SCCWS

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Feb 12, 2016 -> 10:59 PM) Thanks for the info. Also important to note. exactly zero other teams are willing to meet Desmond or Fowler's current demands. They'll come down. Desmond has absolutely nowhere else to go before June. Not true. If a SS gets injured in ST, especially on a team projected to contend, he will have a job in no time.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Feb 12, 2016 -> 09:09 AM) You make some very good points. The way I se it is, if I'm OK with Frazier's hot start in '15 and his second half collapse, then I'm fine with Desmond's first half collapse and second half rebound. Adding Desmond wouldnt be the worst move the Sox could make. I'd take the gamble. What 2nd half rebound. He hit .190 in July and .220 in September. He had a good May and a good August. Defensively his number of errors has increased each year over the last 3 seasons. I would be concerned as a SS he is on the decline.

Offseason is over. I just saw a clip where Tampa Bay Rays held an informal workout at the Trop yesterday. Pitchers and catchers report in ....................................................

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Feb 8, 2016 -> 10:07 PM) I think the concern is that the team that came dead last in offense last year is still below average offensively in nearly half the spots in the lineup (Garcia, LaRoche, Saladino, and Cabrera), at least as the roster is presently constituted. That and the corner outfield defense are particularly troublesome going into this season at the moment. Most if not all teams have at least 1 defensive spot in their lineup. So the Sox can live w Saladino's offense if he can play defense at SS. Cabrera pretty much produced as expected. His RBI total was much better than his career average and his BA was 10 points below. But he is not what you really want from a power standpoint from a corner OF. I think they needed 1 more bat but the offense looks to be slightly below average. So they have to hope the pitching improves enough to make up for some of the offense. I think that will be a problem because their starters were pretty much healthy last year so tough to expect the same again this year. The pen should be better w Jones back for a full season.

We could combine threads. They could sign the Gurriels and then move the team to Havana. JR could make a killing.........................

QUOTE (Dunt @ Feb 7, 2016 -> 12:25 AM) Sources say Ian Desmond is having on-going conversations with the #Cardinals, #WhiteSox, #BlueJays. NOTE:he has said he's willing to play OF Today's Tampa Tribune indicates Rays may also be involved since he is a Sarasota native and his price has dropped.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 7, 2016 -> 02:07 AM) With the Jays, 2b if Travis is out and SS for Tulowitzki. Also DH, with Colabello far from a sure repeater performance-wise. Have said all along he would be a decent or potentially above-average outfielder if he had enough time to prepare. With the White Sox, he would provide insurance at 2b, SS, DH and relegate Saladino to a bench role. If they can't afford Austin Jackson or Desmond Jennings, I'm coming around on Shane Victorino because he can hit lefties and has been a valuable performer on a string of playoff/World Series teams. Guerrero or Kiki Hernandez, they need to improve that bench somehow. Cards have been considering moving Peralta from SS for awhile now, fwiw. http://www.rotochamp.com/baseball/PlayerRa...spx?Position=SS Victorino is a DL trip waiting to happen. When a player, as Victorino did last week, says "he has never been in better physical condition" red flags should go up.

It is interesting that the eventual signing of Cespedes did not trigger a domino effect w Jackson or Fowler as some speculated. Maybe there is a very limited market for them so the contenders are in no hurry to make quick decisions.

QUOTE (beck72 @ Feb 1, 2016 -> 08:30 PM) Desmond likely will be traded by the Rays. His $3.3 mill. salary for a 4th OFer is way to rich for their liking. The A's article said they could get Desmond for a B level prospect. It should take more than that. But the Sox would be better off with a healthy Desmond-give you a 3 WAR-for the cost [$3.3 mill. this year, maybe $4 mill. next) rather than Fowler for three years at $10 mill. per. The Sox need a good, versatile glove and who has a bat with upside. An outfielder coming off knee surgery is a gamble. Better off seeing how he does in ST. There is some indication Tampa added outfield depth because Jennings may struggle to regain his previous ability. But if he can be had for a B prospect, might be worth a shot.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Feb 1, 2016 -> 05:02 PM) They can ask for Q or Rodon, but there is 0.0% chance he could net either. Dude was f***ing awful last year. He was basically Avi Garcia. Then offer them Avi............................

QUOTE (2005thxfrthmmrs @ Feb 1, 2016 -> 12:16 PM) Also, assuming Saladino could handle SS with solid defense, which is very likely, he'd have a much higher floor than Avi. Anyone know if Saladino played fall/winter ball somewhere to work at SS???

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 1, 2016 -> 12:51 PM) Knowing Frank, he needs the money. Could he DH against lefties???

At .500 they should punt. Too far out to kick a FG

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 31, 2016 -> 02:46 PM) I think I read somewhere that every major league team either averaged using eight starting pitchers...or actually had a minimum of using eight different starters over the course of the 2015 season. 8 seems high but I think it is fair to say we can expect the White Sox to need a 6th starter this year since one of our 5 will go down w some injury ( and /or Johnson or Danks will struggle). I thought they would add someone but they must be confident they have enough depth internally.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 30, 2016 -> 11:41 AM) I think for Anderson to have a chance, not only would Anderson have to have a great spring, but Saladino would not only have to hit poorly, but field poorly. Agree. Or as I said that would force them to find a 1 year rental.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Jan 29, 2016 -> 06:53 PM) I'd be stunned if Anderson doesn't start at AAA. I expect Saladino to start the year at SS. How he does over the course of the beginning of the season and Tim does as AAA will determine the position late in the season. Not sure I would be stunned. The good thing for Anderson is that Saladino is not a proven MLB starter at SS. So if Anderson has a great spring and Saladino has a poor spring, a big decision would face Hahn and Ventura. If neither has a good spring, then they may have to go out and get a 1 year rental.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jan 28, 2016 -> 10:54 PM) I agree with RV and have no problem with what he said. Frazier is a huge upgrade at 3B, Lawrie's bat is a sizeable upgrade at 2B with nice power potential and Avila/Navarro are sizeable upgrades at catcher. 3B and Catcher got better defensively and while I don't expect Lawrie to be as slick as Sanchez with the glove at 2B but Lawrie's arm is a big upgrade to that position. Saladino should be a defensive upgrade at SS so the infield overall should much improved defensively and in the batting lineup as well. All I'm saying is that the Sox look much better now than they did at seasons end. Unless of course fans prefered to go with revolving doors at 3B and 2B with Flowers at catcher and an aging/declining Alexei at SS. You think Frazier will be better defensively than Saladino was??? I think Frazier is an average 3B and Saladino is slightly better than average. I think Sanchez is an outstanding 2B and I think Lawrie is a very good one. I have no clue if Saladino is better at SS than the 2nd half Alexei. I think the infield is slightly worse defensively than last year but they needed more offense and the infield will be much better offensively. That is why I feel they need to improve the outfield defensively to offset what I perceive to be a drop in the infield defense. I have no clue how the catcher defense will compare to last year.

Tampa Trib said today Rays might consider adding Desmond since he is a Sarasota resident and might take a cheap short term deal. But Rays are always big on draft picks.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Jan 23, 2016 -> 11:26 AM) Can we stop acting like because we missed out on the Big 3 that all of Hahn's plans fail to come to fruition? He targeted Lawrie and Frazier and got those done. What was he supposed to do here? There was no way we were going to pry away Gordon or Cespedes unless we grossly overpaid, and Upton didn't want to come here. I like Lawrie and Upton but how do we know that is who Hahn targeted??? Did he say so?? Maybe one or both was his 2nd or 3rd choice.

Like most Sox fans, I am assuming we will add some outfield help and it will ultimately improve our outfield defense. But what about the infield. As it stands right now, I think it is a major step up offensively. But would Lawrie, Saladino and Frazier be worse than Alexei, Saladino and Sanchez defensively?? If so then it would seem Hahn would have to improve the outfield to somewhat offset it.

DAMN YANKEES......................................... I think Steinbrenner is bluffing

QUOTE (AustinIllini @ Jan 19, 2016 -> 04:30 PM) My thought exactly. The White Sox don't have real "lack of fan" problems. They have "Bad baseball" problems. They have a strong enough fanbase when they're good, but that's true for most teams. I am a long-time but distant White Sox fan. As I have posted numerous times, I would bet the White Sox attendance problems are centered around business season ticket sales rather than baseball fan. I live part of the year in New England and many businesses have multiple season tickets for Patriots and Red Sox. The good thing is, most businesses just renew tickets regardless of the team success since they use the majority to give to employees or customers. Obviously the White Sox are in competition w the Cubs for businesses. I went to a major Chicago Bank on business in the early 200o's for a few days and they asked me if I wanted a ticket to a Cubs game while I was in town. It would be interesting to know how many White Sox season tics are corporate. I am not referring to corporate boxes but regular seats.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 11:04 PM) There will be more moves made I think, unless the deadline is tonight. They have half assed it plenty of times, but I still think this year will be different. Trade deadline??? Some posters sound like pitchers and catchers are reporting today. Maybe Frazier hits 40 hrs and is AL MVP. Maybe Sox sign Cespedes and he turns into another Adam LaRoche. Maybe Sale and Rodon collide shagging outfield fly balls in SP and 2016 turns into another rebuilding year. Before we fire the FO, lets see what the roster looks like when SP opens.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 10:01 PM) On the bright side at least Q won't have to face Cespedes 6 games a year Cespedes agent is meeting w Indians tonight............................................................................................. ........................just kidding.

QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Jan 17, 2016 -> 08:22 PM) Interesting rankings. I'd say Eaton is closer to 9 or 10. Kiermaier, Gomez & Jones are better players, IMO. Mookie Bettsis a fast riser although he may get bumped to RF