tray

I don't know why Turner is starting today instead of Sale since the decision on whether or not to acquire talent and make a run, or in the alternative, to sit back, try to trade veterans, shed salary and get prospects, hinges on how the Sox perform during the next 10 days or so. Losing to the Braves twice and the Angels (at least) twice, two of the worst teams in baseball, has already set a negative tone. The only thing that will make this season worse is losing 3 or 4 to the Cubs, and that 4 game home/away series is right around the corner. If we get swept by the Cubs will that finally earn Ventura a ticket out of town? As many others have pointed out, there was a bad game plan by our offense against a sinker ball pitcher yesterday. Then there was a failure to make any adjustments during the course of the game. That should not be surprising though since that seems to be the norm in major league baseball

Too much is made about "making the playoffs." I would much rather not make the playoffs than get in as a wold card and lose the elimination game, or make the playoffs and get swept and humiliated in four games by the Mets.

QUOTE (soxforlife05 @ Jul 15, 2016 -> 08:37 PM) I'm not convinced Fulmer will be any better than Gonzalez next year. That doesn't help us improve the team with what little chance this team has to actually make the playoffs in the next few years. The only way the Sox will need Fulmer is if Shields opts out. Fulmer has better "stuff" than Gonzo from his 94 -95 mph fastball with movement to his curve and slider. Fulmer has core strength, endurance , and tenacity. He has demonstrated humility and is eager to accept advice from veterans and suggestions from coaches. Fulmer's aggressive mound presence may be more suitable as a reliever right now but he can learn to dial that back in order to be a starter. Having said that, there is no reason to doubt Fulmer. Instead, Sox fans should be excited to see him break into the majors to help in the bullpen. Or would you rather see the corpulent Matt Albers as the first man out of the bullpen for the rest of this season?

Trading Robertson and Frazier at one tme would be great. The Sox might do better off just trading Robertson right now, Then bring up Burdi and Fulmer .

Yea, Robertson isn't that good, but the Cubs could use him in their shoddy bullpen. I'd trade Robertson for Schwarber hoping he can DH and platoon at first base next year.

I think a Manager should protect his starters by pulling them out when they are struggling and give up a lot of runs in early innings or when they are getting whacked for multiple home runs. Pitchers need to have confidence and allowing them to get taken apart and riddled like Sale was is not a good idea.,,,,especially when it against former team mates and a shiddy team like the Braves.

Yes. Nieto was worthless as it turned out. I don't un derstand wht he is even being mentioned. But anyway, I prefer Navarro's bat in the order to Avila's, any day, and especially in the clutch. What was our W/L record last time Avila went on the DL?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 5, 2016 -> 10:41 PM) Rodon seems to have hit a wall. Fulmer has struggled for major stretches. Adams' velocity is down significantly, as are his strikeouts. Not too many top/middle of rotations starting pitchers in the majors at age 23. Rodon has been up and down but he has not "hit a wall" as though he cannot get better or is limited in his ability. Any evaluation of Fulmer at this point is premature. Adams is just a 20 year old kid. Not sure what point you are trying to make by lumping these different pitchers together.

Sox hitters were way too aggressive . Too many guys were swinging at pitches well out of the zone. Avi Garcia, Shuck and Jason Coats in the same line-up is almost going guarantee a loss. That is minor league level talent. Austin Jackson's injury really hurt this team. Time to cringe during the first inning of the next Shields start.

Letting Avi Garcia bat in the bottom of the 6th with men on first and third, one out, was managerial malpractice. Mr. GIDP .

Blow it up for the benefit of whom? The Cubs? It's never gonna happen. Dream on.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Jun 18, 2016 -> 10:50 PM) If you're going to rebuild, you trade Sale, Quintana, and Abreu. Trade the best players with them most favorable contracts? Uh, no.

QUOTE (Scoots @ Jun 14, 2016 -> 12:25 AM) Was at the game tonight..what an amazing game to go to!!!This team doesn't give up. Nice. Thank you for posting that!

Lots of positives and negatives all in one game. The worst? Shields. Godawful for the second straight start. Many positives including clutch at-bats by Melky, Avi Garcia, Abreu, Eaton, and Shuck.. Tim Anderson had some nice plays at short, a good bunt, and showed tremendous speed on the bases. Our bullpen held up on a long, long night...something that has not been the case for the last few weeks. It would be nice to get a win later today to guarantee a series win. Nice job by Renteria in place of Ventura. Maybe Jerry Reinsdorf saw that or will be told about it. My favorite shot of fans in the stands was as a little kid with a Cubs hat getting all upset when the Tigers couldn't score in the 11th. Cub fans bring their kids to root against the White Sox? WTH?

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jun 12, 2016 -> 04:24 PM) Can we stop with the stupid relocating theories? It's utter f***ing nonsense. Baseball is looking to expand and has at least two franchises with legit cases to relocate. The Sox aren't going anywhere until their sweetheart lease deal ends in the very distant future and when it does they'll likely move to the suburbs or lakefront. They aren't leaving the Chicago metropolitan area. Well said but cubz fans and at least one guy trying to inject his politics like to troll with that nonsense.

QUOTE (SpankyEaton @ Jun 12, 2016 -> 03:57 PM) I am hoping for new ownership and organizational change, but I hope that doesn't come with a move. A move? LOL. That's never going to happen, but it is a cubz fan's wet dream. This may be the end of our season in terms of competitiveness, but it isn't the end of the world. Put Saladino back as starting shortstop, look for an outfielder or two and some bullpen help. Hurry Burdi.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 11, 2016 -> 08:53 PM) 31,183 in attendance. Not the greatest weekend, +30K performance (seems that's the norm more often than not the last 5 years). There is no point belaboring the attendance figures. That is not going to change for a variety of reasons many of which go beyond the performance of the team or the popularity of the team in the Chicago area.

I would not sign Braun because of PEDS, lying about PEDS, and the possibility that he uses again. Zach Collins may have eliminated the need for a long term solution at catcher so I would not bother with Lucroy. Realistically there may just be too many holes to fill this season considering the talent that is or will become available in the market, the budget for player contracts, and a shallow pool of minor league talent to draw from. It may well be time to start looking toward next season.

Maybe this is far fetched but I suppose that it is at least possible that the Anderson move might also serve as a predicate for a trade. i.e., Saladino or Anderson for a player like Josh Reddick, Cargo, etc. So if Anderson comes up and show great potential right off the bat, it might behoove the Sox in that way as well. Consider how Marcus Semien played at SS after being traded to the A's. Even Beane is probably spooked about trading for a guy who has not proven himself at the major league level. Under similar logic, maybe the Sox spent 27 million too fast on Shields before determining that he still had enough gas left in the tank..

Cub fans hate Hawk so it is hard to take criticism of him seriously. Hawk will be a Hall of Fame announcer whose unique style has added greatly to the Sox fans enjoyment of the broadcasts for many years. As far as Benetti, what is the point of having him in the booth when he does not have a good understanding of the game? Why can't he try to stick to baseball rather than veering off into trivia, trite jokes and annoying back and forth with Stone about personal habits and preferences? Benetti is the emobidment of the Peter principle. It is annoying listening to him anymore.

i hope Rodon 's condition is not serious. That would really jazz up our rotation. I don't get Hahn's comment on Tim Anderson. Does he mean that he has to stay there the rest of this season or that he paid his dues and is now ready to come up?

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Jun 5, 2016 -> 04:20 PM) NO! That's the problem! "White Sox ties" doth not automatically a great manager make! Stop with that nonsense already. Look at the Cubs. Just a few years ago they said "no thank you" to one of the greatest Cubs of all time in Ryne Sandberg to be their manager, and instead looked for whom they felt was the best qualified against far more important criteria than simply history with the franchise. That approach eventually landed them Renteria and Maddon. Now that is a sound approach to operating a MLB franchise. Governing solely from some silly loyalty program is not. Ozzie worked out well if you remember 2005. As far as the Ricketts/Ameritrade approach, they got lucky getting Rizzo, Bryant and trading for Arrietta , now it's all about trying to buy a world series. It would be funny if they don't win it with those guys.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jun 4, 2016 -> 09:15 PM) Hahn mentioned in Dan Hayes' column the potential to receive a comp pick if Shields opts-out. Does he know something about the new CBA that we don't? I don't think they are eligible for a comp pick because he wasn't on the team for a full season. No understanding this.. Do you have a link to the rule?

Momentum was lost during an extended run against American League teams with powerful line-ups, excellent starting pitchers, and in some cases dominant bullpen arms. But what was lost lost by the Sox was more than simply momentum. Close competitive games against excellent line-ups forced Ventura to deploy a bullpen that was ill prepared for extended outings and repeated use in high leverage situations. That in turn resulted in losing several games where teams came back in late innings to win. The schedule just kept exposing this as we faced Texas, Toronto, Boston, Baltimore, the Yankees.. Compare the Cubs schedule during the same time frame against team like the Reds , the Pirates, the Phillies , Padres etc.. Kicking the azzes of those teams allowed starters to pitch deeper into games. The bullpen in turn, was not needed often in high leverage situations, and confidence and momentum built. So I would say the Sox tried mightily to get off to a great start, but a very grueling schedule against tough teams, some bad luck, and a shallow bullpen have turned momentum against the team. At this point I am not sure how that gets turned around. The team seems to lack confidence offensively. The rotation only provides decent startswhen Sale or Q are pitching and the bullpen appears to be in tatters. History provides no solace. What might help would be a trade or two to bring in a pitcher and a hitter and maybe lose a few of the guys who have been a drag. Robin isn't going anywhere until after the season, or until the Sox have played themselves out of contention, which may not be that far off.