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The Rollins Conundrum


ron883

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Saladino deserves a chance to play 4-5 times per week and see if he can get into an offensive rhythm.

 

That said, baseball managers are almost always going to stick with their "winning hand" and not want to change things up too much with the starting line-up if it's working overall.

 

 

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Saladino deserves a chance to play 4-5 times per week and see if he can get into an offensive rhythm.

 

That said, baseball managers are almost always going to stick with their "winning hand" and not want to change things up too much with the starting line-up if it's working overall.

 

 

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You can't start talking about Rollins losing his "starting" spot until the White Sox suffer their first "rough patch" AND only if Rollins is still struggling offensively to turn things around (especially against RHP)...

 

Obviously, we really can't know what's going on in the clubhouse 100%, but it seems Ventura and the rest of the team really benefits from his veteran leadership. He keeps Lawrie from getting too hyper out there. Sure, Saladino is a better defender at this stage, but, in the big picture, he's not a long-term answer at that position, either.

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If they're set with not letting Rollins go, I think they should truly consider sending Saladino down and platooning Rollins for Lefties and Carlos for Righties. Saladino is a nice luxury but this team would be better off with May up, he'd be a nice defensive replacement and not have to trot Sands out there like last night.

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QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 10, 2016 -> 07:40 AM)
You can't start talking about Rollins losing his "starting" spot until the White Sox suffer their first "rough patch" AND only if Rollins is still struggling offensively to turn things around (especially against RHP)...

 

Obviously, we really can't know what's going on in the clubhouse 100%, but it seems Ventura and the rest of the team really benefits from his veteran leadership. He keeps Lawrie from getting too hyper out there. Sure, Saladino is a better defender at this stage, but, in the big picture, he's not a long-term answer at that position, either.

 

 

I think sometimes people believe baseball is so magical mixture of clubhouse presence, managerial decisions, etc.

Rollins playing 4 times a week and Saladino 3 isn't going to change ANYTHING!

It's like people believe the players will see Rollins on the bench a few days a week and their morale is going to fall apart and we lose? Its the newspaper theory in my opinion. It's something to chat about. Not real.

 

Saladino should definitely be getting more reps. Sanchez should be getting a few days at 2b with Lawrie struggling over the past week, etc.

Also wait and see, but Shuck will be up for Sands by the home stand.

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QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ May 10, 2016 -> 10:00 AM)
People are saying that Saladino will give you better defense yet no worse offense vs RHP. Not sure that qualifies as a "solution."

It looks to me like doing something for the sake of doing something.

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I don't know why anyone would want to mess with a formula that has worked to 23-10. Things change. A couple of weeks ago, Avi in Charlotte seemed like a grand idea. Now, not so much. Until Saladino shows he deserves more time than Rollins, or Rollins struggles and the Sox start losing just keep doing what they are doing.

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It's the Kansas City Star, btw.

 

I posted one just last night in the AL Central thread about Chris Young's struggles...guess you didn't notice it.

 

Yes, Gordon, Perez and Morales are struggling mightily. The only pitcher worth a darn right now is the one everyone in baseball ridiculed for his seemingly exorbitant free agent contract. They signed Soria when they should have tried to keep Madson. Moustakas is injured, and they had really good health all last year except for Alex Gordon and Alex Rios (so did the White Sox, for that matter.)

 

 

We might be able to count out the Tigers in the next month or so, but the season is really too long to be getting too cocky/overconfident...which is why the Indians are still favored over the Sox in some of the projection models.

 

 

Finally, there's not as much reason to talk about the Royals because Hahn finally got the message. He prioritized defense and the bullpen, among other things...and finally cut bait on some players who just weren't developing or were never that good in the first place, at least not good enough to make the White Sox a playoff team.

Edited by caulfield12
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QUOTE (Black_Jack29 @ May 9, 2016 -> 11:06 PM)
I agree. Like now, when the Sox have a four-run lead in the bottom of the 12th. Salad definitely needs to be used more frequently as a defensive sub.

 

I think that we're stuck with Rollins on the 25-man, though. I just don't see the Sox releasing him. He's a good clubhouse guy and he's, well, Jimmy Rollins.

 

I really think the mentor aspect is something that is underrated. When you have young kids coming into your system, it is a great thing for them to have a veteran former star player to be able to show them that next level of work ethic, preparation, and intensity needed to get a game to that next level. One story I remember very well is the effect that Omar Vizquel had on Alexei Ramirez when he was here. There are also stories about guys like Mark Buehrle and John Danks taking young pitchers aside and working with them on those things, a lot of them off of the field items.

 

Finally it also keeps the pressure off of a guy like Saladino and lets him learn in more of an intern environment where the pressure is on Rollins, versus it all being on a guy like Saladino doing this for the first time. Maybe the stats would be there, maybe they wouldn't, but I promise you that in the long run, Saladino and the White Sox will be better for this set up.

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Which is yet another reason you won't see Tim Anderson AND Jacob May both starting on Opening Day for the 2017 Chicago White Sox...if Hahn has learned ONE thing from all his time, it's that position players need a number of years to "get it," like Joe Crede and Aaron Rowand.

 

Except on the pitching side, where you can see more immediate impacts by the likes of Sale, Santiago, Reed, Santos, Quintana, Rodon, etc.

 

In the end, we'll never know what would have happened with Marcus Semien had he stayed in the Sox organization, but it will be a topic that's much discussed and debated if Tim Anderson fails to make it as a big league shortstop. Needless to say, the jury's still far from out on either player.

Edited by caulfield12
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QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 10, 2016 -> 09:40 AM)
Which is yet another reason you won't see Tim Anderson AND Jacob May both starting on Opening Day for the 2017 Chicago White Sox...if Hahn has learned ONE thing from all his time, it's that position players need a number of years to "get it," like Joe Crede and Aaron Rowand.

 

Except on the pitching side, where you can see more immediate impacts by the likes of Sale, Santiago, Reed, Santos, Quintana, Rodon, etc.

 

In the end, we'll never know what would have happened with Marcus Semien had he stayed in the Sox organization, but it will be a topic that's much discussed and debated if Tim Anderson fails to make it as a big league shortstop. Needless to say, the jury's still far from out on either player.

Since you like corrections, the jury's far from out on Semien and Anderson is incorrect. The jury is still out for both, although you do seem to want to put Semien in the elite status, no doubt fueled by his ex-White Sox status.

Edited by Dick Allen
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QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 10, 2016 -> 09:09 AM)
I don't know why anyone would want to mess with a formula that has worked to 23-10. Things change. A couple of weeks ago, Avi in Charlotte seemed like a grand idea. Now, not so much. Until Saladino shows he deserves more time than Rollins, or Rollins struggles and the Sox start losing just keep doing what they are doing.

 

How is he suppose to show he deserves more playing time without getting consistent playing time?

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QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 10, 2016 -> 09:09 AM)
I don't know why anyone would want to mess with a formula that has worked to 23-10. Things change. A couple of weeks ago, Avi in Charlotte seemed like a grand idea. Now, not so much. Until Saladino shows he deserves more time than Rollins, or Rollins struggles and the Sox start losing just keep doing what they are doing.

 

There is no such thing as a winning formula ... grrrrr... do you really think that Rollins or Lawrie getting a few days off will change anything at all??

 

Oh no, Lawrie won't be able to breathe heavily with his big mouthguard and clap loudly from the bench .... oh no, Jimmy Rollins won't go 0-4 and play average defense ....

 

Robin yesterday did everything he could to ruin the winning formula and we still won. DRob should have been pulled right away. He never had it last night. But he goes by the book. You sink with the closer. Once he's in he's in.

 

 

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QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 10, 2016 -> 05:05 PM)
You earn consistent playing time. He hasn't earned it.

 

Plus we are in early May of a long season. I am guessing we see more of Saladino and maybe with a spot start at 3B and even 2B thrown in

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QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 10, 2016 -> 09:09 AM)
I don't know why anyone would want to mess with a formula that has worked to 23-10. Things change. A couple of weeks ago, Avi in Charlotte seemed like a grand idea. Now, not so much. Until Saladino shows he deserves more time than Rollins, or Rollins struggles and the Sox start losing just keep doing what they are doing.

What does this even mean? If there is a formula, it's coming from players other than Rollins. He's hitting .226/.291/.323 with meh defence. Now whether what's behind him is better is another discussion, but just because our pitching, defence and certain other position players have been excellent doesn't mean we've stumbled upon a magical winning formula that Jimmy Rollins is crucial to, despite not doing anything all that well.

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QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ May 10, 2016 -> 12:12 PM)
What does this even mean? If there is a formula, it's coming from players other than Rollins. He's hitting .226/.291/.323 with meh defence. Now whether what's behind him is better is another discussion, but just because our pitching, defence and certain other position players have been excellent doesn't mean we've stumbled upon a magical winning formula that Jimmy Rollins is crucial to, despite not doing anything all that well.

It means the game is played on the field. Not a computer print out. What is being done is working. There will be plenty of time for Saladino and Sanchez to play. In fact, I think Rollins was out of the line up 3 games in a row last week. Changing things up when things are going well is silly unless it's an obvious upgrade. Right now Saladino and Sanchez aren't upgrades over Rollins. Maybe at some point they will be. They will still get their shot.

 

What is Saladino hitting?

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