kitekrazy

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 27, 2013 -> 09:43 AM) “[Quotable:] The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again. Oh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come..." Ivy makes you think of the past, of tradition, of Williams and Santo and Jenkins and Sandberg and Banks and Sunday doubleheaders. Concrete=cold, antiseptic, cookie-cutter stadiums, no personality, no memories attached It's pretty smart conjuring up the past to cover up the sins of the present regime. It does! I remember catching the end of Cubs games as a kid. Wrigley Field is great place to watch baseball. The outside of the Cell is a nice piece of architecture.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ May 28, 2013 -> 10:55 AM) I agree with what you are saying here. One question though: what happens when we *don't* win? The Sox have pitching, yes, but they have also run out far more talented teams than this one over the last decade plus which have come back empty handed. IMO, if we don't win, we get the following: 1) Peavy/Rios lose that little extra bit of value, especially Peavy. I'm against trading Peavy without getting MLB-ready pieces back anyway, but if that deal is out there, then he's worth more now then he will be in the offseason. 2) We potentially lose the opportunity to get something, rather than nothing, out of Crain, Thornton, Lindstrom, etc. 3) It gets harder to unload Alexei's contract. 4) Maybe most importantly, we lose the ability to audition players in August and September and then we have to do a repeat with several players in 2014 what we have done with Flowers this year, i.e. try to develop them but still expect him to produce early in the season while we still may turn into a contender. I think that if we don't win, all in all, we lose out on the chance to add some more talent to the organization, and we lose the ability to let that talent play for us whether that is at the MiLB or MLB level, and we also lose the opportunity to evaluate that talent over the rest of the season to help build a clearer picture of what we need to do over the offseason. I am not a proponent of "tanking" even though I do propose we make some trades which probably gives us a pretty s***ty record this year. But to me that's not tanking, because tanking involves dismantling our starting rotation and I don't think that is even remotely an option. Peavy only goes in an excellent deal that brings us back pieces right now, and beyond that, out of the bullpen we'd deal some guys who would likely be out of the picture after this year anyway. I would put Reed out there on the block to see if some contender is willing to give up a sweet looking position player or starting pitching prospect that we see as being only 2 years away or less, but even he stays otherwise. I think if we make some moves this season we will enter into the offseason with greater clarity, and after the next offseason, at worst, I think we'll enter into 2014 with a team very similar in quality and depth to the ones we had going into 2012 & 2013. Something for nothing never really works out. Since when is Alexei's contract a burden by today's salaries. We are using the Reinsdorf penny pinching ruler. Ugh. Wins and losses rarely mean anything when it comes to a player's value.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 27, 2013 -> 03:59 PM) Not to mention they have an owner willing to go into the red, even Forbes says they lose money, to keep adding players. It is an unrealistic model to copy, and I wonder how long it can or will be sustainable. His goal is to win a World Series. I like his attitude. It sure beats "competitive". The scenario is much different since he feels his days are numbered. The Steinbrener model only works if you have the revenue. I doubt they are losing a lot of money in Detroit. If you have superstars like Verlander, Cabrera and Fielder, how many people are going to stay home. Something the Sox haven't been able to do is have back to back post seasons. Those put fans in the seats.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ May 28, 2013 -> 10:05 AM) So teams should never try to develop players, right? They should just go out and get players that can perform now, and never worry about the future. Sure, makes sense. This organization is bad at it. You should also draft guys that have such things like fundamentals down. Also stop drafting football players to play baseball.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 28, 2013 -> 08:33 AM) I love how the guy on this site who thinks that dismantling the team and going with a multi year youth movement has zero patience for trying to actually develop youth. POTW!

This is probably the toughest position to fill in baseball. How many kids want to play this position. IF they can hit then they want to move them out of this position.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 23, 2013 -> 09:09 AM) Toby Hall vs. Chris Widger. Discuss. Bill Naharodny vs. Wayne Nordhagen.

Omogrosso's new name should be Omygodno.

Wilson Betamit. He still hurts the Sox.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ May 22, 2013 -> 09:39 PM) We need to make the right moves. That's what our FO people are there for. They're supposed to have oodles and oodles of information on every player out there. There are supposed to be scouts out there doing work looking for our next SS, CF, RF, 1B, etc. There is some talent on the farm to trade, but a lot of the position players have holes in their swings big enough to drive a truck through, so how about trading some MLB pieces? We should I think. We should have done that over the offseason. And we don't need sexy names, we just need results. Look for another Uribe (cost Aaron Miles), look for another buy low/fallen out of favor type like Floyd was, etc. We can do all of that if our people are doing their jobs. We just need to identify the players, make the moves, and we need to get cracking on this s*** because deals take time to get done, and after the deadline you've only got 2 months worth of audition time to help you make decisions over the winter. Can't be sitting around with our thumbs up our asses wondering if we're a contender or not. JMO. Maybe they are horrible. It seems the busts in the system are the multi sport players. They seem to get athletes but not baseball players. Some flaws can't be fixed at the professional level. Drafting and developing may be the two biggest problems in this organization. You have to point a finger the JR since they draft the agent instead of the player. Better players will get the better agents. The same group of people are repeating the same mistakes. Things need to be gutted at the top.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 22, 2013 -> 06:36 PM) American automakers/designers. Essentially, that's what happened over the 70's, 80's and 90's as they finally responded to foreign competition and improved their products and went bankrupt in the process, with the exception of Ford. Nokia, would be another. Apple Company, when they alienated Jobs and went through a lost generation of products in the wilderness with a Wal-Martesque leader. I think that people are not so forgiving when it comes to autos and sports. When you switch to Toyota or Honda after some of the crap US cars, you don't go back. The Sox lost viewing audience in the 80's with Sportsvision and that one strike season. Odd that some things get passed on to another generation. There is still hatred in Baltimore over the Colts despite the Ravens winning 2 Super Bowls. Plus there is no one like Frank Thomas. He and Jordan were a franchise. The Sox don't have a guy like that anymore.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 11, 2013 -> 11:59 PM) The Sox are tied with the Angels for the most errors (27) this year. Dropped popups, wild throws, booted balls in the outfield … and that doesn't even take into account passed balls, missed cutoff throws and mental lapses. The generally placid Ventura called a team meeting following Saturday night's loss. "I did say some stuff, I did," Ventura said cryptically when asked about the impromptu postgame session. Ventura says he is pretty much at a loss when it comes to solving the repeat defensive gaffes of his players. "It's more staying on top of it. Where we're at right now, it's not acceptable," Ventura said. "I mean, they understand that. You work at it, preach it, harp it. You do all of that stuff because you can't win unless you are playing good defense." After setting a franchise fielding percentage record of .988 in 2012, the Sox have been botching too many routine plays this season. [/i]Fred Mitchell, chicagotribune.com/sports/whitesox Guys like that have no business playing professional baseball.

Outside of pitching I don't think this organization has a decent ability to scout, draft and develop players. New ownership is what is needed.

Sad the way things are these days. Memorabilia is not what it use to be. So what if the opposing team hit the home run? The game is really about individuals. You kept it because it was a memory. When I was a kid Billy Williams signed my glove. There were no photos taken for authenticity, kept in a glass case, surveyed it's market value. Nope, I went outside and played baseball with it. It was the only glove I owned. The cool thing about it was that a big league player signed something for you.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ May 5, 2013 -> 05:10 PM) Whoever decided Youk and AJ could be replaced with Keppinger and Gimenez and still contend has to take part of the blame. But I lay the majority of the blame on JR for not firing Ozzie long before he did and not replacing him with a bona fide major league manager. The damage that was done to this organization in Ozzie's last few years is immeasurable. This organization isn't even likeable anymore from top to bottom including Brooks and his annoying marketing techniques. That's bit over the top. I think you give managers too much credit. You could go back to the 80s when the Sox were on Sportsvision. I think it's time to sell and get rid of everyone in the organization. What they've been doing doesn't work.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 4, 2013 -> 09:27 AM) 2013: $11,000,000 2014: $18,000,000 2015: $19,000,000 I'm not shedding any tears for #56. I bet he's not too upset.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 2, 2013 -> 07:14 AM) Yet you are commenting that he was definitely hit on purpose and said he wasn't re-signed because everyone hates him. How many times did he re-sign with the White Sox? I don't know if he was trying to hit him on purpose or not. I do know AJ stuck his pad right into the pitch. Everybody wins. This notion that no one can stand AJ is legendary. However, you would think a beat writer or someone, considering EVERYONE HATES AJ would come up with a laundry list of the hatred. Why ruin this thread with common sense. A young pitcher hits a former teammate. Imagine that?

The Sox should have moved out of Chicago and into one of the suburbs.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 27, 2013 -> 04:15 PM) Our minor league system has always been known for developing pitching (McCarthy, Hudson, Gio, Richard, etc.), just like Cooper has been known as Dr. Fix-It at the big league level. Recently, it's bullpen arms and identifying guys like Quintana, Floyd, Humber, Danks, Sergio Santos, Jenks, Nathan Jones, Reed or developing Santiago with low draft picks....then you have the up-and-coming group of Beck/Johnson/Snodgress passing "so-so" prospects who were overhyped simply because there had to be someone ranked in our Top 10 like Rienzo, Castro and Molina. Until about a month ago, most scouts would have said the one area of depth we had was those four minor league outfielders....and the possibility of Sanchez being a nifty little player. Nothing pretty much at catcher, no impact hitters on the infield corners, Sanchez/Semien/DiMichele/Johnson at middle infield (none of them considered future stars)....that's it. And all those potential relief arms. Part of the problem is drafting by who are their agents. Better players will get better agents. The strength is pitching but it doesn't seem to last long. Coop's results are not long term. The last time I seen Sale pitch makes me wonder if he will have arm problems from throwing junk instead of a fastball. I did not see a pitch clock past 92.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Apr 29, 2013 -> 07:54 AM) Or the White Sox fans vote for the Cardinals to piss the Cubs off, because apparently Sox won the contest. I think it's got to be rigged to a degree. Or the fans mistakenly voted for the W Sox instead of the R Sox in the second round. Our team almost never wins any popularity contests. or that it's on Facebook.........Cardinals organization is superior to the White Sox in the real world.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 28, 2013 -> 11:49 PM) Detroit just beat Atlanta three games in a row. Unless Scherzer's and Verlander's arms fall off, they will win 88-94 games and be the class of the division again. That team may not be the best at catching a baseball but they got a lot of other things in their favor.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Apr 28, 2013 -> 05:48 PM) Be glad when this month is over. I've always admired teams who constantly overcame some form of adversity, even a lack of talent in some cases. Maybe they can turn the page. Ventura wins manager of the year. Stranger things have happened....and it's not like I'm about to start rooting for someone else. There's only so much whining you can do about the state of your organization, it's player development (and lack thereof), its past decisions, its lack of vision. I am surprised that some of you who were so convinced this team would be s*** this season are so pissed off right now. Isn't this what you expected? Better to get it out in April/May, I suppose. If the Sox are destined to be the doormat in the AL central in '13 then I'll look forward to watching Gillaspie, Beckham, Viciedo, Jones, Reed, Q and even Santiago. And hopefully more of Jordan Danks. I think he's shortened his swing and looks really good at the plate these days. Give him a chance, Sox. I never had high expectations for this team in 13. I have the luxury of living out of the Chicago viewing area. There seems to be no immediate future with this organization. I would like to see the ownership sell. If not I think we are in for the same poor scouting, poor developing, bad luck in the FA market, we've seen for quite some time. It not unusual for this team to have a bad April.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 28, 2013 -> 06:31 PM) I gave Ventura all the credit in the world for how that team came out of spring training ready to play last year. He gets exactly the opposite this year for this team coming out of ST making themselves look like fools every time there's a cutoff man to hit. You would think guys would know how to do this stuff by the time they got to the majors.

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 28, 2013 -> 04:12 PM) I guess, but in my opinion it's an 84-win team that may turn into a 74-win team with a bunch of injuries, and being forced to make mid-season moves. It wasn't going to be a postseason team either way, but Hawk will use the injury narrative. Why would they be forced to make moves of there wasn't going to be a post season? So we can live up to the penny pinching but at least we're competitive image that so many fans who never enter the park believe?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 22, 2013 -> 09:52 AM) A team with this record of draft picks and people around here want the Sox to go on a total rebuild. LMAO. Some people think the MLB draft works the same way as the NFL or NBA.