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Yes, that will totally fool 29 career baseball talent evaluators if the Sox manipulate Vaughn's stats by doing that. Every single one of them will fall for that trick.

Sure I like semien. I don’t really understand these weird binaries people are setting up to win arguments. I just think Conforto is a good player that balances our lineup and plays good defense and sheets could play DH. If we want to sign an MVP type 2b that is also nice.

1. Copy/pasted from your previous post: ..."However, from 2020 to 2021..." "...Meanwhile, from 2017 to 2019 he had a wRC+ of 100...." Anyone can justify anything, if you cut up trends into nice segments. Hernandez was in a clear, straight-line decline of 19% over the 2017-2021 time frame, full stop. And, if you want to "credit" Hernandez for having an awesome 1st half WRC+ of 96, you also have to admit that that came alongside a career anomaly in HR in the 1st half. The anomalous 1st half HR numbers made the 1st half WRC+ artificially inflated, and ripe for regression. 2. RH deserves TONS of disrespect for this move. The team needed someone to stand at 2B, but the LINEUP needed effectiveness vs RHP. Let's review the WRC+ splits vs RHP for some notable 2B from 2021: Cesar Hernandez: 83 Eduardo Escobar: 98 Leury Garcia: 101 Danny Mendick: 77 We could also go over the WAR numbers, but suffice it to say that Cesar had a negative number while in Chicago. See, if you're going to be fair, you can't just fall all over yourself to give RH plaudits at every turn. You ALSO have to give him critique when it is/was warranted. His TDL made the 2021 team WORSE, while fucking up the financial flexibility going forward. The org would have been better off had they done nothing at the TDL.

Sheets put up a -2 OAA in 82 innings in RF and Vaughn put up a -2 OAA in 118 RF innings. I can’t stress enough how bad these guys were out there. Using them as a RF platoon is not setting this roster up for success as too much of their offensive value will be negated by shitty defense. And you can’t look at this stuff in a vacuum as context matters. We already have a bad defensive LF in Eloy. With a halfway decent RF, you can have Robert cheat a bit to the left and limit the amount of space Eloy needs to cover. With one of two slow footed RFs, we are literally fucked.

To conform by changing name back to Conforto…or maybe Concerto would break the string of NL position players laying an egg with the Sox. (Although I’m sure that someone will argue Grandal has been close to great…the general trend over a decade.)

There is a lot to like about Conforto and I think it is entirely reasonable to say that Vaughn will only be a 2 WAR guy in RF next year. But Vaughn costs nothing and Conforto is going to cost $20 million a year. Meanwhile Semien will put up a 5 WAR and Romy a 1.5 so you get an extra 3.5 WAR for an extra $23 million in salary. At this point the argument within Sox management is...we have $25 million extra to spend...what puts us over the top. I'm not going to war with you over Conforto...he's youngish and lefty and pretty good RF. I'd be OK with that...or with Semien or Robbie Ray...I just would prefer Semien with Vaughn in RF. It will be fascinating to see what the Sox do (and infuriating if they do nothing).

My argument? I’ve made multiple posts highlighting my position. And I think a ~3.5 win projection for Conforto is fair, but I do think that would be challenging for Vaughn to meet next year as our RF. For example, Jorge Soler had to put a 136 wRC+ to overcome his shit defense and put a 3.6 win season. Maybe Vaughn won’t be quite that bad defensively, but realistically he’s got to be around 125 wRC+ or so to reach that level of production. That seems like a reach for next year and I would expect to closer to 2 wins as our RF.

It’d be neat if being a GM was as easy as you make it seem.

uh oh too many people stated the opinion that Michael Conforto seemed like a good fit and was a free agent so Dick Allen needs to make sure to overstate their opinions and remind us that he's not actually a savior and we are all thankful.

I don’t know, despite their below average speed and below average athleticism we may be missing something here

Agreed. But eh, rather spend the money elsewhere than Conforto, given Vaughn and Sheets.

If a bear tries to carjack you, let him. He probably needs it more than you.

How about using RBIs??

Kiké Hernández

The 2020 season featured 60 games, due to Covid. To limit travel, 40 games were played against division opponents, 10 vs each of the 4 division foes in 3 unbalanced series. So, Cleveland got 10 stat-padding games vs Detroit, and 10 free games vs KC. And yes, there were 20 tough games vs our SOX and Minnesota, but I didn't bother to see if Cleveland had more games at home or on the road. The other 20 games would be against the NL teams from the same division. So, Cleveland had at least 4 stat padding games vs. Shittsburgh. So, at least 24 of the 60 games were vs ~.400 win % opposition. Whats more, back in 2020, with no fans in the stands, going on the road wasn't as much of a challenge as in a "normal year." In sum, it wasn't just the short season, but also, the nature of the season that made 2020 anomalous. And no, I don't take this personal. So no worries.

No McKinnie or Robinson from cards might make it tougher than expected. I don't think they'll lose, but I wouldn't be surprised if they drew without those 2 and Pulisic being on a minutes count. They played great yesterday though and even had to deal with bullshit from the ref. The fact that Robinson got the 2nd yellow on a dive but Mexico didn't get a red for trying to gouge someone's eyes out was ridiculous.

Tell it to Enrique and Monica.

You didn’t use the Word of the Day… as such, you have failed.

It's not like the Dodgers or Astros had any major injuries to their pitching staff when they played the Braves. Let's totally ignore all context and just look at regular season stats.

It's not all about WAR. In the playoffs when you're facing the best pitching and every pitcher gets stretched to the limit, I don't want our outfield giving up free outs because it is atrociously bad in the corners. That's an absolute killer. Good pitching will beat good hitting in the playoffs. You need your defense to perform in those low scoring pitcher duels. You need your defense to limit the number of pitches your bullpen throws in those games. I'd be happy to make a wager that the Sox won't start the season with Vaughn/Sheets in RF. I think the front office sees the flaw in that plan.

What do you think Semien will cost? I saw 6/$138 somewhere. A top five payroll is $190...and Sox are at $156. So let's say a $30 mill bump from that. If we get Semien for $23 per, trade Kimbrell's $16 and offer Rodon 3/$56 you could sign a relief pitchers for $5. It could work.

This is disgusting.

Yes, let's give the 60 game 2020 season as much weight as the 2021 season. Dude was in a clear decline, and he wasn't going to replicate his 1st half numbers. It was bad and dumb to trade for him

Okay, here is a roster resource. I added some stuff so people could see how it works. Please after you open it, copy a version for yourself. I think I restricted it anyway https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1v-L_AWIcTXsM6LdFFzwS7dB30E3rS-WLeOe4anRs1MI/

Kemp is interesting in that he's a lot like Madrigal, but his one good tool is his ability to get on base. I think the Sox do need more OBP oriented guys, but Kemp is a very low ceiling player offensively who doesn't play good defense at 2B.

Dude, you're really contorting yourself to justify this. Picking nits isn't really that efficient, in all honesty. Its a straight-line 19% declination in WRC+ for Hernandez over a 4 season trend. Ya don't need calculus, or regression analysis to have seen this coming. And yes, even if you wanna go all "SSS," and pick at Hernandez's 1st half WRC+ numbers, he was at a 96 at the 1st half. But noting that this came with a career anomaly in HR should have raised alarms in terms of what to expect from him. EDIT: I also looked at the splits vs RHP as well: Hernandez: 83 Leury: 101 Escobar: 98 Not only is/was Cesar clearly in decline, but he actually made the lineup WORSE vs our lineup's kryptonite vs RHP.

I think that, while we all believe in Vaughn's future, he's a bit redundant in this lineup/roster. He's awesome vs LHP, but we've already got a lot of that. He also sucks ass vs RHP, and unfortunately, we've also already got a lot of that. Looking at his splits, he's been a 68 WRC+ hitter vs RHP. If he makes a 20% leap forward vs RHP, that's still only a WRC+ of ~82. A 30% improvement in WRC+ vs RHP only gets him to an 89. It would take a 50% QUANTUM LEAP forward vs RHP for Vaughn to get his WRC+ to a 102. Now, I believe he can and will get better vs RHP, but will he be able to do it in time for this competitive window? Before Hendriks ages out? Before Giolito signs elsewhere? Before TA signs elsewhere? I dunno. Also, his shitty RHP splits come attached to a guy who really can't field a position. The other 1B/LF/DH types won't return much in trade, IMO. (Eloy and his injuries, Sheets and his lack of prior prospect status, Burger and his fat ass leading him to be perma-injured.) On balance, I think I agree with Chicago White Sox, in that Vaughn might have to be moved, whether we like it or not.

What suggested he was in decline before the trade? The career high 18 bombs he hit with the Indians? I’d love to hear what these indicators were since you seem to think Hahn acquiring a consistent 2.0 to 2.5 2B was somehow idiotic for obvious reasons.

If baseball survives after a long work stoppage I'd be surprised. I guess baseball has a chance to prove it can survive anything. Think about it. Baseball (using the voice of James Earl Jones in Field of Dreams) ... a.) can't get significant numbers of people under 50 to watch a game. b.) has become exceedingly boring because of pace of play and 4 to 4.5 hour 9 inning games. c.) has no chance for having any more 'stars' in the position of starting pitcher because of the fact 3-5 innings are becoming the norm for a starter. d.) has made it inconvenient to get to games cause 50 dollar parking is too much. e.) has forced fans to feel sad walking past concession stands and beer stands cause 10 dollars is too much for a beer and 8 dollars too much for a hot dog. If baseball survives a stoppage and franchises remain worth gazillions of dollars, then it should never spend a dollar on advertising again. This will prove the increasingly dull game of baseball, one that can't get many people under 30 to consider watching, will have proven it can survive ANYTHING.

Unless money is not going to be a factor this year...we just may need to decide where our available funds are best spent. I think 2nd base wins that argument over RF since Vaughn and Sheets need to be played somewhere.

People want Conforto because he’s elite against RHP and would provide much needed balance to the lineup. These people also recognize his average defense would be a massive upgrade over Vaughn and Sheets in RF. No one is arguing he’s some defensive wizard.

Cespedes did nothing to warrant any long-term planning around and Colas isn’t even part of the organization yet. They should not even enter the equation at this point.

All Eloy and Vaughn have to do is hit like prime Manny Ramirez and the Sox are good to go. Sounds easy enough.

We can either have Jason Heyward or Gavin Sheets in RF. No other options. Pick your poison!

Jason Heyward sucks

You might be right but the offense will help you overlook the occasional fielding blunder. Since you value defense above all else perhaps you should set your sights a little higher than Conforto.

You don't need a large sample size to see that Sheets/Vaughn are horrible in RF. The eye test is enough.

That OF defense would be the worst in the entire league. You can't roll that out if you are seriously contending. Defense matters.

This. The Sox can't roll out Vaughn/Sheets in RF with Eloy in LF if they are serious about contending. Why do people all of the sudden not care about outfield defense?

Amazon or any outdoor store in bear country. Best $40 insurance you can buy.

When will you defend yourself? After they kill your family? We keep protecting the criminals until they run the world. Pull a gun on me and we'll see who shoots first.

The best is ahead for Sheets IMO. We have a huge need for a lefty power bat. We need him more than I perceive his trade value to be.

I'd hate to trade Sheets or Vaughn but here's a solution. Avi is still young nuff and outstanding. SIgn him and trade Sheets or Vaughn or both. They are good prospects tho. I like 'em both.

1of 3 overused phrases I hate seeing on this board. 1. Its a fire-able offense... no it isn't 2. trade player x for player y, who says no? Probably most people. 3. trade this for that, prove me wrong. I have better things to do with me life and you can't prove or disprove hypotheticals that won't happen, just express my opinion. That being said, I don't think we should be trading Vaughn.

The injury history definitely seems like it should be a bigger drag but who knows. Hey let's hope Colson Montgomery hits because now we can see how freakin valuable a big, left-hand shortstop can be (and, you know, one that had an MVP type year). Yanks obviously had some similar tendencies as us, so they are gonna get the best the market has to offer.

I really don’t see how Vaughn survives the offseason with us unless we are going to sacrifice RF defense. Hahn has continued to stress improving the defense is critical, but that’s going to be tough if your improvements are limited to 2B. Something has got to give and I think Vaughn is the piece that gets moved because he’ll return the most value and will be attractive to the most teams.

Except investing so much in guys like Robertson, Hendriks and Kimbrel has gotten the White Sox where, exactly? Plus, if they had succeeded with Collins, they wouldn't have had to give out the biggest contract in team history to Grandal. They let Narvaez and McCann go when both were much cheaper options. I guess it was worth it if you believe the White Sox miss the playoffs in 2020 without Colome, but they could have bought a closer for $8-10 million and kept Omar, too.

And also my fav thing about conforto...we still have Vaughn and Sheets! Sheets should just be a DH, Vaughn rotate into DH vs lefties and spell LF/RF, and in the offseason he can continue to work on 3b.

The food accounts are alive… which means we’re officially in off-season country! ?

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=rf&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=300&type=8&season=2021&month=0&season1=2021&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=2021-01-01&enddate=2021-12-31&sort=21,d He (Avi) was actually 5th at FG for RF defensive rankings. There were only 9 above 0.0, the rest were in negative territory. Slugger Adolis Garcia (TEX) was the leader, by far, on D. Adam Duvall, Avi and Austin Hays (Orioles) are the other guys between 2-3 fWAR (overall) that play strong/solid defense. Haniger's defensive numbers were REALLY bad. Now whether the White Sox would go after Avi again, Adam Duvall seems a lot more likely the default move since a shorter deal.