Chisoxfn

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Dec 9, 2009 -> 11:50 AM) The Sox already have Jones and Kotsay to keep everyone fresh, and there wouldn't be enough playing time to add Crisp to the picture as well. Matsui in the OF would be nothing but a hindrance. The other thing is, if they add Matsui now they have 5 players for 4 spots, (Matsui, Rios, Quentin, Kotsay, Jones) and only Rios belongs in CF. How excited would people be about occasionally seeing OF setups like Matsui-Jones-Quentin? That's just freaking abysmal. We may as well just trade all our SP since we'll be asking them to keep the ball in the infield all game. The Sox should draw a line in the sand with Matsui. I think he's an excellent hitter and would be a great fit here as a full-time DH, but if he wants to play LF then no way. Jones doesn't fill a major hole on the club. He isn't an every-day player until he proves otherwise. Crisp would play a lot and the club most definitely has room for him. Kotsay will get at-bats, most likely at DH and in the field, but there are plenty of at-bats to go around when your DH can play 1-2 games a week in the field.

Dodgers have to really regret not offering Wolf arbitration.

Kenny denies that the club has talked with Matsui recently. He also said he can't say the club wouldn't be interested in him. There is clearly smoke here. The media might have jumped the gun a bit and Cowley is reporting a deal would take time, but the club is apparently going to visit him in California to check out his knee, which tells you all you need to know about the clubs interest.

Kal, who would be the better left fielder. Milton Bradley or Hideki Matsui. Or would me or you be a better option, haha?

Kenny said some nice things about Milton Bradley today at the Winter Meetings, but also said the Sox weren't interested.

Honestly, if healthy, I might take Crisp over Pods. Crisp is a much better defender who is capable of playing good defense at two outfield positions (LF & CF) and is simply put a superior base-runner, imo. If Crisp shoulders aren't healthy though and can't handle the contact, than Pods would be the better option. I wouldn't give Pods 4-5M for 1 year and certainly wouldn't give him a 2 or 3 yr deal worth that sort of money and right now that is the bottom line of what he is looking for.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Dec 9, 2009 -> 11:40 AM) There's also no reason to believe the money and years will be equal. Crisp won't get more than $2 million. Pods is currently asking for a lot more than that and is trying to get it over multiple years. The Sox won't do that and don't want to wait. I see the club signing Crisp and if they can land Matsui also, than Kenny will spend the rest of his off-season quietly looking to find a way to get a young outfielder into Chicago with the potential to be a leadoff hitter. It might not happen, but If he lands his DH and gets at least an insurance option for the top of the order (Crisp), he won't have to do much else and should be able to win the division or at least be in position to win the division come the trade-deadline.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Dec 9, 2009 -> 11:37 AM) Podsednik isn't a good outfielder but he has speed to make up for poor reads, Matsui can barely move. Matsui's career UZR/150 in LF is -14.4, Dye was a -22.4. And now he hasn't played the position regularly in 3 years and is coming off 2 knee surgeries. And just because we've been sending bad defenders out there doesn't mean it's ok to settle for more bad defense in the future. That's like say; we've always had bad thrid baseman, so plugging in another bad one shouldn't really matter. I realize it isn't an ideal scenario. But the Sox also want to keep Quentin, Konerko and AJ fresh and the best way to do that might be suffering a bit on defense once or twice a week in the outfield. It is also important to know that if a significant injury were to occur that you have a guy that could slide into the outfield and help if needed. Injuries are a part of the game and to survive a 162 game season it is important to have flexibility. Clearly it would be a massive mistake to start Matsui regularly in the outfield. However, if it is done on occasions throughout the season it wouldn't be a major issue and in the playoffs you don't have to worry as much about the rest so Matsui would clearly stay at DH in those instances, but again, knowing he could play in the field still gives you the option to utilize one of your better offensive bats when you play in NL parks. For example, if Crisp starts 5 or 6 days a week in left, the club would clearly be downgrading its offense, but defensively, they will have upgraded significantly (Crisp >>>> Pods and Quentin in RF should be >>> Dye). I don't know how much of an upgrade Quentin will be to Dye though to be honest since Quentin has clearly been slowed by his injury. Bottom line, there is nothing wrong with occasionally putting Matsui in the field. Going into opening day with him as our everyday starter in the outfield, now that would be a bad idea. I also don't think Crisp is the perfect option, but given the resources the club has and if his shoulder his heatlhy, I would be accepting of him.

QUOTE (KevinM @ Dec 9, 2009 -> 11:23 AM) That's some awe-inspiring hyperbole. And if you're going to label something completely worthless and malign it to such a degree, you may want to get its name right. Again, simply comparing Carlos' BABIP data from two separate seasons is insufficient analysis, but including batted ball rates and (at times) contact percentages will give you a rough idea of how unlucky Carlos was. I think his poor season can probably be attributed to injury, as I was just campaigning for BABIP as a useful tool of analysis. Which it absolutely is, and tests have proven this time after time. It should be used with a great deal of caution, and with other things in mind (like contact/batted ball rates/injury/scouting), but it certainly has utility. It's not the end all be all metric, but this argument shouldn't be black and white. I do think we can have a discussion without it devolving into "anyone with have (sic) a brain" sorts of insults. I fancy my brain quite a bit, and I think a player's statistical fluctuation may be attributed to luck from time to time. Do I believe that's the case with Carlos? A layman's/preliminary analysis of his batted ball rates tell me that it may have contributed to his poor performance. I also believe his injury didn't help. Ok. And I believe it may have. This doesn't have to be a black and white, you don't have "have (sic) a brain" argument. We can discuss it. I agree with you, BABIP over the years can be useful, but you need to include other stats. The post that is being referenced only talked about Quentins BABIP in the Current Year vs the Prior Year. No where did it take into account line drive percentages, contact percentages, etc. Therefor, I thought it was a pretty poor argument to just say its bad luck because his BABIP changed year over year. That is about as valid of an argument as me throwing out two years worth of batting averages and attributing the change in average to bad luck. I think the stat is very meaningful (despite me mis-typing it) as a tool for analysis, but the true meaning behind the stat comes from the underlying stats (ie, line-drive rate, contact rate, etc).

QUOTE (gatnom @ Dec 9, 2009 -> 11:23 AM) I am a little leery of this because his main desire is to play some OF. It makes sense if he were a pure DH, but even splitting time in the field isn't a very good idea IMO. I understand people are concerned, but if he gets the okay from Doctors he will be okay in left. Will he be great, no, will he be average, probably not, will he be the worse left fielder in baseball, I doubt it. I think Matsui wants the shot to show he can play left and if he earns it great. It is nice to know he can play. Pods isn't a good left fielder, he's a poor one, so the club has already been putting crap out in left for a while. Rios is an above average center-fielder and Quentin is probably better suited for right than left so as a whole I'd say our outfield defense is still improved. I'd expect Matsui wouldn't get more than 1-3 starts a week in the outfield (at most) and the team clearly is still looking at Pods/Crisp to round out the starting lineup. Plus if offering up the ocassional outfield gets Matsui in Chicago, do it, he really is a good offensive player and his skill-set will be a real nice fit in the middle of our order. The big if to me is his heatlhy, if he's heatlhy, he'll be a very very productive player.

I wouldn't be shocked to see the Bulls go with Doug Collins actually.

Fantastic. I really think this makes a ton of sense. I don't think it drags out that long because I think the Yankees will tell him no sooner than that.

Around the Winter Meetings: Putz, Crisp, Matsui, and More

Around the Winter Meetings: Putz, Matsui, Crisp, and More

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 9, 2009 -> 10:08 AM) Or Crisp and Matsui. Either scenario is good for me. I'd be fine with that, cause I really like Matsui. But I'd totally prefer Byrd. He's put up far better numbers, albeit in a hitters haven like Texas. That said, he'll be much more expensive and I think it is much more likely that we see Crisp or Pods along with Matsui. That might happen and things could change after, but no other significant moves would be possible without moving a Konerko/Linebrink/Jenks.

QUOTE (KevinM @ Dec 9, 2009 -> 02:36 AM) Well post the full rant. Find it and paste it. I'm intrigued. Honestly. Said poster also followed up by listing Carlos' past BABIP data. Comparing current BAPIP with past BAPIP is completely worthless. Anyone with have a brain knows that two years ago his BAPIP was significantly higher. He hit the absolute s*** out of the ball all-season and hard hit balls are more likely to fall than what he did last season (which was not hit the ball very good at all). I think Quentin played a little better than his numbers indicated and clearly we could point a lot of his struggles to the injury, but BAPIP and bad "luck" wasn't the reason Quentin went from being an MVP candidate to nothing special in one season.

I would love an off-season in which we signed Byrd and Matsui. I'd be fully content with that.

Buehrle is such a class act.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 8, 2009 -> 04:23 PM) This would totally be a move to be able to dump Jenks. I don't think so. It could give them insurance and allow them to do it at a later point in time, but to get rid of Jenks for a guy who we don't know is going to hold up and be healthy would be a mistake, imo.

For the right price I'd be completely on board.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Dec 8, 2009 -> 01:52 PM) Agreed. One of the very rare guys I tolerate on ESPN. He's very very good.

Now is the time to go after Matsui. The Angels are more focused on negotiations with Lackey and Bay and the Yankees only see Matsui as a back-up option (Damon is there plan A). Go hard, go fast, and get er done.

Wow, that is awful. He is so good. I hope he shows up on MLB Network or somewhere else.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Dec 8, 2009 -> 11:12 AM) Can Matsui still play the field or is he a DH now? I think he's a DH.