chitownsportsfan

I hear BA looked great in ST, and that Gooch looked horrible. ST means little in the grand scheme of things. For every case of a guy contiuning a hot spring in the regular season, there are 5 cases of spring meaning nothing.

If you're going to make a thread about this--maybe you should eleborate on your observations a little more. For example: how were the fans "more annoying"? Like it was a sellout crowded bathrooms annoying or what?

Ha, when I tried to speak Spanish in language lab last semester I would have long pauses of "uhhhhhhhhhh", and "y, y, yo, tambien, mucho, etc. I can only imagine trying to speak in front of a televised audience. Oh well, like many said, we're paying him for pitching, not PR.

It isn't so much that we're (those of us that want him gone) are blaming him for sucking--it's that he should never have put in this positiion in the first place--I think we're blaming management more than Logan. He's a potentially useful (in the future) young player that needed to gain experience in the minors before making the squad. He excelled in the fools gold of spring training and made the team--I'm guessing at Ozzie's behest. The team would be better served with a player that's pitched above A ball--I think that much is obvious.

If you're saying that MB will suffer a similiar fate bacause he's similiar to those guys--you are dead wrong. MB is in his 7th MLB season first off, so I'm not sure where the "3-5" good years thing comes in. Ok, the guys you compared him to: Doc Gooden has drug problems--hard drug problems--he is not a good comparison. Frank Viola was a damn good pitcher. 9 times over 200ip, and a career ERA+ of 113. Heck, he pitched over 250IP 5 times. Not a HOFER, but certainly a good player, with a long and solid career. If MB has a Fran Viola career that would be awesome. Martinez only made it over 200IP 4 times in his 13 year career, and finished with a 105 ERA+--he is a decidely mediocre pitcher. His first 5 full seasons--yes, he did flash some potential. However, he didn't do it the level MB is doing it, not even close. His age 26 season he had an ERA+ of 99. MB's age 26 ERA+ was 143. Screw the other two guys, your argument was poor, I hope this proves it.

Have we had any successful bunts this season? This early in the game, I hate the idea of playing for one run. Yea, with this lineup, big innings are a possibility everytime the top of the order is rolling around with men on base.

I'm watching online, would Uribe have made that play?

Personally, as much as I love baseball and Sox--and I'd say it's my favorite sport/team--playoff basketball will take priority tonight. I'll still be checking the 'net every hour or so for a game update--but since I can only watch the Bulls game--national TV--I'll be doing that, not sitting at my comp and/or listening on the radio to the Sox game. I'm very excited for the NBA Playoffs--too each their own though.

Mark is really an interesting case. He's consistently better than his periphereals suggest, and the whole "he's a pitcher not a thrower" seems to apply well. I'm not sure about wins, as he could play from some bad teams in the future, but I see a lot more 120 ERA+ seasons with over 200IP. He does that another 10 years, and he might just find himself in the HOF--not saying that's highly likely, just that it isn't out of the realm of possibility.

I'd take BA straightup over Rowand for the next 3 years.

Wow--is it Thornton time? Or Boone? LOL, it's not over, but it's close.

Let Dye hit away, I feel a big inning.

As MJ&H would say: "I'm happy for ya!"

I guess I find it hard to thank a billionare for putting his profits back into the team.

Here are a few stats and notes to lively up the conversation: MB Career ERA+ : 128 MB Rank in IP, last 4 years: 2, 5, 1, 1 Comps through age 26: John Candelaria Mike Hampton Mark Mulder Jim Meritt Tom Glavine AJ Burnett career ERA+ : 110 Burnett, Rank in IP, last 4 years: Oh, not good enough to appear on the Baseball Reference data sheet! For the record, AJ has pitched over 200 innings 3 times in his career--3 times at an age already 2 years older than MB. Buehrle is going to make a lot of money based on these stats.

Buehrle is going to command at least 15 million a year in the 5-7 year range if he does hit the open market in the 2007 offseason. A left-handed SP who is an almost lock for 200+ IP and a 120 ERA+ --teams will be all over that. If he goes for the money, I don't think the Sox will be able to bring him back--nor should they if he gets offered a deal over 5 years and decides to take it. The smart thing to do would be to throw 70 million over 5 years at Mark this offseason, and see if he takes it. If he doesn't well then the Sox pick up his option and wish him the best in his future endeavors.

Well said Southsider.

I think your sig says it all Hammerhead: Frank is the greatest "clean" hitter of his generation. Trying to denigrate him with meaningless stats in the face of his OPS numbers from his prime is asinine.

Lol, I only have 400 some posts and I found myself saying that on the Frank/Thome thread... No way I get caught up in the "Frank only hits solo shots because he's not a winner" argument again...but then I sunk into it. I probably have to agree with you Kalapse--at least in this moment this early morning. Japan has a hell of a league probably the "AAAA" that some have called it. Their players shouldn't be eligible.

Yea, because when Frank hit his HR it tied it up 1-1. I suppose you think Frank should be blamed for the horrible A's pitching in this game as well? Yea, I'm sure Frank was sitting in the dugout thinking, "man, I hope nobody is on base when I get up, because then I'll try harder because I hate playing for the team." Give me a break man. I suppose that Barry Bonds is also crap (aside from every other reason to hate him and say he's crap) because in his 73 HR season the Giants didn't make the playoffs? Get real. Somehow I have a feeling that Frank could go 4-4 with 4 solo shots, and everyone else could strikeout every time--and you'd say he's selfish and "only hits HR's when it doesn't count". GMAFB

I'll say it again: No way. I'll make a bet that we don't win 98, if you're game.

Exactly. One thing sabemetricians do better than projection is explaining how runs are scored. I think baserunners, baserunners, baserunners, XBH's sums it up pretty well. Play for 1 run and you'll get 1 run.

Hey, I here that point Kalapse. It's funny that Japanese players would be "penalized" for their league being so good. I go back and forth on the issue myself. On my way downstairs for another beer I thought how wonderful it is that baseball is a hit in Japan--really shows that baseball is a classic game that can be popular in a variety of cultures.

The Chicago White Sox hit the 4th most HR's in MLB in 2005. Hurray small ball!

Well this being a discussion board and all I thought we'd talk about it.