ChiSox_Sonix

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jul 15, 2013 -> 07:52 AM) Seeing you mention Brazil makes me want to ask if anybody thinks there's a real chance that Brazil won't be able to host and this thing will get thrown at the US at the last minute? Supposedly the US and Italy are the emergency backup plans but FIFA refuses to acknowledge that backup plans are even an option. The chances of it being moved are less than 5%

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jul 14, 2013 -> 09:58 PM) Has there ever been a player that has K'd at his rate that has gone on to have a successful career in MLB? Glenallen Hill had two seasons of near 40% K rate in A-ball when he was 20-21 years old. He then struck out only 21% of the time during his major league career Obviously, if Hawkins turns into Glenallen Hill it would be a disappointment, but it's not as if Hill was a worthless player either.

Has anyone picked up NCAA 14 yet and is it worth it?

Speaking of wide play, 18 year old Julian Green is looking really interesting. He's been playing with Bayern's first team throughout the pre-season and has been very impressive.

I'm at the game. Tickets on the 3rd base line by the dugout a couple rows back. the ball Gordon hit definitely looked like it was gonna leave off the bat.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 12, 2013 -> 09:28 AM) Technique will work in the lower minors, but his lack of pure speed will catch up to him in AA and above. Catchers there have bigger arms, and pitchers are starting to concentrate more on pick-off moves and shortening their strides and times to the plate with runners on base as they inch closer to the majors. As is being mentioned quite often, the Billy Hamilton comparison is not doing him any favors, as he's a completely different type of player than Hamilton. I think Tim Anderson is way too high. I'd still have Hawkins and Thompson ahead of him. Other than that I'd agree with most of the top 10.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 11, 2013 -> 04:41 PM) Golic or Schlereth went off about this last week. Nice stats to back that up.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Jul 11, 2013 -> 04:25 PM) Again, everyone knows that man. You're really gonna sit there and tell us all that the White Sox as an organization haven't spent time deciding how to best use their only superstar? You're gonna continue to get mad at RV for pitch counts and cite some Busch-league dusty baker opinion as evidence? If you don't think it's a collective strategy then what the hell do we even have a FO for? Go ahead and get mad at the FO but don't point it all at RV like he has the all the keys to the car. LOL. Not sure why you're trying to put words in my mouth or change around the argument or what I said. What's the purpose of managers then if they do not have the ability or power to make their own decisions in the game. You're line of reasoning is off. But coming from a guy who thinks Marcus Semien and Micah Johnson are "Mike Trout and Mike Trout-Lite", I guess that follows a pattern.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Jul 11, 2013 -> 04:06 PM) That's not my point at all. Why would you say that? Acting like Chris Sale's pitch count is up to RV is insane. Acting like the manager isn't the one who decides when pitchers come out and go into the game is idiotic

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Jul 11, 2013 -> 03:55 PM) That's just what I heave read recently (over the last 3 weeks or so) from Jim Callis, Baseball Prospectus, and some Fangraphs guy. The FanGraphs article about Johnson was just about the opposite of what you said you read though

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Jul 11, 2013 -> 03:39 PM) Dude stop. You act like Robin and the entire front office haven't done their diligence when it comes to using Sale. Allowing him to throw 120+ is a COLLECTIVE decision. They've ALL decided it's ok and they all are familiar with the Dusty Baker argument. It's a very very very SIMPLE argument to make and takes no insight to make. None. Everyone is aware of that line of thinking. I'm glad we have someone who posts here who is privy with how all of the Sox FO meetings go. Sweet.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Jul 11, 2013 -> 03:36 PM) Maybe it has something to do with MLB position players that are not catchers and the way they approached the game? Or he's really a mole working for the Tigers

Nice to see RV still has Sale in there over 120 pitches. Stupid and completely pointless. He's done an awful job managing our pitching staff. The comparisons some have made to Dusty Baker are extremely appropriate.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Jul 11, 2013 -> 03:21 PM) Any chance you could link me to wherever you got this information from? It's just the opposite to what I have read. I was of the opinion that Johnson has plus-plus '70' raw speed, but bad base running technique/instincts. This would also be backed up by his fairly poor 75% SB%. Caulfield is right. It's been written about quite a bit throughout the course of the season.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Jul 11, 2013 -> 01:18 PM) Ramirez is hitting the ball pretty well lately. Need to trade him! lol That's his 22nd 2B of the year, putting him on pace for 40. His previous high is only 31.

I understand the reasoning, I just don't agree with it. I get that he has no stats to ooh and ahh over but there are people who have seen him. People who do this for a living and he was very highly regarded by many of them. Obviously, kids like him have an enormously high bust rate and likelihood of making the majors should be taken into account. However, pure potential, should also matter. Michael Ynoa, Miguel Sano, Gary Sanchez and Jurickson Profar were all ranked by BA in their respective organizations top prospects (3, 4, 7, 5) just months after their signings and without playing any games in any league yet as well (and all were several months younger than Zapata). If the people doing the ranking wanted to leave him out of their ranks that's fine, but if enough people included him and as a result he fell in the top 25, it should have been taken into account IMO. I mean, if we were trying to make a trade with another team and they had a choice between Zapata and Santos Rodriguez, it's fairly safe to assume what player they would choose to take.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jul 10, 2013 -> 03:07 PM) Didn't the Sox team up with LA or SF one year to get one of their guys in the game? I think they did. Yes, but crimes agianst Puig, aka the best LF ever, are basically crimes against humanity

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jul 10, 2013 -> 12:49 PM) Did you even read the blurb? He wasn't up for consideration and it wasnt for lack of talent. Yes.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 10, 2013 -> 12:41 PM) The decision was made because to exclude him because there really isn't a universal standard that makes sense with which to evaluate Zapata versus any of the other players. Different people viewed it vastly differently, and it just made sense to give it a year or two until he hits the states. Weren't players such as Viciedo, Silverio, Olacio (and possibly others) ranked before coming over to the states? To me, the only difference here is Zapata is more highly regarded, which makes the decision make less sense to me.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jul 10, 2013 -> 12:36 PM) Read the blurb it is hard to disagree Not really. It's quite easy to disagree and fairly ridiculous to rank some of players who were ranked ahead of him. Give me the young kid with superstar potential but with the most risk of failure over the mid-20 year old reliever with a low ceiling any day. And I just think it's silly to be so aggressive with HS kids on these lists who have zero pro experience but a kid who's 18 months younger shouldn't even be considered.

Looks like our country's habit of blame, blame, blame has extended north of the border

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 10, 2013 -> 09:01 AM) But I thought the game "matters" and it's about winning, not marketing. Letting fans vote and guaranteeing a roster spot for every team are more marketing than meaningful.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 8, 2013 -> 01:00 AM) Similar situation with Zobrist on the team, overall, he's not having a good year by his standards, but he can play everywhere. Josh Donaldson and Longoria are both in the Top 10-15 for OPS in the majors and are likely to be sitting at home. Jayson Stark singlehandedly has solved the Puig dilemma, the "Rising Star" spot for fans to vote on (Gattis, Puig, Teheran, Ozuna, Shelby Miller, S. Marte) http://espn.go.com/mlb/blog/_/name/stark_j...l-puig-all-star That is actually something I would be in favor of

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 9, 2013 -> 06:25 PM) Step 1: Get ranging boner Step 2: Pants "accidentally" fall off Step 3: Results Step 1: Cut a hole in a box Step 2: Put your junk in that box Step 3: Make her open that box Step 4: Profit?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 10, 2013 -> 12:29 AM) Having Donovan back is beautiful. He's so damn good with the ball for a US player. And Holden. If he can fully recover we're going to have one heck of a midfield.