LDF

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 2, 2015 -> 02:40 PM) Jim Thome doesn't strike me as someone who would be naturally arrogant enough to think he would be well-prepared to manage without any minor league experience. The thing is, if Ventura "fails" this year, you can't turn around and do the same exact thing...hiring another totally inexperienced guy, that would be borderline insane for Hahn after the work he's put into building this team. that is if many are expecting Thome to be a manager. i was shock to see Robin V hired as manager, so it might happen again. but, no one is going to change JR mind.

QUOTE (thegringokid @ Feb 2, 2015 -> 06:41 AM) Shark's agent talks on MLB radio and sidesteps the extension question kinda by saying Shark has earned the right to be courted in FA but they will have those talks with the FO when the time is ripe (They owe JR and RH that much out of courtesy and respect). This should heay up after the ASB. We just have to be patient and hope for the best. Link: https://soundcloud.com/mlbnetworkradio/mark...office-with-jim that was the same statement that Shark said when he came over in the trade.

there has always been important date in any history of any ball club. it is based on what someone will consider important. many hitter, many pitchers have had career moments in their lifetime. i will say, on recent events, for me, it was opening day last yr, with Jose A 2 hits, followed by a week later, with 2 hits, 2 hrs and 5 rbi's. i then looked to my cuz and said, i think the sox have a real special ball player there. another game not last yr, but coming into the last of the ninth, bo jackson was up and hit the hr for the sox to win the game. there are many such events..... and they are all great memories.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Feb 1, 2015 -> 12:16 AM) 25 is enough 24th and 25th guy really not MLB quality most of the time. as you said, most of the time, but there are being used as backup. i am talking about the ability of the team to expand, to ably use the expansion for to further use the concept of advance metrics. but there are other benefits as when the roster is use and rest is needed to for some players esp in late July and aug. i am sure there were discussions everytime mlb has thought of improving the game. the purist will always say no, i am saying that this might be thought of more in the future. but mlb are not going to listen to fans on a sport forum site. thanks

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 1, 2015 -> 11:38 PM) I can't imagine the nerves involved there, knowing any injury may be the difference between you and 100 million. and that is why he wants more than 100 mil. look at shields, i bet he would have signed that contract that he was offered earlier.

after seeing the movie the "unbroken". and reading all i can on the internet. i decided to go and read the book. wow, the guy in real life, he was really tortured during WW2 as a japanese pow. the story in really life does have a happy ending by finding God and his attempts to do good with billy graham as his helper. the japanese guard, in those camps were the sadist of japan who couldn't work in real life, was the top 7 war criminal from ww2. the story of his family and closeness is great. now as a youngster, i thought i was a hellion but this guy may have beaten me in some things that he got into trouble for..... good reading.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 1, 2015 -> 11:59 PM) There's no way Carell's going to win. Keaton, Cumberbatch, Cooper after Redmayne right now...Carell's at 125/1 and falling like a rock. then it should be an interesting nite.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Feb 1, 2015 -> 11:15 PM) Samardzija has remained consistent with his words in that he wants to hit FA. This is his one chance to fully cash in on that opportunity and why I did not like the idea of trading for him in the first place. That said, I still look forward to watching him pitch for the sox this upcoming season. i did not like the idea of the trade, b/c Jeff S was not going to sign a pre-trade deal, and the sox gave up some players that i liked. but that was before, now he is a sox, he showed to be a great player who really embraces the sox and the fans.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 1, 2015 -> 05:11 PM) And again, this isn't a defense, it's an indictment. "I way overpaid for a guy that we didn't really need because I was going to flip him somewhere else, but then that ohter team screwed me". Ok, so why did you complete the first trade if there was any chance you couldn't complete the 2nd? Doesn't that mean you completely made a mistake in the first trade? Isn't that basically a fireable offense? there were many fireable trades that KW did, that didn't get him fired. that was my whole point before the world series win. look at the Kip Well trade.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Feb 1, 2015 -> 07:06 AM) Q's love affair with s***ty veterans is mind boggling. Teravainen and Rundblad should be playing alot more then they do. wasn't there a vet, older vet that was playing and many were complaining about. he was used as a 2rn line center i think his nickname is Zeus, or something like that.

reading more on the Thibs' situation, it is more of the same that been in the press 2 yrs ago. Gar and Thibs' problem with each other, the firing of Thibs' assistant coach and Thibs's habit of pushing the players. this reporter had the point of mentioning that the bulls have the best defense in the nba and inspite of missing their key players they were a team to best and not to be taken for credit. so is penchant for practice and pushing the players, is this too much for the team??? Thibs' feels that repetition and recurring practice of plays is needed to make it work. opinions.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Feb 1, 2015 -> 03:50 PM) I think the Sox will just miss the playoffs. The reason is I think the 2 wildcards will come from AL East and I still think we will not catch the Tigers. I am a toss-up if we come in 2nd or 3rd in Central. But if you already feel the odds are better than 70% we will make the playoffs, get a bet into Vegas now because as of last week they have us not making the playoffs. ok, so you have your opinion and i got mine, so that is the point of this post. what are you trying to prove, people have opinions and many are different opinions. so deal with it.

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Feb 1, 2015 -> 09:44 AM) Saw Birdman. Very predictable story, but great movie nevertheless. Interstellar comfortably remains my favorite movie of 2014- saw it again last weekend ahead of the last few places still showing it pulling it. i agree, i was really hoping that michael keaton would win the oscars, but steve carell, and eddie redmayne should be favorites to win.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Feb 1, 2015 -> 03:21 AM) The really high strikeouts is very concerning. It was the reason I didn't think Joas Fields was going to make it. He still has time but it is going to be tough. there were some posters who adamantly, pointed out that anderson is still a prospect. so i will hope for the best.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Feb 1, 2015 -> 06:15 AM) With the state our system was in at the time, the sox top pitching prospects weren't much. However, I'm usually against any trade where the Sox give up more than 1 pitcher. It's just too valuable of a commodity. there has to be a subtle approach for both ideas. trading prospects for establish players. with the time of the prospect to maybe reaching their potential, it may take yrs and that is if they make at all. it is undeniable fact the most prospects do not reach their potential . if that trade can bring in an establish player who may be the missing piece to the playoff or more. that has to be taken into consideration. however the system needs a full support of prospects to allow this to happen. as i said in the beginning of this post, it has to be a fine middle point between wasting a prospect for some worthless ideas of a trade. ala KW tenure.

QUOTE (thegringokid @ Feb 1, 2015 -> 11:28 AM) Hi all, 1st time poster. I know Bleacher Report is to be taken with a grain of salt but it does post some credible metrics in the way the rotations were measured (WAR, ERA, K9/BB ratio, innings pitched, etc). I'm excited by the fact that apart from anything else, this front 3 should be able to take us deep into games (I'm talking 6-7 quality innings per start - I.E. we could be among the league leaders in quality starts this year). Couple that with a much improved bullpen (On paper) & you have the ingridients for a quality season. I would add I am basing this on traditional methods of projecting wins. But I would like to know if the sabre-metric gurus here agree? Link: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2347423...ing-2015/page/9 Content: Ranking MLB's Top 10 Rotation Trios Entering 2015 By Karl Buscheck , Featured Columnist Jan. 31, 2015 The Trio •Chris Sale •Jeff Samardzija •Jose Quintana Quietly, the Chicago White Sox have built one of the most imposing trios of starters in the majors. It all starts with Chris Sale, who is one of the most underrated pitchers in baseball. The lefty has been an All-Star in each of the past three seasons and was particularly impressive in 2014. Sale ripped off a 2.17 ERA and a 10.8 K/9 ratio, as he landed in third place on the AL Cy Young Award ballot. Sale is also one of the most underpaid pitchers in baseball. In the upcoming season, the 25-year-old will make $6 million. As Sale explained, via Scott Merkin of MLB.com, he's much more focused on bringing a World Series title to the South Side than he is on his bank account: "I don't want the payday. I want the celebration." The White Sox have another under-appreciated lefty on the staff in Jose Quintana. The 26-year-old has topped the 200-innings mark in back-to-back seasons and posted a career-low 3.32 ERA in 2014. Jeff Samardzija, who the club added in a offseason trade with the Oakland Athletics, rounds out the White Sox's top three. Like Quintana, Samardzija had his best season yet in 2014. While splitting the year between the Chicago Cubs and the Athletics, Samardzija recorded a 2.99 ERA. The right-hander, who's set to become a free agent at the end of 2015, also racked up more than 200 strikeouts for the second year in a row. welcome to the best sport forum in chi.... ref to your advance metric questions, these guys should be able to answer your question.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Jan 31, 2015 -> 09:28 PM) I do not think that signing another starting pitcher will affect attendance too much. Last winter the Sox signed arguably the best hitter in baseball for 2014. Yet attendance took a big drop. Hopefully a team that is in playoff contention can at least make up for most of the attendance drop it suffered last year. Has anyone seen any numbers on advanced season ticket sales ??? You posted that the Sox's chances of making the playoffs would go from 80-95% with another SP. You may want to place a bet on Sox winning it all then. Because at this point Vegas does not have them even making the playoffs ( before Beckham addition). lets take all things into contents. lets not use the performance of last yr, 2014 as the basis to judge all offseason additions. there was many things that went wrong. i do hope you can at least think that is right, right? after a majority of the fa's signing, there were rpt that season tickets sale did go up, this according the the FO statement some weeks ago. second, does anyone have those numbers. while that may be a decent question, do you think the sox will actually present those number to the fans??? yes i still do think that the sox can make the wild card and thus being in the playoff. how are you basing that the sox will not make the playoff. b/c vegas doesn't have them listed in making the playoff?? i am reposting my questions as a point of reference.

what get me today, being Sat 1-31. after a week of great discussions, today is like it very anticlimactic. and i am tired thinking. great job to all.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jan 31, 2015 -> 05:17 PM) The sin was zig-zagging and not getting full value for either the prospects he traded nor the vets he traded. He overpays for E Jackson then gives him away; he overpays for Swisher, then gets zip when he dumps him. He gifts TCQ to the Padres. Etc. Etc. exactly. and that is why i really hated him as a gm QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jan 31, 2015 -> 05:14 PM) Exactly. Hahn pulled off a great balance - built the major league team, while actually improving the farm system. Very happy that Hahn had no interest in trading real prospects for some 32 year old who had a decent year last year. the gm needs to find a right balance.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jan 30, 2015 -> 09:13 PM) The wild card is here is would appear management is telling the players to tune out the coach vs. the players independently tuning out the coach. That is my problem in all of this. It is the front office, who I largely respect, taking too much of an ownership in the coaching, all while we have one of the best and most respected coaches in the league. Its disgraceful. It is the type of thing where you need JR to put everyone in a room and tell them to STFU. I would hope JR has learned from the Krause / PJax fiasco and really, Reinsdorf (maybe Paxson...depending on his overall feelings and how much he sides with Gar..presumably he does given their relationship) is the one guy who could make it all better and quick. After the STFU, Paxson and Gar should make a statement that he thinks Thibbs is doing a fantastic job and he has our full support. Right now, Gar just gives luke warm responses and does not say Thibbs is doing a really good job or anything like that. Rumors can hurt and sometimes you need to make those statements...even if the reality is the situation is still icy..let the disagreements reside in-house, don't let this get hashed out in the media. i am really surprise that Pax is involve in it. he been here with the whole PJax and Krause thing. the thing then, PJax had the support of the players, and the leadership of the players kept the team on board, meaning having MJ. this team does not have a MJ and i am wondering of the players on this team, who might not like, let alone support Thibs'.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 30, 2015 -> 08:13 PM) Advanced stats, length of the game, the biggest reason why this idea will never happen is money. Besides, why do they want to make it even harder to hit? It will be like the NHL back when it was first to 2 wins. this is of course a discussion of something that may not happen, but i still think that it needs to be thought off. so in your summary, the only reason will be the cost of such a decision. of course you are 100% correct. but i think adding a player will help out with the new technology coming in and the owners may embrace it. situational hitting and pitching will prove to be more helpful than not.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Jan 31, 2015 -> 01:44 AM) There are many ways to model events and probabilities, and PECOTA is regressing to the mean, excessively beyond belief. Does ANYone here, really believe, that the winner of the AL Central will have as few as 82 wins? Patently absurd. As far as I know, that's happened once in history, the '73 Mets. Didn't bother to look it up. I'm covering wagers, if anyone wants to bet the under on 82, hell, I'll even throw in the ties. then as a person with NO knowledge with advance stats, they i am wondering why depend on then so much. shouldn't they be used as a reference.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jan 30, 2015 -> 09:44 PM) John Danks actually pitched pretty well in "Important games", and I'm classifying important as games against playoff teams. In 71.2 innings against playoff teams he had a 3.01 ERA. 4-0 against division winners and the Royals Danks was very Bulls like last year in that when he got lit up it was against really bad teams, and when he did well, it was against good teams. I know Danks supporters are few and far between here, but as a 4th starter, throwing out the money, I think he'll be more than good enough. That becomes even more true if/when Rodon comes up and Danks would then be the 5th best starter on the team. don't get me wrong, i am a huge Danks fan and supporter. my point is he is still a question mark as a pitcher he once was. he is still a really nice 4/5 pitcher.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 31, 2015 -> 06:51 AM) Since we're talking about him, here's Kylie McDaniels' breakdown Video attached. I think a lot of his future is tied to Samardzija, Rodon, and Montas. I can explain later, but right now I'm a bit tuned up and playing Destiny, but wanted to provide this. I feel that he is going to pitch in the majors and he is going to be good, but there are others with more natural talent who will be ahead of him who will get chances at starting first. If he ends up as a set up guy, that's not a bad thing. i think his makeup, his bulldog mentality, reminds me of Mark Burhle.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jan 30, 2015 -> 09:04 PM) Most #5 starters really suck as it is. The last thing I want to see trotting out to the mound are #6 starters. Now, if you want to contract two teams and then add a roster spot for the remaining 28 teams, fine. That still leaves a net -22 s***ty baseball players in the league. you are missing the point, the point is with the advance stats, a discussion can be made of more specialize players, one of which can be a #6 sp.