chitownsportsfan

QUOTE (TitoMB @ May 14, 2015 -> 08:57 PM) Arbitration has always been odd to me. So, the basic idea is, Jose says 'Hey, I am playing above my contract, I want to make X dollars next year' Then the team comes back and says 'Hey, we are willing to pay you Y dollars next year' then the arbitrator says 'Hey, I've decided you will receive Z dollars next year' where Z is between X and Y. Is that correct? yes but jose is a unique case as an int FA. all drafted players are subject to arb unless they are good enough to get a long term deal eg Sale, Q, etc. Jose negotiated it into his contract, which was smart for them.

QUOTE (bmags @ May 14, 2015 -> 08:31 PM) Micah's defense is on pace to be historically terrible. yea any talk of "scapegoat" is ridiculous. He's been historically awful. You can't have that.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ May 14, 2015 -> 07:36 PM) Yea but we're trying to win this year. The FO feels we can win and I agree with them. While not overmatched at the plate, MJ's D has cost us some serious runs so far. I can think of like 10 off the top of my head and I haven't watched every game. And it's not just those plays...it's the fact that those plays have lead to our SPs having extended innings causing them to get shelled. We're going to be tight up the middle now and I think it'll be huge. CS just needs to foul off pitches with the bat and stay above .300 with the OBP. I'm pretty confident he can do 260/290/350 but I'm not sure about anything more than that. We'll see. Defense tho, yea, he's electric at times and has great hands. It's fun to watch him. Arm isn't the strongest but great instinctual middle infielder.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 14, 2015 -> 05:55 PM) No. It means he can go to arbitration if he wants to opt out of his current deal. We still have control of him for six years. The Sox win either way really. If he's opting into arb, it's because he's really good. In hindsight, his deal is a coup for Chicago given his production so far.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 14, 2015 -> 06:38 PM) There is no other position on the diamond he's suited for given that he's already had arm issues. Putting him in a place where he has to make longer throws is a very risky move for his career. He's made a lot of errors at every stop in the minors but they also pushed him aggressively upwards because his bat was playing. He's had very little time to adjust with the bat at every level, so finding time to continue working on defense was probably a challenge for him. Unfortunate side effect of pushing the kid up a level every 1/2 season. One positive is that he's been healthy. This needed to happen for him to have a successful season and it can still be a successful season. Just go down and relax for a month or two knowing you've got some MLB experience and use it as motivation to get that big league p**** again. As I said earlier, if he can't handle a demotion after playing roughly 20% of a MLB season below replacement, well, he's not going to make it anyways. If he's strong mentally, it will come out.

Southsider2k is correct and you know I don't like agreeing with him! Public vote of confidence is standard operating procedure. It's not good form to trash any player publicly even if he has been sucking. This move, along with the whole "ORG tells RV things" story seem related. I wonder how much control RV has over his 25 guys and if he was a vote for Micah over Sanchez. There is a lot more here than just a simple roster move IMO. Something happened behind the scenes, a power struggle perhaps. or it could just be a roster move, one that seems obvious to this fan. Either way, glad it happened.

Nobody is "abusing the stats" we are using inference to come to a conclusion about his defense. It's a data point. So is the eye test. Nobody is claiming to have a picture perfect view of his defense simply that based on the data we have, including the eye test, including his SSS OF number, including the fact that nobody has ever seen him as a backup CF (hey, 90 innings) other than the Sox... point to the most likely conclusion that he sucks in CF. If you want to say "average" go ahead. I am free to argue otherwise using Bayesian style inference. I've laid out a pretty clear argument for that he sucks.

QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ May 14, 2015 -> 03:26 PM) Because when he does play its a train wreck! It's so bad! That pathetic bunt attempt, the misplays in the OF, the guy is basically clueless. I dont have a problem with anyone on this team except for him. WAR isn't the end-all but he's accumulated a -.3 WAR in 28 PA... that's remarkably efficient at being horrible. Yup. You're coming strong with this one. There is zero margin for error right now. Just because he's a the 4th OF doesn't mean you accept replacement level (or worse). They let a strong spring talk them into it with Shuck. His stats for his career suck ass. There's a reason they got him for free.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 14, 2015 -> 03:14 PM) He's hitting about .240, OBP .296, in 28 PA. No power. That's not starting grade, but you'll find it's pretty much in line with your typical 4th OF in the current modern game. Defensively he's more or less average or just below across his career across all three slots. He's not great by any means, but he's barely playing and he's about what you'll usually get from a 4th OF. He's not even among the top 10 problems with this team. I suggest you check his stats. He's Micah level bad in (granted SSS) in CF. -47 drs prorated for a season in his career. In fact, according to DRS (and you can quibble with it if you want) he's awful at every OF spot. Every. Single. Spot. The eye test says the same thing. He failed to get to a couple balls going back that Eaton usually handles with no problem. There's no role for him on this team, Boni is better in CF. If they are waiting to see how Trayce does that's fine but right now Thompson would at least give them a very good backup defensive CF.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 14, 2015 -> 02:56 PM) Yes, a team is better going without a bench player, then to go with Shuck... Come on. He's saying they are better off using the roster spot elsewhere. If Shuck was a masher against RHP or an elite defensive OF he'd have a role but he's not either.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 14, 2015 -> 02:48 PM) Shuck has a role to play, and he is just fine for it. Honestly, as a 4th OF, you don't want a real prospect doing it anyway. You want them getting AB's every single day. Shuck is just fine for what he is. What's his role? Is he a better CF than Boni?

QUOTE (LDF @ May 14, 2015 -> 02:30 PM) the voice of reasons. great post. my hope is Micah doesn't take this to heart and goes into a deep funk like davidson did last yr. If he's that fragile he's not a MLB player.

QUOTE (Condor13 @ May 14, 2015 -> 12:57 PM) I can see this move for defensive purposes but unless Sanchez has made huge strides since last year it will be a drop in batting average, OBP, baserunning, etc. This move to me makes absolutely no sense especially since this morning the Sox said they were gonna remain patient with Micah since he is the future for the sox Micah Johnson has a wOBA of 79 his OPS is 579. He's on pace for -48 runs below average on defense. He's been brutal, below replacement. If anything, he's incredibly lucky that his defensive mistakes haven't been publicly called out and/or led to more runs than they have. There's a very good chance Sanchez will not only out defend Micah (well, that has a 99.9999% chance) but also out hit him. Remember that Micah also has 6 outs on the bases. Just not getting picked off or CS will also help.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 14, 2015 -> 12:47 PM) it's a shame that no one in the white sox front office has access to the stats from Birmingham and Charlotte to be able to judge such things. Indeed. You should go work for the FO, they need a voice of reason to counter the KW hype train on his guys.

Two mistakes have been rectified and it's nice to see. Rodon is in the rotation and Micah is in AAA. The best laid plans...

YES!

great win.

throw a hook out of the zone he's done.

still talking about it!

QUOTE (Bigsoxhurt35 @ May 13, 2015 -> 10:16 PM) Wow nice play Gordo. Hawk gona have an aneurysm that was lol

QUOTE (Soxfest @ May 13, 2015 -> 10:15 PM) 4 out of 5 night for DR. yep.

DEFENSE

oh well, have ur run.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 13, 2015 -> 10:08 PM) Kudos to Ventura for getting Bonifacio the start tonight. His strategy to get more defense on the infield played a huge part in the first 8 innings of this game. I f***ing agree. I WANT MORE. Play the defenders. Rely on pitching. Now, with Rodon in the rotation, you might just have something in the whole 50% of the game run prevention stat.

Robertson is sick. Nasty stuff for a guy that "only" throws 91-92 on his fastball. He does remind some of older Rivera in that way. edit: sit down, just sick pitch sequencing and execution.