February is here, so here’s a look at the back cover of White Sox Outsider 2010:
The back’s design, like the front’s, is by Carl Skanberg.
announcements
...now browsing by tag
acquisitions
andruw jones
announcements
backup catchers
bobby jenks
brent lillibridge
bullpen
c.j. retherford
camelback ranch
carlos quentin
contracts
controversy
d.j. carrasco
daniel hudson
dayan viciedo
departures
don cooper
first-guessing
greg walker
historical perspective
jermaine dye
jim thome
john danks
johnny damon
kenny williams
managerial strategy
mark buehrle
mark teahen
minor league field trip
minor league monthly
offseason plans
omar vizquel
Ozzie Guillen
photo gallery
photoshops
podsednik paradox
prospects
rosterbation
scouting report
sergio santos
theories
trades
video
White Sox Outsider 2010
winter meetings
Happy pitchers and catchers, book month
Monday, February 1st, 2010Introducing the cover of White Sox Outsider 2010
Monday, January 18th, 2010
You got Palehose in my Sox Machine!
You got Sox Machine in my Palehose!
You got that right, boys and girls — along with all the insight and wit you come to expect from the Sox Machine brand, White Sox Outsider 2010 will feature the terrific artwork of Palehose cartoonist Carl Skanberg.
I’ll release more details about the books in the coming weeks, but I’m holding off for the time being as I hold my breath to make sure the Sox don’t do anything to blow up my in-depth pieces and farm system report. If you bought White Sox Outsider 2009 (and of course you did… didn’t you?), just picture it with 2009-10 content, different essays and cartoons that drive points home, and you’re most of the way there. It’s truly two great tastes that taste great together.
And if you didn’t buy White Sox Outsider 2009, there’s still plenty of time. Others can speak up for it, but in re-reading it many times while working on the site and the upcoming book, I think it holds up well.
************************************
Christian Marrero Reading Room:
*Speaking of Carl, he sums up the DH predicament at Smells Like Mascot.
*Speaking of which, the slow dance continues to play out. Jim Thome says all the right things to Scott Merkin. Meanwhile, the Sox are still sponsoring his charity event for the Children’s Hospital of Illinois in Peoria. In my mind, I’m thinking, “Will you two just get it on so I can figure out if he’s a eulogy or a preview?”
Greetings and links
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009Hello, friends. Remember me?
Hope everybody had a happy Hanukkah, Christmas, Boxing Day and/or Kwanzaa. I figure I’d check in before New Year’s and let you know what the upcoming weeks look like.
This week will be finishing the writing for the first five sections of White Sox Outsider 2010, and sending those to editing/formatting hell. The transaction register is in the books, tomorrow will be finishing up the farm report and month in a boxes, followed on Thursday by the eulogies, and whatever I need out of the weekend to finish the essays.
After that, I’ll begin cranking out the player profiles, while editing and formatting the first five sections. Fun, huh?
In the meantime, things may slow down around here, though I will certainly respond to any significant news if and when it happens. In the meantime, if anybody has a guest post in them — something to discuss, address, get off the chest, shoot me an email (soxmachine/gmail) and I can hook you up.
****************************
Christian Marrero Reading Room:
*If you liked the Charlie Comiskey discussion, two other bloggers got a whiff of Chris Jaffe’s book. J.J. talks about Ozzie Guillen, while Andrew reflects on Jerry Manuel.
*Phil Rogers comes to a confounding conclusion. He also gave John Ely a goodbye hug.
Goin’ mobile
Thursday, November 19th, 2009After a successful test run on State of the Sox, I’ve activated a plugin that will make browsing and commenting on this blog a lot easier on many smartphones, such as the iPhone, Droid, Pre, various Blackberries and others.
Give it a shot, and let me know if you have any problems. My phone ain’t smart enough to handle it yet, so I’m flying blind and relying on the kindness of strangers to inform me of any issues. So far, the feedback has been positive, and I hope it improves the experience for those of you on the go.
*****************************
Baseball America has the list of minor-league free agents, which I always have an unusual amount of fun browsing. The White Sox system’s casualties:
Chicago White Sox (10)
RHP: Dylan Axelrod (Hi A), Fernando Hernandez (AAA), Kelvin Jimenez (AAA), John Van Benschoten (AAA), Ehren Wassermann (AAA)
C: Justin Knoedler (AAA)
SS: Eider Torres (AAA)
OF: David Cook (AA), Josh Kroeger (AAA), Michael Restovich (AAA)
A few thoughts…
Fantastic newness!
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009*Newness! I’ve created a new Facebook page for Sox Machine, if you haven’t already noticed. I hate the phrase “become a fan,” but it definitely wouldn’t suck if you went ahead with it.
It’ll probably be rather quiet during the offseason, but ultimately I’d like to use it as:
- A way to make new posts more easily accessible, should you not use RSS readers.
- A place to share photos and video when you take them at games, spring training, SoxFest, etc.
- A place to rid of/acquire extra tickets among friends, or arrange meet-ups.
And if you have any other suggestions, I’m all ears.
(Some of you may be fans of the old one, but evidently it isn’t picked up in searches for “Sox Machine,” so that doesn’t help.)
*Newness! The guys at Oral Sox debuted the first video of a series simply titled “The Offseason.” Check it out:
Your 2010 White Sox offseason strategy
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009If you’re growing tired of the horrendous jobs by the umpiring crews this postseason, you can start reading up on various offseason plans.
A couple Sox-related ones popped up:
*MLB Trade Rumors takes a crack at the offseason outlook. I’m guessing Dayan Viciedo is only listed at DH to take note of the 2010 salary committment, and not because he’s a viable option.
*David Cameron at USS Mariner came up with this gem in his offseason strategy for the Mariners:
Now, having written all that, perhaps you’ll think it is a little hypocritical that I then immediately suggest swapping an infielder for a pitcher by sending [Jose] Lopez, [Mark] Lowe, and [Jason] Vargas to Chicago for Danks. However, the situations are quite a bit different. Despite his age, Lopez is simply not the kind of player the M’s want to build around for the future, and his value will be maximized in another city. His best skill, power to left field, is in direct conflict with the way Safeco plays. The M’s will get less value from Lopez than just about every other team in baseball, so moving him to an environment that doesn’t clash with his skills is an efficiency maximization decision.
Danks gives the team an above average starter to slot behind Felix, but also helps build for the future at the same time. Heading into his age-25 season, he’s already arbitration eligible, which is why the White Sox would be willing to move him in the first place. As a left-handed starter with a bit of a home run problem, Safeco would be perfect for his continued development, so both main pieces of the deal would find a better fit in the confines of their new home.
There are so many ways to destroy this (and he doesn’t back off in the comments) that I’ll go a less obvious route. I like that Danks isn’t a good enough fit for U.S. Cellular Field, like the stadium is holding him back. A pitcher might fare better in Safeco Field than Comiskey? Stop the presses!
Anyway, I figure now’s as good a time as any to introduce the offseason strategy rodeo, as suggested by Striker. That way we can tear each other apart, instead of strangers. Here’s how I have it broken down, and if you have any suggestions to improve it, I’m all ears.
MUST-MAKE DECISIONS
1) Octavio Dotel: Arbitration, or not?
2) Jermaine Dye: Mutual option, arbitration, or not?
