Señor Ding-Dong

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 26, 2015 -> 02:40 PM) Beckhamtalk.com You should start a kickstarter to fund this website. Start off by trying to get the rights to the The Outfield's "Your Love" so it can be played on a continuous loop at beckhamtalk.com, then go from there.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 25, 2015 -> 02:51 PM) Brantly, Hawkins, and Diaz sent down. 41 remain. It was bound to happen sooner or later, but damn if it ain't a little disappointing. Really enjoyed watching him this spring.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 25, 2015 -> 10:16 AM) A couple of really interesting things in there. First was Hawkins "needing to be humbled" I recall reading something awhile back that said something along the lines of "Hawkins thought he was on the fast track and wanted to get to the majors as quickly as possible, which contributed to his struggles in 2013." That's obviously not a direct quote. Perhaps that's what Bell's "humbled" quote could be referring to, rather than implying Hawkins was cocky or arrogant.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Mar 25, 2015 -> 08:39 AM) I can't remember either, but I do remember it being hilarious. Looked it up, it was a solo shot in the 3rd inning of a scoreless game which the Sox won 2-1. Belisario with the no-sweat save, as usual. http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=340604119 Ha ha, I remember that. IIRC, it was a rather low pitch that he had to go down and get.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Mar 24, 2015 -> 11:34 PM) Yea seems like revionist history to me. Leury is far from a solid defender IMO. He's a jack of all trades but master of none. Plus, his bat is really, really, really, really awful. Compared to Garcia, Sanchez is f***ing Dave Kingman. Garcia is a fringe MLB talent at best imo. He's toolsy and can run, but so can a lot of guys. Can he either defend at a near elite or elite level at say 2B and then be solid in a couple others? That's the only way he has much of a career IMO. He's never going to hit anything more than 230/280/300, not in today's run environment. Edi: yea I feel bad others made this argument pages back which I read after posting. Great minds! I agree with everything you said. While Leury is viewed as an "all glove, no bat" guy, his defense isn't what you would expect for a guy with that label. His defense certainly is not enough to make up for his lack of a bat. I mean, it's great that he can play a lot of positions at a non-butcher level, but from the little I saw of him I'd say he's average at best defensively at IF. Even that might be a bit of a stretch. I actually think his best position might be CF, as I don't remember him messing up there and I was impressed that a guy who had so little prior experience at the position was able to not be terrible at it. According to Baseball Reference, he only played CF 10 times in the minors and never played LF or RF, which he did a few times in the majors. I do remember several off the mark throws and booted balls when he played IF last year. He should still continue working as a utility guy though, as that's his best shot to get back to the majors. Conversely, in Sanchez's small sample size at the ML level, he looked solid at 2B and even showed flashes of brilliance here and there. Of course, he made his fair share of mistakes, but you could tell he's got the makings to be a solid or better defender at 2B. I haven't seen Saladino play outside of spring training and some clips, but considering the organization feels he's our third best SS behind two 70+ grade defenders in Alexei and Cleuluis Rondon and he was at least mentioned as a candidate for the 2B job, that leads me to believe he's a better defender than Leury as well. Like Leury, he has experience playing a utility role. I don't mean to bash Leury, though. Like others have said, he was clearly in over his head and forced into a ML role before he was ready. He was destined to fail.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Mar 24, 2015 -> 04:39 PM) ...but his defensive tools are far greater than Saladino or Sanchez, imo. I disagree. Sanchez and Saladino are better defensively than Leury by a pretty decent margin. Leury looked pretty bad playing the infield last year.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Mar 23, 2015 -> 12:03 PM) Sanchez has never and still does not excite me in any way. I'm okay with him being a backup player, but it's not even close who I'd rather watch play. No, he's not exciting, especially compared to Micah. He doesn't need to be, though. On this team with the weapons we have, he just needs to play a solid 2B and not be Gordon Beckham with the bat. This is likely moot anyway, as Micah looks to have a firm grasp on the 2B job. I'm just saying that Sanchez has been solid and worthy of starting if it were not for Micah tearing it up. It makes me feel better about the 2B situation if we ever need to go to Sanchez for an extended period of time (Micah getting hurt or not performing; knock on wood).

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 23, 2015 -> 08:31 AM) Call me crazy, but I'd rather have Surkamp at what he's making than Zach Duke with his contract. I still don't understand that contract. It certainly doesn't hurt to have a non-terrible left-hander if needed. I wonder if he has any options left.

QUOTE (glangon @ Mar 23, 2015 -> 06:52 AM) We have too many random relievers on the 40 man, so I would expect Maikel "No Control" Cleto and possibly Onelki Garcia (too many Garcia's on the roster) to be candidates along with possibly Raul Fernandez. Of the hitters, possibly Beckham, Kevan Smith, Leury Garcia, Tyler Saladino or Andy Wilkins. If I ws to bet my house on it, I would say Cleto, Garcia and Saladino. Cleto due to his control issues, Garcia due to the number of relievers we have on the 40 man and Saladino due to the number of middle infielders that we have. Smith may be sacrificed due to the number of catchers that we have (but I think they want to keep him on the 25 man (he could be a trade candidate) Anyone not making the 25 man or seen as a hot prospect is fair game as far as I'm concerned. I think Leury is pretty much a lock to be moved, but I would hate to lose Saladino. I don't think we'd do that, though. Our MI depth is nice right now, but lose both of those guys and it's not so nice all of a sudden. Cleto is another guy that could definitely be gone. I'm still intrigued with him though and hope we keep him around for a bit longer.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 23, 2015 -> 05:36 AM) Related to adding spots for Kottaras/Soto, Brad Penny, Micah Johnson and Matt Albers. One is going to be Nate Jones transferring to the 60-day DL. So, along with trading Surkamp, they'll need to make at least two more roster moves...theoretically. What are those moves going to be? I think Leury is as good as gone. We have tons of MI depth and there doesn't seem to be a place for him in Chicago or Charlotte. Wilkins or a pitcher far away from the majors could be gone, too. I think between Michael Ynoa, Onelki Garcia, and Raul Fernandez, Fernandez seems like the most likely.

It'll be interesting to see what we do with the outfield after this season, especially if Hawkins looks primed for a ML role at some point in 2016.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Mar 23, 2015 -> 11:02 AM) Sanchez? Booooooo. He's been really solid all-around. He's played well enough to earn the starting job in my opinion, it's just that Micah has been even better.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 23, 2015 -> 11:01 AM) Watching Soto throw the ball back to the pitcher is hurtful to the eye. It's infuriating to no end. *rubs hand in dirt*

I believe in Gillaspie, but he's having a less than impressive spring and if his play carries over into the regular season we're going to have a big problem at the hot corner.

I'm glad I'm not running things, because if I were I'd be like "f*** it, Courtney you're coming North with the team."

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Mar 20, 2015 -> 01:29 AM) Gotta skip. I am suppose to have class at 4 but you won't see me caught dead in there unless we had a test which we don't I've already missed my maximum number of days. Anymore and I'll be withdrawn from the class. Sigh...

In class on my phone with the volume turned down while trying not to get noticed by the professor.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 18, 2015 -> 02:09 PM) I used to like it! Now it makes me think of bad Gordon Beckham at-bats, and I don't want to think about bad Gordon Beckham at-bats...or Gordon Beckham. It makes me think about Gordon using my love tonight, which is deeply disturbing...

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 18, 2015 -> 09:52 AM) Instead of having offshoots of Beckham and Penny talk in the Sale thread, let's just talk about the 25-man right now. Here's what I got... Lineup: Eaton CF, Cabrera LF, Abreu 1B, LaRoche DH, Garcia RF, Ramirez SS, Gillaspie 3B, Flowers C, Johnson 2B Bench: Bonifacio UTL, Beckham IF, Shuck OF, Soto C Rotation: Samardzija, Quintana, Noesi, Danks, Penny Bullpen: Albers, Webb, Jennings, Petricka, Putnam, Duke, Robertson DL: Sale, Crain, Jones (60-day) On the fence about Webb. He'll have a short leash if he sucks in April, and Crain is ready. The three guys to move off the 40-man: Leury gets traded Guerra and Brantly get moved off the roster too. I don't see anyway Webb makes the roster. He's performed terribly, has struggle with control, and has options. I'd much rather keep Cleto, who is out of options and would likely be claimed. Guerra is a better option, too.

So Hawkins is still around? I've enjoyed watching him play this spring. I'm kinda bummed about Thompson and Saladino. I thought they'd stick around a bit longer, and in Thompson's case, challenge Shuck for the 4th/5th OF spot.

If he can be better than our back of the rotation and emergency options last year (Paulino, Johnson, Rienzo, Carroll, etc.) then that's great. I'm not expecting anything more than that. I hesitate to include Carroll in there because he proved to be valuable out of the pen, had a few good starts (his big league debut was a real tearjerker), and he's such an easy guy to like and root for. Also a former Boilermaker.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 18, 2015 -> 09:51 AM) I am guessing with Gordon, the Sox went back to him because they know him, they know he won't cause problems in the clubhouse, they know his teammates like him, etc. Looking at another similar player in Jeff Keppinger, there were a few hints that he didn't meet a few of those things. The Sox like their stability, so why bring someone in from the outside who might upset the applecart? That's a good point that I hadn't considered. If nothing else, Beckham won't cause any problems in the clubhouse and may actually be an asset in that regard. Still, given we're in win-now mode, I say to hell with Sanchez and/or Saladino's long-term development and go with one of them over Beckham if they're indeed better (which I believe they are). Their ceilings appear to be nothing more than backup utility infielders anyway. Sanchez could possibly be an average or so starter at 2B if everything goes right.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 18, 2015 -> 09:19 AM) i just hope he can over come when he will hit the 0 fer part, the part that all players goes through and it will not deter him or his confidence. I actually think this may be understated. I read something recently that, if I recall correctly, implied Micah is too hard on himself when he makes a mistake. It may have just been posts on this board of observations of his body language during games. Anyway, from what I recall, he gets angry when he makes a mistake instead of forgetting about it and moving on. I think this may have contributed to Matt Davidson's struggles last year, too. Under performing or making a mistake, focusing on it rather than forgetting about it, and then pressing too hard to make up for it rather than playing your natural game. If that is true about Micah, I'm sure it's just due to his youth, inexperience, and wanting to be perfect as he guns for the starting job. He'll probably grow out of this as he matures, but it's possible that it could affect him early on.

I haven't had time to read the article yet and I'm probably repeating what others have already said, but oh well. I had my money on Sanchez to win the opening day 2B job given his limited ML experience and his solid defense combined with Micah's lack of time in the upper minors and his questionable glove. While it's possible Sanchez may still come out on top, it definitely looks like it's Micah's job to lose at this point. I'm fine with that and am firmly on the Micah bandwagon now. Not that I ever doubted him, just that I thought Sanchez was the better short-term option (and who knows, that may still be the case). However, Micah's just made too much of an impact with his bat to ignore and his defense hasn't been as bad as I thought it was going to be. His speed cannot be ignored either. Still, I am worried about his defense playing 2B everyday and I'd be more comfortable with Sanchez, Bonifacio, Saladino, etc. manning that spot. Also, I do think Micah could use some more time in AAA, so hopefully him starting in the majors won't hinder his long-term development. So while I still harbor some concerns, I'm all for going with Micah. He seems like he'd make the biggest impact despite some concerns. However, if it's clear early on that he's not ready and needs more time, I hope we look to Sanchez and/or Saladino first so as to leave Bonifacio and Beckham in their bench spots.

Webcast at whitesox.com today: http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/8878818/v4043...ite-sox-webcast