Southwest Sider

Wouldn't it just be a real kick in the nads of Dombrowski took that CEO job in Toronto. I'm okay with Kenny and all, but it would be preferable that his time here came to an end and the team went in another direction. The CEO job was the perfect out, and JR killed it.

Win the series please. In the meantime, I think AJ has mastered pitch framing in his time away from us.... http://mediadownloads.mlb.com/mlbam/2015/0...67083_1200K.mp4

McEwing has been an awesome 3B coach this year. Not his fault this team is in a must-win position right now. I'm not entirely saying he's not to blame here, but the lynch mob should take a step back and realize no one is perfect, and the team as a whole has made more costly mistakes this year then this one call by Joe McEwing. Thanks.

QUOTE (Baron @ Aug 3, 2015 -> 08:59 PM) I thought he caught it to be honest All the suspense of him laying there waiting to see if he had it... I thought I didn't see him catch it but wasn't completely sure.

QUOTE (Big Hurtin @ Aug 3, 2015 -> 08:48 PM) Going against some awful pitching got people''s hopes up too much. Yeah, but normally against awful pitching, the Sox maybe put up 3 runs. It really seemed the offense had turned a corner, but when you can't feast on bad pitching, you need to scratch out a couple runs against good pitching. What sucks the most is that they're falling right back into the hole they worked so hard to dig almost out of at home, with decent crowds.

Aside from that 10 game stretch, he's been pretty mediocre this year, and not even really a good #2 starter. This was a game the Sox really needed to be competitive in, and he failed to show up. If the Sox are looking at ponying up 20+M for a pitcher this offseason, I'd spend a little more and aim higher.

Selling some of your best prospects now for rentals or players who might even slump when you acquire them seems a bit shortsighted. I would have been onboard with Justin Upton, but not at the Padres asking price (whatever it was. We can reasonably assume that the asking price is the reason a deal didn't get done with the Padres and the rest of the teams). Upton is as prone to slumping as any player in the league. If you gave up Montas and Micah Johnson for him, just for an example, you'd feel rather silly giving up those assets for a player who might give you the same production out of RF that Avisail Garcia would. For assets like those, a sure upgrade is key, and rentals are only with you for too small of a sample size, that the production you want from them you can only hope to get in that small sample size, and you can only hope that the player hits one of his "highs" with you rather then one of his "lows". Countless times I have seen players traded for and performed at a mediocre level with their new team. Would anyone of us have traded for Melky Cabrera this year if he were a free agent afterwards before he started hitting? No. His terrible season would have been reason enough not to, and acquiring him would be a move based purely on hope of a return to form, at the cost of valuable prospects! Now, Upton hasn't had the same season as Melky, but like most players in the league, Upton is prone to slumping. You cannot acquire him and EXPECT that he will be an absolute upgrade over Avisail Garcia for the next two months only. You can only acquire him and hope that he performs up to his average standard, or better then Avisail Garcia. Would you have paid Montas and Micah Johnson for either of those hopes? If so, you are a bigger gambler then I. This is the problem with rentals. It also is a unique situation for the Sox, as they are not practically guaranteed a playoff spot, in which case maybe it's easier to load up on some rentals to fortify your depth for the postseason. But in the position they are in, and if the rumor is true that Hahn was able to stop Kenny from making a bold move, I give Hahn a lot of credit. Frankly, I trust Hahn's viewpoint from the business side of things more then Kennys. Kenny makes deals based off of emotion and Upton and some of the names floated are big names. He has the wherewithal to stand losing those prospects. Rick Hahn is going to be more objective, perhaps offering a viewpoint similar to the one I outlined above. To him, Montas and Johnson (which, again, are names I made up entirely) are too valuable of assets to lose for something that potentially will not give you a large enough net gain. There is the offseason to think about, and Montas and Johnson could be valuable trading chips for assets that will give you a player for at least a whole season, where you can ride the highs and lows with him if necessary, rather then a rental. As far as Jeff Samardzija is concerned, the Sox still have a shot at this thing, but trading him means you're giving up. Erik Johnson could come up and pitch really well, but that's something you're hoping for and if he doesn't, well then you're losing games you need to be winning. The Sox may have had an attractive offer for Shark, and maybe this is the battle that Kenny won, keeping him. You'll never know what was offered, but if it was just prospects a few years away, I'd rather keep him and take my chances on this year. You really aren't actually losing anything because the assets offered were never yours in the first place. Also, I don't think that trading Shark was as important to the franchise as some make it out to be. Yes, acquiring prospects is a good thing, but the future of the Sox didn't hinge on trading Shark. Unlike the Tigers, we aren't faced with a potentially bleak future, realizing it, and rushing to trade our rentals for whatever we can get. The Sox may not have the best farm system, but they can afford to go for it this year and not see long term ramifications... especially now that they haven't parted with some of our best prospects for a rental. All in all I think the Sox have an OK chance at a wildcard. That's pretty good considering where we were at not long ago. No chance. Given the abrupt change of circumstances I think the Sox played this deadline well. Nice job, front office.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jul 30, 2015 -> 03:07 PM) I'm thinking the tigers can fetch a decent return for Cespedes. A return the Sox are not willing to part with to their division rivals. That's correct. I agree with your assertion that they could get a nice return, but I don't think it will be from the Sox. I think Cespedes was just a name floated out there, as I'm sure at this point with such little time left, the Sox are turning over every rock and looking at every possibility.

QUOTE (Frank_Thomas35 @ Jul 30, 2015 -> 03:04 PM) Wow if that's our move for the bench I'll puke. No joke. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if all we see is a bench move or two. Wouldn't be surprised at a big acquisition either, however.

QUOTE (Sockin @ Jul 30, 2015 -> 03:04 PM) He's a AAAA SS. Precursor to a SS trade? If this move is legit, I really don't see why the hell valuable time would be wasted talking to teams about AAAA fodder like this unless there was something real that might be going down that this move can relate to in some way.

QUOTE (Frank_Thomas35 @ Jul 30, 2015 -> 03:02 PM) Who the f is Justin sellers Oh snap. That guy is awesome.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Jul 30, 2015 -> 03:00 PM) I think a better question in reference to Cespedes is; do the Sox want to help the tigers rebuild? That and Cespedes' contract stipulation leaves me with less than zero interest in a trade with Detroit. There are plenty of outfielders the Sox can go after. If the Sox are going to deal with Detroit for Cespedes, I don't think Detroit will get a very good return. I'm talking maybe 1 or 2 ok-ish prospects. Not much to worry about helping them rebuild.

This team is seemingly building a lot of great chemistry, and I hope whatever move is made does not mess with that much. Not too worried about it, but just a thought. This team is gellin' and I don't want anyone traded that might be missed by someone on the big league roster. If Avi's teammates love him, keep him please...

It's time for some cautious optimism. Granted, they have killed a bad pitching team, but the whole season was spent making other bad pitching teams look like good pitching teams and good pitching teams... well, you know. Obviously they won't always score 9, but I think it is safe to say we have escaped from the 3 runs or less hell. And if the pitching and defense keeps up.....

QUOTE (Whitewashed in '05 @ Jul 27, 2015 -> 03:42 PM) Frank Thomas said Pedro and big unit were the toughest pitcher's he's ever faced. This wasn't vs Pedro, but one of my favorite at bats was vs the twins and eddie guardado in extra innings. It was another long at bat and Frank Thomas hit a long shot that just went foul down left field. Very next pitch, Frank hits a walk off homer down left field. Remember that game vividly, as i was at it. Do you remember that the sox were losing and down to their last out, and paulie in the worst season of his career pinch hits and ties the game with a homer? So epic. I was so happy for paulie. Then frank finished it off. Epic game. I really thought that would propel the sox to the division title.

It's really difficult to imagine a trade with the Blue Jays, at this point. Hahn, KW and company likely see themselves as a team that can overcome the Blue Jays. Not that they will, but it's not out of the realm of possibility. The Blue Jays might really want Samardzija not only to bolster their pitching staff, but to hurt a team that could compete with them for a wildcard spot. Trading only single A or double A prospects to the Sox would be a double whammy for the Blue Jays. It's a tough road to the playoffs, but nonetheless I don't think you can realistically abandon hope, no matter how little there might be, for unknown quantities. The Sox know this, and probably are (and should be ) demanding ML ready, or current ML talent in return. At this point, it is anybodies guess as to who would get traded. The Boston series is big, but I don't know if it is big enough for the Sox mindset to switch to trading for prospects if they lose. There would still be hope, because the 2nd wildcard has made contenders out of almost everyone. Trading our 2nd best starting pitcher kills that hope, and I don't know that hope is worth killing unless it is for an absolute blue chip prospect. As far as hope goes, I still don't have very much. The Sox can keep Samardzija. And sure, they could go on a hell of a run. Make a wildcard. Hell, they could even win the wildcard game. But the road to the World Series is going to go through Kansas City for us. And the Sox have shown that they cannot keep up with the Royals. .... But it would be fun to get there, wouldn't it?

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Jul 26, 2015 -> 05:33 PM) As much as I don't think we are playoff capable, and knowing that we need an infusion of talent, I'd still love for us to make a push. Seen enough losing since 08. It'd be nice to finally have one of those ballclubs that kind of comes out of nowhere to be in contention. The division is likely out of reach, but wildcards are available. The hitters really needs to keep hitting. I think we have our pitching and in a better spot now... but hopefully these guys are due for 2 months of much better team hitting.

The only part where it wasn't the anti Sox was the part where they only scored 1 run. Happy with a win though.

Coincidentally, I already have tickets to both games on Saturday. So I've already planned on a doubleheader with myself and a couple pals. With the 2 different promotions, I wonder how the Sox will handle that. The night game will be a sellout, so I assume everyone from game 1 will get kicked out.

I love that players love playing here so much that they are waiting for Stan to figure out this cap problem. For their own sake, Stan better figure it out sooner rather then later (like last year with Leddy). You don't want to make guys wait too much, else they may miss opportunities elsewhere.

The Hawks are shaping up to be a much different team next year then I expected! I've gone through the same range of emotions that everyone else has gone through about the Saad trade. First, shock and disgust. Then, when details started to leak about the trade and Saads potential contract, less disgust. I'm still upset we won't get to see if Saad develops into a superstar with us, and I'm definitely going to miss those "power forward" moves he can put on.. but I am excited about Dano and I guess also excited about Anisimov+extension despite his concussion worries. By the way, does anyone know how Anisimov fares between the dots? I'm guessing he's not as elite as Vermette or Toews, but hopefully he holds his own well. Also, it's good to know the rumors of us also signing Tikhonov were true. It looks like his top potential is a good two-way 2C, but more likely a 3C or 3W. I'll take that on my team, for sure. 1.04M for him for 1 year, not bad. Depth is always nice.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jun 26, 2015 -> 04:55 PM) Boston has 13th, 14th and 15th picks now. They can move up to #3 or they can give out of those to us for Sharp. I still can't believe they traded Hamilton for that. Calgary's top 4 is very, very good now. And apparently now they're after Sharpie. Shawn Hutcheon @ShawnHutcheon Just told by a league scout #NHLBruins are pursuing Patrick Sharp from #NHLBlackhawks.

As much as I would love a package of some of the Cubs prospects, first and foremost I believe Bryant is deemed untouchable. And they're just going to sign Price in the offseason and keep their good young players.

The only way I am trading Sale is for someone elses MLB ready players, and I think the White Sox should explore every avenue of doing this until they find a deal that knocks their socks off. There are 4 reasons why I think we should trade Sale for MLB ready prospects. 1) I don't trust the Sox organizational coaching staff to produce MLB capable position players, so prospects that are 2-3 years out are not an option. 2) I don't trust the Sox front office (nor do I think they have the horses) to pull of enough of the right trades and free agency signings to field a competitive team. This 2015 team has proven to me that organizationally developing winning baseball players is the new age model. Catching lightning in a bottle like in 2005 is just what it is, lightning in a bottle. One in a million. You need luck, and I'd rather have an organization that successfully produces MLB capable players then rely on luck any more. 2005 was great but we can't really expect something like that to ever happen again. 3) If he hurts himself and loses his "stuff" after a surgery, our team would be geniuses to have sold him at his highest possible value. 4) If he doesn't hurt himself and succeeds mightily with a new organization, it should have been deemed a "fair" deal as the Sox should have gotten a kings ransom for him. The list of needs for this team are now 3B, SS, 2B, LF, C and potentially CF and RF (I still hold out hope for Eaton and Garcia) and there is no way in hell we are going to produce, sign or trade for enough players that will fill every position. We have a few promising prospects, but not enough to think that we will be able to compete for a title while Chris Sale wears a Sox uniform. I love me some Chris Sale. Many fans will be pissed off, those with Chris Sale jerseys and those who think the Sox would be fools to trade one of the best pitchers in baseball. The Sox most likely will not trade him because it will isolate fans. But so many are already isolated. How many seasons can we be done with baseball by May? If I'm going to be putting up with seasons of being done with baseball in May, there needs to be some kind of light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm just not so sure that there is one right now. Trading Chris Sale can be a franchise changing move. As much as I love him, I'm really hoping some team steps up to the plate and pays the price for him.

I'm glad we're talking about the idea of trading with the Cubs, because it might make too much sense to try and swing a deal with them. Quintana for 1 really good or some good hitting prospects might really be what this team needs.