Jake

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 6, 2013 -> 04:51 PM) Haven't they already lost 2 starters for the season? I was referring to their rotation's best ERA in baseball

I would be highly surprised if we ditch Axe completely even after trading away two starters

St. Louis Cardinals message boards are convinced they're trying for a top of the rotation starter. Why they would do that is beyond me

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 6, 2013 -> 04:36 PM) It wouldn't shock me if both Peavy and Danks got moved. Axe and Johnson?

I hope they gradually increase Phegley's time as it isn't exactly easy to only play every other day

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 6, 2013 -> 04:00 PM) I would bet he would be the next starter after Erik Johnson (assuming he isn't out too long). I would agree with that, but I don't think we're getting that deep into our starters at the MLB level

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 6, 2013 -> 03:33 PM) Yep, he is a guy we may see in Chicago this year. Might come up once the relievers start to disappear

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 6, 2013 -> 01:26 PM) Not betting on Wilkins or Black. They have the look of the classic tweener/AAAA guys that play until 30-35 years old with about 100 big league AB's. Black is 26, in AA, and a 14th rounder. He's been old at every level he's played and I don't think we should think about him and Wilkins the same way. They very well may both wash out, but Wilkins is a lot closer to being a legitimate prospect IMO

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Jul 6, 2013 -> 12:55 PM) I guess I was just expecting more out of him. His shooting % was the worst of his career last year.. All the talk of Kareem saying Jo would be "A monster" if he worked with him got hopes a little too high I guess. I went back and looked on the talkbulls thread about him working with KAJ and you hit the nail on the head with your comment IMO. But hey, he made some of those funny-looking shots!

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 6, 2013 -> 10:53 AM) I don't hate it but it kind of confuses me. They pick up this potential stud from Sweden on a 1 year deal, then sign Bulin. It seems like they are wasting that 1 year deal It's still entry-level which means that he becomes an RFA, which means we are likely to retain him. If a team offers him much salary as an RFA and we lose him, we get their first and third round picks.

Jo's offense got leaps and bounds better last year. It isn't good, but he's able to make very simple moves around the basket as well as put the ball on the floor if he needs to. It resulted in him taking a few more shots than he should have, but last year was a weird one without Derrick.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 6, 2013 -> 12:25 PM) I'm at the point where I think they will get easier to watch. If people are going to make bonehead plays non-stop, all over the field, at least if they're rookies I can tolerate it. Dunn going yard every other game is fun, though

Andy is 24 years old and just posted an .860 OPS in Birmingham before his promotion to Charlotte. His season in AA last year was a bit disappointing with a .239 BA and .760 OPS. He isn't known to be a supremely talented prospect, but he is certainly talented enough. He has 25-30 HR potential over a full season it seems, which isn't a ton but isn't exactly Kotchman/Loney territory power-wise. He isn't a high strikeout guy and draws walks at a nice rate. He also has produced doubles at a good rate, 33 and 28 over 134 and 116 games the pas two seasons. He has posted a .711 OPS against lefties in his career and .830 OPS against lefties in AA this year. What do you guys think? He's been just okay in AAA through 12 games, but he has to have a chance to get a few MLB at-bats as the season progresses if the chips fall in his favor.

I'd like to see some research on this (it would be difficult), but I have always felt there are two ways to look at this. Near-ready pitching prospects are more likely to pan out as it is far easier for scouts to measure their skills and compare them to MLB standards. However, pitchers have a much higher risk of catastrophic injury that can sully the entire thing. On the other hand, position prospects are far more difficult to empirically measure in terms of the hit tool. There is always disagreement on whether a guy has enough bat speed, can hit with wood, can hit x type of pitch, etc. The only way to measure a hitter well is to see him against top pitching, which is absent everywhere except MLB. There is a ton of speculation involved in scouting a hitter relative to scouting a pitcher. However, it is far, far less likely a hitter will see his career end or be permanently derailed by injury.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 5, 2013 -> 10:12 PM) I think you guys are going to be surprised when Rios doesn't get moved. I still can't imagine a GM taking a gamble on Rios considering his potential for turning into crud. Remember how long it took Rios to start producing the last time he switched teams?? 40 games?

If we can get top talent simply by paying more money, I'm okay with that. I was planning to pay Dunn to play for the White Sox until people were willing to give up top talent, so this just accelerates the process in my book. This team will get really tough to watch if he goes, though. /selfish

Since he has had seasons where he batted over .260, he probably had extended runs of batting .300 in those seasons.

My guess is his 98 innings in high school ball involved a fair amount of abuse. You don't often see high school pitchers get that high in IP without frequently pitching on short rest, high pitch counts, etc.

I think we're pretty much on the same wavelength beautox. I'll look for those PDFs shortly and PM you, you should really enjoy his schemes and insights.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 5, 2013 -> 09:58 PM) Mark Medina ‏@MarkG_Medina 55m Lakers caught by surprise that Dwight Howard's planning to see Mitch Kupchak once he lands in L.A. Said source: "That's news to Mitch." So...it's not over??

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 5, 2013 -> 09:44 PM) Not if the Sox are going into rebuilding mode. This is the year to take lumps with guys like that, and see what they have. Guys like Dylan Axelrod are what rebuilding is all about. With Sale, Santiago, Danks, Peavy, Quintana, and Erik Johnson also around, I don't know that I agree. Even if we trade Peavy or Danks, there is an easy argument to say that Axe should not be starting come Aug. 1

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 5, 2013 -> 09:15 PM) His velocity is down 2-3 mph in his 3rd inning of work Strange. Wouldn't be such a surprise if he hadn't been a starter very recently

You can go keto in 3-4 days. I don't know what makes you think it takes so long to adapt to. That is exactly how and why cyclic keto diets work. I think low carb diets and keto diets are two different things. I agree that vitamin and minerals can be had, even on a keto diet. Since you're interested, I can dig up my Lyle McDonald ebooks on keto dieting for athletes/weight loss and find some way to give you those. He's considered the guru of keto dieting in the nutrition industry, even though he himself doesn't always advocate it for his clients. I also agree that the low fat diet was a heinously bad recommendation, even though I'm somewhat dubious as to what its effects have been. More than low fat, more than high carb, I think the issue with Americans' health is overconsumption. Calories are simply too high. We wouldn't have to quibble about this and that thing if people could control portions and overall calorie intake. Granted, carbs would be the most "addictive" food as there is a physiological response to carbs that is much like a dependency response.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 5, 2013 -> 09:00 PM) or that his breaking pitch is horrendous. Hopefully he's just overthrowing it, cause if not, he will not last long at this level. I'm trying to give him a pass on that today. He's hardly thrown one in a location where I can even evaluate it. Former back-to-back "Best Slider in Padres org." winner from BA. They commented entering this season that the pitch had regressed as had his mechanics. Supposedly a tireless worker, which makes his regression pretty confusing.

I am so glad the Bulls never got involved with that asshole. Sweet Jesus