greg775

QUOTE (flavum @ Dec 3, 2013 -> 09:45 PM) Lobaton is a place holder while the Sox are rebuilding. I'd rather re-load considering we're 1/3 of the way there after getting Abreu and Garcia and have a helluva pitching staff. Seems to me there were guys out there to re-load with. I'll stop now. I'll just conclude by saying it's been a disappointing day as a fan for me.

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 3, 2013 -> 09:33 PM) It's called rebuilding. Fathom, rebuilding with guys like Loboton?? Cmon.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Dec 3, 2013 -> 08:28 PM) OK, forget bWAR or whatever for the moment. The 2014 Sox are still, at best, a 74 win team. Even if you think AJP is worth 7 wins (which is insane, but whatever), that still makes the 2014 Sox a .500 team and you've spent $8.5M just to suck a little bit less and still not have a catcher for 2015 and beyond. You know what, I understand your argument when you tell me that even if I think AJ is worth 5-7 wins that still makes the Sox just a .500 team and we'd be better off looking down the road. I do understand that. My feeling is it all contributes to the puzzle. Add an AJP with a Garcia and an Abreu and maybe make another deal and get a decent 3B and another bullpen arm and we might have something now. We allegedly do have a very good pitching staff and are "wasting" it. Adding Lobaton is very very depressing over AJ in my opinion even if AJ was here just one more year. I mean add a few pieces here and there and we don't waste the pitching staff possibly. Adding Lobaton means our catching platoon looks like that of a cellar dwellar on paper. I want to upgrade positions and win. Chicago is too big a city to have teams in this rebuilding crap mode. Let's UPGRADE!

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Dec 3, 2013 -> 08:30 PM) There isn't much else for Phegley to prove in Charlotte. Flowers gets dealt. Lobaton and Phegley split time in Chicago. Trade Lobaton to the Royals to back up Sal Perez for a possible bullpen arm and we start Phegs. Lobaton will assure me not buying the MLB package this year. It's like we are trying to lose games rather than spend some money and make a splash and win. Chicago is a big market city. Time to win again.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Dec 3, 2013 -> 08:09 PM) Phegley and Flowers combined for a -.6 bWAR last year. Pierzynski had a 1.6 bWAR. But you're right, we should have kept him, paid him $7 million and lost 97 games instead of 99. That would have done us a lot of good. I'm sure the Red Sox are worried about AJP's bWAR paying him that kind of jack. They just know they want him cause he can play. Grobstien had another rant against sabermetrics on the Score last night BTW. I can go both ways. Except I will tell you I know AJP is a good catcher/player/contributer without looking at bWAR. And I know some of our other players are horses*** by sight alone as well, sabes be darned.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 3, 2013 -> 08:39 PM) Scott Merkin ‏@scottmerkin 3m Rick Hahn said both Flowers and Phegley have more than what they showed in '13 and could be conceivable long-term solutions but.. Hahn: "We have made no secret of the fact that we need to get more out of that position than we got in 2013, so we continue to evaluate.. ... both our internal and external options for improvement."q I like what I've seen out of Hahn, but in my mind, the ship has sailed on Flowers. I'd give Phegley one more year. I'd have preferred it as a backup. Now he's the starter I hope and Flowers is the backup.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Dec 3, 2013 -> 08:58 PM) What's laughable is the fact that you think the loss of AJ is the reason the Sox lost 99 games. You put the blame on guys like Flowers, but completely deflect all blame from Konerko who was more responsible for the Sox suckage than Flowers was. Honestly at this point you're just trolling right? I mean you have to be, nobody could possibly be that clueless. I'm not trolling, I'm very angry that a team with Bill James as an adviser (admitted the best sabes talent evaluator) recognizes the value of an AJP and people on this board who actually got a WS title in large part because of AJP think Salty is a better option. Geez. I get the feeling some think AJ is some old hack who can't play, when he WAS A MAJOR LOSS to our team last season.

Some of you guys that want Salty for 3 years over a catcher like AJP amaze me. I worship AJ but I do not want Salty. I'd prefer Flowers/Phegs over that guy as we storm past 90 losses again. It's pretty obvious Paulie is coming back. This team hasn't made enough moves yet to show it wants to match its excellent pitching staff with a good team behind it. Anyhow ... please, no Salty!

Very disappointing we moved away from the AJ era so fricking early!! Boston the Bill James team realizes AJ is special. Just very disappointing we elected to go away from AJ and lose, oh, 99 games or so. Really ticks me off. Flowers was so bad it's laughable. Hope Phegs has what it takes.

It's been a tragic year in many regards with a lot of deaths, unfortunate situations caused by human beings. That said, we are all thankful to be alive and are great assets to this planet ... and though we may disagree on Ozzie Guillen's value to a team and Paul Konerko's value, we can agree on one thing (I think). Turkey and stuffing is delicious. Happy Turkey Day!

I just read a newspaper today at dinner that said Obama's approval rating was horrifically bad right now. To that I say, who cares? I'm sure he doesn't care, either. He won 2 fricking elections despite very very limited success as Prez. Also I read a long column on how Jack Kennedy is viewed by experts as a horrible president. And they say his womanizing with a 19 year old ... the article said he had sex with her after feeding her several marguritas, was pretty disgraceful. I know little about Jack, but this columnist was published and made these allegations about the womanizing. Said Jack gets credit for civil rights stuff, but actually Lyndon deserves the credit for those. And said Jack would have been clueless on what to do in Vietnam had he not tragically been killed.

QUOTE (CWSpalehoseCWS @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 01:40 AM) I really hope not. I really wish Konerko would just retire. He may be a fan favorite and a face of the franchise, but I don't want to watch him struggle again next year while the Sox refuse to DFA/cut him out of respect. Plus, I don't want to see him take AB's away from Abreu. With all due respect, I love how people see NO possibility of Paulie bouncing back and yet they see the possibility for guys like Kepp, and Dunn still has his supporters, too. Paulie, who can still field the position very well, can still hit lefties. His power has been zapped but that may because of injury. I just don't get why people see Paulie as having zero chance of returning to Paulie form and give these other guys the benefit of the doubt. What if Paulie ISN'T finished? What if he comes out and goes 2-5 every game the first month with an occasional homer? Four homers a month is a 24 homer season. He's capable of that.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 21, 2013 -> 06:02 AM) Fortunately for Abreu, every attempt ever to find an observable affect of lineup protection on player performance has failed, leaving as currently one of the most widely cited myths in baseball analysis. That doesn't mean it wouldn't be nice to have another good hitter behind him, though Bill James has been calling lineup protection a myth for years. Baseball PLAYERS, however, insist it's true and important.

QUOTE (chisoxfan310 @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 08:20 PM) To the people who hate on him for cheating....Rienzo and Quintana have both failed drug tests when they were in the minors and people are still supporting them...so there's that True. It's a fine line whether we should support the drug users. But to go out and pay that kind of money to a cheater is kind of weird (despite my feelings about Jerry's pocketbooks).

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 08:16 PM) Nothing nobody already doesn't know. The guy hustles and is very good at baseball. I can't believe how many people would flinch due to personality and past. If the option to get a superstar on the absolute low was available there is no way I'd hesitate. It's really upsetting. We just lost 99 games with a team full of nice guys. Phegley is great guy. Everyone loves Beckham. Dunn is respected in the clubhouse. Konerko has always been a great guy. Axelrod couldn't be any more gracious than he is. It's nice when you're interacting with the players at Spring Training but otherwise who cares? This is an area where everyone should just let the numbers do the talking. It's not like we're talking about a guy who doesn't hustle or is a douchebag to fans. The guy used steroids, like many of our favorite players in the past have, and got caught. The only thing you can fault Braun for is how he handled the situation. He was skeezy and ruthless but the situation is over. The situation is in the past. Not that I find any validity in the story, if we were able to pick up Ryan Braun and cash we should be jumping all over it. You guys need to cut the bulls***. Douchebags are douchebags and every team has them. Nothing that happened to Braun this year and last are going to come back into play. He'll be focusing on his making a new name for himself and staying out of trouble. When I met AJ Pierzynski 9 years ago he literally ignored me. He's signing autographs at SoxFest weeks after he had been signed and I go up to him when it was my turn and asked him a question and he didn't even look up. So I repeated myself. AJ looked up at me, we made eye contact and he still said nothing. I am sure other people here have similar experiences but we all still rooted and adored AJ right? AJ sounds like a dick. I personally would stay away from guys I think have the opportunity to blow up at me. I just don't think you should reward drug users like Ryan B. I'd personally pass and I could see why people would boo a guy like that.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 08:05 PM) I imagine that the only way Milwaukee would actually move him would be to NOT have to pick up much or any of his contract. But that's the thing, it's a BIG contract but it isn't necessarily a BAD contract. His production has been so high that he has been more than worth the money. Whether the contract is good or bad depends on how you think he'll age. But right now, pending an implosion, it's not an unreasonable price. But what about his post drug production? None of his supporters are looking at the inevitable decline after a player stops using drugs.

Are the Sox really going to be able to get much for DeAza and Santiago? They are better than say, my least favorite combo of Kepp and Gillaspie, but are they really wanted by teams? I could see giving DeAza another year and trading Viciedo. Certainly DeAza will have incentive to not be a bonehead on the basepaths after getting called out for it in Hahn articles and Ventura probably getting on him about it in the upcoming ST. Santiago is OK, don't get me wrong, but if Sox can get a great third baseman in return, go for it.

I'd pass on this guy. He sounds like a loser. Passan really casts a bad light on Braun: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ryan-braun-do...-050550708.html

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 06:32 PM) Instead, it's better to pass the punishment for their mistake on to the fans by cutting payroll when their farm system isn't producing. I get the feeling a lot of Sox fans want a low payroll for some reason. They always mask it by saying, "you don't understand the economics of baseball," when I complain about it. My philosophy is they aren't ever going to be lowering costs of tickets, hot dogs, beer, parking, soda, parking, parking so I want them to spend a ton of money. I do not care about the Sox investors' pocketbook when the team is worth what the magazines say it's worth. It's kind of like Wal mart. Why should I EVER feel sorry for a company that makes that kind of loot? Spend the money and let me b**** when you make bad decisions on a specific player.

Would like to see Sox dump Beckham, Viciedo and Dunn. Semien moves to 2B gracefully. Acquire a third baseman and reliever for those other 2 guys.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 09:26 PM) Paul Konerko was the captain of the 2013 White Sox and supposed to be one of their leaders. He signifies a total failure as much as anyone not named Robin Ventura. I just don't see how anybody could be anything but dismayed at having Dunn on the team. At least Paulie has a history of excellence. Same with Robin as much as I detest him as a manager. Dunn on the other hand has sort of trainwrecked this franchise cause of his salary and performance IMO.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 06:04 PM) C'mon man. If you look at it through the casual fan's eye it makes sense. The casual fan absolutely hates Dunn with a passion. They don't say "Oh 30 hrs at the end of the year, nice." You always hear something like "that motherf***er strikes out or fails every time I see him bat" or "why the f*** can't he get over his self-quoted 'stupid, stubborn ways' and learn to hit the baseball away from the shift." This is the casual fan. Not my opinion but what you hear on the streets, at the game, at backyard bbqs, playing bags etc. How can you pretend this line of thinking isn't everywhere in Chicago? It doesn't make sense on any level? That's ludicrous man when you know damn well the city generally despises him more than any Sox I can think of in recent memory. I'd even try to argue Dunn's presence results in tickets not being sold. That's how I feel. I 'despise' Dunn the player, everything about him. Not Dunn the person. I like his interviews. As far as ability, I'd much rather have Paulie and Abreu this year than Dunn and Abreu. To me, Dunn signifies striking out and losing.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 16, 2013 -> 09:18 PM) Just because someone strikes out too much, doesn't mean you have to think a guy who rarely strikes out is good. It is not being inconsistent. It isn't mutually exclusive. There are people who don't like pitchers who don't throw hard. Are they then locked into thinking every hard thrower is good? The problem with the Greg bashers is you rush to criticize everything he posts before you actually think about it. Amen to Dick Allen!

What would be wrong with signing AJ for 4 million, one year? He'd be vital in helping our pitching staff. Bring him in as a stopgap.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 18, 2013 -> 02:37 PM) The only guy that made Bartolo Colon look in shape....Carlos Castillo As far as the name carlos .. Cisco Carlos and Carlos Lee. Also Francisco Barrios.