ST: 3/8 vs Rockies

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Stefan Urquelle!

 

 

 

But yes.

 

oooohhh. The cool version of Steve Urkel?

[RockRaines]

Personally, I think he needs a good amount of time in the outfield before we depend on him there at the ML level

He did play OF in Cuba.

[ScottyDo]

Well, he got 2 hits off Felipe Paulino today, he is a major leaguer. His 3rd hit was off of Eric Stults, another major leaguer.

He got a double off of Joe Martinez. He has 50 career innings, but is more of a AAAA guy I think. Got a hit off Jensen Lewis, who is a major leaguer. Another hit off of Jess Todd, who has 28 career innings.

 

Those are from the past 2 games, so yeah, most hits were off of major league pitchers.

What's more impressive to me than the hits is his ability to cover the whole plate, and square things up on a pretty regular basis. Of course spring training results are useless, but you can gain a little bit from watching people's form. Viciedo looks pretty smooth to me right now.

 

Of course, I actually think he's best off in AAA right now. Not that he's got much to prove with his bat, but major leaguers will let him get himself out if he decides to swing at EVERYTHING, and plus he's got a couple of new positions to master.

[ScottyDo]

oooohhh. The cool version of Steve Urkel?

Yup, that one!

 

Stefan Gartrell = Stefan Urquelle.

[maggsmaggs]

Viciedo GUNS the runner out trying to go home! Just a GREAT throw on a 1-hop to the catch, perfectly on line and strong. Good god, this kid has to make the team at this point.

 

What makes more sense for him though? Consistent playing time in AAA in the OF, or one start per week in Chicago's outfield. Makes more sense for him to go back to AAA to play everyday, IMO.

 

 

I think he'd be one of the top 10 or 15 prospects overall if he had a set position.

 

I don't understand the rankings hate on the guy. He is going to be 22 years old on Thursday. And as a 21-year-old, he had an .840 OPS in the Majors. That's incredible, especially for a guy with such s***ty plate discipline. Once he improves that, he will be a monster, and I have faith he will be at least ok in plate discipline with time. Has a gun of an arm, but just been shifted around the field by the Sox. Guy still has INCREDIBLE potential.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

What makes more sense for him though? Consistent playing time in AAA in the OF, or one start per week in Chicago's outfield. Makes more sense for him to go back to AAA to play everyday, IMO.

 

I agree, he needs to be in AAA OF, but I think if he did make the team, he would get 3 starts a week or so between RF and DH when a lefty is pitching.

[Balta1701]

I agree, he needs to be in AAA OF, but I think if he did make the team, he would get 3 starts a week or so between RF and DH when a lefty is pitching.

With his lack of defensive skills/experience, the abundance of DH's on this team, and the likelihood of other RH hitting OF players on the bench (Milledge or De Aza), it's hard for me to believe that Viciedo getting 3 starts a week would be worth an extra win to this team even if he hit well.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

With his lack of defensive skills/experience, the abundance of DH's on this team, and the likelihood of other RH hitting OF players on the bench (Milledge or De Aza), it's hard for me to believe that Viciedo getting 3 starts a week would be worth an extra win to this team even if he hit well.

 

Abundance of DH's on the team? Dunn, Teahen, and Quentin are the only defensive liabilities, and plus, I am operating on the idea that Dayan replaces Teahen on the 25-man roster.

[Chicago White Sox]

With his lack of defensive skills/experience, the abundance of DH's on this team, and the likelihood of other RH hitting OF players on the bench (Milledge or De Aza), it's hard for me to believe that Viciedo getting 3 starts a week would be worth an extra win to this team even if he hit well.

If we go with a four man bench and are stuck with Teahen, then the question becomes which reserve outfielder is the best fit for the team. The four guys competing for the spot appear to be Milledge, De Aza, Viciedo, and Lillibridge. Each guy offers something different. De Aza is the only left-handed bat out of the bunch. Viciedo and Milledge crush left-handed pitching. De Aza and Lillibridge are the only two who can play a reasonable CF. Lillibridge and Viciedo can play some IF positions. Clearly each guy has his pros and cons.

 

Looking at our roster makeup, we definitely need a right-handed hitting backup OF. Pierre has actually been better against lefties the past few years, but we have Teahen available when he needs a day off. Quentin is much better against righties and is obviously a defensive liability. A solid defensively OF who can hit lefties well would solve several needs. That guy seems to be Milledge to me. Given the amount of starts each guy would get on a regular basis, the difference between him and Viciedo would be minimal. Also, why it's great that Viciedo can play 1B and 3B, Morel and Konerko are both RH hitters and we have Dunn to slide into 1B once a week. As for CF, I'd rather use Pierre there when Rios needs a day off and be able to keep Milledge on the roster than be forced to use Lillibridge. His bat is just too weak IMO.

 

All things considered, I'd much rather have Viciedo in AAA playing outfield on a regular basis and being our first line of defense against an injury at LF/RF/1B/DH. What's funny about all this is that trying to optimize the bench is probably a complete waste because Ozzie won't look at the splits. He'll use Teahen as Quentin's backup and use Milledge or Viciedo as Pierre's backup anyways.

[soxsider11]

That is very little speed to come off the bench. Milledge only had 5 sbs last year compared to lillibridges 16. Just sayin cause that could come into the decision

[Chicago White Sox]

That is very little speed to come off the bench. Milledge only had 5 sbs last year compared to lillibridges 16. Just sayin cause that could come into the decision

Unfortunately, when you have a four man bench you're going to have to make some sacrifices. While having a true speed guy would be nice, I'd much rather have Milledge to serve as a quasi-platoon partner and late inning defensive replacement for Quentin. Plus he's fast enough to serve as a pinch-runner for the really slow guys. Obviously Ozzie may feel differently and choose Lillibridge or De Aza. I wouldn't be surprised.

[Leonard Zelig]

I think Lillibridge's versatility gives him the upper hand on the last spot.

[Leonard Zelig]

Abundance of DH's on the team? Dunn, Teahen, and Quentin are the only defensive liabilities, and plus, I am operating on the idea that Dayan replaces Teahen on the 25-man roster.

In this scenario where does Teahen go, AAA?

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

With his lack of defensive skills/experience, the abundance of DH's on this team, and the likelihood of other RH hitting OF players on the bench (Milledge or De Aza), it's hard for me to believe that Viciedo getting 3 starts a week would be worth an extra win to this team even if he hit well.

I think Viciedo on the bench over Teahen for the course of a full season is a big help, greater than 1 win but impossible to quantify exactly, although it probably makes the most sense to keep him playing regularly in Charlotte. But that said, it's hard to watch this guy swing the bat and not want him on the team right now.

[bigruss]

That is very little speed to come off the bench. Milledge only had 5 sbs last year compared to lillibridges 16. Just sayin cause that could come into the decision

SB's are not a good way to judge speed. Milledge would be fine off the bench as a pinch runner, and you wouldn't lose much in terms of speed while having a better bat off the bench.

 

And if Ozzie really wants speed he would most likely choose De Aza.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

In this scenario where does Teahen go, AAA?

 

Possibly, if he passes through waivers and no one wants to claim him.

[hi8is]

What to do with Dayan Viciedo. We have him controlled for 3 more years following this one? We need to have him on the big club.

I think we have 5 more years left.

 

3 under contract ( this includes 2011 ) and 2 arbitration years.

Then he is a free agent as I recall.

 

 

Correct me if I'm wrong guys.

[Jordan4life_2007]

I think we have 5 more years left.

 

3 under contract ( this includes 2011 ) and 2 arbitration years.

Then he is a free agent as I recall.

 

 

Correct me if I'm wrong guys.

 

Balta covered it. Post #93.

[whtsoxfan]

Viciedo, Flowers and Danks are hitting the cover off the ball but it is EARLY spring training pitching. These guys most likely are still a season away and better off playing everyday.

 

Visquel, Castro and Teahen are locks due to contract dollars. Lillibridge makes the most sense for last reserve role due to his versatility.

 

McPherson and Milledge will get another look by another team when released. De Aza, Lucy, Retherford, etc are destined for another year in the minors.

[witesoxfan]

Possibly, if he passes through waivers and no one wants to claim him.

 

He would have to accept the assignment as well, and considering the glut of teams who could use another decent bat in their lineup, I'm sure he'd much rather be playing in the majors than in AAA and the Sox would be forced to eat the $10+ mill owed to him. It's not a realistic scenario. Teahen is stuck on the roster unless someone wants to gamble on him.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

I have to believe the Sox could get *some* small amount of salary relief out of Teahen if they wanted it. If the Sox want Lilli on the team and want to also take 12 pitchers, then Teahen should be moved this spring.

 

I've brought this up a thousand times before, but maybe Rowand would be a possibility this year? There's speculation the Giants may be considering releasing him, but a deal where we trade Teahen for Rowand with the Giants eating the salary difference would be much better for them IMO, and it would also give us a better 4th OF than DeAza. Both Rowand and Teahen have 2 years remaining. Of course the Giants have DeRosa so who knows if they'd be interested.

 

But yeah, I'd like to go with 12 pitchers no matter what happens with Peavy, and a Castro ©, Omar (3B, 2B, SS), Lillibridge (LF, CF, 2B, 3B, SS), Rowand (LF, RF, CF) 4-man bench is very versatile defensively and pretty well-rounded, with some speed, a little pop, and a little fundamental skill as well. We'd lack a lefty bat (and as much as I hate Teahen I really do like penciling his bat in on the bench) but I'd much rather go with defense first, and if we decide later on we don't need 12 pitchers we could always find a meh-ish lefty stick somewhere as long as we don't need that guy to play defense.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

He would have to accept the assignment as well, and considering the glut of teams who could use another decent bat in their lineup, I'm sure he'd much rather be playing in the majors than in AAA and the Sox would be forced to eat the $10+ mill owed to him. It's not a realistic scenario. Teahen is stuck on the roster unless someone wants to gamble on him.

 

I thought he has to accept the assignment when a team tries to send the player directly to the minors without passing through waivers, and if he doesn't agree to the assignment, he has to go through waivers before he gets assigned, that way he has a chance to get picked up by another MLB team. Is that wrong?

[witesoxfan]

I thought he has to accept the assignment when a team tries to send the player directly to the minors without passing through waivers, and if he doesn't agree to the assignment, he has to go through waivers before he gets assigned, that way he has a chance to get picked up by another MLB team. Is that wrong?

 

That is wrong, although I think I was actually mistaken that he would have the right to reject the assignment. As I understand it, players with more than 6 years of service time have the right to refuse an assignment to the minor leagues. In a hypothetical scenario, the White Sox could place Juan Pierre on waivers, no teams would claim him (because he's TERRIBLE! amirite?), and he would still have to accept the assignment to AAA.

 

If a player is out of options and the MLB club wants to send him to the minors, he has to pass through waivers regardless of service time.

 

I believe I am wrong because it appears as though Teahen fell about 17 days short of the required service time to be a 6 year veteran, as he is only at 5.155 years of service time. If the Sox were to try and pull this maneuver in May, THEN Teahen would have to accept the assignment.

 

It's a possibility, but I don't see it happening. I do think Teahen provides the best offense off the bench from the left side of the plate within the entire system right now, and he is being paid a ton of money this year - the White Sox are going to want to get everything they can out of that investment. Maybe they get lucky and he puts up an .800 OPS in limited plate appearances and some team thinks that he will be worth giving another shot at starting full time.

[Kenny Hates Prospects]

I thought he has to accept the assignment when a team tries to send the player directly to the minors without passing through waivers, and if he doesn't agree to the assignment, he has to go through waivers before he gets assigned, that way he has a chance to get picked up by another MLB team. Is that wrong?

IIRC, a player has to go through waivers any time he's removed from the 40-man roster OR any time he is sent to the minors as an out-of-options player. I'm pretty sure that any player who passes through waivers unclaimed, regardless of his status, can either accept a minor league assignment (if offered) or elect free agency instead. The money is guaranteed though, so the player still gets paid.

 

Usually guys like Teahen are DFA'd, pass through waivers, and then are straight released.

 

Edit: nevermind, it does appear a player has the right to reject an assignment only after he's accumulated enough service time.

 

Here's something from Rob Neyer:

"Veteran Players"

Any player who has been in the major leagues for five full seasons may not be assigned to a minor-league team without his written consent. This sometimes puts the team in a bad position, because a player with five years has every right to say, "I don't want to go to New Orleans. You can either release me and keep paying me, or keep me on the major league roster and keep paying. Your choice."

 

Also, a player with five years of service time who is traded in the middle of a multi-year contract may demand another trade prior to the start of the season following the one in which he was traded.

Edited March 9, 2011 by Kenny Hates Prospects

[Princess Dye]

Teahan will be part of this thing. Need the lefty bat.

 

Now lets keep him away from 3b.