tray

The fact is, other than your core players of Eaton, Abreu, Anderson.. the entire lineup pretty much needs to be addressed… Not necessarily. Saladino has made great improvement between what he hit in 2015 and what he has hit this season. I want hm back as our starting second basemen. That leaves Lawrie or Frazier at third with the other one being a trade chip. Not a bad position to be in. Omar Narvaez, just 24 years old, is hitting close to .300 and is playing decent defense. Pencil him in as the starting catcher next season. So the Sox line-up needs a couple of guys, but that doesn't justify a tear down. Get a CF and LF and a DH. That should not be that difficult considering the Sox already have some internal options and possible free agents to choose from. The area that has killed the Sox this season and last season has been our bullpen. We lose too many games in the 7th-9th innings.

I was glad my dad was able to see the White Sox win a Pennant in '59 and a World Series in '05.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 3, 2016 -> 11:20 PM) Amen. It's just totally a fireable offense. I never understood why the Sox signed Shields after he already failed miserably in San Diego and infuriated their Owner. Extremely poor talent evaluation and a stunning lack of due diligence by those who recommended this signing to Jerry Reinsdorf. Shi=ields was acting the same way after suffering losses when he was with the Padres and eventually they had enough. Jerry Reinsdorf was made into patsy by Hahn and possibily Ken Williams. The Sox only realistic option with Shields at this point is to DFA him. H has nothing left in his arm and his attitude is terrible. He just wants to retire and take home the money, just like Danks did. I hope there isn't some vein attempt at face saving where they keep running him out there hoping against hope he will regain velocity and bite on his off speed pitches. I have a similar sentiment about Avi Garcia. How many time does he need to strike out before the Sox understand that he is never going to be the high OBP contact hitter that they are supposedly looking for.

QUOTE (soxforlife05 @ Sep 3, 2016 -> 12:36 AM) ^ If that scenario ends up being what management has recently called a decisive, clear direction to be established in the offseason I think I am done with this team until there is new ownership. If the depth of your loyalty as a Sox fan is that shallow, it probably isn't worth being a Sox fan at all. If winning it all was the measure for fan loyalty over the past 100 years, there wouldn't be any cubz fans or for that matter, fans of many other teams in MLB. There have been some positives this season so it isn't all doom and gloom for everyone.

I'd be happy with Puig if the Sox can get him and put hin in LF If not, perhaps a Josh Reddick. I would sign Austin Jackson for Center and have Charlie Tilson platoon depending on RH/LH starters. Eaton stays in RF Frazier has to come back Tim Anderson, obviously at SS Saladino is my 2nd baseman and I trade Lawrie. Abreu stays at first. Narvaez is our starting catcher absent some trade. DH is a tough call not knowing if Melky will be traded and whether Morneau even wants to come back. The bullpen is a joke. The Sox have to DFA Albers and trade Robertson for anything they can get for him. I would try to trade Lawrie, Robertson and Melky, DFA Albers and, Avi Garcia. Not sure if Shields will have trade value but f doesn't DFA him as well. He is just too erratic from start to start.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 2, 2016 -> 04:42 PM) Hey, with this attitude you are battling El Rockin for "best fan ever" award. or maybe most naive but I'm OK with that as well because major baseball is just a game which I am able to put it in context. OK, my favorite baseball team was awful this season but I am reasonably happy, healthy, am doing well in business . I have good family and friends and I am still going to enjoy a couple of beers this weekend. I'll tolerate the rest of the season and will then look forward to the off season to see what moves are made.

Understanding and also patience. The Sox have had a lot of bad luck, bad breaks and bad timing. There is a plenty of time until Opening Day 2017 to improve the team.

I'm not feeling the same family White Sox fan vibe from horse face Ciardelli that I do from the Comiskeys granddaughter. OK, I'll give the guy a chance to show he can bring a few more fans in the seats, but he has already refused to eliminate the downward arrow which a lot of fans have objected to. Sorry for being negative but the last two losses at Detroit were BS and I'm not happy about the way the entire season has gone.

In order to even the playing field and foster competition among 30 teams, MLB needs to have an enforceable salary cap and revenue sharing, including revenue from media contracts and advertising. Take at least some of the corporate profit motive out of the game and at the same time get control over inflated player contracts. Maybe then the advertising, naming rights , price of admission and beer will get under control and more teams will be able to compete.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 26, 2016 -> 09:09 AM) Ummm....no....they actually had a plan. And executed it. It's four years into Hahn's regime and nobody has the first clue what he and KW are in "lockstep" about... It's not doom and gloom about finances but how inefficiently they allocate their money. Terrible ROI. You really do come off like a Cub fan who is constantly trolling White Sox forums and repeating the same tired talking points over and over again. The cubs got lucky landing Bryant when they had a high Draft pick. They stole Rizzo from the Padres when Hoyer came over. They were extremely lucky getting Addison Russell in a trade and ditto that with Arrieta. Then they spent big money to get Zobrist, Lester, Ross, Fowler, Heyward, . And they bought Theo Epstein and Joe Maddon to run the team. Joe Ricketts has been spending like a drunken sailor with easy but dirty Wall Street money from derivative trades, the volatile stock market, nd taking advantage of day traders through TDI Ameritrade. Ricketts is intent on buying a World Series. The Sox actually won the World Series without the hundreds of millions Ricketts has poured into that sewer on the North side.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 16, 2016 -> 08:55 PM) lol, wut. You'd rather stay home than go the World Series and lose? LOL. Who could ever forget the Cubs 2003 Bartman choke or the Cubs choke last year getting swept 4 games by the Mets. I'm saying it would be better not to have those chokes cemented in the memory of their fans. Beyond that, what is the big deal about just making the playoffs? Do they hand out a trophy for that? LOL

Wpuld not mind if they offered both to LA for Puig.

This trade was actually a class move by Hahn, allowing Navarro to return to his old team where he will be of value, and at the same time allowing Narvaez to get more playing time the rest of the season. The pitcher sent to the White Sox is a low level prospect which was the appropriate level of compensation (nothing or almost nothing) . Oh and if anyone wants to go back to Jim Margulas SSS, go right ahead. Pucker up for Jim's behind because it is a big ace kissing session over there.

This is just another opportunity for trolls to try to spin this in some negative way. The fact is that naming rights have been around as long as inflated player salaries have been. Look around ANY major league ballpark and see signs for WINTRAUST, NUVEEN, Budweiser, XFinity,... plastered on everything in and around the ballpark. It's just part of the business. Fans don't have to call Sox Park anything but Sox Park or Comiskey. I certainly won't.

It will be "Guaranteed Field" not "Guaranteed Rate Field" Call it Sox Park or Comiskey. Teams have to do this sh1t for promotional purposes. I just asked a cubz fan friend of mine what the he11 " NUVEEN" is and we both busted up laughing.

My guess is that Ventura will not return as Manager. Meanwhile, Hahn and Williams will continue to revamp the Scouting and player evaluation personnel after acknowledging how ineffective they have been. They will also seek to rework the roster by adding hitters if they can find them and try to bolster the terrible bullpen. No matter who is in charge, that is going to be a tall order. Too many players have under-performed (Frazier, Robertson, Avila, Shields, Fulmer) , diminished their trade value, and hampered management's ability to trade them. As far as the Sox being for sale, everything is for sale at the right price. Kaplan created a rumor out of idle conversation that he instigated or perhaps out of whole cloth. I doubt the Reinsdorf family would sell their interest in the White Sox for several reasons. One of them is the interconnection with their ownership interest in the Chicago Bulls and their various media Contracts and promotional ties that they share with the Bulls that provide advantages and allow them to maintain greater leverage. Reinsdorf has a couple of sons who might step in if he retires, like old man Joe Ricketts children did or like the continuity in the Yankees/Steinbrenner organization.

I don't care if KW and Hahn stay, just as long as they hire a different group of people to evaluate talent and make more sound Draft choices and trade suggestions. As far as not being in the playoffs more than twice since they won it all, please.... This has been a much tougher Division than say, the National League Central and who cares if a team makes it but then gets swept four games in a row? LOL. I'd rather not make the playoffs than suffer that kind of humiliation.

I think talent evaluation is as important and sometimes even more important than Draft position. We have had some first round dogs, and I hate to call Fulmer one, but he might become another bust. You go into full tank mode to get a player like that?

Way too many questionable Draft picks, bad trades, and bad deals have cost the White Sox a lot of money and set back the franchise in terms of becoming more competitive. Assuming that heads will roll, who might Reinsdorf interview to replace Kenny Williams and Hahn?

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Aug 19, 2016 -> 02:30 PM) Perfect response. Perfect response,,,,,maybe for a Hawk hatin' cub fan.

Hawk has to drive for about two hours to and from home games, which is why he decided to only do away games. However, getting to and from airports, staying at hotels and being away from home for several weeks during the season is also not that easy for him. It's too bad he can't rent or buy a condo in Chicago to stay at during the season or at least during home stands. I never understood why he chose to do that drive every day in past years. So now he only does away games but why is staying in a downtown Chicago Condo during a home stand any different than staying at a hotel in another city (unless he wouldn't get lodging/meals in Chicago paid for as a travel expense)? Edited to add - I'd rather see Hawk do our home games and someone else (please no more Benetti) do the play-by-play for away games.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Aug 18, 2016 -> 10:52 PM) Hell yea. Screw the service time argument, it's not relevant. The Sox plan to contend next season so let's see if Mr. Fireballs can anchor a critical spot in the pen. Looking like the Samardzija for Burdi trade might be a winner. "Mr. fireballs"?? Wow, your the master of wise--- sarcasm. There is no downside to bringing him up on a team that is not making the playoffs and is in the process of evaluating young players. Is Carson Fulmer's career ruined because he made some relief appearances in the majors? No, but Sox management now knows he probably won't be in the rotation in 2017 and based on how he performed they probably aren't counting on him for anything next season.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Aug 19, 2016 -> 12:06 AM) Yeah all Hawks stories about golfing & Yaz..his inability to tell a fly ball from a homer anymore...constant awkward silences with Stone...all around makes for a great "mute" broadcast option. Baseball is all about tradition. Hawk played with the greats and knew them personally, Mantle, Mays, Ted Williams.. He provides a lot of useful historical background and imparts a lot of knowledge and Sox history into the broadcasts. Benetti waxes on like a giggly schoolgirl. Hawk knows when to be silent and that silence usually speaks volumes. Hawk is going to be inducted in the Hall of fame as an announcer. Benetti will soon be forgotten and when that day comes, it won't be soon enough.

QUOTE (jamesdiego @ Aug 18, 2016 -> 11:43 PM) Glad you are not making those decisions Miracle. Benetti is top notch. Sometimes his jokes a a bit silly and I'm not a fan of Soxmath(although that's not his fault). But him and Stoney are a great pair, love their banter. You "love the bantar" ? OK.. I prefer a play-by-play announcer that is more focused on the game and has a better feel for it than Benetti. He is consumed with the bantar and inane questioning of Stone because that is all he has in his own playbook. This season has been a long one and Benetti's perpetual interview of Steve Stone asking ever more inane questions have made listening to the broadcasts unbearable at times. What is most annoying to me is his inability to follow the action in real time, describe it with accuracy as it is happening, and impart excitement when it is called for. As I pointed out, Benetti often raises his voice on routine fly balls. I'm fine with someone who has never played professional baseball, but the Peter principle set in for this guy a long time ago. Maybe back at HF. It's never going to be popular to criticize Benetti because of his disability and I am sensitive to that. Putting that aside the fact is that Benetti's skill set is not up to par with his peers, not even close to other major league baseball play-by-play announcers. It won't be long before he gawn, IMHO.

I hope Hawk will stay as long as he can do the job. Listening to Benetti ths season makes me appreciate Hawk all the more. Benetti is just awful. He distracts himself from the game by engaging in silly bantar with Stone and trying to appear clever and funny, which he isn't. Then a ball gets hit to short Left field and Benetti, consumed within his own conversation, finally reacts, "There's a ball hit deep to left Fi--el--ddddd.....oh it's caught by..." It becomes obvious that he isn't paying as much attention to the game as he is with formulating his next quip. Meanwhile, he has no feel for how hard the ball was hit, the trajectory, or whether the outfielder has already zoned it in and is on a clear path to make the catch. I am used to former major league players....pros in the announcing booth. Benetti is a disciple of Len Kaspar, and not a very good one. Sox need to make a change next season. Perhaps put Benetti on the radio side and get another play-by-play man for home gemes.