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Showing content with the highest reputation on 12/26/2019 in all areas

  1. If you're planning a starting lineup (even a weak side platoon) that requires moving guys around so that you can get ABs for Adam Engel, you're probably doing something wrong
    6 points
  2. Always the guys on their high horse riding ignorance into the stable. None of the moves have even panned out yet. Yet, somehow you’re patting yourself on the back. Takes a special kind of mamaluke. Most of the fans against these moves (me being one of them, to an extent) recognize we should have netted better players w/our cap space. My expectations are different than others. I want to win at a very high level and win a lot. I don’t want to be the same Sox we were before where we “compete for the division”. It’s such a weak mindset. You build the best team in baseball. The division will take care of itself. But setting the bar at what we turned 2020 into is a joke & the hope is it doesn’t hinder us beyond 20’, when they potentially could be a serious contender. An “average” starter they say is a 2-2.5war player. We’ve signed multiple guys like this. For a below average team, sure, it’s an improvement. For those of you only concerned w/being improved, these are great moves for you. For those of us with expectations beyond winning 87 games & taking the central, they’re underwhelming (and potentially awful) commitments made. How you have magically proven this thread has “aged poorly” w/these guys never playing an inning is comical. Who knew that because they signed a couple more 30 something players on the downward trend of their career, suddenly we should crown Hahn a great GM? It speaks to your own lack of belief in what you’re saying. It’s as if you need to say it as much as possible so that you can believe it yourself (or hope to). I bet you’re a Bernie guy. When the Sox win a World Series with these above-average bums, then you can turn around and say it has aged poorly. Until that time, everyone who wanted/expected/comprehends that our free money was better spent on a Machado, Rendon, etc will be proven right. It’s hard enough to win. You’ve chosen, as an organization, to try and do so with mediocre additions. You rebuilt to have the luxury of signing those types of players (Machado’s/Rendon’s/etc) and pairing them w/your young core of elite players. Instead, we’ve now wasted the young players cap flexibility on longshots. We need Keuchel to become a guy he is incapable of being anymore. You need Edwin to cling to his mid-30’s and play more than 100 games. You need Mazara to show a pulse of his potential & you need to hope you don’t waste what’s left of Grandal’s career before your team as a whole is truly ready to win. Otherwise, you’re spending 18 million potentially on a 34/35 year old when it’ll matter most. That is, and will continue to be, Hahn’s evaluation for all of this. If we come up short of a World Series at any point during these contracts, the finger needs to be pointed at them & you people for not understanding how to maximize an opportunity. For those of you who just want a division title, then go enjoy your participation medals. For those of us who sat through / supported the rebuild with expectations of executing this stage and feeling like we’re scrambling on plan C right now, we aren’t fans. Depleting the farm would make matters worse but I still believe they know they need another superstar caliber player. How do you go from all-in on a 25 year old superstar to piece-mealing 30+ year old veterans and declaring this a victory. Make no mistake, this is no victory. This is “best we can do” and we’re hoping for a miracle IF they can steal the division. I didn’t sit through this crap to be back where we were w/Sale & company. Winning shit divisions and getting swept by Houston or NY isn’t going to feel any better than remaining below .500 an extra year and pushing your chips all-in on a Betts/adding more premium talent to your farm/letting your kids develop & not be rushed. It’s not going to feel better than 99 wins from a stacked lineup in the scenario where the money was well spent (Machado, Wheeler, etc - Plan A we’ll call it). Put all the lipstick on this you want to (or need to) but the Sox aren’t serious contenders for the WS as it stands today. Not even close. They’re not even better than the Cubs. But hey! The thread didn’t age well because some Jamoke played the season out in his head.
    6 points
  3. I've been a Sox fan since 1970 (permanently left the Cubs after the 1969 collapse). I grew up in the Chicago area (Evanston), but I haven't lived in the Chicago area since I left to go to college. Lived 10 years out in Washington State, and since the mid-1980s in Northern Virginia. Thus my blog name VAfan. I was all-in on the Sox for many years, hanging on their every move year after year. That was true up through the glorious World Series year, which came almost out of nowhere. What a magical run 2005 was. (I wrote a 17-page recap of that season so I'd always remember it.) We still have the best post-season run of any team in the current format, with only 1 setback, a 3-2 loss to the Angels we might have won had Contreras thrown home to get the lead runner instead of trying for an unsuccessful DP. That run was the difference. I stayed with the Sox as they tried to get back to the World Series, but kept falling short. Once the World Series players left, the Sox still had interesting guys like Chris Sale, Adam Eaton, and Jose Quintana. But it wasn't enough, and the disastrous attempt to be relevant with Jeff Samardzija (who cost us Marcus Semien), Todd Frazier, Melky Cabrera, and David Robertson led the team to blow it up and start over (but not before trading Fernando Tatis, Jr. for James Shields!!). It was around that point that I stopped paying much attention. Oh, I knew the roster for the most part, and noticed who they traded for and who they drafted high. And my son and I would usually go see the Sox for a game when they came to Baltimore or DC, but otherwise I didn't watch the futile last several years. This year is going to be different. I'm back to being interested in the team again. All the moves may turn out for naught, just like they did in 2015. I don't think we're World Series contenders by any means. And even making the playoffs is going to require a lot of things to go right. But the team should be interesting again. They aren't stocking their lineup with 4-5 below-replacement players any more, waiting on their young guys to be ready. The young guys are ready, or at least ready to debut on the major league stage. I'm excited to see Luis Robert and Nick Madrigal. I'm eager for Yoan Moncada to take another step forward. I wanted to see Zach Collins, but I'm fine waiting for him while Edwin Encarnacion hits bombs. It was great to see Lucas Giolito make such strides last year. Can Reynaldo Lopez and Dylan Cease make their own leaps forward? What do Michael Kopech and Carlos Rodon have to offer? Is there anyone else on the farm who is going to emerge this year or next and make an impact? I think it was smart for the front office to add guys to the young core to try to be relevant in 2020, even if there is a need for a bigger push in 2021.The key was that the team didn't surrender anything but short-term money to do so. No prospects, and no long-term contracts they will be sorry for. (Abreu's renewal might be a year too long and too expensive, but he's a clubhouse leader who might help keep the other guys around.) Dallas Keuchel is a fighter who can win on a Sox team with the new lineup we're likely to see. Gio Gonzalez will walk way too many guys, but he's a great back-of-the-rotation addition to hold the fort while Kopech and Rodon come back from injuries. Nomar Mazara is still super young, but has 4 years of experience and some upside. We needed lefty bats and he added one. We can add a platoon partner, or just use Leury Garcia and Adam Engel. The biggest addition was Yasmani Grandal, who turns catching into a strong point. His pitch framing should help corner nibblers Keuchel and Gonzalez, but also the young guys. His switch hitting adds another lefty bat. The last addition, so far, was Encarnacion, who struck me as superfluous at first blush, but now seems like a no-brainer. This is a HR hitting league, and Encarnacion has the potential, with all the other additions, to move the Sox from 6th worst (182 HRs) in baseball to top 6 (254 HRs - Steamer estimate). All these guys are role players, but they can all play above-average roles. In baseball, it's important to not have weak links, in the lineup, the rotation, and the bullpen. The new lineup may not have ANY weak links once Robert and Madrigal are up to speed. That doesn't mean they'll have superstars throughout, but they also won't have any negative WAR players like they used to have in multiples. The rotation still has Lopez and Cease as big question marks, but they are young players with upside. And there are reinforcements behind them who are working back from injury. The bullpen has some weak links, but everyone expects the Sox to add here before the season starts. And we may have arms in the minors who could eventually help. If they can find a synergy and get on a roll, who knows where the team might go. In baseball, it is sometimes the oddest things that can make a difference. Who'd have thought Gerardo Parra, the "baby shark", could have helped catapult the Nationals to a World Series title? He arrived last year at their 19-31 lowest moment, and completely changed the energy for the team. Sure, the Nats had a bunch of great players, but they weren't going anywhere until Parra loosened them up and got them playing up to their potential. Who knows how the 2020 White Sox will play together? I don't. But I do know that these moves have gotten a 50-year fan like me to get interested in White Sox baseball again. And my son along with me. Go SOX!!
    5 points
  4. 5 points
  5. With a roster that doesn’t have 9000 black holes I think you’re likely to find he’s not as bad or as big of a deal as most think.
    5 points
  6. Whatd timmy tweet? Hes always posting vague motivational stuff/song lyrics if that's what you mean. It's literally nothing.
    4 points
  7. First tweet I've ever hit "like" for Bruce.
    4 points
  8. tell parkman to hand your account back over.
    4 points
  9. The Sox are gambling on Mazara turning things around. The Rangers were not able to get him to stop chasing balls out of the zone and grounding out. Grounding into inning killing double plays could get old after a while, especially on a Sox team where RBI guys are up and down the line-up. I hope the Sox get Castellanos if he could be signed to a 3 year deal for 45-50 with an option for a 4th year. Mazara can be a 4th outfielder leaving Engel as the odd man out.
    4 points
  10. Sorry for the huge mistake. That probably changes things.
    4 points
  11. In Cleveland, he made positive impacts on emergent stars Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez, and with the Blue Jays he could do the same for Guerrero and crew. It’s a role that at this point of his career, he relishes. “In Cleveland, we had a lot of young players with great talent,” Encarnacion says. “They knew how to play the game right but sometimes you need a veteran guy. Sometimes they get in a slump and that’s a good opportunity to talk to those guys and it’s a pleasure for me to do that because when I was a rookie a lot of guys helped me with that. I feel blessed to help those young kids coming up.” This is not launch angle specific but since Encarnacion and Mazara are both Dominican and he seems to like helping the youngsters it seems very plausable if it is something the Sox coaching staff deems necessary. https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-reunion-edwin-encarnacion-benefit-young-stars/ Since the statcast era began in 2015 the launch angle phenomena has gained a solid footing in the sport and many clubs are adopting it . There are players who talk about being big proponents of it and that makes other players curious about it. So there is a type of word of mouth grassroots type deal at play or was in the beginning of the statcast era. I also found this article about the Indians interesting about smaller players like Lindor and Jose Ramirez being taught something more than launch angle but contact point and pulling the ball to hit more home runs. The basic philosophy being when you pull the ball and hit it at the right contact point the launch angle takes care of itself. Also obviously when you pull the ball the chances of hitting a HR increase because you just can't hit as many HR's to CF or the opposite field when you are limited in size and strength. This kind of philosophy seems to go against how we hear about advanced hitting approaches letting the ball get deeper and hitting the opposite way. So each player has to find what's best for them. Mazara is a big guy and has huge strength so perhaps he doesn't have to do it like Lindor or Ramirez and just a swing plane/path/launch angle difference would allow him to still go the other way and continue what he knows best which is being a gap to gap type hitter and create enough loft to carry the ball over the fence to all fields. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/cleveland-has-taken-the-fly-ball-revolution-to-the-next-level/ Eloy Jimenez is another Dominican and also could benefit with an improved average launch angle. Eloy was in the top 8% in the league in hard hit % and many of his HR's go to right and CF but he was below league average in average launch angle, If he increased his launch angle and contact point to pull the ball more no telling how good he could become. However he does seem to have that same kind of hitting style as Mazara so perhaps again all he might have to do is just increase the launch angle a bit more and those hard hit outs he's making on the ground or line drives right at people end up going over the heads of infielders instead and also over the fence more.
    4 points
  12. They are not signing Puig. Puig is all fake smoke. Any addition will come via trade if at all. The Red Sox need to reduce about 15-20 million to get under tax.
    3 points
  13. Pillars defensive numbers have tanked. I'd rather just use Engel for the elite defense and solid lefty splits and save the money for something else
    3 points
  14. I'd love Castellanos instead of Mazara, The guy was quite a gamer for the Cubs and played a decent RF for them.
    3 points
  15. You forgot to post eyeballs.
    3 points
  16. No the Sox aren’t looking for a long deal right now. Castellanos still wants a multi year deal. Unless he does a one year deal it’s not happening. So who could it be? The worry about JDM was the opt out. It’s not a big deal now in fact it’s preferred. So it’s a good take to think the Puig thing is a leverage play but not for Castellanos - just remember that Hahn is disciplined and has executed it well so far. Next 48-72 hours should be big.
    3 points
  17. This^ This offseason the Sox have improved the short and medium term outlook of the club, while still importantly preserving flexibility for next offseason. The Sox really do not want to add too many multi year deals locking them into players that might not make sense. We can cut bait with Gonzalez/Encarnacion/Herrera/McCann/Colome/Mazara and free up quite a bit of payroll space for 2021. It's too soon for us to consider making a major trade that ships out some of our young assets. The roster is better, but we still do not know if we are genuine contenders yet.
    3 points
  18. This week has been so telling around here. The dark clouds are showing themselves in arguably the best offseason in White Sox history.
    3 points
  19. I will eat my hat if Nick Castellenos makes less money than Abreu or EE. And Puig sucks. Thinking 1/12 for Encarnacion is a WILD overpay is hilarious.
    3 points
  20. If Puig doesn't get along with Abreu he won't be coming here. This is Abreu's team.
    3 points
  21. If McCann is traded and Grandal is injured, who becomes the full time catcher? Do you really believe that Collins, who is defensively challenged and unproven as a Major League hitter, is a viable choice to assume the responsibilities of an every day catcher? Is there anyone else in the organization who is a capable enough receiver, to be given that responsibility? Zavala, Mercedes, Gonzales? What is the urgency to trade McCann and his reasonable salary? He will be a free agent, and likely gone, after this season. If Collins is ready then, to be Grandal's tandem partner, he could be given the opportunity in 2021, but it's premature to do so now and not necessary.
    3 points
  22. This is a broader question outside of EE, but anyone concerned about the cyclical nature of the game swinging back from the HRs and launch angle, and limiting Eloy? All it takes is MLB overreacting and changing the ball again, and now we have Eloy's development years geared toward hitting dingers that end up as long pop outs. Not saying that's guaranteed, just that I want Eloy to be focused on being the best pure, all-around hitter with monster power, and not just limit it to being a Joc Pederson high-launch-angle-dependent guy.
    3 points
  23. Vs: Cleveland: 246/330/482 (813) - 11 HR Detroit: 261/347/484 (831) - 16 HR Kansas City: 275/371/485 (856) - 16 HR Minnesota: 287/386/568 (954) - 27 HR
    3 points
  24. I think it's incredibly foolish to even consider trading him at this point. Especially for a RP, which would be the only thing we'd be trading for.
    3 points
  25. At times Mazara has seemed to be turning the corner against LHP and is still young. I think they give him a shot to see if he can round that skill set out and become a stud. If not after a quarter of the season, platoon him in house and target RF guys who mash lefties at the break.
    3 points
  26. And he had an OPS+ of 123 against RHP. Against LHP, Leury should play and his OPS+ there was 105. Our idiot manager is going to fuck this up, isn’t he?
    3 points
  27. 3 points
  28. This in my opinion is a poor signing. The 37 year old EE is declining and has blocked Collins who in my opinion would have put up better numbers that EE this season. Like I said before put Collins in RF, Mazara in CF. Yes, I'm sticking to my guns, Luis Robert is too raw and nothing compared to Frank Thomas. Thomas in the minors and his whole career had phenomenal plate discipline and eye. Robert in the minors last season had 129 KS to 28 bb.
    3 points
  29. I don’t see how anyone could be upset with this. Another move that helps for 2020 but doesn’t block core guys down the road.
    3 points
  30. And you just don't get it You keep it copacetic
    2 points
  31. 1. Watches James McCann make adjustments after being DFA'd, decides it's not a fluke despite a less than stellar second half. 2. Zack Collins makes adjustments after being demoted, decides it's a fluke despite him tearing the cover off the ball and having a track record of power and an elite batters eye. You're a bigger piece of work than you think Zack Collins is.
    2 points
  32. JDM has no place on this roster
    2 points
  33. Steve Stone confirms — Castellanos it is! 😂
    2 points
  34. Honestly, platooning Engel and using only against lefties / as a defensive replacement would be similar and cheaper to Pillar.
    2 points
  35. I'd rather have Castellanos as a starting RF than Mazara. OK bud?
    2 points
  36. No it really isn't for him. He takes a good number of walks - both in college and last year you've got a guy who walked in over 8% of his plate appearances - that would have been higher than anyone in the White Sox's lineup last year other than Alonso. The trick with Madrigal is that when he swings, he puts the ball in play. If pitchers didn't pitch to him, he was happy to take the walk, but you just couldn't put him away with a strikeout. If Madrigal is going to have a low OBP, then either he's been overwhelmed and overpowered by big league pitching (which seems unlikely), or he's got a very low batting average because of weak contact - which remains possible particularly with better defenders in the bigs, although the second half of last year argues against that. I'd say there's a good chance his OBP sits something like 50 points above his batting average, wherever that number winds up,
    2 points
  37. Puig is barely a better player at this point than Mazara and comes with serious red flags in the clubhouse, one of a few guys in MLB I'd label a real distraction. No chance they bring him in, no room on the roster, no upside long or short term, and possible clubhouse problems on top of it.
    2 points
  38. Seems you care more about good TV & brand name players than a winning team & a positive clubhouse. Puig is a total selfish douchebag and not the type of influence we want around our young players. He’s simply not good enough to take a gamble on.
    2 points
  39. Puig will never break out unless he dedicates himself to getting better. His best days are behind him He does not work hard at getting better. He admitted it himself. He relies on his own instincts and his own perceived knowledge of the game which in the past has resulted in clashes with coaches about defensive positioning. Everyone knows these things about him which is why he has a soft market.
    2 points
  40. Agreed! A strong backup catcher is necessary on good teams. The mentoring from two good catchers will do lots for Collins development as well.
    2 points
  41. I also would have been content with 82 wins in 2019.
    2 points
  42. Baseball refernce has him averaging 3.9 WAR/650 PA his career and 3.2 WAR/650 PA the last three years but more importantly he is 29 and Edwin is 37. I am not interested in signing 12m players to "mentor" young players this team was one of the worst last year it needs TALENT. You want a mentor go sign a former player for a couple of hundred G's to join the staff. Smoak went for 1/5 with a team option. Abreu signed for 3/50. We could have filled our holes at 1B/DH for a heck of a lot less then 29 million in 2020. I said at the beginning if the FO wants to not pay attention to cost opportunity and just go out and overpay for guys fine whatever it's not my money but if they as a result lose out on other guys because of that then that is a problem.
    2 points
  43. They have 5 catchers on the 40 man, and just paid a guy a team record to be the #1. Either Collins or McCann will be traded. It's pretty obvious. I am going with McCann because Collins makes a lot less money, has a lot more team control, and fits the roster better, in the part time role. Are you really going to sit Abreu or EE vs. LHP to keep McCann from getting rusty? McCann was great in 2019, but just remember a year ago. Many of the same people who seem to think the White Sox now cannot live without a $5.6 million a year back up catcher, were up in arms this same catcher was signed at a rate half of that. There should be some regression. It's time to cash in. If the Sox wanted him to be the every day catcher, they wouldn't have signed Grandal. If they thought he could be a pretty good DH vs. LHP, EE would still be looking for a job or would have re-signed with Toronto. I'm thinking he's a goner.
    2 points
  44. So we significantly shored up the offense and starting pitching without significant long term commitments and mortgages minimal future assets. I wonder what the negative nancies will find to complain about next.
    2 points
  45. Because they signed the best C on the market to a franchise record deal yet as soon as they took a chance on a 24 year old specimen, everyone started complaining about money not being spent again and Hahn's a joke and it was fucking December 11th.
    2 points
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