GreenSox

Is Axe really pitching?

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Mar 10, 2014 -> 07:51 PM) Dunn ,Keppinger ,Alexei combined 0 for 12. They are veterans. Professional vets know that spring training stats are meaningless. They are just testing a few things and just don't want to show their stuff until it counts. These are the 3 that will lead the rebirth!

QUOTE (Bigsoxhurt35 @ Mar 10, 2014 -> 04:49 PM) Outside of our core young guys this team is awful to watch. Only reason I'm excited is for our young guys. Cannot wait to see Ramirez, Beckham and Dunn all gone +1

I can't believe Keppinger will be around for another 2 years.

Adam Dunn is a professional slugger and is just using the spring to test a few things. He's saving it for when it counts.

The Sox need a power hitter in LF. De Aza isn't it. He's average, and would I think have some value to a contender as a 4th OF- he'd be very good there. Otherwise, he's a decent placeholder for a non-contender like us. Viciedo COULD be the corner we need. Don't know yet. Saunders has 33% more plate appearances and sports a .295 career OBP. The chances of him improving are less than Viciedo. I wouldn't make that deal straight up. Trade De Aza for prospects; dump others in July. By the end of the season, we should have a much stronger farm, which could allow us to trade to fix more holes.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 9, 2014 -> 05:04 PM) I don't get trading one OF for another one that we have to keep on the roster. That doesn't really help the team. Still could - er should - move De Aza. Not sure if I like Saunders though. REally don't know anything about him.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Mar 9, 2014 -> 04:42 PM) Why trade an OF for an OF? That wouldn't make sense to me.. We still be in the same situation with have De Aza coming off the bench.. You get a C, 2B, or SS that is better then what we currently have or has the potential to be or don't make a deal. No one's going to give us a good C for De Aza et al (and we have middle infield prospects near ready). That's why I'm okay with prospects.

Tweeters are now saying Michael Saunders Astros have a quality C prospect behind Castro. I wouldn't overpay for Castro at this point. See how he does this year. I'd deal Viciedo/De Aza et al for prospects in a heartbeat, even if in the low minors.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 8, 2014 -> 04:42 PM) Nieto, supposedly, has been impressive catching and hitting so far. Crappy AB to end the game.

I've seen Hoffman pitch and Nola many times- no to both. HOffman has the stuff, but hasn't put it together. NOLA doesn't have the stuff for #3 pick in the draft.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 7, 2014 -> 09:55 AM) I think you're crazy if you think the pitching is holding this team back, and, like I said, you're steering your own boat. The point is that there is very little pitching depth. Mr Great Stuff is in his 30s and it hasn't materialized. We made much bigger strides offensively, more or our prospects are position players. Yea, I think long term, pitching is the bigger issue. On the other side, we're better at developing pitchers.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 6, 2014 -> 04:31 PM) I think you are steering your own boat. 2 reliable starters, plus Danks (we'll see) plus Paulino (who's never had an above average season in the majors) plus a high ceiling pitching prospect Johnson who I think will do well. Beyond that, we have little, except for perhaps Rienzo. The pen has Jones plus a mediocre Lindstrom and then retreads and low ceiling younger guys, with the exception of Webb. Some of those guys will be fine, but it's not top shelf by any means. Our farm has really 1 high ceiling starter anywhere near the majors, Danish. Beck looks decent but the low K ratio is concerning. A lot of work to do on the staff. Offensively, we added 3 new hitters, all 3 of whom could be above average and 2 of which could be a lot better than that. Plus Davidson.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Mar 6, 2014 -> 03:19 PM) Abreu grounded into a DP but he saw 9 pitches and that's after three foul balls for a 0-2 count. I think that's ok. Agree - waiting for pitches, something this team has really needed.

Under. But over 70. I think pitching's going to take the longest to rebuild. Too many retreads and low ceilings in the mix for me to be confident.

I don't know why we're wasting time with Heath. I guess you have to pitch someone.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 3, 2014 -> 05:03 PM) So if Gordon Beckham sucks so badly, why are the Dodgers and Yankees apparently interested in the guy? I think we tend to measure him, as Bowden says, versus what we thought he would be. He's still a decent overall 2B, with some good aspects to him that I would think that teams think they can get him to improve on. Also, they probably figure they can get him cheap. As for trading Semien, we're going to need him. Beckham likely isn't in our long term plans either.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Mar 2, 2014 -> 03:17 PM) I disagree the grades on Anderson, Beck and Webb. Webb will contribute this year and could be a future closer. Beck could be in the rotation as soon as next year barring injuries and a bad year. And Anderson is too talented in my opinion to not have major success in the majors. Guys headed to ML bullpens aren't going to get high grades. I think he's right re Beck and his low K rate. Ks are good predictor imo (both ways) and if he can't K minor league hitters, it's hard to see how he'll be successful against ML hitters.

QUOTE (glangon @ Mar 3, 2014 -> 04:16 AM) The fallen prospects - Guys like Mike McDade, Carlos Sanchez, Andy Wilkins, Keenyn Walker all showing patience at the plate and working the count to their favour. It was these guys who produced for the comeback win. It sounds like Steverson's hitting coaching is starting to pay off early. Lets hope it continues. I'm probably looking into this too much but after the woes of last season and how pathetic some of our so called prized prospects were last season in the minors, it's good to see them showing their potential. It's early and you can't read too much into actual results at this point, but a better hitting approach is really good to see and is relevant this early. Hopefully it sticks.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Mar 1, 2014 -> 09:50 AM) I think they will win between 72-77 games. I want to see big years out of the young new core. The White Sox have a lot of trade pieces though and that actually really excites me. Alexei Ramirez, Gordon Beckham, Adam Dunn, John Danks, Mitchell Boggs, Ronald Belisario, Matt Lindstrom, Nate Jones, and Scott Downs are all guys that could be moved to further enhance the system throughout the year. Pretty exciting possibility actually. That's how I see it. The one thing that would snap this is what happens seemingly frequently: in June/July, we're 5 below, Tigers are 5 above. We're only 5 games out....

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 1, 2014 -> 06:55 AM) Let me ask you this. Other than the back end of the rotation (adding a Jimenez/Santana) and the catcher's spot, what could or should have been differently and logically? Sure, the odds are just as high that Webb will be the closer next year. We've leveraged Peavy, Santiago and Reed for three Top 100 talent guys in Garcia, Eaton and Davidson. We signed perhaps the top impact bat of the entire off-season in Abreu. We've added Paulino and Surkamp for rotation depth, as well as Downs, Belisario, Boggs and retaining Lindstrom. Maikel Cleto has a big arm, too. To me it's not a matter of what we could have done differently. Hahn did a lot of good things this offseason. But you can't fix a rotten ship in one off-season. Our pitching still is a big question mark. We're depending on a lot of retreads and rehab projects. We'll likely score with a few of them. But it likely won't be enough. We still have long term issues at catcher, left field and in pitching. Our farm system still needs a lot of growth so that we can become consistent. Look at Boston - they've peddled off a lot of good prospect talent and still are replete with it. Hahn also hasn't had to trade prospects in these moves. On the other hand, he hasn't moved all of the veterans we'd like to move. Still a work in process. A 10-15 game improvement is realistic. I think the big issue for us actually contending is pitching. I don't see enough high end pitchers on the farm who can become starters in positions 2-4. Hahn can likely make moves to fill catcher and maybe LF if we need one after this season.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Feb 28, 2014 -> 06:46 PM) With a strong year, Beede can make himself into a top 5 pick. That's dominance from Hoffman. How good is Western Kentucky? Not particularly good but they beat Vandy I think earlier this week so they aren't awful. Hoffman needs more starts like this. He's got the numbers, but he hasn't put it all together as a college pitcher yet.

Let Lindstrom do it. Jones is the better pitcher, so we need him to get us out of jams in the 7th and 8th. No need to waste him on clean innings. And didn't Boggs spit the bit when he tried to close in the past?

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Feb 28, 2014 -> 05:03 PM) a What you are not considering is the complete lineup. IF Avi hits 2nd, that probably leaves 6-9( SS-2B-3B-C) as all singles hitters. That also leaves Viciedo/DeAza as the protection for the 4th batter. I think we will see Beckham or Alexei or whoever wins 3b as the second batter. the bigger issue is Eaton. If he fails, who bats 1st. Another reason to move Dunn down in the order.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 27, 2014 -> 11:48 AM) Guess it depends on what you mean. He's extremely talented and could develop into a really good ball player down the road, but he's 19 years old (today...happy birthday Trey) and struggled in Bristol last year. They may start him to Kanny depending on how he looks this spring, but there's no need to rush guys. Right, but he had him on no roster, which indicated either a repeat of rookie ball or a cut, unless I'm misreading.