Southwest Sider

It's time for some cautious optimism. Granted, they have killed a bad pitching team, but the whole season was spent making other bad pitching teams look like good pitching teams and good pitching teams... well, you know. Obviously they won't always score 9, but I think it is safe to say we have escaped from the 3 runs or less hell. And if the pitching and defense keeps up.....

QUOTE (Whitewashed in '05 @ Jul 27, 2015 -> 03:42 PM) Frank Thomas said Pedro and big unit were the toughest pitcher's he's ever faced. This wasn't vs Pedro, but one of my favorite at bats was vs the twins and eddie guardado in extra innings. It was another long at bat and Frank Thomas hit a long shot that just went foul down left field. Very next pitch, Frank hits a walk off homer down left field. Remember that game vividly, as i was at it. Do you remember that the sox were losing and down to their last out, and paulie in the worst season of his career pinch hits and ties the game with a homer? So epic. I was so happy for paulie. Then frank finished it off. Epic game. I really thought that would propel the sox to the division title.

It's really difficult to imagine a trade with the Blue Jays, at this point. Hahn, KW and company likely see themselves as a team that can overcome the Blue Jays. Not that they will, but it's not out of the realm of possibility. The Blue Jays might really want Samardzija not only to bolster their pitching staff, but to hurt a team that could compete with them for a wildcard spot. Trading only single A or double A prospects to the Sox would be a double whammy for the Blue Jays. It's a tough road to the playoffs, but nonetheless I don't think you can realistically abandon hope, no matter how little there might be, for unknown quantities. The Sox know this, and probably are (and should be ) demanding ML ready, or current ML talent in return. At this point, it is anybodies guess as to who would get traded. The Boston series is big, but I don't know if it is big enough for the Sox mindset to switch to trading for prospects if they lose. There would still be hope, because the 2nd wildcard has made contenders out of almost everyone. Trading our 2nd best starting pitcher kills that hope, and I don't know that hope is worth killing unless it is for an absolute blue chip prospect. As far as hope goes, I still don't have very much. The Sox can keep Samardzija. And sure, they could go on a hell of a run. Make a wildcard. Hell, they could even win the wildcard game. But the road to the World Series is going to go through Kansas City for us. And the Sox have shown that they cannot keep up with the Royals. .... But it would be fun to get there, wouldn't it?

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 05:33 PM) As much as I don't think we are playoff capable, and knowing that we need an infusion of talent, I'd still love for us to make a push. Seen enough losing since 08. It'd be nice to finally have one of those ballclubs that kind of comes out of nowhere to be in contention. The division is likely out of reach, but wildcards are available. The hitters really needs to keep hitting. I think we have our pitching and in a better spot now... but hopefully these guys are due for 2 months of much better team hitting.

The only part where it wasn't the anti Sox was the part where they only scored 1 run. Happy with a win though.

Coincidentally, I already have tickets to both games on Saturday. So I've already planned on a doubleheader with myself and a couple pals. With the 2 different promotions, I wonder how the Sox will handle that. The night game will be a sellout, so I assume everyone from game 1 will get kicked out.

I love that players love playing here so much that they are waiting for Stan to figure out this cap problem. For their own sake, Stan better figure it out sooner rather then later (like last year with Leddy). You don't want to make guys wait too much, else they may miss opportunities elsewhere.

The Hawks are shaping up to be a much different team next year then I expected! I've gone through the same range of emotions that everyone else has gone through about the Saad trade. First, shock and disgust. Then, when details started to leak about the trade and Saads potential contract, less disgust. I'm still upset we won't get to see if Saad develops into a superstar with us, and I'm definitely going to miss those "power forward" moves he can put on.. but I am excited about Dano and I guess also excited about Anisimov+extension despite his concussion worries. By the way, does anyone know how Anisimov fares between the dots? I'm guessing he's not as elite as Vermette or Toews, but hopefully he holds his own well. Also, it's good to know the rumors of us also signing Tikhonov were true. It looks like his top potential is a good two-way 2C, but more likely a 3C or 3W. I'll take that on my team, for sure. 1.04M for him for 1 year, not bad. Depth is always nice.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jun 26, 2015 -> 04:55 PM) Boston has 13th, 14th and 15th picks now. They can move up to #3 or they can give out of those to us for Sharp. I still can't believe they traded Hamilton for that. Calgary's top 4 is very, very good now. And apparently now they're after Sharpie. Shawn Hutcheon @ShawnHutcheon Just told by a league scout #NHLBruins are pursuing Patrick Sharp from #NHLBlackhawks.

As much as I would love a package of some of the Cubs prospects, first and foremost I believe Bryant is deemed untouchable. And they're just going to sign Price in the offseason and keep their good young players.

The only way I am trading Sale is for someone elses MLB ready players, and I think the White Sox should explore every avenue of doing this until they find a deal that knocks their socks off. There are 4 reasons why I think we should trade Sale for MLB ready prospects. 1) I don't trust the Sox organizational coaching staff to produce MLB capable position players, so prospects that are 2-3 years out are not an option. 2) I don't trust the Sox front office (nor do I think they have the horses) to pull of enough of the right trades and free agency signings to field a competitive team. This 2015 team has proven to me that organizationally developing winning baseball players is the new age model. Catching lightning in a bottle like in 2005 is just what it is, lightning in a bottle. One in a million. You need luck, and I'd rather have an organization that successfully produces MLB capable players then rely on luck any more. 2005 was great but we can't really expect something like that to ever happen again. 3) If he hurts himself and loses his "stuff" after a surgery, our team would be geniuses to have sold him at his highest possible value. 4) If he doesn't hurt himself and succeeds mightily with a new organization, it should have been deemed a "fair" deal as the Sox should have gotten a kings ransom for him. The list of needs for this team are now 3B, SS, 2B, LF, C and potentially CF and RF (I still hold out hope for Eaton and Garcia) and there is no way in hell we are going to produce, sign or trade for enough players that will fill every position. We have a few promising prospects, but not enough to think that we will be able to compete for a title while Chris Sale wears a Sox uniform. I love me some Chris Sale. Many fans will be pissed off, those with Chris Sale jerseys and those who think the Sox would be fools to trade one of the best pitchers in baseball. The Sox most likely will not trade him because it will isolate fans. But so many are already isolated. How many seasons can we be done with baseball by May? If I'm going to be putting up with seasons of being done with baseball in May, there needs to be some kind of light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm just not so sure that there is one right now. Trading Chris Sale can be a franchise changing move. As much as I love him, I'm really hoping some team steps up to the plate and pays the price for him.

I'm glad we're talking about the idea of trading with the Cubs, because it might make too much sense to try and swing a deal with them. Quintana for 1 really good or some good hitting prospects might really be what this team needs.

This article tells me that the Sox need to part ways with KW, among others. At this point I am quite alright with that. But it's funny how much my tune has changed since the offseason. I was adamant that KW not depart to be the Blue Jays CEO, as was JR. How foolish I was. That would have been a godsend. It might have been the one thing this franchise needed to really start heading in the right direction. Instead, I was wooed by the big free agents, the go for it mentality... AGAIN. I regrettably bought a 7 game plan when I've never bought a plan like that before! Now, in hindsight, how I wish that would have happened before we started acquiring players. But the fact that JR denied the Blue Jays KW, tells me we may be in store for more of the same longer then we'd like. JR hasn't got the stones to let KW go.

Kimmo will be slower but should be at least reasonably more defensively responsible then Cumiskey has been. Versteeg, Bickell, pick your poison. I'd almost rather see someone else from the Hogs, but these guys are getting paid the big bucks. Really need our star players in this game.

Hahn talking about adding to this team scares me. The only adding that should be done at this point is "adding" like the Jake Peavy trade. Trading him is a good idea, and we just need to hope that the market for SP is thin, and that he starts pitching consistently better so that the Sox have leverage for a better offer.

This team has for too long had a lethargic tone about it. They'll show flashes of excitement, like any team, but never seem to seize the momentum from it. They bring in seemingly good players, but it never amounts to what is a good baseball team. I'm remembering back to the offseason, and all the talk of the Blue Jays wanting to hire KW as their team CEO. Ultimately, it seems like a real shame the Sox decided to go for it, at this point. This would have been a golden opportunity for JR to clean house without having to mean-spiritedly "fire" everyone. JR could have been like "Well, I lost my team president, might as well let all of 'his' people go because they haven't been working anyway". But that's just the problem. KW's people are also JR's people. JR is praised for his loyalty, but he truly is loyal to a fault. I used to think it was a great quality of our ownership, but now I see it as a serious detractor. As it is, this team is underachieving. They play sloppy baseball. Yes, a lot of it falls on Robin. But, this brand of baseball has been in place since 2007. Even the World Series champion Ozzie Guillen could not stop it from happening. So yes, Robin is partially responsible for this. But most of all, everyone is responsible for this, including the front office. Ken Williams and company, it is time to go. You have overseen too many years of an absolutely horrible brand of baseball, and you don't even have an elite farm system to show for it. Rick Hahn, might be more willing to give him the benefit of the doubt... but he is probably a KW guy. I like Rick Hahn, but I don't know if he is the voice or leader this team needs, or if he would implement a different organizational philosophy were he team president. All in all, none of this will happen. We sit here with a solid group of "core" players that we really lucked into. Abreu, Sale, Quintana, Garcia, Robertson, Eaton (I believe he is better and is having a sophomore slump) and soon to be Rodon. That's a pretty decent group. But faced with the idea of trading from that group to rebuild the farm, or trying to add to that group to contend, what do you choose? It is extremely difficult to digest the idea of trading Sale or Abreu. That's probably also how KW feels, and only a new leader of the front office would have the stones to trade those guys. You can trade them, tank a couple more years a la the Cubs. These players are good players but without them, you were going to have to do an all out rebuild anyway. Face it, the Sox lucked into Abreu, lucked into Sales arm not falling off yet, and lucked into Quintana being a good player. These players could be your golden ticket to a rebuild. Or you can keep trying to build around them. Keep adding to the payroll. The problem is, will they add to payroll, add significant free agents? They have chosen the path of minimal farm system, but in order to do that you need to add REAL quality free agents, and have to pay market value. You can't sit here and say "I won't ever give a pitcher a 5 year deal" if you aren't willing to really focus on having a great farm system. You can't scoff at the idea of paying a player 200 million dollars. If you want to play with the big dogs, you have to PAY the big dogs. If you want to play with the big dogs but not pay the big dogs, well then we should have focused on rebuilding the farm right around 2007, and continued to focus on the farm. I fully understand that buying all the elite free agents can leave your franchise in a worse state financially, but I also don't believe there is a middle ground. If you want to compete, you have to buy the Max Scherzers of the world. Not sit there in the next tier of free agents and hope that you can catch lightning in a bottle again. As a fan, I am highly disappointed. I bought into this team. Yes, it was only a 7 game ticket plan, but I was sold that this team would be decent. I am willing to bet that a lot of others were, because of the amount of ticket plans sold before the season started. This is going to leave a BAD taste in a lot of peoples mouths, and may lead to even lower attendance in the coming years. It's the whole fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Fans vote with their dollars. I know a lot of people complain about our attendance, but I truly believe now that fans really are voting with their dollars. A lot of fans were already fed up with the uninspiring baseball, and weren't coming out because of years past. A lot of fans bought into the hype of this team, and now might start to feel disconnected from the team. If the season ends the way I think it is, I am definitely NOT buying tickets again next year, no matter what they do in the offseason. I am now a proponent of change. I don't know what kind of change, but SOME kind of change. And change will only come when their profits go red. If this season ends the way it seems like it will, then I am now all for cleaning house and starting fresh. Will it happen? Probably not with JR as the owner. As much as people might complain about the Bears ownership, they had the stones to clean house and bring in Ernie Accorsi as an adviser to help rebuild their front office. I think JR could use the same, but would he be willing to live with himself after firing everyone? Probably not. Will JR sell the team? Probably not. To the OP's original question, how does Rick Hahn fix this mess? Rick Hahn alone cannot fix this mess. He's trying to the best of his ability, but he cannot purge this organization of the bad baseball disease that has been around for too long. The real question to me is, how do WE fix this mess? Vote with your dollars.

I would definitely love to see an effective TVR, but I'm scared that he may not be ready for the insane pace that these games will have. Hopefully, the practice squads have been playing with that pace, to give him a taste. It sure is nice to have a team like the Hawks to root for while my Sox are sucking up a storm.

I'd show up in my Toews winter classic sweater. AT least its not red. That is so clown of TB though. I wish I had the Hull pre sale code for when tickets go on sale tomorrow morning. Probably by the time the general public gets to buy them, they will be nearly sold out and the website will be running like a turtle.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 24, 2015 -> 12:03 PM) The way forward is quitting, at least according this thread. We'll see you all when the bandwagon fills up again. I know I'm not quitting anything. I'm still excited about this years White Sox team, even though they've only been exciting for a 1 week period against bad teams. I still think they can put it together, and another 6 or more game win streak and they are right back in this thing. This homestand has been depressing, for sure, but there's still a lot of baseball left and even if this year doesn't go as planned, there's still a decent foundation of good players to hopefully turn it around next season.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 23, 2015 -> 02:19 PM) As far as the Sox fans who are praising the Cubs in any way, please stop. That's just silly and senseless. Screw the Cubs. They've been a total joke. If this rebuild turns them into a perennial title contender like the Blackhawks in hockey, then we can talk. But for now, please, the Cubs are an ultimate joke. Sure, they were the ultimate joke. So were the Blackhawks.. but I started taking them seriously before they became a perennial title contender. I didn't have to wait until now to talk about the Hawks not being a joke anymore. I know something good when I see it, and if you think the Cubs are still the biggest joke, then the jokes on you, and you're just fooling yourself. Sure, they may not even win anything ever, that just speaks to how tough it is to win a World Series. But it's certain, they have made many correct moves in the past few years. That's no joke.

Frankly, and I know this is going to seem blasphemous to some, but I think Sox fans overall are watching the transformation of the franchise on the north side and wishing it was us. I haven't completely given up hope on the Reinsdorf regime or this team and its future, but our tanking of the last couple of seasons would sure seem a lot tolerable if it was overseen by Epstein/Hoyer. I know I wanted Theo on the south side but knew it wouldn't happen because of JRs loyalty to KW. Why didn't we make a push for Maddon? Because of JR/KWs loyalty to RV. Maddon, if given the choice, would have taken the Cubs job anyway. Their tanking has produced what appears to be a team that is going to be playing an exciting brand of baseball, much more so then the White Sox have been. I hate to pile the pressure on the Sox even more, but they REALLY need to start finding a way to consistently play exciting baseball. Exciting, but not necessarily dominating baseball. Because, and again this is going to sound blasphemous to some (I'm not a Cub hater like I used to be pre-2005), but I won't fault the casual fan for opting to watch Cubs baseball instead of the Sox. I won't ever switch sides but if it gets to the point where the Sox keep playing like we're used to, and the Cubs keep getting better and better, you better believe I'd rather spend the little time I have to watch baseball games watching an invigorating brand of baseball then the same lethargic baseball that we're getting used to. I'll always be a Sox fan first and foremost. If the teams met in the World Series, it's Sox all the way. But this is just the harsh reality for some. The Cubs represent the city I am from too, and they have done literally everything with their baseball operations that I wish the Sox had done. It's hard for me to not respect what they've done up to this point.

Should be a fun time. I got this game as part of my ticket plan. Definitely excited and hopefully the Sox can thrash Minnesota too.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ May 20, 2015 -> 12:07 PM) Let me know what you thought of this. I was at McBrides on 52 a couple weeks back and they had this on tap. When I ordered it, the waitress suggested I try a sample first because she thought it was a lot like a plain light beer. I tried a sample and agreed that it didn't have much watermelon flavor at all and was rather bland. I haven't tried it elsewhere yet. Bought a can expecting a super sweet beer, was pleasantly surprised by the actual beer. It's not really sweet, which I appreciate. It's basically an average wheat ale with a bit of watermelon flavors on the back end. It's not something I'd buy again, but it was interesting to try. The 21st Amendment IPA was really good.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ May 16, 2015 -> 04:13 PM) I've had mixed experiences with it. It's been amazing when i've had it on draft, but a few of my bottles had some unpleasant bitter carmel notes in the aftertaste. It made we wonder if I inadvertently skunked the beer. I bought a couple bottles and so far I've had one, poured into a Samuel Smith pint glass. It was decently hopped, and very pleasant. There's always a chance that whomever handled your beer beforehand exposed it to some sunlight, or adverse temperature conditions. But so far, so good.

QUOTE (Special K @ May 19, 2015 -> 08:54 AM) Maybe baseball has changed, but, I think in a 1-1 game in extra innings, where the Sox only run came from stealing home, at least 1 manager in baseball might think it's a good idea to lay a bunt down in the bottom of the 10th with runners on 1st and 2nd and nobody out, when you have a hitter who is 0-3 at the plate, rather than gamble and let Alexi swing away. It was a bad decision. And as for hindsight, the entire landscape of the game changes if it's 2nd and 3rd with one out. Soto may be intentionally walked instead, and he may change his hitting approach at the plate. I promise you 9 out of 10 managers will bunt in that situation. Just don't want to lose that way in the future. I think Robin also knows ALexei is terrible at sacrifice bunting. Alexei would be a better bunter if he always tried to bunt for a base hit, but when he squares to bunt, he is just terrible. Add to the fact that you were pretty sure he was going to see offspeed, which makes even harder for a bad bunter to bunt, and I kind of agree with the decision to let him swing for it. EDIT: sorry pretty much just repeated what shysocks has already said.