If at the end of the season I look back and say to myself...damn that season sucked and didn't turn out how we thought it might then it wasn't a success. A win total or a playoff run doesnt have to define the success. I think they can have a successful season and not even make the playoffs to be honest. Be in the race until the end and just came up short but at the very least play hard, stay healthy, and have guys perform close to their projected numbers...with some development of young players along the way.

 

many have made a lot of great sense. for me, with this team, i will consider a success if the sox makes the playoff. what ever happens in the playoff is a total new season.

 

if this team bomb b/c of injuries, esp to key players, no one is to blame b/c the baseball gods didn't want the sox and the fans to be happy.

 

if it was a close race at the end, there are some factors that may have went wrong, well, i will keep that to myself.

 

now if there was some huge improvement in key prospects, a great draft..... at least i can look at that and be a little happy..

 

but the bottom line...... great baseball comes back to the side south.... yes.

I can see it now! Samardzija is gonna suck. Sale will probably be injury plagued. Abreu will have like 10 HR's by September. Cabrera will be suspended. Eaton will be stuck on a wall somewhere. Alexei will get traded for some dope. Micah wont be God. Robertson will be demoted to set-up man then long relief. Penny will be in the rotation. Bryant will be MVP. Cubs in playoffs. fathom will have permanent diarrhea. Dick Allen will find no use for being argumentative any longer. kyyle will transition to a woman... etc. etc..

 

 

Wait, he's straight? Really? WHAT?

Its seems like any year in the past that there were high expectations and a buzz around the Sox the season ultimately ended in disappointment. Whenever the overall view of the team is that they greatly improved on paper through FA or trades it just doesn't translate to wins and success. I really hope that this isn't just another one of those years.

Jeff, you bastard.

If it makes you feel better, they aren't really that good on paper

Terrible. Cheer up, people.

Well there is the part of Kyles transition... but other than that.

 

Dont drag me into this

This team is a hell of a lot better than 2014 team. I am very excited for this season.

I was doing some fact checking on winning teams and found this interesting tidbit: at the end of the season and the playoffs and World Series only one team out of thirty ends up winning it all. Begs the question "in the end how do you judge success?"

 

Well, I would say great success for this team would be to finish 10 over .500. Pure and simple. That would mean the Sox have taken care of their problem of getting owned by teams in their own division and it would mean they are damn competitive again.

 

Let's face it. On paper, our defense is below average to lousy; our starting pitching is promising (Sale, Samargia, Q must be all-star caliber though) and our bullpen is average to lousy.

Our hitting looks good to very good unless 2B and C are totally automatic outs. Defense and pitching win divisional games. We shall see if Sox defense and pitching is good.

 

My prediction: We're going to be more disappointed than happy this season. HOPE I"M WRONG

I'm not sure who will be more hated this year, LaRoche or Gillaspie. Both are going to be whipping boys, along with Danks.

I'm not sure who will be more hated this year, LaRoche or Gillaspie. Both are going to be whipping boys, along with Danks.

?

 

Predicting a big falloff for him?

?

 

Predicting a big falloff for him?

 

Potentially slow start, and he's one of those guys that when he's going bad, just looks like he has no clue at the plate. I think in the end, he'll still put up solid numbers but won't be a major difference maker.

I'm not sure who will be more hated this year, LaRoche or Gillaspie. Both are going to be whipping boys, along with Danks.

I don't think anyone is touching Flowers as far as regulars.

It's a chaotic game. We have last year's Royals talent potentially beat on paper. But execution & luck will factor in. The entire goal is to get into the postseason -- then after that it is largely chaos that'll determine what is up.

I don't think anyone is touching Flowers as far as regulars.

Flowers, Beckham and Danks are the punching bags. Flowers and Beckham can go 3 for 4 and the game if lost will come back to the time they made an out.

I feel pretty confident about this season. With that said, even if we basically play .500 or a bit below, this will still be a fun season to watch. This is the first season in a while that I can remember not really having a whipping boy chosen on day 1....I mean we've got Gordo and Danks, but one is a bench player and the other a 4th starter, so they can't disappoint much. A lot of young guys we get to watch develop, one of the most dominating offensive players in the game, a pitcher coming up that has scouts drooling...the future is finally bright and if it doesn't happen this season, it's nice knowing that we're set up to succeed in future seasons.

Beckhamtalk.com

Good one. Did you see the Clubhouse renovation thread? Guess the only player who has been mentioned in that thread?

 

This site needs to change its name.

Well, I would say great success for this team would be to finish 10 over .500. Pure and simple. That would mean the Sox have taken care of their problem of getting owned by teams in their own division and it would mean they are damn competitive again.

 

Let's face it. On paper, our defense is below average to lousy; our starting pitching is promising (Sale, Samargia, Q must be all-star caliber though) and our bullpen is average to lousy.

Our hitting looks good to very good unless 2B and C are totally automatic outs. Defense and pitching win divisional games. We shall see if Sox defense and pitching is good.

 

My prediction: We're going to be more disappointed than happy this season. HOPE I"M WRONG

 

 

Duke's got warning signs around him, that's for sure. But we still have Jennings.

 

OTOH, Putnam and Guerra and Petricka to a lesser extent overachieved....and, with Petricka out, there's a bit of a hole there that theoretically could be filled by healthy version of Crain/Jones, but we're unlikely to receive those versions.

 

We do have a lot more depth than in past seasons, and a crafty veteran like Albers might surprise.

 

To say we are average to lousy with one of the best closers in MLB added to the roster when we had Petricka/Blow-a-savio closing games at midseason is dubious at best.

 

Jennings could end up a decent pick-up. And, you never know, the White Sox might be in contention late with an intact rotation (unlikely) and they can throw Beck, Rodon, Montas, Sanburn and Danish at the problem.

 

LEON, the Venezuelan pitcher we picked up in the offseason, also has nasty stuff...just like Cleto, but hopefully more control of it.

People are just over Beckham I get it. As a non baseball analogy, he's like Matt Cassel to Chiefs fans in the NFL. Sucked and we were tired of him rammed up our asses week in week out. I'm over Beckham. As a reserve I can handle it. But he's clearly not a full time player and I want to see Micah and Carlos get their chances.

For the record, I'm very excited for this year. I'm not thinking World Series but definitely playoffs. I'm just glad to be excited for baseball and that our team has a general direction they're going. Hope we get healthy, stay healthy and kick some ass. What's to be down about? We have one of the best pitchers and hitters in baseball along with a nice young team with some needed veterans that can produce. We have a good young lefty coming up soon. Sale, Shark, Q, and Rodon. Ya that's really something to feel bad about.

People are just over Beckham I get it. As a non baseball analogy, he's like Matt Cassel to Chiefs fans in the NFL. Sucked and we were tired of him rammed up our asses week in week out. I'm over Beckham. As a reserve I can handle it. But he's clearly not a full time player and I want to see Micah and Carlos get their chances.

 

If Beckham had half the career Matt Cassel did, Sox fans would love him.

Flowers, Beckham and Danks are the punching bags. Flowers and Beckham can go 3 for 4 and the game if lost will come back to the time they made an out.

 

I won't blame Beckham for anything this season. It will all be on Hahn for the lazy KW-esque signing.

I'm not sure who will be more hated this year, LaRoche or Gillaspie. Both are going to be whipping boys, along with Danks.

Is LaRoche destined to suck? Does he look like he's done this spring?

Is LaRoche destined to suck? Does he look like he's done this spring?

If history repeats itself - LaRoche will have a slow start. That said, he'll at least be a 6 week whipping boy. I've got higher hopes for him thou and was a big fan of this move.

Edited April 3, 201511 yr by hi8is

If history repeats itself - LaRoche will have a slow start. That said, he'll at least be a 6 week whipping boy. I've got higher hopes for him thou and was a big fan of this move.

 

same here. i hope he doesn't slump, at least in the beginning of the season.

Man, I'm pulling so hard for Beckham to do well.

 

Like my god, the vitriol is insane. If he had never played with the org before we'd be hailing this as a good signing for a bench player.