glangon

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 31, 2016 -> 07:46 PM) I think I read somewhere that every major league team either averaged using eight starting pitchers...or actually had a minimum of using eight different starters over the course of the 2015 season. We used 9 over the course of the season. We used Sale, Danks, Q, Rodon, Shark, Noesi, EJ, Montas and Beck. Admittedly Montas and EJ were used as September call ups and Noesi was released because he was garbage.

Ok, looking at this and looking at the teams in our division vs how we played against them last year. I think we need a few things to go in our favour this year. Kansas City Royals Part of last years issue was playing them at the wrong time. We opened the season on the road against them with Sale on the DL and Samardzija out to prove how rotten he was. We got swept as every starter got feasted upon and it wasn't pretty. Then we played them after the All-Star break and lost the series 3-1. With this years schedule looking better for us, hopefully this with the loss of Holland and Madson from the Pen should have us pick up a couple of games. We won 7 games against them which wasn't enough. Minnesota Twins Part of the issue was that this mob just got Chris Sale and destroyed him, They also seemed to feast on Sox pitching. We never won a series. We won a total of 6 games against them which is pitiful. To me, if we want to be a contender in this division, then we need to turn it around against the Twins and win some games. Strangely, Sale accounted for 4 of the losses and Samardzija for 3 of the wins. Cleveland Indians For some weird reason, we pitched well against this mob and hit well against them, we only seemed to struggle when Raburn produced and he is now away. We went 10-9 against this mob (handing Kluber 2 losses) and 4 of those losses were in the last month of the season when we were out of things anyway. I have a feeling we may do better against this mob this season, especially with Raburn gone. Detroit Tigers We went 9-10 against this mob with 2 of the losses coming to Price pitching well and he's now gone. Also they won games with Lobstein and we lost 2 games with Montas pitching. There is the potential to pick up some wins here with Price gone. So to summarise, if we can improve against the Twins and the Royals, we should do better in the division this year. Part of that is Sale sitting down with Cooper to discuss how to approach the Twins hitters better and hopefully this combined with a better infield should see an improvement.

Interestingly enough, the bullpen WAR doesn't include Matt Albers, I wonder if that Pen WAR would increase even more with Albers added to that mix. Also, did anyone else notice that they had a platoon of Olt and La Roche.

QUOTE (whtsoxfan @ Jan 21, 2016 -> 07:35 AM) https://twitter.com/Nationals/status/689878232909221888 According to my source. The announcement is for a concert at the stadium, my source reckons that Billy Joel will be playing there.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 10, 2015 -> 02:03 AM) OK, this is, on paper, a reasonable schedule. If Robin is our manager, he better get this team ready to play in the spring training because this is very conducive to a good start. I know our team can't seem to EVER hop above .500, but here's what should happen in April. Mon, 4/4 at Athletics 9:05p MLB.TV - Win Tue, 4/5 at Athletics 9:05p MLB.TV - Loss Wed, 4/6 at Athletics 9:05p MLB.TV - Win Thu, 4/7 at Athletics 2:35p MLB.TV - Loss (2-2 record) Fri, 4/8 Indians TBD MLB.TV - Win Sat, 4/9 Indians TBD MLB.TV - Win Sun, 4/10 Indians TBD MLB.TV - Win (show some f***ing heard and sweep the Tribe; 5-2 overall record) Mon, 4/11 at Twins TBD MLB.TV - WIn Wed, 4/13 at Twins TBD MLB.TV - Loss Thu, 4/14 at Twins TBD MLB.TV - Loss (Team is 6-4) Fri, 4/15 at Rays TBD MLB.TV - Win Sat, 4/16 at Rays TBD MLB.TV - Win Sun, 4/17 at Rays TBD MLB.TV - Loss (Team is 8-5)!!! 8-5 would be a good start and not have guys like me freaking out. It actually is a good schedule for a new, veteran manager. I tell u what ... seriously, if Robin goes 5-8 with this easy opening schedule he should be fired. I realize this is a TON of road games early, but s***, sweep that series at home and play decent ball on the road and go 8-5. I think it depends who we have and who they have. With the Oakland Series, last year we swept them in 3 games in Oakland, I think I would be disappointed to tie this and would be looking to win the series 3-1 or even 4-0. Last year we went 2-1 in the 1st home series against the Indians and I would expect us to do that again this year. Last year we were swept in 4 at the Twins in the Opening Series. You have to hope for improvement and go 1-2 this year. Last year we were swept in 3 at the Rays with Parent in charge. This year you have to hope for improvement and go 1-2. So to summarise. @Athletics - 3-1 (last year 3-0) v Indians - 2-1 (last year 2-1) @ Twins - 1-2 (last year 0-4) @ Rays - 1-2 (last year 0-3) That would give us a record of 7-6 which would be an improvement compared the equivalent last year of 5-8. I don't think that realistically you can expect to turn round road series that you were swept in last year to wins. If we show some sort of improvement and pick up at least one of those games, then we are getting there. If Robin was to go 5-8, then he would be on par with last year and we'd need to show improvement over the later games to pick up on last year. If we are 6-7 or 7-6 after the opening 4 series, then I'm happy but based on last year, I wouldn't be overly disappointed in 5-8 either. Anything less than 5-8 and its not good.

To be honest, I'm not all that convinced by the Tigers. From the start of last season, they replaced Cespedes with Upton (like for like) They replaced Price with Zimmerman (downgrade) They replaced Soria and Nathan with K-Rod and Wilson. A rotation of Zimmerman, Verlander, Sanchez, Greene and Norris should strike fear into no-one. A bullpen with K-Rod, Wilson and a lot of holes should also strike the fear into no-one The finish this off with a right-handed heavy line-up that admittedly has the impressive Cabrera, V-Mart, Upton and J-Mart but then again last season they had Cabrera, V-Mart, Cespedes and J-Mart and they ended up winning 74 games last year. I'm not convinced. Losing Price, Cespedes, Avila, Soria and Nathan and replacing them with Zimmerman, Upton, Salty, K-Rod and Wilson will not give this team another 15-20 wins that it will need to win the AL Central.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 19, 2016 -> 10:08 AM) I don't think anyone knows what Erik Johnson will do, let alone the White Sox. No, but it can't be any worse than Samardzija last year. Also in the 6 starts that Johnson had last year, he never gave up more than 3 runs. In the same timespan, Samardzija gave up 4 runs or more in 4 of the 6 starts to end the season, giving up a whopping 10 runs against Oakland. I think Johnson will be a serviceable starter and if we get the John Danks that pitched in the second half of last season, we could have a solid rotation.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 19, 2016 -> 09:07 AM) Frazier and Lawrie are going to make up 7 games on the Twins by themselves? Buxton will be hurt again and we will have close to 100% health again? Sano will have a sophomore slump? Realistically, there's not much separation at all between CLE, Minny and the Sox. They each could finish 3rd or 5th. No but the addition of Navarro and the loss of Samardzija combined with the addition of Frazier and Lawrie will help to make up those 7 games. That is the loss of Samardzija who got lit up for 4 runs or more in 17 out of his 32 starts.

Your move Hahn and Uncle Jerry. Upton has signed with the Tiggers and Gordon has signed for the Queens, we now have to keep pace with them by either signing Cespedes or trading for Cargo. As it sits, we are probably 4th in the league looking up to the Indians, the Tigers and the Royals. If Hahn and Kenny are saying the window is now, then they need to pony up to finance their plans. We can't go into the season without a payroll of around $150 million and we need a big name bat to appease the fanbase. Personally, I could have coped Upton signing with just about anyone else apart from the Tigers. IMO, this will force Hahn into action. If we are going to compete he has to act. The fanbase won't accept Garcia starting in Right Field, they won't accept another season without proper protection for Abreu, they won't accept the Royals and the Tigers signing two of the three big free-agent CF's without us signing the third. Your move Hahn.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 02:06 PM) But has no interest in playing for the White Sox apparently...the only AL team currently connected to him is the Rangers. Never believe what you read in the media. If the money is right, he'll come. What slugger wouldn't want to come to the Cell.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 18, 2016 -> 01:54 PM) Cabrera in right...Eaton in LF. Cabrera has the bigger arm. I just dont see adding Jackson or Fowler to have them play LF. LaRoche would DH with Garcia. Granted, it's not ideal. The problem is there aren't many natural RFers on the market. Who knows...we'll probably end up with Markakis 2-3 years too late. Justin Upton is a natural Right Fielder.....

So 2 x Avi's = 1 x Brett I bet that is not the case this season.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Jan 12, 2016 -> 03:26 PM) Eaton's arm ranks 20th of qualified CFers, Fowler's ranks 16th (out of 23). Strangely enough, it looks like Melky has a worse arm than either so my original point is completely baseless now I think you've been drinking the same Coolade that the Hawk has been drinking. If you listen to the Hawk long enough, you start to believe some of the garbage that he spouts.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 8, 2016 -> 08:15 PM) Denard Span is getting $31 million in a contract over the next 3 years, plus a potential $5 million in total incentives, and a $4 million buyout on the 4th year, or another $12 million for the 4th year. Using that contract as a free agent baseline, I feel like Carlos Gonzalez would get a lot more than that as a free agent, meaning he has some surplus value for a trade. How much? That is the interesting question. Would he be a $15 million player on the open market? How about $18 million like Alex Gordon? Answering that will tell you how much a team would have to give up in trade for him. Cargo for La Roche and Adams. We get Cargo, get salary relief on La Roche, they get a good prospect in Adams and we free up some money to get Fister or Lexi.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Jan 5, 2016 -> 06:49 PM) It still seems hard to believe that in 2014 we gave 71 starts to Hector Noesi, Felipe Paulino, Scott Carroll, Andre Rienzo, Chris Bassitt and Erik Johnson. That is truly frightening. Combined they probably pitched better than the Shark in 2015, now that is frightening

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 30, 2015 -> 09:39 PM) Or maybe they are the same person? Has anybody seen Bucket & Rabbit in the same room? I've seen a Rabbit in a Bucket. Does that count?

There were points last year where Danks steadied the ship and was pitching well, added to the mix that he owns the Royals, this trade would be daft imo. Personally, I'd see if some Japanese team fancies La Roche. Keep Garza away from our rotation. I think we are in a healthy state. We have a clear 5 man staff with Chris Beck, Carson Fulmer, Spencer Adams and Tyler Danish all in the minors ready to step up if needed. Danks is in the last year of his contract and he'll probably be replaced by one of the above when he goes. Pitching is an area of strength where we have a conveyor belt of talent waiting in the wings. Let's not screw that up and screw over the budget by bringing in Matt Garza

I have this nagging feeling that Alex Gordon will sign for us today. Don't ask why, I just have this feeling....

.255 with 5 homers, 40 RBI's and 25 stolen bases. His defense will be solid though.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Dec 16, 2015 -> 06:15 PM) Does Melton mess up Todd Frazier? Hitting clean up for the Sox is the new 3rd baseman Tom Fister. We pulled off a trade for him where we gave up Mikey Johnstone, Frank Moonbase and Trey Tomkins.

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 04:26 PM) The list of candidates has been put out there. Like mentioned, probably going to be a year of musical chairs. Beltin "Bill" Melton it is then. "Behind the plate for the Sox is the new catcher they picked up in October, Diner Navaho."

A few possible cheaper alternatives. Chris Heston of the Giants could be picked up on the cheap with them just signing Cueto. Rob Refsnyder from the Yankees becomes a spare part with Castro being signed or Hanser Alberto at Texas looked useful. All are young and could be picked up cheaper than Montas or Fulmer, I reckon.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 09:12 PM) You all know how much I want a bonafide run producer at DH, to replace La Roche. However, if Abreu gets injured, who would play first base? Mike Olt played some 1st base last season

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 03:33 PM) There is more to this than just the statistics. There is also some scouting going on here. If anyone really thought that Andy Wilkins had 30 homer major league power, along with a decent BA, he wouldn't have gone trough half a dozen organizations in less than a year. He went through the organisations that he did because he was blocked by All-Star MLB talent. Toronto - he had Bautista and Encarnacion ahead of him and was DFA'd to free up roster room. Dodgers - He had Gonzalez ahead of him and was DFA'd to make room for Corey Seager Orioles - DFA'd him after picking up Hoes. Had him for 2 months. Mariners - DFA'd him after picking up Lind. He's available at the moment. I reckon we pick him up on a minor league deal with an invite to Spring training ready to come in when we eventually DFA La Roche. His stats last year was .251 with 18 homers and 79 RBI's in AAA.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 03:10 PM) Wilkins really isn't that good. He is a classic 4A player, and the White Sox aren't the only team that feels that judging by how many systems he has just bounced through. He couldn't have been any worse than La Roche was. I just feel we went in the wrong direction last year. Too many veterans and not enough options. I spent 2 months praying for an injury last season so that we could see someone different come up. I don't think we gave Wilkins enough time, how can you judge Wilkins to be a classic 4A player after 45 plate appearances. By your logic Jim Thome was a classic 4A player with his .205 and 34 strikeouts in 131 plate appearances in his second season or Jose Bautista with his .205 average, 40 strikeouts in 96 plate appearances. There are loads of examples of players who struggled when they first came up, to judge a guy as a classic 4A player after 45 plate appearances is harsh.