TaylorStSox

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 10:26 AM) He plays 5 positions, none of them particularly well. Using your favorite eye test, I have not seen a plus defender at all. He has botched a lot of plays this year for the time he has been on the field. He has fast. That is about it so far. Garcia does things the vast majority of infielders can only dream of. Bobbling a few balls doesn't change his tools. I've never seen anything like the Beckham apologists among Sox fans. You guys make Team Brian Anderson look like cynics.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 10:15 AM) His numbers in AA this year mean nothing. He was rehabbing. It's like spring training numbers. How has that translated for Jordan Danks? Besides, Beckham has better career numbers than Semien. So if Beckham doesn't "deserve" it, why would Semien? Have Semien start taking some fungos in the OF. It's not a big deal having an infielder play some OF. Having an OF move to the infield is a bit more complicated. Many forget, Alexei Ramirez debuted as a CF for the White Sox. Gillaspie said he probably will miss a few more days. I wouldn't be surprised if he winds up DL'd. First, you say certain numbers are meaningless, then say Semien numbers mean something despite the sample size. God this is obtuse. You'll say anything to argue. Are you Marty's uncle?

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 10:14 AM) What's so funny? Garcia terribad. Can't hit worth a lick and Danks is better in the field. His one asset is his speed but is prone to some De Aza moments. You are right about that. Garcia plays 5 positions. He's an elite IF. He steals bases. Versatility.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 10:10 AM) What is it about his .280 OBP and 206 strikeout pace that has you so excited? That is a lower OBP and more strikeouts than Adam Dunn had in 2011. Playing the OF can make him more valuable. It isn't like he's a top 5 in baseball prospect. For a guy who complains about redundancy, you sure do post the exact same thing a lot. What about anything in Beckham's career makes him deserve it? What about his .160 BA in AA makes him deserve it?

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 10:06 AM) But Danks is better and more deserving of a roster spot. Jesus.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 09:42 AM) He's a baseball player. It really isn't that hard. It is amazing people think something as complicated as hitting is easily solved by coaching, but something fairly simple, like being an average OF if you have the tools is way too much to think about. Just keep in mind, Hawk mentioned Tony Phillips last night. Maybe a coincidence, maybe not. You don't move real prospects around to make room for Gordon Beckham. Creepy avatar guy, Beckham sucks. He just does.

QUOTE (ScottyDo @ Apr 23, 2014 -> 10:37 PM) Meh, he's got a positive career UZR. It's not definitive or anything but dude's got a fairly solid glove and can get there better than you give him credit for. As for the popups? Yeah, he's got those on lock. I'm not even gonna touch this one. It's gonna turn on the E Minor bat signal. I don't want to get dude out of bed.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Apr 23, 2014 -> 10:32 PM) Who, instead of Konerko, do the Sox need as a 25th man getting very little playing time? What young player that we have would be better served by sitting on the bench in Chicago? Garcia probably won't hit enough to play everyday, but he's damn near the perfect 25th man.

QUOTE (Jake @ Apr 23, 2014 -> 10:33 PM) Always sucks to lose your job right after hitting a game-winning grand slam. He was on the way out regardless, but it still stinks. It's like seeing your sub come to the scorer's table in basketball and proceeding to rain down 3's before the next stoppage I'll be shocked if Semien actually loses his job.

QUOTE (ScottyDo @ Apr 23, 2014 -> 09:45 PM) Was with you till bolded. We all knew Beckham would get his job back, this is no surprise, but it's not very awesome (unless he somehow rakes). Beckham has about as much range as me sitting on my couch after 5 bong rips and a Las Asadas super burrito.

Garcia is so much more valuable as a bench player. He's much better defensively, switch hits and steals bases.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Apr 23, 2014 -> 09:26 PM) Is he bringing his .163 batting average and 3 extra base hits in 49 AA plate appearances with him? That, the crouched stance, the hitch in his swing, bad luck and the statuesque range at 2nd.

Now I have to watch his stupid tiny face continue to suck. Just when the offense got some mojo they bring king buzzkill back.

QUOTE (ScottyDo @ Apr 23, 2014 -> 11:16 AM) So for the people who want PK to retire mid-season, why? Who do you think needs to be on the big league team that's not already here? Nobody's knocking at the door. It's not an issue until everyone's favorite bust is ready.

This thread would look much better in the private messages section.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 21, 2014 -> 01:37 PM) Except that it's not, so I'm sorry you don't understand that. Now the "you just don't get it" argument. You're on a roll today.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 21, 2014 -> 12:51 PM) But that's kind of my point. The wildlings turned out to be not that much different than the civilized folks south of the wall. And in the show, especially last night, they seem to be sneaking away from that. That's just not true. Some of the Wildlings had redeeming qualities (Tormund'd sense of humor) but they were still uncivilized savages.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 21, 2014 -> 12:09 PM) No, it takes 3 years to come up with some sort of predictive capabilities of UZR because it has a large variation, but with limited ability to actually view plays, many people believe that Derek Jeter is still a good defensive SS which is clearly not true. Statistics help us understand that further. You can tell how players are playing defensively right away, but sample size also has to come into effect as well. You can say they are useless all you want, but they cover all their bases and help us understand how quickly and often players actually change defensively. I'm surprised you actually believe this because it's absolute bulls***. Sorry.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 21, 2014 -> 12:08 PM) I always got the sense that this was all based on what southerners thought, and that when Jon was captured we got the "other side" to the story, i.e., they weren't/aren't as bad as people think they are. In other words, a lot of the bad stuff is just legend that keeps getting passed down from generation to generation, without much proof of it actually happening. But in truth it's been a while since i've read the book so my memory could be wrong. That and when I did read them I often skipped over some of the deep-history sections of some of the chapters. Did you just read the cliffnotes? The Thenns are direct descendants of the Andals. They're the only somewhat civilized Wildlings. The show has mixed the Thenns with the Skaggs.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 21, 2014 -> 12:03 PM) Worth thinking about though...he hasn't been a full time 2b, so his ability to cover a lot of ground will be impacted by his ability to read the ball off the bat. With additional time at 2b, it's plausible he could improve at that. He is certainly a solid athlete and he has the speed to cover a good amount of range, so if he's not showing range yet that tells me he isn't getting the best jumps on ground balls. With coaching and experience that could change. His reactions are very good and it shows when he plays 3rd. With the right positioning, he can be a plus second baseman, but won't be spectacular. That's fine. It's Alexei's job to make the spectacular plays. Overall, I'm very happy with Semien. It's obvious that he just gets it. He's going to be a very good pro.

He's having trouble identifying sliders and cutters tailing away. He's probably never seen many that are this good. It's actually kind of remarkable that he's doing this well.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 21, 2014 -> 11:57 AM) People should not read anything into Beckham's rehab numbers, for a whole list of reasons. Same goes for Semien's MLB D. In both cases, sample size is waaaaaaaaaay to small. Semien's defense is obvious, solid and average. He makes tough plays, but doesn't have much range and has an average arm. He's a lot like Beckham defensively.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 21, 2014 -> 11:48 AM) What are you talking about? It's a corollary. You stated that defense is judged with the eye test because they've been doing it for 100 years. Thus, if using your eyes for defensive quality is true because it's been used for 100 years, then using RBI and W must also be true because they've done it for 100 years. Please tell me why that is and why people don't adapt and use other mediums of information as they evolve and begin to better understand certain topics. You can't say that "oh this is true because they've done it for 100 years but this is not true because they did it for 100 years." You're using a false equivalency to try to justify your argument. I'm not talking about RBI's and W's. They have nothing to do with this conversation. You believe that it takes 3 years to judge defense. That's laughable. It takes 5 minutes with your eyes. You guys spend all this time trying to create perceived value for players and it's just stupid.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 21, 2014 -> 11:33 AM) For 100 years of baseball, they thought runs batted in and wins were important statistics in determining the quality of a player too. Are you going to try and make arguments for those too? I'm not saying that the eye test is useless, but to suggest that defensive stats are useless because "they've been doing the eye test forever" is also incredibly wrong. RBI's and Wins have absolutely nothing to do with this conversation. Nice strawman, homie.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Apr 21, 2014 -> 11:31 AM) Because I can watch someone make a great play in one game, not watch their next 5 games where they have errors in each game, and walk away thinking they are great. The eye test is great, for when you actually get to see many full games. Considering how long the season is, how long games are, and how many players out there it's just not reasonable at all to say the eye test is the only measurement because youre going to be lucky to see 1% of all baseball plays. Stats help supplement what you don't see. Defensive metrics try to prove what your eyes are showing you. They're meaningless. No, I won't see 1% of baseball plays because I actually watch the games. Errors are meaningless too. I can tell you that L Garcia is plus defender because he has insane range. Bobbling a couple balls doesn't change that. Is there a stat that proves Alexei is the most underrated Sox player of my life?