tray

Caulfield: I don't see many minority people in the stands at professional baseball games and certainly not very many at Sox park or Nuveen field on the North side. Yes, minorities attend in numbers, but not anywhere near the percentage of minorities in the City, which consists of about 33% black and 30% Hispanics. That may change over time, but until then, there should never be anyone hurling ethnic slurs at black players from the stands. That was done a few years back at Wrigley and more recently at Fenway. So, race has lingered as an issue long after Jackie Robinson was allowed to play, but let's not drag politics into the Sox/Cubs thing. That rivalry exists no matter what one's politics are and regardless of race/ethnicity.

Primarily Sox fans attend to see the team play competitive baseball around .500 and to never quit when they are behind. Another reason - overzealous cub fans have also spiked interest in the White Sox. Sox fans have really grown sick of the cubs and their fans. I see a lot more people this year wearing White Sox hats and jerseys around town. Being a Sox fan seems more special than it has for a long time.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 10, 2017 -> 04:30 PM) Everyone can spin it anyway they like, the bottom line is the results have to get better or this guy is a bust. It is always easy to blame messing with mechanics and it takes a while to get back to the old way, but remember the old way got him a TJ surgery at a young age. This stuff is still fluff until he starts pitching better. Precisely.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ May 10, 2017 -> 01:06 PM) What? Giolito would be best served by simply pitching better than he has thus far in the minor league. There isn't much more that can be said by him or by others to excuse or to explain poor performance. (0-5 7.31 ERA in the Minors).

Frazier isn't blocking anyone. Davidson can't hit enough to be an every day player and Delmonico cannot play mlb level defense at any position. We need home runs. Hopefully Frazier starts hitting a lot of them.

Giolito needs to let his performance speak for itself.

Please don't mention Trea Turner. I wanted the Sox to draft him so bad in 2014 and they passed on him for Rodon.

Most minor league player will never be "ready" for the majors no matter how much seasoning they have. Others don't need more than a quick stint in the minor league before they are promoted and prove that they belong. IMO Moncada is in the SECOND category. I expect that he will be promoted next week, some time on or soon after May 14. Fulmer? He reminds me of Erik Johnson in a lot of ways. Hopefully Fulmer's career is not on a similar trajectory. I think Reynaldo Lopez profiles better as a major league starting pitcher than Fulmer, even though his record in the minors has not distinguished him to this point. I just don't know what to make of Giolito. He looks polished but the results have thus far been unremarkable.

Small sample size but great start. Much better than schwabber's .196 batting average.

There isn't anything magical about Avi's improvement. He focused on weight loss and conditioning in the off-season and it has paid dividends with his offense, defense and with his confidence. Several big clutch hits already this season including a home run and a triple against Detroit.

An alternative to tanking - Continue to play good baseball. That will put fans in the seats who will drink beer. Then spend the beer money on Luis Robert.

Great win against division rivals. Renteria exposing how bad Ventura truly was.

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 27, 2017 -> 09:41 AM) I missed the home run because I was in the middle of a post criticizing him, so glad that was cleared up. I get it. hahahaha. omg so funny!

Those who spend more time criticizing the White Sox than watching them might not have noticed that Avi has improved markedly as a hitter and as a fielder. Part of his improvement is due to substantial weight loss and physical conditioning. Avi has made adjustments at the plate with his approach. He is taking more pitches that are away and outside the strike zone. That has made pitchers throw him more pitches in the strike zone after they get down in the count. I don't know what the exit velocity is on Avi's hone runs but that missile he launched to center fired yesterday was one of the longest home runs I have seen to that part of the ballpark in a few years. He is waiting on pitches and watching the ball until contact. It has been impressive thus far.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Apr 26, 2017 -> 03:43 PM) Albers was lights out at this time last year. I guess you missed the point of the post. Well OK the White Sox might go into a season long dive like last year and Swarzek might blow up like Albers. That is one way to look at it. My own view is that our bullpen is deeper this year than last, there are reinforcements available in the minors that we didn't have last year, and most importantly, Renteria actually knows how to use a bullpen. This is a different Manager, a different team, and a different season. My own opinion is that the Sox are better right now than they were at the same time last season, regardless of the record or Matt Albers.

QUOTE (Real @ Apr 26, 2017 -> 04:17 PM) looking at the standings, wow this division is poop. Poop? I heard kids using that word in third grade.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 26, 2017 -> 04:18 PM) When do playoff tickets go on sale? I don't know, but I won't be buying any. I will be at home rooting against the cubz. I am betting that they won't get lucky two years in a row.

Fans are looking for excuses concerning their last place prediction for this years White Sox. Let me suggest some that I use.. Renteria is one of the best while Ventura may have been the worst Manager in MLB. Leury Garcia was a largely unknown commodity and nit used properly last season. This year he looks good as a CF (glove and arm) and as a switch hitter. No one predicted Avi Garcia would have the kind of sustained success he has had thus far. Sale only started on out of every five games, and he didn't win 'em all. No Matt Albers in the bullpen this year. Swarczak has been lights out, Holland and Shields have been decent. Our catchers have been a plus offensively and defensively. I think tanking is off the table, at least for now.

I'm not buying the accusation that the Sox have a bad organization since they have not made the playoffs for ten years. And how convenient to create the artificial time frame beginning when they won the WS. Compare a larger sample size...say 100 years. One World Series Championship for the cubs in over 100 years, and that was a lucky win in the 10th inning of game seven, or they would still be looking for one of them. Bad organization? Frankly I do not like old Joe Ricketts and the dirty Wall Street money he brought into Chicago, the demolition of the bleachers, the ridiculous scoreboards, or the over development at the small tract of land on Clark. The Sox are in good financial shape right now and are not burdened with bloated player contracts for older under-performing players. THAT is why they are in a great position to go after a player like Robert and they will. If the bidding gets crazy, they will pass. This guy may just be an over-hyped Yasiel Puig once he faces major league pitching.

Everyone has a right to their opinion but at the same time, will those who turn out to be entirely wrong come back here and admit that they were wrong ? I doubt it. Reinsdorf is a billionaire who signed the largest Contract with a pro athlete in its time with Michael Jordan.On the other hand, JR does not believe that spending more than other teams guarantees a championship. He has been burned by any number of player Contracts for the Sox and Bulls. Thus, he proceeds with caution and requires team management to perform due diligence on these players, especially when a lot of money is involved. My own opinion is that JR will tell Hahn to go after Robert like a b1tch and that money will not be an issue. The Sox appear to be a perfect fit for this player.

Avi must relish proving his keyboard critics wrong. That bomb he hit today was 429 feet, I believe - a game winning towering blast against a great pitcher in Yankee stadium.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Apr 18, 2017 -> 06:02 PM) There's no weird perception vs. stat/facts here because perception is reality in this case. Numbers will tell you that Schwarber isn't far worse than Garcia defensively but they will tell you they both currently suck. Schwarber has played about 60 games in his life out there and Avi has played years and years out there and isn't getting any better. Even if you think Schwarber is always going to be a bad outfielder it stands to reason he's going to improve at least a little bit. I guess we can throw in Schwarber's awesome post season numbers but I'm not going to use a 14 game sample size to make a point which is funny considering that small of a sample size is why we're having this conversation to begin with. So to summarize, Schwarber has outproduced Avi at every level and when I say outproduced, he's destroyed his numbers at every level, he's about 2 years younger, is under contract for a few more years but you wouldn't trade Avi for Kyle because you think he's fat. Got it. Avi Garcia is much faster this season because of weight loss and he was always much faster than Schwarber. Schwabby has a surgically repaired knee, and yes, his weight coupled with that leg injury is a majaor consideration when it comes to mobility and speed. Schwabby will be a man without a defensive position, which means he will become a DH in all likelihood. Woah....bang, bang bang,,, Avi just Crushed a 3 run bomb. Speaking of the devil! My man!

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Apr 18, 2017 -> 04:03 PM) Literally all of them outside of these 2 weeks. Not to mention Schwarber is close to 2 years younger and is under contract for longer. Schwarber is horrible defensively...far worse than Garcia. Schwarber's weight has to be a concern for any National league team because there is no DH there. Schwarber looks like a tank. When you say literally all numbers, which ones are you referring to ? Schwarber is a .240 hitter since he has been in the league but did hit a lot of home runs last season. I'm seeing a lot of downside to Schwarber because of his weight, his lack of speed, and the serious knee injury he sustained. Cubs gave up on him as a catcher and soon his defensive liabilities might be exposed in the outfield like they were during the 2015 playoffs. I think the comparison is instructive for demonstrating how perceptions sometimes precede reality and stats/ facts.

Any offensive or defensive stats to back up some of the opinions here?

I'd like to see some comparisons between Avi Garcia and Kyle Schwarber. Garcia is 25 while Schwarber is 24. Schwarber is about 6 ft. tall and weighs about 240 pounds. Avisail Garcia is 6 ft 4" and I am not sure of his weight because he has lost at least 15 pounds. in any case, I believe he weighs less than Schwarber. Speed on the bases and in the outfield- No comparison. Avi has plus speed. Schwarber is a dump truck with a flat tire. Nwither is a plus defender and they have both made lawn darts of themselves in the outfield. OBP and Batting Average? Schwarber appears to a consistent .240 average hitter. Avi probably will hit for a better average this season. Would the Sox trade Avi for Schwarber straight up? I wouldn't