caulfield12

Well Carlos has single-handedly added four runs to Noesi's ERA line, so that's a bit of an ironic concept (in the locker room) if they do eventually remove Hector and leave Danks standing. We'll probably get a modified 6 man rotation, knowing the White Sox. Which will end up making NOBODY happy.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ May 3, 2015 -> 07:16 PM) So you haven't watched a fight in a decade but you're going to comment on his place in history? The same way I don't have to watch every LeBron James regular season game to assess where he stands vs. Jordan or Kobe Bryant or Tim Duncan. He's a technical counter-puncher who rarely goes for the knockout and dances his way out of trouble...but he has never once had a great fight in his career, a Thrilla in Manila or even one that's particularly memorable. To go down as the greatest, you have to have 2-3 rivals that elevate you to that level, like Palmer and Watson and Player for Jack Nicklaus, etc. Foreman/Liston/Frazier for Ali, etc.

There's no way Eaton is going down unless he's still slumping in late June or July. They're committed to him as the future CFer. Gillaspie's situation is more fluid with Beckham, Bonfacio, Davidson, Sanchez and Saladino. He won't get half the patience that Adam will receive because there are a lot of options for his particular position.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ May 3, 2015 -> 07:47 PM) "Guys, stop f***ing giving up runs." Defense, please don't make 3-5 mistakes per game. Q's probably thinking "Why do I get a loss or no decision every single time out? WHY ME?" by this time. Actually, two of the four mistakes today were related to Danks...so hard to blame other players other than LaRoche and Micah (unless there was yet another error I missed after giving up on the game around the 6th inning).

http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox/white-...rors-loss-twins Pitchers (5 starters, seemingly) have already had a meeting to address their struggles. http://www.csnchicago.com/white-sox/white-...rors-loss-twins Double-edged sword here. “I really love to play for Robin because he’s a friend, he’s a brother, he’s like a father in some situations,” Abreu said. “He lets you play your game. That’s good. Something that in baseball, if you are a good person, that doesn’t translate that you are going to be successful every time. He’s very good. I love to play for him.” .... “We cannot blame Robin,” Abreu said through an interpreter. “It’s our fault because we are the ones who are playing. We are the people who are in the field. Just for us, we are not doing the things right. “If the people want someone to blame, it’s the players, not Robin. He’s doing what he can do, but the results aren’t there.”

Well, they're definitely not going to fire Hahn or replace 10-12 players in the middle of the season.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 3, 2015 -> 06:21 PM) To me that shows some leadership is happening in the clubhouse. Abreu knows what this team looks like, and he is trying to take some of that blame off of his managers shoulders. That means they at least like Ventura, even if they don't play well for him. Of course, it's very difficult to come up with many examples in recent baseball history (at least the age of the internet) where players turned openly against a manager and "broke the unwritten code" of baseball media relations. In other words, when's the last time a player said, "We're all doing our absolute best, but collectively we simply don't feel as if we have the right manager to lead us to the next level." What's going to make things even harder this week is going to be yet another crowd of 75% (AND VOCAL about it) Tigers' fans at USCF. That's hard for the broadcasters to ignore as well...or those doing national/local highlights.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ May 3, 2015 -> 06:43 PM) That Kyle Schwarber guy is looking more legit everyday. Watch out, the Cubs Patrol will nab you.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 3, 2015 -> 06:22 PM) LOL. Choose to hold them "accountable". Yet here you are still talking about the team, watching games, etc. But perhaps not spending money and/or creating revenue for the team. Unless it's for the draconian overlords at SoxTalk (jk).

QUOTE (oldsox @ May 3, 2015 -> 06:22 PM) That means Sox won't give him QO, which means Sox do not get a comp draft pick in 2016, which means the trade has dubious value, from a second guesser's point of view. They can still give him the QO...that's FAIRLY certain, unless he's simply so bad they wouldn't want him back even for a one year deal around $15-16 million or whatever it will end up being. That would be the very worst case scenario. They're more likely to trade him if this year falls apart, knowing the players they can get back in trade are going to impact the supposed competitive window of 2016-2019 (plus, they have the Jake Peavy trade and its "success" to point to).

https://twitter.com/ChiTribKane/status/594907208703324160 LOL at Rongey trying to "spin" Abreu's comments to make them seem more significant and "unsolicited." Oh, brother.

QUOTE (Lillian @ May 3, 2015 -> 05:54 PM) Why couldn't they sit Jeff down and explain the predicament, in which they find themselves. Tell him they would love to sign him long term, but that they understand that he wants to test free agency. Candidly admit that their chances for competing for a play off spot this year are fading fast, and that they have a flawed offense, which they will try to fix, in the off season. Suggest to him that he would have a better shot at winning, if they can find a suitable trade partner, for the rest of this season, and that they hope to fill one of the few remaining holes, through the trade. After the season, they would like to discuss his signing a long term contract with them. The benefit of that candor would be that they wouldn't burn any bridges, and keep open the possibility of bringing him back. They could arguably be well advised to consider trading him sooner, rather than later, as you suggest. If this season falls apart they're not going to spend $100-120 million to fix it on a single pitcher who probably isn't even an ace in the first place. (For another reason, they would be MUCH better off allocating that money across 3-5 areas of weakness instead of putting it all in one basket.)

Q's value is down right now, too. No sense on selling low, unless there's a feeling he won't return to form (in which case they never would have extended him in the first place). Same with Cabrera (because he's not hitting for any power)...same with LaRoche. Samardzija, Robertson (and that's giving up again on 2016, in all likelihood, at least in the eyes of fans)....some bullpen pieces, Ramirez, if he can get back to being a 650-700 OPS player. Of course, trading Sale would be the ultimate shocker.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?g...p_copy_98726483 This video/interview with Jeff Luhnow is very interesting for a number of reasons. One, the parallels you can draw with the 2005 White Sox when we added a bunch of question marks (as opposed to this offseason where we spent on big names). Neshek, Colby Rasmus, Jake Marisnick, Luis Valbuena, Jed Lowrie, E.Gattis, Luke Gregorson and Fausto Carmona/Roberto Hernandez. Second, the fact that SOMEHOW Gary Pettis has become a very good coach for the Astros, when he didn't have much of an impact in Chicago and wasn't retained...and of course he coaches in two areas (outfield defense and baserunning) we're struggling mightily in right now. It's also noteworthy how Hinch (despite his many failures in his first go-around) learned from his mistakes and has tightened up every single aspect of the team compared to the players who didn't believe in themselves 2-3 seasons ago, and perhaps looked for things to go wrong instead of expecting to win and playing with confidence. Basically, they're getting solid pitching from their top four (Kuechel, McHugh, who was picked up on waivers, Feldman and Carmona), strong bullpen (many came over from SD organization with AJ Hinch, who was already familiar with them)....getting very little or nothing from Springer/Carter/Gattis until recently (only Altuve was hitting) but still able to put together a 9-10 game winning streak. They've got essentially three centerfielders in Springer, Marisnick and Rasmus, so solid defense. The Appel pick doesn't look nearly as bad as it did a year ago, although of course they'd probably prefer Bryant. They were quite fortunate when Grossman and Dominguez declined extended guaranteed deals....with only Singleton (maybe a miss) and George Springer biting. The whole Brady Aiken situation has turned in their favor...and they have Two Top 10 draft picks in a month (although it's a weaker draft). Tyler Kolek isn't setting the world on fire, either. Carlos Correa right now is the best position prospect in MILB, at a premium position in SS. They've also got Appel, Preston Tucker, Colin Moran and Domingo Santana (OF) to name a few within a year or less of the big leagues and knocking on the door. So congratulations to HOUSTON for conceiving a plan and sticking to it and doing it all while not breaking the bank in free agency...but spending money wisely and allocating it across 7-8 different positions of weakness like the White Sox did entering 2005.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 3, 2015 -> 05:25 PM) None of the front office has been in their positions for 10 years. Except for Williams....and Bell is probably close, too. If you call them part of the "front office," depends on definition.

Not only that, but the tightness is leading to problems in all those other areas we keep noting. For example, today....Danks was so used to Abreu playing 1B that he assumed a ball was going to go down the line for a hit and he started backing up home, then was too late to realize it was actually LaRoche playing 1B and he'd made a wonderful play to stop it, only to have problems dealing with the throw in his haste to recover and get back to the bag. Micah Johnson is starting to be impacted by the pressing, as they moved him to leadoff and also his defense is getting a bit shakier. I guess the excuse for Eaton's poor play on Friday was that he was sick...that excuses everything that happened on the field of play and exonerates Ventura from any blame as well. Of course, if that wasn't the case, shouldn't someone have noticed and pulled him from the game after his first mistake, or second?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 3, 2015 -> 12:11 PM) There is no savings. Homer Bailey still gets paid. He is owed $86 million.LOL. Because if you actually took the time to read what I wrote/proposed, the White Sox wouldn't pay anything for Danks for the remainder of 2015 and 2016. Hence, $28 million "created" to spend to fix holes elsewhere...with the idea you're signing Homer Bailey as a free agent to join the club in May or June or 2016. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/compensa...incinnati-reds/ I also said the Reds were going to pay the buyout for 2020, $5 million. So the White Sox don't pay Danks $28 million for 2015-16. The White Sox have to pay Bailey $89.3 million for 2015-19. Actually, they would REALLY be paying Homer Bailey $61.3 million for 2016-17-18-19, four years, about $15.5 million per season (escalating). It's risky, but paying Danks $28 million for the next two seasons is even dumber. At least this way, you get an asset back, and 2015 is almost becoming irrelevant at this point anyway. So you have: Sale Quintana Rodon Bailey Noesi/Montas/Johnson/Danish/possible first round collegiate pitcher All under control at least through 2019. If the medicals all check out and team feels confident he'll perform more like Harvey than Gavin Floyd. If not, pass. Of course, unless you prefer to pay Jeff Samardzija $22.5 million for five years instead. And not clear Danks from the roster, but instead prefer him to be an obstacle for the team and front office going forward.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ May 3, 2015 -> 02:08 PM) He will be defending RV after game................he was borderline embarrassing for a beat writer yesterday He works for the team/mlb....not a surprise.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ May 3, 2015 -> 02:05 PM) This has to be the bottom doesn't it? I think we do miss Price and Anibal unless they skip Lobstein, lol.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 3, 2015 -> 02:06 PM) Injury to Abreu, Robertson, Sale, Q or Avi would be the only thing that could make this worse. Dont forget Rodon if theres a brawl. Or Tim Anderson.

Moncada, Swihart, Owens (or Rodriguez) and Bradley, Jr. Or bust, lol.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ May 3, 2015 -> 02:01 PM) Who would the Sox demand from Boston for Sale? Betts, Swihart, Owens, Moncada? Forgot about Moncada. Devers and Margot as well. Would rather take a flyer on Bradley Jr. As fifth guy than overvalue Betts. Eduardo Rodriguez (p)

QUOTE (flavum @ May 3, 2015 -> 01:55 PM) If a message is sent tonight or tomorrow, it's probably going to be Micah. Probably not fair to send down a rookie, but that's usually the first step. For Sanchez, who will promptly go 0 for the Detroit series...

But our bullpen is nails. Sort of.

Biggest question....does Ventura let them enjoy another offday tmrw? More errors. Terrible, wide throw. Contagion.