mmmmmbeeer

If Bohm is there, he should be the pick.

This new Tim Anderson is a damn good ballplayer. The emotion he's shown is totally new.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Apr 5, 2018 -> 02:37 PM) Hawk was nice for a batter or two. Now he's rambling. Yes, in that half inning we learned that Avi should be an MVP candidate, Matt Davidson can hit 50 dongs, and Yolmer is the smartest guy on the team and most dangerous hitter against good pitching.

This is about as bad as Danks starting the home opener a couple of years ago.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Apr 5, 2018 -> 07:37 AM) I heard that the Sox lead the majors in home runs after yesterday's game. That's pretty cool. Not a stat that will last, but it's nice to see the power. They may not finish #1 in the category but don't go thinking this lineup doesn't have plenty of pop, especially as Anderson and Moncada continue to gain experience. Davidson looks completely different at the plate. And we've got Eloy likely to come up and contribute this season. What's most interesting to me is that we've played fewer games than most teams, have had very few cheap home runs, and still lead the league? That's a promising stat.

Jason is hilarious. I know that his extremely dry wit isn't everyone's cup o' tea but, personally, I love it. He also gets Stone to play along...another guy with a pretty damn good dry sense of humor. Only complaint I have with him is late reactions on bombs. I want excitement from him from the crack of the bat until we know whether it's a dong or not. Jason doesn't seem all that interested/excited until the ball is almost to the wall. Hawk was the master of calling dongs basically on contact. Even if the ball came up short of being a HR, he got your juices flowing for a brief second.

It's easy forget this kid was a stud prospect just a few years ago. Scouts saw the talent back in those days and he inexplicably regressed as a hitter. Age 27 is a magical age in MLB...I wouldn't be surprised at all if he puts up a pretty damn decent stat line this season and starts to find the skill and confidence that had him thought of so highly back in the day. You can't underestimate how beneficial the MLB opportunity the Sox have given him is to his psyche.

78 wins, 3rd in division.

Somehow moneyline bet on the Sox is paying +114 today. Should be easy money. Happy Opening Day! Should be a damn fun season.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 14, 2018 -> 10:46 AM) My odds. Engel - Even money Garcia -150 Tilson -250 Cordell -300 Field 10:1 Personally I think they WANT Engel to win the job, as his defense is pretty untouchable in general. He is a 75 to 80 defender in CF, and that is a big help to a very young pitching staff. I think it is his job to lose at this point. Hopefully his work in the off season at the plate pays off and he can also hit a respectable amount to still be starting at the end of the year. Not to be a dick, but I got a kick out of this. You must not be a gambler. The way this is listed Cordell is most likely to start. Engel -300 Garcia -250 Tilson -100 Cordell EVEN Field +1000

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Feb 14, 2018 -> 11:35 AM) What year? lol Ha! I don't remember the exact year but it would've been either 1999 or 2000.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Feb 12, 2018 -> 11:11 AM) Baseball players have to be a great market to sell cocaine. Lots of money. Lots of long road trips and hours. Lots of alcohol and partying. Doesn't stay in your system long. Somebody has to get all these players their coke. I had a buddy that used to do blow and, for a while, his hookup was a member of the Braves bullpen. I couldn't even tell you the name if you asked, he wasn't a well known player, but that always tripped me out that a guy playing in MLB would be stupid enough to not only do cocaine but also sell it. I'm with you...I think the stuff is probably pretty prevalent in the league among some of the younger, single guys.

I don't have any issues with the annual values of today's contracts and, if Boras can prove that owners can afford high annual salaries based on a team's earning, I don't have any issue with those values increasing as franchise values increase. What I despise are these long-term deals. I know it's cost us some FAs in the past, but I like the Sox position on contract length. I think we'll see this spread throughout the league as time goes on. Arbitration years often take a guy to what, 27-28yo? Then a team is supposed to burn a 10 year contract in the 200-300M range of guaranteed money on this player? That's just bad business and those types of contracts need to come to an end. Shorten team control, increase league minimums, toss in a payroll floor...there are numerous ways owners could negotiate a contract length stipulation in the next CBA and I think it'd solve a lot of competitive issues in the league.

If domination was their baseline for top25, I kind of get it. The 05 Sox weren't exactly a thing of beauty....there's no denying the results but that roster, subpar by most measures, seemed to always have just enough to win games. Their record in one-run games was insane, not only by winning% but also the number of times they were in games finishing that close. I don't have the energy to look up the odds in the spring of 2005, but I would guess Sox were probably a middle of the pack team in Vegas. It's very rare to have a team where everyone seems to click during the same season. Hell, based on talent, I thought the 03 team was a better team than the 05 Sox. Cubs in '16 were nothing like our 05 Sox. That was a team built and ready to win with a very impressive roster. Their ceiling, in terms of dominating opponents, was heads and shoulders above the us.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 26, 2018 -> 02:59 PM) OK, I opened this can of worms I suppose. For the record, our relationship with the Sox has, overall, been very good. We've been able to interview Rick Hahn, Jeremy Faber (Asst GM), Nick Hostetler (Scouting Director), Marco Paddy (Intl Director), Chris Getz (Dir of Player Dev) and others with the big club. We'd previously been one of just two blogs credentialed to SoxFest (the other was SSS). They've let us into the secure area of the back fields at Camelback. We have been credentialed at every affiliate (though that's more them than the Sox). But in this case, what Scott explained was that it was a problem of time and demand. The number of requests was such that they were afraid that outlets would not get to spend the time they wanted with the players, prospects and coaches during the 45 minute scrum if there were too many press there. So they had to find a way to limit it, and non-traditional media is lowest on the priority list. I don't necessarily agree with the way they did this, just reporting what the Sox told us. And I do get the logic, even if it isn't great. Scott did have effusive praise for FutureSox, FWIW. Was really disappointed by the decision to shut out RedlineRadio and, moreso, you guys. I'm glad you shared the explanation and it does seem somewhat reasonable. That said, how about making the "scrum" longer than 45 minutes instead of refusing credentials to the rabid, unpaid mega-fans behind non-traditional media? I do hope they dangled some nice carrots in return for the snub and look forward to enjoying the results.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jan 27, 2018 -> 10:00 PM) The Yankees had three guys 25 years old and below combine for 18.3 WAR last year. They have a top 5 prospect in Gleybar Torres, a bunch of other top 100 caliber prospects, plus a ton of prospect depth beyond that. Right now we’re simply hoping that Moncada, Jimenez, & Kopech can match the output of Judge, Sanchez, & Servino. Let’s say they can match them, does Rodon, Anderson, Giolito, Lopez, Robert, Hansen, Cease, Rutherford, Burger, Collins offer more upside than Torres, Frazier, Montgomery, Florial, Andujar, Sheffield, Abreu, Adams, etc? I’d say it’s awfully close and the Yankees have far more certainty at this point. The Yankees are definitely stacked and, if things play out as both front offices expect, Sox and them will likely be the top two teams in the AL from 2020-2023ish. That said, some of the Yankee prospects, as we've learned over the years, are certainly a bit overrated. I don't know if it's enough to put us on top when ranking organization talent

So Rick Hahn just went out and got 2 great deadline-flip candidates and $4M in cash in exchange for a AAAA player? And people (person) are b****ing? GTFOH.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 16, 2017 -> 09:17 PM) It depends when you actually need the money. The simple plan is to allocate by age, if you’re 25, should be 75% stocks/25% bonds and vice versa at 75, moving to protect your returns. Timing or predicting the market is impossible. Some very smart people here thought Trump winning would instantly signal disaster, and exiting led them to lose huge returns that might take another decade to equal. There’s all kinds of different ways to go...REITs, hedge funds, international/emerging markets, small and mid cap stocks...generally, it’s best to have your eggs in as many baskets as possible. That diversification limits the upside but protects you as well on the downside. In general, with interest rates rising again and close to full employment and historically high PE’s, most economists would predict 3-5% rates of return the next decade, assuming at least one major recessionary period will hit again and cutbacks in SS, Medicare and Medicaid will eventually depress aggregate demand in the economy. So that leaves it up to Silicon Valley (AI, AR, VR) and alternative energy strategies....and our export economy to sustain the US. How confident should we be in beating China AND that the world economy will continue to grow at a 10% rate the next decade, especially SE Asia and India? I have been adding Chinese stocks like baba, tcehy, tsm, zto, jd, ping an...to protect from a US collapse. Appreciate the input and I like your Chinese strategy, especially in the long-term. Probably easier for you to stomach given you living there (or at least did at one time, if I remember right?). I just want out for a few months. I guess the question will be if the securities market remains stable should we encounter a situation where a US President kills an investigation into his potential collusion with a US enemy and the Congress sits idly by? Seems this would introduce an incredible amount of apprehension globally in both the dollar and federal bond market. I don't have risk tolerance to place a bet on this happening by hedging the market or going full-bore on international stocks. If I sit out for a few months and lose a point or two of ROI over that period, so be it. The Fed raising rates and raising inflationary concerns, an unfunded $1.5T tax bill about to pass, a terrifyingly strong chance at constitutional crisis within the next couple of weeks, all surrounding a nearly unprecedented bull market.....yeah, I want to take my money and run. I get the whole "don't try to time the market" idea but, FFS, it sure seems the writing is on the wall.

This may belong in the financial news thread and, if so, feel free to move it. I'm a bit of a politics freak. I have been for years and consider myself fairly knowledgable. I'm scared s***less right now with the whole Trump/Russia/Mueller show and there are a lot of rumors that s*** is about to come to a head by the end of next week. Rumor on the hill is that Trump will try to fire Mueller this Friday and, as a result, we'll be in a full blown constitutional crisis if congress doesn't step in and put Trump in his place (which I have zero faith in happening). With the GOP tax bill already baked into the market (imo), I'm very fearful of seeing this bull market turn on its ear and turn full bear until DC figures out what the hell to do. I'm seriously considering liquidating any and all assets I have in the market this week and put my money on the sideline. My question to you financial guys.....what exactly is the "sideline" in a potential s*** show like this? My brokerage and Roth accounts I can hide relatively easily in corporate bonds but my 401k just has bond mutual funds with high exposure to treasury notes. Not convinced that's the place to sock away money during a constitutional crisis lol. What do you guys think? We used to have a PIMCO fund that was basically just a place to park money with the only risk coming from the ups and downs of the dollar. I no longer have that option. Should I roll the dice on the bond funds I do have available to me? Am I just overreacting? ETA: I don't use a financial adviser or I'd just ask them. I'm reasonably money savvy so have never really felt the need to pay someone else to handle my investments. This, though, is waaayyy out of my league given how unique the potential situation is.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 16, 2017 -> 04:43 PM) True. Because nobody cares for anything except money. Even outside of the money, NY and LA are prime destinations for ball players. They are great destinations for superstars looking to build a legacy and increase their national exposure. Bottom line, this hurts the Sox if they want Machado or any prolific 2018-2019 free agent.

This is really bad news for the Sox if 2019 is circled on Rick's calendar. The less competition we face in the FA market the better....LA is a place a lot of players would love to go.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 16, 2017 -> 04:01 PM) I think some of you guys are a little unrealistic. Even if we just loosely say that an ace is a 4 WAR pitcher, there were only 14 of those in the majors last year, and I think that definition is way too loose. Personally, I think the only guy in the system currently who has ace potential is Kopech. There are a lot of guys with nice ceilings, but they project more as #2/3's. What do you need to see out of Hansen to put him in the "potential ace" category? The kid absolutely dominated last season. I get not anointing him until he shows he can excel in the upper levels of the ml system but at the same time I don't think he's done anything to wholly disqualify himself from having ace potential. Lopez has an extremely gifted arm with sometimes incredible secondary stuff. If he can pull it all together on a consistent basis, I really think he has the intangibles to be an ace. While most disagree, Buerhle wasn't an ace. He was a good pitcher. When I think ace, I think about a guy who has the innate ability to strike people out and completely shutdown an offense without relying on the defense. Lopez has that potential. As do Hansen and Kopech.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Dec 16, 2017 -> 09:05 AM) I agreed with your opening sentence. But then you jumped from Giolito being solid to dominating next year. Maybe solid in 2018 could lead to dominate in 2019 or 2020. Chris Sale was dominating and Q was outstanding. I don't see Gio as either next year. Absolutely agree with you, SCCWS. Dominating expectations for a typical #2 would be a better way to express what I see him capable of reaching next season. Certainly not an ace but could very well finish with the best season on the Sox staff and would be a solid #2 for even competitive teams. I REALLY want to see Reynaldo grow next season. I love watching him pitch, especially when his offspeed stuff is on and he's able to control his fastball. He has the ability to make hitters look absolutely foolish. Outside of Kopech and perhaps Hansen, I think he has the best ace potential in the system.

I think Giolito will be put up very solid #2 numbers this season. It was all mental with him and, after several solid starts last season, I think this kid is going to dominate this season. I definitely see struggles from Lopez and especially Fulmer. Lopez will improve as the season goes along but I just see this being the year Carson is sent to the pen for good. Rodon will take several months to get right and then still be susceptible to the occasional blowout (please trade his ass). There's no way this team competes in 2018. I think it will be extremely fun baseball to watch as we see the chemistry continue to grow, young guys catching on to the MLB game, and some of our top guys coming up throughout the season but, really, they're going to be really s***ty for at least the first half of the season. We may see a late run/streak but it won't be enough to snag a WC spot....though it will leave us pumped for 2019.

Went back and watched the replay. That box isn't in the field of play and is, in fact, surrounded by padding on the wall and railing in the field of play. I'm not entirely clear how the hell he fit his leg between the wall and railing...bad luck? Sox/IFSA may settle this one but I'm not convinced they lose in court.