Ok I don;t know enough about pitching mechanics, and the effects that his injury had on his mechanics as well as his abilities and talent. But here's some thoughts to chew on. is It possible that he can have a real good year this year?. A professional should always be able to play to his maximum potential no matter who he plays for or with. But lets face it, (NO MATTER WHAT SPORT) when you play with some serious competitive and winning guys, it does something inside you that really "UPS" your game. He has had plenty of time to heal, and a season to learn how to "pitch" differently than he used to before his injury. Now that he has 3 key pitchers ahead of him, and a team that will really compete, could that possibly make him "that much better" and worth "some" of his money? He did have some good spurts last year (I believe it was around the July area) . Its a poor analogy..... but an example is Most good starting rotations seem to get better as they feed off of one another's success. If our top 3 have real good years, could Danks FEED off of that and make him the pitcher that we hope for? If he does, then we have Duke and Rodon in the pen in the middle of the season, for lefties. Rodon gets to grow and evolve in the process, and if Danks "does" have a good year, then makes it a lot better chance to trade him next year (and the whole 15 mil) for something worthwhile when Rodon becomes a starter for 2016.At the same time. His 15 mil off the books would free up at least "SOME" money for Samardzija (at last for the first year anyway)

Ok I don;t know enough about pitching mechanics, and the effects that his injury had on his mechanics as well as his abilities and talent. But here's some thoughts to chew on. is It possible that he can have a real good year this year?. A professional should always be able to play to his maximum potential no matter who he plays for or with. But lets face it, (NO MATTER WHAT SPORT) when you play with some serious competitive and winning guys, it does something inside you that really "UPS" your game. He has had plenty of time to heal, and a season to learn how to "pitch" differently than he used to before his injury. Now that he has 3 key pitchers ahead of him, and a team that will really compete, could that possibly make him "that much better" and worth "some" of his money? He did have some good spurts last year (I believe it was around the July area) . Its a poor analogy..... but an example is Most good starting rotations seem to get better as they feed off of one another's success. If our top 3 have real good years, could Danks FEED off of that and make him the pitcher that we hope for? If he does, then we have Duke and Rodon in the pen in the middle of the season, for lefties. Rodon gets to grow and evolve in the process, and if Danks "does" have a good year, then makes it a lot better chance to trade him next year (and the whole 15 mil) for something worthwhile when Rodon becomes a starter for 2016.At the same time. His 15 mil off the books would free up at least "SOME" money for Samardzija (at last for the first year anyway)

 

i have been a minority on this subject. i say lets keep him. i saw improvement

in him as the season went on. the problem a lot of people have is his salary.

 

the problem there, JR owes him and his family a lot. they switch agents b/c of

the bad blood between the sox and his other agent. also he sign a team friendly

contract. JR pays back loyalty, so he is with the sox until his contract expires.

 

another thing i see in him a person who maybe can become a coach in the

future.

 

It is possible he is better this year. Don't forget he has a really nice close to the season after making some mechanical adjustments in Sept.

 

That said, I wouldn't bet on it.

Ok I don;t know enough about pitching mechanics, and the effects that his injury had on his mechanics as well as his abilities and talent. But here's some thoughts to chew on. is It possible that he can have a real good year this year?. A professional should always be able to play to his maximum potential no matter who he plays for or with. But lets face it, (NO MATTER WHAT SPORT) when you play with some serious competitive and winning guys, it does something inside you that really "UPS" your game. He has had plenty of time to heal, and a season to learn how to "pitch" differently than he used to before his injury. Now that he has 3 key pitchers ahead of him, and a team that will really compete, could that possibly make him "that much better" and worth "some" of his money? He did have some good spurts last year (I believe it was around the July area) . Its a poor analogy..... but an example is Most good starting rotations seem to get better as they feed off of one another's success. If our top 3 have real good years, could Danks FEED off of that and make him the pitcher that we hope for? If he does, then we have Duke and Rodon in the pen in the middle of the season, for lefties. Rodon gets to grow and evolve in the process, and if Danks "does" have a good year, then makes it a lot better chance to trade him next year (and the whole 15 mil) for something worthwhile when Rodon becomes a starter for 2016.At the same time. His 15 mil off the books would free up at least "SOME" money for Samardzija (at last for the first year anyway)

Shoulder injuries wreak havoc. Danks could be over the learning curve of pitching with diminished stuff and have a nice year but I wouldn't expect too much.

Sure, it's possible he'll be fine and put up a serviceable 4.00 ERA and log 175-200 innings. But with that said, if the Sox get the chance to unload him and his near $30M (without having to eat TOO much of it) that he's owed in 15/16, they would be foolish to not do it.

His loss of velocity (moreso at certain times than others) is his biggest problem.

I think Danks showed last year that he can still be an above average pitcher at times. If he can make further improvements in learning how to pitch with his diminished "stuff" he should be able to limit the bad outings a little better than last year. I think he will be more than serviceable as a 4th or 5th starter. Is he going to be worth the $14 million or so he's making this year or go back to his 2008 type form? Probably not, but stranger things have happened.

When Danks is absolutely ON POINT, he can still be a good pitcher. The problem is that no one is really ON like that very often. To be a good major leaguer, you have to be a good player when you're performing at 75-80% of your best. Unfortunately for John, 75-80% right now means 88 mph with ok command or 91 mph with no command.

 

I think he'll have some good starts next year, but he's ultimately a 5.00 ERA pitcher. For him to be better than that, IMO, he'll have to find a way to re-invent himself with a brand new pitch or style. That's certainly possible, just not likely.