Chicago White Sox

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 8, 2012 -> 09:26 AM) Pittsburgh isn't out of anything yet. But it helps to have guys like Longoria and Price, or McCutcheon and McDonald, etc. Thank you. Pittsburgh may have a good record right now, but it's not going to last, as their offense is incredibly bad. Also, they have two starters in Burnett and Bedard that aren't long-term solutions. Everyone likes how they're building that organization, but let's not give them too much props just yet. One other thing people need to realize is that teams like KC and Pittsburgh have spent big on the draft to quicken their rebuilding efforts, but a good chunk of these over-slot players are Boras clients. So they'll have these guys for six years and then they're likely off to the highest bidders. IMO, the Royals are in big trouble, because by the time they develop a half-way decent pitching staff, a bunch of their position players will be gone.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Jul 7, 2012 -> 06:07 PM) I believe the majority here believes Sale will be shut down at some point at the end of season. I don't believe that all. I think there will be one, maybe two breaks along the way. Sale is critical to any post-season success.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 7, 2012 -> 11:57 AM) You guys are delusional for where the free agent market is going. In what sense? I don't see any reason to extend him now, but if he keeps it up the rest of the way, my max offer for him would be two years, $15 million. I really don't see a lot of teams going much higher. His age will limit the years and his reputation will limit the dollars. I think he'd be willing to take a $1-2 million less a year to stay in Chicago.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 6, 2012 -> 04:25 PM) A better hitting backup catcher would at least be useful if one were available. Does Flowers have any options remaining? I don't want to lose him for a marginal upgrade at backup catcher, especially when there is no guarantee A.J. will back next year.

QUOTE (kapzk @ Jul 5, 2012 -> 11:40 AM) String of 4 straight left handed pitching begins today, hopefully Dunn doesn't suck where we see him hit below .200 by the All star break. This is why it would be nice to have Conor Jackson on the bench. He'd be in the lineup today instead of Escobar, which would be a big upgrade IMO.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 30, 2012 -> 10:23 AM) I just don't see getting anything of consequence for Walker or Thompson. Given the Sox having the worst system in MLB, any team can beat that offer. First off, I didn't mean trading them right now. I was thinking more along the lines of 2013 or 2014. Also, toolsy prospects always have value if they're still young. Are either of these guys going to headline a major trade at the moment? No, but they could be part of a package and their value could grow significantly if they improve.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jun 29, 2012 -> 10:29 PM) If Crain goes on the DL yet another rookie will be called up. I hope KW is looking for relief help. I really don't think we need relief help from outside the organization. We still have several guys in AAA that could provide just as much for nothing.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jun 29, 2012 -> 09:58 PM) Thompson and Walker have done nothing to indicate they will be MLB players. You are jumping the gun here. I agree completey, which is why I said they should be trade bait. Not sure where I jumped the gun.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 29, 2012 -> 05:33 PM) Mitchell would be trade bait if I were the GM. Football players are almost always being in developing anyway and missing a year hurts that. If Hawkins develops like the Sox think, Mitchell is more than expendable. I would definitely consider trading him for something that gets the Sox into the playoffs. Mitchell is far from a sure thing, so I wouldn't lose sleep trading him in the right deal. However, I'd really like to hold on to him if possible. He's shown some flashes this year of being an elite leadoff hitter.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 29, 2012 -> 03:51 PM) I'd agree that he's unlikely to make it in 2013. I think the 2012 Sox outfield, barring a surprise trade or ijnjury, will also be the 2013 Sox outfield, and very possibly 2014 as well. Sometime in 2014, some one or multiple of Mitchell, Thompson, Walker or others (perhaps even Hawkins, but probably not) will be knocking at the door. I agree about the 2013 outfield, seems pretty set to me and I think we're better off giving Mitchell a full season at AAA next year. However, I think there's a good chance we trade Rios before the 2014 season. Mitchell should be ready by then or else he's probably flopped out. Plus De Aza will be a 2nd year arb player, so getting Rios' salary off the books would free up some money for De Aza and other needs. As for Thompson & Walker, I don't see either of them challenging for major league jobs before 2015 at the earliest. Honestly, if Mitchell pans out, we most likely won't even have an opening in our OF until 2016. By then Hawkins might be a serious prospect and we won't want to commit to any other young OFs until he is ready. I see both Thompson & Walker being trade bait in the not too distant future.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 28, 2012 -> 07:52 PM) Humber is going on a rehab start here soon. And Simon Castro has a monster of a game going right now. He may be a lot closer than most people think.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 28, 2012 -> 05:15 PM) No conflict at all. With or without Viciedo there's not a lot to build around after this year, dude. Earlier this year you kept saying we needed to do everything we could to acquire young pitching or else we'd be screwed for years to come. Now you want to trade one of our most valuable assets for a rental player in an "all-in" move. This is called a flip flop.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 28, 2012 -> 05:07 PM) Our bench is in as bad a shape as our rotation. Why not give Johnson a chance? How is our rotation in that bad of shape? We've got three starters dominating and Floyd looks like he's about to go on a run. If we get Danks back healthy, we're in damn good shape. It may not last, but we only have one guy at the moment who's a significant concern IMO.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 28, 2012 -> 11:40 AM) June hasn't been kind to Viciedo (.162/.230/.250). If it weren't for the fact that the Sox are trying to keep his trade value up, he'd be in a platoon by now. Dude, where do you come up with this stuff. Just because you keep saying something over and over doesn't make it a fact. Also, I find it laughable that you propose trades that are similar to the ones that you want KW fired for. Pick one side of the fence and stick to it. At least when you wanted to trade Viciedo for young pitching, it didn't conflict with the "all in" strategy that you used to rip KW for and have now decided to endorse.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Jun 28, 2012 -> 03:42 PM) piece is among the most overrated establishments in the entire city. Best pizza i had there i'd classify as slightly above average, but people act like its the most unreal place theyve ever eaten. Ive had some truly awful pizzas from there (something with mashed potatoes and broccoli - tasted so bad im shocked anyone would serve it), most are decent, nothing more though. Want to get some recognition for your restaurant? open it up in hipster central wicker park with a clever nickname and a peace sign as your logo and serve your own beer - the food barely matters at that point btw in general both new york and chicago pizza are awesome go sox Well said, Piece is so incredibly overrated it's not even funny. I despise when people confuse trendy with good.

QUOTE (scenario @ Jun 27, 2012 -> 04:56 PM) I wouldn't be surprised to see Veal get a shot. Then if he doesn't cut it... they release him. I also wouldn't be surprised if they call up a righty instead. Omogrosso maybe. If they go righty, I think it would be Heath. He's been awesome this year, can pitch multiple innings, and I think KW really likes him.

QUOTE (Hawk09 @ Jun 27, 2012 -> 04:38 PM) Listening to Bernstein on the Score right now he said when he heard about Ohman leaving that there will be plenty of guys around the Sox that will not be sad. Said the word around the clubhouse was that Ohman was way too cocky for a guy who sucked as bad as he did. So,this comment from him really does ring true...he thinks he is super,and the Sox have treated him unfairly.......goodbye,Oh-man,and good riddance. Yeah, I've heard that somewhere as well. f*** that cocky f***. Also, have we finally ridded ourselves of all former Cubs now?

This is fantastic news. We have at least 6 or 7 guys at AAA that would immedietely give us more than Ohman, three of whom are lefties. Since Humber is likely to take Axelrod's spot eventually, this should be more of a permanent opening. Therefore, options shouldn't make or break the decision. I'd prefer calling up the best available reliever from AAA, but I'm ok with going with a lefty if that's what they ultimately decide. I'd love to see Septimo get the call and placed on the 40, but I could see them wanting another long reliever and going with Leesman. No matter who they call up, the team will be stronger tomorrow.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 26, 2012 -> 07:54 PM) It's difficult to figure the trade market for Greinke given his anxiety disorder and the big clubs probably staying away from him for that reason. If they don't want Viciedo, Quintana and Molina? I think the Sox could put together a combination that would interest Milwaukee. I hope you aren't suggesting trading all three of those guys.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Jun 26, 2012 -> 01:23 PM) This is good news, in a way. I'm going to drink the kool-aid and assume his injury has everything to do with the horrid BAA. Could it be tied to his innings increase last year?

I actually think Jackson makes more sense as a reserve. I really think we need a right-handed bat off the bench and he can play all the corners in a pinch. In fact, he would have been a perfect fill-in for Dunn last night. I don't like Flowers being our only option from the right side. I don't see a need for both Escobar & ODog. I'm not a huge Escobar fan, but he offers more flexibility defensively (SS & OF) and offensively (switch hitter). I think ODog's days here are numbered, especially if Youkilis looks healthy these next few weeks.

Thanks for the one outlier year that caused everyone to overlook your minor league stats and believe that you were much better than you really are.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jun 24, 2012 -> 08:32 AM) At this point, I'd be elated to acquire You given the performance we're getting at 3B, but I don't see how the Red Sox expect to get anything of value for him. $3 million of salary relief and a marginal prospect is better than nothing.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 24, 2012 -> 12:03 AM) You watch every game. Do you not agree Crain is finished? Either you're a troll or the dumbest human being I've ever encountered in my entire life. Crain has a 2.38 ERA, a 1.10 WHIP, and a 11.12 K/9. Which one of those stats screams out "finished" to you? If you really aren't a troll, then you're the worst kind of sports fan. The typical meatball fan who lets a recent event affect his perception of a player's entire body of work. Have you ever looked up statistics? Do you know how they even work? See, what's cool about stats is we can use them to overcome our own biases. You saw Crain lose a game for us and have convinced yourself he's finished. Unfortunately, you didn't look at his stats, or the stats of the other guys in our bullpen, or even other relievers througout the game. If you had, you would have realized how stupid your "Crain is finished" theory was and why wanting to just give him away was just your inner meatballness shining through. Having said all this, you're obviously a troll and a bad one at that. Life really must be boring in Lawrence if you spend this much time trolling on a White Sox message board.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 23, 2012 -> 06:37 PM) Bad play, he got way too close to wall. Viciedo's June has been quite atrocious. Which hopefully means he'll have a big July.