Jump to content

When Will the Sox be Competitive Again?


Disco72

When Will the Sox be Competitive Again?  

22 members have voted

  1. 1. Check the year in which the Sox are likely to win at least 88-90 wins

    • This Year (2013)
      3
    • Next Year (2014)
      4
    • 2015
      7
    • 2016
      4
    • 2017
      0
    • 2018
      0
    • More than 5 years
      2
    • When pigs fly
      2


Recommended Posts

As I read the board these days, I see a lot of difference of opinion as to when the Sox can be competitive again.

 

What do you think?

 

My own opinion is rather optimistic, despite the terrible season so far this year. As I noted in another thread, the Sox have the one thing that is hardest and most expensive to find and acquire: affordable, effective, and mostly young pitching.

 

Also in the Sox favor is the lack of terrible contracts. Even the ones people complain about really are not all that bad when you look at the buffet of awfulness that exists across the league for contracts. At least the unproductive ones (e.g., Dunn) have only one more year (2014) or have hope that the player can still produce at the major league level (e.g., Danks).

 

The Sox also have not spent (we believe) the extra money coming to them from MLB for media rights, and they have that pitching staff in place for several more years at a pretty affordable rate.

 

IMO, the current team would be in position to compete for 88-90 wins if the offense and defense were at least league average. I think these can be rebuilt at a reasonable price (in terms of trades or free agents). Instead of spending for that big $20 million+ bat, I think the Sox can compete with a 'balanced' offense, and as others have noted in other threads, players will be available in the offseason that fit this bill. This is in addition to anything that could be acquired via trade during the season or offseason.

 

My own vote is 2014. I think Hahn has his work cut out for him, but I think he can do it without blowing up the strength of the current team.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (Disco72 @ May 12, 2013 -> 01:17 PM)
As I read the board these days, I see a lot of difference of opinion as to when the Sox can be competitive again.

 

What do you think?

 

My own opinion is rather optimistic, despite the terrible season so far this year. As I noted in another thread, the Sox have the one thing that is hardest and most expensive to find and acquire: affordable, effective, and mostly young pitching.

 

Also in the Sox favor is the lack of terrible contracts. Even the ones people complain about really are not all that bad when you look at the buffet of awfulness that exists across the league for contracts. At least the unproductive ones (e.g., Dunn) have only one more year (2014) or have hope that the player can still produce at the major league level (e.g., Danks).

 

The Sox also have not spent (we believe) the extra money coming to them from MLB for media rights, and they have that pitching staff in place for several more years at a pretty affordable rate.

 

IMO, the current team would be in position to compete for 88-90 wins if the offense and defense were at least league average. I think these can be rebuilt at a reasonable price (in terms of trades or free agents). Instead of spending for that big $20 million+ bat, I think the Sox can compete with a 'balanced' offense, and as others have noted in other threads, players will be available in the offseason that fit this bill. This is in addition to anything that could be acquired via trade during the season or offseason.

 

My own vote is 2014. I think Hahn has his work cut out for him, but I think he can do it without blowing up the strength of the current team.

 

There just aren't enough quality position players available to turn this thing around in one offseason. 2017.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 12, 2013 -> 02:22 PM)
There just aren't enough quality position players available to turn this thing around in one offseason. 2017.

"We can't turn this around in 1 season despite your arguments I'm not going to refute. Instead, we need 4 offseasons. I HAVE SPOKEN!!!!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ May 12, 2013 -> 02:29 PM)
not until they get salary relief and fix the farm system.

 

Sit back, relax and ... well, you know the rest.

 

It'g going to be awhile.

 

Why do they need salary relief? Konerko, Floyd, and Crain alone combine for 27.5 million off the books for 2014.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not until they commit to a full tear down and rebuilding. Which, under KW, was never. Hopefully under Hahn things change. The Sox should have committed to a rebuild back in 2010, instead they went all in with guys like Dunn and the Konerko extension.

 

You'd have to think 2016 is the earliest they could field a contender. All the big bad contracts will be off the books and you'd think a few of the young outfielders in the system would hopefully have progressed to MLB ready by then. Hawkins will obviously be key.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's going to be a while IMO. It's been said over and over but all the Sox have is starting pitching and the ability to hit home runs (sometimes). It's been a long time since we've seen life in the the team or TWTW. The team loses a ton of close games and gets blown out once in a while but rarely blows anybody out.

With the current defense below average, offense abysmal, relief pitching lousy except for the closer, I'd say it may take a long long time.

It would help if the Tigers returned to the pack and a .500 season could win the lousy Central Division.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

it's May 12th guys, the weather has yet to even really heat up. With the pitching we have and the fact that we're ONLY 6 games out I don't see why we can't compete this year. We probably don't have enough to actually catch the Tigers but I can certainly see us being competitive this year. We've seen Lexi carry this team at times, Dayan has the potential to get hot and carry the team, Beckham coming back could be a positive thing, Dunn has shown signs of light lately, and hopefully PK starts to turn it around at some point.

 

If we can swing a trade at some point for a quality catcher I think we can be an above .500 team.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ May 12, 2013 -> 03:49 PM)
it's May 12th guys, the weather has yet to even really heat up. With the pitching we have and the fact that we're ONLY 6 games out I don't see why we can't compete this year. We probably don't have enough to actually catch the Tigers but I can certainly see us being competitive this year. We've seen Lexi carry this team at times, Dayan has the potential to get hot and carry the team, Beckham coming back could be a positive thing, Dunn has shown signs of light lately, and hopefully PK starts to turn it around at some point.

 

If we can swing a trade at some point for a quality catcher I think we can be an above .500 team.

 

Yeah, this just isn't true. .316 OPS in May so far.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ May 12, 2013 -> 02:49 PM)
it's May 12th guys, the weather has yet to even really heat up. With the pitching we have and the fact that we're ONLY 6 games out I don't see why we can't compete this year. We probably don't have enough to actually catch the Tigers but I can certainly see us being competitive this year. We've seen Lexi carry this team at times, Dayan has the potential to get hot and carry the team, Beckham coming back could be a positive thing, Dunn has shown signs of light lately, and hopefully PK starts to turn it around at some point.

 

If we can swing a trade at some point for a quality catcher I think we can be an above .500 team.

 

The last thing we want to do is trade someone like Erik Johnson for a "less than sure thing" return at catcher.

 

Those are the kinds of trades that will kill off our future. We're a LOT more than just a good catcher away from competing this season. We're at least 3 players away, if not more. Without Dunn or Konerko hitting and staying on the roster and playing nearly every day, it's impossible, to be honest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ May 12, 2013 -> 03:12 PM)
Not until they commit to a full tear down and rebuilding. Which, under KW, was never. Hopefully under Hahn things change. The Sox should have committed to a rebuild back in 2010, instead they went all in with guys like Dunn and the Konerko extension.

 

You'd have to think 2016 is the earliest they could field a contender. All the big bad contracts will be off the books and you'd think a few of the young outfielders in the system would hopefully have progressed to MLB ready by then. Hawkins will obviously be key.

 

A full rebuild will have a hard time matching the pitching the Sox have now.

 

Which contracts are so bad to prevent the Sox from competing?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ May 12, 2013 -> 01:49 PM)
it's May 12th guys, the weather has yet to even really heat up. With the pitching we have and the fact that we're ONLY 6 games out I don't see why we can't compete this year. We probably don't have enough to actually catch the Tigers but I can certainly see us being competitive this year. We've seen Lexi carry this team at times, Dayan has the potential to get hot and carry the team, Beckham coming back could be a positive thing, Dunn has shown signs of light lately, and hopefully PK starts to turn it around at some point.

 

If we can swing a trade at some point for a quality catcher I think we can be an above .500 team.

 

Out of the blue they'll stop committing 9 errors per game?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (Disco72 @ May 12, 2013 -> 08:26 PM)
A full rebuild will have a hard time matching the pitching the Sox have now.

 

Which contracts are so bad to prevent the Sox from competing?

 

 

Dunn, Danks and Keppinger, one would guess, going forward after Konerko/Crain/Thornton are gone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...