spiderman

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 03:13 PM) I don't get why people are assuming Soto will be around next year. I'd imagine he's going to command a decent contract as a FA and maybe a chance to start from someone. I'm assuming the Sox would bring him back even on a decent contract.

The only way he would make sense is an alternative to Samardizia.

White Sox can't consider him as an alternative to Samardizia in the off-season.

To close out August: They are probably going to lose 4 out of 6 (maybe split if things go well) with the Angels and Cubs. They have 6 on the West Coast with the Angels and Mariners. Again, expect a 3-3 trip, at best before coming home to play Boston and Seattle (for 4) where they could play well (take 4 or 5 of these 7). In September, they have 20 games vs. Detroit, Cleveland, Minnesota and Oakland (4 games) who will all be out of playoff contention. I think 9-11 wins is reasonable in that 20 game stretch. There are 11 games (all but 2 vs. KC) are on the road vs. KC and NY. This could be pretty rough, but the starting rotation will probably keep them in these games. Still, 4-7 or 3-8 is likely here. I project them (my math is off some) to be 22-27(ish) down the stretch.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 01:49 PM) If we were at .500 we'd be ~4 games behind the team we're starting a 3 game series with tonight. We'd be a lot more optimistic if the White Sox were at .500 and they'd be within a fighter's reach of Toronto. Toronto would be the favorite, but this site would be pointing to the strong pitching staff and the 2nd half surge by the offense as reasons to believe.

QUOTE (LDF @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 07:05 AM) and are you ok with a weak hitting 3b in saladino. if that is the case, why not keep beckham there. something needs to happen with that lineup in the offseason. 3B is probably the toughest position to fill (if you allow that catcher is probably going to be a continued combination of Flowers / Soto). I don't think Saladino is a major league hitter, and we know Beckham isn't. The White Sox have some decent defense at that spot, but it's the one area where they need to find offense at. To answer your question, I'm not happy with either guy starting at 3B next season.

QUOTE (LDF @ Aug 10, 2015 -> 07:02 AM) here is my problem. the team has holes, how are the FO going to fix those holes?? either trade or fa's rt. they will not find all the answers vis Fa b/c the owners will not allow them the spend that much. it has to fall back on trading someone or a group of someone's. who? Free agency isn't the full solution; it can be used to fix one (maybe two) specific needs, but if the White Sox are going to re-sign Samarzija, they probably won't be in the free agency market for much else beyond role type players offensively. Most of the help probably has to come internally and/or through trade. There's a good chance that the C (Flowers/Soto) combination could be back, and I'm sure they are encouraged by Sanchez to make him the 2B going forward. 3B, RF and DH would be the area's where holes need to be filled and it's probably unrealistic to assume that La Roche won't play the majority of the time there since he is making $12 million next season and potentially solves one of their holes.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 9, 2015 -> 09:39 PM) Do you think if they continue to get clobbered in games leading to the Cub series they might only average about 25,000 to 28,000 per game? I'd think there definitely will be more Cub fans than Sox fans. I doubt it; it's still the weekend, temp's are going to be in the mid 80's. Cub fans will come if Sox fans don't. I think each game will have at least 30K, and probably 35K each.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Aug 9, 2015 -> 12:29 AM) There are some smaller bright spots for me at least. Carlos looks like he's going to lock down 2B for the future. May not be an all-star but is awesome defensively. The pen is improved. I still have high hopes for this staff (Sale, Q, Rodon). Quintana is going nowhere now for me at least. He must stay. Only type of player I'd move him for is Puig. Anderson is doing well in the minors and should be ready in the next year or two. Alexis can hold down SS until he's ready (though he can have some crazy bad moments then flip that stud fielding switch). Saladino can play 3B soundly. I'd roll with hi. Next season unless we can upgrade it (Davidson is a flop). My hope for the top of the order is Eaton, Sanchez, Melky, Abreu, Puig, Garcia. Then figure out 7-9. I'm hoping we move Garcia to 1B and Adam is gone. Sanchez has hitten much better and with his solid defense, it will hard to displace him next season. The bullpen is clearly better; Robertson has been a good signing and the middle relief, while not great, has been solid. Quintana has to stay. I don't see how he can be moved with the uncertainty of the rest of the rotation. Sale and Danks are in the rotation for next season, but the #3 (or #2 depending on how you view Quintana) and #4 are open. Obviously, Rodon is probably the #4 starter next season, but I think they should consider letting one of their minor league's arm battle for the last job. Minor league development has to be the key here and guys like Montas and Johnson may be the best options since they avoid long-term, expensive contracts and may have good upside themselves.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Aug 9, 2015 -> 09:34 PM) Bye Bye Shark. I think the Sox will be involved in the bidding, but if he's looking for every last dollar, he'll probably be moving on. This season, he's been one of the reason's for the team's poor showing. He hasn't been awful, but he also hasn't been a top of the rotation starter like the White Sox thought they were getting.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Aug 9, 2015 -> 09:27 AM) If Sox offer Shark a QO ($16 Millionish), will he take it as a one year deal? If he's healthy, and doesn't continue to tank the final 2 months, he'll probably get close to 20 on 5 years.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Aug 9, 2015 -> 09:03 PM) Never was relevant Sox never got to .500 moot point. That's always how I judge it as well. They never got there and are probably a 75 win team.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 9, 2015 -> 08:25 PM) They had a big surge of season ticket sales last offseason after the team did they're "we're going to compete this year" set of moves. They were going to beat last year's attendance based on that, and they still have series against the Yankees and Cubs coming up to help also. The problem is going to be that the season ticket renewals after this season are going to be pretty rotten. They get the Yankees again at home, or do you mean Boston? I think the nice weather generally helps as well. Weekend games, even with the team out of contention will get them at least 25, and sometimes around 30K if fireworks are in play. This weekend, they should do 100K for the Cubs series.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Aug 9, 2015 -> 01:53 AM) Sanchez has been hitting lately and Micah needs polishing on his defense. He's a liability up here. I'm not opposed to making Micah a DH next season if he doesn't improve his defense; Some reports have indicated improved fielding though. If that is true, and he is still a 2B, is Sanchez a backup IF?

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Aug 9, 2015 -> 12:22 AM) We desperately need to add a bat to go with Eaton, Cabrera, and Abreu. Also hope Garcia gets it together. Has the potential certainly They probably can't give up on Garcia yet since they can't possibly fill every hole they currently have and upgrade at others. They need two guys capable of hitting the ball out of the park, but not sure how they accomplish this without trading minor league talent.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Aug 9, 2015 -> 08:29 PM) I miss the days when this thread was relevant. It was probably never relevant. They just got hot at the right time of the season to give management hope that keeping things together would pay off.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 8, 2015 -> 11:32 PM) He's really good. Second year in a row he's basically the only bright spot along with Sale. Yep, hopefully Sale doesn't have any health concerns, just a bad stretch, but they have 2 two of the top players in the league on their team and have surrounded them with a pretty poor roster.

QUOTE (harkness @ Aug 8, 2015 -> 09:34 PM) I was kind of down on him earlier...and he still gives away too many at bats.. is scary to think how good he could be if he gets more patient. .296 12th in the AL 21 HR ties for 13 in the AL 67 RBI 9th in the AL Probably 70% of the reason I watch the Sox right now is because of him. He's a great offensive player; He'll probably finish with about .290, 30 HR and 90 RBI on a bad offensive team.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Aug 8, 2015 -> 10:26 PM) I'd imagine it will be more like $20M+ a season. Free agency could do that for him. He is a great defensive player and about to enter his prime years.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Aug 8, 2015 -> 10:42 PM) Remember Sale Rodon and Q are not really products of the minor league system. All three spent very little time being developed in the White Sox minor league. Webb did and hopefully a few more are in the pipeline. While that's true, that's been the draft strategy of the White Sox; find players who are close to being able to contribute to the majors. They still have to draft the right guys and then get to succeed at the major league level (Quintana was not drafted by the Sox and was picked up as a flier, but they were able to capitalize on him);

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Aug 8, 2015 -> 09:44 PM) I'd love to sign him. But will we? He's going to get paid a lot. I just hope we spend big money on a hitter like Heyward than a starter like Shark. I'm wondering if it's even realistic at this point. What is Heyward going to get? $15M a season? I like him but the White Sox need a #4 and #5 hitter to go with Abreu. Even if they keep the C (Flowers and Soto platoon) and 2B (with an improving Sanchez) intact, they have gaping holes at RF, SS, 3B and DH while C & 2B could be horrible production as well.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Aug 5, 2015 -> 08:16 AM) Let's hear some names. I'll start with some obvious ones that'll get tossed around: 1. Ozzie Guillen- His .524 winning percentage with the Sox is a lot better than Ventura's. Left on bad terms though. 2. Dave Martinez- The next great manager according to everyone but the 30 GMs running teams. Worrisome that he hasn't been hired yet, particularly by the Rays. 3. Joe McEwing- Perennial managerial and been with the Sox awhile now. Good 3rd base coach outside whatever the f*** 2 nights ago was. 4. Sandy Alomar Jr- The coveted catcher to manager move. Being groomed as a manager by the Indians. Obvious Sox ties. 5. Joey Cora- Key part of the Guillen "glory days" but without the shenanigans. Vanderbilt educated. Unfortunately, the list probably requires ex-White Sox players to be on it; I'd hope whoever the next manager is, should they move on, is somebody who advocates statistical metrics (defensive shifts, creativity within the lineup, reduced bunting, etc.), but it probably doesn't matter who the manager is until the minor league system is able to produce major league players (they have done well with pitchers, but now need hitters to start come through) that can make an impact at the major league level.

What was the weekend total? Mid 90's?

My only concern is that the White Sox management may not know what they currently have. If there's any truth to that, then I'm concerned. They have played 100 games and don't have a winning record, but are just a few games behind for a wildcard spot, albeit being a few teams. Does the last 8 games cause the White Sox to re-think what they saw for the first 90? Do they still think the team underachieved for 90 games and are now playing up to what they thought? Could they have gotten more value on Samardzijia had they pulled a trigger on a move? This may not even be fair to the Sox, but they normally like to 'go for it' and aren't a team that typically rebuilds so not doing something, at least to me, signals they don't want to risk being wrong about thinking this team can win, but also not mortgaging what few prospects they do have.

My only concern is that the White Sox management may not know what they currently have. If there's any truth to that, then I'm concerned. They have played 100 games and don't have a winning record, but are just a few games behind for a wildcard spot, albeit being a few teams. Does the last 8 games cause the White Sox to re-think what they saw for the first 90? Do they still think the team underachieved for 90 games and are now playing up to what they thought? Could they have gotten more value on Samardzijia had they pulled a trigger on a move? This may not even be fair to the Sox, but they normally like to 'go for it' and aren't a team that typically rebuilds so not doing something, at least to me, signals they don't want to risk being wrong about thinking this team can win, but also not mortgaging what few prospects they do have.