Chisoxfn

Great stuff Q. Some awesome pictures in there. What kind of camera were you using?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 23, 2015 -> 11:13 AM) The Zags have looked great so far. Much better than I thought they would. If I redid my bracket, I'd have Gonzaga advancing all the way to till they play Kentucky. I'm 10th in my work pool (out of ~400 participants). Problem is, I had ISU and Virginia in finals (so realistically I have almost zero chance at winning it). Kills me cause I had originally had MSU going into elite 8 and backed away from it. PS: It is also the only pool I am playing in. I'm not one of those chumps who has practically every scenario imaginable and 18 different final 4 possibilities.

Gonzaga looked really really good. I was impressed. Now watch them go lose to Iowa.

I like Eaton a lot. He does a lot of things right on the baseball field. Now he just needs to stay on the baseball field and keep developing!!!

Love it...enjoy tonight but than refocus on the next one. Lets take down them Zags!!!

Evidently Cowley was on some show and indicated there is a good chance Thibbs / Front Office are able to mend things up in the off-season. I think a lot of people, including Friedell, have indicated that unless we win it all, Thibbs is gone. However, it sounds like JR and Pax are big proponents of Thibbs and there is beginning to be more sentiment to have everyone get together in the off-season (and ideally level heads will prevail). Personally I hope it is true (I also hope we win it all). Also pointed out it is unlikely Bulls will move Taj (to create minutes for Nik) as they view Taj as protection for Noah departing in 2016. Also indicated org is very confident of an early April return of Rose.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 20, 2015 -> 06:51 AM) You let him make the decision for you. There are still a couple of weeks left. If he continues to play well, you give him a shot. There are a lot of players that never played AAA. There are some that played very little. When Gordon Beckham came up, he had 7 games in AAA, and was a star like performer. The one thing you have to consider is how he will deal with failure, which occurs with everyone. It ate Beckham up. Micah is supposed to be hard on himself. There could be an argument that Beckham should have spent more time in AAA, but he certainly looked ready the first 100 games on the major league level, so I don't know how those games being in AAA would have made him better. I don't think Micah necessarily needs to play more in AAA if he continues to do what he's doing. But I do think the big test is going to be when things aren't going his way. And that happens to everyone. Beckham's problem happened after that successful off-season where he made significant adjustments to his swing, etc, because he ultimately lacked confidence in what he was doing and thought he needed to do more and was making the necessary adjustments to get better. As a result, the mental game took a serious toll on Gordon as after that point, he has really struggled being able to put together a consistent swing. He's swing is in constant flux and was lengthened from where it was early in his career.

QUOTE (Palehosefan @ Mar 19, 2015 -> 08:32 PM) Awesome little boy joined our lives 8 months ago, so I have been relegated to reading the board when I have time :-). Awesome news. Congrats!!!

By the way heads...thanks for ending my bracket about as quickly as it started. I was a total turd for having ISU in the final.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 18, 2015 -> 09:04 AM) Going off of fangraphs, I think he must be about where he was during the season last year. They had his average fastball at 91.7, which if a guy is "touching 94" sitting at 91-92 makes sense to me. http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playe...&position=P Now he is he touching 94 now, does that mean he has room to move up as he gets into shape this year? I have no idea. See this is where facts get in the way with my memory. I remember him being much more of a junkballer late in his career (not like Weaver or Buehrle) but not like he used to be. In reality, his FB velocity in his earlier days was much lower than I recalled. We are talking pretty small sample sizes though and we are comparing statistics of him pitching largely out of the pen vs. rotation. Given that since 2012 (MLB appearances only), he's played in just 37 games and of those games, only 11 starts.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 18, 2015 -> 07:44 AM) We've seen these reports for a couple years now. His mistakes on defense were usually a lack of focus or trying to get to cute. Those are very much fixable. What I like about Micah is not only does he have some nice tools, he seems to have a really solid head on his shoulders and in baseball, more than any other sport, I think that is critical. Failures mount up in baseball and it takes serious adversity and mental fortitude to make it through it (along with hard work, skills, ability to adjust, etc).

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 18, 2015 -> 07:48 AM) many thanks for this. i really thought he was better than 94 mph fastball. If you had seen Penny during the last 3-4 years, I don't know if he was sitting in the low 90's. I'd be impressed if he was sitting in the low 90's (would mean he's healthier and stronger), let alone if he's hitting 94. I presume he won't be able to sustain that over a long season but the goal of the 5th spot is probably a stop gap until Rodon is ready so I could see where Sox could say, Brad, let her fly and than we'll move you into the pen when its done (obviously he'll say, I'll fight and fight to keep the spot and Noesi will battle it out as well). Of course, a lot of this is a moot point anyway as Penny really is pitching in the "6th" spot as we really are talking about 1 to 2 starts until Sale steps back in the rotation. However, if Noesi falters, I suppose it is nice to know their is a veteran there that maybe you can get a few games out of. Expecting anything more than that would be crazy, imo.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 18, 2015 -> 08:16 AM) They have always said Beckham is extremely hard on himself. Even Scioscia mentioned it. Mentally he has killed himself. That's the issue. When he got it going last year, he swing was short and quick and he was nailing the ball even when he was making outs. Then a couple of bad games and the swing got long, and he had no chance. If he can clear his head, and really who knows if he can, the guy has talent. We have seen it. Then things go bad and snowball. That's just as much "upside" as any player that has been mentioned the Sox should have signed besides him. The players in the 24th or 25th roster spot making $2 million in 2015 have tons of warts. You just have to hope something clicks. The Sox know at the very least, he's a good team guy, he can spell guys with the glove on the infield where they are very vulernable defensively, and if he hits, that's gravy. Guy is a former very high first round pick who was extremely well thought of and had some brief success in the majors. By definition he has much more upside than almost all of the other guys people have gotten excited about. Again, I'm not saying we should get excited about him (I'm not excited about Beckham but think he's fine as a backup and I think if someone went down to an injury, I'd want to know that Sanchez and Saladino are getting their experience in the minors and developing so that they could potentially fill in for that starter job and we can see if they have that "upside" vs. letting them sit on the bench which is an extremely difficult thing to do for a young player). I think most every 24th/25th guy on your roster is going to have significant warts. Most of the top prospects aren't that 24th/25th guy, they are either getting regular at bats in the minors or getting regular at bats in the majors.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 05:16 PM) While I agree on the first sentence I can't say as much past that. Despite Hahn saying so, it's arguable he is average at 3B defensively and his bat is well below average even when platooned. I am not going to validate giving someone a bench spot based off of them becoming on expert on bunting. The things you mention that make him a decent bench player would hold also true for Tyler Saladino. Saladino is a better infielder (surely on the left side at the least) and a better baserunner/pinch runner than Beckham. I am less confident that Saladino would be a better hitter than Beckham but it's not really much of a bar to beat. If he could hit league average against LHP he'd be a way better bench player than Beckham. While a lot of people aren't fans of Beckham as a player, my biggest gripe is the opportunity cost. We could have had Saladino and a RH defensive OF, strong RH bar or extra 5th starter type. Obviously the bench isn't going to full of all stars, but you want these guys to bring at least one great quality. Jordan Danks was lost with the stick most of the time but I felt great when he came in a defensive replacement. Bonifacio isn't going to carry the offense but he has speed and flexibility. Saladino may never amount to more than 50 MLB PAs but, right now he can come off the bench and pinch run late in games and defend just as well if not better than Beckham. What does Beckham bring? Above average defense at 2B? Color me un impressed. When GMs are building their Championship team they don't pound the phone lines looking for a bench player who can't hit against any type of pitcher and turns a good double play. I don't think anybody has been making this case against Beckham because of his Spring Training stats but those stats have certainly further enforced that argument if you value ST stats. The same people arguing against his utility and practicality (Eminor, shysocks, myself) can be seen doing so on the day he was signed: http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?sh...=94456&st=0 Fortunately, to make this move, I think the Sox must think very highly of Beckham as an individual. It's not really a desirable position to be in for him, Gllaspie/Micah/Sanchez or for Robin and the coaching staff. So the Sox front office is definitely giving him a vote of confidence to handle the mental aspect of his assignment. I have no issue with Saladino and others, but I think the Sox also value having Beckham on the bench and think there are other aspects that he can provide and I think there is probably a bit of a trust factor knowing that your bench player was a starter in this league for quite some time (a good one, no, but a starter nonetheless). There are a lot more unknowns about the other guys being discussed and to be frank none of the other options have the pedigree of a guy like Gordon. Right, wrong or indifferent. I liken my bench to have versatility and I think the Sox bench does have that. I am not a big fan of either guy being discussed (Gordon or B) to be frank. None of them provide much upside but they are bench players who have experience and bring some value, albeit limit, when used appropriately. I have a bigger issue with how much we paid B vs. how much we paid Gordon to be honest. If I were to make a bet of who'd be a better player from a pure value perspective, I'd make my bet on Gordon and I don't like Gordon. I also don't think the 2M will get in the way of moving to another guy if Tyler or Sanchez proves they deserve the extra time. I do think the Sox see value in some of the intangibles Gordon brings to the equation, which can be just as important, including his ability to work and help Micah (a guy we are putting a lot of pressure on).

If Beckham didn't start the past few years with the organization, I think we would have a different opinion of him. I think the reality is this is one of those someone elses trash is our treasure type scenario and Beckham is still our trash and we all remember him for being a starter (and he wasn't a good starter). I don't know what Gordon will do off the bench but in a bench role, I have a hard time arguing against him not being a useful utility guy, given he can play solid defense at 3B and 2B and is a pretty good baserunner, etc. He'll also have to become an expert at laying down bunts should circumstances warrant it, etc. Bottom line, is Beckham great? No. Is he the best bench player in the league, no. But I'm not going to jump to crazy conclusions about him based upon his spring training stats. I know he's a lousy starter but if managed properly he could provide some value off the bench as a depth guy. I think any of us would be thinking the same thing had he not spent the previous umteen years as a starter for our team.

Very sad in regards to Haley. Great news in regards to the injured players.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 07:45 AM) Same injury concerns as well? What injury concerns did Jared Weaver have coming out of the draft? He fell in the draft due to high bonus demands. He's also been relatively durable during his career (making 30 starts or more in 6 out of his 8 full seasons in the bigs). I am excluding his rookie season where he made only 19 starts (and in reality, his 2nd season he was limited due to Angels being conservative, but he made 28 starts). Weaver was one of the more dominant college pitchers of the past 10-15 years. I don't know that anyone in this years draft would be deserving of that comp. Between him and Verlander, that draft was loaded with front end pitching prospects.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Mar 17, 2015 -> 06:37 AM) Parents are also going to keep their kids from playing. Under no circumstances will my kids be playing football. They can play flag amongst friends but that is the extent.

QUOTE (MurcieOne @ Mar 13, 2015 -> 09:23 AM) Rams signed Nick Fairley to a 1 year deal. Rams DL looks like this Quinn, Long at DE and Brockers, Donald and Fairley at DT. That's gotta be the most talented front four in all of football. And they should have some stability at QB. I don't think Foles is some great QB, but he's better than what they have had in a long time (given that Bradford could never stay on the field).

Dang it. I really am hoping Iowa can pull out a win but a win over PSU and potentially a 2nd win would have gone a long way in the seeding department. Now we are going to have a much tougher match up in the 1st round.

Allen has been nothing but a team player. We sucked last year and he was disappointing but as the season progressed and he got back into shape, he played better and more active. Dude lost a lot of weight in the early part of the season and the first few games of the year were not against teams where he was going to rack up sack numbers. Not to mention no defense ran by Mel Tucker has ever had anyone really put up any sort of prolific sack numbers (his defenses consistently failed to cause pressure). We make a big deal about what he said in the past with another team but he's said all the right things in Chicago. I have no idea how he is going to play as a linebacker but you know what, guy has a motor and plays hard and can still be effective in situational plays. Worth the money he is getting, no, especially not in this system, but thank Emery for that, don't blame Allen.

Awesome!!!

Aaron Leming ‏@AaronLemingNFL 10m10 minutes ago Was told Mason Foster was targeting a deal close to $5M annually. Could see something close to 3 years/$15-16M. #Bears

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 11, 2015 -> 01:25 PM) Rodon really 6'3" or is that being generous? When I watched his bullpen session last week (warming up for his debut), I was surprised at how thick and strong he was (especially from the lower body). I don't know if he is 6'3 but he was much bigger than I expected (strength and height wise) in person.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 11, 2015 -> 01:18 PM) Brantly looks awful behind the plate. During drills when I was at spring training, I came to the conclusion that he was an awful defensive catcher with a very weak arm. Sample size and it was practice but all of the other catchers were head and shoulders better. His arm reminded me of Damon or Pierre for his respective position.