gosox41

QUOTE (coco1997 @ Apr 25, 2016 -> 07:47 PM) I blame this whole debacle on Erik Johnson being a f***ing bust. I suppose I've been spoiled with the last several years of Sale, Quintana and Rodon but had Johnson lived up to his potential we would never be hearing the names "Danks" or "Gonzalez" again. Am I missin something (or a lot of things as is usually the case?) Why is everyone so down on Erik Johnson? I think he we will bemail fib e. He has a great season last year c and pitched well in September. I have no issue trotting hIm out evert fifth day. I think he is better then Danks o r Gonzalez. Bob

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 17, 2016 -> 10:02 PM) My inside info has been severely limited as far as front office stuff but I still know several players. I've sent out many PMs on this topic. The leadership baton has been taken and run with by several of the new players. The old guard may not be that happy about it but that's reality. This team needed stronger personalities and they got them, and those guys wanted a more "boys club" atmosphere. Personally I waited until this story came out before reached out because I didn't believe it at first. But let's say more than a handful of players don't care that LaRoche is gone. We have a new regime and I believe they (Mgmt) likes it that way. FWIW, I've heard other people with connections (both known personally to me or in the media) that said the same thing...more then one player went to Sox management abosut this. KW addressed it, and I agree with him 100%. Are the Sox running a day care facility or a baseball team. A couple of things I'd like to bring up: 1. The Sox have stronger personalities in their players that will serve as stronger leaders. Why isn't our manager leading? KW describes him as a "leader of men." Still waiting. 2. To Chris Sale: Shut up and pitch. I assume your little spaz out was due to immaturity. Only in professional sports can players get so upset that their kids can't come to work with them everyday that they have the financial flexibility to retire and know it won't effect their life style one bit. Or only in pro sports can a star employee get away with cussing out his boss in front of other employees. Get off your cloud and wake up to reality. 3. My feeling was that LaRoche was looking for a way out. If not he threw a bigger temper tantrum this a 14 year old. Everything that I heard was that when he was told the second time to bring his kid in less he simply chose to retire, and not talk it out with Kenny. Man up. 4. To the old clubhouse dynamic- with LaRoche and pre-LaRoche--it wasn't working if the goal was to win games. Something needs to be done. They all get their guaranteed money know matter how bad they perform and are pretty much set for life if they're smart enough not to piss your money away. Now how about focusing on more important things, like winning. 5. Way to go Adam. You officially have made it know to baseball that your sole reason for retiring is your son. Sure to you it's the White Sox and their 'archaic' ways of doing things, but seriously deep down your son is watching this and what is he thinking? Whatever it is, it probably isn't helping his emotional growth. Looks to me like you're teaching him one of 3 things: a. If things don't go you're way blame a third party. b. Also, if things don't go your way, then go ahead and quit instead of working out out or compromising. c. That it's OK to act like a primadonna and think the rules don't apply to you. Assuming your son has seen some tutoring or a school when not in the dugout, he'll read the papers and figure all this out. But I do have to thank you, Mr. LaRoche. Your retirement has made the Sox a better team. We'll miss the .207 average with 12 HR's and way too many K's. NOT Bob

QUOTE (bruni @ Dec 1, 2015 -> 04:26 PM) Well gang, the Price deal (to me) officially seals the deal: The White Sox CAN NOT trade Q or Sale. There is no possible way to recoup the value that each is in terms of years of control and financial commitment left for the WSox. If I were Sale and Q, I'd be firing my agents for not having the foresight to anticipate the market for pitching. Security when young is one thing, but they cost themselves truckloads of $$. Keep the pitching and keep attempting to build around it. On the flip side, the Sox can get a lot more for these guys in the right trade as the asking price for cost controlled pitching just went up. Everyone is tradeable, especially when you're a team with so many holes. Bob

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Sep 8, 2015 -> 01:53 PM) Extend Qualifying Offer to SP Jeff Samardzija- he declines, Sox get a comp pick Thoughts and what would you do this off season? It's way too hard to predict trades. I'll keep this simple and it's the same thing as should have been done last year but we're not "rebuilding". 1. Offer comp pick to Shark, see ya. 2. Trade Alexei and get younger and faster. 3. Trade Melky 4. If right trade comes up for Avi (or the right package) trade him. He is so young, it's hard to give up on him IMHO. 5. If at all possible, dump Danks. Doubtful on this. 6. If at all possble, trade La Roche-see #5. 7. If the right deal comes up, I'd trade Sale before his elbow falls off. So going into next year: 1b: Abreu 2b: M. Johnson SS: Saladino 3b Olt C-Hopefully they can net someone useful in a trade. No more Flowers, DH: LaRoche-he is untradeable a LF-Eaton CF: Thompson RF: Garcia 1. Sale 2. Quintanna 3. Johnson\ 4. Rodon 5. Danks Bullpen -Usual characters Set Up: Nate Jones Closer: Robertson Sanchez can be a utility infielder Schuck is 4th OFer Find scrubs for the rest. We should be rebuilding. No sense spending $115MM to suck when you can spend a lot less and be a lot worse and get a better draft pick. Also, if you think any of the young unproven players listed above don't have a future in the big leagues, then they should be packaged in trades. No signing players over the age of 30 to be everyday players as all they are doing is taking time away form younger players. I would have suggested firing KW and RV (and keeping Hahn) but that obviously isn't happening. Our defense would be a lot better, our pitching (overall) would be good. We didn't score many runs this year and probably won't next year but at least I won't be disappointed. I think Saladino has upside as a hitter. Olt was a top prospect at one point and I think he serves a chance to play everyday. Michah Johnson and his speed and work ethic intrigues me. Bob

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Sep 8, 2015 -> 09:09 PM) The Sox are out of the race, they won't make the playoffs, etc. Game threads have gone down to My point is, I know we're not in the playoff race, but actually try to watch/follow/enjoy these final few weeks of Sox games, because a few months from now, we'll all be dying for White Sox baseball. As much as I like your attitude, the Sox play has been a big disappointment this summer. I choose to ignore them all together. Easy to do because everyone is on the Cubs bandwagon as much as that sucks. I think right now every game the Sox win moves them farther away from achieving a long term goal of winning a World Series. might as well play for the draft pick and see how good are scouts are. Beats making a late run towards .500 against other teams minor leaguers. Bob

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Aug 30, 2015 -> 03:03 AM) Hahn extended him. I'm guessing he did it at the urging of KW. No proof, but everyone has always questioned Ventura's desire to be a manager. The reason I think this? Most new GM's get to pick their own guy or know going in that they have to tolerate the existing guy for a couple of years until the contract is up. Why would Rick extend him the way the last couple of years have gone. I've listened/read a lot of Hahn interviews over the years and IMHO, I think he gets it. He needs a non-meddling environment to execute his plan and do what he needs to do. This includes everything from the manager on down to coming up with a long term game plan. Not let's cut payroll $30MM one year and the next year jack it back up $30MM so we can sign aging vets past their prime in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle. Hahn has made a lot of good moves pointed to the future as was mentioned in an earlier post. And one of the best things he's done is looking long term to building a productive farm system Not drafting the almost major leage ready talent that we can trade away for another past his prime veteran. That's not how you build a winner. Meanwhile for a team that is "not rebuilding" we may have our 3rd top 10 Pick in a row in the draft. Would have been a lot cheaper to Jerry to see attendance erode and keep the payroll lower while they draft good talent instead of giving up draft picks for David Robertson and Melky. Bob

QUOTE (AustinIllini @ Aug 28, 2015 -> 05:59 PM) Turned on B&B today, and while they can be jerks, Matt Abbatacola's numbers on air today were staggering and disappointing. Under Williams/Hahn/Ventura (3+ seasons) White Sox 281-331 (50 games under)^ Twins 267-346 (79 games under)* Astros (120 below .500)* Cubs (66 under)* Padres (31 games under)^ Mets (17 games under)* *Team getting notably better, have announced they will be bad, and do a complete rebuild. All showing significant signs of improvement. ^Teams that reload every season ("Reload" every year) AL Central Tigers (49 Games over .500) Royals (37 Games over 500) Indians (2 games under .500) White Sox Record Total: 43 games Under in Division 30-39 against the Indians 27-41 against the Tigers 24-45 against the Royals 35-34 against the Twins I continually call for a rebuild on this board because it is critical we get one. We require a change in philosophy, new staff, move players like Jose Abreu for pieces/picks, and we need to draft better. If that's not bad enough, here is our position drafted players since 2001 by WAR I blame KW as the number #1 culprit. I really like Hahn and thinks his hands are tied. I wish Robin would just admit he doesn't care and just leave. It would have been quicker for this team to rebuild then it is to slowly drag this crap out while trying to compete almost every year. It's complete idiotic and doesn't work often. It doesn't take a genius to see that. Pathetic how dumb they are. Bob

QUOTE (Condor13 @ Aug 1, 2015 -> 03:46 PM) Should never have released him, hopefully he has improved his plate discipline Haha. Doubtful on the plate discipline. Not sure why he's back here. Don't we have guys at the ML level that can hit .220, not play D, and strikeout a lot? Bob

I'll try to keep this short and to the point. Most managers are hired to be fired. Unless you have one of the top 3-4 managers in the game, it's basically a crap shoot on hiring and firing these guys. It is almost impossible to quantify a manager's effect on a team. Making the baseball decisions is the easy part. Who bats first, when do you pinch hit. There are no guarantees in it so you just play the odds with the occasional hunch and hope for the best. In this day and age, a computer can be programmed with the various variables to make the in game decisions. A manager's biggest job is handling the personnel and having them ready and motivated to play. Whether it's working on defense before every game or stressing certain aspects of the game that need attention. They also need to keep the players focused and ready to go. Sure, it's the players job to be ready, but managers definitely serve a purpose in the MAN part of managing. Since every season the personnel changes, injuries happen, and managers are hired in to situations where they have an old team in decline or a young team on the upswing it is impossible to quantify their effect on how many wins or losses they add. But there are signs a manager isn't doing his job: 1. When the players look flat. 2. If the personnel changes turns over a lot and the team is still showing the same flaws (ie poor defense, no patience at the plate, etc.) 3. If management has to come in and ask the manager to be more involved in the day to day player activity and be more hands on. 4. When the talent level on the team is clearly improved but to no avail. 5. When you see the same results year in and year out. That being said, it's time for Robin to go. I don't give a crap if he shows expressions during a game or not. I do care about the 5 points I mentioned above. And to take this one step further, I don't blame Hahn. We all know KW has power and is Rick's boss and Robin's indirect boss. We also all know that KW hired RV. And who came out and was his biggest defender last month? KW again. I don't know what test Robin scored so high on to be a "leader of men" but it ain't working. The Sox need to now go the opposite direction and bring in more of a butt kicker. Preferable someone from outside the organization. That's the problem when you hire a former player who the fans love. You get lots of leeway. It also makes it that much harder for management to fire you. Do I have any suggestions on who the next manager should be? No. Someone respected (like a Torborg) who is also a bit of a butt kicker and isn't going to tolerate lackidasical play. Right about now (realistically not being sarcastic and saying bring in average Joe Fan) I don't care who they bring in because it can't get any worse then this. Get someone in here to shake things up. This goes back to why, if I were a team owner, I'd hire proven managers with track records of winning. If I were going to go cheap and inexperienced, I'd give them 2-3 years and the ship them out of I am still seeing the 5 points I mentioned above. Maybe I am oversimplifying, but what is going on this season is unacceptable. Fan favorite or not, Robin needs to go. Even if it's for the logic of you can't fire 25 players so fire the manager. Whatever rationalization works as long as change is made. Until this happens, we'll be having a lot more threads about the top 10 pick we'll have in the draft next year. I'd fire Robin tonight. We know that's not going to happen. If the Sox look like they're playing corpseball tomorrow, I don't see how they can bring Robin back here at all. But we all no that it's not going to happen. We'll have loyalty and stubborness shoved up our kiesters by JR and KW. If they cared about winning they'd do something NOW. Bob

I think after these last two movessels the Sox are maxed out. Aren't they around $90 mill? I think Vicredo and Danks neeneed to go beforecasting major can happen. Unless Jerry decides to break the bank. Currently the Sox are contenders in the Central but by no means the favorites. Rodon isn't proven and Danks was terrible last year. Bob .....

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 8, 2014 -> 09:35 PM) An underrated aspect about acquiring Samardzija is that he's a huge name in the Chicagoland area, and he's someone that I think fans would go out to watch pitch (oh great, more ND fans at Sox games) A couple of things: 1. The Sox the greatest hitter since Ted Williams on their team and there were seasons they average 17K per game. 2. Based on my third hand info (take if for what it's worth) 'Jeffy' has every intention on testing the free agent market. 3. He's probably a fun guy to party with but I figured he'd be suited for for the Rockies or Mariners. Bob

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Nov 11, 2014 -> 09:17 AM) Surprised there isn't a thread about him yet. Surprisingly, the Sox have been linked to Scherzer by Hayes and Heyman so far as a dark horse to sign him. The money and years he is going to command is definitely scary, and I really hope the Sox don't sign him to a long lucrative contract. What are your guys thoughts on Scherzer? This rumor is funny because anyone who knows anything about the White Sox knows it's not true. And I agree 100% with the Sox NOT signing him unless he wants a 3 year or less contract. Bob

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 09:46 PM) And again no one said VMart has to be the only addition. Also apparently best years are bad as are worst years and declining years so when do you exacting jump into the fray ? When the team is closer to winning. We are on a limited budget, say around $90MM for next year (I don't know what it is but it is a realistic estimate.) So who else do you get to fill the other holes to make this team a World Series contender in 2016? If there were a 28 year old that fit the Sox needs, I'd go after him as an FA. I just can't get excited about an average team with a key player and big salary as being a component of that knowing he is old and won't be as dependable. Bob

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Nov 2, 2014 -> 11:06 AM) Soxtalk seems split on whether or not VMArt would be a good addtion. So here's your chance to make your opinions known. Of course you might have caveats depending on contract length and dollars so feel free to voice them. I will start with Victor at 3 yrs I can handle but 4 years is too long. Of course there's a chance at his age that his production falls. It probably will considering just how good he was last year but he's still better than most options. I want the Sox to get another ring and that might not happen untl we get another legit bat with Abreu ( other additions ,of course ,also must be made) Never trust players who have their best years when playing for a contract. I thought the Sox were going to get younger, faster with better defense/pitching. The team won 73 games last year. Getting V Mart probably means more wins but does he account for 17-20 more. Because that's how many more wins we need to win the division. I don't think so. So all getting V Mart does is hurt the Sox draft position. Or to put it another way, the Sox have too many holes to fill next year and lack the farm system and the budget to fill them. We need to keep improving the farm system and only make intelligent trades where we are not overpaying a player to win a few more games while he is in the decline of his career. If the Sox were one hitter away, that's a different story. They're not. Bob

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Nov 4, 2014 -> 03:13 PM) http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox/sellin...ee-agency-pitch Thought it was interesting that Hayes got Lester to get some quotes in. Would you guys go after Lester? I know he's another lefty but he doesn't cost a draft pick and does a good playoff history. What he will get on the open market is scary what some numbers are being thrown out there, but if you were GM, would you bring in Lester? If yes, on what terms, if no, why not? Discuss. Sale Lester Quintana Danks Noesi Sale Lester Quintana Noesi Bassitt (if Danks traded) Don't want him for $20MM Plus per year for at least 6 years. Let some other team sign him and then watch his numbers slide over the years as age and all the innings he has thrown catch up to him. The Sox can't afford this kind of albatross of a contract on their books when Lester is a #3 or 4 stater in a few years and declining. Bob