SCCWS

Sale and Q will be under the spotlight this week. Both had an impact on their teams winning their division. But now they have to produce in October when the pressure intensifies. We will see how they hold up. It will be really interesting if they meet a few weeks down the road.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Oct 1, 2017 -> 08:41 PM) It seemed like he had a hard time handling the clubhouse. You had a spoiled petulant ace throwing temper tantrums, cussing out front office personnel and cutting uniforms, you had a struggling DH's kid being treated like he was actually on the team, and you had a right fielder creating cliques in the clubhouse. That seems like a clubhouse out of control. The good thing is I don't see that happening in Rick Renteria's clubhouse. He doesn't seem like the type to take that kind of s***. I think losing "control of the clubhouse' is a very subjective term. That was the primary reason given for Francona being let go in Boston. Since they are winning, he must have some control over the clubhouse in Cleveland. When teams are winning, control over the clubhouse becomes a moot point. Last year we saw and even heard about how disruptive Chris Sale was. Now living in New England, all I hear is what a great teammate he is. Winning cures a lot of evils. I still go back to the point Robin had zero experience managing a team and it did show at times. But some managers crap in their first job and then seem to find their wayn their next job.

QUOTE (Scoots @ Oct 1, 2017 -> 07:45 AM) They said it's whoever is worse in 2016 gets better pick So Reds own tiebreaker. Looks like 5th pick

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Sep 26, 2017 -> 06:42 PM) Good news about Giolito. Really impressed with his 7 starts for the Sox. I think Lopez is sitting around 163IP so is it safe to say he's probably done after his next start? Yes since there are only 5 games left. Today is his last start. Now if they need him for relief over the weekend in a crucial situation ..................

QUOTE (hi8is @ Sep 25, 2017 -> 03:39 AM) I guess you don't remember Scotty Pods in the 2005 year. Or perhaps your second statement kinda alludes to your stance... if you've got speed which equates to a high success rate ( low risk ) then a burner can ignite an offense and put pressure on the opposing team in a couple of ways. Moncada clearly has game changing speed. Dudes electric! Can be very disruptive to the opposing pitcher.

I always think of John Farrell in manager discussion threads. Red Sox fans trash him all the time. An article in local media yesterday points out that he will likely end up winning the AL East for 2nd consecutive year. If so he will be first Boston manager in 48 years to do that. The same guy who was mediocre in Toronto and has had some lousy years in Boston. I think he is a great example of teams win more titles than managers . Terry Francona is another guy who has had success and failure in various career stops.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Sep 21, 2017 -> 04:10 PM) I don't think that Hahn and co. are going to try to add pieces that will make the team more competitive, I think they'll be looking for guys that they can flip potential at the deadline. I agree that the pitching next year will be a problem next year but the offense should be more consistent next year. If he is looking for guys to flip, they are only flippable if they are productive which would most likley make the team competitive.

QUOTE (Tony @ Sep 17, 2017 -> 04:10 PM) Where did the idea of Moncada not listening to coaches enter into the conversation? That's quite a leap. From the response "Players not listening to coaching happens all of the time." to the question why didn't the coaches suggest a different bat to Moncada.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 17, 2017 -> 12:56 PM) Players not listening to coaching happens all of the time. Rookies struggling and not listening to coaches should not happen. Remember when Moncada screwed up in Boston during a pennant race last year he was benched for the last 3 weeks.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 15, 2017 -> 01:47 PM) Ugh. Realize that sometimes it just takes hearing something from a different person a different way can make all of the difference. Just because it happened after Abreu said it doesn't mean it hasn't been said already. Agree. But a young player who is "really struggling" and does not try switching bats on the suggestion of the coaching staff seems a little far-fetched. Now maybe the coaching staff came up w the idea and asked Abreu to be the messenger. What would you think would happen if Coop makes a suggestion to Lopez, Giolito or Fulmer and they decide to ignore it???

He has pretty good power for a SS but his K/BB rate is terrible. But the key for a SS is that he at least plays average defense. So far TA is below average statistically. Hopefully his resurgence offensively will have a positive influence on his defense if confidence is a factor. Next spring is a key time for him to show marked improvement or the Sox may need to see if maybe 3B would be a better alternative.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Sep 15, 2017 -> 11:54 AM) The Abreu impact on the young new players like Moncada cannot be understated. He is one of the players I wouldn't trade at this point. I think his value to mentoring young players is more valuable than any possible return he could provide at this point. I absolutely agree. But I am also left w a little sour taste. Where the hell is the coaching staff that a player sees something they should be seeing as well.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Sep 11, 2017 -> 01:19 AM) So any thoughts on if this was Fulmer with his best stuff? If so then that sucks because what makes pitchers good ones is that they can still not get shelled with their mediocre or bad stuff. If this was middling stuff, then hell yea Fulmer. Chris Sale got shelled twice in August and hit hard a couple of other games.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Sep 6, 2017 -> 12:33 AM) So your arguments are: 1.) Jerry prices parking and hot dogs too high. 2.) Jerry doesn't sign non-existent free agents when the team is rebuilding Sound, sound arguments. What is the cost to park for a White Sox game???I know Boston is approx $40 for baseball and Patriots in suburbs is also $40.

QUOTE (WBWSF @ Sep 5, 2017 -> 10:01 AM) Milwaukee had the lowest MLB team payroll on this past Opening Day with $63 million dollars. The 2018 White sox team payroll will be the lowest payroll in MLB.It will be much less than $63 million dollars. After the trade of Avi Garcia and probably Abreu the payroll will be less than $40 million. Always remember, low payroll=big profits=more moola for JR. Based on attached, JR and Sox are also losing money with attendance drop. So lower payroll is not pure profit for Sox. http://247wallst.com/special-report/2017/0...tm_campaign=AOL

QUOTE (Two-Gun Pete @ Sep 3, 2017 -> 09:11 AM) Two things: 1. They were talking on the broadcast about how Avi has one of the highest BABIPs in Sox history, & also, the highest in the league. Therefore, there is (at a bare minimum) a massive degree of regression ahead of him. http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=...0&sort=12,d 2. Do you believe in this one lucky season of his, or the mediocre pieces of 3+ seasons in which he was a poor player? I maintain that Hahn should sell high on him. There is no way that he will continue this level of performance. Extending him is this FO just begging to be made into a fool once again. So Avi is due for a massive degree of regression, he had one lucky season but Hahn should sell high on him??? Please keep this quiet because we don't want any other teams finding out they are going to get fleeced.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Aug 30, 2017 -> 01:07 AM) I believe in the sophomore slump. Many guys come up once the season started and do fine. Then when they start that full season that magic doesn't happen. It could be scouts got a better angle on them or the pressure after having success. I expected that to happen to Frank but it didn't. We see so many examples of this. I think Alexei was voted the best player in Chicago before playing a full season, then there was Avi, Beckham. Sometimes I do fear that organization may be bringing guys up too soon. Remember Tim Anderson was not going to be brought up last season. There's always this debate of when to bring someone up. I do wonder if Renteria's strength is getting more out of younger players. Some of them probably listen to the hitting coach too. I think every player is different. Some young players arrive from AAA ready to play and some jump right from AA( mostly positional) and produce. Others take 2-3 years in ML before they find their niche.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Aug 28, 2017 -> 12:51 AM) I know what you mean. Take Engel for example. He plays a very good and fundamentally sound CF . Leury Garcia probably should be getting most of the starts there because he he also a good fielder out there but nowhere near as fundamentally sound as Engel. While many here think there's very few on the roster now who can contribute to a winning team, the Sox are trying to learn as much as they can about them all and ,as you say , it's an interesting group of kids. It'll be fun seeing Delmonico and Davidson in the same lineup. We haven't seen much if any of that yet. Moncada , Delmonico would be a great 2 and 3 in the lineup since they both draw walks with a 4 -5-6 of Abreu, Davidson, Avi or Abreu , Avi, Davidson . Usually, you want a #2 batter to be able to handle the bat well and not SO a lot. Moncada so far does not fit the bill. Hopefully in a couple of years he is the #3 hitter which I think will be perfect when his power numbers start showing.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Aug 22, 2017 -> 10:40 PM) To anyone who didn't watch the game: The box score says 4 earned runs, but 3 of them were truly earned. One was due to Leury failing to catch a ball that was literally hit right at him and then not ruled an error because there was no catch attempt. No walks in his first start is good. 3 home-runs is bad.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Aug 22, 2017 -> 12:51 AM) Great post Greg! I do wonder if maybe guys are being brought up too soon and also afraid to send them back down for a week or two. I think every player is different. Delmonico is hitting better in the majors than he did in AAA. I do think starting pitchers need some time in AAA. But we are seeing positional players jumping from AA to majors and having success.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Aug 21, 2017 -> 11:51 AM) I consider myself to be extremely pessimistic but I have to ask...why do you even watch if all it takes is a bad month or 2 for a guy to be completely done? Scouts doing player analysis for a living miss on guys who make it and one's who don't. Fans are like riding a roller coaster. After a game last week, some fans were all excited about Moncada. This week, some have ditched the bandwagon. I see a lot of Red Sox games and the media and fans are enthralled w Devers since he is putting up Babe Ruth type numbers early on. By the time the playoffs arrive, he will probably be ice cold. I know Delmonico will also come down to reality. I just hope he ends up a .280/ 20 hr guy but even then he may be a problem defensively.

QUOTE (Scoots @ Aug 19, 2017 -> 01:03 PM) Not gonna lie guys, I think the Sox are gonna score some runs next year. This is exciting to think about right now because the offense is hitting, but what I think is so unique about this bunch is they have a good balance of different tools they can choose from. They have the ability to hit homeruns, but they also have speed and quite a bit of contact guys. They also have a good mix of righties and lefties. Renteria can do a lot with this bunch. Check out this potential starting lineup... 1. Leury Garcia LF 2. Moncada .....2B 3. Abreu .........1B/DH 4. Avi .............RF 5. Delmonico....DH/1B (He can learn 1B) 6. Davidson......3B 7. Anderson......SS 8. Smith/Omar...C 9. Engel............CF Lots of balance in that lineup. If we can get August 2017 Tim Anderson to play for 3-4 months out of the year, and if all those players put up offensive numbers like they have been to go along with the tools they are known for, then this team will be fun to watch, even if the bullpen blows all the games. Delmonico is also still a big question mark, but I'm let's ride that horse as far as it will take us. He is hitting like a 3-5 hitter right now. Power lefty bat? Yes please!! Bench= Yolmer (I see him platooning quite often with Davidson), Smith/Omar, Outfielder (Hansen?), and Saladino. What are your thoughts? That is pretty much the lineup the Sox have been using since the trade deadline and they are last in the AL, averaging 4 runs per game. So if all those players put up offensive numbers like they have been it will be pretty much the same as this season. We need a major improvement from Moncada, Avi needs another career year, Abreu can't slip and everyone else needs to improve a little except maybe Delmonico whom in fairness may be playing over his head. I think next year is another bad year where we get a good draft pick and hopefully see Moncada bust out and Anderson raise his average 20 points.

QUOTE (BrianAnderson @ Aug 18, 2017 -> 10:45 AM) Agree with the last few posts. I really don't subscribe to the "brought up too soon" lines. For the most part I think those who are going to succeed do so regardless. Those who fail, will fail. Now there are exceptions - I think a Giolito actually does need time in the minors. Let him adjust when it doesn't matter with the Sox and with the best coaches and best talent around him. I think Moncada needed time in AAA this year more for defense instead of offense. He mostly played 3B the end of last season so he needed to spend some time going back working at 2nd. Then, depending on his psyche, he also needed some time offensively to adjust after the problems he had in Boston last year.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 17, 2017 -> 01:17 AM) This sub .200 s*** probably is good for Moncada. It's obvious he is a physical specimen and you'd think his early struggles should help his mental frame of mind. If he's a competitor maybe it'll humble him up if he needs that and he'll be better for it. You probably need to trust your coaches in this game. Don't know anything about him personally but struggling early during a meaningless season could wind up helping him. Maybe, but he also struggled in Boston last season during a pennant race. Maybe staring from ST and going into the ML next year may help.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 16, 2017 -> 12:24 PM) uh what http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2016?list=prospects - Moncada #1 in game http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/2017-top-100-prospects/ - Moncada #1 in game http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2017...gcjIctHPOf3d.97 - Moncada #2 in game, beyond Benintendi, who the Red Sox were never giving up trolls gonna troll It reminds me of how skewed NCAA BB recruiting gets. A kid is ranked 50 and he signs w Kentucky and next ranking he drops to 20. Moncada was clearly ranked higher 3rd than Benintendi 15th going into 2016 season. By the end of 2016, after each got called up that changed. Rankings are very subjective. Some are very accurate and some are not.