chitownsportsfan

QUOTE (Dunt @ Oct 2, 2017 -> 10:55 AM) Very encouraged by what I saw this season. Positives: -Farm system took steps forward, a lot of great performances across the board -Yoan turned in a solid rookie season. 104 wRC+, .327 wOBA, 6 DRS, .181 ISO. I think he only goes up from here. -Avi has played himself into either being a part of the future or a potential nice trade chip to further load up the system -Jose Abreu had his best season since his rookie year -Omar Narvaez, while awful at pitch framing, proved he can be a part of this moving forward in atleast a backup role. He actually reminds me of Alex Avila with less power. -Giolito impressed me quite a bit this season. To start the season the way he did and finish the way he did says a lot to me about his maturity and his mental toughness. Even if he doesn't reach his lofty ceiling, I think his floor is a really serviceable #3 for a championship team. -Lopez showed glimpses of some really gross stuff. The lack of strikeouts was a little bit concerning, but I think he was pretty gased by the end of the season. The fact that he was throwing 97-98 in his last start though makes me confident in his ability to start moving forward though. -Nicky Delmonico is a find. He is the type of player/find/hidden gem that accelerates the timeline of a rebuild. Im not sure he can be this good moving forward, but it's nice to have a little insurance at DH/LF. He is a solid LH bat and a welcome surprise this season. -Yolmer finished w/ a 2.1 fWAR season. His offensive profile is still nothing to write home about, but Im confident you can plug him in at 3B next season and he can be a place holder until Burger is ready or they go out and get someone like Machado, Donaldson, Arenado, etc. Negatives: -Tim had a tough season. It's great he came on in the second half, but his defense took a massive step back. I hope he's able to flush this season and come out the other side a better player. I want him to succeed here. -Fernando Tatis looks like an absolute beast. -Rodon can't seem to stay healthy. -Renteria likes bunting far too much. Great summary!

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Sep 29, 2017 -> 01:15 PM) Century, not decade lol, what a time to be alive.

One of the most reviled players in the last decade puts together a good, not great year, and he turns into a franchise cornerstone. Man, fans are fickle as f***. He's even being "credited" for being hurt! Just imagine what his numbers would be like if he wasn't hurt! Come on folks. Avi has been injury prone, among other flaws. You don't credit a guy with a hypothetical. Regress his BABIP down to a high but reasonable 340 next year (no player can sustain a 390 BABIP, not even Mike Trout) and his slash line goes to around 280/330/460. Decent production but nothing special from a mediocre corner OF. Avi has improved; I don't want to deny him that. What I do want to deny is that he's on a superstar track. Or even a star track. He had one good year. He's had 4 bad years. His timeline for getting expensive does not align with the rebuild timeline. Look at the whole picture and make a decision based on all the info, not just "he was an all star!".

Awesome, thanks SS2K.

Not sure why there has been some sarcastic comments made in my direction. I'm pegging the over under at 400 innings and 6 fwar over the next 3 years for Rodon. I'm taking the under. Anybody wanna take the over for a sig or avatar bet. There is no "minor" shoulder surgery for a MLB pitcher sox can spin it however they want. He still is going to lose a ton of strength and ROM with no guarantee of a 100% recovery.

It's shoulder surgery, probably exploratory, (the dreaded) and will not be good. As I've said: anything we get from Rodon going forward should be considered a bonus. The default position, until proven otherwise, should be "he's done".

Wow, electric stuff in the 1st. Nasty breaking ball and he strikes out the side!

Sit down Trout. Gas!

Enjoy these games folks. One batter up, one K for Reynaldo.

QUOTE (ron883 @ Sep 27, 2017 -> 04:52 PM) this post got me pumped up about Eloy, not gonna lie Can't wait to see him in spring.

QUOTE (Chisoxmb35 @ Sep 27, 2017 -> 03:37 PM) Yes of course it is. It's like you aren't even aware of who Moncada is or projects to be as a player. Walk rate doesn't really vary that much. It's hard to teach a guy to take more walks and it's not a skill that erodes very much with age either. If there is one thing I'm sure about WRT to Moncada it's that he's always going to carry a 10-12% walk rate. So even if he's only hitting 230 he's going to have an OBP around 330. That is very valuable. If he hits 280, that makes him an elite OBP at the top of the order. If he hits 25 HR on top of that and steals 30 bases, he's an elite run producer period. At 2B. Get excited about the rebuild folks, many good players, with good strike zone command and overall well rounded games, are coming through the pipeline.

QUOTE (napa_soxfan @ Sep 27, 2017 -> 01:34 PM) Pity the fool who has to write a lengthy article about James friggin' Shields! Kind of impressive in itself... Yea, right? Fangraphs also has a "Aaron Judge had the least clutch season ever". They are doing some clickbait articles lately. Must need to make some quotas.

How to fix the problem? Get better players. Like Eloy Jimenez. Problem solved.

Same s*** different package.

This is the first time in a few years I'm sad to see the season end and seeing this makes it very real. I feel like I could watch this current bunch for a few more months easily and not get bored. Love seeing what Nicky, Yolmer, Lopez, Gio and Yoan have brought to the club. Not to mention Jose's and Avi's production.

QUOTE (Quin @ Sep 25, 2017 -> 03:03 PM) Ichiro, Gurriel, Cespedes, Iguchi, Fukudome, etc. I'd say a lot of Japanese and Cuban players do. And none of them did what Jose did. Three of those guys are leadoff types and wouldn't be getting the RBI opportunities. That said, Jose was in a good position to make history and made it. I don't want to downplay it too much.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Sep 25, 2017 -> 02:48 PM) Forgot that you are the guy that hates Abreu. I mean Dick asked for an explanation and he gave it. Most foreign guys are not coming over in their prime.

Congrats to Jose. I know stuff like this means a lot to the players, even if as Eminor rightly points out Jose got it on a "technicality". Jose obviously wasn't your typical rookie, being the best non-MLB hitter in the world for most of his twenties. But any time you can put your name next to guys like that, even on a "technicality" it's neat. Jose is a run producer and he's gotten it done this year.

Stolen bases are nice but with all the scouting these days there's really only a few guys that can steal a base at a 80% clip when everybody knows it's coming. I think Moncada should pick his spots and steal 20/25 or 25/30 next year. Too much more than that and you're taking a fairly big injury risk as well. What he does need to be doing at every opportunity is taking the extra base and we've seen he's capable of that.

I've pretty much written him off as a contributer to the rebuild. If he comes back strong great. If not, meh. Something isn't right in his shoulder, that much is obvious.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Sep 23, 2017 -> 11:42 AM) Absolutely. To me, this is one of his most impressive performances. It won't show up in the numbers but being able to continue pitching effectively after giving up the 6 runs without his best or even good stuff. while wins in general don't mean much for a pitcher, this was a win for him that did matter. He's running on fumes and had zero strikeouts after only having one his last outing. I guess the Sox are just going to push him as long as his arm feels fine. Omar Narvaez would be an ideal backup catch on the next good Sox team. Maybe even a starter if he can improve his framing somewhat.

Jose really staying on the ball.

QUOTE (Wanne @ Sep 22, 2017 -> 08:18 PM) WOW...not too many MLB 2B can make that play! That was sweet... He would have had a fast runner as well, that was the really impressive part. He got to that ball in a hurry.

QUOTE (bmags @ Sep 22, 2017 -> 08:18 PM) Benetti >>>>>> soxtalk posts about Benetti meh.

wow, what a f***ing play by Moncada.