Cubs vs. White Sox at Mesa Preview, Saturday 3/12, 2:05 CT

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona -- You have no doubt heard about Hall of Famer Goose Gossage's rant regarding modern baseball analytics and how the game has changed, a classic "get off my lawn" speech.

You might be surprised to learn that Gossage is just three years older than Joe Maddon, yet Maddon has much more up-to-date thinking, particularly about the "nerd" comments Gossage made:

Maddon said he tries to create a balance between practices favored by "nerds" and what are considered old-school ways, and he said the Cubs' front office is able to do that.

"I love nerds; I wish I had some nerd-ism in me," Maddon said. "These guys went to school, went to class, wrote their own papers and they did everything right, and all of a sudden they're in a good position to give me some information that I don't have. I'll take it."

There's no doubt that modern analytics have changed baseball, and probably for the better. As the article says, though, "old-school" scouting (for example, the scouting that recommended the Cubs trade for Jake Arrieta) still has a useful place. The front office that finds the best balance between the two -- and I think Theo & Co. have -- will have success.

Site note about tonight's Cubs/Dodgers game: I will post a recap within the usual time after the game vs. the White Sox ends (probably about an hour). Then there will be a separate preview for the night game vs. the Dodgers that will post an hour before that game starts. Game time tonight is 8 p.m. CT, so the preview will post at 7 p.m. CT. There will be the usual game threads and game stream for the night game, separate from the afternoon game. Hope that makes sense.

Here are the particulars for this afternoon's contest.

Cubs lineup:

Fowler CF, Heyward RF, Candelario 3B, Rizzo 1B, Andreoli LF, Federowicz C, Ross DH, Negron SS, Kawasaki 2B

Most of the rest of the regulars will be playing in the night game at Glendale against the Dodgers.

White Sox lineup:

Eaton CF, Lawrie 2B, Abreu 1B, Frazier 3B, Cabrera LF, A. Garcia RF, Avila C, Saladino SS, L. Garcia CF

Jason Hammel gets the start for the Cubs. Also scheduled to throw for the Cubs today: Aaron Brooks, Brandon Gomes, Jean Machi and Felix Pena.

Erik Johnson goes for the White Sox. Others on the Sox pitching list: Dan Jennings, Matt Purke, Daniel Webb, Jake Petricka, Phillippe Aumont, Tyler Danish and Robinson Leyer.

Today's game is on 670 The Score with Len Kasper and Ron Coomer. This game will be televised live in Chicago on WGN-TV with the Sox announcers. (Not Hawk Harrelson -- the Sox new PBP man, Jason Benetti, will join Steve Stone.) It will also be available on MLB.tv (no blackouts) if you have a subscription.

MLB.com Gameday

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

Please visit our SB Nation White Sox site South Side Sox. If you do go there to interact with White Sox fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

Please note that during spring training, Gameday doesn't usually go pitch-by-pitch as it does during the regular season -- usually, it will update after each at-bat.

For spring-training games, we'll have a first-pitch thread at five minutes to game time and one overflow thread, 90 minutes after game time (because I know how you all like overflow threads!). For today, that will be 2 p.m. CT and 3:30 p.m. CT.

These threads will not post individually onto the front page; instead, you can find links to them in the box marked "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page. There will also be a StoryStream on the front page with all the game thread links, as well as the recap after the game is over. The pitcher boxes and regular-season stats will return on Opening Day.

Discuss amongst yourselves.