chitownsportsfan

I had row 20 behind the dugout. 36 bucks, thanks Mariners and Sox both being crap draws. Was down there about 40 minutes prior to the game and stuck around through the 8th inning. Won't lie I bugged out early to avoid the big traffic rush. In warmups it seemed like Carlos Sanchez and Saladino were pretty friendly. They were catch partners. Sanchez is a small guy but his pimp walk is Robbie Cano'esque. He has a lot of swag I'm surprised more scouting reports don't note it. Alexei did his own thing in warmups as did Avi. Those were the only guys I really saw warming up everyone else was either good or probably in the cages pregame. Trayce was a popular autograph and he obliged quite a few. He had a funny back and forth with the Mariners' moose mascot. He seemed very loose and why not it's a good time in the Thompson family. Dugout was pretty dead pregame did not see much energy and I get it. West coast getaway day on a mediocre team in August. During the game the only guy on the rail consistently was Jose, and that might have been because he was DHing and just wanted to keep a bit more into the game. During the national anthem Eaton stood right between Boston and Abreu, that was an interesting contrast. In warmups Danks was consistently throwing 58 footers and it translated into the game. His arm is just too flakey on him he either loses command or velocity it seems in half his starts. You guys all know it but seeing RV up close just confirmed all the bad stereotypes I have about him. He's just dead man. He had the shades on and he was posted up on the rail by the stairs just staring into space most of the time. Didn't see any rah rah stuff from him, not that baseball is the game for that. But just confirmed my own biases really. I yelled "Robin I love you but please retire" and it got a few chuckles from the Sox fans. Not many Sox fans at the park today at all. Less than last year even. that's about it. The pick Saladino made in the 1st or 2nd inning was rediculous, had a great view of it. The play Alexei made on Trumbo was easier than it looked on TV. But to his credit he didn't round it off as many SSs are prone to when they have a slower runner. Eaton was absolutely flying around 3rd on the play he scored on. Very impressive great technique and didn't slide headfirst which is a good habit to get out of him. none of these are meant as "hot takes" just my observations. Take them all with a grain of salt.

Think I am gonna bounce unless they get a few here. Better things to do then watch this garbage . Beers are cheaper at home as well.

Meatballs.

Danks is gonna have to buy Soto dinner this is ridiculous every other pitch is in the dirt.

Much better command from danks that inning. Garlic fries smell is overwhelming. Hot day.

Unreal the amount of military propaganda at the ballgame these days.

Sox dugout appears dead. Not much life in these dog days. Guys seem rather late to get on deck as well.

At the game the amount of 58 footers from danks is crazy. He's got zero command today in anything off-speed.

Rodon is developing nicely. He's more efficient and working his change.

Personally I don't think Sanchez has the arm for SS I'd rather try Salidino there. Sanchez is the long term 2B IMO. His floor is bottom 1/3 starter his ceiling is solid starter. I'm done with Ramirez I wish they would just DFA him and see if anyone wants him. They are too loyal and don't run it enough like a biz at times IMO.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Aug 22, 2015 -> 01:23 AM) Sanchez 2-4 2 doubles 4 RBI .. Batting .241 . Really remarkable considering where he was. .240 barrier gone ,shooting for .250 . Saldino 3 hits 2 RBI . Back at .255. Flowers 2-4 3 RBI What's scary (and, well, good I guess) is that elite glove light hitting 2B 23 year old rookie Carlos Sanchez might finish with the 5th highest wRC+ on the team. Sanchez is holding his own but goodness where the hell is the overall production. Hindsight is 20/20 but it's obvious Carlos should have been named the opening day starter at 2B. Not only is his defense elite, he also did nothing but hit in spring. The ORG however sold the narrative of Micah and it sold them right down a historically awful defensive start.

I'm drunk but nobody else did it. Fun stat: ISO power: Adam "the roach" La Roche: 136 Carlos "known power hitter" Sanchez: 137 Good win. Hopefully Sale can get 300k. Sanchez is balling out since the ASG. He's a rare bright spot position player wise.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Aug 21, 2015 -> 03:13 PM) I usually get my spouse to agree to a vacation to the Oregon and Washington coasts around the Sox being in Seattle. Couldn't swing it this year because of family reunions and she went earlier. Anyone know a good lawyer as this is unacceptable to me I agree with Hawk on that, the PNW is a beautiful part of the world. Especially this time of year. 9/10 days in august are 77 with a light breeze and sun.

I just got a ticket for $36 row 22 behind the Sox dugout for Sunday. Anyone else gonna be there? I sat same place last year and moved to the front row the ushers are pretty nice down there and you can hang by the dugout and interact with the players before the game. Safeco is a nice park. Last year there was a small contingent of Sox fans around.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 21, 2015 -> 01:05 PM) He needs to be playing 1B more (if he is in the lineup). Abreu is just awful their defensively. When you see him in person, it is even more noticeable how poor he is their. I realize 1B d isn't critical, but man, he's bad...real bad. That said, his metrics at least indicate a favorable pick-up from a year ago and LaRoche's aren't that good this year (although my eyes tell me LaRoche is better). I agree 100%. He's been bad but they aren't using his skills right. He should have been playing 1B almost every single night against RHP. That never happened and they also exposed him early in the season to LHP and continued it through July, which is insane. Jose is just slow footed. He's got solid instincts but also hands of stone. Overall he's poor.

I f***ed up, allowed myself to come around to the signing based on his defense at 1B and that he would basically platoon because hey the Sox looked at the back of his baseball card for 2014 and saw how he fell off a cliff verse LHP. But, none of that happened and once again we are looking at an aging, bad fit at DH that is roughly replacement level. Time is a flat circle.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 21, 2015 -> 02:32 AM) I actually meant Rose is the kind of guy who'll get a coach fired BECAUSE he's not good enough to carry a team to a crown. He's no LeBron, Kobe, Durant, etc. So the front office will inevitably blame the coach cause D Rose isn't good enough to do it. He's gonna need a helluva lot of Pippens around him. Meanwhile at ISU he's god forever!!! He'd be able to sign so many 10 year contracts and extensions and make so much $$$ and be loved forever in Ames if he just stayed. I wasn't referring to Rose's personality or injuries, but his ability. this thread has gone off the rails.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Aug 20, 2015 -> 05:30 PM) A bartender just told me that JR told him that KW is gone, Hahn will move up, Robin becomes GM and Ozzie will become manager. It's almost time for a Chris Broussard meme. MY SOURCES TELL ME THE LEAK IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 20, 2015 -> 02:26 PM) Toronto wanted to hire KW as their president last year. Seattle sports radio says KW sucks. Which one should we go with? And yet they didn't hire him. In fact, nobody has hired him. Makes you wonder who's right, you or those talk show hosts. Also, I was simply giving the perspective on KW from people in the sports industry outside Chicago. I'd say their analysis is pretty damn spot on. KW is a rich man's Jack Z and frankly that's nothing to brag about as Jack Z is one of the few GMs with a worse last 5 years then KW.

QUOTE (shipps @ Aug 20, 2015 -> 02:09 PM) Its crazy because I think the Sox organizational focus on loyalty to who they put in place is such an attractive thing to lure talent from outside but its the same damn thing that keeps that talent away because they don't make changes very often LOL. Even when it may make sense. Yea exactly. Just a little tidbit from Seattle sports talk radio this morning they brought up the Nightengale story on KW possible to Seattle and both hosts were like "uh, no thanks we already have the slightly worse version of KW in Jack Z". I'm not sure how valued a commodity KW is anymore. His run of success is fading further and further into the past with each day.

It's Happened! Carlos Sanchez has passed Flowers in OPS! I'd laugh harder if it wasn't so pathetic.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Aug 19, 2015 -> 08:13 PM) They also have the 32nd ranked farm system in major league baseball Someone over at BTF (might have been Walt) did an analysis showing how much the FA market has changed on a cost per WAR basis and on how much WAR is typically available in an offseason compared to say 2002, when teams like the Yankees could easily outbid everyone else and set up a winning team almost solely based on FA (ignore for a second all the home grown talent they had it's just an example). Now, even the rich teams like Boston are founding it nearly impossible to simply buy enough WAR in the offseason to make a good, winning team. The Tigers are absolutely f***ed. Even if the contracts of Miggy, JV, and V-Mart were magically lifted from their shoulders there aren't enough premium FA anymore to sign to replace them. And even if there were, because of the winner's curse, they couldn't afford to sign more than one or two at most. And then they'd still have to get 30 some odd WAR from guys they already have on the team. You can't build a team through FA anymore you have to rely on drafting and scouting and trades. It's a fools errand to even try which is why you see teams like the Astros and Cubs having so much success without big payrolls. You don't need a big payroll to compete anymore and in fact it may often be a detriment as it eats into your money available for scouting, development, intentional FA, etc.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 19, 2015 -> 07:22 PM) Good post. I agree. Duke is just another guy and he's trending downward IMO. He's a waste. Melky isn't totally worthless but he has no power and we need power at that position in the Cell. He's pretty ordinary at best. Robertson is a wasted commodity. He has great stuff but our team isn't a contender and doesn't need him. Sox have a ton of holes to even get to be a .500 team. Duke and Melky are average players. The Sox need more average players and they found two last offseason. I will keep repeating this over and over and over again: the team Hahn inherited from the MLB roster on all the way to Kannapolis WAS ARGUABLY THE WORST IN ALL OF MLB. The team had half a dozen holes on the MLB position player roster, some of them smoking craters. The farm was in shambles, the international efforts were lagging and the overall position of the club was bottom 1/4, at best.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Aug 19, 2015 -> 07:29 PM) You're right, but you have to trade something to get something. Good teams sell high. If the Sox have a replacement, that's what you do - sell high. Except...you're not selling high. You're selling a guy about to enter his prime according to all the research we have on aging curves. In fact, hitters don't really age anymore Eaton could be entering a 5 year stretch until he's on the wrong side of 30 where he's a consistent 3-5 WAR player. You don't trade that away unless you get bowled over on return. And nobody does that anymore.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 19, 2015 -> 06:49 PM) Wow, Flowers catching. I wonder if Soto is dealt the next few days. Free Trayce! He'll never clear waivers.