AlSoxfan

I think this is Robins year. I really don't think he's done a bad job so far http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/02/...YjIK/story.html

Good move, he might could help a bunch

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 11, 2015 -> 06:46 PM) I don't think Shields fit their MO this offseason. They were looking for moves that didn't cripple them in the long term, and given that Shields still got $19 mill a year, he's older, and his signing would have prevented several other possible moves (nevermind getting burnt as badly as they did on Danks), I think it was more geared toward a younger player. Right or wrong, I think they have enough confidence in Danks/Noesi/Rodon/Beck/Johnson/Penny to cover the 4 & 5 spots in the rotation. The Sox have a few different areas of weakness right now, but the 3 biggest are probably 3B, 2B, and C. They may have checked on Headley, but that sort of falls in line with the Shields dilemma - older player needing a sizable multi-year deal. It could have been Sandoval too, but I think that was more due diligence on their end. There could be 2B they looked into as well, but I think they want to see what they have in Sanchez and Johnson. That leaves catcher, and with the number of catchers they've brought in or had in house that are OK and really nothing more - Flowers, Brantly, Kottaras, Soto, Nieto, Smith - that, to me, seems like the most likely target. If it was Castro, I'm guessing they thought they may be able to buy low and when the Astros asked for Danish or Montas, the Sox backed away. I tend to agree with you. It might of been Sandoval or another 3rd baseman but I think it was a catcher with Castro the most likely. Of course it might also of been an outfielder who was traded elsewhere and then we picked up Melky afterwords. It would be interesting to know for sure what could of been.

I enjoyed the video, an thanks for the link

QUOTE (heirdog @ Feb 6, 2015 -> 05:55 PM) .353 57 148 .354 58 149...lol old Price is Right watcher...lol Honestly he should do real well with R.B.I's this year and I think his #'s will be better than last yrs.

Tanks for everything Dayan, good luck

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Feb 3, 2015 -> 01:59 PM) He's been worth $20M+ a season 7 out of his 8 full seasons. The guy is completely worth $15M a year in my mind. The problem is that he is 33. I would totally do 3 yrs/$50M on him. I think for 3/50 I would too. Question is would Hahn or JR for that matter? To be honest for that kinda contract I think he'd have a line of GM's at his door.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Feb 3, 2015 -> 11:18 AM) I don't read anything from mlb.com not written by Jim Callis, and I was quickly reminded why. The writer seemed to favor closers to setup men in his rankings, which is probably why Wade Davis was 25th, but then Batences was a setup men last year and was ranked 5th on his list. Also, if Fernando Rodney is the 6th best reliever in MLB then I think we could audition random dudes off the street to pitch in the big leagues. Saw and thought the same things

It sure does make you stop an think, it would put us over the top I think...3/50 maybe? It'd be nice but how much would that cripple future moves? Could we give Danks away for aptbn next season/mid season? I'd be most concerned with how it might affect resigning Shark.

I think Robertson's better than #7 but maybe I'm a bit biased.

The opening statement is well said and thought out. I'm very guilty of not being very patient, but I try. I think Hahn has done a fantastic job so far and JR's doing the right thing and being a good owner. That being said I would love to see the Sox sign Shields but I think it would be foolish if they did. I think it's time for Hahn and us as fans to sit back and watch this team perform. They very well might surprise us. I honestly think we're a legit contender for the central, an if not we can retool for next yr. and I will say this We're not far from being really good if we're not already. I'm looking forward to some Oct. baseball in Chi.

QUOTE (HBaines03 @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 10:36 PM) I went thru and looked at all games we won where we had a 2 run lead or less going into the 7th inning. Here is our win breakdown by division: AL East - 7 AL Central - 15 AL West - 6 NL East - 0 NL Central - 2 NL West - 2 What I would say is many of these games I would give more credit to our offense for these wins than I would our pitching. Think of it like KC last year. They have a 3-1 lead going into the 7th and the final would end up 3-1 or 4-1. The game was locked down by the bullpen. What I see many times from our bullpen was lead 2-0 going into the 7th, have the game tied in the 9th and win in the 10th 3-2. There were many games where we would have 6-2 or 7-2 leads going into the 7th and win 6-5 or 7-6. To many runs given up in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings regardless of wins or losses. I'm with you on our bullpen woes, but I think (or hope) we've pretty much solved them this yr. We seem to have some depth in the minors as well. To be honest I liked our bullpen going into the season last yr. I really liked Beli...lol but...Also I think one of our biggest problems last yr. was almost none of our starters could make it past 5 innings. Which means we had to go to the bullpen much more often. If we had a bullpen like KC, no problem but we didn't. We've also added a bonafide closer this yr. which will shorten our games an inning. I'd still like to see us get a long man/spot starter to add to the bullpen, otherwise our bullpen looks as good as we'll get at this time. Starting pitching worries me, but other than Shields (who would cost to much) there's really nobody left on the FA list I'd be interested in and a trade's not something we have the depth to do. I'm hoping by mid season we'll know more what our needs will be and we can act then in one way or the other.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jan 30, 2015 -> 03:37 PM) I think I'm starting to like the idea of adding Joba Chamberlain to the bullpen. He had an excellent first half of the season but really struggled in the 2nd half. During his off days, he was traveling back home to Nebraska to be with his ailing mom at the time, so you can say that could of affected him mentally. Rosenthal also said that he has already turned down offers from teams he does not want to be apart of. What you guys think? I'm with Dick on him. I think we have as good if not better right now. Not a big fan of his but still wonder why Det. is not picking him back up.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 11:51 AM) Exactly. Even if you DO count Rodon, that's only six 'serviceable' starters, and that's counting Noesi and Danks as 'serviceable.' I think teams use an average of ten or something each year. A decent starter would push Noesi to the bullpen and we would then have him for long relief or emergency starter if needed, essentially killing 2 birds

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 28, 2015 -> 10:34 AM) I'd much rather they get some SP depth. I'm thinking the same thing. We don't seem to have anyone if someone goes down for any length of time. I'm not counting on Rodon till he earns his place and you can't count on him for the whole year anyways. A guy like Carroll would kill our post season chances if we had to use him like we did last yr.

I'm pretty high on Spencer Adams and would have him in my top 5 I think. I'll be watching to see how he does in 15. I'm also very curious to see how our guys do on the national top 50/100 prospect list. Thanks for all the insight.

A class act for all of baseball...RIP Mr Banks we'll miss you

Fun video..I'm liking Eaton more an more

I guess bringing back Beckham is a sore topic...I didn't think it was a bad thought to bring him back as an infield reserve for all 3 ss,3b and 2nd, but maybe not.. A few minor notes; someone mentioned the fact that Gordon Beckham is still a free agent and that the Sox do have somewhat of a hole at the moment at second base. The extra power that has been added to the lineup since Beckham’s departure could see less of a reliance on someone like him to be as much of an offensive contribution than was expected in 2014. Hahn had no comment except to confirm that “Yes, Gordon Beckham is still a free agent.” Interesting, yet stern lack of comment on that topic from Hahn.

Minor league deals like this are always nice. Ya never know

Good deal

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jan 17, 2015 -> 11:46 PM) So far all they've done is CF and SS . Eaton came in at 7th and Alexei 8th for their respective positions at least according to the Shredder . Who else do you all think from the Sox will make the Top 10 ? Abreu and Sale for sure though there are so many starting pitchers top 10 seems like too few otherwise Quintana and Samardzija might have a shot if it went to the Top 20. Melky has a good shot to make the list in LF and Robertson as a reliever . That should be about it . Catcher should be interesting because the position is so thin. I'm hoping Avi can make it next year. It's interesting to note that Avi hit the longest HR for a Sox player in 2014 an estimated 468 foot shot at the Trop against the Rays Sept 21st when he hit 2 . The distance I got was from the MLB network top 50 longest HR's of 2014 of which Avi's was #9 for the year. Avi's other one from that day was 442 feet ! MLB network gets their distances from ESPN Stats & Information Group. http://www.hittrackeronline.com/top_true_distance.php Not sure but I think every HR hit is listed there with an accompanying video if anyone is interested in watching bombs from last year. I'm really enjoying the homer site, thanks... I think Robertson should make the top ten

My dream pick would be Lucroy, but in reality I think we need a good defensive right handed outfielder who can play all 3 outfield spots. Eaton gets hurt a lot, Avi? well who knows yet and Cabrera doesn't seem to finish the season very often lately. He could also DH an pinch hit often enough. We also need another starting pitcher but I see no FA's I'd want, so a trade??? I'm not seeing much but dreams an wishes out there, I'm ready to play ball. Lets see what we got an maybe make some mid season trades.

Thank you all, I've been a lurker for a few yrs. and mostly went to The official site but that went bonkers. I like all the info/thoughts people have here. It was especially nice this off season with all the new additions added to the team. I've been a White Sox fan my whole life so where else would a true fan go? Thanks Al

Looking good, I really like this signing an can't wait for spring training.