Jordan4life_2007

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Jul 12, 2009 -> 12:40 AM) He's hitting into extremely poor luck (.207 BABIP), making Phegley just another example of why batting average isn't useful as an evaluation of true ability. His strikeout rates (8.8% swinging strikeout and 0.0% called strikeout) are both great so he clearly hasn't been over matched at the plate. He does have a high fly ball rate thus far which would bring his expected batting average down some but it should also result in a very strong home run rate, which is obviously a good thing. Like other have said though, it's too small of a sample size to make any kind of true evaluation but I don't see anything to be worried about. In fact, if there's one thing I'm most certain about from this draft class it's Phegley's ability to hit, he was a very polished, advanced college hitter and those guys have by far the highest rate of reaching the Majors and turning into average or better players. You really, really, really love sabermetrics.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 10, 2009 -> 05:03 PM) This is really true actually. The average ERA for a 5th starter is probably something like 5.25. Basically all a 5th starter has to do is not be horrible. 4 legitimate starters is really all you need to contend (and most teams aren't fortunate to have four let alone 5).

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jul 10, 2009 -> 04:40 PM) Soriano is so bad in LF it's indescribable. He's got a real nice arm. He's basically their version of Alexei Ramirez. He's just dumb out there.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Jul 10, 2009 -> 04:06 PM) boy oh boy jim hendry has really been a terrible GM.... The Soriano contract is a joke, Bradley, Heilman, and Miles have all been disasters. They have drafted terribly. His best moves in the last couple years were signing Lilly and DeRosa, which admittedly, I thought both were horrible at the time. Even the Z and Dempster deals will come back to haunt him in the long run i think. And just think about all the crap this board gives KW. In just two short years we went from a team that had zero young/impact talent at both the major and minor league levels to CQ, Ramirez, Danks, Floyd, Beckham, Poreda, Danks2, Flowers, Viciedo, ect. Best FA signing in team history (Dye)? That's KW. How about turning the bust that was Joe Borchard into arguably the most dominant LH RP in baseball? That's KW. Jose Contreras for Estaban Loaiza? That's KW. One of the best and most consistent pitchers of this era (Buehrle), who's never sniffed the DL and shown no signs of slowing down, locked up for the next two years after this one at a more than reasonable rate? That's KW (and a little bit of Rick Hahn). I know KW isn't perfect. He's made a few moves I wish he hadn't. But the hits more than compensate for the misses. I'm glad Mr. Kenny Williams is our GM.

This just in: The Phillies can hit. They've now got FOUR guys with 20 or more homers before the all-star break. That's only happened one time in league history (2000 Toronto Blue Jays).

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jul 10, 2009 -> 02:04 AM) On the Carter topic, I think you can make a case either way. He has done very well, but he isn't overwhelming the league. Even tonight with ridiculous numbers he gave up 4 earned runs. It really is more about your philosophy regarding promotions. Whether or not you want to rush a guy or take it slow is a matter of opinion. Carter is on the line where you could be right for either. I don't see what the problem is. Not sure what your definition of "overwhelming" is, but there's no reason he should still be in low A ball. At least not on the surface. His K/9, BB/9, K/BB rates are all well above average.

QUOTE (chisoxfan09 @ Jul 9, 2009 -> 07:03 AM) I still strongly now see us not dealing for Doc based on the following: 1. The pool of our major league ready or near MLB ready prospects most rumored to be available and possibly interest the Jays just shrank by 1 (Allen trade). 2. Ricciardi apparently insisting on o extension negotiation window which kills our approach (Some say we are also win now, bit I don't see that) to have the solid core until 2012 and maybe beyond. It is gonna get more interesting next week and then the week after. We don't have the pieces anyway. With Beckham off limits, we simply can't match what some of these other teams appear to be willing to give up. The Phillies are rumored to be dangling Michael Taylor, a 23-year old, 5-tool stud, who is obliterating the Eastern League, and Carlos Carrasco, one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, along with Lou Marson, a quality catching prospect that's already made it to the bigs. There's a couple other guys that would be going to Toronto that haven't been named yet. It's going to be hard for any team to top that (if this rumor is legitimate, of course). And the rest of the NL should be scared s***less right about now. A rotation headed by Halladay/Hamels and that offense? Have fun with that.

It appears the Phillies have become the favorites to land Halladay. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/rumors/post/Am...?urn=mlb,175626 Amaro should get GM of the decade if he can get Halladay without having to give up Drabek, Knapp or Brown.

Outstanding@tony. Really good job. A little disappointed by what KG had to say regarding Viciedo. But I'm willing to give him a pass this year. It was simply too unrealistic to expect him to come in and produce right away. Next year is gonna be big for him, though.

I want to play the Indians from here on out.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jul 8, 2009 -> 09:20 PM) Is Matt Thornton one of the most underrated relievers in the MLB? I think so. Without question.

I'm just tuning into the game right now. Jose Contreras is somethin' else. I was ready to throw dirt on this dude's grave a couple months ago.

QUOTE (dbaho @ Jul 8, 2009 -> 10:13 AM) Fields to Baltimore makes sense because Mora is quickly declining and getting quite old, hence a replacement is needed sooner rather than later. Would I want Felix Pie though? Eh probably not, I don't really see him being an upgrade on someone like BA or Pods overall, even though he is young and has good speed. I'd either add something to try and get Adam Jones, add Getz to make a run at Roberts, maybe go after George Sherill (although that doesn't make sense after the Pena acquisition), or get some more spects into the system which KW isn't likely to do. I just want to know the name of the liquor you were consuming when you typed this. That had to be some POTENT ass s***. I'd like to try it.

Nice. Any updates on Thompson/Goodwin?

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jul 8, 2009 -> 05:44 PM) Thank you for pointing these rankings out. It's clear that he’s a respected prospect in the minor league baseball community (and not just Soxtalk). The guy is a young, left-handed hitter with outstanding physical tools. Last season his power increased, even though he played in a notorious pitchers park, and his plate discipline greatly improved. The kid looked like he might have taken a huge step forward. He appeared to have the ceiling of a slightly, above average first baseman. There is a ton of value in a player of that caliber. Yes, he has been somewhat of a disappointment this year (from a power perspective), but he is still only 23 years old. His plate discipline at AA was actually better this season and shouldn’t be ignored. He may never put it all together, but it’s still way too early to write him off. And to be honest, I don't recall anyone on this board saying Brandon Allen was the next Ryan Howard. I like some people really liked his long-term potential and improvement at the plate last season. Perhaps he’s slightly overrated, but not to the degree this website is claiming. As for the trade, I have no problem acquiring Pena and don’t hate using Allen to get him. I don’t like losing a potential left-handed power bat, but I trust that Kenny has another plan in mind to eventually replace Thome’s bat. One thing I don’t agree with is that we have a glut of first basemen waiting in the wings. We need Flowers to stay at catcher for obvious reasons. I love Dayan’s raw talent, but it’s way too early to pencil him in anywhere, especially first base. Phegley was just drafted, but for some reason everyone here has him on their three year board. Hell, the guy might never make out of A ball, let’s wait a while longer before judging him. Last, Fields is NOT a solution at first base. The guy couldn’t stick at third, why would we count on him at an even more offensive-minded position. If Paulie can keep this up, then this whole point is moot. I’ll be happy to keep him around for another couple of seasons. I still think the Sox should target a slugger (left-handed preferably) in the early rounds of next year’s draft. A constructive, well thought-out post! Doomsday must be near. This is what I'm talking about. I'm not saying you're an idiot if you're not crazy about this trade. You don't even have to like it. There's just a certain way of expressing yourself without coming off like an irrational, arrogant, know-it-all.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jul 8, 2009 -> 04:52 PM) Brandon Allen was #99 0n Baseball Prospectus' Top 100. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8506 John Sickels had him in his top 100 picture, he also had him ranked 4th amongst our prospects http://www.minorleagueball.com/2008/12/22/...te-sox-top-20-p http://www.minorleagueball.com/2008/9/17/6...rospect-brandon Prospect Rankings* 2009 - #4 ranked for CHW http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prosp...009/267205.html *According to Baseball America Brandon Allen was more then relevant to any prospect buff. Be more constructive with your feedback, please. I admit I goofed when skimming through Baseball Prospectus' list. I obviously skimmed too fast because I didn't see his name in their list. And did you read the whole post? I know Brandon was viewed as a top WHITE SOX prospect by many minor league sites. Again, there's a big difference in being a team's top prospect and a top overall prospect. Lance Broadway was one of our top 3 prospects three years ago. He wouldn't have made any other team's top 20 outside of maybe the Astros.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Jul 8, 2009 -> 10:51 AM) I obviously can't with 110 percent certainty speak to the specific value of Brandon Allen (although I think it's pretty obvious to anyone who pays attention even to a slight degree that it's more than a middle reliever), however I can say that if he was the bare minimum required to bring Tony Pena in, then there is no way in hell we should have been making a trade for Tony Pena. Yet that's exactly what you did about 5 times last night. And then you turn right around and say your certain his value is more than that of a middle reliever when again, you have no idea what his value is. There's a difference between constructive criticism and a full-blown aneurysm. Kenny's not perfect. No GM is. But he has a proven track record in cases like these. And I'm not saying Arizona fans are right, but at least they got to see Pena on a consistent basis. And they have a much better perspective on him than anybody around here could possibly have on Brandon Allen.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jul 8, 2009 -> 11:27 AM) Not gonna lie, this is a horrilble post that proves nothing. Sorry. I'm not saying Brandon Allen is going to be the left-handed Pujols or anything, but he's FAR from a no-name. This stipulation that Brandon Allen, at 23, was way too old for AA or AAA is ludicrous. If he completed the rest of the season at AAA this year and made the team out of Spring Training, he'd still only be 24. And even if he had to do another COMPLETE season at AAA, he'd make our team in 2011 at the age of 25. Man, what a geezer. GMAB. I wasn't trying to prove anything. Nothing they say or anybody else says means squat at this point. Just showing another perspective besides that of a disgruntled Sox fan. And I could be wrong about this. But I'd be willing to bet most of the posters here don't frequent any other baseball message boards outside of this one. Which is fine. But there is a baseball world out there besides Soxtalk. And you say Brandon Allen is far from a no-name? Just because he was viewed as a 'stud' around here doesn't mean he's viewed that way everywhere else. There's a BIG difference in being a team's top prospect and a top prospect. Brandon Allen was never viewed by anybody (Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, MILB.com) as a top prospect. Only a White Sox top prospect. I love futuresox and all the people who contribute to it. But let's be honest, there a lot of homerism that goes on around here in regards to our farm system. If I read nothing else on the planet other than Futuresox, I would assume we have 5-10 ML ready prospects at every level. And I think certain posters here get caught up in all that because this board is all they know. I think it was qwerty that said he doesn't even frequent Futuresox, not because it's not a quality part of the board, but because he knows no good will come out of it due to the rose-colored glasses everybody around here wears in regards to our prospects (and he obviously doesn't view most of them the same way).

After any trade we make, I like to get the opposing team's fans' views of the deal. Here's what some Arizona fans had to say. So who's the bigger idiot? Kenny Williams or Josh Byrnes?

I'm not going to make a big ass deal out of what Kenny said. But we've had attendance issues for years. Not just recently because of the economy. That's a lame ass excuse. We have a fickle, front-running fanbase. That's the bottomline. All those crying economy when it comes to not going to as many games this year, let the Sox get to the World Series and I bet those same folks won't even remember what an economy is. They'll be doing whatever they can possibly do to get to the park in that case.

Solid. That's the first word that comes to mind when I think about Konerko. Yeah, he's had some pretty nasty slumps through the years (2003 and most of last year). Other than that, he consistently gets the job done. When you factor in defense (he's been arguably the best defensive 1B in baseball this year), he's arguably having his best all-around season. Not bad for a guy that appeared to be done this time last year. This is why you don't give up on guys with proven track records.

QUOTE (beck72 @ Jul 8, 2009 -> 06:27 AM) On paper, Pena actually looks better than most people give him credit for. Doing a quick search of ESPN stats, in the past two seasons [his 2nd and 3rd full years], Pena is 3rd in MLB holds. Only Scot Shields [62] and Heath Bell [57] have had more holds than Pena [53]. That is more than Okajima [50] and Scott Downs [48]. Not coughing up leads and keeping inherited runners from scoring are key tasks for relievers. I'm not sure what his numbers are for not allowing IR from scoring, but he's done well in protecting leads. Even this year, with the D-backs horrible, he's got 8 holds. Dotel has 10 and Thornton has 12. Holds is really a flawed stat. The best statistics to use when evaluating reliever performance (especially non-closers) is WHIP and LOB%. With that said, I like Pena a lot. He's got a dynamite arm. Mid 90's fastball and a pretty good slider. He hasn't really reached his full potential yet. But the Sox obviously believe they can max out his potential. And when you look at their track record in these types of cases (Jose Contreras, Matt Thornton, Gavin Floyd), I've got no problem giving them the benefit of the doubt.

I didn't learn about this trade until late last night. And the first thing that popped into my head was that I'm 100% certain that all of Soxtalk is going absolutely apes*** right about now. And after reading through this thread, you guys certainly didn't disappoint. First of all, who the hell is anybody from this god damn message board to say with absolute certainty (or even 50% certainty) that the Sox "could've gotten more" for Brandon f***in' Allen? Unless you can find a direct quote from any one of the 28 other general managers in baseball clearly stating they would've traded the Sox a lot more than Tony Pena for Brandon Allen then please, with all due respect, STFU! Because all you do is make yourself look and sound incredibly stupid. I like this board overall. But the ignorance/arrogance around here at times is simply incomprehensible. Unless your JPN or Scenario or BHAMBARONS and you happen to live close by one of our minor league affiliates or you're a subscriber to MILB.com, most of you have never seen a single f***ing live Brandon Allen at-bat. And that includes me. s***, I love to track prospects. But I have no first-hand knowledge about any of these guys. All I can do is go by stats, scouting reports, ect. Yet we've got message board "experts" around here on their f***ing high horses acting like they know more than guys that get PAID FOR A LIVING to scout and break these guys down? Get the f*** outta here. Brandon Allen for the most part appears to be a solid prospect. He could be really good, bad or somewhere inbetween. Who knows? And we won't know for a while. So let's stop acting like we traded away the next Ryan Howard.

I hope the Giants do something with that offense. It'd be a shame to let that pitching go to waste. I'd want no part of Lincecum/Cain in a playoff series (especially a best of 5) if I'm an NL contender.

QUOTE (dpd9189 @ Jul 6, 2009 -> 11:58 PM) I don't think they would do much in the postseason unless their lineup got hot at the right time and they improved their bullpen. However I'm not sold on LA and I think Philly repeats as NL Champs. I understand that Milwaukee and STL have had their issues too but with all the Cubs basically having everything go wrong the 1st half and for the other two not to have a put any distance between them and the Cubs is just asking to be passed up in a matter of time. It goes for us too, I think Detroit and Minny didn't take advantage of us when we were playing bad and hopefully we will make them pay. I wouldn't say they've had "everything" go wrong. Ramirez going down was a big blow. What else has happened to them that you can legitimately say "Damn, that's a real tough blow for them?" They've had some guys under-perform. But they've had some guys over-perform as well (Randy Wells, Jake Fox).