greg775

QUOTE (scs787 @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 11:05 PM) I know you don't look at stats but.... In the 2nd half last year Jones walked 2.37 guys per 9, Reed walked 4.15. Not sure how they come up with high leverage stats, but Jones walked 2.82 per 9 in high leverage situations, Reed walked 4.31. Jones K numbers were also better than Reeds... 12.08 vs 8.90 in the 2nd half....9.27 vs 7.47 in high leverage. Well, you have proof of sorts that Jones would be a fine closer. I guess I'm going to have to see it to believe it in terms of racking up dozens of saves like Reed does. Nice stats, though. QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 11:36 PM) If Petricka is lousy, Reed is terrible, at least according to their 2014 stats. Addison Reed has 31 saves. I know we are only looking at advanced stats, but cmon. Petricka ain't a 31-save guy. I'll give you he's probably the best option in our crud bullpen though.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Sep 25, 2014 -> 04:02 AM) Gavin Floyd coming back from a fractured elbow could be converted to a reliever. Tom Gorzelanny will be available as will Luke Gregerson. Another good post. All interesting possibilities IMO. Would Floyd and Gorzelanny agree to be relievers however?

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Sep 25, 2014 -> 03:10 AM) If Butler can get back to his age 23 through 27 level of production he'd be a good get except it would be like having Konerko all over again without the power. He has a 12.5 M option and a $1M buyout so Hahn must be thinking KC doesn't pick up the option. Ackley I can understand but I'd rather have Saunders. Butler is actually the type of acquisition I would think would please soxtalk. He's still pretty young and he'd be moving over to a hitter's ballpark and might finally decide to elevate. He'll come cheap as KC will give him the $1 million buyout and no team will pay Billy more than 5 million a year. You'd have to be crazy to pay Billy a ton after his s*** season. You stick him at DH and you have one of the slowest guys around, but we're used to having at least one insanely slow baserunner on our team. So you sign Billy for two years. Sure it could backfire if he hits .190 and strikes out 200 times, but again "on paper" this looks like a good move for a cost conscious organization like the Sox. If Billy bounces back, you've got a nice little stretch of hitters in Eaton (cf), Lexi (ss), Abreu (1b), A. Garcia (rf), Butler (DH). Now you follow that with Viciedo (lf), Gillaspie (3b), Semien (2b), and Flowers ©. That lineup is quite good except you have only two lefties. Oh well. If you acquire Markaikis and trade Viciedo you have Markaikis in left and hitting from the leftside. If it has to be Aoki, he's lefthanded hitter as well. I say yes to Billy Butler as the first piece to the offseason retooling. Two year deal only.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 11:40 PM) Even if it is a little immature, so what? The don't f*** with me attitude is tremendous even if the guy in the bleachers with binoculars was just some guy with little money and poor eyesight and was just catching a game. And the way guys dive when hitting now really has made the brushback a hard thing to execute . Sale obviously has stuff that will intimidate. If he gets an attitude that does the same, it only makes him better. Yep. Well put. QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 25, 2014 -> 12:49 AM) With his reaction, how can you think anything but that? Why else would he have acted like he did today? He absolutely thought that and threw at Martinez in retaliation. Then he lied his ass of to the press to cover his rear end from getting suspended. This is a correct take on the situation IMO.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 08:35 PM) But the White Sox did replace Reed as closer and their current closer, Jake Petricka, has been just as effective as Reed was and has been. I thought Reed had 30 saves?? Petricka is lousy.

QUOTE (flavum @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 09:12 PM) 33-48 on the road this year. 9-10 vs the Indians, Twins, and Tigers Awful record on the road. Played better at home this year QUOTE (TitoMB @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 09:28 PM) thank god this season is almost over. The bullpen is an embarrassment to baseball.

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 06:25 AM) How do you think one finds a replacement for a player? There are very few options for this. 1) The team rids itself of the player and acquires a similar or higher quality player externally, via trade or free agency. This seems to be the solution you advocate in practically every situation. This is also the solution that gives you a crapton of untenable payroll commitments eventually, if you go the free agent route, or leaves you with a barren farm system if you go the trade route. 2) The team rids itself of the player and finds a replacement internally. From your posts, I gather that you find this option unpalatable in practically all situations, as you seem to value minor league baseball players at roughly the same level the average person values toilet paper, virtually useless, save for the exact right situation. The problem with this line of thinking is that the only way to turn talented young baseball players into effective major league contributors is by allowing them to get the experience they need to develop into those roles. 3) The team keeps the player until the player's value is less than that of a league average or worse replacement, then replaces him either internally or externally with the best available option. You also seem to be okay with this strategy, but to me, it leaves a lot of value on the table, because this strategy precludes "selling high" on a player, which is when you will be able to maximize value. I also have to disagree with your assessment of the team's prospects of winning next year should they decide to start Semien at SS. There is a chance that he will be a terrible starter, but I think there is a higher chance that he'll cut down on his K rate, improve his BB total, keep his ISO in the .125-.150 range, and be a .700-.750 OPS SS. That's at least league average, and certainly not enough of a black hole to justify keeping Ramirez over maximizing his value. That's a pretty good post as I am honored you have expressed my position pretty accurately and your toilet paper line was quite well written and funny, especially for an internet forum. True I don't have much confidence in the Sox bringing in their minor leaguers to fill future roles. I hope you are right about Semien at short. I would prefer your option 3 at this time. Let Lexi play some more for the Sox until Anderson is ready. I'm assuming Anderson was a solid No. 1 pick, but I am getting worried that his defense may suck. The best thing I've heard about his defense on this board is it figures to get better since he's young. I actually am in favor of Semien playing second next year. I don't want to see him butcher third defensively any longer. So I want Gillaspie to platoon with somebody at third and pray his defense gets more consistent; Lexi at short; Semien at second and Abreu at first. That's a playoff caliber infield. Yank Lexi out of there and it's a sub .500 team infield (or worse as I expressed earlier) unless Abreu goes bonkers with 60 homers.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 08:08 PM) Hawk knows what is going on inside the team as much as anyone. I can't believe his comments a few weeks ago saying if you want to win, you have to spend money, went pretty much un noticed. You will be able to tell where the Sox think they are in this rebuild by their payroll. If it is as low as many are anticipating, they don't really think winning is probable. If they add a couple of guys making some cash, they believe they can win. JR mentioned a back of the rotation starter. I think it's safe to assume a back of the rotation starter is added. A LH bat will definitely be added, and a couple of bullpen pieces. Hopefully, a couple of the current bullpen pieces will pull a Cotts/Politte and be stellar next year. A young guy emerges, and suddenly this team is cooking with gas. That's true. Hawk's comment would have gotten a lot of announcers fired on different teams. But Dick Allen is right again. We're going to find out.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 02:07 PM) You knew in January that Nate Jones would be hurt all year? No. I don't like his pitching motion; I don't like his control; I'm not a Jones guy. QUOTE (knightni @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 03:00 PM) Even today, I'd rather have Davidson than Reed. Davidson's upside is huge. Closers are replaced every year. Except on the Chicago White Sox. The Sox trade a closer with no replacement. Oops, Nate Jones lovers say he'd have been fine. Look, trading for a third baseman is fine. The Sox thought Davidson would man the position for 10 years. At this point he looks like Josh Fields. We'll see if he gets it together. None of us want Davidson to stink. I will eat my words gladly if he quickly becomes a home run hitting version of Crede or a new Ventura. One thing we do know is in 2014, on a team that had some life and looked like a possible .500 team, the bullpen totally killed all chances of .500. Now, .500 wouldn't have been a playoff team so it doesn't matter except to those of us who hate the fact our team has become a joke in the division.

Since so many people on here are trying to save the Sox money, just acquire Butler for 5 million a year for 3 years, 15 million total and gamble that he gets good again. There's the replacement for Dunn at DH. He's a better gamble than somebody like Keppinger or Paulino were.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 04:41 AM) They are not that great. Still suspect on defense, bullpen could be better and they are not good at fundamentals. These things do get exposed deeper into the playoffs. I'm worried because they have great starting pitching that could carry them to the WS again.

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 23, 2014 -> 10:02 PM) hey greg, let me flip this on you, would you have made the reed for Davidson trade? the first initial trade. were you in favor of the trade? No, I would not have made the trade without a closer in waiting. As far as the day of the trade, like with the Adam Dunn trade I trusted soxtalk posters. I got excited about Davidson. Admittedly I got excited about Davidson after reading the posts. However I was not in favor of the trade cause we had no replacement as closer. I always despised Nate Jones as a possible closer. I basically shut up as I did after the Dunn trade. Fans were so excited I figured they knew best. As far as now ... I consider Davidson another Josh Fields. Hope I'm wrong.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 04:06 AM) Yikes, I did indeed miss that part. I apologize.....Still though, it happened just once so you saying it happened every time is still a little silly. Saying you would have brought in Snodgress is equally silly. A Loogy at best vs Kinsler/Hunter/Cabrera? yaaa. True, he got owned on his argument. Snodgrass would have had the same fate, only via a home run. Probably by Kinsler.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 04:12 AM) I think the Sox are planning on Tim Anderson becoming our starting shortstop by 2017. So unless you can get something of significance for Alexei, you might as well hold onto him through 2016. If this team is serious about competing over the next four to five years, I can't think of a better way to maximize our SS production. Also, Luery Garcia has no business being a starting SS in the pros. I don't care how special you think his defense might be, his bat is beyond horrendous and would simply destroy the bottom of the lineup. Amen. You don't trade Alexei unless you have a replacement. As it stands, if the Sox trade Alexei and put L. Garcia at ss, you are looking at probably the worst team in Sox history. The automatic out that Garcia accounts for, does not bode well when guys like Viciedo and Flowers go into prolonged slumps. I don't care what WAR says, I'm saying if you trade Alexei and replace him with L. Garcia or Semien, you got a CERTAIN last-place team on your hands. Of course some fans don't mind finishing last. It's like it's part of the rebuilding plan. I can't even imagine a .500 team on the south side the next 10 years the way it's going now. And Anderson might not be the answer from what I've been reading about his defense.

Boy, when the ice bucket challenge ended, it ended. Its 15 minutes of fame lasted about 2-3 weeks and boom, it was over. It's amazing how we have so many internet sensations in this country and then boom, it's ova.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Sep 19, 2014 -> 05:38 PM) They just need to dangle a minority out there that actually has a shot. You can't keep trotting the likes of McCain and Romney and expect to win an election. You are right. How come the Republican Party has no sharp, handsome, Afr. American presidential candidate in the waiting? Or superstar female? Palin was a laughable joke. The only way the Republicans can beat Hillary is with their own Mr. Obama clone. I'm surprised no incredible super-sharp minority candidate has surfaced. p.s. why are Afr-Americans referred to as minorities when isn't it true there are more black individuals than white now in the United States? Whites are the minority now, right?

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 02:51 AM) I would have taken my chances with Snodgrass tonight over Petricka. After pitching more than 1 inning, Petricka has not come back a single time this year without rest where he has been effective. He's given up at least one run in this situation every time. The manager has to know his staff and know that this move was stupid tonight. Didn't they have righties coming up? I forget now. But good righties? He'd have probably been walked off with a dinger. Petricka had no chance, though. He didn't record an out, did he? He was the worst possible choice tonight as it turned out.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 02:46 AM) You guys are complaining about meaningless games. True, but it'd be nice to see some progress on defense. That's not happening. Also some progress in the bullpen. Not happening. It doesn't bode well for next season. I'm sick of the Sox being doormats. Hawk laughed at Avi when that ball rocked off his kneecap in right. And Semien looked like a bad Little Leaguer on the error. He has no instincts at all at 3B.

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 02:39 AM) The fact that we have a bonehead for a manager should anger every Sox fan. Take the 30 games we have lost this year solely because of him and convert them to wins. Do this and we would have clinched 10 days ago instead of playing spoiler at this point in the season. Fair point again. But seriously, what pitcher do you think could have held the Tigers in the ninth? I didn't like seeing Petricka trot out there after excelling last night, but again, who should Robin have gone to that would have most definitely mowed down the Tigers? I hope Hahn realizes the bullpen has been bad from start to finish this year. Occasional highlights from them, but nobody has looked like a prime prospect in the pen.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 02:36 AM) Perfect pitchers pitch ? It was center cut just a bit up in the zone. A pitch that you can drive . Sure maybe you might want him to work the count after Conor's walk but Nathan was being careful with Conor and would rather have faced Sanchez. 1st pitch being a fastball was practically 100% guaranteed . If you know that it's coming you jump on it you don't slap at it. He jumped on it just didn't get the result. Slap hitting is for when you're down in the count just trying to stay alive. I don't think that was a pitch he was capable of driving. I accept your point, however. I was hoping Sanchez would slash or bloop a single to left. I have no idea how often he's been going that way. I thought it was a lousy offering by Sanchez. But the odds were slim we were gonna overcome a 3-0 deficit against a division winner tonight. Once again, Sox defense shows it is a huge problem moving forward.

QUOTE (flavum @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 02:34 AM) If you told me before the season that Scott Carroll would get 126 major league innings this season, I would have thought the Sox lost 100. He did pretty well this season. He definitely earned his big-league paycheck, however much money that is. I can't fault him. He gets the most out of his limited ability; that is for sure.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 02:33 AM) C'mon fellas, Petricka, just like most every other bullpen arm in the big leagues, has pitched back to back games many a times. This isn't some "bonehead" Robin move. Good points. I'm just saying Petricka isn't anything special and it's going to the well too often. It probably doesn't matter. I can't name a pitcher on our team who I think would have gotten out of the ninth. I'm lamenting Petricka's ordinary-ness more than Robin being a buffoon. Though I would have preferred Robin try somebody else tonight.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 02:32 AM) Ventura has no feel for his bullpen. Ventura should be spreading the action anyway in the waning days of the season. Petricka pitched 1.1 last night as it is. I might be mistaken, but I truly think he was trying to establish Petricka as something besides an ordinary arm. As good as he was last night, he was that bad tonight. He had nothing at all. I hate Detroit so much. Hopefully Sale can make it two out of three vs. Detroit. I'm guessing he pitches pretty well but Detroit manages to win the game. Bastards.

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 02:27 AM) Because our manager is a bonehead. Don't know why this angers me so much. I guess he was trying to establish Petricka as somebody special the final week of the season. Not gonna happen. Our bullpen has no special pitchers.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 02:19 AM) I wouldn't have swung at all though. Bingo. That was not the pitch to offer at. He had no chance with that approach.