chitownsportsfan

QUOTE (shysocks @ Feb 26, 2015 -> 02:18 PM) I've seen "The Sox want Micah to win the job" an awful lot in the last few months and I'm curious what is making people say that so often. Is there something specific you can point to? Just that's he the better prospect and they want all the better prospects to do well? I think I have an idea but I want to hear what people say first. No kidding. Repeat it enough and I guess it becomes a fact. I've seen NOTHING from the Sox that indicates they think Micah is anything other than a future utility guy.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 25, 2015 -> 09:49 PM) It's a lot more about technique and reading the pitcher at the big league level. In the minors, pure speed, pitchers not holding runners and just poor fundamental throwing mechanics from catchers are the main culprits. Actually, Micah had a technique thing going, but it was felt by most scouts that it wouldn't work at higher levels and that he would have to make adjustments in his approach to be effective. Right, the Sox have plenty of fast guys at this point, question is, do they have any base stealers? Hopefully Vince can help out. I stole hundreds with him on RBI baseball.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 24, 2015 -> 10:02 PM) Was rehabbing the back injury last year and went down for Tommy John Surgery after tearing UCL in his elbow, good chance it was due in part to extra stress during the back injury rehab. wow totally missed that. Ugh, hate to see that. Thanks for the info. Wish him well he should make a full recovery but for a young athlete like that it had to have been a tough blow.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Feb 24, 2015 -> 07:59 PM) I'm hoping for at least a 2.5 this year from Conor. I'm hoping, but his limits against LHP kinda rule that out. Unless he improves to "average" defensively that is. I like Conor his candid attitude is a breath of fresh air and he has talent -- he wouldn't have been a 1st round pick without it. Hope he puts together a nice 280/330/410 year with solid defense.

What the hell happened to him anyways? Last I read he had a back issue but he's been shut down for what, 6 months now? Long toss is nothing. It's like a basketball player taking warmups. When does he think he'll be throwing from the mound, end of March? Have to think they'll have him stick around extended spring training until early May and then assign him to a rehab stint.

First time Eaton gets thrown out with Jose, La Roche and Avi due up, imma be a little pissed. Please just be smart about it. I don't care if they steal more, but do it in the right situations and above 66% please.

QUOTE (flavum @ Feb 24, 2015 -> 05:54 PM) Anderson is in minor league camp. You may see him late in a spring training game, but he's not there to make the 25-man. It doesn't matter right? At least until they do something stupid like bring Konerko back and give him 220 PA. Yea it was a punt year, but it's a slippery slope.

Man the Sox are ridiculously loyal to their scrubs. They got BA and Mitchell in camp this spring. Personally I don't get it, but if it makes them look better for potential FAs, great.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 24, 2015 -> 03:42 PM) Dude still sucks. lol a 1-2 WAR player that was acquired for diddly squat and is pre-arb. Great guy to say "sucks". He's a decent starter and a great guy to have on the roster at his salary.

QUOTE (Tex @ Feb 23, 2015 -> 09:18 PM) FWIW good article. teams will realize soon that platoon guys and defensive specialits on the bench are more important than 12 and 13 man staffs. Find one guy as your rubber arm long guy instead of 3 "middle relievers".

QUOTE (Tex @ Feb 23, 2015 -> 06:27 PM) Anyone know off the top of their heads who has done it before? I guess I never really noticed a team stacking relievers. The Royals (of course) have talked about carrying 13 pitchers this year. http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-colum...le10634720.html

Yuck. How often is the 8th man in the pen going to pitch in April? You're going to get rained out at least once, and the schedule is soft anyways with several off days. Makes zero sense IMO. Better to have a legit outfield defensive replacement rather than carry a extra reliever.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 23, 2015 -> 02:02 PM) Maybe Brantly has a reputation for calling a good game. In non punting years the Sox seem to want a backup catcher that meets the criteria of "would the staff not mind throwing to him if the lead guy goes down for a few weeks". Nieto obviously didn't meet this criteria, but they weren't really trying last year either. Whoever has the most comfort with the staff will win the backup role IMO. Personally, I'd much rather see Kottaras win the job because of his OBP skills.

Micah with Coleman: https://twitter.com/CST_soxvan/status/56920...2203776/photo/1

Robin is saying this because Hahn has told him he expects to make the playoffs and Hahn because JR expects to make the playoffs.

Not going this year but went for 1st time last year and posted some stuff on an earlier thread but I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE to try and go that hasn't. I got Jose's autograph and it made the entire trip special just right there. Compared to a MLB game the players are literally right in front of you. Camelback ranch is a 1st class facility. Do what most vets do and get lawn tix and move closer. The ushers encourage it. Marvel at the Dodgers fans. They are a funny, eclectic bunch. I was coming from Seattle, and the warm air of the Valley of the Sun was a blessing. Just imagine your Chicago asses.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 19, 2015 -> 06:07 PM) His speed is not an issue defensively - it does translate that way. I've watched him play in person and the range is very good, saw him make some plays in short right that were tough for most people. And me makes the occasional spectacular play too. His arm is fine for 2B, but isn't strong enough for an outfielder from what I've seen and read. The problem is the glove work, which is very inconsistent. Part of that seems to be mental - a lack of focus on routine plays, and a tendency to try to do too much and force a play. Those are things that can be learned, which is cause for optimism. Doesn't means he WILL fix them, but it means he can, and he's a sharp guy. Thanks for the report I'll readily admit I don't watch these guys film, don't go to the games, I rely on the reports from scouts. It's interesting to me that the problem is with his glove work because usually what you see is that slower guys rush the throws, rush the transfers, rush everything because they don't trust their own ability to get to the ball quickly. Usually guys that are fast in the infield are also slick with the glove just because they have so much time to get a good grip on the ball, a smooth transfer, whatever. Hopefully he just needs more confidence and seasoning. Keeping his legs healthy, much like Eaton, will be key. I have a feeling Micah is another "sports car" type like Eaton, if he isn't fully tuned, he isn't going to be very effective.

Thing is tho NorthSide he isn't "knocking on the door of the majors" with his play in the minors. He's only there by default as the Sox don't have anyone obviously better than him either in MLB or MilB. It's faint praise IMO. I'm not high on guys that can't translate their speed defensively. Speed needs to play not just on the bases but defensively and in getting on base (Eaton is a master of the slap hustle single). Maybe Micah puts it all together this year in AAA and forces his way onto the big club. I just don't expect it. "Middling prospect" was too harsh but I personally have him ranked outside the top 10 in the ORG. As for Rodon, I fully expect him to throw 50-120 innings in the bigs this year, but not more than that. He needs at least 5-10 starts in Charlotte to continue to work on his command and control and pitch sequencing. That means like a late June callup and I expect him to replace whoever is the least effective starter to that point. My money is on Danks. Danks will either be DFA or traded for a bucket of balls before the deadline imo. I don't see much from any of his peripherals or PitchFX data from the last two years that leads to optimism.

The irrational exuberance on Micah Johnson is one of the most inexplicable things I've seen. He can't field 2B. Until he does, he's a 25th man, at best. If he gets 400 PA in Charlotte and goes 300/340/440 with 30 out of 40 SB and the reports on his defense are better -- than fine, pencil him in for 2016. Until then he's just a middling prospect IMO. He's not 22, he's 24, that's a major blow. He's older than Sanchez FFS.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 19, 2015 -> 04:18 PM) He will adjust to having seen pitchers before. He has one hole in his approach and that is junk down. Most hitters have a weakness. Miguel Cabrera likes to chase high heat. Problem for pitchers isn't knowing the weakness, it's not missing the spot. Oh, that fastball missed to Miggy: wasn't that up and wasn't that in, that's a double. That slider to Jose wasn't that down, and wasn't that sharp, that's in the seats or roped out to the gap. I'm not worried about Jose, he's a rock. If anything, worst case, he'll regress down to 280/340/500 and be worth 3-4 WAR instead of 5. Hopefully the team around him picks up the slack.

QUOTE (mmmmmbeeer @ Feb 19, 2015 -> 01:17 AM) Jose is easily a top 3 hitter in the league, imo. He had 10HR last April but, outside the power, he hit under .260 with an OBP just over .300 (and just 1 HR in May). He absolutely dominated after that. Post-ASB he slashed 350/432/513. June, July, and August were just phenomenal months. He's going to eventually find that perfect mix of average and power and I think it'll happen sooner than later. He could legitimately put up prime Miggy numbers this season or next. You look forward to his 4th season and beyond and I don't think it's too much of a stretch that he could draw parallels to prime Big Hurt. As Sox fans who watch a lot of games, we saw that he was adjusting to the league's adjustments extremely quickly. He was a rookie....couldn't speak English....had money for the first time in his life....was working on getting his family here....there are plenty of excuses for him to have failed last season and he overcame them all. As he becomes more comfortable, the league is in trouble. Yea I agree with this, for all the talk of his 2nd half "power outage" is the major story wasn't the lack of power but that he turned into prime Edgar Martinez with the OBP. Frankly, I'd probably take that 350/432/513 line over his 260/300/600ish line from the first half. Yea the power was done, but everything else was way, way up, including the patience. I feel quite confident saying that he is up there with the best hitters in MLB entering his 2nd season. Now, that doesn't mean he'll post the 3rd best wRC+ in baseball like last year (behind only Cutch and Trout) but it does mean that if he says healthy he has a shot to duplicate that success or even surpass it.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Feb 16, 2015 -> 11:47 AM) Looks like we can forget about the scheduled reporting dates. 25 players, including Abreu, are already there with more arriving today. Yea I'm sure these guys are chomping at the bit to get going. Bit of a late start this year, last year the first game was on the 28th of February.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Feb 16, 2015 -> 01:25 PM) I think if Robin would have played in this day and age with the way we look at advanced stats, he would be a superstar. The guy played great defense, had good power, struck out at better than average rates, walked a ton, and during his peak hit roughly 25% better than league average and was a 5.5 fWAR player. That would make him roughly a top 10-15 position player in all of baseball. He def would have been more celebrated. He is a lot like Donaldson in that he plays good defense, gets on base, and has some pop at a relatively premium defensive position. If he hadn't torn up his foot he might have had a HOF case, after the injury he just wasn't the same bat speed wise.

Robin was a helluva player. HOVG for sure. Never had the peak required for a serious HOF case but was a good player for the better part of a decade and a useful player almost his entire career.