Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 12, 2012 -> 01:31 PM) Beckham in particular...needs to hit his way there, after his last 2 seasons. But if it's between him and A.J., I'll take a chance on the guy who might be able to fill the role well rather than the guy we already know can't.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Mar 12, 2012 -> 09:01 AM) The number one characteristic or ability of the number two batter is to take pitches. This enables the lead-off hitter to see a pitch or two and get a read on the pitcher before deciding to steal a base, as well as give the number three hitter on the on-deck circle and the clean-up guy in the hole a chance to observe a few pitches before coming to the plate. With that said, you could arguably make the case that AJ is the last person on this team who ought to be hitting in that slot. He swings at the first pitch about as often as anyone in the league, and while he does make a lot of contact, often times it's weak, resulting in easy grounders to the right side. So if DeAza continues to be the get-on-base type of player he was last season, you'd hate to waste those efforts with a guy who could erase things in the blink of an eye with a 4-6-3 double play. Just my opinion, but for me, it's 'no way, AJ!' as the number two hitter. Having the top of the lineup take a lot of pitches also helps wear the opposing starting pitcher out. Honestly, there is no good reason to have A.J. in the two hole. There may not be a clear cut choice at this point, but clearly A.J. has none of the traits you'd like in a #2 hitter. I'd probably just start the season with Beckham as the #2 hitter.

Right now, I see these guys competing for the last 3 bullpen spots: LR (RH) - Axelrod/Stewart, with the loser starting in the season in the Knights' rotation. LR (LH) - Santiago/Leesman/Veal/Hernandez, with Santiago the early favorite. MR (RH) - Infante/Marinez, although a spring standout could land this spot.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Mar 4, 2012 -> 03:01 PM) What's the MLB record for GIDP...?! Yup, I think GIDPs will be a huge issue with top half or so of the lineup.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 3, 2012 -> 03:45 PM) AJ's still a crappy option as the 2nd hitter, but the people need to earn it otherwise and prove that there's a better option. The lineup gets very right handed from 3-9, especially if Dunn struggles at all. Viciedo, Ramirez, Morel, and Beckham might never see a left handed reliever. I agree that A.J. is a crappy #2 hitter. I want some OBP from that spot and A.J. has a career .324 OBP. Then you have Rios in the 3 hole sporting a career .323 OBP. Plus those two guys hit into a ton of double-plays. So my question is who is actually going to be on base when Konerko gets up to bat? I'm glad De Aza is penciled into the leadoff spot right now, but I'm not feeling the rest of the top of the lineup. I know there aren't a ton of great options on our team, but I'd be willing to roll the dice on Beckham in the 2 hole. Not sure about the 3 & 4 spots, but I'd most likely just use some combination of Konerko and Dunn.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 1, 2012 -> 03:10 PM) Scott Merkin ‏ @scottmerkin Don't completely rule out Nestor Molina for a bullpen job, although he really would have to be dominant over next month That would be f***ing stupid. No matter where Molina begins the season, which should be AA, he needs to be starting. He needs to build up arm strength and be positioned to replace Peavy in the rotation in 2013.

Linebrink.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 29, 2012 -> 09:21 PM) I kind of liked Jerry's quotes in that story. We might suck, but I can't argue with his reasoning of how the team conceivably could be good. As long as you have starting pitching, you always have a chance. I have no idea how our staff will ultimately turn out, but a rotation of Danks, Peavy, Floyd, Sale, & Humber has a chance to be very, very good. That's why I think it's foolish to completely rule out the Sox next year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 24, 2012 -> 01:45 PM) I almost want to throw the "I'd ban myself" cliche post for Morel hitting 30 homers in a season. I just can't see it happening in the game today. Only four 3B hit 30 HRs last year, so expecting Morel to do so is crazy. However, the position is less of a power position now as evident by no other 3B hitting more than 17 last year. If Morel can get hit 20 with his defense he'd be incredibly valuable.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 22, 2012 -> 05:40 PM) There's a fair amount of year over year variability that shows up in those numbers I've never seen accounted for well, but generally, both Wrigley and the Cell play as hitter's parks. Here's both Rotoworld and BleacherReport showing Wrigley as one of the best hitters parks in the game, slightly above the Cell. Here's a 5 year average showing Wrigley as the 3rd and the Cell as the 4th best hitters park. If you go through ESPN's Year by Year numbers, last year both parks played a bit big, but if you flip back a few years, Wrigley consistently shows up in the top 10, is #3 a couple times, and the Cell is up there as well. I don't think you can tell me Wrigley is a better hitter's park than the Cell, but you can't say the Cell is massively better than Wrigley either. Most likely they're pretty close to a wash and the exact position depends on the number of days the wind blows out. Thus, you're basically putting Fukudome into a similar park. If his slugging goes up because of the park, it's because of some peculiarity he's exploiting, not because of anything systematic. Fair enough...for some reason I thought the wind blew in at Wrigley more.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 22, 2012 -> 02:14 PM) Compared to Wrigley? Do you have any numbers that show how much a park inflates/deflates offensive stats for a player on average?

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 22, 2012 -> 01:19 PM) What exactly makes you think that? His career OPS vs. RHP is .775 & he showed major decline last year? I think some of the decline can be attributed to switching teams/leagues mid-season. I think having a full spring training to prepare will help with that aspect. Also, I would think playing half his games in USCF will increase his slugging a little bit.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Feb 22, 2012 -> 12:03 PM) What I read from this: Stewart is gonna be a starter in AAA. That would be fantastic. I'd love to see him, Castro, & Santiago all in Charlotte's rotation to start the season. Have Axelrod be the long-man to start the season.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 22, 2012 -> 09:34 AM) If we have a shot to win, we are not winning without Dayan Viciedo raking. It really is that simple. Kosuke Fukudome putting up a .750 OPS if we're lucky in the 2 spot will not make this team competitive. You're right, but I'd rather look at the overall production of the position. I think Viciedo is more likely to put up a .850 OPS or higher in 450 at-bats if he faces all LHP and sits against tough RHP (based on matchup). I honestly think Fukudome can give us close to a .800 OPS in the remaining RF at-bats, which I'm predicting would be a lot higher than what Viciedo would put up in those same at-bats. Overall, you'd be getting very good production out of RF this way.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 22, 2012 -> 07:59 AM) If Dayan Viciedo needs to play his way into playing time over a veteran, put him at Charlotte and stop the charade. Or Hell, just release him. LOL...you aren't one for the drama. You view 2012 simply as a developmental season. Some people think we have a shot to win. I'm looking to balance the two, at least at the beginning of the season. I think Fukudome can be extremely valuable to us in the #2 spot against RHP. I want to get his bat into lineup as much as possible against RHP in April. That means Rios and Viciedo will need to sit sometimes and I'm fine with that. Viciedo had a sub .500 OPS against RHP last year. I'd rather pick matchups where he can succeed initially and gradually give him more playing time througout the season. I'm not so sure having him struggle terribly is necessarily better for his development. Some guys that struggle early on develop bad habits and get away from what made them successful in the first place.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Feb 21, 2012 -> 12:02 PM) The got rid of Ozzie. They improved. Even with Robin's inexperience, getting rid of Ozzie should be worth several wins. He was that bad last year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 19, 2012 -> 10:23 PM) Not a chance. Unlikely sure, but "Not a chance" is just ridiculous.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Feb 19, 2012 -> 09:21 AM) At the very least it is a serious black eye on the Williams administration and deserves much more blame for the current state of Sox player development than it has been given. You're 100% right about the effect the Wilder fiasco has had on the system. We've basically had no Latin America operations (excluding Cuba) since then and it shows. But who hasn't acknowledged that?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 18, 2012 -> 08:22 PM) Last sentence translation: If Viciedo struggles in the bigs, I'd rather have him get 600 PA's to have a chance to work through those struggles than sit on the bench. If you're going to put him on the bench for more than a few days, then send him to AAA and let him resume raking. There is no way that I'm going to be happy if he gets more "Rest" than others on the roster. If he's hitting .220, then either keep running him out there or send him to Charlotte. Do not make Fukudome a starter in his place, or even a platoon player. If De Aza struggles in the bigs, I'd rather have him get 600 PA's to have a chance to work through those struggles, so that we can see if he's a legit option for 2013. He might turn it on after a couple months of struggling. Put him out there until we've seen enough to decide if he's a 2013 starter. If he goes to the bench for Fukudome, then that ought to be it for him. If Rios struggles again, I don't care what happens to him. You can bench him for Fukudome and I promise not to be mad. So you have no interest in trying to compete next year? Got it.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 18, 2012 -> 03:37 PM) If he's going to struggle...he's going to struggle. He's not going to stop struggling while sitting on the bench. Put him in there. Play him. What you just wrote is a path to 400-450 plate appearances. If he's healthy, he needs 600. If he's going to play 2 games out of every 3, just put him back in Charlotte. How is 450 at-bats considered being on the bench? Viciedo has shown he can crush LHP at the major league level, but he's got a sub .600 career OPS against RHP. I know that's based off a small sample size, but it shows he's going to need to make some adjustments. Let him play against all lefties and the righties he matches up well against, make the necessary adjustments, and build some success. If he proves himself, then he can continue to get more and more at-bats. If Viciedo, Fukudome, Rios, and De Aza are all playing well, then figuring out how to divide playing time is a good problem to have. I'm not too worried about that though, as at least one of them is likely to suck and that player's at-bats will likely be reduced.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 18, 2012 -> 12:51 PM) See, even if Fukudome has a solid season for him, he's not going to turn this team into a contender. You know what might? Viciedo developing into a legit middle of the order hitter, the kind who other teams will fear. But we keep seeing our manager hide the kids from people to get the backup at bats, and Morel in particular said that really screwed with him last year. If Viciedo doesn't hammer the ball, then Fukudome putting up a .355 Obp won't make this team competitive. Play the kid. I agree that Viciedo developing into a legitimate middle of the order bat would be more beneficial, but let's not forget that Viciedo turns 23 next month and has limited major league at-bats. As high as am on him, I realize he's going to have some struggles next year. Take a look at his numbers against RHP last season for us and tell me you honestly think he's ready to play every single day. If you play him against all lefties and every other right-handed starter (based on matchups), I think you can minimize his struggles and maximize his production. Also, I'm simply referring to start the season. If he proves he can hit RHP well, then keep giving him more and more at-bats until he basically plays everday. I don't think there's anything with being somewhat cautious with a young player and putting him in situations that will increase his chance of succeeding.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 18, 2012 -> 10:18 AM) NO. Play the **** kid. Don't hide them, don't tell them they should be scared of the pitcher, don't tell them that they can't make it, don't tell them that they're not good enough. Sick to death of watching this team's manager convince every kid on the roster that they're not good enough and that there's nothing they can do because the guy behind him needs his at bats. I'm sorry, but the team's goal to start the season should be to win. It's not going to take very long to see if we're in store for another 2011-type season from Dunn, Rios, Beckham, Morel, Peavy, etc. If things go downhill quickly, then obviously guys like Viciedo and Flowers should start everyday regardless of matchups. Until we know which way this team is heading, the primary goal is to try to win. Fukudome should be an excellent #2 hitter against RHP for us. One way or the other, we'd be smart to get his bat in the lineup against RHP. That means Rios and/or Viciedo will have to sit sometimes. If you straight platoon Rios, you'll never be able to deal him. If you platoon Viciedo, you risk stunting his development. Clearly they both need to play against RHP and I think having play as equal amount makes the most sense to start the season. Let Robin play them based on matchups and hopefully their results actually improve. There's nothing more I want than to see Viciedo out in RF everyday, but I actually believe this team has a chance of being competitive and I want to know for certain before I don't take advantage of a useful player like Fukudome.

De Aza and Fukudome should be in the lineup everyday against RHP. I'd have Fukudome fill in for Viciedo and Rios equally, letting Robin go with the better matchup on any given day. Against LHP I'd go with an outfield of Viciedo, Rios, and Lillibridge everytime. I honestly think we'll get a lot of production out of our outfield if Robin handles the playing time correctly. Also, I'd bat De Aza and Fukudome 1st & 2nd against RHP. Not sure who I'd want batting 2nd against LHP, but I'd definitely have Lillibridge in the leadoff spot. A platoon of De Aza/Lillibridge should be a significant upgrade over Pierre. As long as Robin doesn't make the #2 hitter throws away outs all the time and he puts some OBP in the spot, that should also be an improvement over last year. I'm hopeful that the top of our order will much better without Pierre and Guillen.

QUOTE (dpd9189 @ Feb 14, 2012 -> 12:45 PM) Pros: Great glove, draws walks, history of starting out hot, nice cheap depth move Cons: Can't hit LH pitching at all, needs consistent at bats to be productive/not a great platoon player, 35 years old. Overall more of a depth signing and maybe more of a late inning defensive replacement then anything. Can draw walks very well but to be honest I wouldn't expect much. Well we need a bat off the bench that can hit RH hitting. He fits that need. As for consistent playing time, don't most players need that to be at their best? I would think a player who draws a lot of walks would be better in limited action, although that's pure speculation on my part. The defense is the other key. We now have two backup outfielders that can play quality defense. They bat from opposite sides of the plate, which offers a lot of flexibility late in games (a plus with Viciedo as our RF). Plus it now allows Lillibridge to play more IF. Overall, I think it's a great move and fills several needs quite well.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Feb 14, 2012 -> 01:45 AM) Yeah, but these are not the same circumstances. You don't detiremine what to pay a free agent international player who can sign anywhere he wants to play to a drafted player that has to choose either the contract, or waiting around another year to enter the draft again. A player stands to lose a lot more by not signing his draft deal versus not signing with 1 of the 30 teams in Free Agency. Those are apples and oranges. Thank you. And teams can't go out and simply sign a Strasberg for $15 million. You have to be the worst team in baseball to earn that right. As for the 15 Goodwins for one Soler, I'm sure everyone here would take the quantity over the one stud prospect. Unfortunately, as has been mentioned multiple times, teams will no longer be able to go over slot without consequences under the new CBA. The Cubans represented one last loophole under the old system. A team like the Cubs that is rebuilding and sitting on a ton of money is smart to overpay for some of these guys. Having said that, $27 million for Soler doesn't work for us and it's hard to blame KW for taking a pass.