chitownsportsfan

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 28, 2014 -> 05:07 PM) I watched this and nobody "forgot" anything. That obvious noob stuff is once again based on outcomes that would have been different had the players actually come through. But hey, 1-2 games per manager, who really cares then. Yea, because no team has ever missed the playoffs by a game. Are you serious with this s***? I can't tell if you're trolling hard or what. Riddle me this: either Robin forgot to PR for Jose when he was on 1st or he changed his mind once he was in scoring position. The possible explanations are: Robin doesn't really understand baserunning leverage (not a good thing, hard to believe since he played professional) or he forgot, or he changed his mind. All 3 options are awful, pick one. Ok brainfart, but Robin has a lot of brain farts.

So he has zero trade value, go figure. Well, unless anyone wants to give up a non 40 man player for him just non tender him in the offseason, the roster spot is more valuable.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 28, 2014 -> 04:49 PM) So the players dont perform? And its the managers fault. Please continue the analysis. How many games better should the Sox be without Ventura? Dude, I'm talking about obvious noob stuff like running out of pitchers, "forgetting" to PR for Jose and then PR for him when he's on 2B, bringing on a LHP for the platoon matchup and then having the opposing manager make the obvious move to then bring on a righty PH and batting Gordon Beckham and Ramirez 2nd while the guy with the highest OBP on the team can't get out of the bottom 1/3 (Conor). And to answer your question, maybe 1 or 2 games at most. As I've said so many freaking times: managers don't really mean s*** in baseball but that sure as heck you don't try and get the best you can.

I love Frank but it's pretty obvious the guy has a bit of a self esteem problem that manifests itself as bitterness at times. I realized though listening to his speech that he's a pretty poor kid from a pretty poor part of the world that rose to become a 1st ballot HOFer and maybe that's why he always had a little bit of a chip on his shoulder, maybe he at times was a little self conscious about his background and playing in Chicago kinda contributed to his being over looked at times in the national media.

Robin is one of the worst in game tacticians I've seen, that's for sure. He routinely gets late game subs completely wrong and everything from his lineups to when to use the platoon splits to make decsiions --are often head scratchily naive, like decisions you'd expect from a 1st year manager with no experience. Except that was 3 years ago. One thing Robin won't ever do is make waves off the field or throw a player under the bus unfairly. Now, those are points in his favor but I don't think there is any way it's enough to keep him around much after this year. Managers have a shelf life and pretty much any manager will get tuned out after awhile no matter how player friendly they are. Robin isn't seen as much of a hardass / discipline type so I can see the clubhouse getting away from him and then you're left with nothing really to defend him on.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jul 28, 2014 -> 12:51 PM) Yeah Sale's ceiling is HOF level, that's what I am getting at. He's been burned a few times staying with the same pitch at close speed & that sort of thing. If Sale can show the extreme stuff, extreme deception AND become more of a "mind f***" pitcher like a Maddux or Buehrle then watch the f*** out because those numbers are really going to turn into "video game" numbers. And I think that's exactly the path Sale is looking to take. It's all about getting the hitter, getting the out, getting the win with him. And I love it. Yea it's amazing how he is now pitching to contact at times to keep his pitch count down. He's learning to throw some ground balls early in the game when there is nobody on, rather than going for the knockout every time. But he still has the strikeout stuff when he needs it.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jul 28, 2014 -> 12:41 PM) I would LOVE to see what Sale could do with a brilliant catcher behind the plate. I think Flowers is ok, but put a guy back there that really knows the game and hitter tendencies at an extreme level & really that's what I think Sale needs. I think that because of Sale's experience now, if you put AJ behind the plate & Buehrle in the dugout next to him he'd take that next step. He's great but he's great mostly on stuff IMO. I think right now he's in that stage where he's learning to be a great pitcher with great stuff and IMO he probably needs a little extra help. I think Sale is the kind of guy who if he could develop a Maddux/Buehrle type of approach/mentality (and I think that's what he's trying to do) would be capable of putting up an ERA right around or even below 2.00, that's how great his stuff/deception is. Sale is a pretty special player but I still think he has room for improvement left. His absolute ceiling is otherwordly & I agree with the poster who said we're fortunate to be able to watch this guy every 5 days. And again in terms of overall ability, I could actually see myself picking up a baseball card 10 years from now, flipping it over, and looking at a single season of something like 220IP with an ERA of 1.80 or so and a WHIP under 1.00, that's what his absolute ceiling is IMO. He's that dominant. I really don't think there is much he can improve on other than maybe continuing to refine his command and perhaps learning to "pitch backwards" at times. I mean, he's pitching at a historically great level and if he keeps it up for 10 more years he'll be a no doubt HOFer. Kershaw is on pace to be one of the top 5 pitchers of all time, if Sale is only top 20 when he retires I think we'll take that.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jul 28, 2014 -> 01:00 PM) There's plenty of peripherals which are league and park-adjusted, and Kershaw blows Sale and everyone else right out of the water Eh, it's pretty close. Kershaw is basically slightly better on K%, GB% and K/BB ratio, but you can make an argument that facing the weak NL west and the weaker league in general helps in ways that don't get park / league adjusted. Basically IMO there is a clear tier, with: Kershaw Felix Sale ---- every else the differences in quality between Sale, Kershaw and Felix are almost indistinguishable but gun to my head I'd go: Kershaw, Sale, Felix. Chris Sale is really f***ing good however you slice it and we are lucky to watch him pitch every 5 days or so.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Jul 27, 2014 -> 08:58 PM) Good idea to trade Reed, but a terrible move to waste 40 save value on such a flawed player. They were fooled by his semi-successful cup of coffee in the bigs - a 117+ wRC in AAA translates as a borderline MLBer. Bad scouting, I guess. Eaton trade looks good. RH will need to do better than 50-50 for the team to turn the corner, though. Addison Reed fWAR: -.3 Addison Reed bWAR: -3 Matt Davidson fWAR : 0 Matt Davidson bWAR: 0 The Sox "won" that trade, if anyone. Reed was smoke and mirrors and the Sox (as they are prone to) correctly sold high. Davidson is still young and will have a chance in 2015 to turn it around. Reed on the other hand has declining velocity (down to over 2.5 mph from his rookie year) and will be lucky to carve out a decent career as a middle reliever. Anytime you can trade a "proven closer" entering arbitration for a high minors 3B that has a 50/50 chance to turn into a solid starter -- you make that trade. Hahn has done an excellent job, really the only obvious mistake is the Keppinger signing. Some would argue (not me) the Rios trade was a mistake but other than that his additions have been spot on -- and for the most part, he hasn't spent much money or sold the farm to get good pieces. Reed isn't very good, check his stats. The Sox obviously have a good track record with pitchers and they correctly recognized his downward trend. Anyways, good to see the system now back to respectability even if the Sox don't hold on to all these guys it certainly helps to have depth to trade from.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 05:03 PM) the list was 10. Darvish 9. Teheran 8. Kluber 7. Sale 6. Price 5. Wainwright 4. Richards 3. Cueto 2. Kershaw 1. Hernandez Pretty awful list. How in the heck is Scherzer not even on the list and Sale #7? Cueto 3? Richards 4? You gotta be bleeping me! IMO it's: Kershaw Sale Felix Scherzer Darvish And then a clear 2nd tier starting with maybe Price, Wainright and flavor of the week. Cueto and Richards this high is a joke. You can def chalk those stupid picks up to "guys that are good I watch on TV more often than other guys that are better".

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 09:27 PM) No way he's at 12 percent body fat. Yea, maybe 16%. He def looks like he's lost a lot of weight though. Some of that is probably by design so he doesn't get too anemic by the end of the year. Next spring though I think he can come in a little leaner. He's proven fairly durable so far and any problems he's had are with his feet so the benefits of the weight loss outweigh any loss of power -- if any, imo.

Danks pitched well but man, the Minny lineup is not good. Facing Danks, who has struggled badly with control this year, they go up there aggressive and Danks did a lot of pitching backwards it seemed starting with offspeed stuff to grab a strike. That said, I still don't really see anything that points to anything other than 4/5th starter out of John. He still doesn't have nearly enough command to pitch well at 88-89 but I will say he seems to have more movement on his stuff than earlier in the year. I haven't checked the stats, but it seems he's getting more swings and misses than earlier. Good effort from John, an easy guy to root for, wish he wasn't a facsimile of his pre shoulder surgery self but it is what it is. Offense wise, it was a few bloops and a few blasts and I'll take it. The Sox have a number of good hitters, they just need a few more average ones.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jul 25, 2014 -> 02:54 PM) Maybe your man boobs at a heavier weight would have protected you more. Yea, sarcasm aside, for most athletes (non NFL edition) losing weight is only going to help. An extra weight you're carrying around as you approach 30 isn't good weight. Just ask CC Sabathia what it did to his knees. When I saw him in spring Jose looked a lot like Miguel Cabrera in that NFL guard sorta way. Yea they are incredibly strong but they are also carrying an extra 5-10% body fat and that translates to an extra 10-30lbs. I'd guess that Jose came into came around 18% body fat and he's probably now down to around 12%, you can notice it in his face especially. If he can get down to 8% it should prolong his career at 1st base by a couple years. Nobody is going to mistake Konerko for Usain Bolt but he has kept any extra weight off and that has undoubtedly helped him extend his career relatively injury free. Jose would do well to follow that.

I think Tank is the most automatic out in this lineup right now, that's saying something.

jesus, jose, a humback 400 ft line drive oppo.

jeez, what a way to cancel the postgame.

Eaton has a great feel for how to get on, he's always slapping at balls and using his speed. He's basically the platonic ideal of a slap hitter. He even gets his share of doubles because of hustle.

what an awful AB from Tank, jesus.

Hawk, I know you're not in the booth, but are you on Soxtalk?

Noesi looks good. His slider is nasty and so is his fastball. He gets in trouble the 3rd time through usually see if he can break that tonight.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Jul 24, 2014 -> 04:57 PM) Actually, other than the Houston game, his velocity and metrics have improved as the season has gone on. fun with selective endpoints. I honestly don't know what to say to anyone that thinks John Danks is anything more than a 4th or 5th starter at this point. Don't even look at the metrics, watch the games he pitches! Is there anything about his stuff, control, or command that screams 3rd starter? Hell no. Hector Noesi has better stuff. Danks used to succeed because he had pretty good command and control and a 90-92 mph heater that he could spot well to work with his cutter and change. His average FB velocity was 91.6 in 2011. This year it's 88.1. That tells you most of the story right there. His change is still good but his cutter and fastball are both well below average now and the metrics back this up. His fastball gets absolutely tattooed, the numbers on Fangraphs for his fastball post injury are pretty stunning.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 24, 2014 -> 03:25 PM) If only we still had Addison Reed ... he'd be injured?

Of course.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Jul 24, 2014 -> 02:27 PM) Danks can certainly be a factor in the Sox next run for the World Series. He is not an average pitcher, he is an average mid-rotation pitcher, something that is not that easy to replace or the Sox would have three more of them. His contract is reasonable for his performance and it is unlikely that the Sox would get any discount by bringing someone in put up similar production. Couple that with the way that Danks has continued to improve the further he has gotten from surgery, he could end up being an extremely solid #3 starter in a playoff rotation. The money is not holding the Sox back from anything and the Sox have a terrible track record of acquiring established players in free agency. John Danks will never ever be a "solid #3 on a playoff team". In fact, he's pitching worse this year by many metrics than he did last year. His velocity is down and his walk rate is way up. People need to realize that he had a horrific (for a pitcher) shoulder injury that no pitcher has every really come back strong from. It's a testament to John's determination that he's even in the rotation and slightly above replacement level but as far as the physical tools, he doesn't have them anymore.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jul 24, 2014 -> 02:42 PM) Odds are it's mostly continuing to build strength and thengetting in "baseball" shape with timing and coordination. Basically he needs to go through Spring training. Yea he probably couldn't do any upper body work for a few months and is probably just now getting back to lifting. Bat prolly felt pretty heavy in his hands the first few swings. There might be scar tissue he is also working through correct?