Thad Bosley

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Feb 26, 2016 -> 05:49 PM) Things are finally heating up for Jackson. The Halos made an offer, Cleveland just lost their CF, Baltimore took a big one up the chili-hole from Fowler and the Sox are still looking for an outfielder. Are they really, though? They've only had a handful of quality ones dancing in front of their nose for the past few months, there for the taking, and nuttin'!

QUOTE (captain54 @ Feb 24, 2016 -> 12:31 PM) The powers that be (billionaire investors accustomed to juicy dividend checks) opened the checkbook post 2005 and the FO couldn't make it happen… 3 Playoff appearances in 16 yrs… rather than "stupid or negligent". . how about just "ineffective" ? Now, now - don't be too critical. We've actually had it pretty good these past 16 years. Consider what your parents and grandparents were treated to in the 39 years prior - just two playoff appearances! Two playoff appearances between 1960 and 1999. And some wonder why we don't have a larger, more blindly loyal fan base today!!

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Feb 24, 2016 -> 02:09 PM) They are under contract for 4 more years. What do you think their not going to play up to their ability or demand a trade or what? If the team is not competitive they will be playing for their next FA contract after the 2019 season or if they demand a trade the Sox will receive a haul back that would have to be a nice blend of near/Major League bats and prospects. With Sale, it's certainly a possibility, if not a probability. He's entering his 7th season with the club, and at some point probably sooner rather than later, if the next season or two continue to look like his first six, he very well could demand a trade. The guy was very clear - he wants to win!

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Feb 24, 2016 -> 01:33 PM) Our window of opportunity is not closing nearly as fast as you think it is. We have our core of Sale, Quintana, Rodon, Abreu and Eaton all locked up for the next four years (with Eaton, Quintana and Rodon locked up longer). We also have Anderson and Fulmer waiting in the wings who should make their presence know in 2017 or late 2016 along with other solid prospects such as Tyler Danish, Spencer Adams and Trey Michalczewski all just a couple years away. We also have two draft picks within the first 27 this year and three total in the first two rounds so our minors should be getting stockpiled pretty quickly. The organization as a whole is in a pretty good spot right now and are setting themselves up well to compete for the next half decade or so. The biggest thing the Sox going for them is that they have zero bad franchise crippling contracts on the books. Sure LaRoche, Danks and Cabrera are overpaid for what they are now but they are all short term contracts. You make a lot of great points. The only thing I'd say to you is that Chris Sale is probably not all that interested in the team being competitive towards the end of his current contract. He actually made the comment the other day that he has yet to play in a "meaningful game" in his entire career. That's a pretty strong statement to make, and is obviously indicative of where his mind is at in terms of the team competing sooner rather than later. He actually went on further to say that it's all about making the playoffs, with anything less unacceptable. So at this point, for guys like Sale and Abreu, they might not be too interested in looking at this as a long term project, waiting for the likes of the Adams, Danish' and Michalczewskis to come along before the team is competitive once again.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Feb 24, 2016 -> 11:14 AM) So guessing Sox were in the 2 years/$20M range. The Sox 0-4 now this offseason waiting for the market for free agent outfielders to fall to them.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 23, 2016 -> 08:10 PM) Hopefully Hahn and KW and JR prove to be correct

QUOTE (shakes @ Feb 23, 2016 -> 08:32 PM) But it is false. Given what we know about spending relative to market size, attendance, and revenue the Sox spend pretty favorably compared to the majority of MLB teams. Blaming it on 'the owners are cheap', and should sell the team, is just regurgitating a lazy argument to whine that the front office didn't do what you think it should have done. They ought to sell the team because they have been utter failures as owners, no matter how much they've spent. There's absolutely nothing lazy about looking at the record of achievement, or lack thereof, to guide one to that conclusion.

QUOTE (Baron @ Feb 23, 2016 -> 06:49 PM) Everything's fine. Why upgrade one of the worst defensive OFs in baseball? "One of the worst"? Is there a worse defensive OF in all of baseball all the way around than our's right now?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 23, 2016 -> 01:02 PM) I don't see a specific player named. No, in his response to the Sox' stance on the "free agent outfielders", he didn't mention each of their names separately, but instead referred to them collectively as "these players", and obviously he was referring to Cespedes, Gordon and Upton. Unless you think he was talking about different players in the context of "these players" when he was specifically asked about the free agent outfielders who had signed at the time of Soxfest.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 23, 2016 -> 11:36 AM) I know others will try to over simplify things, but I am used to that. It is one thing to get a specific expenditure for a top flight guy approved. It is quite another to get it for a second or third tier player. All you have to do is look a the players they are bringing in and the deals they are being brought in at to get that there are pretty obvious limitations they are looking at. If they had easily available money to spend on these guys, they would have done it long ago. I also think fans are conflagrating team statements, with rumors that don't necessarily reflect what the team is actually able to do. I have no doubt that a large chunk of the Sox being connected to players was being done on behalf of agents and players, and probably didn't reflect any real ability to have a fiscal interest in players. Not all rumors are created equal. All the White Sox themselves have said is that they are still trying to improve this team. They have never said they were interested in specific players or specific budgets had been set. Some fans are seeing what they want to see, and that is the worst case scenario. The fact that they are still looking, while useful players are sitting out there tells me everything that I need to know. The most negative will take it as the teams management is either stupid or negligent. I think that is just silly. Well yeah they did, actually, at least after the fact. Consider Rick Hahn's comments on the first night of Soxfest when specifically asked about the three premium free agent outfielders: “Let me make something really clear: There is absolutely no hardline, dogma, limit on contract terms with free agents. The reason we didn’t sign any of the hitters that thus far have signed elsewhere at the end of the day is not about contract term limitations. We had numerous conversations, with various parameters, various structures, right up until the day or the day before these players wound up choosing their ultimate destinations.” I wouldn't call that fans seeing what they want to see at all.

My one and only concern about the possibility of Rollins being the starting shortstop this season is if he plays defense the way he did last season. He was a below average defender last year, and that's the last thing this team needs is another position clocking in defensively at below average. As of right now, the outfield defense is a disaster, particularly on the corners as we all know, and remember - in the process of upgrading the offense this offseason at second and catcher, we actually took a hit on the defensive side of things. The moves to upgrade those two positions were the right ones, given the team was dead last in offense. But you add a Rollins who may be in decline defensively, and then all of a sudden you are seeing a downgrade up the middle defensively from catcher to short to second, and this for a team that finished near the bottom in defense last season. Add that to the outfield corner defense, and it's rather frightening, to say the least! So in all of these discussions about what Rollins may or may not have left in the tank, let's hope what's left is a return to form of the fine defender he was just two seasons ago!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 22, 2016 -> 06:14 PM) To me it is the most important point. Sure there were OFs, but if you can't afford to sign them, it doesn't matter. Uninformed speculation - art or science?

When assessing this particular offseason for the White Sox, you have to consider where they started from. Last year's team was a disaster: dead last in offense and near last on defense. And so to be "all in" or wanting to seriously compete for this season, "many" upgrades needed to be made. Yes, of course, the Todd Frazier addition was an outstanding one. High applause to the FO on that deal! Acquiring Brett Lawrie wasn't quite on the same level but it appears to have been a deal worth making, and does represent a net upgrade at second base. The catching situation, well, it's no longer Tyler Flowers. Enough said on that! The problem is our team was so bad last year that to become competitive this year, which management claims was its goal, still more needed to be done, particularly in the outfield and at DH. That's why I am 100% with the always-terrific poster Eminor when he laments the team's inability to convert on one of the premier outfielder free agents this offseason. If this team under this current owner and management team couldn't obtain a premium free agent talent under the conditions which were present this winter, when will it ever? So very disappointing. Because this was the golden opportunity to put the finishing touches on an offseason to take the team where it started from at the end of last season to a level as legitimate contender for this season. That has not happened. Instead, the conversation has been redirected to talking about the merits of the dumpster diving efforts to acquire Latos and Rollins. As many others have mentioned, the plan and execution this offseason appears to have been half-arsed, at least to this point. This point, I remind you, is at the beginning of Spring Training. However, I will hitch my wagon onto the optimism of some of the other rosier posters and hope Mr. Hahn is able to pull off a deal (or two) this spring to elevate the team up the notch or two it needs to compete for a chance for postseason play this season. But as of now, as we enter "Year 2" of the "3 Year Plan", it's looking a little iffy.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 19, 2016 -> 02:38 PM) Chicago White Sox ‏@whitesox 14m14 minutes ago "As we sit here today, we feel well positioned to contend." - Rick Hahn Earth to Jerry, Kenny & Rick: your ace starting pitcher today said he has yet to play in a "meaningful game" in his entire career, and that nothing else matters if the team doesn't make the playoffs. That of course echoes what many of us here have been saying for a long time now. So as you sit here today, Rick, you had better hope you either add another missing part or two, or hope beyond hope that the underperforming assets from last year figure it out and make it happen this season, cuz Mr. Sale's patience? It be wearing thin!

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 19, 2016 -> 02:38 PM) Scot Gregor ‏@scotgregor 9m9 minutes ago From GM Rick Hahn, sounds like only adds #WhiteSox might make would come through trades. Chicago White Sox ‏@whitesox 14m14 minutes ago "As we sit here today, we feel well positioned to contend." - Rick Hahn Has there ever been a year at this time when he hasn't said these exact words?

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Feb 19, 2016 -> 10:55 AM) 1. And yet, it IS a defensive upgrade. 2. Fowler is a bad defensive center-fielder. That almost certainly means he will be at least a significantly better defensive right-fielder. Southpaw would be a defensive upgrade in right field. Let's keep this in perspective!!

QUOTE (SoxSteve @ Feb 19, 2016 -> 01:22 AM) Yes but Fowler would be a defensive upgrade at any of the corner outfield positions and Desmond would have been a defensive downgrade. Plus Fowler has a much better OBP than Desmond. Desmond was a terrible fit on this team at so many levels. Strikeouts, low OBP, over 24 errors averaged over last 3 years. Not too mention our best minor league player is a shortstop. Don't want him no matter what his ridiculous War number is. Only in a discussion about the White Sox outfield defense would Dexter Fowler's name ever even remotely be mentioned as a "defensive upgrade". We should keep this in context, as in, we'd be replacing really bad defense with bad defense if he were to join the team.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 18, 2016 -> 03:03 PM) If you are Rick Hahn, are you willing to go to Jerry Reinsdorf and the Board of Directors and tell them that Dexter Fowler is the guy you need to put you over the top? That might be an easier conversation to have than trying to explain how this team is going to compete with Avisail Garcia as it's starting rightfielder.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 16, 2016 -> 04:19 PM) So, bucket said we may trade for an OF. One of the very available OFs now is De Aza. What would your response be? Mine would be shrieking. Lol - so in the past couple of years, our outfield defense has gone from De Aza/Viciedo to Cabrera/Garcia. I am sick to death at puking over our outfield defense! Time to start catching the ball out there. So a big "De NOza" to De Aza!!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 16, 2016 -> 03:20 PM) I think you can throw out the 73 and 90 win predictions as ones that would take a couple standard deviations of "luck" to happen. Even the 76 win team we just had contained some terrible years by guys who usually weren't terrible. Adding Frazier, Lawrie, and the new catching duo to this mix should really pick up three of the worst positions on the field. I think the low to mid 80's is a good baseline for win prediction. Right now I would say 84 or 85 sounds right to me. When you look at the current situation this way, where you are just bumping up against a possible postseason appearance but also maybe just coming up a bit short, it almost seems worth it to give up the draft pick and just go and get Fowler and replace Garcia with him. Could literally mean the difference between making the playoffs and not.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 11:23 PM) The Mets operate in mostly the same fashion. They play in New York City. The Cubs and Yankees exist. Angels and Dodgers, Red Sox...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 10:13 PM) They don't operate like a large market team because their fan base operates like a small market team. The current team that manages how this team operates, JR, KW & RH, are 2 for 13 as a team, with a homer (grand slam in '05), and a bunt single (in '08). That pencils out to a .154 avg, which I'm sure you would agree is not very good. You ought to be benched for that lack of performance, but we all know that's not going to happen, so we're stuck with them until further notice. So let's just hope as we enter Year #14 of their collective stewardship that the stars somehow align with the team this year and the team goes on a long run of sustained success, one worthy of a dedicated fan base, and then the fans will reward as appropriate.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 09:49 PM) LMAO. The guy who started a thread last year how he was going to change allegiances because the team didn't win enough. He decided not to because he would rather complain, so in essence he would rather complain about a team than have them win. And this is one who refers to someone else as being childish. OK. I've told you this before, and I'll tell you this again. You've got me confused with someone else, somebody else who you relentlessly attack here, with this "change allegiance" silliness. I never said such a thing, nothing even remotely close. Go back and find this thread - I'd love to see it myself - and if you can't, and you won't, then please stop with the misinformation.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 09:42 PM) That is good. No surprise you have no answers. If you are going to act like a child and derail conversations the way you like to do, you'll be treated like a child.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 09:34 PM) If you have all the answers, why don't you either let them know or share them with us. If you have a question, raise your hand and wait until you're called upon.