Gotta be catcher.

 

 

You would think that is the biggest need area, but maybe it's someone like Nick Franklin in Seattle. Seattle has a logjam that they have to fix soon. It was said that many teams were interested in Ackley and Franklin. Time will tell I guess.

Bullpen might not even skip a beat without Reed.

 

Jones-Downs-Belisario-Lindstrom-Veal are probably all locks. I can see Webb and Petrika battle for a spot, and Rienzo and Paulino battle for the 5th spot with the loser getting mop up duties.

 

Gotta love the fact that between Downs, Belisario and Lindstrom they pitched 172 innings while allowing a combined 6 HRs....Addison Reed gave up 6 by himself in 71.

 

stat of the day, stat of the day!

Rick Hahn seriously can do no wrong.

Are you implying another bullpen move? I don't doubt it. I think we need at least one more bullpen arm

 

 

I would probably wait for the next bullpen move though. There is a chance that they can sign someone pretty cheap. There are a lot of guys with closing experience who are going to have to settle most likely (Hanrahan, Bailey, Madson, just to name a few)

I have no idea why you brought up Donnie Veal, but while I agree that there is virtually no chance that Brent Morel turns into anything useful, I think he has a better chance than Duente Heath does.

 

Yeah, sorry. I believe I'm having early onset Demetria...for realz.

This is a good move. Helps to solidify the bullpen, and the money isn't bad at all.

 

Could there be a move to get a catcher soon?

 

Almost every need has been ticked of the list so far this offseason. And, the Sox have gotten quite a bit younger and have really started building for the future. I'm impressed.

Phil Rogers ‏@philgrogers 2m

 

White Sox's signing of Scott Downs speaks to the organization's belief that 2013 was an anomaly. They EXPECT 20-win improvement.

Haha.

If that is the case, I sure hope they improve by more than 20 games. .500 kind of blows

So who is the second lefty/loogy? If they want a 20-win improvement, they will need to replace Veal with a major league pitcher.

So who is the second lefty/loogy? If they want a 20-win improvement, they will need to replace Veal with a major league pitcher.

 

 

Well, I had all but given up on Veal as well, but then he performed well at the end of last season (small sample, granted), teasing me into wanting to give him one more chance, and reminding me how good he looked when we first saw him. Leesman, I don't know if he'll ever see more than a cup-o-coffee. I'll go with Donnie.

 

Anyway, I like the deal, as I thought we needed some veteran lefty presence in the pen. Sounds like, if he's decent, we'll have him for '15 as well, when winning may be more realistic.

 

And, please be looking for the next stud, undervalued, Japanese reliever ala Uehara. Looking at Koji's Texas #'s, it is RIDICULOUS that he waited as long as he had to for a chance to close. Hell, even the BoSox exhausted all their other possibilities before coming to their senses. This reflects a clear velocity bias for closers, imo, and the arrogance of conventional wisdom, but I'll spare you the rant. At any rate, there are likely going to be a few aging starters or relievers in the Asian leagues every year who want to try their hand in MLB before hanging up the cleats. Let's get on top of this market.

Edited December 19, 201312 yr by Stan Bahnsen

Bullpen might not even skip a beat without Reed.

 

Jones-Downs-Belisario-Lindstrom-Veal are probably all locks. I can see Webb and Petrika battle for a spot, and Rienzo and Paulino battle for the 5th spot with the loser getting mop up duties.

 

Gotta love the fact that between Downs, Belisario and Lindstrom they pitched 172 innings while allowing a combined 6 HRs....Addison Reed gave up 6 by himself in 71.

 

I hope you aren't blasting Reed. If everybody on our team performed as well as he did we'd have had a good season. I will bet you anything our closer gives up more than six home runs this season IF he pitches in as many games as Reed.

Woah Nate Jones numbers from 12-13 are weird. This year he had 6 less walks, 2 more hits in 6.1 more innings with an ERA almost 2 runs higher. I wonder if he was really lucky in 12 or really unlucky in 13. I wonder if we'll see right in the middle this year.

Well, I had all but given up on Veal as well, but then he performed well at the end of last season (small sample, granted), teasing me into wanting to give him one more chance, and reminding me how good he looked when we first saw him. Leesman, I don't know if he'll ever see more than a cup-o-coffee. I'll go with Donnie.

 

Anyway, I like the deal, as I thought we needed some veteran lefty presence in the pen. Sounds like, if he's decent, we'll have him for '15 as well, when winning may be more realistic.

 

And, please be looking for the next stud, undervalued, Japanese reliever ala Uehara. Looking at Koji's Texas #'s, it is RIDICULOUS that he waited as long as he had to for a chance to close. Hell, even the BoSox exhausted all their other possibilities before coming to their senses. This reflects a clear velocity bias for closers, imo, and the arrogance of conventional wisdom, but I'll spare you the rant. At any rate, there are likely going to be a few aging starters or relievers in the Asian leagues every year who want to try their hand in MLB before hanging up the cleats. Let's get on top of this market.

They also have Santos Rodriguez as a potential option for a LOOGY, although he hasn't yet earned a callup based on his performance at Charlotte (then again, usually in the minors they don't use relievers in limited/matchup roles, they give them the full inning and say sink or swim).

 

I'd definitely give Veal one more shot. He lost his arm slot, quite clearly, last year and that destroyed his control. A good rhythm and maybe he's a success again.

They also have Santos Rodriguez as a potential option for a LOOGY, although he hasn't yet earned a callup based on his performance at Charlotte (then again, usually in the minors they don't use relievers in limited/matchup roles, they give them the full inning and say sink or swim).

 

I'd definitely give Veal one more shot. He lost his arm slot, quite clearly, last year and that destroyed his control. A good rhythm and maybe he's a success again.

 

With Veal I am guessing 2012 was the fluke, and not the rest of his sucky career.

Woah Nate Jones numbers from 12-13 are weird. This year he had 6 less walks, 2 more hits in 6.1 more innings with an ERA almost 2 runs higher. I wonder if he was really lucky in 12 or really unlucky in 13. I wonder if we'll see right in the middle this year.

 

His ERA was 4.15 last year but his FIP was 2.64

 

He's a helluva pitcher.

 

Woah Nate Jones numbers from 12-13 are weird. This year he had 6 less walks, 2 more hits in 6.1 more innings with an ERA almost 2 runs higher. I wonder if he was really lucky in 12 or really unlucky in 13. I wonder if we'll see right in the middle this year.

 

He went through a spell in late April and early May where he didn't have good command of his pitches and he was either walking everybody or giving up hits. He got that figured out and settled down. He was incredibly unlucky in 2013.

I hope you aren't blasting Reed. If everybody on our team performed as well as he did we'd have had a good season. I will bet you anything our closer gives up more than six home runs this season IF he pitches in as many games as Reed.

 

I'm not blasting him, just pointing out a fun fact.

 

And FYI Jones gave up 5 HRs in 7 more innings last year, and 4 the year before in the same amount of innings. Maybe the "pressure" gets to him and he gives up more but the past suggests that your really gambling with that bet.

 

 

I'm not blasting him, just pointing out a fun fact.

 

And FYI Jones gave up 5 HRs in 7 more innings last year, and 4 the year before in the same amount of innings. Maybe the "pressure" gets to him and he gives up more but the past suggests that your really gambling with that bet.

Maybe he just had the same level of drive, focus, and interest that the rest of the team had coming out of spring training last year and either having to close or having a more interested team around him will help him with that problem.

I hope you aren't blasting Reed. If everybody on our team performed as well as he did we'd have had a good season. I will bet you anything our closer gives up more than six home runs this season IF he pitches in as many games as Reed.

 

It's certainly possible, but not likely. At the end of the day, he's a good reliever and nothing more.

With Veal I am guessing 2012 was the fluke, and not the rest of his sucky career.

 

Yeah I agree with this. Not a fan of Veal....would rather go with someone else(not that there are many options).

ESPN updated:

 

Downs would earn $3.75 million next season, and the White Sox would hold a $4.25 million option for 2015 with a $250,000 buyout.

Good signing.

 

 

Veal just seemed nervous last year. Wouldn't mind giving him another shot.

ESPN updated:

 

Downs would earn $3.75 million next season, and the White Sox would hold a $4.25 million option for 2015 with a $250,000 buyout.

So not a vesting option? Even better if so.

Good signing.

 

 

Veal just seemed nervous last year. Wouldn't mind giving him another shot.

 

He should have been nervous....he would walk someone on 4 pitches easily.