Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 12, 2013 -> 08:04 PM) Poor Molina. I guess it's a sign of some decent progress that we can at least list 4 theoretical replacements and not be including either Molina or Axelrod on it. Maybe he will perform better this year more under the radar than having the weight of the trade and expectations coming into 2012. I was hesitant to include Castro in that group, but he did so well this spring I'm holding out some hope he can put it all together this year, although I don't think it's very likely. I think he ends up in the bullpen down the road. I like what I've seen from Axelrod, he's pitched pretty well for us all things considered, but I think he's more of a long reliever/spot starter on a contending team. Molina is a complete unknown at this point. Maybe he rebounds this year, more likely he doesn't IMO. I haven't given up on him yet, but I'm not very optimistic after the season he had last year. However, you do have to wonder why they valued him as highly as they did. I mean, he was on the Sox's short list of targets the offseason we traded for him, so someone in the organization really had to like him at the time. The good news is that we at least have some starting pitching depth in the upper levels of the system.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 12, 2013 -> 07:25 PM) Danks is an interesting case. If the team doesn't start well... If the young pitching keeps coming along, and Danks proves healthy and back to 2010 or before type work, he would have a huge value on the trade market. There are more than a few young pitchers knocking on the door right now. Personally, if Danks looks good this year, I'm sticking with a 1-2-3 of Sale-Peavy-Danks for the next two or three years and seeing where that gets me. With Floyd likely gone, we should be able to afford them with Quintana/Santiago and possibly Johnson/Snodgress/Rienzo/Castro at the backend of the rotation.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 12, 2013 -> 06:41 PM) That's making it too easy. As of today, what would it be. Right now our best alignment is Keppinger at 3B, Ramirez at SS, & Beckham at 2B with Carlos Sanchez as insurance at AAA. We need see how all these guys do this year before we worry about next year. All four guys are question marks to some extent and their performances this year will guide Hahn's decisions next off-season. If I had to guess right now, I think Sanchez replaces Beckham next year, Alexei rebounds at the plate this season and remains at SS, we go out and trade for a legit 3B, and Keppinger is moved to a super-utility role. IMO, you underestimate Ramirez's defense, especially the value it provides us given the amount of resources we've committed to our pitching staff in the near future. As long as he can get his OPS back into the low .700's, I think he's worth his contract.

QUOTE (Jake @ Mar 12, 2013 -> 04:54 PM) OPS is a nice statistic, it helps me predict how many runs the player will be worth. Except it seems to suggest that Alexei wouldn't drive in >70 RBIs every year when he always does just that. There seems to be wide disagreement about whether Sanchez can play SS defensively at all at the MLB level, nor is there agreement that he's even anything better than average at 2B. If he is just a singles hitter (all he's ever been), I'm not about to displace a guy that will always outvalue him on defense alone and has been one of the most consistent and durable players in the game at the position. Everything I've read describes Sanchez as a plus defender at 2B. SS is still a question mark.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 12, 2013 -> 04:48 PM) Is the difference between Ramirez and Sanchez worth $27M over the next 3 years? I say no. Maybe not, but that money doesn't help us right now. Something to think about next when we have a better idea of what we have in both players.

Lol...this is the problem with statistics. You can tell any story you want. When people start using three years of data to claim a three year trend, you know there is an issue with their logic. I look at those stats and see a SS who is a .720 to .725 OPS player. His first year and this past season look like obvious outliers to me. Having said that, it's definitely possible 2012 represents the player Alexei will be going forward. However, you can't use his numbers from 2009 to 2011 to draw that conclusion or to claim he's been trending downward. He was within 20 points of OPS in all three of those years, which represents extremely normal levels of fluctuation. The only argument you can make is that 2012 represents the new Alexei.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 09:23 PM) I'm not a fan of him playing anywhere other than third until Beckham shows he should be in their plans for 2014. Plan B would be Morel at third, Keppinger at 2B. I agree with Caulfield, Carlos Sanchez should be plan B for Beckham this year. He fills more needs in the lineup (AVG & OBP) that Morel does. Honestly, I feel like we need to see if Morel can actually fill a reserve role down the road. That means demonstrating some positional flexibility. Might as well see if he can handle SS while he is at AAA.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 08:46 PM) Rather see Morel at Charlotte to see if his back can withstand the rigors of playing every day. Agree, plus it would give Morel a chance to play more SS.

QUOTE (baseball17 @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 07:26 PM) Isn't Septimo out of options? Yep, so we'll have to hope he clears waivers, which I'd say is 50/50. I know some people on this site hate him, but the kid has nasty stuff and would at least be welcome AAA depth.

QUOTE (Jake @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 06:52 PM) I'm predicting Gimenez gets cut and they keep Morel as super-utility. So Anderson as the backup catcher?

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 06:22 PM) Players left to be booted (in my opinion): Pitchers: Axelrod, Heath, Marinez, Omogrosso, Rienzo, Septimo, Gray, Moskos, Purcey, Stewart, Troncoso Catchers: Phegley, Anderson Infield: Morel, Bell, C Sanchez, Tolleson Outfield: Danks, Tekotte, Mitchell I see Axelrod, Omogrosso, & Septimo as the last three pitchers cut as they pretty much cover all your bases. Morel will probably be the last position player cut. Short of an injury, there shouldn't be any surprises.

QUOTE (staxx @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 06:09 PM) After seeing how bad he played today, I think Danks time is very limited. Probably, but he's still ahead of Thompson on the depth chart. We're talking about guys filling a reserve role in the event of an injury, as Wise would likely move into the lineup if the injury was short-term. Obviously Mitchell could change some of that thinking, but they're definitely going to bring up a prospect like Thompson to rot on the bench.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 06:03 PM) Some reporter at USA Today is like three weeks behind. Really? Where was this reported before?

QUOTE (staxx @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 06:02 PM) Am i the only one surprised Trayce is gone so early? Especially with rios/de aza gone We still got Mitchell, Tekotte, & Danks around and if one of our starters or Wise were to go down, one of these guys would make the team. Therefore, those three guys need to play so Hahn and the coaching can make the best decision if need be.

According to the Score, some reporter at USA Today is saying the Bears are interested in Jake Long.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 05:54 PM) Mildly surprised that Castro and Molina went out so quick. Definitely surprised by Castro, although they're probably just running out of innings. Also, Molina optioned to AA. Castro & Rodiguez to AAA. The rest sent to minor league camp.

10 cuts today per the Score. Simon Castro, Santos Rodriguez, Nestor Molina, Erik Johnson, Scott Snodgress, Stephen Gartrell, Marcus Semien, Trayce Thompson, Seth Loman, & Keenyn Walker.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 01:58 PM) With the system that they are building and the ability to have a payroll north of $150 million annually, yes they better get to a position in which they are the favorites to win that division every season. Do you think they are going to stop adding players? They will also have high pick at the top of each round next year again. Most people on this board hate the Cubs because they are on the other side of town, or blue, or their parents told them they should a long time ago. That doesn't matter. I am trying to look at this objectively. I think Theo and Jed are smart guys. I am not going to dismiss them just because they are running the Cubs and for some reason that makes them destined to fail. Doesn't make any sense. I think in 2015 they are contending. I don't think the Cubs are destined to fail. I just think rebuilding takes a hell of a lot longer and is much riskier now because of the CBA changes. Theo can't just outspend everyone on amatuer talent like he used to. And quite franky, draft position helps but only so much. They actualy need to out-scout and out-develop the competition. I'm not sure if Theo and Jed will actually be able to do that. Regardless, it's going to take a lot of time before that system, even if everything goes right, starts making positive contributions at the major league level. 2015 is a complete pipe dream for the Cubs to become competive unless they start buying major free agents. I mean, two of these top 100 prospects have like 30 games of minor league experience.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 12:51 PM) For my two cents, it makes best sense to have the lefties separated as much as possible, but to have Sale #1, so that the lefty in the #5 slot (Danks or Quintana) is a different look than the guy you just saw. I wouldn't slot Q and Danks together. Sale Peavy Quintana Floyd Danks I agree with your logic, but I'd ideally like Quintana #5 and Sale #1 to have the largest separation in terms of velocity. That way if a team has to face both of those guys in a series, they go from slow velocity one day to super fast velocity the next.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 10:16 AM) Barring a huge change in thinking, the Cubs should get to a spot within the next 2-3 years where they should be favored to win that division on a consistent basis. This has to be the most comical statement I've seen on this site yet. So having 4 top 100 prospects, several which are 2-3 years away, will guarantee them favorite status in the NL Central in 2-3 years. This despite you already acknowledging they have almost no pitching in their system. How does that make any sense to you? Also, can we please stop pretending systems automatically lead to major league success. It's getting really tiring to bring this up, but look at the Royals for god's sake. They've had monster systems in the past few years and yet they haven't been able to win at all. I get the Cubs have a big financial edge over them, but money isn't going to be enough to build a consistent winner. At some point they'll need their prospects to turn into major league contributors and I'm still skeptical of these four guys who are ranked so highly because of their tools and not their production.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 10, 2013 -> 12:44 PM) AMOUR really should have been the movie of the year, but there's just not enough people who have sat through it....it would have been another version of THE ARTIST and that's terrible for Academy Award tv ratings, lol. But yeah, there were no GREAT movies. Lincoln, Django, Zero Dark Thirty, Life of Pi, Silver Linings, even Flight was one of the nominees, LES MIZ...having watched all of them, there wasn't a standout. There were a lot of GREAT individual performances, clearly, but not one great movie, overall. I'm with you, I think Amour was the best of the nine nominees, but there wasn't that one amazing movie this year. Life of Pi and Silver Linings Playbook were both great and worthy nominees, but neither seem like a true Best Picture winner to me. Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty were the two movies I had really high expectations for but failed to meet them. Zero Dark Thirty was very entertaining, but it didn't wow me by any means. I was blown away by the Hurt Locker and for some reason I didn't get that same reaction with Zero Dark Thirty, probably because I knew how it was going to play out. As for Lincoln, for some reason I was completely disappointed. Daniel Day-Lewis was unbelievable in his role, but I felt the movie was slow at times and quite frankly I was expecting a more comprehensive tale of the man. The movie should have been called "The 13th Amendment" instead, since that was the basis of the entire movie.

QUOTE (hammerhead johnson @ Mar 10, 2013 -> 02:30 PM) Their ticket sales are not gonna erode. Come on. But yeah, it's possible that the vast majority of these highly-talented prospects could turn out to be crap. That shouldn't be a revelation to anyone. So they're a "real organization" because they're willing to gamble 5 or more seasons on a rebuilding process that has a good chance of not workinng out? I still don't get what your original point was other than to troll.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 10, 2013 -> 01:42 PM) The one thing he's right about is that by 2015 they won't have a lot of bad money on their roster from the current players... But that's because they'll have 2 players under contract out of the current group. Castro and Jackson. Basically, yes they'll have some money to spend, but they're literally starting from scratch, and it will be a couple years before they can do so. Um, so will we and we're not rebuilding. As of now, we'll have four guys under guaranteed contracts prior to the 2015 season: Sale, Danks, Ramirez, & Keppinger. I guess I don't see what the point is. Also, with the new CBA rules, the Cubs might get a slight advantage by rebuilding (higher picks, larger bonus pools), but it probably won't be a signicant enough of an edge to build a vastly superior farm system unless they actually hit on more of their picks. The physical act of going out and losing 100 games several years doesn't allow them to scout better. Again, given the new CBA rules, I think there is little incentive to do a full rebuild. At some point, I expect the Cubs to lose patience and just start overpaying guys in free agency.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Mar 10, 2013 -> 01:20 PM) Nevermind those 100+ years of futility... They have one cornerstone player right in Castro, and it reamins to be seen what his future holds. That's it. So even if their farm system is good, there is no guarantee of anything. The Sox had the #1 farm system in baseball in 2000 and an insanely young and talented roster. Those teams did squat. See this is what I find so funny about his post. He's acting like having 4 top 100 prospects is going to lead to guaranteed success for the Cubs. This is a team that lost 100 games last year. They don't have much of a core at the major league level. And most of their 4 top 100 prospects are at least 2 or 3 years away from hitting the big leagues if all goes right. I'm friends with a couple of smart Cubs fans and they're starting to realize this rebuilding thing is going to take a lot longer than they originally expected, especially with all the CBA changes. Theo is going to have a real hard tume accelerating the rebuilding process without all the loopholes he took advanagage of before. This isn't the NBA, one top draft pick isn't enough to change a franchise's fortunes. They're going to have to string together several big drafts and then wait a few years while those guys develop. Who knows when or if that will ever happen for them.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 10, 2013 -> 12:48 PM) Bell and Gillespie would both be options to replace Konerko at 1B next year...assuming Viciedo doesn't move to 1B with either Mitchell/Thompson/Walker making the progression to full-time starter in 2014. Sure, they'd both be options at 1B if you're trying to lose 100 games next year. Otherwise, Bell should be AAA depth (probably with another organization) and Gillaspie should be a reserve corner IF or part of a platoon at 3B. Under no circumstance does either guy fit as a starting 1B on a competing team.