2014 Memories: The Fun and the Ugly
/With the 2014 season behind us, I found it apt to take a look back at some of the more significant individual moments of the campaign, for better or worse.
Read MoreJose Quintana keeps it 200, and some White Sox notes
/Jose Quintana now has the longest run of consecutive 200-inning seasons on the team with two. Individual benchmarks in a lost season, especially ones marking a large workload, are typically for the birds, but Quintana's new identity as a workhorse is especially cool. He spent 2012 being waited on to reveal himself as a fluke, but now is one of the most reliable sources of value the Sox have.
Read MoreChris Bassitt shows out
/In an ideal world. Chris Bassitt enjoys a journeyman career. Bouncing around to various organizations, filling in for relief and providing spot starts as needed, performing admirably in spite of clear limitations, and never strike out anyone besides Alex Avila.
Read MoreGive 'em a finish, Avisail
/A 3-5 day with two home runs can put a significant shine on any two-and-a-half week stretch, but Avisail Garcia is now hitting .308/.378/.492 in September. This is a source of happiness.
Read MoreCounterpoint: I'm rooting for the Royals
/Much of the discussion lately among the long-running email thread between The Catbird Seat writers has more or less centered around the AL Central race between the Tigers, Royals and (to a lesser extent) Indians.
With apologies to Detroit and Cleveland, the heart of the discussion has been about the Kansas City Royals and the fact that they appear set to break a 29-year postseason drought with either a Wild Card berth or a Central Division title.
Read MoreMy Farewell To Paul Konerko
/Much has been made about this being Paul Konerko's farewell season. I've been a bit of a curmudgeon about it since it was announced that he would be back for 2014. My objections to his return were both for strategic reasons and emotional ones. The roster, particularly the bench, was looking incredibly inflexible, and having a 1B/DH who can only really hit LHP is a player with narrow uses. Emotionally...well, Konerko really looked like he didn't have anything left at the end of 2013. Besides, it felt like there had already been a lot of Farewell/Lifetime Achievement Award type moments that season, and it didn't make sense to do another lap of that, particularly on what looked to be a rebuilding team with its eyes primarily on 2015. But, that doesn't change the fact that I think he's awesome.
Read MoreFree Agent Wishcasting - Part Two
/The White Sox continue to explore new ground as an organization. They have emerged on the other side of Hitting Rock Bottom (2013), Admitting You Have A Problem (2013 Trade Deadline and Offseason), and are now ending Phase One of the Rapid Rebuild. They now have a new, good core around which to build (Sale, Abreu, Quintana, Eaton, and Alexei) and a ton of free agent money to do so. I recommend reading James' article on this topic first, but I wanted to poke around and see what else the White Sox could actually do with their newfound wealth.
Read MoreThe bullpen failed; did the theory that birthed it fail too?
/The White Sox bullpen numbers certainly look like someone was applying a theory and wondering where it took them.
Read MoreA surprisingly smooth change in leadership/a note on free agency
/Paul Konerko has only officially been the team captain since 2006, but has been dominating the locker room in non-dominant fashion for at least a year longer. His demure and honest post-game interviews, ceaseless personal accountability, slavish devotion to routine and labor, and perhaps most memorably, public self-flagellation have been such steady elements of White Sox culture, that part of processing his retirement has been imagining a non-Konerko leadership. Compared to the Konerkocracy, every clubhouse seems like Brohio. Should we go to Brohio? It's the question of a generation.
Read MoreSpencer Adams Had A Cool Pro Debut
/Understandably, almost all of the attention given to the 2014 White Sox draft class was directed at Carlos Rodon. Heading into Draft Season, Rodon was the highest profile prospect and he represents the White Sox' highest draft pick since they took Harold Baines number one overall in 1977. But the White Sox also made a significant pick in the second round, the 44th player taken in the draft as a whole - Spencer Adams.
Read MoreNoesi vs. Danks - Who would you rather carry?
/This is a false question, since Danks is signed for two more expensive seasons and Hector Noesi could be dropped at a moment's notice. Yet they've had similar seasons and promise future utility going forward, which is to say they don't offer much.
Read MoreYour typical Dayan Viciedo recovery
/Dayan Viciedo's moonshot home run Wednesday night gives him six over roughly the last month. During that period, since Aug. 3, he's slugged over .580 and brought him one shy of 20 home runs for the season, that magical total that signifies a dangerous power hitter.
The flurry provides a familiar images for Viciedo: putting on a show in meaningless games at the end of the season--often against September call-ups--and providing some late redemption to a challenging year. He finished with near league-average OPS' in 2012 (98 OPS+) when he homered in every game of the concluding three-game set in Cleveland, and 12 hits in the final nine games of 2013--two of which left the yard--gave him a similar figure in 2013 (97 OPS+), and much needed end of year optimism. September, historically, is his second-best month: he's posted a .770 OPS in that time over five seasons.
Read MoreTyler Flowers: Do you have room in your heart for this large, mediocre catcher?
/Last off-season, the White Sox made a pretty good bet that I had no interest in them seeing through. They bet Flowers probably couldn't do worst than 59 wRC+ (That's 40% below league average) while allowing more passed balls than half the AL despite only playing 84 games.
Read MoreWhere Does Chris Sale Stand Among Cy Young Contenders?
/As the season enters its final month, award discussions will amp up. While getting up-in-arms over the results of certain results is often silly and pointless, there is some actual meaning behind them. Hall of Fame voters regularly (rightfully or wrongfully) cite the number of MVP trophies, Cy Young awards, or Top 5-10 finishes when dissecting a guy's career. So while throwing a fit (hello, Mike Trout vs. Miguel Cabrera) isn't always the best idea, these results have some merit.
Read MoreWhite Sox Trade Adam Dunn To Oakland
/Well, that didn't take long. The only guy who wasn't going to be around on his current contract with the White Sox next season was traded at the absolute last minute for them to do so. Adam Dunn's contract didn't work out the way the team hoped it would, and he was overpaid over the four years, but that doesn't mean he was terrible. After his historically terrible 2011, Dunn managed an OPS+ of 111 over the next three years. Not great, but playable. Now he goes to Oakland to help revitalize their stuttering offense, and hopefully will succeed with them.
Read MoreWhite Sox Trade Alejandro de Aza To Baltimore
/During Game 2 of the double header last night, Twitter started buzzing about the fact that AAA 1B/DH Andy Wilkins was getting hugs and congratulations, indicating a potential call-up. Which would mean, someone had been cleared off of the major league roster. Given the position Wilkins plays, speculation was that it would be Adam Dunn, but it turned out that Alejandro de Aza had been sent to Baltimore for two minor league pitchers. As I write this, rumors are percolating up to a boil that Adam Dunn will be sent to Oakland, but one thing at a time.
Read MoreChris Bassitt To Start Game 2 of Doubleheader Today
/The White Sox will play two against the Detroit Tigers today. If the White Sox were competing for the division, my focus today would be Game 1 - the duel of two aces, Scherzer and Sale. And while great pitching is great pitching, the White Sox are rebuilding, and so I am much more focused on Game 2, which will be the major league debut of starting pitcher Chris Bassitt.
Read MoreWhat are we seeing from Jose Abreu?
/Jose Abreu's been off his game in August. He's slugging .452 for the month through Wednesday despite maintaining a season figure that's floated in the .600 territory all year. He currently has two home runs for the month, where he's previously never hit less than five in a month. It's clearly been a cold stretch for power production for him.
He's also been awesome.
A big pile of White Sox notes
/Just give Alexei Ramirez the Gold Glove already. I don't say this because he did anything specifically tremendous defensively Tuesday night, but because I presume these awards are won with surprisingly angry campaigns that startle voters into hastily checking the error totals, then complying out of fear.
Read MoreGordon Beckham and other top White Sox prospects of recent memory
/The end of the Gordon Beckham era brought with it a little bit of nostalgia around these parts. After all, Beckham was supposed to be The Next Big Thing.
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