maggsmaggs

Every team passed over Albert Pujols 11 times before the Cards finally took him. It's the MLB Draft -- the biggest crapshoot of them all. No point playing revisionist's history because every team could have a 25-man roster full of All-Stars.

I was looking at AJ's career stats. Currently, he has 1,586 career hits. Let's say he gets near 1,650 by the end of the season, he would realistically have a shot at 2,000 hits for a catcher. According to FanGraphs , he would be the 13th catcher EVER to do that. That list also has guys who weren't full-time catchers, too, so the 2,000-hit company for catchers is actually more exclusive. AJ has surprisingly had one hell of a career.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 5, 2012 -> 10:40 AM) I like it. Young, toolsy. Long way away, but seems to have some upside. I mean isn't this true of pretty much every international signee though?

QUOTE (balfanman @ Jul 5, 2012 -> 11:51 AM) So if he's bottom 5 of the AL, who are the 9 shortstops that you would rather have? I can't think of any. I am not saying that. I am saying THIS SEASON, he has been below average. He is 11th of 13 qualified SS in OPS. And out of the 12 qualifying player for UZR, he ranks 9th.

That was one hell of an at-bat.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 02:43 PM) Ugh. I get so tired of hearing defensive metrics quoted as if that's the ONLY thing that matters. If you watch this team day after day, you'll know Ramirez has been VERY good this season. Maybe not quite Gold Glove level, as a couple of seasons ago, but very very close. Just like OPS. It's important, no doubt. But a SS putting up 79 RBI's isn't ever going to be a BAD thing, especially when he's one of the best defensively in the entire AL. He hasn't been that great this year though defensively. He has lost a step range wise and isn't getting to as many balls as he should. Sure, he still makes the GG play here and there, but so much of being a great SS is making the normally hard plays look routine. I have been a huge supporter of Alexei, but it's clear he is a bottom five SS this year in the AL. The stats back that up, both defensively and offensively. Jeter wins the GG every year based on naked-eye scouting. People see him make the great plays. But the metrics show he sucks.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 12:38 PM) Alexei Ramirez has been one of our best players the last month. Scrub, he is not. Just for his defense alone, to use the word scrub is pretty much uncalled for. Now if Gordon could worry more about his ridiculous hitch and the inability to hit a high fastball (or lay off it), we might have something. http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=...0&players=0 He's been pretty bad defensively this year.

QUOTE (That funky motion @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 02:00 PM) Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA NY package would include Iman Shumpert, Toney Douglas and likely 3 low money players to get Nash salary needed to close gap on Toronto offer Expand Reply Retweet Favorite Is it me or are the Knicks getting f***ed in this deal?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 11:41 AM) No one has said the Bulls are doing anything. The closest they came was dumping Lu for a draft pick. Oh joy, the Bulls are serious. Give me guys who are available that the Bulls could actually obtain in a trade. I mean their hands are really tied here. They have bad contracts to guys who are injury-prone. Who wants to trade for Luol Deng when he has a torn wrist? Who wants to trade for Boozer when he doesn't play D and can't finish around the rim? Sorry for hi-jacking a Hawks thread, ha.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 11:37 AM) Zach Parise has inked a 13-year deal with the Minnesota Wild worth $98 million. To be honest, new players are fun, but that's a f***ton for a player who had 69 points last season. Holy hell. Yeah. I mean we really aren't missing star power. What we are missing is those complimentary players like we had with Ladd, Buff, Steeger, etc.

I hope this isn't an ESPN blackout game for locals. I love watching the national broadcasts when I can.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 11:23 AM) The customer service desk behind home plate will do a special certificate for free to commemorate his first game. You can bring unopened water bottles into the park. You could always try to find a spot up higher, near the top under the second deck overhang. I think that's the best option. You should be able to find seats above. Even offer to trade with someone else allowing them to move up.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 11:31 AM) Hawks don't really have the money either. Only like $7M of cap space, I believe. It's closer to $8M, but that much money in hockey is not equivalent to $8M in basketball. $8M in the NBA gets you Omer Asik apparently. $8M in hockey is more than Toews is paid.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 11:26 AM) With the parts and picks they have, the Bulls could be a player if they wanted to. Who says they are not? I am sure they would be heavy favorites to land Dwight if he wanted to play here. Who else could they realistically obtain as a second piece to Rose? While the pieces they have are good, they aren't super attractive to other teams. Deng is overpaid and oft-injured. Same for Boozer. Same for Noah. Taj is good, but still just a complimentary piece. I mean there also have to be players available that actually make the team better. Beyond Dwight, I don't really know if there are that many options out there.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 11:24 AM) The contrast between the Hawks and Bulls is amazing. The Hawks are out there chasing the top guys on the market. The Bulls are chasing Kirk Hinrich. Well the Hawks have money, the Bulls don't. It's different when you can be a FA player than when you have to work through trades. I seem to recall the Bulls chasing LeBron, Wade, Bosh, etc. two years ago...

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Jul 4, 2012 -> 10:36 AM) Someone tweeted earlier that Chicago is out on Suter. BTW, did anyone see that napkin last night? Supposedly, someone cleaned Suter and Parise's table at a bar last night and they found a napkin where Parise was writing down the pros and cons of playing for the Pens and Wild. On the side, they had crossed out a few teams, and Chicago was one of them. HAHAHAHA. That sounds so far-fetched. Not buying that s***. Weren't they in different cities, too? My prediction: Suter picks the Wild and Parise goes back to the Devils.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jul 3, 2012 -> 11:17 PM) Walker went 3/5 yet again. Stole his 36th base. Having a pretty sexy season, just needs to strike out less, and get more extra base hits. DeMichele went 3/4. Hitting .571 in his 2 games since his promotion. Walker's walk rate is outstanding. Looking like a great leadoff prospect.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jul 3, 2012 -> 10:18 PM) Just read an article on ESPN basically saying that Brooklyn is going to need a miracle to get Dwight. Apparently they gave some foreigner (Teletov?) the full MLE, so they can't have their team salary over the tax level. So even if Orlando will take their mediocre trade offer, they probably don't have the salary room unless some of the numbers are wrong. I hope this is true. I would love to see Dwight sulk when he doesn't get his way. He is BY FAR the biggest baby in sports.

I really struggle with how to view Saladino. On one hand, he possesses some very interesting skills: great defense, great baserunner, and a tremendous eye at the plate (and displayed real good power the past two years from a middle infielder). On the other hand, he is really struggling to make contact in AA with a poor average and lots of Ks. I guess worst-case scenario he becomes a utility infielder for us, but I just love his OBP skills and defense. At SS, he probably can get away with his poor contact rate and become a decent everyday SS.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 2, 2012 -> 09:28 PM) Wait, I thought deals couldn't be negotiated and players couldn't be contacted until the period started? WTF? What you are describing sounds like its just the first day deals can become official. That is not what I thought was going on. I guess not. These are signed, sealed and delivered.

So what if it was only the first day? While the BA list is not the end-all, be-all, 14 of the top 20 on their list have already been signed. The longer you wait to dance, the fewer partners available.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jul 2, 2012 -> 01:50 AM) 'The Dwight Howards of the world'? Shouldn't that just read: Dwight Howard? Who is even remotely close to his level at that position? Well, I meant in terms of size. No one has his ability, but there are a few guys with his size that would be difficult for Taj to guard (Hibbert, Bogut, Howard, Lopez and a couple others).

Early but Rienzo is putting up nice numbers in his start.

QUOTE (PolishPrince34 @ Jul 2, 2012 -> 07:40 PM) International signing started today. Sox have $2.9 million to spend, but have yet to make a splash. Need to join in the spending-Jerry. You would think they would be more active than ever because of the cap. Let's see. Now teams can basically exactly how much money they have to allocate on amateur free agents and draftees. Cost certainty is something JR loves, so this should mean the utilization of the money.