CaliSoxFanViaSWside

QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 23, 2015 -> 01:11 PM) What is interesting to me is the Red Sox have so many options in the OF. Hanley is LF, Betts/Castillo in CF/RF, Jackie Bradley Jr., Allen Craig, Daniel Nava and Shane Victorino. Boston has writers saying Victorino is going to start but I don't buy that. At least a couple of these guys are going to be on the way out two months from now and if the Red Sox were pushed to DFAing or trading Victorino+cash I would be interested. Great makeup, great baserunner, RH bat to give LaRoche a break against lefties, etc. Obviously he has injury issues but he was awesome as recent as '13. If the Red Sox go with one of their younger guys and can't move him/DFA him the Sox would be the fourth team to get a crack at him. Don't forget Brock Holt though he's listed as an infielder he played a lot of OF last year and did very well.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 21, 2015 -> 10:37 AM) Something that's been interesting in reviewing MLB stats from last year is that Gillaspie was top 30 in OPS in the AL. To me, 2nd base is way more of a concern than 3rd is, especially since there are platoon options now for Gillaspie. Sometime I get the questions about Gillaspie and sometimes I don't. It's like everyone forgot the first 4 months of the season when he was spraying line drives all over the field batting as high as .326. That is not so easy to do in this day and age with all the shifting that's going on. It sucks he couldn't finish strong but that pace he was on just wasn't sustainable . Would ve been nice if the last 2 months weren't so bad but .282 isn't bad and as you mentioned his OPS was good despite not hitting many HR's. I really think half of it is his blah personality makes people just feel blah about him.

CSN really seems like the best place for the latest Sox video. Also video with Rodon talking , Avisails new diet, Jim Callis talking to Dan Hayes about Spencer Adams.

QUOTE (sammy esposito @ Feb 20, 2015 -> 06:24 PM) Even if we are in contention at the trade deadline, Shark could be traded for some quality prospects. That's not all that strange of an idea though at first it seems like it because of "white flag" . Let's say the Sox coddle/limit Rodon's innings early on then in mid/late June put him in the rotation and he does well. Then your big 3 for the playoffs ( if they are made without Shark and with Rodon ) is still strong. Maybe they get another pitching prospect or even some young help to the ML team for the playoff push and beyond. Don't think it could be just prospects because it would be considered another white flag and if attendance is up this year the fans will feel betrayed.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 20, 2015 -> 09:00 AM) Its not like they "gave up' all that talent, they couldnt afford to keep everyone. I realize that . It's just life with the cap but it gets compounded when you're giving away your young talent and guys like Smith anf Kruger are not scoring points while the clock ticks on guys like Sharp and Hossa . I know Coach Q really covets 2 way players but the forwards he keeps still need to get some points. Watching the Hawks has been painful lately. So many turnovers . Lots of problems at the blue line and no cap space tp make any moves unless they rid themselves of a guy like Sharp or Bickell. It just seems like they're holding on to some guys a little too long and have a revolving door of young guys they won't allow to have growing pains. The talent level just isn't what is used to be . The 2 Cups were beautiful and they've done a great job making hockey relevent in Chicago again but they are in danger of staying the course too long.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 20, 2015 -> 11:02 AM) Varlamov has won like 5 or 6 straight starts against the Hawks, including that 54-save shutout at the UC last month. It would be nice to finally light him up. Not happening Colorado just got 2 goals on a 2 minute 2 man advantage. Then Crawford gave up what had to be the worst goal of the year. Trying to pass a dump in that was on net he completely whiffed and puck goes in.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Feb 18, 2015 -> 02:03 PM) Sure it is. He's played one season. I'm optimistic, but regression is totally possible. I'd be shocked if he regressed. The guy is one serious SOB about getting better. He's been in camp since Feb 4th. and he is prepared physically now for the longer season and preparing for an even longer season because of the playoffs. He had many doubters here for 2014. Don't make the same mistake for 2015.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Feb 18, 2015 -> 11:09 PM) Richar days until P&C report! About 30 guys in camp already including Jose Abreu, Carlos Rodon, Jesse Crain, Micah Johnson, Tyler Saladino, Courtney Hawkins, Jared Mitchell, Keenyn Walker, Tyler Flowers, Rob Brantly, Avisail Garcia, Carlos Sanchez, Brian Anderson and Hector Noesi .

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 12:24 PM) Any bets on when Teuvo gets traded? That seems to be the usual SOP. How good would Jimmy Hayes look now instead of Bickell ? Brad Richards not impressing.Sharp stats are down, Hossa was bad offensively until his recent torrid streak. H Its amazing when you look around the league how much talent the Hawks have given up, Byfuglien , Ladd, Hayes, Vrbata ,Troy Brouwer ,Nick Leddy , even Frolik is having a decent year for Winnipeg.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Feb 12, 2015 -> 11:13 AM) Yeah I just re-read my post and see that it reads like I was punching walls while writing it. I have a problem with coming off way angrier than I want to. I really am trying to work on that even though I'm failing. Sorry. To be clear: any rage that did exist in my last post is directed toward Charles Barkley, lol. The only thing directed toward you or greg is some mild exasperation I actually think what you said about thread pinning makes sense -- I can see a good argument hat all acquisitions should be up there until at least the start of the season. I never take offense at your replies to me because I know what I write is USUALLY well thought out and I know the subjects that I am less informed about I cannot have very strong convictions about them .

QUOTE (Reddy @ Feb 12, 2015 -> 11:09 AM) It ends up becoming an argument of: Would you rather be the most popular, or the best? Support for advanced stats puts us in the latter category (although we probably also happen to be in the first as well, among White Sox fan sites) Your opinion is just as valid as mine . Maybe I am wrong in assuming players and contending interests fans more than advanced stats. Advanced stats do not appeal to everyone whereas I'm pretty sure all that come here like to read and talk about the players and our chances of winning. I don't know a damn thing about running a website but I think people coming back again and again matters more if Jason gets any revenue from this venture. But it's his website and if he thinks advanced stats bring more than just diehards here then so be it.

Eminor I hope you understand my rant was half truthful and more comedically intented in nature. Writing is more my thing than math so once in a while I write things just to get it off my chest with some humor and hopefully it's understood I meant no slights to anyone. But I still don't understand why it takes precedent over offseason acquisitions in the pinned area. I assume Soxtalk wants to grow as a community so even the casual fan can find things that appeal to them by dropping in here and lurking before eventually feeling comfortable enough to make posts. I realize threads "run their course " and the discussions of acquistions is old news at this point but the players and a chance at a successful season and the excitement it has generated are usually the primary interest of fans in general . I understand what is pinned is not my decision to make . It's just my feeling that having the best Sox topics pinned or on the front page is the best way to keep people who show up here interested in coming back rather then having them look at page after page of what's been discussed over the past few months rather than the first thing they see being FAQ about advanced stats.

Heard Barkley's rant last night . Wondered if there would be something on here but I fail to see how it stays in PHT . Are all sabremetric discussions now required reading ? I mean, I try ,I really do, to understand some of the more frequently used new terms to stay abreast of things. Can't say I enjoy reading sooooooooo much about it though. I enjoy my sports which mostly consists of watching and drawing my own conclusions on players. Around here or any forum where younger people gather I'm thankful for the broadening of my horizons. However, I can definitely say it hasn't enhanced my enjoyment level of sports , probably has even lowered it a little bit to be honest. My math education stopped at Algebra 2 so everytime someone starts in with coeffeicients and variables yada yada yada, I get bored to tears. Is this math class or the place to discuss White Sox baseball. I see people ask what is FIP or something else. I'm like are you kidding me ? You're on a computer ! You have the world at your fingertips ! Stick it in a search engine and you can find all the stuff on it your little heart ever desired. You get rants like Hawk and Barkley and now me I guess because you guys never give it a rest . We have a permanently pinned section on it for whatever reason .All the offseason acquisitions should be pinned till at least opening day because thats what interests Sox fans who might wander into this place infrequently. What do they see pinned? FAQ's about advanced physics. We rant because we sucked at math and we feel dumb again, but even sucking it was still simple to understand ERA and fielding percentage and batting average. Now I need a degree from MIT.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 11, 2015 -> 03:30 AM) Did Avi say he was 14 years old when he was playing in rookie ball? At around 15 minutes...shouldn't he have been 16 at least? ...or he was just trying to be funny 14 in rookie ball .

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Feb 9, 2015 -> 09:58 AM) Anyone think that due to the unknown with Avi and his tendency to hit the ball on the ground, he should bat 7th and not 5th? Having a ground ball hitter batting behind LaRoche does not sound like a good idea. I'm thinking Alexei batting 5th could be a better idea. Alexei would bring some speed to the middle of the order which could alleviate ground ball DP's and move Avi to 7th and maybe take some pressure off of him. At this point, Alexei is a better run producer than Avi so why not? 1- Eaton 2- Melky 3- Abreu 4- LaRoche 5- Ramirez 6- Gillaspie 7- Avi 8- Flowers 9- Bonifacio/Beckham/Sanchez/Johnson Avi will be faster this year from the weight loss and it's possible that we are overthinking his GB rate .It's probably safe to say that nothing in his hitting career thus far is set in stone nor in his fielding for that matter. Between his K's and speed DP's shouldnt be a problem .

QUOTE (Yoda @ Feb 9, 2015 -> 04:45 AM) .298 35HR 124RBI .416 OBP .298 but .416 OBP ? That's a lot of walks. How's he going to get 124 RBI walking so much ?

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Feb 6, 2015 -> 08:01 PM) Would there be interest if we made a spreadsheet with everyone's picks for like 5-10 Abreu categories, and then at the end of the year you get a rank for each category. For example, whoever is closest to guessing his HRs gets a 1 for HR category. Say the next closest is a tie they both get a 2 and the next poster would get a 4. Like golf, lowest score total gets the trophy. I think it would be fun only because his numbers could be anywhere from good to ridiculous. And we could post leaderboards every month or something. I think some good formulas in excel could probably spit out leaderboards simply by inputting Abreu's current stats. Oh fine now do it when everyone expects great things. :PLast year the predictions were hopeful yet not expecting much. Now they all will be pretty much a like . If you do it it needs to be done with as many categories as possible since many of the predictions will be nearly the same and more categories will separate the pack.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 6, 2015 -> 11:02 AM) This Cuban dynamo was awesome last year - .317, 36, 107, .964. Can he do better? He certainly seemed to learn as the season went on in terms of batting average, while he lost a bit of power down the stretch. So... what's he going to do this year? My guess is .305/42/118/1.002 Been there ,done that ,nailed it . However I will say I think his OBP reaches over .400

Lttle ditty bout" Jackin' Dayan , a Cuban kid playin' ball in the heartland. Dayan's gonna be a baseball star. Wait, no ,Dayan ,he ain't goin' far.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Feb 1, 2015 -> 03:06 PM) I'm going to guess the Great Dane represents Danish and Praying Mantis is Montas. I think you got it. I'm so used to seeing brown Great Danes' seeing one black didn't even think it was a Great Dane. I also thought an actual danish type pastry was used more in the past on here like the Basset hound pics were used for Chris Bassitt . Mantis/ Montas should've registered but hey drugs.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 1, 2015 -> 05:45 PM) You specifically said "ranking NL teams as superior hardly makes much sense based on that alone". Based on that, I would conclude that a team with 5 Clayton Kershaws in their rotation should not be called the best staff in the league if it's in the NL. Yes, the NL is easier on pitchers, but that doesn't mean you can't rank them above any AL teams if they're a really good staff. You can't even quote what I said right when its right there for you to copy and paste . I said " Ranking NL teams pitching as superior hardly makes much sense based on that alone." Left out the word pitching kind of makes a difference even if your response was based on what i actually said and not what you quoted. Every NL starting pitcher doesn't face a DH a couple times a game . Impossible to prove that while NL starting pitchers stats may look better that the pitchers themselves are better based on those stats. But most assume AL starting pitchers do better in the NL and NL starting pitchers do worse in the AL. Saying the top 3 starting pitching staffs are in the NL is just way too hard to quantify because comparing the uncomparable doesnt work. Where you came up with the Kershaw nonsense is beyond me. But maybe it's me and I can't follow your logic or conclusions based on what you think I meant .

Thank you . Excelent !

If it was on paper it would be fish wrap.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 1, 2015 -> 03:07 PM) This is something we can understand the impact of pretty easily. Would you say that Clayton Kershaw would be an average pitcher in the AL? C'Mon. Who said anything about Kershaw being average in the AL ? 9 hitters vs 8 hitters and a pitcher . Abreu at DH , Miggy at DH vs. NL pitchers hitting. C'mon.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Feb 1, 2015 -> 09:30 AM) Well, NOW I'm excited. Before too long: 1 2 3 4 5 OR Devastating. OK I get Condor is Sale and Shark is Samardzija and Quetzecoatl is Quintana is that Pterodactyl represents the Monster Rodan (Rodon) but the last 2 have me stumped.