ChiSox59

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Jun 15, 2015 -> 06:38 PM) Actually Phegley is having a good year so far both offensively and throwing out runners. In 78 ABs...Micah Johnson for example has 74 ABs. Sample sizes are your friend.

Let's string a few together boys...I am referring to wins, but I'd take hits too.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 16, 2015 -> 09:55 AM) Everything is lax, or it seems that way. This is sorta my thoughts. At what point do the Sox need someone who will light a fire under their collective asses when they don't show up??

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jun 15, 2015 -> 03:33 PM) Trade them for what? More veterans? For hitting prospects of equal ability? The latter is fine by me, but the Sox had the best hitter in the draft fall right in their lap and they passed him on. If one decries the Shark trade (as I also do) it's tough to trade the few young players we have. 2017 is a better target, just like 2016 was 6 months ago There have been good young players available for players like Shark and middle relievers. The Sox need to find a couple. What exactly do you hate about the Shark trade? Yeah, he's been pretty damn mediocre. But it looked worse when Semien was hitting, but he is hitting .180 the past month and is literally one of the most comically bad shortstops in recent history. Phegley is garbage, Ravelo hasn't appeared in a game this year and Bassit has been Ok but unspectacular in AAA. It hasn't really panned out to this point, but let's not act like the SOX gave up their future.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 15, 2015 -> 02:24 PM) As long as there is no big DL stint, I'd put a lot of money on that. Of course, your previous posts suggest he will never even be replacement level again. Me too. He put up 12.1 WAR the previous four seasons, and that includes a -.1 WAR season in 2013. He can be less than half the player he was those four seasons, and still be a 4.0 WAR player over the course of his time with the SOX. But go ahead, jump off the bridge!!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 15, 2015 -> 02:05 PM) Problems: 1. In reply to the bolded, I first say "Adam Dunn". I second say "Alex Rios". We have a history with this. 2. Melky Cabrera is a possibly worse case than either of those because I can actually say one big reason why Melky would physically fall apart completely that is likely not present in either of those cases. 1. Just randomly grabbing two players who were better before coming to Chicago than they were when the arrived in Chicago doesn't really prove anything. "Alex Rios" wasn't exactly a great player when the Sox claimed him, hence, he wouldn't have been on non-revocable waivers to begin with. 2. So if you're saying Melky has sucked due to the lack of PEDs, why didn't he suck last year too then? Look, I am not some Melky apologist. He's been a big issue. I just think calling his next 2.5 years in a White Sox uniform a sunk cost due to a poor 60 game stretch is silly.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 15, 2015 -> 02:02 PM) If a team was willing to take on Melky's contract right now and the Sox get nothing in return, I think the Sox would jump at that deal. More than maybe anyone else in baseball, there are questions about Melky's ability without performance-enhancers. If so far what we've seen is the clean version of Melky, then his contract is going to be a huge albatross. Melky was busted for PEDs in 2012. He had 1000 plate appearances after getting caught in which he put up an OPS + of 119. It's not the roids.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 15, 2015 -> 01:58 PM) John Danks has been worth 0.4 fWAR so far this season. You can probably believe that, he's had a couple solid starts so he's not great but has helped in a few games. Melky Cabrera has been worth -0.8 fWAR so far this season. He's been that bad. You may have confidence in him turning it around, but at the rate he's going right now he's "Worth less than nothing". He could be better than this and still make John Danks look like a bargain. A guy that has has been a 124 OPS+ hitter the past four years doesn't fall off a cliff over the course of an offseason. Yes, Melky has been horrible, no doubt. But he is not a sunk cost.

Let's see how the next 25 games go.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 14, 2015 -> 05:38 PM) He's in the same void as Danks now, can't not play him but no one would take him unless you pay most of it. He's now a sunk cost and we just have to get used to it. Hah, if you're referring to Melky, which I believe you are, that is grossly premature. Yes, he has been a big disappointment to this point. Will he be worth the $14M AAV the SOX will pay him the next three years? Maybe not. But a sunk cost? Dear Lord. He will still be a very productive and above average ML outfielder over the balance of his contract, and in today's game, that is about the going rate.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jun 12, 2015 -> 02:43 PM) Chris Cotillo ‏@ChrisCotillo 5s5 seconds ago #Athletics have signed Dayan Viciedo, according to @MattEddyBA. Speak of the devil lol Hah, too funny.

I bet he'd be in Charlotte if he'd take a minors deal.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 11, 2015 -> 07:17 PM) http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/pro...?P=yoan-moncada The key point is differentiating the top Cuban talent from the pretenders. Time will tell how good guys like Soler, Rusney Castillo, Moncada and Yasmany Tomas are...for awhile there, teams like the Cubs were just throwing money at any Cuban (I can't remember the soft-tossing lefty they overvalued, Concepcion maybe?) While Moncada wasn't expected to make it to the majors this season, all of the scouts were projecting something like A-Rod Jr., and he's not even putting up an 800 OPS in Low A whereas A-Rod and Harper were in the majors before that (and that's not even considering concerns about his defense and eventual position). However, if there's ONE thing I am NOT worried about, it's our organization being able to make correct assessments on this particular nation's players. We missed with Viciedo, but hit it big with Contreras, Alexei and Abreu. Speaking of Tank...what's he up to? I know he's a FA, but a little surprised no one has picked him up or he hadn't gone to Japan or something.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Jun 11, 2015 -> 10:30 AM) You never know though, sometimes you can find a diamond in the rough in the later rounds. I hate to just waste a pick for nothing. Doesn't even look like he plays baseball anymore, hah.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jun 10, 2015 -> 11:35 PM) I'm pretty sure that Guerrero has a clause in his contract that allows him to become a free agent at the end of the year if he's traded. Makes him MUCH less valuable to whoever gets him. This is correct.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 3, 2015 -> 01:04 PM) Normally I'd agree, calling for a guy like Sanchez to be DFAd is silly, but in this case it's actually what you'd do with Jennings based on his performance. I don't disagree with you. Jennings would not be a loss at this point.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Jun 3, 2015 -> 01:05 PM) I never called for Sanchez to be DFA'd. You must have me mixed up with someone else. Ahh, my bad. Sorry for the confusion.

QUOTE (Special K @ Jun 3, 2015 -> 08:45 AM) The team is in dead last in its division and 7 games out. We have the 5th worst record in the AL. Their offense is just brutal by every measurable category. I don't see the Sox hopping the 4-5 teams it will take to make the playoffs. Sad to say, but it's June 3 and this season is already over. Would love to see if someone can dig up the stats to see how many teams in the past 5 years have made the playoffs while being in dead last at the start of June. Betting it's very few. And this Sox doesn't strike me as the "exception" to the norm. Would give this team 3 more weeks to turn it around, and then start putting some of those contingencies in place. 4 games under .500 on June 3 does not end the season. With 2 WC in today's game, a .500 record on August 1 and you're in the thick of things. That means the SOX need to play 4 games over .500 the next two months. The season is over if the Sox continue to play as they have the first 50 or so games, but c'mon...these comments are just stupid.

The OP daily calling for someone to be DFA'd a nearly daily basis, especially when he called for Sanchez to be DFA proves he has very little idea what he is talking about, but Jennings has been pretty bad. But I doubt they go back to 1 LHP in the pen.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jun 1, 2015 -> 04:23 PM) Saying "I hope RV has the flexibility to move Melky from the #2 hole this season" got me absolutely torched in March. I think it's a move that needs to be made. I hate losing Abreu at bats but he hasn't been playing to his ability anyways. I'd go with this lineup until Abreu starts rolling again. L Eaton R Garcia L LaRoche R Abreu S Cabrera L/R Gillaspie/Beckham R Alexei R Soto S Sanchez Also, when do we start giving Soto more of the starts? We've given Flowers 1100+ PAs to show he's mediocre. I say Flowers starts for Sale, Soto starts for Samardzija/Rodon, and Soto starts for every LHP. Soto has been so hot and cold up (game-to-game) I think some regularity could get him finding that potential we were excited about when he was signed. He makes a lot more hard contact. I am sucker for this kind of stuff and it's not tangbile but I like the way he carries himself too. I know the team raves about Flowers' makeup but you kind of have to when he doesn't do anything well. Soto is attached to Rodon during his starts, gets pumped for his pitchers (Samardzija especially) when they hit their spots and I saw him with his arm around Sanchez after he recorded his third out of the game. Again, not a deciding factor, but Soto is definitely a plus in the clubhouse. I like the ideas. A couple thoughts: -Melky has hit into some really hard luck. If you don't watch most/all of the games, it'd be hard to know that by looking at his numbers. He has been roping the ball right at defenders for weeks. He puts the ball in play and strikes out as few as anyone in MLB (struck out 19 times this year, which is 7th least for qualifiers in MLB). I don't hate the idea of him in the 5 spot in the lineup versus the 2, but I don't think we should be down on Melky. They're gonna start falling. -I agree that Soto needs more starts, but man do I hate watching him catch. It is literally hard to watch.

Nice post. I agree with a lot of it. Still a lot of baseball left and this team has its best baseball ahead of it.

What a horrible situation for Johnny. Certainly has some involvement, seeing as though he offered to pay $2M for it to go away. But it was really just two brothers being dumb asses and Danks not getting in the way of it.

I am always fairly optimistic when it comes to the Sox, because why not? Baseball is the best sport in the world to follow, and it's much more enjoyable when you're not a Debby downer. I am realistic, but when you're 4 games under .500 if May, and things literally couldn't have gone much worse, just enjoy the season until they're mathematically out.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 24, 2015 -> 08:46 PM) Damn, u just can't win baseball games with bad leftfielder, bad rightfielder, lousy armed centerfielder, lousy armed catcher, horrific defender at third and first. Just can't do it. I'd say two games over .500 is this team's high water mark, 25 below .500 is the low water mark. Will prolly finish about 12 below .500. This post proves you have no idea what you're talking about.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ May 20, 2015 -> 01:42 PM) If the Sox are .500 at the break and 5 games out of first place in the division, what do you do at the deadline? Stand pat or buy some pieces without giving up major portions of the future. 5 games at the break isn't all that much. You sure as sh*t don't sell at .500 at the break in the 2 WC era.