SCCWS

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Sep 29, 2015 -> 12:47 AM) They have to replace Shark. In a year they have to replace Danks. Why would they also choose to trade Quintana. They would need 3 new starting pitchers in 2 seasons and are any of them going to be as good as Quintana? Nope. "We're going to need 2 new starting pitchers. Let's trade away Quintana too and replace with 3 pitchers who are all worse than Quintana." Does that make any sense or seem like a reasonably likely thing to happen? That makes no sense. Of course you are not going to trade him for 3 pitchers who are all worse. But would you trade him for a starting 3B and C or a SS and CF. If you can fill 2 offensive holes w players who can hit and defend in positions like 3B, SS C or Of in a trade w 1 or 2 good prospects then you really consider it.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Sep 28, 2015 -> 08:03 PM) It should be both, to be honest. Like, the Hamel package + Gallo is what it should have been. Agree. It should fill 2 of --3B-C-SS-OF w major league talent + 1-2 prospects. They should trade Q or Rodon and assume Fulmer fills the slot in 17.

QUOTE (AlSoxfan @ Sep 23, 2015 -> 12:51 PM) I thought Hahn did a pretty good job last off season as did most others. It seems though we have more holes to fill than we had previously. Our bullpen is much better than it was, so we have that but I'll take that with a grain of salt. Relief pitchers are often to hard to predict. The one thing I don't think Hahn even gave a thought to was defense. My favorite saying is "Pitching, defense and the three run home-run". We've got pitching but defense is about the worst in all of baseball an only 1 guy who can hit homers with any consistency, an thats not saying anything about the 2 guys on base needed to make it a 3 run homer. Steve Adams was asked what the biggest needs were for the Sox this winter, his response was as many have said "Add a real catcher and figure out second/third base. Improve the terrible defense. I'll admit I got a chuckle out of get a REAL catcher. How we improve without a top ten pick should be the same as how we improve with one. Many have said "dump the whole team and start from scratch", while I might agree, I don't see them doing that. Which leaves us patching holes via trades and a couple FA signings. I'm sure Hahn knows as well as we do what is needed. I do enjoy playing GM but at this point I'm stumped. Unless we trade from our strength..pitching, I fear we'll continue to be a bad team. I think we need to start with defense an go from there. I think offense is the top priority. The defense has been much better w the addition of S&S in the infield. In fact, I think Alexei has played better defense sine they arrived as well. But the problem is S&S are poor offensively. So I think they leave Sanchez where he is and go out and get some offense on 3rd. They also need to add an OF bat who can also field. I would think Q could bring back a quality 3B and OF in a trade.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 24, 2015 -> 01:03 PM) They never said it but the "giving him extra rest and begging the AL All stars not to pitch him" sure made it sound like he was tired and dead-armed at that point, and a couple weeks later he had the worst stretch of his career. If we want him to win a cy young or compete with the rest of the league, that dead arm can't happen, and he's going to have to pitch >200 innings of high quality ball for either of those to happen. But I also worry that a pitcher w a dead arm is more susceptible to over-throwing and getting hurt. But I am not a medical person and there may be no danger.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Sep 23, 2015 -> 05:35 PM) Dodgers don't need another starter for Sale's price, think of teams requiring pitching: Boston, Texas, Colorado, Arizona. Those teams are more feasible trading partners I think Boston goes FA route probably after Price. I think they will try and unload Hanley and Panda and keep the young players at catcher and outfield. But maybe Dombroski loses out on Price and would take Q for some of their young talent.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Sep 21, 2015 -> 05:09 PM) I was going to post in the other game thread that I bet the second game lineup will be completely different. I even predicted all the guys in the lineup just not the right order What did EJ do to deserve that lineup??

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 19, 2015 -> 03:32 PM) Continue to very much disagree. Get him to 200 innings. He's still a guy who "building up his arm" is a good thing. The extra innings this year could very well be the reason why he avoids a dead arm period next year. My concern would be if he does have a dead arm, he is very competitive and may get hurt trying to over compensate. 200 innings is only a number. Other factors like # of starts in hot weather and number of stressful innings also affect total innings for a season. Hopefully FO is monitoring him.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Sep 19, 2015 -> 08:10 AM) I agree. Its a little strange since he isn't going to win Cy Young award any way. Last game we had posters thinking the Twins knew something that was tipping his pitchers. They must have shared w the Indians. I think he is just running out of gas down the stretch. He has had a hell of a season so I wish they would let him take it easy for the next few weeks. He is the franchise and they need to keep him healthy.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Sep 18, 2015 -> 01:16 PM) Except for tonight. I want Sale to get as many wins as possible. I could care less about his wins. I only want to see him come out healthy as well as the rest of the key players.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Sep 16, 2015 -> 02:45 PM) Olt has not impressed and I think his hits with the Sox have all been singles. Defense has not been good. Webb is anyone's guess for 2016 and I will bet you the Sox still try and sign the Shark at a figure obviously below what he might have been looking at earlier in the season. I would ask why??? There were "rumors that Shark and Cooper do not get a long. If true, it might very well explain how Shark went from decent to horrible. If that is the reason, why would you bring him back since that would be a cancer in the clubhouse, especially w young pitchers.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Sep 12, 2015 -> 09:28 AM) I think turning it into a year wide platoon based on which side you hit from is not making the best of it. The sox need to find players that can play, not piecemeal together random lineups every night. Outfield defense has to be resolved. Either Melky or Avi needs to be a DH more than an outfielder. The Sox need to acquire an outfielder who can hit and defend. For example, Boston now has 3 young outfielders hitting above .280 all of whom are above average defensively. Maybe Hahn could get one of them and one of their young catchers in exchange for pitching. At the trade deadline, I has proposed Q for Bradley and Swihart + prospects but my guess is Boston won't do that now that Dombrowski has taken over and Bradley has exploded.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Sep 12, 2015 -> 01:03 AM) I believe there is a point of no return if you draft guys with deficiencies on how to play baseball. If they can't catch a baseball how is that going to improve at this level. They also need to stop getting free agents where Sept. is a relaxing time of year. Jones was outstanding on his return but he has really come back to earth.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Sep 10, 2015 -> 12:01 AM) Let me put it this way. From what I hear the FO is relieved that Shark didn't take the deal that was on the table. That number has come and gone. If he wants a short term cheaper deal including a one year that's his only option with the white sox. If true, then I would assume the rift between Shark and Coop does not exist. Because there is no way the FO would want Shark back on a team with so many young pitchers. Imagine Coop trying to get Rodon to make changes while he knows Shark does not trust Coop's advice. Either that or Coop is on his way out.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Sep 9, 2015 -> 02:32 PM) Ok, "very" may have been a stretch. But I still like Alexei. I wouldn't argue if they declined the option and went with an internal option, but nothing on the FA market is better than Alexei. I bet that if the Sox decline the option, Alexei will come very close to matching that total in AAV, and will likely get a multi-year deal. Since mid June, Alexei has been "very" good, and that is more the ball player that I think he is. The dude is streaky, and likely will continue to be, but as I have already said, if the Sox are trying to compete for the division next year, Alexei gives them the best chance to do that, IMO. I also would like to see more of the young players. Could Thompson please play every day so we can see him against more righties. If he is going to really struggle against righties, he may not even 4th outfielder material. But so far he has done pretty good from both sides despite the majority against lefties. When ready Micah needs to play 2nd since Sanchez's average is dropping again. I guess Alexei is going to continue to get most of the reps at SS despite Saladino playing less to see Olt.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 7, 2015 -> 10:34 AM) Actually, if the White Sox had a weak 2b spot which they don't...you know the kind of guy who would make sense for the Pirates in exchange for Walker? John Danks. They're going to be looking for a 1 year rental because Glasnow and perhaps Taillon could be guys taking slots in their 2017 rotation and they've had a good record rehabilitating pitchers. Doesn't match up very well given the 2 rosters and the White Sox having 2 young 2b, but that's the kind of return they might see fit for Walker. Danks has a pretty restricted contract for trading him. I doubt the Pirates would be a team on his short list.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Sep 6, 2015 -> 09:58 AM) Sale, Rodon, Samardzija (if he accepts QO or mid-priced free agent), Johnson, Danks One ace, one potential ace. Q trade should shore up holes. Minor league pitching (which is still in A ball) is protected. I don't think you count on Shark. If it is true of the rift between him and Coop then we are better off w a FA. I think Q fills 2 holes but that is a good start.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Sep 6, 2015 -> 01:56 AM) Got nothing to lose on this but it does say something about the black hole in the organization at third base (and catcher...and DH...) Mark I think outfield is a bigger black hole than DH. Avi or Melky could be a DH if we had a competent outfielder to play LF or RF. Not sure why they don't throw Thompson in there on a regular basis just to be sure he is not the answer.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Sep 6, 2015 -> 12:41 AM) He's not had an excellent season. He's a good option at 4/5 back end of the rotation. He has not had an excellent season but he has had a very good second half. Depending on trades he could be our #3 ( by default) going into next year

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 5, 2015 -> 11:19 AM) If Danks is our #3, good luck winning more than 72-74 games. I guess it doesn't matter how you slot Erik Johnson, Montas and/or Fulmer...but those rookie pitchers (and EJ's barely past the innings limit, so technically 2nd year) are going to have to pitch a lot better than Samardzija and Rodon this season. Not likely. It's hard to count on more than one of them having an ERA under 4, in all honesty. And it would seem insane to spend money on a FA pitcher (think Latos/Iwakuma level) to replace Samardzija when they need to pitch Johnson/Montas/Fulmer in order to prepare them all for THEORETICALLY trying to compete in 2017 (3rd year of the supposed window). They will probably win 72+ games this year. Danks has been better in the 2nd half than Shark who was our #3 this year. If they trade Q or Rodon and can improve from a terrible offensive team to just average, I think 80-82 wins is very possible next year. The 2nd half defense is much improved over the 1st half but still needs improvement in the outfield. Hopefully a new manager, a couple of solid bats and one + defensive outfielder and I think .500 is realistic.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Sep 4, 2015 -> 11:11 PM) Danks is better than Shark. Danks has pitched well the 2nd half of this season considering the way the team has played. With Shark going and the strong possibility of Q or Rodon traded for offense, Danks could actually jump up from 5th to 3rd starter next season.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Sep 3, 2015 -> 12:33 PM) I still adhere to the notion that teams win with pitching first and then defense and then a good offense. Get all three together and you have champions. Don't trade away a Cy Young type pitcher for three prospects, who you don't know will perform. I think we saw the preferred route in building a team and that's free agency (Cabrerea, Laroche and Robertson), or a swap of mid level talent for youth (Garcia for Peavy, A Reed for Davidson). There really is no one preferred route. I agree you don't want to trade a Cy Young pitcher for 3 prospects but you might for 3 solid ML players. Include in FA that the Red Sox got Ramirez and Sandoval and their GM lost his job for it. Ad to our FA Duke, Boni and Beckham and it is not preferred either. If we look at the mid level swap, we probably could have done better. We know we could w Avi instead of Iglesias. The preferred route is to use trades, FA and your system to build a team. This winter Hahn will get a chance to make trades and sign FA's that will hopefully improve this team. If it takes trading a stud starting pitcher so be it. The pressure is on him to get a return that betters the team while probably lessening the pitching strength

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Sep 2, 2015 -> 04:54 PM) That's ridiculous. How can you call someone an average to good MLB player when he either A. Hasn't played in MLB, or B. Has played one MLB season or less? By your logic, Erik Johnson and Frank Montas are decent MLB players. You are totally lost in this discussion. We are not talking about minor league players. We are talking about players--Betts-Swihart-Bradley that all have played in the majors this season. Bradley has 200 games, Betts 150+ over two seasons and Swihart is a rookie who will play 75 this year. .Johnson and Montas are September call-ups.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Sep 2, 2015 -> 02:27 PM) Come on... you can't call these guys "solid" and whatnot when they've barely played. I'll give you Iglesias, Holt, and probably Bogaerts. The rest are overrated. Josh Reddick is better than Avi. Mookie Betts hit .275 has 13 Hr and 20 stolen bases in 100 games this year while playing CF. Bradley was a AAA allstar this year and has hit .330 since he was called up. Again, you have to trade at the right time before a guy explodes. Now Iglesias and Bogaerts are probably untouchable for us unless it is a "Sale". Bradley is also close to untouchable now w Dombrowski. I think the Boston ship has sailed for Hahn. hopefully he doesn't want Ramirez.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Sep 2, 2015 -> 02:19 PM) Unless the prospects you speak of are the headliners in the deal, that trade would be comically bad for the White Sox. You would be getting a young catcher who is hitting .280 in his rookie year and is considered above average defensively. Bradley tore up AAA this year, is hitting .330 since being recalled at the AllStar break, and is probably the best defensive CF prospect in baseball. That would give us 2 young stars so the prospects will not be the headliners. Again, I doubt the Red Sox will do it now that Dombroski is there. He will use the FA market to get his ace and keep Bradley and trade one of the young catchers, Ramirez + Holt neither of who I would want

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Sep 1, 2015 -> 09:59 PM) The Red Sox have one of the most overrated systems in baseball, IMO. Any package for Sale would have to start with Bogaerts, and I doubt Boston would give him up. I don't think Boston's system is overrated. In the last few years they have promoted Bogaerts and Iglesias, two young and very talented shortstops. They have also produced Reddick, Betts and now Bradley as outfielders. They also have produced 2 solid young catchers in Swihart and Vazquez. I was not a Middlebrooks fan but they were able to trade him and they also have Brock Holt who is a super sub in the mold of Zobrist. That is quite a haul in a few years. Their problem has been getting young pitchers and that may change. They have 4 or 5 either in Boston or will be in SP. But my guess is it is a too late. Rumor is they want an ace and dombrowski has set his sights on David Price again. I have posted several times on this site that I was hoping for a Q for Swihart or Vazquez , Bradley + prospects but the way Bradley has exploded even that won't happen. I doubt Sale goes. But I think Q or even Rodon could bring back 2 solid ML players. I have been assuming Q but maybe a Sale/Q combo is better than a Sale/Rodon based on style of pitching.