2nd half predictions thread

[peavy44]

Welcome aboard!!!

 

 

Thank you go sox

 

[greg775]

Sox finish in last in Central.

Sox get somebody to take Beckham in a better return than we expect (it's that first round thing). Sox trade Viciedo for righthanded pitching. I'm thinking it's 50/50 on a DeAza deal. Sox might hold off til offseason on that since they'd be trading two outfielders in my scenario and Eaton is kind of injury prone.

Sox do not trade Alexei. I'm starting to think he's untouchable as the team tries to build a core lineup around Lexi, Abreu, Eaton, Gillaspie, A. Garcia and Semien. Sox also do not trade Danks.

That's it. I really feel confident in these predictions.

Edited July 18, 2014 by greg775

[Jose Abreu]

abreu .265 / 39 HR / 105 RBI

Uh... he's hitting .292 and is trending upwards... and you're saying he only goes 10/32 from 7/18 to 9/30 (or whenever the last game is)?

[beautox]

Sox finish 78-84

 

Abreu kicks it into another gear and takes down the MVP and ROY - .329/.363/.671 - 1.034, all hail the cuban bambino, trout loses out again to a slugging 1B with a nice round 50HR taking the rookie record with him, even though he isn't on a contending team and his defense is average.

 

Sale goes 17-3 with a sub 2ERA and finishes second to felix with Quintana getting a vote or two.

 

Trades

OF Viciedo + RHP Belisario gets moved to the mariners for RHP Brandon Maurer + RHP Victor Sanchez.

 

Mariners GM is on the hot seat and these are relatively minor parts for them. Maurer was rushed to the bigs and has a live arm but has really struggled, Sanchez appears to be a back of the rotation arm. Belisario is better than his numbers have shown and would be better suited in that park and at the back end of the pen, Viciedo gives them a RH OFer with some power and upside.

 

SS Ramirez + OF De Aza to the Reds for OF Jesse Winker + LHP Ismael Guillon + RHP Ben Lively & LHP Amir Garrett

 

This would be considered our "big haul" not a lot of great options out there at SS and Ramirez would go a long way in fixing the reds SS problem as they ride out this window. De Aza has been on a heater after one of the worst starts to his professional career and would provide insurance across the OF incase someone gets hurt or wears down. Winker just hit AA and is struggling a bit now would be the time to buy low on him so to speak realistically he could be a call up mid/late 2015. Guillon provides left handed pitching depth that the sox sorely need even after inking Rodon and Fry. Ismael has good fastball and a good change up but his breaking ball lags behind considerably some profile him as a reliever more than a starter if he can't command his breaking pitch having said that the sox are an organization that develops pitching. Lively is just more pitching depth, hes got a funky delivery but average offerings across the board I would say a tick below Erik Johnson pre 2014 season, he has been compared to Tony Cingrani as well. Garrett is a tall left hander that throws heat but not much more. I would consider him in the Matt Thornton model, focused a lot on basketball and is raw.

 

LHP Danks + DH Dunn to the yankees for C JR Murphy + OF Aaron Judge + RHP Luis Severino

 

The yankees need help in nearly every aspect of the diamond if they're going to remain in contention. Danks is on pace for a 3WAR season and should outperform his contract adding a bit of surplus value. Dunn helps them out immensely at DH and 1B. Murphy since being demoted has struggled a bit and this would be a another great opportunity to buy low on him and the yankees still have Sanchez. JR projects to be a league average catcher with solid defense, which compared to what the sox have now would be a huge get at his absolute ceiling think Carlos Ruiz. Judge is big man 6'7 and is currently at A+, hes a bit old for A+ and should be getting a promotion soon. He appears to be a prototypical rightfielder. Severino is the big get in this trade, high 90s fastball, great change up, and a nasty slider, hes the only one to have set down Gallo at the future games you can watch it here at 49:00. Sox would be getting two top 40ish prospects in Judge and Severino and a tier 3 starting catcher for a 3WAR left handed pitcher with a reasonable contract and a DH who would be an immediate upgrade over what they're throwing out at 1B and DH giving the yankees one last shot at their current window with Jeter.

 

2B Gordon Beckham to the yankees for LHP Manny Banuelos

 

Beckham's time in Chicago has come to an end and needs a change of scenery, Banuelos is healthy finally but struggling at AA. A simple upside for upside change of scenery deal.

 

[hogan873]

Sox finish 77-85

Abreu .295 48 HRs 114 RBIs

Sale 15-7 2.10 ERA

Beckham, Viciedo, and Dunn are traded

A couple decent prospects are brought in, but overall Soxtalk is unimpressed

Oddball prediction: Konerko hits a walk-off grand slam in his last home game

[lasttriptotulsa]

Sox final record: 75-87

Abreu final line: 270/320/580 - 38 HR (Wins ROY)

Sale final line: 13-5

Who gets traded: Ramirez, Dunn.

Who do the Sox bring in: pass

 

This would be a horrible disappointment for Abreu. To end with that line, he would have to go about .243/.294/.517 in the second half. Yuck. Not to mention the fact that to slug .517 with a .243 average and just 9 homers is damn near impossible. He would have to hit about 40 doubles.

[lasttriptotulsa]

Sox final record - 80-82

 

Abreu final line - .305/.361/.642 with 52 HR, 132 RBI. 2nd half slash of .320/.385/.656, wins ROY, leads league in HR and RBI.

 

Sale final line - 16-2, 1.99 ERA, .900 WHIP. 2nd to King Felix in Cy Young. Writers use the less innings pitched argument to offset Sale's better numbers.

 

Who gets traded - Dunn and DeAza for sraps. Alexei and Danks made available but no team ponies up a good enough offer.

 

Any odd ball predictions - Conor Gillaspie wins the batting title

 

[LittleHurt05]

78-84

 

Abreu - .282 / 55 / 134

 

Sale - 15-4 - 2.45 ERA

 

Sox trade - Guerra, Lindstrom, Dunn

 

Sox bring in - 3 bags of balls

 

Odd prediction - PK14 plays nearly every day after the Dunn trade and finishes batting under .200

[flavum]

Sox final record

74-88

(29-37 in the final 66)

 

Abreu final line

.300-50-125

 

Sale final line

27 starts, 185 innings, 14-4, 2.14 ERA

 

Who gets traded

De Aza

 

Who do the Sox bring in--

Not much

 

Any odd ball predictions--

Very quiet at trade deadline, and they pretty much stand pat

[whtsoxfan]

Eyes on bullpen second half

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/white-sox/...ears?src=mobile

 

 

[2nd_city_saint787]

Gonna throw out another "bold" prediction.....Bullpen will rank in the top half of MLB by seasons end.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

- Abreu final line - .281 AVG, 46 HR, 123 RBI. Wins the ROY, and finishes #6 in MVP voting.

- Sale final line - 2.29 ERA, finishes 3rd in Cy Young. Everyone will discredit him for only 170-something IP, while Kershaw wins the NL CY unanimously despite even less IP.

- Danks and De Aza are traded.

- Quintana finishes with a top 10 fWAR for pitchers

- People continue to force a passing of the torch, from Jeter to Trout, as if that actually makes any sense or they are in any way similar players.

- Cubs trade Javier Baez to some team for a pitcher, maybe Arizona for Bradley, and everyone in Chicago suddenly thinks Baez sucks anyway.

- Jared Mitchell gets traded before he ever gets re-exposed in AAA. Some team will bank on him figuring it all out in AA.

- An injury or a trade will force an Andy Wilkins call-up and everyone will finally see that sweet-sweet HR swing and pimp step he posses.

[chitownsportsfan]

Haven't seen much Eaton hype, even though he's now up to a 284/355/384 line and credited with 1.4 fWAR. Basically he's on pace for a 2 or 2.5 fWAR season.

 

He seems as healthy as he has been since spring so I'm going to go ahead and predict he finishes 290/360/380 and plays in the remaining 45 or so games to finish the year with 125 games played, which isn't quite ideal but would be encouraging for a player that is young and had injury problems.

 

Of course I now just jinxed him and he'll go on the DL tmr with a srained hammy.

 

What a steal it was getting him from ARI, he is going to be making league min for a few more years and he'll probably produce around 8-12 WAR during that time.

[T R U]

People really think Abreu is only going to hit 9 or 10 more HRs the rest of the way

[chitownsportsfan]

People really think Abreu is only going to hit 9 or 10 more HRs the rest of the way

 

It wouldn't surprise me. I think he finishes with around 40, maybe 42,43, but I expect his average to continue to rise, maybe even getting up to 310 by the end of the year. I will totally trade some slugging for a higher OBP.

 

I think Jose finishes 300/355/590. A helluva year and a wRC+ of around 160 from that line and around 5 fWAR. Not bad, not bad at all, a true star player.

Edited July 22, 2014 by chitownsportsfan

[T R U]

It wouldn't surprise me. I think he finishes with around 40, maybe 42,43, but I expect his average to continue to rise, maybe even getting up to 310 by the end of the year. I will totally trade some slugging for a higher OBP.

 

I think Jose finishes 300/355/590. A helluva year and a wRC+ of around 160 from that line and around 5 fWAR. Not bad, not bad at all, a true star player.

 

Id be shocked if he didn't hit at least 15-20 more HRs

[southsider2k5]

It isn't hard for me to imagine Abreu falling off in August and September, especially in the power department. Remember the season in Cuba is 90 games long. I could see him fatiguing for sure.

[Jerksticks]

It wouldn't surprise me. I think he finishes with around 40, maybe 42,43, but I expect his average to continue to rise, maybe even getting up to 310 by the end of the year. I will totally trade some slugging for a higher OBP.

 

I think Jose finishes 300/355/590. A helluva year and a wRC+ of around 160 from that line and around 5 fWAR. Not bad, not bad at all, a true star player.

 

Wow what a rookie line and I cannot wait for next year; no doubt he'll be able to better prepare. Imagine if we get somebody nasty to bat behind him, .400 OBP would become his floor.

[T R U]

It isn't hard for me to imagine Abreu falling off in August and September, especially in the power department. Remember the season in Cuba is 90 games long. I could see him fatiguing for sure.

 

Baseball is the least physically demanding sport there is, there's no reason for a first baseman to ever be fatigued.

[Dick Allen]

Baseball is the least physically demanding sport there is, there's no reason for a first baseman to ever be fatigued.

Still, it's 6 months long with very few off days. Mentally it is grueling. If he isn't used to it, and how can he be, it is going to be tough for him at first IMO.

[T R U]

Still, it's 6 months long with very few off days. Mentally it is grueling. If he isn't used to it, and how can he be, it is going to be tough for him at first IMO.

 

I disagree, but I suppose well see how he finishes

[southsider2k5]

Baseball is the least physically demanding sport there is, there's no reason for a first baseman to ever be fatigued.

 

Which is easy to say safely seated at your computer.

[BigHurt3515]

Baseball is the least physically demanding sport there is, there's no reason for a first baseman to ever be fatigued.

 

Have you played baseball during the summer?

[Balta1701]

It isn't hard for me to imagine Abreu falling off in August and September, especially in the power department. Remember the season in Cuba is 90 games long. I could see him fatiguing for sure.

 

 

Still, it's 6 months long with very few off days. Mentally it is grueling. If he isn't used to it, and how can he be, it is going to be tough for him at first IMO.

 

It's a shame the White Sox don't have anyone on the roster who can back up 1b. They're stuck with absolutely no choice other than to play him every single day until his body parts give up. That has to just be horrible to know.

[Dick Allen]

It's a shame the White Sox don't have anyone on the roster who can back up 1b. They're stuck with absolutely no choice other than to play him every single day until his body parts give up. That has to just be horrible to know.

 

 

He has never played a 162 game season. Or anything close to it. Just like stretching out pitchers, you may have to give up some production and play him when he's tired or when you will really need him late in the season, he will not be prepared.

 

There are plenty of guys who have shown they can play close to every game. I think Prince Fielder hadn't missed a game in several years before this year's neck injury. Just when you start doing it at 27 years old, you are starting a little behind the pack. He'll probably DH a little more in the next couple of months.