Lillian

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 17, 2016 -> 08:52 AM) Instead of stressing about what is going to go wrong, people could just enjoy what is going right. Some of us are not stressing over "what is going to go wrong," but rather over what has gone wrong, for quite a while now. I remember all too well the many games last year, in which Sale and Quintana pitched great, but the offense couldn't score enough to get them a win. The winning record aside, we are just wondering if the front office has sufficiently upgraded this offense enough to reverse that frustrating trend. Of course, the players who are struggling are not likely to do this poorly all season. The question is how much better will they do. What do you expect to get from all of the new guys on the roster? Do you think that Lawrie and Frazier will improve on their career numbers? I certainly hope that we can look forward to better than their combined career .315 OBP, which I pointed out in a previous post.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 17, 2016 -> 07:36 AM) The offense is going to get better, but it still looks like it will be a problem. And even if the pitching staff doesn't regress, which is basically impossible, we're not going to stay this lucky. A winning record does not prevent you from acknowledging flaws with the team and if you're Rick Hahn you need to act on them as quickly as possible. My sentiments, exactly. Thank you.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 17, 2016 -> 07:01 AM) Hahn knows they are screwed. He knows White Sox fans are way too smart to buy tickets to see a team that wins. Why is it anything positive is always something that can't be sustained, and anything negative is just how things are no matter the sample size? I'm curious, what do project for the season totals from Frazier, Lawrie and Avi?

Wouldn't you love to know how management really feels about this team? They can't be naive enough to be optimistic and swayed by the early wins. Don't you suspect that Hahn knows this offense is not well enough constructed to be a serious contender? The question is, how in the world are they gong fix it, at this point?

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Apr 16, 2016 -> 09:50 PM) It's not a left handed bat necessarily. It's a bat. Frazier needs to come out of his coma....if the Sox are going to pay that much for a hitter, he needs to hit. The problems aren't because he hits from the right side. The can also switch Garcia out and try some other guys (Sands, and, dare I suggest, Saladino once in a while). If we can throw 4 lefties in the rotation, we can use right handed bats. They just need to hit. I agree with your assertion that the need is for another solid hitter, period. He doesn't have to necessarily bat left handed. My point has always been that we don't face many good southpaws, because most of the best ones are on our roster. If the Sox could acquire a right handed hitter, who can hit RHP, that would be fine. However, that would likely cost them even more than a guy whose stats are not that impressive, but who at least hits RHP. Therefore, it's more likely that he would be left handed. Here are the career and current stats for Lawrie and Frazier, vs RHP: Frazier: Career vs. RHP .252 .317 .446 .763 Currently stats vs. RHP .179 .220 .359 .578 Lawrie: Career vs. RHP .259 .313 .414 .728 Currently stats vs. RHP .250 .289 .306 .595 Their combined career .315 OBP vs. RHP is what troubles me. Those are the two "big bats" which the front office acquired in the off season, which are supposed to help turn this offense around. I'm not encouraged. Moreover, we don't yet know how Frazier will do facing A.L. pitching. They need another bat, or this team is likely to face a lot of heart breaking losses, in low scoring games. What a waste of a great pitching staff. The Sox have been lucky to start the season facing sub .500 teams. Oakland, Cleveland without Brantley and Minnesota didn't pose much of a challenge. It's going to get a whole lot tougher.

I understand that some of you don't share my concern over the lack of a left handed middle of the order bat. It might just be coincidental, but please note that the two guys, who are leading the team in hitting are the left handed hitters, Eaton and Cabrera, and all of Melky's hits so far are batting left handed. The OBP of our right handed hitters, with the exception of Abreu, is not likely to be very good. I'm not optimistic about Frazier and Lawrie getting on base at an above average rate and Avi is a huge question mark, at this stage of his career. I will be very surprised if this glaring need is not addressed by the front office, very soon. They can't afford to waste this terrific pitching. I have no idea how they are going to accomplish it, but I'd be very surprised if Hahn is not working hard on this issue. It was questionable enough, when they elected to depend upon LaRoche, but with him gone, it's obvious that they have a big void. What is really frustrating is how they don't even have a single viable, future candidate in the Minors. At this point, I'd be willing to trade Anderson and stretch the payroll, if it would bring in that bat, for at least a couple more years. The Sox are very lucky to be 8 and 3 with this offense. While they have played all but two of their games on the road, they haven't faced very good competition.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 16, 2016 -> 06:34 PM) I would think currently the only candidate I could think of that would definitely be available at a low price is Jay Bruce. He obviously would be a gamble. I just don't think middle of the order bats are available right now at a price that makes sense. Eventually they will be. Let's hope that it's soon.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 16, 2016 -> 02:58 PM) What is getting old is in your quest for a middle of the order left handed bat, you suggest hitters who aren't middle of the order hitters anymore. Sizemore hadn't played in 3 seasons yet you thought he would make a fine clean up hitter, Panda sucked last year and really was no better than Conor Gillaspie the year before, that was before his got even heavier to the point he belt exploded on a swing and a miss the other day. Panda is eating his way out of baseball. If he wasn't owed the money he was owed, he probably would be stuffing his face right now somewhere as an ex ball player. He is a talented guy, it is a shame he either won't get the help he needs to put himself in a better position to perform, or he just can't do it. It isn't like he has to be all that well conditioned to play baseball. But he is off the charts now, and going the wrong way. It is one of those signings where you just knew what was going to happen. The guy has played well fat before, but he is getting older and fatter. I would think a professional athlete being paid what he is being paid would want to be in the physical condition he needed to be in to provide the most value. From some of his comments last year, it seems like he doesn't really give a s***. He is content getting paid . I guess that I do tend to explore some pretty desperate alternatives, in my never ending quest for a left handed hitter. I'm the first to admit that. However, don't you agree that the Sox do in deed need a left handed bat? Right now, Melky is pretty much the only guy who can break up the string of Abreu, Frazier, Lawrie and Avi. Yes, you're right. I do obsess over that void, on the Sox roster. You will note that our offense has pretty much stunk, during these last few seasons, that I have been harping on this topic. If these guys were getting it done, all from the right side, it would be less of an issue. Rick Hahn has himself, similarly expressed the need for a left handed bat. His choice of LaRoche was a failure, and Kenny Williams' pick of Dunn, wasn't exactly a smashing success, when you consider the cost. So I guess my suggestions haven't been much worse, and would have cost a lot less. They're just lucky LaRoche bowed out of the remainder of his contract. I wish that this organization would finally address this need, and acquire a decent left handed, power bat. Then we could all stop speculating about these desperate possible solutions. Until then, the "quest" continues. Do you have any realistic candidates, whom you would like to suggest?

To all of you who are complaining about having raised this idea again: I stated, shortly after posting it, that I agree that it's a bad idea, especially now that he appears to have a serious shoulder injury. My original interest was based upon the fact that his career numbers vs. RHP are pretty intriguing: .298 .352 .484 He is still only 29 and I was speculating that Boston might eat enough of his salary to make it palatable. I assume that the wise crack about Sizemore was yet another of the never ending references to my ill advised fascination with his potential "comeback". Will I never live that one down? LOL I still don't think that it was a foolish suggestion. That was a couple of years ago, when Sizemore was still only 31. He's the same age as Cano and Sin Chu Soo, who had both just signed huge free agent contracts. Back then, as now, the Sox needed a left handed bat, with Dunn retiring. Hey, he would have been a better gamble than signing La Roche. At least we wouldn't have had to commit to more than one year, and with almost no impact on the payroll. It would have saved us the whole disrupting fiasco over Adam and his son. Sizemore didn't make the comeback, on which I wanted to gamble. So what? What kind of a gamble did La Roche turn out to be? And he was 35 when the Sox signed him.

The Sox are 21ST in the Majors, in runs scored, averaging just 3.5 runs per game. Their OBP is under .300, at just .288. It's amazing that they are 8 and 2. This pitching is just terrific. I hope that Ventura starts hitting Melky behind Abreu and in front of Frazier, vs RHP. That seems like their best option, until they can acquire that middle of the order left handed bat, which I'm always advocating. Cabrera doesn't have the power, but he's a good run producer, and he seems to be on one of his streaks.

I agree with all of you. Now that the shoulder injury appears to be something serious, it wouldn't make any sense, at any price. Would someone please close this thread? It was just a thought and I was merely asking. I think I have my answer.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Apr 15, 2016 -> 03:48 PM) Needs liposuction, weight reduction, shoulder work But hey, bats lefty, lets put him at cleanup That's pretty funny. You're right. Never mind.

I didn't see today's article: https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2...d_ReadMore_Pos4 I guess the shoulder issue may be more serious than I assumed.

This article from a couple weeks ago, suggests that the Red Sox appear to be ready to extricate themselves from the Sandoval disaster:. https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2...PeLP/story.html How much of his horrible contract would boston have to pay to get a team to take him off their hands? The first thing the acquiring team should do is suggest that he have liposuction, on that enormous belly. Then they would need to assign someone to cook for him and "baby sit" him, to make sure that he eats what he's supposed to eat. Back down to a reasonable weight, could he provide that left handed, middle of the order bat, the White Sox could use, vs. RHP? Who would sit? I really would like to give Avi as much of an opportunity to succeed, as possible. I'd hate to see him only getting at bats vs. LHP. Avi is too young and too intriguing to be platooned, this early in his career. Any ideas?

6 and 2, with only 2 games played at home. I'll take it.

If Danks can reach 91 - 92 on his fast ball, and keep his change up down, he can get a lot of guys out. He had a lot of very good starts last year, especially in the second half. I didn't watch his first start. What was his velocity?

Looking at his career, and considering that he just turned 29, I think Jackson may be a better player than some of you think. If you take out a couple bad months, here and there, he has been a remarkably consistent hitter. His career .273 Average with a .333 OBP, is a very reasonable expectation. He also hits both righties and lefties about the same. His bad year in 2014 might be explained by the sprained ankle, which he incurred on May 3RD, resulting in a terrible month, during which he hit just .200 with a .239 OBP. The rest of the year was fine, and included one month, in which he hit .307 with an OBP of .391 and another month, in which he hit .349 with an OBP of .390. He's had more at bats leading off, than anywhere else in the lineup, but I'd rather see him hitting 9TH. That gives the Sox two potential "lead off" type hitters, in succession.

Loney has been a very consistently good average and OBP hitter vs. RHP, in his career. The last 3 years, in the A.L., in over 1000 at bats, he has averaged .300 with an OBP of .350 vs. RHP. Those numbers are right in line with his career stats. It is also worth noting that he does not strikes out very often, and He's a good defensive first baseman. Here are the AT BATS, AVERAGE and ON BASE PERCENTAGE STATS, for the last 3 years: 2013 395 .299 .352 2014 428 .304 .355 2015 277 .296 .341 He will turn 32 in May. The problem is that there is no place for him to play. If an injury happened to Abreu, or one of the outfielders, he would be a decent replacement at 1ST, or DH. However, barring that scenario, he would be on the bench, as an occasional late inning defensive replacement to spell Abreu. The team does not have an obvious need for a left handed pinch hitter, as no one is that bad against RHP.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Mar 30, 2016 -> 07:46 AM) And not a successful one. I would like to think that they never would have traded for Lawrie had the Frazier trade come first. But this org. would trade Sanchez before Lawrie. I hope Ishikawa is up because the Sox think he can hit; not for this Robin clubhouse nonsense. I agree. They wouldn't have needed Lawrie, if they had already acquired Frazier. It looks like Billy Beane may have gotten the best of the Sox again. Maybe he knew that Lawrie was a "strike out machine". He's a great athlete, and he's strong, but he doesn't look like he's a very good hitter. A lot of teams have already given up on him. Let's hope that Steverson can get through to him. I hate that big hitch of his.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 29, 2016 -> 04:51 PM) Do tell How about one bullpen arm and Lawrie, for a left handed bat, that some team wants to unload as a salary dump. The Sox have salary room. I'd much rather have the strong defense up the middle, and a middle of the order left handed bat. Ethier would have been a candidate for such a trade, but the injury killed that. For me, this is more about liking Sanchez, than disliking Lawrie. I have the feeling Carlos is ready to contribute.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 29, 2016 -> 04:46 PM) The Sox aren't gonna bench Lawrie and call up Sanchez early in the season if Lawrie isn't hitting. The only reason Sanchez will come up will be Saladino being miserably bad or injury I understand that, but I wouldn't mind a trade for a left handed bat. I've always loved Sanchez and Lawrie is not doing anything to impress. He has struck out 17 times in 44 at bats, this Spring. Yikes.

QUOTE (BrianAnderson @ Mar 29, 2016 -> 02:27 PM) The way I look at it, although Carlos might not agree with me, I'd rather be him playing every day in AAA than be the reserve role like Saladino. I like Sanchez more than Tyler. I actually see more future value in him than Lawrie at 2b too. However, at this point I'd rather see him and Davidson down in AAA. I'm not sold on Davidson. Let him show a half season or more at AAA of doing this. He is so fragile. I feel like he could hit .350 in AAA, get a call-up and then start 0-8 and be in a mental pickle and do horrible again. I wouldn't be surprised to see Rollins or Saladino both struggle or get injured and have Sanchez as your SS for a stretch some time this year. Given the superior defense that Sanchez provides, if Lawrie doesn't start hitting, and Carlos starts the year on fire, at Charlotte, the Sox will be confronted with a difficult decision. Lawrie has not had a good Spring. His strikeouts are just awful. Way too many. Carlos has outplayed him by a huge margin.

QUOTE (sammy esposito @ Mar 20, 2016 -> 10:47 PM) In my 58 years of watching sox baseball I never had the urge to watch a Cubs game. If they do well and make it to the playoffs or to the world series I will quietly root for the opposing team. If they win I will congratulate my Cub fan friends for winning. I think this objection is from Sale. Eaton will be sad because he will again be the shortest man in the clubhouse again Yes, of course, because you are a "die hard" Sox fan. You did understand that I was talking about how comparatively unappealing this looks to a those just beginning to develop an interest in Chicago baseball. Can you honestly say that if you were 58 years younger, and just starting to follow baseball, that you would choose to root for the Sox, rather than the Cubs? I've rooted for the Sox since 1954, even a couple years longer than you have. However, if I were just beginning to become interested in the game, I doubt this nonsense would draw me to the South Side. This franchise can little afford such a distraction, for many reasons. That was my point.

This is all just one more reason for the city of Chicago to root for the Cubs. We're all die hards, but really guys, ask yourself this: If I weren't blindly loyal to the Sox, and if I hadn't been a fan, my whole life, for which team would I be rooting, this season? The North Side has a terrific young team, with a great manager and we have.....well, this?!!!! Way to go La Roche, Sale and Eaton. Great job. How idiotic!!!!

I don't understand why some cannot make the distinction between being granted a privilege, and someone taking advantage of it. Unless it is determined that La Roche was promised to be able to have his son be that much of a presence on the team, asking him to "dial it back" does not constitute reneging on the agreement, whether verbal or written. That distinction has been made here, by others, but some just can't seem to comprehend it. It would be like your friend asking you if he could borrow your car, and you replied; "Of course, here are the keys. Anytime" Only then, to discover that your friend is using your car, all day, every day and keeping it in his garage. Wouldn't you want to "dial it back" a little? Could you really be accused of reneging on your "promise" to him, by asking him to do so? I think that it is fair to assume that the organization did not envision the extraordinary degree to which A. L. would abuse this unusual privilege. Perhaps they waited too long to say something, but that doesn't alter their justification for doing so. Maybe they assumed that either La Roche himself, or some of the players, would eventually intervene to ask him to "dial it back".