Southwest Sider

It's true that when you want to make your pencil lineup, it starts off great until you get to Garcia's spot because we still don't really know what to expect from him. But Avi seems like a big competitor out there, and a hard worker. Those features should work well his pure talent, and in his limited playing time, he has shown that he is not completely clueless with the bat, which is another good sign. Hopefully in a larger sample size we can see Avi's talent really start to shine! :-)

Everyone is sick of Cutler. Just knowing that it will be someone else getting creamed instead of same ol' number 6 might bring a few more fans to the game. And possibly curb the boo-fest a little bit.

Just watched the first part of the Road to the Winter Classic. Lots of good stuff, a lot of behind the scenes stuff. Highlighted the Seidenberg hit on Toews, but didn't really get into the concussion protocol. A lot of cool stuff from the Capitals side of the show, too. I'm excited to see the rest!

QUOTE (knightni @ Dec 17, 2014 -> 07:15 AM) He's almost 30. To me, that doesn't mean as much of a return than if he was say, 25 or 26. Also, as much speculation as there is about TB wanting a kings ransom because of his fair contract, is it not possible that TB is looking to get out from under that contract? That contract to a large market team is great, but to a team like TB maybe the term is a little too much? Just food for thought, as it could potentially water down their return a little bit.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 10:33 PM) If you got 18 minutes to kill, go watch the Capitals/Panthers shootout on NHL.com. It went 20 rounds, longest shootout in NHL history, very entertaining. Although I am disappointed the goalies didn't get a chance in round 19. Thanks for the reminder, I was going to check it out when Pat Foley mentioned it on air... then forgot til I saw your post!

This has been a fantastic run the Hawks are on. Keep it rolling, boys. Stack up those points.

Maybe KW could implement his "extreme... less-then-desirable" strategy if it came down to it and the Sox could acquire Longoria. http://m.mlb.com/news/article/104180786/wh...news-conference Ehhhh.... I'm dreaming again.

You never know guys! MLB Trade rumors is saying there could be a 3rd team involved in the Wil Myers deal... Unlikely? yes. Possible? Also yes. I don't know what I'd do if we acquired Longoria. I'm already stoked beyond belief for next season.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 10:28 AM) Frankly, Abreu could put up even bigger numbers, and the Cuban thing was correlation at this point and it is not causation. I just think EXPECTING Abreu to put up bigger numbers is setting ourselves up for disappointment. Thanks for the bit of reality check. On one hand, it is amazing to think about the potential of Abreu with real baseball players around him. Melky instead of Beckham (though Alexei isn't horribad in the #2 spot), and Laroche instead of Dunn. It's a pretty exciting proposition. It really does seem like Abreu is the real deal, and he could put up MVP numbers next year. But as you said, expecting it would set you up for disappointment. But I still wouldn't be disappointed if he had a carbon copy season to last year. I seriously doubt he'd regress too seriously considering how he handled himself in the first and second halves of last season. It seemed as though, in the first half, he tried to hit more home runs, and did, but what followed was a lower (but not unacceptable) batting average. Then, in the 2nd half, he decided he wanted to hit for more average, and he did. Point is, he did what he wanted, not what the pitchers wanted. That being said, I'm not quite as excitable a fan as I used to be, and I can't speak for others, but as disappointed as I might be for Abreu to have a poor season, I'd still be able to chalk it up to sophomore slump and believe that he's better. Now, I have two questions for you. One, has anyone ever told you that you use the word "frankly" a lot? And two, assuming Abreu is able to "decide" whether he wants to hit for average a power, which would you prefer him to choose? Or would you prefer he went about it like he did this past season?

QUOTE (ron883 @ Dec 15, 2014 -> 10:19 PM) I'm glad some people feel the same way I do. I just can't morally bring myself to support this team. I have zero respect for roiders. Signing a third roider to this team? I don't want this to be thought of like the Bosox teams that were fueled by steroids. Maybe it will get better if this team is winning, but I just can't bring myself to cheer for Melky. I think you're overstating a little bit here. I wouldn't go so far as the team being "fueled" by roiders... and I really do believe if the Sox were to win a World Series next year, not many people would point at the Melky signing and say "They're cheaters". It's in his past now. You will want to cheer for Melky in the #2 spot because he should be seeing a lot of good pitches to hit with Abreu right behind him... and by all accounts, the guy knows how to hit. Another way to look at it is, had the Blue Jays won the World Series, would you be calling them cheaters and fueled by steroids? That's almost impossible to have happen. I know I wouldn't have.

Just maybe if we can find a taker for Danks who will pay his whole salary... Wouldn't that be sweet? Dream on

QUOTE (LDF @ Dec 14, 2014 -> 09:33 AM) i can imagine all the negative side effects this is doing to some of the teams gm at breakfast this morning. the sCrubs, they are seeing their control of chi just keeping slipping Dodgers, prob thought they had the sox over the barrel, enjoy eating more salary. and yous guys can add more. this will be great for that Hilter snippet of getting pissed. Yeah, this probably helps push Ilitch to sign Scherzer. We'll see.

Absolutely yes! In another thread I posted that it would be very difficult and expensive to upgrade 3B and C. Sandoval wasn't worth all that extra money, being a marginal upgrade over Gillaspie, and there really isn't much of a catchers market out there. The Sox probably never targeted upgrades at 3B and C anyway. I'm so trusting of this front office that I feel, if they are excited about Gillaspie at 3B and think he be better, I'm with them. Flowers isn't the best hitter on the planet but will provide adequate defense with some pop. I'm so stoked!

Can't wait for Spring Training! Already have my plane tickets. :-) What an excellent offseason.

WOW! Signing Melky. I thought it would only happen in a movie. But if it is really just a 3 year contract... HOOORAY! We got a guy to hit lefties and righties alike, and provide adequate defense. I am thoroughly pleased with this move.

I've been a big Jay Cutler apologist for his entire tenure as a Chicago Bear. "He'll get better" I kept telling myself, and everyone. Has he gotten better? I've wanted Jay Cutler to succeed ever since he got traded here. Has he succeeded in the slightest? Call it meathead if you want, but I fully disagree. Bears fans deserve better. I'm fed up with trying to tell myself that he's going to become a better quarterback. But you know what, I will give you that he probably cares just enough because why? It's his job to care about football. But what he lacks is the mentality to push himself to become better. To be one of the best, instead of an average QB. And I'd honestly be shocked if, 15 years from now when Cutlers long gone and retired, he cared at all that he was a Chicago sports disaster and certainly not beloved by some of the best fans in sports. I give you, my post was very passionate, but that's equally as passionate as I used to be about being a Cutler believer. I don't know about you guys, but it's been long enough for me. I would gladly eat my words if Cutler was a top QB next year... but do we really see that happening, under any coach, in any system?

Cutler sucks. You'd think that having one of the best QBs in the game as your main rival would be enough to push you to be better, but its clear that he just does not care enough to be a winner. Bears fans deserve better, and I will not watch this sack of crap play football ever again. Cutlers legacy in Chicago will be in the butt-end of bad jokes and moments of unfortunate reminiscence. He'll be as fondly remembered as Jose Paniagua, Alexander Karpotzev, Sammy Sosa, Albert Belle, and Ben Wallace etc in the annals of recent Chicago sports history. Winning a Super Bowl isn't even necessary as long as he cared enough! Brian Urlacher was driven to be the best football player that he could be, and he didn't win a championship, but he will be beloved by Bears fans forever. Jay Cutler is a worthless sack of crap and obviously doesn't even care about in the very least, having a lasting legacy of greatness in a town so passionate about sports as Chicago. He's got his money, and his family, and that's all he cares about. Good for you, Jay. I saw you make an appearance in some show about fantasy football leagues. You should have gone with acting as a career, because you're a damn good one, and you wouldn't have pissed off an entire fan base with your utter ineptitude.

Would you guys go 4 years on Melky? It really seems like his best offer is 3 years right now... and honestly I think he is the best fit for this team now. He won't cost a load of prospects to acquire, and you can reasonably expect him to hit pretty well against lefties and righties alike. The more the offseason goes on, I really do hope we sign him. He's a proven hitter.

I'd never underestimate Ilitch's ability to just decide to sign someone. I think he's one of those owners who might just tell Dave Dombrowski to go sign Scherzer, at whatever cost.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 11, 2014 -> 11:41 AM) Definitely one more, maybe two. Does "one move" equate to something like shipping out Viciedo and bringing in another OF, or does that count as the 2 moves? I'd have to believe it counts as one, because they have to replace Viciedo somehow if they trade him... and thats not a maybe.

Disclaimer: The following post is only based off of your traditional stats. I am fully aware that advanced stats are the stats of the now, but I am not well-versed in them, and not confident enough to use them in context. I would love it if some advanced stats gurus could follow this post up and debunk and/or back up any of the arguments I have provided below. He brings up a valid point, and even Rick Hahn has alluded to it. We want to get more athletic in LF. Viciedo is just not athletic enough. I was completely dumbfounded when someone in this forum posted that Viciedo actually played at a level below replacement level... yet still hit 21 home runs! To me, that speaks to how bad he really is defensively. Yet, he is still young enough to get better offensively. And we also want to do that, right? I'm going to try and "pencil" in your basic, old school stats for each of our current starting position players to the degree that the Sox think these guys can and will produce. I know that they may be overly optimistic, and injuries could derail it (see Avi Garcia), but with a full, healthy season for each player, this is what I think we can reasonably accept. DH Abreu- .290 AVG, 30 HR, 100 RBI with potential for even higher numbers in all 3 categories C Flowers- .240 AVG, 15 HR 50 RBI 1B Laroche- .250 AVG, 20 HR, 75 RBI with above average defense 2B Sanchez/Johnson- Wild Card. Don't know what to expect, but definitely to expect low power numbers and average to above average defense with speed SS Ramirez -.270 AVG 15 HR 65 RBI with above average defense and some speed 3B Gillaspie- .260 AVG 10 HR 50 RBI with hopefully improving defense and potential for higher AVG and RBI should the Sox expect improvement in his offensive game LF Viciedo - .230 AVG 20 HR 60 RBI with bad defense CF Eaton- .290 AVG 5 HR 50 RBI with great defense and speed RF Garcia- Another Wild Card but I believe the Sox expect something in the neighborhood of .270 20 HR and 80 RBI, with improving defense and good speed. Finding an upgrade for Viciedo that not only matches his 20 HR output, but vastly improves the defense is going to be tough. As we can see, I don't pencil in the Sox starters for over 150 Home runs. Not exactly a dealbreaker, but in this scenario you ideally don't want to "lose" Viciedos 20 home runs and only get a good defensive replacement, especially when the Sox play in a home run hitters ballpark. Now, how many players are actually out there that can improve us that we can feasibly acquire? I'm all about Dickerson as much as the next guy, but our farm system would then become depleted if we traded for him. I assume that they would want a package starting with Anderson and Montas and then more on top of that. If that were to happen, then we can safely say that Ken Williams still has his mark on this team Melky Cabrera is another option that I would like, provided we can find a taker for Danks and Viciedos contracts. I think this is the most likely scenario, unless the Sox are adamant about not buying players with steroid history. But I say, if the man is clean now, and the man is the best fit for us, this is still a business and you have to do what is best for the team. Melky should provide average to above-average defense and 20 HRs at the Cell. You get your Viciedo upgrade without losing the home runs, without losing prospects, and losing only a 3rd round pick. Play the game with the Mariners for a bit until they offer something you can stomach for Viciedo... and then there's the business of Danks contract. Presumably we could not add Cabrera to this team without finding a taker for his contract. It sucks that we couldn't just bite the bullet and add Cabrera if we couldn't trade Danks, but this is the reality of it. I really kind of want to keep Danks around for this next season, as he adds a reliable (reliable in the fact that you will most likely get a lot of innings out of him) presence to the back of our rotation. Trading him makes Noesi our #4, and ??? our #5. You'd have to be sold that Rodon is ready, and able to pitch big innings. I believe Rodon could be ready, but is he ready to pitch big innings? He pitched around 130 innings in 2013 and around 120 total innings between college and the minors in 2014. You could make the argument that he should be ready to add a couple dozen innings to that in 2015. Is 150-160 IP acceptable from your #4 starter presuming that he provides above replacement level value in those innings? It's an interesting thought... and would give the Sox the flexibility to trade Danks and sign Cabrera. Now on to the subject of 3B. We're not really sure what to expect from Gillaspie. He had an electric first half with the bat, sustaining a high batting average, but with little power. I think it's safe to say that if we tried to ask him to be a power hitter, his average would drop immensely. It's interesting to note that Conor had a great batting average for the first 3 months, and hit no home runs. Then, in July, Conor knocked out 4 home runs all while still maintaining that high average. Then came his abysmal September and August. Did Conor run out of gas? Just hit a slump? Started trying to hit home runs? The answer is not clear. What is clear is that Conor was able to hit over .300 in 3 out of the 6 months of the season, and in one of them he hit a not-so-terrible .264. As for his defense, I think you can expect to at least see marginal improvement in his game, as far as that is concerned. Ideally, from your 3B position, you want to see more power. You want at least 15 HR and 70 RBI. But what's out there? Headley? Have any other names been kicked around in rumors? There was Sandoval, and he hits a few more home runs then Conor, but I don't think the Sox viewed him as an upgrade that was worth shelling out the big bucks. I'm not trying to say Conor is as good as Pablo... but their stats weren't completely dissimilar, and I think this played into the Sox' pursuit. Conor comes cheap with lesser (not not dramatically lesser) stats then Sandoval. Not worth 100 million, I think. What would be worth the upgrade at big dollars is an Adrian Beltre type, but that's not happening. It almost seems like the Sox are "stuck" with Gillaspie, whether you believe that to be a good thing or not. He wasn't good enough that you'd feel "set" that 3B, but he wasn't bad enough that you want to spend a lot of money for a marginal upgrade. I think the Sox end up going into the season with Gillaspie as the starting 3B. And finally, the OP mentions C as a position of need, and I will go ahead and disagree here. We all know you could get better at C offensively. But at what cost? Isn't it true that Flowers provided average defense last year? That's not so bad. The guy has a little pop, but he won't hit for average and by all means I believe he has a good rapport with Sox pitchers and coaches. There have been no murmurs whatsoever of trying to find a replacement catcher, which leads me to believe the Sox are ready to go into 2015 with Flowers the starting catcher. And I don't have an issue with it. You don't need elite offensive players at every position to win the World Series. Plus, you never know, Flowers could break out for a 20 HR season and I think we'd all be very happy with that. Thanks for reading. TOO LONG; DIDNT READ Trade Viciedo and Danks Slot Rodon into rotation or find a cheap #5 starter Sign Melky Go to war with Gillaspie and Flowers, provided a player you can't pass up on becomes available (which in all likelihood, won't)

Maple Leafs’ Bernier calls Nelson Mandela ‘one of the most known athletes’ Oops.

This kid, while streaky, will always be a somewhat okay ML bat. He will probably improve over more time as well. If the kid could play a lick of defense, he may even stick with the Sox. But I just don't see a future with Viciedo and the Sox. He will never reach his old ceiling as a superstar, but he has reached his floor... Low average and OBP, 15-20 HRs, 50-70 RBIs. Not much trade value, but if the Sox can get a couple lottery tickets for him I'd be happy. We need a different answer in left field, and I'm hoping that this offseason brings it. I'm not particularly stoked about the idea of Crawford, Bruce or Melky. The Sox reallly need an outfielder who is a plus defender and can also hit in the very least as well as Viciedo. That will be tough to come by. I think I like Melky the most out of all of them simply because he will only cost money and a 3rd round pick... but I'm not in for Melky for a 5 year deal.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Dec 9, 2014 -> 12:27 PM) Well, he did just say it is a "dream come true", so maybe 6 years and $100M would sound appealing to him. Also, a dream come true.

Just getting back to Ynoa for a second. Maybe I'm placing a little too much faith into our front office and talent evaluators, but there's no doubt to me that the White Sox were the team who wanted to expand this deal to include Ynoa. It could explain the weeklong or so holdup. The Sox see something that they really like in Ynoa and targeted him, and got their man. He's a good buy low candidate. Good for the Sox. The front office has to be very pleased right now.