glangon

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Oct 30, 2013 -> 07:37 AM) I do not want either of them on the Sox, LA can keep them both. Seconded. I don't think either of these players have what Hahn would be looking for to improve the team. Trumbo possibly would have been if we hadn't just signed Abreu. Bourjous, no thanks, too many downsides and I don't think he is any better than Jordan Danks that we already have.

I think I'd rather use a combination of Semien and Gillaspie and use the money on an overpaid veteran to be spent on someone like Crain or Cotts to shore up the Bullpen. Signing Headley doesn't fit with the long term plans of Hahn and I don't see it happening.

QUOTE (knightni @ Oct 18, 2013 -> 01:23 PM) Would the Sox consider Frank Thomas as the hitting coach? He has the Walt Hriniak history and seems to have a lot of experience to share. Maybe on the back of signing Abreu, Konerko will retire from playing and become the new hitting coach

The A Bomb. to join the Tank and the Cuban Missile

I think the way that Hahn will approach it is as follows:- 1) Who do we have pencilled for next year without FA and trades and who is eligible for arbitration that we want to keep. 2) Who do we have coming through in the next 2-3 years. 3) What holes do we have at the moment and for how long do we need to fill them. 4) Who in the current FA market can fill those holes without costing us a 2nd round draft pick or beyond. 5) If we sacrifice our 2nd round and possibly 3rd round pick for a high value free agent. Is the Free Agent that we go for able to a) fill one of the holes b) add long-term value c) Fit within the budget and still find room to fill other holes. 6) Once the free agent market is exhausted, are there any players we can via trade get that can fill the holes? I honestly see a conservative approach from Hahn and can't see the big free agent splash that would cost a draft pick. I see him splashing out to get Abreu and then filling the holes with good Free Agents but not the quality of Cano, Ellesbury or McCann. I can see him trying to get Crain and possibly Cotts for the Bullpen. Again solid arms but nothing that will break the bank, if he doesn't there could be a major competition in Spring Training for Roster Spots.

1) Yankees 2) 6 3) $87 million

Looking at this. I think that the outfield probably only needs one player, probably in centre field. Assuming that we will line up with Avi Garcia in RF and De Aza in LF, with Jordy Danks as the back up outfielder and Tanky moving to either 1B or perma DH. I would like to see us pick up Choo or Ellesbury for that spot. Realistically, we will probably end up picking up Nate McLouth for RF and moving Avi to CF. McLouth would give up an on-base guy who can steal bases which would give us something we have been lacking since Pods. De Aza would move to the bottom third of the lineup where his speed and production would be suited. A lot of work needed on his baserunning in the off-season though.

Offense F Defense F- Starters A- Bullpen B- Management F- Must do better next season. A huge improvement needed, Defense went from an A+ to an F- in a season. Please stay behind after class for extra lessons.

Past Players Neil Cotts Esteban Loaiza Joe Crede Ray Durham Willie Harris Aaron Rowand Jose Valentin Current Day Jordan Danks Nate Jones Andre Rienzo

I can see him being released in the off-season, best case scenario of sticking him on the 60 day DL and freeing up a 40 man roster spot and releasing him when he struggles to recover from the injury.

I wonder if Flowers injury and rehab opens the door for us going after Brian McCann?

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Aug 27, 2013 -> 11:48 AM) On what? I keep seeing people say we'll spend money after next season, but the 2015 free agent group is hot garbage. There will be players available this offseason that can help us and if we're serious about fixing this offense we need to start now. Free agency isn't what it used to be as teams are being much more proactive in locking up their young players. Financial flexibility is nice, but when there is no one to spend it on it's only worth so much. If we don't spend money this offseason we may seriously regret it, because we may be waiting until the 2016 offseason or later for enough good players to be available. With this pitching staff, that doesn't make sense. To be honest, the Free agent pool this year is hot garbage as well. Ok, there are a couple of decent players, but we'd be throwing away money and completing with other clubs for these free agents. I would rather see us spending the money and developing our own talent and using the Free Agent market to either pick up other teams discarded prospects (to fix them) or to plug an obvious hole. The Tampa Bay Model or the Oakland Model are two good models to base your organisation around.

Reallistically, We will line up as follows CF De Aza 2B Beckham SS Ramirez 1B Dunn RF A Garcia DH Konerko LF Viciedo 3B Gillaspie C Phegley Bench OF Danks IF Semien IF L Garcia C Flowers Rotation Sale Danks Quintana Santiago Rienzo Bullpen Lindstrom Axelrod Purcey Petricka Veal Jones Reed Keppinger will be dumped, Konerko will be extended for one final swansong season. Floyd will be dumped. Johnson will spend another year in Triple A and be called up at the 1st injury to the rotation. Jacob and Wilkins will continue to flourish in Triple A and will get called up at points during the season. Hahn may bring in a free agent player, it will be either someone in the Rule 5 draft or a prospect that another team will give up on. The spare money will be spent the year after once we get Dunn's contract off the books.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Aug 19, 2013 -> 05:36 PM) Do they have Scotch tastings in Scotland like they have wine tastings elsewhere? Can you visit the distilleries? Yes you can. It's not free though and you don't remember a lot afterwards

As a relative board new comer but someone who has been watching the Sox for years (albeit from Sunny Scotland via MLBTV). I agree with Greg. I'd like to see us win with the youth, then make a splash for 2 or 3 hitters plus a couple of bullpen arms and I think we will be in contention. Most of the games lost this year have been by one or two runs which have been down to bad hitting or bad defense. If we tighten up defensively and bring in a few hitters, it could be a more fun season next year.

I think it's the timing of what he does. More often than not, the game is on the line and Alexei makes one of his stupid errors which ends up costing us the game. Straight after the error we see the stupid grin which really annoys me. The other issue I have is that we can have a man on third, 1 out and Alexei up and watch him hit into a double play, but that normally happens to anyone in the team.

6/10, not bad for a foreigner

Well, That is the non-event that is Casper the Friendly Outfielder gone. He couldn't hit, but he made some nice defensive plays and pitched one hell of an inning. If Casper the Friendly Outfielder can get cliamed off waivers, there is hope for Flowers to be surely.......

All this talk about splitting up the rotation is nuts. We should be building around it. We have a very good young rotation of Sale Quintana Danks Santiago Rienzo With Johnson and Snodgrass waiting in the wings. Our hitting has been poor at best and defensively we are awful. If we dump De Aza, Rios, Dunn and Keppinger, we free up quite a bit of Salary to add onto what we already have to go shopping in the off-season. Paulie will either retire or try and get fit and possibly be a DH and it looks like they are looking to try Tank at 1B. Although Alexei has had a poor year defensively (I swear, I'll slap him in the face if he smiles once more after making an error that costs us runs) and has been awful baserunning, he does have a decent average and has stolen a few bases. With some coaching and a sports psychiatrists help, the mental issues that he's had this season can be ironed out. If stick with the following - C - Phegley 1B - Tank 2B - Beckham SS - Alexei 3B - Gillaspie RF - Garcia CF - Danks LF - Jacobs DH - Paulie Bench C - Flowers 1B - Wilkins IF - Semien OF - Thompson We could say, right, worst case scenario is that we have a ton of Salary room available to spend on whoever we like at the end of 2014, where there will be alot of free agents available. I think that we may have to suck offensively for another year before we look like a contender again. If we needed to sign a free agent, then we could look at an impact guy like Cano or McCann. I do think that next year should be focussed on developement of the rotation and creation of the bullpen for 2015 whilst bringing in the pieces for the offense for 2015. 2013 and 2014 should be about trying out the prospects in AAA and AA and seeing if they can do a job for 2015 or whether we are going to have to bring some players in on trade or through free-agency.

Should we not reflect this year on the banner. The pointless smile from Ramirez (the stupid grin he does whenever he makes an error) on one side with a frustrated looking Sale (the look he has when the team makes a stupid error that costs him another win) on the other side. It sums up the season perfectly.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 25, 2013 -> 08:34 AM) Welcome to the board! WE have posters from Ireland and England, but I think you may be the first Scotsman I've seen. Good post too. Not sure I agree he waits THAT long though. Thanks for the Welcome. We have a big baseball following in Scotland (for such a small country) Personally, I think he will wait that long, although Sunday night may see the 1st movement, probably Peavy. He doesn't have to sell, he is waiting for teams to get desperate and he is wanting the best return. The longer he waits, the more he'll get offered. He knows that this season is bust and that it's now all about next season. He'll have a long term plan of the positions that he needs players for, which Free Agents to target in the off-season and then what trades he needs to make to get the squad that he wants. It's a very interesting few months ahead for the Sox and the September call ups could be an excellent chance for some of the Prospects to show that like Phegley, they have what it takes.

My 1st post here so be gentle I'm enjoying the trade deadline and the way that Hahn is handling it. His tactics are very clever and he has quickly realised that he has the cards and is looking to get the maximum return for them. Using the media and the writers the way he has is very clever, playing teams off against each other. If he plays the game right, we could end up with some very nice returns for our players. One advantage that Hahn has, which he flaps in front of the other GM's, is that most of his players are under contract until at least the end of next season and he doesn't have to sell. My personal opinion is that there will be alot more rumors kicking about and we won't really see the action until the 30th and 31st July as time runs out and teams start to get desperate.