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QUOTE (GreenSox @ Feb 4, 2017 -> 03:50 PM) But having more teams competitive would increase player movement and player salaries. The lack of competitive teams is a reason for the current situation. I don't think that more competitive teams would effect the draft, international or otherwise. The players fought for FA and limiting the draft for a reason. More competitive teams won't effect FA either. If the teams really don't need to get substantially better, they won't hand out multiple FA deals, maybe only one to get them over the top. The only way to really increase salaries is to just let the players go free without restrictions. The international draft would just limit some movement and not allow these players to get the best deal. This is why other leagues put caps and such on teams.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Feb 4, 2017 -> 01:38 PM) Avi Garcia is not going to be DFA. Mark my words Why should he be. The Sox plan on being bad this year so why waste the money on paying someone to not play. There is possibility of his replacement being better.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Feb 3, 2017 -> 02:16 PM) I just read more about it and Bernstein is talking about it now. It's not as egregious as it sounded. Multiple states are doing it or don't include professional athletes in the first place. It's about wage differential. You can earn wage differential for workman's comp issues through the age of 67. It was intended to benefit pipe fitters, bus drivers, etc. McCaskey's and the other 4 pro teams in Chicago are on board with getting the age changed to 35. Lawyers have been arguing that players should receive wage differential through the age of 67 even though they'd be retired long before then and winning by the letter of Illinois law. It's very specific. The more i read about it the more i don't like it. If an athlete injures a shoulder and cannot work certain jobs, they should be entitled to this process just like an iron worker injured on the job. I don't see why th typical retirement age of 35 should apply. This injury may prevent them from getting employment in the future. It may be even more applicable to professional athletes. Here is the quote from an article: The law currently allows players to get paid for the term of their natural life, legally established at 67 years old. The issue isn't the retirement age but the age of the natural life.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Feb 4, 2017 -> 12:17 PM) Great post...do you even know what the word "bias" means or are just being a dick for no particular reason? I feel pretty confident saying a guy with a career -1.4 WAR over essentially 2 1/2 seasons flat out sucks. Pretty much every offensive, defensive, & base-running statistic validates my viewpoint and having watched him over a couple hundred games my eyes tell the same story. Avi Garcia is simply a horrific baseball player and if anyone feels otherwise I'd question if they are biased. Also, I'd love to hear your argument for why he doesn't suck, but the sad reality is you most likely don't have one. I do know what they mean. I've had a few years of schooling. I just thought the sentences put together were funny.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Feb 4, 2017 -> 08:44 AM) No offense dude, but what Avi bias is there around here? The dude flat out sucks at all aspects of the game other than throwing. I asked for his 2015 DRS numbers simply because that was that last time he was a regular in RF. You are really reaching if you think people around here aren't objective when it comes to Avi.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Feb 4, 2017 -> 09:17 AM) First, I think that advanced analytics has a lot to do with this. Chris Carter is both a 40 home run guy and a 1 WAR player. Teams value players differently. They also realize that they can get more value out of a cheap young player than an average veteran in many cases. I also never understood why the players association was so hell bent on no international draft. A draft would, among other things, improve the competitive balance...and with that comes less tanking/rebuilding. The reason teams need to rebuild is that many front offices are incapable of evaluating budding talent, signing it and developing it. So they have to get it pre-packaged and pre-evaluated from other orgs that know what they are doing. A draft gives the franchises with less skilled front offices a better chance. The only things the players association is concerned about, rightfully so, are things like increasing players salary, benefits and retirement. Thus, a draft of any kind decreases salary and player movement. They don't care about making teams competitive, that isn't their job.

QUOTE (NCsoxfan @ Feb 3, 2017 -> 06:07 PM) Good article by Olney about what FA has turned into. Since it's insider, here is an excerpt (all I can provide) The agent touched on a damaging part of the trend for free agents: Because so many players have to settle for one-year deals this winter, almost all of them will be looking for spots next winter, increasing the flood of players looking for jobs. The greater the supply of available players, the more that the salaries are depressed for players who aren't the elite free agents. "When 80 percent of the players get 20 percent of the money," one agent said, "they will realize that the system that they bargained for was horrific." Clubs that are going to lose have no incentive to spend. As a result of the tens of millions of dollars gleaned from television and MLB.com deals, teams no longer have to rely on attendance as their primary source of revenue. Clubs have no incentive to spend money on players to improve their ability to compete, and some teams are choosing to keep their money rather than make their clubs incrementally more competitive, or spend on a name player like Napoli. Its not just the clubs that think this way. Its also many of the fans. Just look at the posts on this one. If the team doesn't have a chance to win the world series they should tank the season for better draft picks.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Feb 3, 2017 -> 02:16 PM) I just read more about it and Bernstein is talking about it now. It's not as egregious as it sounded. Multiple states are doing it or don't include professional athletes in the first place. It's about wage differential. You can earn wage differential for workman's comp issues through the age of 67. It was intended to benefit pipe fitters, bus drivers, etc. McCaskey's and the other 4 pro teams in Chicago are on board with getting the age changed to 35. Lawyers have been arguing that players should receive wage differential through the age of 67 even though they'd be retired long before then and winning by the letter of Illinois law. It's very specific. Makes sense with the age of 67 as that is basically considered retirement age for social security. However, changing it to 35 is a little low. There are many players over the age of 35 that would be screwed by this. I would think 40 would be better as there are few athletes anymore that are still playing at that age.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Feb 3, 2017 -> 03:34 PM) I think he meant "keep him around" as in through his current control, not necessarily extend him. Got it. That makes sense.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Feb 3, 2017 -> 02:15 PM) It's early to speculate on Rodon seeing is that he is under team control for 5 more seasons. If he is pitching well and the team is ready to contend then we absolutely will keep him around. We could shop him, but I think the Sox want to get back to contending sooner, rather than later I highly doubt it. I don't think boras will allow any type of hometown discount which is what the sox have a history of doing with pitchers.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Jan 31, 2017 -> 11:06 PM) At least my divorce was finalized yesterday. Two years of court appearances to end a 4 year marriage. Talk about a nightmare. So relieved that I don't have to wear a lawyer hat anymore... it's gonna take a good couple weeks for me to sink into life without all of that nonsense. Just gotta send her some more money and pay some back taxes... then the only tie I'll have with her is our son. Good riddance - mistakes in choosing a mate aren't easily amended. :

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Feb 3, 2017 -> 01:13 PM) In Illinois, athletes can receive Workman's Comp benefits up until like age 67. This bill proposes for the benefits to stop at age 35. This would affect every team in town a lot in addition to minor league athletes that play in Illinois. It's disgusting and the McCaskey's should be ashamed of themselves in they are indeed pushing this. Ryan Pace, Theo Epstein, Rick Hahn, etc should be really angry about this. The Bears have always been known for their poor healthcare. Always rank toward the top in medical lawsuits. It's been better since Michael Mccaskey is no longer in charge. I would wager he is behind this one.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Feb 2, 2017 -> 07:30 PM) If Tilson hits .175 or so, he won't be playing. Plus, we haven't seen him play out there yet. Hard to say he will be an improvement. I mean, we traded Duke for him, straight up. This goes without saying. Unless of course they just want to tank and give him a full year post injury to adjust to the MLB.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Feb 2, 2017 -> 07:21 PM) I'm guessing those projections were based on Melky in LF and Avi in RF. Both are below average defensively and can be absolute nightmares to watch on the field. I like Tilson in CF but how much of an improvement is he defensively over AJax? AJax played a pretty good CF last year so I'm really not sold on the perceived upgrade at this point. Now if the Sox can get both Avi and Melky off the field, then the outfield could look much more lively out there if we see players like Bourjos, Engel, May thrown into the mix. Screw it. Just DFA Avi, move Melky to DH, throw Tilson in LF, Engel in CF, Bourjos in RF. They won't hit much but at least their defense should save some wear and tear on the pitchers. Plus, their lack of hitting will add to the TANK FOR BEER '18 campaign. Jackson only played about 50 games or so last year. i was comparing him to all of the others that played there. However, it also looks like I was wrong about his defense being really good.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Feb 2, 2017 -> 06:03 PM) Going from Adam Eaton (2016 version) to Avi Garcia in RF is probably as big of a defensive drop as conceivably possible. Tilson may be an improvement in CF, but he's not really not that good out there. He will not come close to making up the difference in lost RF defense. I thought i read somewhere that he was the best defensive OF the Cardinals had. And they had some good ones.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Feb 2, 2017 -> 04:14 PM) No surprise really. The OF defense has to be dragging these projections down. I wouldn't think it would be that drastic of a change. Cabrera will be the same. They lose with Eaton gone but improve with Tilson in CF and I would think a better CF is more valuable than a decrease in RF.

Frazier was interviewed on MLB network earlier today. He was asked twice about the two big trades of Sale and eaton this past offseason. Both times his replies were that Sale is a great ballplayer and the team will miss him but they got some really good players for him to get younger and better. Not once did he even mention Eaton so I think it's safe to say what he thought of Eaton.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Jan 31, 2017 -> 08:58 PM) Oh joy... thanks for the preview of what's to come Don't worry. That's why you belong to soxtalk! It's all good.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Jan 31, 2017 -> 08:48 PM) Exactly. I never get tired of talking Sox baseball, but even if I did, I wouldn't b**** and moan about other people still doing it. It's better than talking to my teenage kids. At least the board responds, even if it is usually negative.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Jan 31, 2017 -> 04:29 PM) It's not like anyone is forced to read this thread. Just don't open it if you don't want to. It's that's simple. Exactly, how can someone get their number of posts up if they don't post frivolous things in frivolous threads.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Jan 31, 2017 -> 01:17 PM) Quintana isn't an ace you idiot, just look at his win/loss record. 4th starter at best. i think the lack of strikeouts (comparatively) is what makes people question it.

QUOTE (reiks12 @ Jan 29, 2017 -> 08:40 AM) With Robin out of the picture I would say Robertson would be better managed hopefully. I would be fine with allowing him to pitch to his capabilities and raise his trade value for the deadline or next offseason. While RV had the final say, cooper did a great deal of advising on handling the pitchers. So, if Rick is willing to listen to cooper, I don't think you'll see a great deal of change in how the pitchers are handled

QUOTE (Footlongcomiskeydog @ Jan 27, 2017 -> 03:10 PM) It seems like all the major pundits do not see a future for Fulmer as a starter. The Sox will most likely start with him in the rotation at AAA this year, but I highly doubt he sticks as a starter. I have no idea why he was rushed up last year. He looked totally lost on the mound. I hope I'm wrong but he is looking more and more like another first round pick that the Sox would take back in a heartbeat if they could. Replace the "on the mound" with "at the plate" and you have Moncada's situation with boston. Does that mean he looks like a bust as well? Small sample sizes.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 11:55 AM) Robertson is honestly one of the more interesting players we have. My gut feel would be to say that Robertson fatigues easily, when you watch him start off dominantly in April then wear down. But Dick Allen posted that his worst games were all on 3-4 days rest. Not uncommon for pitchers used to pitching frequently especially those that are "feel" pitchers not velocity pitchers.

QUOTE (GermanSock @ Jan 26, 2017 -> 04:50 AM) Yes they did that too. This is why that line of research as well as the soviet research on using electrical modalities to increase strength have been invalidated. Also, that training method kopech is using is designed to increase pitch velocity. Many believe that attempting to throw too hard to often (me included) is what is leading to the increased frequency of UCL issues. While this training is effective in increasing velocity, it may not be a good thing, especially in the eyes of Cooper who doesn't think velocity is everything. Besides Kopech can throw 100 already. Trying to increase velocity from there is just an ego going crazy and will not lead to anything good.