibs, please ease off the gas pedal on this kid!

I've been keeping an eye on Micah Johnson down in Kanny. 22 years old, a bit old for the league, but off to a good start so far. Based on the sample size this year and last year, he looks like he can get a base and also has above average to plus speed. Anyone has a scouting report on his defense? If he gets promoted to Winston Salem later this year, he's definitely worth following.

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Apr 11, 2013 -> 04:47 PM) Defensive runs saved by all AL 2B with at least 2000 innings, since 2009 Just one slice of the pie, but noteworthy I think he's a good defender, but that looks like ranked 9th out of all the AL defenders playing full time since 09. That's really not saying much.

So apparently Rock torn the abdominal and adductor tendons off his pelvis in his match last night and had to have surgery today, according to his Facebook page. Get well Road Block.

The real question is will fans boo Rose if he doesn't come back till next season?

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Apr 7, 2013 -> 09:46 PM) Kevin Ware will be back playing before Rose comes back. Haha I thought of the exact same thing last night

WWE doesn't want him to blow Flair's 16 time record out of the water either. That's why Cena hasn't hold the title in almost 18 months, due to Punks long reign. I think at the end of his career he will be a 17 or 18 time champion, barely breaking Flair's record. BTW the Rock Cena match tonight is disappointing, and that is an understatement. I am now officially over Rock because he's no longer able to wrestle a good match, and he's too busy to ever be a full time member of WWE again.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 7, 2013 -> 08:42 PM) Unless you're a shareholder or on the board of directors, I don't know why this is something that matters to you From the OP's point of view 1)When I attend games, I would rather be at games with better crowd and better atmosphere, and you would want other Sox fans to cheer with you. Going to games on a Sunday afternoon with >50% capacity feels dead 2)Over the past several years (since attendance decline after 06-07 and economic crisis), I hear Sox fans every where, on the radio, some people I know, and even people on this board using price of attending the game as an excuse. The fans spoke, the organization heard, yet the fans are not showing any loyalty to the organization. 3)People on this board complains too much about an uneventful off season. If this continues, you can complain about it again next off season and the one after.