Chicago White Sox

Honestly, the articles on Dunn's off-season are not giving me much faith in him having a major rebound. Hasn't gotten in better shape, hasn't swung the bat much, and hasn't watched any tape of his terrible 2011 to determine if there are mechanical flaws that need correcting. If I were Dunn, I would have spent the entire off-season trying figure what caused my problems in 2011 and done anything in my power correcting them. Sounds like the off-season getting over his embarrassment.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 23, 2012 -> 07:16 PM) Nothing like giving guys promotions for the fine job they are doing overseeing what some call the worst farm system in baseball. Are you really go to blame him for our organization's poor scouting, refusal to go above slot, and complete lack of a Latin presence? I think it's still too early to evaluate him properly. He's simply not had enough talent to work with during his time here. One thing I like about him is that he actually pushes prospects. Guys that perform well are much more likely to moved to the next level mid-season than under the previous regime. I also think he does a better job of challening older pospects by putting them in more age appropriate leagues.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 19, 2012 -> 01:59 PM) I would say the burden of proof is yours. There are plenty of stories about Hamilton shutting down Wade, and not the other way around. I'd say the people who are saying it isn't true owe the work here. I'm pretty sure those stories were about Wade having trouble defending Hamilton, because Rip is constantly running around on offense. I'm never heard or read anything about Rip being a Wade stopper.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 19, 2012 -> 01:59 PM) I would say the burden of proof is yours. There are plenty of stories about Hamilton shutting down Wade, and not the other way around. I'd say the people who are saying it isn't true owe the work here. I'm pretty sure those stories were about Wade having trouble defending Hamilton, because Rip is constantly running around on offense. I'm never heard or read anything about Rip being a Wade stopper.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 18, 2012 -> 02:06 PM) There's just no way he winds up worth that cash. What cash? I haven't see anything reported other than the posting fee.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 18, 2012 -> 04:05 AM) Here's hoping Alexei and Dayan can convince Soler or Cespedes, or hopefully both, to come here. Soler would be our #1 prospect and Cespedes would be in the bigs probably midseason. I'll say this much, if KW is really pursuing both of these guys aggressively and we don't end up with one of them, given the Ramirez/Viciedo connection, it would have to be considered a massive fail. I honestly don't care which one either, we just desperately need to add some potential impact talent to the organization and we seem to have a card, if the money is right, should give us an edge over other teams.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 17, 2012 -> 07:45 PM) After the Fukudome experience, you'd have to think that organization would still be a little bit gunshy about an international FA outfielder, we shall see. New F.O., new scouting system in places, Ricketts will certainly trust Epstein's judgement to a large extent for at least 2-3 years. Why would the new front office and ownership group be concerned about a mistake the previous regime made?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 16, 2012 -> 07:35 PM) Myles Jaye rated equal to Tyler Saladino??? Really!! Jaye is a much better prospect than people are giving him credit for. He was a very good get for Frasor.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 16, 2012 -> 06:11 PM) Beckham ought to get the first month at least just to see if he can snap his head into the game, longer if he has a good spring. Same for Rios and De Aza. After that, start playing whoever is earning it. Give Beckham the whole year or at least most of it. Next year should not be about competing, but determing what we have and to start building for 2013 & 2014. This coming season is really Beckham's make-or-break year and I'm not going to let a poor April convince me it's time to give up on him. Not when Lillibridge is next on the depth chart. I still have serious concerns about Lillibridge. I'm fine with him as a backup OF/IF next year, but he's going to have to prove to me that last year wasn't a fluke before I consider him for anything more.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 16, 2012 -> 08:23 AM) Again it's the same problem...if I'm boston, why would I want to give up enough prospect-wise to get Gavin Floyd when I can just sign Edwin Jackson or Roy Oswalt and also be able to keep nice precious prospects? That's why the only way something like this works is if you go out and sign Jackson first and then look into dealing Floyd. There would be two issues with such a series of moves. First, you may need to temporarily go over budget to pull it off. While there would be no real financial repercussions as long as you moved Floyd before you had to start paying him, I still don't see Reinsdorf giving Williams the ok to do this. Second, you'd lose some leverage in the Floyd talks, since teams would know we'd have to move a starter before opening day. I'd be fine with that, as I like Jackson more than Floyd and anything you could get for Floyd would simply be a bonus. If demand was right, you'd sill get a pretty decent package for him. I really think there is some logic to the idea, I just don't think our organization has the balls to do what it takes to pull it off.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Jan 13, 2012 -> 06:00 PM) jcrasnick Jerry Crasnick The #Mariners are moving closer to a trade for a young impact hitter, two baseball sources confirmed. 1 minute ago Favorite Retweet Reply jcrasnick Jerry Crasnick It's a "significant trade,'' says one source. And Brandon League is not part of the return package. 56 seconds ago Favorite Retweet Reply McCutchen maybe? Can't think of another young impact hitter that might be available where the trade would be considered significant. I guess Hanley would meet the criteria, but I can't believe the Marlins would even considering deal him. I could see the Pirates dealing McCutchen if blown away.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jan 13, 2012 -> 04:24 PM) After reading Rogers' article, it seems like the Chicago media is sick of the Sox like many of the fans. My guess is most people believe Kenny has jumped the shark and like me, think the wrong guy won the war between KW and Ozzie. Sox are going to have to prove a lot on the field and in acquiring good players in the next 2-3 years. I would think only the true die-hard fans would buy tickets to see the Dunn/Rios White Sox. For f***'s sake, can one of the admins please ban Greg? He seems like a perfectly nice guy, but I simply can't take anymore of his naïveté and ridiculously-biased pro Guillen comments. GREG - KW DIDN'T WIN THE "WAR", OZZIE JUST SURRENDERED LIKE A BIG f***ING p****

I really hope people aren't judging this guy off one game.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 01:23 PM) He's pretty much just the same Noah we saw last year post-hand-injury, except now Asik is playing better and so Noah's moving to the bench more often. I agree offensively, which the hand injury clearly affected, but his defense/energy seems worse this season. He's now had more than a full offseason to recover from the injury and it seems like he's just a worse player overall IMO.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 12:14 PM) http://espn.go.com/chicago/nba/story/_/id/...lls-joakim-noah Scoop Jackson taking Joakim to task I honestly wouldn't be surprised if smoking too much weed during the lockout has had some effect on him so far. I'm just not seeing anything physically wrong with him that would explain his problems this season.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 08:18 AM) It would really, really suck to make baseball decisions based on marketing. Then you need stick to fantasy baseball, because revenue does affect baseball decisions. You don't think teams consider the additional revenue coming in when offering Japanese superstars huge contracts? You don't think Jerry & KW are aware what trading away Konerko would do to ticket sales? There is always some cost-benefit element at play with every single move or acquisition. I honesty wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if we couldn't afford Cespedes in our current budget without the assumption he sells some tickets. So if KW believes he'll need to spend significant time in the minors, then there's a good chance he doesn't sign him. We're talking about a guy who will likely get $8 million per season. At some point it's cost prohibitive to spend that kind of money on a AAA season. I'm sure KW is taking this all into consideration before an offer.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 07:43 AM) Alexei also looked totally overmatched for about 6 weeks too. Really hard to predict how long that might last for a different guy, depends on what issues he might have. Heck, Alexei still never seems to live up to what he could really do with the bats to this day. Cespedes is a much better player/prospect than Alexei ever was. To assume he'll require minor league seasoning when Alexei didn't, although entirely possible, would definitely not be my guess at this time. Furthermore, if we sign this guy, my guess is that KW and the marketing department will hype him up a ton. If you want to sell some tickets in April and May, considering our moves so far, you'll want your big attraction in Chicago and not Charlotte.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 06:17 AM) I don't understand the people who think extending Danks is stupid and putting a damper on the "rebuild", but signing this guy, who is the same age or older would be exactly how you go about rebuilding. Isn't the ultimate goal to have as many good players as possible? I'm all for signing the guy, but I really wonder how good he is if he'll have to go to the minors at his age. Certainly not worth the money they have been talking. If he goes to the minors, my guess is that it would only be for a month or two, which wouldn't bother me too much. But considering that Alexei started in the majors, I don't think Cespedes will need time in the minors.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 03:51 AM) So what's the most accurate information out there, age 26-30? There's strong reason to believe he's 29 or 30, it obviously becomes a MUCH MUCH higher risk...26, okay, he hits his prime in the majors at 27-30. But not if he's already right on the cusp of that age as of now. False ages have been much less of a concern since 9/11. Cuba may be a different story, but my guess is teams will do their due dilligence considering the price.

QUOTE (Andrew @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 12:10 AM) So, are we going to sign this almost 30 year old who makes great workouut tapes, or what? The guy turned 26 in October, but I guess that counts as almost 30.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 01:55 AM) Silverio was an intriguing prospect a few years back when he was still a SS. But he's nothing special as a 3B, he's got a strong arm, but he doesn't have great range, and his throw is not accurate. I think he would move to LF eventually. His offense is a bigger suspect, as he couldn't hit for power, his plate discipline is terrible, and he is not a good base runner. Add that up, you got a sub .700 OPS player with no speed and average defense. He will be lucky if he can make it to the majors as a utility player. The plate discipline is a concern, but he's a 20 year old player latin player. Still too early write him off based on that. I completely disagree on the power, as he had nearly 60 XBHs last year. A huge number of those were doubles and triples, and some of them will start going over the fence as he fills out his frame. The defense is what will most likely kill his prospect chances, because his offensive potential won't translate to a corner spot, so it's really 3B or bust. His odds of sticking at 3B look pretty bad at the moment. No doubt he's a long-shot, but I like him than a lot of garbage in our system.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Jan 11, 2012 -> 08:09 PM) I'm not sure it's a lateral move. He went from Director of Latin Operations in Toronto to Special Assistant to the GM - International Operations with the White Sox. Probably a raise, more power, more autonomy, and all those good things that come with what seems to be a promotion. Then that's great news. Just wanted to understand why the Blue Jays would allow to leave and this makes perfect sense.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Jan 11, 2012 -> 08:03 PM) I wouldn't have Martinez, Marinez, or Silverio in my top ten. I'd probably have Hector Santiago, Dylan Axelrod, and Erik Johnson replacing them, though not necessarily in that order. The Baseball America list is pretty bad. Yes, the BA list is pretty bad, but what can you really expect from Phil? At least he got the first 5/6 right. As for the bottom of the list, for some dumb reason I was thinking Axelrod wasn't eligible, but yes he and Santiago should definitely have been included. I like Johnson as well and think he should be right around 10 - 12.

I really wish we had some insight on how the Paddy deal went down. Seems like it was a lateral move for him, so I'm hoping and guessing we gave him a significant raise over what he was making in Toronto. You have to wonder why AA was willing to let him go.

I really wish we had some insight on how the Paddy deal went down. Seems like it was a lateral move for him, so I'm hoping and guessing we gave him a significant raise over what he was making in Toronto. You have to wonder why AA was willing to let him go.