Look at Ray Ray Run

There was literally zero time for the Sox to work with and fix houser. Identifying the stuff change that occurred in the offseason was the value here, not developing/changing houser.

I dont think anyone thinks hes a 1.56 ERA guy but his FIP is 3.12 a s xERA is 3.65. Most importantly though, he pitches deep into games which is a rare commodity these days.

No idea what this means.

If you want to take advantage of the deferred comp loop hole you better do it now.

I'd sign Woodruff and Valdez for the rotation. Figuring wood is going to be cheaper given the injury history. Framber expensive. Offensively I'd sign Tucker and Schwarber. Depending on price, I'd be looking at Bichette and Trent Grisham as well. That might be a little more than 100 million (all 6 certainly would be) but I think with deferred money it's very doable to get close to 100 million. Tucker's price the real wildcard. If no Tucker, give me everyone else I listed and I'll still have money to play.

Problem is the adjustment for him is hitting the ball harder, which is tough!

Nice call, dumb ass. I get 'em wrong plenty, but this was an all-time miss. Houser has looked really good, and not smoke and mirrors either.

He's also by far the most talented of the group. I don't like to see talent like his wasted. Baseball is such a mental game that environment matters more than other sports imo. With the exception being NFL QB.

I truly do think he's the number 1 change of scenery candidate of all the guys that busted out over the past few years. If I were A GM, Robert would be an awesome wildcard to acquire because he could flat out carry.

To be clear, Robert has been a major disappointment and stinks. A 108 wRC+ as a CF with + defense and base running is a 4 WAR player. Far from sucking. That doesn't change the fact that he's a lost player now who is in between and looking like he'll never come out of it.

It makes his skill set more volatile, and much more likely to fall off a cliff at some point, but players sustaining success at those levels isn't uncommon for the first 5-6 years of their career. It seems to be a challenge post-30 though. As for Defense, Sosa just does really dumb things that enrage a fan more. By most metrics, Sosa has been the better defender but he is a bit of a bonehead sometimes.

So being a worker who organizes to increase bargaining power and make things more even makes one a grifter... then what are business owners?

I agree with letting them play, but the cornerstone of the offense today being worth 1.5 fWAR is far from a tremendous win IMO. Also, baseball is a streaky game naturally. You really can't just cherry pick the peak periods and say that's the ability. That's the same stuff that tricked people with Vaughn. Almost everyone in the big leagues can get hot and carry teams.. Chris Shelton mania. I said at the beginning of the year that Vargas would justify himself as an everyday MLB starter. Which I think he's really close to doing but he certainly hasn't proven it yet. His xwOBA is in the 35th percentile, and he's an average (at best) fielder and base runner. He also has 831 career MLB AB's so I think we're really reaching talking about his first season. Edit: The fact that no one here would talk about Sosa the way they're talking about Vargas says a lot, given that they've been basically the same player from a value perspective despite SOsa having 100 fewer AB's.

And he's 3rd in fWAR.

Yup, the last ten to fifteen years in baseball have been incredible from a financial perspective. The exact opposite direction of other sports where the masses life the tides. The trend has been pushed to the extreme. Average veterans are basically being exponged from the game slowly. Floors are essential for maintaining product quality AND player salary growths. Owners have pulled the wool over everyone's eyes citing largest contract growth while ignoring the general pretend for the masses of players.

A salary cap would require the owners to open their book on revenues and requires a fix spend. From all analysis ive done on this impact, it would benefit the players. That said, because the union is disproportionately representing the unions biggest earners, it wouldn't surprise me if this is a battle. Generally speaking though a cap comes with a floor and it greatly helps the mid-level/avg player at the expense of a few guys not being able to push the billionaire status. Im highly skeptical ownership actually wants that though given that they're currently paying the lowest share of revenues to players among the major sports exactly because they dont have a cap.

Yeah, I didn't think a lot of people were calling the Pirates the team of the decade though.

The White Sox are 339-453 this decade so far and are 2-5 in the playoffs. The Dodgers are 511-282 this decade so far and have won two World Series and reached 3 NLCS'. Just wanted to throw those out there for fun.

You're welcome all. I did my best to reverse mush this and it's been beautiful!

Thaiss was traded for a guy that has a 566 ops. How is turning that signing into nothing a win? Slater has been terrible. We're calling guys worth about a half war over a full season of games wins now? I just feel like you've dropped your barometer so low. Tauchman has been the only plus acqusition. You're giving out A's for D work right now.

I just never understood how we could get excited about a position player group on pace for zero WAR. Last year the Sox were the only team in baseball to not have positive war. In the past twenty years only one other team had 0 or negative WAR (tigers) and the Sox are on pace to do it back to back years. It being an improvement over last year doesnt actually mean its a bright spot. Also, the idea that a lot of the negative guys are gone doesnt make it any better. They're being replaced by guys who weren't good enough to beat them out lol Edit: here's a really funny stat, the Sox 4th and 5th best FIP on their pitching staff were position players who pitched 1 inning.

Did you read the first page of the thread?

This is why I said its a waste of my time to engage with you. The above is 1000% wrong, no matter how many times you say otherwise. Also tunneling and pitch shape has existed since i was playing college baseball 20+ years ago. Tunneling has been something coaches have been discussing for decades. Now there's more data on it, but its always existed. I never called anyone dumb but I was the only one who brought and actual statistical analysis into the conversation that people only discredited with their feels which i dont like to waste much time on. Also, I chose to have kids so no sympathy required for my career but appreciate the sentiment. We all do things we dont want for our family.

I certainly wish I could have the positive outlook that some here have. Not sure how people do it, but more power to them. This is the lowest moment in this orgs 120+ year history, in my opinion. People might argue the blacksox scandal, but when we're here celebrating Edgar quero and his -.1 fWAR, idk what to say.

Pitching is a little different and Mick suffered from some arm issues and command challenges. The stuff was always there for him so seeing him rebound isnt really surprising. As a hitter, it takes a lot more than raw skills and Colson seems to be struggling with a lot.