JUSTgottaBELIEVE

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jul 19, 2017 -> 01:10 PM) I'm not sure anyone really complained about the Eaton trade, but otherwise the "one player short" comments are frequent. And quite frankly, I think they reflect exactly what Hahn is trying to accomplish with these trades and that's grabbing the best potential impact talents possible. The hardest thing to find is stars and with greater restrictions on the draft & international free agency it's got even harder for rebuilding clubs. Basically, you have to get super lucky or spend big in free agency if you don't have great draft position or valuable that can be cashed in to kick off a rebuild. We had three super valuable trade chips coming into this rebuild. For those three assets, we landed two blue chip positional prospects & five quality pitching prospects along with some filler (sorry Basabe). We were also able to use some of our payroll savings to add another potential positional star in Robert. That's a great start, especially on the pitching side, but obviously we needed more star upside on the positional side. IMO, even though I feel the trade is a player light when viewed in isolation, getting another potential blue chipper in Rutherford is HUGE for the overall process. We all have to remember this is a numbers game. As much as I wish we could, we simply can't assume all these guys work out. Let's say we have four potential positional stars in Moncada, Jimenez, Robert, & Rutherford. If two of those guys become full-fledged superstars, one becomes an above-average everyday player, and the fourth guy completely flops, that's a huge win for us. We have enough organizational depth and payroll capacity to fill in holes with good/solid players. The important thing is finding two or three superstars for the lineup and another two or three in the rotation. Getting Rutherford puts us in a much better spot to achieve that goal. And while a much lesser consideration, losing Robertson & Kahnle puts us in a better position to land a future superstar in the 2018 draft. So again, while I think this trade is a little light on its own merits, I think it was worth making when considering the whole process. I just think it's hard to pass on a potential superstar today, because you might get a better prospect with a higher ceiling down the road. I just don't think the reward is worth the risk, especially if you believe that Rutherford can be a blue chipper by next season. The funny thing is, depending upon how you define superstar, the White Sox kind of already had that prior to this season between Eaton, Abreu, Sale, Q and now Avi this year. I'm not saying at this point I disagree with the rebuild approach but just find it ironic that the best case scenario for this rebuild is to find a new group of core players (which is a risk when referring to prospects) when we had already established this type of core group locked up for multiple seasons yet still couldn't manage to win more than 78 games.

QUOTE (ChiSoxJon @ Jul 14, 2017 -> 02:03 PM) Don't see Yanks going hard after a 1B after yesterday's deal for one and Bird likely to return by mid-August However they do absolutely need starting pitching and relief Q would have been perfect, maybe they take back D-Rob and/or Swarzak Bird's bad ankle might require surgery. If so, he's basically done for the year or at least until late September.

https://mobile.twitter.com/GDubCub/status/8...%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Bottom line, I want no part of Corey Ray as the centerpiece in a Q trade. I agree with the other posters that NYY, LA, and HOU all line up as better trade partners in a Q deal. I also think those 3 teams are much more likely to make a trade for someone like Q because they are in the midst of their competitive window (NYY just now hitting their stride) while the Brewers are just beginning to scratch the surface.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 27, 2017 -> 12:24 PM) Unless he's going to absolutely destroy his leg and cost himself 2+ seasons of development next year, then Jared Mitchell is a pretty poor comparison. Check out Mitchell's offensive numbers from his 2011 season and Ray's this season. Nearly identical at the same age. Ray has a higher slash line overall but it appears to be inflated by a .385 BABIP (well above his .299 BABIP last season in A+). K and BB rates very similar as well. http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playe...amp;position=OF http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playe...amp;position=OF

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Jun 27, 2017 -> 12:18 PM) Ray's K% rate scares me for sure. Ortiz has been solid, but the rest of their top 10 prospects have had mediocre or down seasons for sure. Based on his numbers and age, some parallels to a younger Jared Mitchell..

The Brewers had a highly touted farm system entering the season but wow have their top 10 prospects had a tough go at it this year. Outside of Brinson's AAA stint (he's been terrible since his promotion to the big league club), the stats from their top 10 guys are UGLY overall. Ray striking out a 31.5% clip in A+ at age 22 (turns 23 in September) is an ominous sign.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Jun 26, 2017 -> 07:20 PM) 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 5 K for Hansen.. Oh and no walks At this rate he's going to be the second best pitching prospect in the system after Kopech by season's end.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 24, 2017 -> 05:07 PM) 38,618 Yea and felt like it. Very crowded, almost forgot what that feels like...

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 24, 2017 -> 05:28 AM) Now up 16% through 29 home dates (I assumed 35,000 for Buehrle) 2017 632,235 total, 21,801 average 2016 546,600 total, 18,848 average 29th game last year on Jun 6, this year on June 24...we were in first place all last May until the final day of the month 22. AZ 23,918 23. MN 23,804 24. Pitt 23,631 25. Cincy 23,122 26. CLE 22,600 27. CHW 21,801 28. Miami 20,821 Chicago the oldest stadium of all those teams, closest is Jacobs/Progressive in CLE I bet the 35,000 assumption for today's game is low. The stadium is going to be packed, I'd guess standing room only.

Pumped to attend today's game. Will be more energy in the stadium today than any other home game this season.

Nice https://mobile.twitter.com/simple_jack12/st...7563008/photo/1

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Jun 23, 2017 -> 10:40 AM) Robertson and Swarzak are not getting the White Sox Soto, Kieboom and Luzardo I don't get the romantic desire for Schwarber. He has been awful so far in 2017 and his value is WAY down. Abreu is not getting Rutherford, Andujar and Abreu Completely agree. I would be thrilled if Robertson + Swarzak nets Soto and Luzardo. I really like Soto, especially where he would potentially fit into this rebuild. Schwarber, yea, I'll pass. Already have enough DH types on this roster and minor league system. Abreu isn't going anywhere any time soon.

Also, a +9 run differential 71 games into the season is another thing I would not have anticipated.

The Sox are 8th in the AL in runs scored per game. That is absolutely shocking to me. I thought they were a lock for bottom 2 in the AL this year with this lineup. If they maintain an average offense for the next few years, they will be competitive sooner than most think assuming the next wave of young pitching is as good as advertised.

QUOTE (shipps @ Jun 22, 2017 -> 12:41 PM) A trade of Schwarber for Robertson is not something the Cubs would do but I would jump at that in a second. Robertson has no future with this Sox team and they obviously havent been bowled over with other deals. I think its a risk worth taking to get a guy with Schwarbers potential. If you take away the fact he is a Cub, the history of everyone overly hyping him as a current player, and the fact a scout called him Babe F'ing Ruth I think a lot of people wouldnt be so hard on him as a prospect around here. I really think the Sox can do better than Schwarber in a Robertson trade. Plus, where does Schwarber fit? Don't the Sox already have enough DH types as it is? Lastly, year 1 of arbitration starts in 2019 for Schwarber. Just not a great overall fit for this rebuild IMO.

QUOTE (shipps @ Jun 22, 2017 -> 12:26 PM) Yes, I dont care what people say about the kid. He is down and out right now but I would put my money on him coming back and being an offensive monster eventually. I mean, sure, if they would do a Schwarber for Fulmer swap or something to that effect I'd take it. But no way I'm giving up a Q or even Robertson unless I'm getting more back. Theo has absolutely no leverage in that trade scenario.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 22, 2017 -> 10:51 AM) David Kaplan‏ @thekapman Cubs are sending Kyle Schwarber to Class AAA Iowa. Not expected to be gone long but it is an opportunity to clear his head. I don't know about you but I'm SHOOK! Mike Trout and Kyle Schwarber two best players in today's MLB without question

Coincidentally, Gaetti was selected at #11 as well

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jun 10, 2017 -> 11:54 AM) That would mean most of the players the Sox have acquired are playing poorly. I'll take this year. But if the Sox are that bad next year, they need to start the rebuild all over again because the players they acquired suck. Not necessarily. It wouldn't be shocking to see Moncada, Lopez, Delmonico, Giolito struggle a bit in their first full season of big league ball. And if they do struggle next year, it doesn't mean they won't have it figured out by 2019-2020 when the club expects to start competing again.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 9, 2017 -> 01:16 PM) You know what's a small thing that annoys me to an outsized degree, but for seemingly no reason at all a report that was aimed to understand the cost discrepancies between New Yorks subway expansion to other cities/countries was defunded, so in the future if a big dense city wants to do an infrastructure project it doesn't know why it costs 10x per mile to do it in US v. France It seems odd to me that it would cost 10x as much in a country like France, but I can assure you one thing. It is not the professional services (engineering services) driving this cost discrepancy. We are paid well relative to other professions as a whole but not THAT well and typically account for only ~10-25% of the entire project cost depending upon complexity.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 9, 2017 -> 01:06 PM) It was mainly whining about regulations but his props were 11x17 binders full of "unnecessary paperwork" for some big highway project somewhere. Maybe it's just because I'm a liberal snowflake but I think engineering designs are good for major infrastructure projects. As a civil engineer, I would agree!

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 9, 2017 -> 11:55 AM) To cap off an historic Infrastructure Week, Trump gave a press conference in which he appeared to decry the idea of engineering being involved in infrastructure projects. Infrastructure Week has been incredible, btw. what did he say?

No doubt Lebron is "shook" after this play by Curry http://www.nba.com/video/2017/06/01/004160...-cle-gsw-play18

QUOTE (Tony @ May 31, 2017 -> 05:24 PM) Schwarber is all sorts of messed up. OVER-RATED, clap, clap, clappity, clap