GreenSox

No.

This Webb may have to go down for a while to make room for this pitcher we picked up on waivers, but he's going to be good.

Cleto just threw 3 balls in the dirt and struck this cub out.

I hope Beckham comes back, looks good for a month, and we trade him. Ditto De Aza and Dunn and maybe Alexei. As for Keppinger, they probably just told him to stay injured for a while.

Looking good; looking good. I'm ready. Hope the Sox are!

Looks like our real SP prospects are Birmingham and below. A few interesting guys in Birmingham. I also note that while Montas has gotten the pub out of that Peavy trade, Wendelken seems to be ahead of him, per the list above.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 26, 2014 -> 04:48 PM) No. Marcus Semien should get >500 PA's this year. If some of those are at the big league level great, but him getting 300-ish PA's as a backup while Beckham and Ramirez take most of the time would be an utter, utter failure. Agree. If it's a sub we need, that should be L Garcia and Marcus in the minors. Re Guerra, his spring stats don't look too sporty. I assume they've been able to scout him pretty well.

Alexei looks like he's getting worse about swinging at balls on on his heels. I don't understand why a pitcher ever throws the ball above his ankles.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Mar 26, 2014 -> 01:28 PM) Hope Veal is shown the door. I wish he was a lefty. Veal is untrustworthy and Downs isn't very good anymore.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Mar 25, 2014 -> 06:06 PM) I prefer Sale/Q/Johnson/Danks/Paulino. Screw the LRLRL, Paulino is NOT a #2. That is just as L-R-L as Ventura has it set up. After 5 comes 1, so it's Danks-Sale. I'd do it like you, except I'd switch Paulino and Johnson.

78-84

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Mar 25, 2014 -> 04:47 PM) But thats part of the difference as well. Smith is a year older and has had a consistent development timeline. Nieto's development was interrupted by a variety of hiccups that slowed his development. Nieto played his first full season last season after being drafted in 2008, Smith was a college player and has two full seasons since being drafted. Odds are neither are going to make it given their profiles. So maybe you're saying that because he's likely not going to make it, it isn't worth the risk of essentially being woefully overmatched at C when Flowers doesn't play, esp. if we happen to be in this thing? Could be. Heck I think Mitchell still has a good shot, so I can be a little sunny on prospects.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 25, 2014 -> 04:07 PM) Smith is mentioned for the reasons I've stated, and that people seem to ignore - in terms of their prospect profile, their performance per level, and their prospects of being a future piece with the Sox are very similar. As for a trade, if Nieto goes to Chicago for Opening Day, there is no longer a trade happening. It means, first, as you said, Rizzo is probably being a jerk about it so the demands are too high. Second, if the Sox call Rizzo's bluff and keep him for April at least, then they're going to ride him out for a while. If he is terrible for a few months, unless the team is in contention and really needs the upgrade at backup C, they might as well ride him the rest of the year. Basically, if a trade isn't happening by 3/31, then it isn't happening. So the leverage aspect is irrelevant at that point. Of course, something people aren't saying here... it is still possible a trade occurs before 3/31. There could be a lot of posturing, and Rizzo may call Hahn Friday (realizing Hahn is willing to call the bluff), and makes a last-ditch offer so that he gets SOMETHING for Nieto. Re Smith, so Nieto and Smith are about equal; fine, now we have 2 prospects at a similar development point. No harm in that. We all know that the odds are that a AA C prospect won't make it, so we doubled our chances. I'm don't see why a trade couldn't happen in April or May. We're willing to leave him on the ML roster, but probably would prefer not to; if Rizzo wants something, anything, he's got to come to the table. He and Hahn could play chicken for a little while; or not. We'll see. Anyway, it's another interesting aspect to what should be a very interesting season.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 25, 2014 -> 03:39 PM) Yes, which is why they kept him. I'm not arguing that, with him in camp, this wasn't the best way to keep him. I just have doubts about his readiness, and about his future after this year. And I found it interesting how much interest he's getting, while a very similar prospect isn't mentioned. That was all I was really going for. Why should Smith be mentioned though? We all know that Nieto wouldn't be on the ML club if he didn't have to be. I've probably been the most bullish poster on this site all along re Nieto, but I don't think he's ready. It's just worth the risk. We can send him to AA or AAA next year. Yes, his development could get stunted - but Nieto's up for it, under advice of his agent, so I'm not worried about the human aspect of it. And from the Sox perspective, if he gets stunted, nothing lost. I agree with your point that while the bar is very low, it's also likely that Phegley or the other guy will exceed that bar as well. One other factor to consider....this substantially increases our leverage for a trade. Rizzo wasn't happy losing him (reading between the lines), he'd probably demand a real prospect in return; Rizzo is renown for being difficult as it is. Hahn basically said as much the other day. At this point, we've shown that we're willing to ride Nieto on the ML roster, which should decrease Rizzo's demands in a trade.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Mar 24, 2014 -> 03:51 PM) Can anybody give one good reason why Beckham should be the starting 2nd basemen this season over Semien? Seriously. So we can trade him.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 24, 2014 -> 10:38 PM) Change the title now... Should we trade Beckham to the Rangers? I doubt that will ever even be a rumor until he's healthy and has played some. yes, would be my answer, though.

I thought he would when we signed him. Only had to beat out AAAA catchers, and working out a trade with Rizzo figured to be near impossible (Hahn confirmed that today). Congrats to the young man.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Mar 24, 2014 -> 01:35 PM) Not a chance from the Sox perspective. Their loss. Winning teams needs guys like L Garcia on the team. He reminds me of a lesser Rafael Furcal. There's a price for everything. But I like him too.

I've been halfway expecting the Rangers to call and see if they can have L Garcia back.

Hold onto Jones for a couple of years. Try to get Lindstrom or Bellasario all primped up for a trade. I hope Jones doesn't close anyway - need to use him to get out of jams.

Downs = end of career Linebrink.

I'm on Sox @ Rockies. Liddi just made a poor play in RF. Bad angle turned a well hit ball that should have been caught into a stand up triple.

Nice little play by L Garcia. Wish he could hit. He'll still be useful for us, once we get the roster more set and properly aligned (i.e. no 2 DHs, 2 3B onlys, etc.)

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 23, 2014 -> 02:00 PM) Look, we're not going to be a major league quality catcher for De Aza unless we target guys at the low/mid A-ball level that are multiple years away. We're just not going to. Apparently they're willing to run him out there as a backup, I would not have been, but they've made their call. I'd personally have taken "best available offer" eitehr right before training camp started or right now. Concur

Do yall really believe that Danks has suddenly become an excellent hitter? I hope so, but the chances are remote. Still, he could do an okay job, certainly enough to warrant trading of De Aza, if someone offered something decent. Boggs was a disaster. Great that his contract wasn't guaranteed.