BaconOnAStick

You think it'll be easy to ignore Cubs fans in Chicago after a title?

Sox fans didn't make 2005 out to be the GREATEST MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF ATHLETICS. Sox fans have our own insecurity problems with the bad attendance and (now that WSCR had turned) ambivalent media. The s***ty ballpark is part of it too. But at least, in my eyes, Sox fans look for validation from in and around Chicago. I think deep down Sox fans just want the Sox to be Chicago's Team again. Up north though it's just a desperate, much more uniquely Chicagoan, desire for global recognition. There's no hyperbole when describing the global impact Cubs fans think a title will have. I don't want to endure that, and nobody really does.

God help us if they win.

I've advocated putting him in the pen and just getting it over with. They don't give the trophy to the team with the most value.

I think its funny that you ask "yours?" as if someone is really equipped with the knowledge to even begin a projection like this. What does the asterisk next to some player denote? Which team in the Sox org do you think will have the most success this year? I think its obvious the Barons have the most "prospect talent", but I know that doesn't really mean much for team success. Charlotte had a winning record last year, think they can build on that? How do the Dash look to make the playoffs again in 2016?

I just want to see him play in a Sox uniform. If he sucks, oh well he sucks. I just don't want him thrown into some package to get Todd Frazier or some other bum that will do us exactly the way Dunn and LaRoche did. I really think there's superstar potential locked in there somewhere.

We just traded for a 3rd baseman.

*3 years *CF, where he's played all of 35 career games

Yes, I believe the year is 2020 though. Who knows if the TV money will still be there 5 years from now. Lots of cord cutting going on.

Griffey made one play that keeps far away from this list.

Torii Hunter and Trayce have a lot in common. Not saying Trayce is a borderline HoF player by any means, but the blueprint is there.

There he is! Guaranteed replies!

Bad thread, predictable but bad. I'm ashamed, you all should be ashamed, it's just very shameful all around.

It wouldn't really help. The Cubs lost on purpose for 5 years, let everyone know it, and the Sox still couldn't put even a dent in their dominance over the area. That's the problem with playing in a concrete sarcophagus (totally Sox fault) at 35th & Shields (not the Sox fault). The White Sox cling to the roughly 50/50 split they share with the Cubs in the city itself, but it's highly unlikely that survives a Cubs championship. You saw how the Blackhawks went from 2,000 people a night to over a million turning out for the parade? The Cubs will make that look like nothing. Chicago is a bandwagon sports town, and for the last 20 years it's been storing energy for a Cubs blowout that will boggle your mind.

They've been doomed since the ballpark mistake. The state doesn't have the money to build the damn things anymore and the Sox sure as hell dont either. Chicago'a demographics are changing pretty rapidly. As the B1G frats and Naperville transplants empty out into more and more of Chicago'a geographic area the Sox watch their old base be replaced by fans ripe for the Cubs' taking.

It's a moment I've known would come all my life. Now I can actually see it on the horizon.

Nowhere close if those reported demands from the Dodgers are true.

Have to imagine Baez and Soler will be finding new homes now.

Thomson had a .744, .743 his past two minor league seasons. That's not earth shattering, but I wouldn't call it poor either. There are quite a few players (for better or worse) who have roughly the same stats in the majors as they did in the minors. If even that applies to Thompson, with his defense, that's awfully damn close to Alex Gordon. The same Alex Gordon that's about to get paid. But you wanted specific examples of players who improved offensively from the minors to the majors, and I guess I'm going to be the one who finds them. - AJ Pollock's last full minor league season he posted a .780 OPS, last two major league seasons he's been at .851 and .865 -Michael Brantley posted a .711 OPS his last year in the minors before his debut. His last 4 seasons have been at .750, .728, .890, .851 -Austin Jackson had an OPS over .750 once in his minor league career, 2nd full year in the majors had an .850 OPS. -Torii Hunter never had an OPS over .800 over a full minor league season. He was in the minors for 6 years. He has had 9 seasons of .800+ OPS out of his 13 total seasons in the majors. That's just outfielders. Probably not even a comprehensive list of them. I could keep going but I'm tired of it.

One. I still can't believe it 10 years later.

Some guys just play their best in the majors. There's no reason for it and there's no way to project it. Trayce could very well be one of those players.

You sure? There's been almost zero buzz around him. I know the OF market is waiting on Heyward but Cespedes would at least be getting some interest you would think. The guy always seems to find himself in the postseason (except that time Beane dealt him for Lester) and guys around him in the lineup seem to play better with him around. He's a true middle of the order bat and I'm thinking he could be had for a lot less than Gordon and Heyward, neither of whom are the offensive player Cespedes is.

Cespedes doesn't cost a pick.

The A's dealt him because they acquired Jed Lowrie and Danny Valencia played well for them last year. The feeling was they could get more for Lawrie than Valencia. I really don't know what Beane is doing.

OF Yoenis Cespedes 4y/$80m SS Ian Desmond 1y $8.5m Erik Johnson to Red Sox for 2B Brock Holt 1 Adam Eaton CF 2 Ian Desmond SS 3 Jose Abreu 1B 4 Yoenis Cespedes LF 5 Brock Holt 2B 6 Brett Lawrie 3B 7 Melky Cabrera DH 8 Trayce Thompson RF 9 Navarro/Avila C Avila, Garcia, Sanchez, LaRoche (so stupid he has to be on the Sox still) off the bench. Pitching is the same.