SCCWS

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 25, 2016 -> 02:39 PM) The White Sox have made a ton of roster moves for years now. They are not content. Again, those moves haven't resulted in good results, but they haven't been content. They have made trades and free agent signings but other than Abreu and even Robertson most have been for 2nd tier players. Now some of that can be attributed to the fact that their minor league talent has been awful so they had few tradeable commodities to make big moves. But how much did they invest in their farm system since the WS year. Who have they fired over the last 10 years. KW, Buddy Bell, Ventura Hahn???. Even Ozzie left on his own. Overall, JR has pretty much sat back and let the team coast along.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 25, 2016 -> 01:20 PM) This is silly. Of course there is an incentive. Look at the revenues for 2006. 2006 followed a great year in 2005. Valuation jumped by $53 million. 2007 was a disaster and first losing season since 1999. So 2008 valuation jumped by $62 million. When a team continues to make money, some owners (sports or business) are very content to let it sail along. However, there are also owners that continually strive to improve the business. I live in Tampa part of the season and see a franchise that is constantly milking the situation and cutting costs rather than invest in the team. Then I spend part of the year in Boston. Unfortunately they aggressively try to improve the product. They make trades and fire coaches, managers, and front office when the product on the field is not meeting a high standard. I think JR is more a Tampa type owner than a Boston one. In fairness, his age may be the main reason he is content to put up with mediocrity.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 25, 2016 -> 10:57 AM) Local TV revenue and advertising is 100% based on the perception of the fan base. Bigger fan bases, mean more people are watching and listening to games, which means more eyes for advertisers, and more money for the local teams. Correct but you missed the point. If JR looks at the balance sheet and says based on present revenue and expenses, he is please with the results, he has no incentive to improve the product on the field. However, if he is determined for success on the field, then he will do what it takes to improve the team even if it affects the bottom line. Going back to my example w Tampa, why would an owner stay in a situation where attendance has been terrible and push for a new stadium. Wouldn't it make more sense to move and find a bigger potential fan base??

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 25, 2016 -> 08:16 AM) Eh, you can rationalize this all you want, but you are still missing the essential truth at the base of it all. If the fanbase invests in the franchise, the franchise is better for it. If they don't, they are worse off. The results of the fan base are right in front of you. I spend part of the year in the Tampa area. I am amazed at their situation. They have struggled to draw attendance since the team arrived there. Due to the "migrant northern population" in the area, there always seems to be a limited number of true Tampa fans at their games. Yet all you hear oover the last few years is they need a new stadium. I think we as fans look at attendance as the driver of a franchise success. I think in this age, there are multiple factors such as advertising and TV revenue which may have greater impact. So many some owners are milking the cow by putting a mediocre product on the field regardless of the impact on attendance. Tampa is famous for selling off their yoing players as they approach free agency for young players that can start the cycle over again. Unfortunately Maddon kept them competitive and now they struggle with a mediocre lineup.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Aug 24, 2016 -> 05:55 PM) Attendance up 5% this year per ESPN attendance tracker. Highest since 2012. Did they use 2015 season ending average vs 2016 present average??? Because Baseball Reference through yesterday has Sox attendance down about 600 per game after 59 games each season.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 20, 2016 -> 10:32 AM) That won't accomplish anything to market Rodon as if he's a #1 or 2 starter when it's still just potential...not to mention no acquiring team will be able to extend him. Selling low on him just creates another hole. As it is, we only have three starting pitchers we can count on for next year. We're stuck with Shields. You need to make a trade where you get at least 2 and hopefully three young impact players or it doesn't make sense to trade just for the sake of trading. I agree Rodon does not get you a haul like Q does. But Rodon is still a valuable trade chip in that he is a #1 pick, under 25, and a lefty with close to 275 innings by next winter. He may need another piece with him but I think he could bring back a couple of young players in return. Again, I am working off the premise Sale is not tradeable.

QUOTE (GhostofDickeyKerr @ Aug 20, 2016 -> 12:08 AM) Sale's value decreases by the month. Glad the Sox have steady leaders at the helm who clearly understand asset management. In fairness, Sale may be more valuable than trading him. He is worth a"lot" and few teams have a "lot". In addition, from comments from Boston media after the deadline, the White Sox were asking an unreasonable return for him. So the White Sox need to trade from strength, which is starting pitching, so offseason they have to find a package for either Q or Rodon to add young talented players.

The way the Red Sox are surging since the AS break, Hahn can forget about getting a "haul" from them this offseason. Their starting pitching has been great despite the fact that I don't think they really have an "ace" when the playoffs roll around. But Porcello may end up winning the Cy Young the way he is pitching.

I think he is hanging around for 1 more World Series and the he will hang them up......................................

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 18, 2016 -> 03:52 PM) Might go down a bit, but relief innings with all the warming up etc. are a bit more on the body. Chris Sale went from 71 innings to 192 between 2011 and 2012. Hopefully, Fulmer puts it together next season, and there is no reason to think he wouldn't be prepared to go 175. Not sure that is correct. A starting pitcher will throw 45-50 pitches before he enters a game in the bullpen. A reliever will typically throw 8-12 pitches in the bullpen before he enters a game. Obviously a starter has more pitches in his arsenal than a reliever so it takes him longer. So in a typical game a reliever that gets up twice before he goes in doesn't throw half of what a starter does. Add to that the additional side sessions a starter does on off days compared to what a reliever does and a starter throws many more pitches in the course of a week than a reliever.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Aug 17, 2016 -> 10:51 PM) I'm glad he was called up and stuffed in the pen. He learned he can get guys out up here but he also learned how much better he has to be. Now he knows. Nice job FO. Probably saved him a whole bunch of development time or set him back a year. We will find out next spring

QUOTE (flavum @ Aug 17, 2016 -> 09:20 PM) October 3rd, I really hope we hear the entire Sox coaching staff will not be renewed. Actually I hope by October 3rd we hear the whole front office will be sent packing. They created this mess.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 17, 2016 -> 02:59 AM) You said you owe it to the fans to play your best players. But the fans will benefit the following season. This season means nothing. It's over. Sit Sale the final six weeks and he'll be so ready next spring. Same with Q. Why pitch him? The fans don't want to see him get no run support. It'd be better to just rest him. Meanwhile, other guys get to pitch, and lose, and again, it helps get a better draft pick which the draftniks want even though many of our picks have been busts. Frankly it'd be smart to rest these players for the reason I suggested: Sale, Q, Robertson, Rodon, Shields, Abreu, Eaton. Send Avi to the minors to work on his game and ditto Anderson to learn how to take more pitches. I don't think the fans would care at all. This season is beyond fans caring. Anybody coming out to the Cell will be coming out no matter who is playing for the Sox. Everybody benefits. The draft people will be happy and the ones who think we can contend next year will be happy we are resting Sale and Q. Why not send Sale Rodon and Q down to Charlotte and see if they can experience winning the International League championship. Q might actually get some run support down there.............................

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Aug 17, 2016 -> 08:29 AM) This. Called him up just to get his feet wet/no depth in minors. or Hahn's fortune teller said to make the move.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Aug 16, 2016 -> 12:19 PM) There are definitely markets that have needs for a baseball team. SLC, UT The Research Triangle, NC San Antonio, TX Las Vegas, NV Indianapolis, IN These markets are all growing at a faster rate than Chicago, and in addition to that have regional sports networks that do not currently have local baseball programming. TV is where the real money is for baseball franchises now, ticket sales are nice, but they are drop in the bucket comparatively. Havana.....................

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 16, 2016 -> 08:29 AM) When he got elected to the Basketball HOF a few months ago, he did several interviews included a 30 minute feature on Comcast. Alzheimer's story is BS. Not necessarily true. The poster said early stages. Not sure how much you know about early dementia but I have been working with patients for close to 20 years. Someone who has early dementia can be perfectly lucid in some areas but will have other parts of their daily routine that they struggle with. For example, it is very common for a dementia patient to sit down and work a crossword puzzle or discuss their childhood yet have no clue what they ate for lunch an hour ago. If Jr was able to do a 30 minute feature he most likely would be in a very early stage if he does have the start of dementia.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Aug 15, 2016 -> 05:23 PM) He made it sound like they might rather patch "other holes" and not trade for Sale so it sounded like starters were excluded based on that comment. No, my point was they are more apt to trade 3 or 4 prospects to fill 2-3 holes. They need some bullpen help and they need another starter. They may be more likely to add someone like Archer that may only cost them 2 of their 2nd tier prospects. It sounds like Ramirez moves to DH, Shaw to 1st . Then they also need a 3B but they have Sandoval coming back and Devers on his way up and Moncada a wildcard. Their catching is also iffy unless Vazquez starts hitting.

I heard yesterday that since the All Star break, Red Sox starting pitching has been ranked 3rd in AL. Their offense and bullpen was in a funk. Their offense certainly tore up AZ this weekend but we will see when they hit the road. Unfortunately Benintendi has been on a tear since he was called up which could inflate his value next winter if he keeps it up. I think DD will trade some of his young talent to patch other holes and not go for the KO w Sale.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Aug 14, 2016 -> 11:14 PM) Sandy Alomar Jr. and Dave Martinez would both be fine. Dave Martinez name has come up for years and he always gets passed over. Tampa Bay even passed over him. There must be some negatives involved.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Aug 12, 2016 -> 11:22 PM) If we're starting Saladino, it should be at SS or 3B. He's not a 2B. Offensively he is not a 3B. With Anderson the SS for now , he is therefore a utility player.

Question to those seeing the Sox on a daily basis. Abreu has been on a tear lately. I wonder how much, if any, has Mourneau helped hitting behind him. Earlier in the year, Melky was hitting well but it didn't seem to help. But it seems to me the arrival of Mourneau seems to coincide w Abreu hitting much better. maybe Abrfeu has just found his groove.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Aug 10, 2016 -> 06:20 PM) Really depends on what they do with Sandoval and Hanley. As of now, I believe they would be sharing the 1B/DH spots with Shaw holding down third until someone else comes up. Unless they add someone from outside the organization for 3B. Moncada or Devers could be at 3rd by 2018 or even 2017. Moncada could also be the DH next year while they figure out if he can play 3B or outfield (if they trade a B). Shaw struggles at 3B.

FWIW----Benintendi is now 8-16 since being brought up from AA.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Aug 9, 2016 -> 01:21 PM) We still have one year of control on Miguel Gonzalez yet. I bet they don't throw Fulmer into the rotation from the get go. Barring a trade our opening day rotation will be Sale, Q, Rodon, Shields and Gonzalez. That's a pretty dang good rotation. That is a great rotation. If we had them this season, we would be playoff bound.........................................

QUOTE (ptatc @ Aug 9, 2016 -> 12:25 PM) Part of the reason he isn't starting is that they need to limit his innings this year. So will he learn more pitching in AAA or the MLB while pitching in relief? The answer is, that's why they get paid what they do. We'll see if they are right. Makes sense on limiting the innings and getting his feet wet w major league hitters. But it might be tough to then try and make him a ML starter in 2017. He may need some portion of next year in AAA as a starter. If he is ticketed for the bullpen next year, then keeping him in the present role makes sense.