Leaderboard

I never have a fucking clue what you’re talking about.

At least he admitted to being clueless

@Chisox378 approves.

MVP 05 was the bomb. The show is made by the same people. I played about 22 seasons of franchise with MVP 05 until my memory card corrupted.

But I think he meant, in English: The new motto for the Sox is "change the game" but if it were up to me, it would be "the kids can play" because the former is too much to think about, but then again I'm typically out of the loop on marketing ideas maybe?

What

They aren’t. Their fans are just morons who don’t know anything about baseball.

I know this will be an unpopular opinion, but I do think Abreu’s deal was partially motivated by improving our chances to extend Robert & Moncada. Given that we already extended the former when it seemed somewhat unlikely, I think we should all bump Abreu a half grade.

Jason is the best and we are lucky to have him.

*old man shakes fist at sky* This reads like a Rodney Dangerfield skit, The answer to all of your questions is that it makes the ballclub better for cheaper. Also Ted Williams had a launch angle in his swing, he even taught it.

2020O

Yours is definitely better...

So they keep their entire team and acquire Arenado? What exactly are they trading for him then? Almora and some scrubs from their trash farm system? How dumb can you be?

I had heard that the White Sox were very confident a deal would happen. I didn't report that part (as I've said on multiple podcasts) because I wasn't sure how soon. I assumed it'd be closer to end of spring. Cishek dude may have a source on it but I wasn't expecting that deal on that day despite random DM's from people saying it was close haha

Playoffs are a crapshoot, consistently getting to the playoffs means you are winning. Your argument just now stated that teams aren't trying to win in favor of saving money. I ask you how many games they won this season and all the sudden it doesn't matter. Their payroll approaches 200 million, and you say Friedman is running the team like he did in Tampa. This argument is all bullshit and you know it

sabermetrics are there whether you choose to use them or not. Saying they are ruining the game is the height of ignorance. They are a tool to be used, if you choose to ignore them and your team gets run over by a team that uses them and benefits from their use, that's on you. If a GM uses them and is successful, I have no idea why you would think that is ruining the game.

I used to think pitch framing is a joke. The umps read this stuff and they might even be offended when a catcher tries to frame a ball a strike. but I’ve seen catchers who are jumping around behind the plate and can’t catch a ball smoothly make it hard on umps to call borderline pitches strikes so I now see some value in a guy. Whois quiet behind the plate giving his pitcher the best chance out three. but the other hand the stat guys get ahold of a stat and drive in the ground so it’s probably not as big a deal as the stat guys make i5. Out to be

I am pretty sure someone wrote a caulfield bot and this is the result.

Assuming the Sox are done with major off-season aquisitions I'd like to see grades for each individual move. Abreu extension: C- I don't hate Jose Abreu but I thought the QO was exactly what he should have got and ended with. I'm not a fan of essentially giving him a 3 year deal which will include his age 34 and 35 seasons in the heart of contention. With Vaughn likely up in 2021, Abreu's extension locks him in as our DH as he ages, instead of leaving some roster flexibility for a more impactful bat. Grandal signing: A I liked the idea of Grandal as a target but I thought the FO would look at him as a luxury and not a need. This is a great signing in every way and the aggressiveness the Sox attacked him with was fantastic. Grandal breaks up the handedness and adds great OBP and decent power to the lineup. Defensively he should be extremely impactful to our young staff. Mazara trade: D Thanks, I hate it. I've argued this up and down multiple times on here and this move is still ass. If being 24 was a skillset I might feel more neutral than negative but it's not. I don't care that they traded Walker. I don't care if anybody in the minors after Vaughn is traded as long as it is for impact. Mazara, unfortunately, has not done much of anything impactful. He's a shitty fielder and will be reduced to a platoon role. This is not a win now move in any way, shape, or form. This is a move you make when you are a rebuilding team as Mazara has been replacement level his 4 year career and was a legitimate non-tender candidate for the Rangers. There were multiple other OF's available that would have added a lot more to the table than Mazara. Using the excuse that he'll be our #8 hitter or he's an upgrade from last year is not valid. He has been at best a 4th OF on a winning team in his career. Keuchel signing: C Keuchel does some nice...or different things for our rotation. Soft tossing lefty that lives low and has the pedigree and mentality to be a nice addition. I didn't want anything to do with Keuchel before FA started as his peripheral numbers have been declining as he has aged. I was also thinking we would strike a deal with a pitcher with more upside and #2 potential. Unfortunately that didn't happen and now our bearded friend will likely be our #2, for now. He gives you innings if nothing else and shouldn't be a bad signing as he is still effective enough to give you 2-2.5 WAR. At the time he was signed I wanted him more than Ryu as Keuchel can stay on the field. Don't mistake it though, one of Kopech/Cease/Lopez now HAS to really ramp it up with a rotation spot locked up for the next 3-4 years. Gio G signing: B+ I like this signing and think it's ALMOST perfect assuming he's a placeholder and insurance. Gio still has some in the tank I think and should be good for what he'll be asked to do as Kopech gets back. EE signing: B+ This guy fucks still at the plate even in his twilight years and has an ingrained hatred for Twins pitching. On it's face the move is win now and he should add 30+ bombs to a club that was power starved last year. My gripe with this is that I would have prefered to use the DH spot with a combination of Abreu/Grandal/Collins/McCann to keep their bats in the lineup while staying fresh and to add more position versatility to bench. Luis Robert extension: A++++ Easily my favorite move of the offseason. Not a lot to say about this if you have been paying attention. Lineup wise we will be nearly full strength OD by extending our most electric prospect. Cishek signing: B I'm a fan of this move in every way. Cishek was a work horse for the Cubs the last 2 years. Unfortunately he got stung in the second half last year because Joe Maddon leans on guys TOO hard sometimes. Cishek should help shorten the game and be a strong 7th inning guy. He does a good job at inducing soft contact which is why he outperforms FIP nearly every year. Not a big strikeout guy but hopefully will be very effective with a more "reduced role" with us. I would have given this an A if he was a secondary piece to a more high leverage arm. Overall: B to B- I think the FO deserves a lot of credit for how this offseason turned out and some of the money was actually spent. I think the Robert extension and locking up Grandal were the 2 most important things they did. Unfortunately Keuchel doesn't move the needle too much either way I don't think, the Abreu extension is highly questionable from a roster construction standpoint going forward, and Mazara could be another waste in RF and was not really an actual upgrade vs the league. I think the secondary moves with EE, Cishek, Gio will prove to be pretty impactful this year. I'd love to be more optimistic but for THIS year I don't think they did enough to surpass the Twins, which means we likely won't be a WC with the A's and Rays just being better teams right now. I do think we will be playing meaningful baseball in August and September though for the first time in a long time which will at least keep us relevant. Nice job Rick and Kenny. Exciting times for Sox fans.

MVP is a regular season award so he'll still win that... but yea he's getting exposed. He wasn't very good last year in the playoffs either.

Even if it took only prospects, they'd be what, $35M over the very luxury tax that has kept them sitting on their hands all winter? Without a full starting staff or pen. Yeah...

Maybin has a fluke year now and then, but most years he is terrible. Prefer to use Engel and hope for more improvement. He can handle the D regardless.

The fuck?

To understand framing you have to first understand that there are no balls and strikes and there is no strike zone. Tom tango has described that pretty well. There is a zone he called heart zone which most of the time is called a strike. And there is a waste zone which almost never is called a strike. And then there is a zone called shadow zone in which the chance for a strike call is about 50 50. The strike zone doesn't have a distinct edge, it is a human construct that doesn't physically exist and this means the inches around this imagined edge are very hard to tell for the ump as the ball is travelling extremely fast. A good framer doesn't turn balls into strikes, what he does is getting more calls in the shadow zone by using better technique. You have to keep in mind that at 90 mph this is incredibly hard to tell. Due to how the eye works both the umpire and the batter will lose track of the ball the last 8-10 feet or so of ball flight and only see a blur that the brain extrapolates. This means he will use other tells to make the call and the catcher can be part of it, for example by holding the glove more quiet or by catching it out to in. Blatant pulling back of strikes will have a different effect though and usually not work. So the difference is not stealing strikes that are way outside but maybe more like getting 55% of the calls in the shadow zone vs 45%. Over a whole game this will mean quite a few more calls.

They do, and it's reasonable. They started to charge people extra to watch the damn games. If you want to piss off your fanbase, one way to do that is to charge them extra to watch their team on tv and cry poor simultaneously. When an organization squeezes every dime they can out of their fanbase, they're not allowed to cry poor. I know plenty of Cub fans that are beyond pissed.

Abreu extension: A I love Jose. To haters, at least i didn't give him A plus. Grandal signing: B Why not? I got nothing against the guy. No reason to keep McCann though. Get rid of him now for a reliever. Mazara trade: C or B- We need him, so why not? Obviously I'd prefer Avi but hey I don't get my way. Maybe he'll be this team's Jermaine Dye. Keuchel signing: B I have no idea. It's not my money but obviously it's risky signing pitchers cause, well, they get hurt or suddenly stink. Whatever ... I hope for the best as I want a pennant. Gio G signing: F Remember I said this. He's finished. EE signing: A I don't mind his age. I want some more bombs and he can hit them. Luis Robert extension: B I'm OK with the extension; now please be a star, Luis. Cishek signing: B We need relievers. I'm Ok with this acquisition. Overall: C Front office is trying. I'm OK with Hahn. I'd be OK with a B- but let's see what happens. I'm skeptical we can top .500 with RR and an aging Coop.

Thats Sock

He's talking about the 2020 Sox slogan being used (like "All in", "It's black and white", etc in years past). It was unveiled the other day, it's "Change the game"

I can verify you were told it was very close. Also thanks for the update on what Bruce really reported.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/white-sox/ct-luis-robert-white-sox-deal-20170520-story.html https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/chicago-white-sox/how-jose-abreu-rick-renteria-played-pivotal-roles-white-sox-presentation-luis-robert https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/chicago-white-sox/video-pitch-helps-white-sox-sign-potential-cornerstone-luis-robert-loaded-farm-system-renteria-moncada-abreu https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/white-sox/ct-luis-robert-white-sox-deal-20170520-story.html https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/white-sox/ct-luis-robert-white-sox-deal-20170520-story.html https://www.mlb.com/news/white-sox-jose-abreu-to-advise-luis-robert-c232938720 https://www.lavidabaseball.com/cuban-luis-robert-nears-majors/ https://whitesoxpride.mlblogs.com/the-word-on-luis-robert-3cac96c3b67e Abreu has been very involved with Moncada and Robert since day 1. Eloy too. BTW I'm not talking about the Robert extension I'm talking about his original signing and continued mentoring.

And Bruce also mentioned that the Cubs are considering keeping Bryant AND trading for Arenado

What in the fuck are you talking about?

Please explain how they did not try to win

It indisputably works. The ball is flying between 85-100 MPH, cutting, curving, diving, running, dropping, etc. Umps can only get such a good read on where exactly it crosses the plate. A catcher who absorbs a pitch effortlessly and with minimal movement can instantly shift it a couple inches over the corner? Let the ball travel a little further to fall into the zone? Go and get it as to not allow it to drop out of the zone? You won't even notice as an umpire. Also, as a guy who did catch in independent pro ball. I can tell you that umps will often literally tell you what they do and don't like with pitch presentation. "Don't turn the glove around, just catch it and stick it."... "Let those breaking balls come to you a bit more and they'll start turning into strikes."... etc. Think about a "get me over" kind of a curve ball that drops into the zone. If you reach and extend your elbow upward to go and get it? You're going to catch that ball high and it will look out of the zone. If you let it come down to your face/chest. That's going to get called a strike. Same with a low pitch. A ball crosses the middle of the plate, he sees that it's center cut... but the ump can't really tell EXACTLY how high it is off of the ground. If you get low and extend out/up with a stiff arm. Get slightly underneath it. You're going to catch it at a higher point. It's going to look like it is in the zone more than it would if you let it travel and you catch it nearly at the ground. Umps are only human. They're as susceptible to not seeing the difference of an inch or two on a 95 MPH pitch as a batter.

Name me one team that covets $/WAR over winning a World Series

I think you keep Collins at AAA and if he continues to improve then he becomes a more valuable trade piece, especially as a catcher. If he becomes so good you have a good problem on your hands. You can keep him or trade Mccann for some help. No reason to rush, its not like he tore it up yet and is some rising prospect. I think you would sell on the cheap now with minimal bargaining power since teams know we are just dumping him.

wood bats and hook slides are gonna save the game

Don’t mind Stone but don’t care for Jason. Sox do need something different on the radio. Would love to have AJ or Thome both have done some TV work.

I rather keep Engel, he’s younger and much better defensively. Maybin doesn’t bring enough bat to make much difference offensively.

This fake Steve cishek clown has two front page threads about his "rumors"? Next thing you know we'll have a thread citing peavy44's latest scoop

Abreu extension is a sneaky A. The money is too much but it sends an amazing message to the young guys and impending free agents. The Sox will take care of those who give them their all.

I still think the team would be better off without RR. The worst hitter in the lineup batted 4th. I could see him batting Madrigal 4th who is not even close to being a power guy. He's not a manager to take them further. If I had to choose between him and Ventura I would ask for death to be another option. Of course the Cubs always going with name didn't always work either. Baker couldn't take them to the next level and Pinella didn't realize he joined a circus. Still I think Ricky will take them to the usual land of underachievement.

Except he ended up with just an astronomically better career.

Agreed...I would rather have Engel.

Do you know what $15 an hour is for a full time worker? 30 grand before taxes Is it that hard to want people to make at LEAST that? An apartment in Chicago is on the low end $1000. Utilities are another 300 a month on the low end. Access to the internet is at least $80 a month(phone or home service). Food for a single person is at least $200. A car payment is at least $200. Gas is likely $50 a week or more. At $15 an hour, you would make $2400 a month pre-tax. In this example, your low end costs are $1980. you have $420 left over to save or spend. Now imagine those same costs making $7.25(the national minumum wage). You would earn $1160 pre tax, and be in the red $820.

Maybin has had 10x the career of Milledge

Willie Harris' steal in Game 4 of 2005 is glory too.

Well, they won't stop winning for one.

I find myself yelling at the radio at least 6 times a broadcast "WE CAN'T SEE THE PLAY"

The buster was one of the primary reasons I visited this site -- I still use it to keep up on Sox news, etc., just as I did back then -- but the Buster was where I actually posted and took part in the Soxtalk community. Not all conversations were civil, but overall, they were better than 99.9999% of the Internet in general. While I didn't always agree with everyone here, I at least respected their opinions, and they tended to come from a well-thought line of reason. Compare that to the comments section anywhere else on the Net -- including practically any Reddit thread -- and you'll see the stark difference in what we had here with the Buster, vs what's available out there. I wish they'd bring it back.