Another White Sox Winner

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

Jose Quintana pitched 7 brilliant innings limiting the now very blue Jays to 3 hits , 2 walks ,while K' ing 7. Recently recalled Eric Surkamp pitched a 1-2-3 8th and Jake Petricka pitched the 9th in a non-save situation to lock it down giving up only an infield single in the 4-0 White Sox victory.

 

Jose Abreu's single put the Sox on the board in the 3rd with his 64th RBI of the year driving in Gordon Beckham.

 

Ruben Sierra went 2-4 against his old club hitting a solo HR that extended the Sox lead to 2-0 in the 4th inning off former beloved Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle who was tagged with the hard luck loss.

 

Tyler Flowers added a 2 run single off another former Sox pitcher, Sergio Santos ,in the 9th for a little breathing room that this time wasn't needed.

 

Quintana's record improved to 5-7 and lowered his ERA to 3.44.

 

Edited June 30, 2014 by CaliSoxFanViaSWside

[flavum]

Moises played like Ruben today.

[2nd_city_saint787]

Just 4.5 games out of the wild card somehow....

[flavum]

Just 4.5 games out of the wild card somehow....

 

Best case scenario 86-76 gets the 2nd wildcard. Sox would have to go 47-32. Not happening.

[bmags]

If Sox finish this year at .500 I'll be very confident in our future. But 75 wins more likely.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

Best case scenario 86-76 gets the 2nd wildcard. Sox would have to go 47-32. Not happening.

Yea going 50-29 is better.

[flavum]

If Sox finish this year at .500 I'll be very confident in our future. But 75 wins more likely.

 

I don't think this year's final record really says anything either way about the future. They have so many moves to still make on offense. Bullpens are weird....you never know how much they impact a final record.

 

I just hope they stay healthy, make a few good trades, and set up the roster better for 2015 and beyond.

[elrockinMT]

Good weekend of TV baseball for me. Saw the win on Saturday over MLBN and WGN game today. Very well played game all the way around for the Sox. 3 game winning streak (3 out of 4) against the AL East leader.

[elrockinMT]

Yea going 50-29 is better.

 

 

That's the attitude we want around here!

[flavum]

Based on 81-game records, the Sox have the 8th pick in next year's draft.

 

But are currently 12.

 

 

 

[caulfield12]

If Sox finish this year at .500 I'll be very confident in our future. But 75 wins more likely.

 

Except no Avisail Garcia, no Dunn...probable changes in the free agency period, some more trades, you've got the possibility of Rodon, you might be changing your entire middle infield so if that were to take place, their overall season record's obviously going to take a huge hit with two rookies adjusting offensively.

[Bigsoxhurt35]

Didn't watch much of this series. Great that we won. Seemed all doom and gloom Thursday after shutout. Nice 3 game win streak. Keep it going fellas!

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Pick a lane, Sox.

[caulfield12]

Pick a lane, Sox.

 

 

Go 7-2 against the Tigers, Giants and Blue Jays.

 

Get wiped out by the Royals, Twins and Orioles (granted, we easily could have swept that series).

 

Hard to figure this team out, except for the fact that it's fortunes reside with the back end of the rotation, which is why it's going to be so hard for this team to ever go on an extended winning streak.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Go 7-2 against the Tigers, Giants and Blue Jays.

 

Get wiped out by the Royals, Twins and Orioles (granted, we easily could have swept that series).

 

Hard to figure this team out, except for the fact that it's fortunes reside with the back end of the rotation, which is why it's going to be so hard for this team to ever go on an extended winning streak.

 

I can not stand mediocrity. I know we all went over this topic last season around this time as well, but I would rather this team tank the rest of the way, or dominate the rest of the way. I don't want to see a midround draft pick next June.

[caulfield12]

I can not stand mediocrity. I know we all went over this topic last season around this time as well, but I would rather this team tank the rest of the way, or dominate the rest of the way. I don't want to see a midround draft pick next June.

 

 

 

Therein lies the argument.

 

The difference between 80, 75, 70 and 65 wins for a fanbase that knows this is a rebuilding year...in terms of attendance for the rest of this season, selling season tickets for next year and the difference between drafting let's say 4-8 vs. 9-12 in the first round.

 

Half of the battle is getting Rodon signed and and evidence of encouraging results from whatever he manages to do in July and August or perhaps the AFL...they will be attempting to market Carlos almost like he's a free agent acquisition, in terms of "spin" to the media.

 

Does Hahn have the budget (with the season ticket/sponsorship/revenues/attendance falloff) to approach 2015 in the same way KW approached 2011...or will they take a softer, less aggressive approach, not putting all their eggs in the basket of getting back to the playoffs as early as 2015 but pushing the timetable back to 2016-18, when it's likely Hawkins, Anderson and Montas would be arriving on the scene as reinforcements and an infusion of more youth/talent??

Edited June 30, 2014 by caulfield12

[JoshPR]

Don't stop now boys!

[Bigsoxhurt35]

I can not stand mediocrity. I know we all went over this topic last season around this time as well, but I would rather this team tank the rest of the way, or dominate the rest of the way. I don't want to see a midround draft pick next June.

Were a sub .500 team. We are what we are. I would like to lose and get a top pick again. But we need to build a winning culture, so I won't argue against wins.

[witesoxfan]

Intentionally tanking the rest of the way would involve trading away Quintana, Beckham, Ramirez, Viciedo, and quite a few other smaller pieces. That's not going to happen.

 

The guys on the field have pride and want to win every game because they're professionals who have a job to do and it pays them well. This team won't tank, they'll likely end up around 78-82 wins, and the 9th-16th spot in the draft.

[Jerksticks]

Therein lies the argument.

 

The difference between 80, 75, 70 and 65 wins for a fanbase that knows this is a rebuilding year...in terms of attendance for the rest of this season, selling season tickets for next year and the difference between drafting let's say 4-8 vs. 9-12 in the first round.

 

Half of the battle is getting Rodon signed and and evidence of encouraging results from whatever he manages to do in July and August or perhaps the AFL...they will be attempting to market Carlos almost like he's a free agent acquisition, in terms of "spin" to the media.

 

Does Hahn have the budget (with the season ticket/sponsorship/revenues/attendance falloff) to approach 2015 in the same way KW approached 2011...or will they take a softer, less aggressive approach, not putting all their eggs in the basket of getting back to the playoffs as early as 2015 but pushing the timetable back to 2016-18, when it's likely Hawkins, Anderson and Montas would be arriving on the scene as reinforcements and an infusion of more youth/talent??

 

While I agree with a lot of what you're saying I fall more in the camp that we can have both. I think we're only a RH starter and a bat shy of being damn scary. If I'm RH (Rick Hahn needs to change his name to James Hahn) I'm doing everything I can to trade for that stud right hander. Use the MI depth to our advantage while we have it. And anything Garcia brings next year needs to be treated as a bonus. One more bat please.

[Eminor3rd]

I can not stand mediocrity. I know we all went over this topic last season around this time as well, but I would rather this team tank the rest of the way, or dominate the rest of the way. I don't want to see a midround draft pick next June.

 

I'd like to see the team take a substantial step for ward this year so that I can go into the offseason feeling confident about the move that were made and looking forward to adding more talent for 2015. This represents a much more likely road to success than two or three consecutive 90-100 loss seasons all of a sudden turning into a 90-100 wins one year.

[witesoxfan]

If you're a player on the free agent market, and two teams offer you a similar deal, are you more likely to sign with the team coming off a 67 win season or an 81 win season?

[cabiness42]

The extent of the "sell-off" should be about the return value more than anything else. The only player that really needs to be traded is Dunn because he has an expiring contract.

 

Beckham is only under team control through 2015 so he is probably next in line to go, but even with him you have to get good value for him. Don't just dump him just for the sake of dumping him.

 

As for guys like Ramirez, Danks and Viciedo, they are under team control beyond 2015 so you really have to get good value in order to trade them. They can absolutely contribute to a championship team in 2015-16 (though I'm still not 100% sold on Viciedo).

 

If Hahn gets really good offers for these guys, then he should make those deals, and as a result this year's team is probably a 70-75 win team. If he doesn't get really good offers for these guys, then he shouldn't trade them and this year's team is probably a 75-80 win team.

 

The plan shouldn't be to try to win as many games as possible this year, nor should the plan be to lose as many games as possible this year. The plan should be to set the team up in the best possible situation for 2015-16, which may or may not involve trading a lot of current players depending on the market.

[bmags]

The extent of the "sell-off" should be about the return value more than anything else. The only player that really needs to be traded is Dunn because he has an expiring contract.

 

Beckham is only under team control through 2015 so he is probably next in line to go, but even with him you have to get good value for him. Don't just dump him just for the sake of dumping him.

 

As for guys like Ramirez, Danks and Viciedo, they are under team control beyond 2015 so you really have to get good value in order to trade them. They can absolutely contribute to a championship team in 2015-16 (though I'm still not 100% sold on Viciedo).

 

If Hahn gets really good offers for these guys, then he should make those deals, and as a result this year's team is probably a 70-75 win team. If he doesn't get really good offers for these guys, then he shouldn't trade them and this year's team is probably a 75-80 win team.

 

The plan shouldn't be to try to win as many games as possible this year, nor should the plan be to lose as many games as possible this year. The plan should be to set the team up in the best possible situation for 2015-16, which may or may not involve trading a lot of current players depending on the market.

 

Right. I wanted to see development from the young players we had. And to that extent, we have, and it's lead to winning games. This team winning games means players are performing and that is not going to set us back. If they are not in our long term future we can flip them, if they are, they are developing.

 

The worst case scenario, imo, was being a sub 70 win team because Abreu/Eaton/Viciedo/Semein/bullpen were all horsecrap.

[Eminor3rd]

I personally do have a sense of urgency to move Alexei. I know that I'll be sad when I realize we've taken his defense for granted, but he's never going to be more valuable than he is this year, he's likely to start losing a step pretty soon, and if this crop of prospects is going to yield anything, it's going to have to net us a MI or two. I'm not thrilled with the AAA crop necessarily, but we've gotta see if Semien or Sanchez can play SS because we need to acquire someone else if they can't. He may defy time, but Alexei isn't likely to be an above average contributor in a few years.