Jake

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Jan 1, 2014 -> 01:22 PM) I lived in Cook County for 24 years. The devil I know is f***ing horrifying. That would be why you're not a conservative. You're a good example of how libertarians and conservatives are different despite being known as "on the right"

I'd be shocked if Gillaspie can't play 2B at least well enough to be a Keppinger-like "anything but SS" utility player with solid platoon splits for that purpose.

Sounds pretty vague. Even if entirely true, it sounds like he might be an annoying kid. Big deal. He'll grow up and stop "irking" people... or he won't and he just won't have a bunch of best friends on the team. We'll all live.

Lovie Smith finalizing contract with Buccaneers.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Dec 31, 2013 -> 07:38 PM) Gotta believe Coop has some ideas to improve his effectiveness vs lefties, likely starting with an improved change. Coop pitchers have tended to opt for the cutter for that purpose in the past, since it can be easier to learn. Wouldn't shock me if he starts throwing one. Would give him a Maddux-like fastball repertoire.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 1, 2014 -> 01:07 PM) The Rangers definitely pushed him up rapidly, so more AAA time would make sense if there's a slot for him. But...if Davidson, Semien, and Sanchez are all at AAA...and Mitchell and perhaps Trayce are in the OF...it might be tough to find him a place to get regular at bats. That's a good point, though I hope Davidson isn't there. It will be very interesting to see where Semien plays. 2B makes the most immediate sense, but they may really want him to be a SS, where his long-term value could be much higher. My guess is that Semien bounces between 2B and SS while Sanchez and Garcia get time at 3B ( in addition to MIF slots). Garcia will get some OF time as well. I wonder whether Trayce will start in AAA. I would put him in AA, but we have pushed him along somewhat aggressively. Not so much by age, but we have promoted him before in spite of "meh" production at the lower level.

That's a rather strange argument, but it is essentially what conservatism is. Resisting change not out of some empirical or systematic line of reasoning, but out of fear of disrupting the status quo. The devil I know is better than the one I don't.

I still feel puzzled about the Crawford signing. Just seems to go against the grain of our philosophy. We don't need an elite goalie, nor do we need to pay anybody like one. When we signed Raanta, I thought for sure that would preclude an extension for Crow. I'm a bit worried about future cap issues, but I suppose I need to give these guys a lot of benefit of the doubt when it comes to constructing championship teams.

Not super encouraging that Leury failed to pit up very good numbers. While his defense and basemning make him a good fit for our crappy MLB bench, his bat needs a lot of work, even for that role. More AAA time required IMO.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 31, 2013 -> 11:51 AM) The guy had a decent year in a hitter's paradise while fanning a lot of times. There is a very real chance he isn't ready for the major leagues, at the very least, defensively. I don't know how it is at the expense of someone's development that they go play and have success in AAA vs. getting buried in the major leagues. It's not like this guy has been in AAA for several years. He's either ready or he's not. It isn't going to be a "logjam" issue. His play will determine where he plays. He had a 117 wRC+, which means he outperformed his league in AAA significantly. When he got a shot in the big leagues, he posted a 108 wRC+, which again means he did well. His development will progress in the MLB and nowhere else. Conor and Keppinger are both good/valuable enough that Davidson will not "control his destiny" so to speak unless one or both is off the roster. We won't release them, so there is a logjam. There is pretty much nothing that could happen in ST that would go against the abundant evidence that Davidson should start the year in MLB, at least other than the composition of that current MLB roster.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/about/grading/ Worth reading over. It isn't completely unassailable, but it is hard to argue that there is a better way of going about it. Best way to think about the two lines is to recognize the huge role played by scheme. More pressure was less of a problem because our QB knew how to respond, had extra blockers, and in general the plays were called better. It's insane how many 2 or 3 man route plays we ran successfully this year. It's because our coach knows that a great route tree means nothing with your QB on his back.

Webb allowed 30 hurries, 5 hits, and 7 sacks last year. The team as a whole allowed 133 hurries, 35 hits, and 42 sacks. Webb was the only player to play every snap on the offense. We ran 595 pass plays that year. Our single best rushing lane for that season was to his left and our third best was to his right, despite the fact our LG position was abysmal. Mills allowed 63 hurries, 13 hits, and 3 sacks this season (Bushrod had 4 and Forte had 3, nobody else with more than 2). The team allowed 184 hurries, 46 hits, and 20 sacks on the whole. We ran 664 pass plays this year. Worth mentioning that while he was basically bad all year, he began posting more respectable numbers down the stretch (his best game remained Week 1, though). His run blocking didn't rate positively, but wasn't back-breakingly bad like his pass protection. Not being on the blind side along with a much better offensive scheme saved him from giving up a lot of sacks. I think selective memory is at fault here. Also, Webb was prone to spectacularly bad games, which also is probably related to a scheme in which we never left TEs and RBs in to help protect the passers. Even last season, his "good year" (which would have made him 4th best on this year's line), he had a game where he gave up 3 sacks and 5 additional hurries against SF -- it is essentially where all of his negative pass blocking grade came from, that single game.

Webb honestly wasn't that bad last year. Before last year, Webb had at least one season worse (by PFF grade) than the one that Mills had this year, which is truly an accomplishment

Start him in AAA and tell him to throw changeups until his arm falls off. If he has an average change, he is suddenly an extremely compelling prospect as a starter.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 31, 2013 -> 05:19 PM) I got the "Dunn's platoon splits" line repeatedly when Konerko was re-upped as a reason why it made sense so I call back to that. I don't think that's why Hahn did it

I would imagine the Maddux/Glavine/Thomas types will get fewer votes than what ThinkFactory reflects while the Clemens/Bonds types will get more. Just have to think of what types of votes would make a writer more likely to conceal their choices so as to avoid a bunch of abuse.

Who knows, maybe he's just an axe murderer or something

I'll save my bellyaching for when the deadline passes

PK's resigning has nothing to do with his platoon splits. The last thing our bench needed was a right handed bat

I don't feel like either team "blew it" today. It was quite back and forth, The win was well-earned.

Great game for Illinois. That wasn't the Oladipo and Zeller Hoosiers, but they are a good team. I wasn't very optimistic about our chances before the game, but JFG teams continue to really come through. Ray Rice is really something else, too. A lot of folks doubted how he'd do in the Big Ten, but this should quell those doubts for a while. Even I was unsure about how much he might drop off in conference.

During the Illinois run in the second half, I was shocked that Crean didn't call a timeout or make a substitution. Really questionable coaching. Regardless of today's outcome, I don't think IU will make it to the promised land with him. He has done a great job of putting them back on the map, but I'm not sure if he can coach.

OT should not be happening. Well officiated until the very end.

that's a f***ing awful call - come on, they've been having a good game but sheesh

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Dec 31, 2013 -> 04:52 PM) Abrams was a little late but yeah could have just as easily been a jump ball. Fourth on Egwu was a joke though. Egwu himself is a joke too though lol, agreed on all counts