Lillian

QUOTE (CB2.0 @ Jun 6, 2016 -> 07:24 AM) It sure is a good thing we're going to spend $27M on Shields when Detroit just showed the entire division (and league) all you have to do is trot out RH pitching against the Sox to sweep them. My 2 year old daughter can see the Sox need LH hitting...what is the FO doing?? THANK YOU VERY MUCH. How long have I been beating that drum? LaRoche was not a good choice, in the first place, but now that he's gone and the money from his salary available, Hahn is clearly trying to acquire a middle of the order, left handed bat. I'm confident that he will get someone, but not optimistic about how good he will be.

"Caulfield", that is precisely my point. They should try to explore the various options, and playing Rollins provides no added insight. If Tyler could be counted upon to fill one of the holes created by the departure of Frazier and, or Lawrie, the front office might have a better idea of how to proceed.

This issue should be relatively simple to resolve. Here are the reasons to let Saladino play: 1) SS is a defense first position and, at this stage of his career, Rollins cannot provide even average defense. Saladino is a plus defender, with better range and a better arm. 2) Platooning them doesn't make sense because Rollins can no longer hit RHP and Saladino is actually a better hitter vs. RHP. If Robin insists on platooning them, it should be reversed, with Rollins facing lefties and Tyler the right handers. At least that would get him the majority of the bats. 3) There is little doubt about what can be expected from Rollins, at his age. There is always the potential for a young guy like Saladino to evolve into a pretty good player. 4) Management should be trying to find out what they have in Tyler, going forward. Although he can play several positions, he is probably best suited to SS or 2ND and those two positions could belong to Anderson and Lawrie, next year. If Tyler can establish himself as a regular, they could trade Lawrie, or at least not try to resign him. Or, they might even consider Lawrie as Frazier's replacement at 3RD, when both of them become eligible for free agency, at the end of next year, and giving 2ND to Tyler. Rollins does not enter into that future equation, therefore playing him accomplishes nothing, going forward. 5) At least according to Harrelson, Saladino has a very high baseball acumen, which along with his speed and versatility make him a very useful utility player, at the very least. What am I missing here, aside from some preference for "veteran leadership," or some other dubious notion?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 30, 2016 -> 09:13 AM) http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/batvspitch/_...8/jimmy-rollins There's Ventura's argument for the presence of Rollins in the line-up. Kind of hard to argue with those numbers, and the amount of familiarity he has with the NL in general for so many years. However, aren't a lot of those at bats during his prime? He is obviously not the same player.

What is the solution? Who inside, or outside, of the organization could provide some "relief" to this beleaguered bullpen? How does Shields represent any help? Maybe the best solution is to have the starters pitch deeper into games, thereby limiting the use of the pen. If they can get to the 8TH, instead of the 7TH inning, that would leave just 6 outs to be covered by the relievers. So, how might Shields help achieve that goal? In his first 10 starts, he has gone 7 innings 4 times, and 6 2/3 once. He gave the Padres 6 innings, in the other 5 starts. Is it realistic to expect that he might be able to go 7 innings, on at least half of his starts? The other two questions are; Whom would he replace, Latos or Gonzales, and could either of those guys provide help to the bullpen?

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ May 29, 2016 -> 08:35 AM) The reality here is the Sox need another starter and can't really afford to use their prospects to get one. I'm not sure that Shields is the right guy, but I like the underlying idea. The Padres would definitely have to eat some money (maybe $10M) for this to work. And no doubt it would be risky, but given where the team is at, I'm not against rolling the dice and taking a shot at a playoff run. If you miss the playoffs, I think you really have to consider blowing this thing up. We can't keep trying to patch-work the holes around our stars, especially with the next two free agent classes being garbage. One possible strategy would be to accumulate a couple more veteran pieces, with the idea that they could become good trade "chips," going into this coming off season. With that dearth of talent in this year's coming free agent market, teams seeking to fill holes will likely be more open to trades. We would have a few players that other teams would covet, and for whom we might get some pretty good young talent. Does Shields meet that description? I suppose that at the right price, and assuming that he stays healthy, he could be a player that teams might want. Adopting such a strategy would seem to necessitate holding on to the few remaining young prospects in the organization. Therefore, if they acquire Shields, it doesn't make sense to give up Anderson, but rather take on more salary, instead. Any rumors including Anderson don't make much sense, in any context regarding a trade for Shields.

I can't imagine that the Sox would take on that contract, and give up young talent. That would be very foolish.

All of that nonsense about the closer not being able to pitch with a big lead, because of the absence of adrenaline. Hey, I think he put himself in a big enough jam to muster up some adrenaline. Maybe it was more than adrenaline, that was missing.

The thing to remember, "Chitown" is that if he can't draw walks, he will need to be a .300 plus hitter, in order to have an acceptable OBP. That is a pretty high bar for a young player, even one with a much longer professional career track record. His current OBP is only .21 above his average. That is fine if he can keep hitting .321. Moreover, I think some overlook how hard it is to get extra base hits, unless you are hitting balls in the strike zone. You will note that an awful lot of his hits are singles. Of course, if he can steal enough bases, that would help boost the number of his total bases.

A few points regarding Anderson: 1) He can't come up to just be platooned, facing only LHP. He needs to play every day. 2) His results vs. RHP are probably not good enough yet, to justify his making the huge leap to the Majors. 3) His defense has to be polished enough to hold down the critical shortstop position. His plus arm strength and range are great tools, but he needs to employ them effectively, and make the routine plays, including turning the double play. 4) He appears to have tremendous confidence. It would be a shame to shatter that by subjecting him to failure, on a grand scale. 5) To reiterate, he must demonstrate that he can work counts and draw an occasional base on balls.

And going a little further back, there were the two QB's; Borchard and Fields. Even Micah Johnson was a basketball player first, and then later switched to baseball, where he seemed to always be trying to acquire the baseball skills to match his speed and athleticism. But then, you guys know all that. As I have stated before, I personally prefer skilled baseball players, over "great athletes".

Where do you think Delmonico fits in the Sox future? Is he an option to compete for the third base opening, when Frazier leaves in 2018? Then there is still Davidson. It seems like there are 3 possible replacements for Frazier, if you include Trey. So, who do you guys think has the best shot at it? How would you rank their defense? I would guess that it would be Trey, Nicky and Matt, in that order.

Regarding a potential trade with the Brewers, this might be of interest: http://brewcrewfever.com/2016/05/24/trade-...s-braun-lucroy/ Both Braun and Lucroy are discussed and the Sox included as a possible trading partner. Therefore, sketchy as the article is, it is relevant. The Brewers want young affordable pitching. They would not likely target Anderson, because their #1 prospect, Orlando Arcia, is also a shortstop. Arcia is ranked 2ND, among all SS prospects, by MLB.com.

Ok, Caulfield. I'll accept that as a valid reason to abandon any hope of Morneau being able to contribute this season. I had read that he might be able to contribute somewhere, in the second half. You are probably right. Thanks

Morneau was supposed to be able to start swinging a bat in June. It's almost June, so how is his recovery coming? He wouldn't need to do much more than swing a bat, if they let him DH. Could he be ready to hit after the All Star break?

Look at CarGo's stats, now that he has cooled off. He has pretty much the same line as Avi. When you factor in that he is playing in the N.L. and in Colorado, he doesn't seem very intriguing, especially with that contract.

That is a terrific post, "Dizzy Sox". I never thought about the tendency of the Sox to select "toolsy" outfielders, as a K.W. obsession. You may be on to something. In any case, you express my sentiments exactly. Thank you.

OMG!! If he really profiles as another Grady Sizemore, I'm 100% on board. LOL I don't care if he's only 9 and in Little League. I'll wait.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ May 23, 2016 -> 01:54 PM) He's 19 from a College Prep school though and would most likely be the best player on the boards if they land him. Would be an excellent choice in my opinion. I guess we have to trust the scouts. However, we all know the arguments against a Prep position player: 1) They haven't had an opportunity to ever demonstrate their ability to hit high quality pitching. 2) They require a long time to develop. 3) They aren't even physically mature, so it's difficult to know what they will look like, once they mature. Regarding "best player". The rankings are very close between Collins and Rutherford. Therefore, I assume that there is not a clear "better player". I'd rather have a guy who could contribute in a year or two, rather than 5 years. This is so intriguing to me: http://www.minorleagueball.com/2016/5/10/1...f-miami-florida

I'll be disappointed. A high school position player just seems like such a gamble, as well as a long wait for any contribution. I really want Collins.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 23, 2016 -> 09:55 AM) So two lines of ignoring the trend lines (which are quite important, as he was challenged at this level), and one line referring to a stat that shouldn't be used to evaluate defense. I can understand some hesitation. But you are focusing on a few specific stats, and not seeing the whole picture, both stats and otherwise. Perhaps you misunderstood this last post, which was merely a response to "SouthSideSales". He asked for those stats, and I provided them, since he was at work, and couldn't look it up. I wasn't trying to draw any conclusions from them. I've already stated my concerns, and they remain. However, I am hoping that Anderson continues to make progress and ultimately lives up to the great expectations, which are based primarily on his athleticism.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ May 23, 2016 -> 06:24 AM) Maybe I'm crazy, but I see a guy who is super athletic and just needs the reps at SS. He's getting them at AAA. He may never be elite but he has the tools to be above average. He needs development and it's good to see him doing so. I think we all knew, or at least I knew, he'd struggle to start AAA. Now he's caught fire and swinging great. Haven't checked his BB% and K% rate lately. I look later after work. I also haven't saw anyone posts saying, "well Anderson committed his third error in two games." What's his error total? He now has 6 walks, in 181 plate appearances. He has struck out 42 times, which is 23% He has made 7 errors in 192 chances, for a .964 fielding %.

Although none of us knows what the front office really thinks of Avi, it would seem useful to give him every opportunity to demonstrate whether or not he can be the DH. If he can't, then the need for another bat becomes more acute. It is very doubtful that anyone else on this roster could fill that role. They should be letting him play as much as possible, while carefully evaluating him. In the meantime, Hahn has already stated that they are actively engaged in attempts to acquire a left handed bat.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 20, 2016 -> 07:49 AM) What list of prospects currently out now has 10 guys ranked ahead of him? Hard to believe it's Baseball America, which is generally accepted as one of the best and certainly most famous listings. Even if that were true, it's not really a big deal because SS is the most athletic position on the field, and prospects coming up there often end up at 2B, 3B, CF or pretty much anywhere in the outfield. I'm sure most of the lists only have a couple of catchers ahead of him, that's just the nature of the game right now. There's a lot of incoming talent at that position, such as Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, Manny Machado will be shifted there from 3B once JJ Hardy leaves Baltimore, Bogaerts, Cozart, Corey Seager, Dansby Swanson, Trea Turner, Brandon Crawford, Trevor Story (there's an even better prospect behind him in the Rockies' system), Ketel Marte and Addison Russell/Javier Baez. These positions tend to ebb and flow. 15 years ago, ARod/Nomar/Tejada/Jeter ruled the AL. Recently, it was almost impossible to find a great 3B...and certainly a franchise catcher. As far as Anderson hitting leadoff, he would hit 8th or 9th his first year or two before becoming comfortable. Eventually, he'll end up at leadoff, 2nd or at the bottom of the order if his OBP/OPS don't merit as many AB's. The reason trading Anderson won't happen is we have to fill holes (or sign extensions) at 3B, SS, 2B, catcher, CF and LF over the next two years, and that's not even dealing with the rising cost of pitching (and the lack thereof in terms of cheap/young pitchers on the market). That's six positions alone...and you could probably make it 7, adding uncertainty surrounding Avi Garcia's future. Anderson has to become an All-Star player for the White Sox unless they're going to raise the payroll to the $150-175 million range. It's also not a sure thing they're going to want to overpay Todd Frazier in his middle thirties for declining production...he'll probably receive offers like $70 million for 3 years if he keeps this current pace up over the next couple of years (assuming the defense stays the same and BA is in the 240's). The only shortstops, whom you mentioned, who are on the Top Prospects List ahead of Anderson, are Crawford, Turner and Swanson. The rest of the players you cited are no longer considered prospects.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 22, 2016 -> 09:35 PM) Probably has something to do with Garcia being very cool recently and 0/12 with 4 k's against Ventura lifetime. Sands has also been more dangerous this past week, so attempting to with the hot hand and shake things up a bit. If Avi is supposdly a different hitter, with his new approach, shouldn't his history against a particular pitcher be of less significance? You would think that they would like to see how the changes affect his results against a guy who had previously dominated him.