chitownsportsfan

QUOTE (raBBit @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 07:41 PM) I don't know, I am definitely not a part of the political correctness police, but I wouldn't disseminate my views that could be be perceived as ignorant/offensive to sects of people including and not limited to women, homosexuals and Native Americans. If LoMo was making all of these comments on a forum and was a regular Joe like one of us I wouldn't raise an eyebrow but he's representing an organization and himself as a professional. His reputation is tainted by his immaturity and silly comments and now we are supposed to use his words as the basis of whether Johnson should start in AAA or in the MLB? Maybe if Morrison shut up for once he wouldn't have had so many growing pains. I don't know how much you know about Morrison but here's some insight on him: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_leagu...urn=mlb-wp15874 Regardless, in most cases, using one piece of testimonial evidence for the justification of a broader point just isn't sound rhetoric in my opinion. FFS it was simply to further add to the discussion about maturity and playing in MLB when you are young. Judging from what a few posters here mentioned with Micah it seems he might have a maturity issue (raise your hand if you didn't in your early 20s) and the best place to get on the job training might not be Chicago, but experiencing 200-300 PA down in Charlotte. Morrison came across quite self aware in his interview and also was speaking frankly about how maturity isn't something you just wake up with one day it comes slowly with time and experience. I feel like a lot of people on this board are simply ignoring Micah's flaws or papering them away. If you take a step back and ignore meaningless platitudes like "his speed changes games" -- what are you left with on Micah? A guy that hasn't even spent half a season above high A ball. A guy that from all reports doesn't know how to use his speed both in the field and on the bases to his full advantage. Sanchez is no great shakes. At best, he's likely to be adaquate. A 1 WAR starter with a s*** bat and a solid glove. That said, Micah is no great shakes either. Yes he has a higher upside, he also has a lower floor. As I've said time and time again -- this isn't the year to be rolling the dice unless you forced to gamble. If the Sox are 10 back in July and Sanchez is a negative WAR player then by all means, f***ing roll the dice on Micah. But there's not a single compelling reason to rush him up to MLB and ask him to be a 2-3 WAR player right away. Fans always get excited over guys that can run. I get it, I do, but come on, even Billy Hamilton compiled almost all of his value from defense last year, not something Micah is likely to duplicate, not by a long shot -- and Hamilton has a pedigree far exceeding Micah's offensively. He put up huge numbers in tougher leagues than Micah. In conclusion, this is a very tough decision for the club to make and treating it as "Micah's job to lose" doesn't do anyone any favors. It's way more nuanced than that.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 06:20 PM) We all know where you stand on Micah Johnson The you can stop replying to my posts telling me as such. I get your position on my position.

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 05:05 PM) I can't think of the last time someone was annointed next big thing since like Ryan Sweeney was referred to as a baseball god. For a lot of people, there was wonder on just why the org tended to view micah with so much preference. This is the first time people can see that. Honestly, I think you can chill, you read 4 posts in a game thread and then go off the deepend. Heads up, every small action is a career indictment in game threads. Eh I'm bored out of my mind at work and what the hell else is there to talk about on March 10th? Other than Rodon, Sale's injury and Micah's play pretty much zero storylines out of camp so far gotta talk about something. As I've said, Micah could very well be the ORGs hand picked choice to "win" the second base job. Great. I hope he hits 280/330/430 with 40 sb in 55 tries and plays run neutral defense at 2B. With that 3 WAR from 2B it offsets regression elsewhere. I just don't see that happening and would prefer to have him get much more meaningful experience in AAA before coming to Chicago based on a hot spring and 80 speed.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 05:00 PM) When does the sand run out on Jared Mitchell? Eh, with JR in charge? Probably never. Dude will be a career AAA guy making 80k a year and retire into an instructional role after that. It's one of the many nice things about JR that goes under-reported IMO.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 04:54 PM) i will have to say this, i never thought that Micah will be doing so well this yr. it is really making it hard to even think of him being sent to the minors. i mean, if the player plays and hits very well in spring training, then all would imagine that he earned the job. wouldn't you think?? If the Sox think he's earned it fine, but all this talk is just confirmation bias after 20 PA. I mean seriously, PUMP THE f***ING BREAKS. Every single year it seems someone is anointed the next big thing in camp this year Rodon and Micah get to split the honors. I can only hope the Sox are a little more savvy then some of the fans and media.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 04:42 PM) Yea those things have to be handled with an inner fire. The season is too long to let things bother you. Vow to do better then let it roll off your back. I listened to a pretty good interview with Logan Morrison on 710 ESPN here in Seattle the other morning where he talked about learning to control his emotions (both negative and positive) and how for most guys it only comes with experience. Personally I'd rather have Micah build up his confidence in AA or AAA for a couple months and then re-evaluate the situation at 2B. MLB is not the place to learn this stuff. There isn't much upside in having him the starter and Sanchez only seeing action once or twice a week and say for instance (and it could very well happen, a hot spring means little to nothing when the real games start) he struggles out of the gate and is hitting 180/220/300 in late May -- then what do you do? It makes so much more sense to start with Sanchez and have Micah in AAA knocking down (hopefully) the door.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 10, 2015 -> 03:53 PM) Daryl Van Schouwen ‏@CST_soxvan 5m5 minutes ago Abreu has gone from first to third twice on hits to right by Shuck. Running hard, moving well. Ok, put him back in the bubble wrap please.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Mar 9, 2015 -> 06:06 PM) Alexei isn't listed as 220 though. Montas is listed at 185 on his Baseball America page. That was good for a chuckle. Maybe 225.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Mar 9, 2015 -> 05:39 PM) Holy s***, he's a SS? He's gigantic. Looked like 6'4. Yea I think he might be a "SS" in name only at this point. Is he playing SS for the Sox now? His bat does have some pop, seems he'd have been given a chance in MLB if could hold his own at SS but somehow I don't think he really can.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Mar 9, 2015 -> 05:30 PM) Nope, Micah thrown at at 2nd, and then some guy named Juan Diaz blasted an opposite field bomb to RF. Signed a MiLB contract this spring and is (clearly) in camp with the Sox. He spent some time in the Mariners' low minors before getting as high as AAA with the tribe. Generic AAAA shortstop from what I can tell. Has some pop for a shortstop but no other standout tools and struggles with contact.

QUOTE (shipps @ Mar 6, 2015 -> 04:11 PM) Is Rodon effectively wild with how he pitches or is he pinpoint putting the ball right where he wants it? From all reports he struggles with command on his fastball and at times his slider. That said, his stuff is electric and he doesn't need Cliff Lee's command and control to contribute this year. I'd be more curious as to what his fastball is sitting at. If it's 93-95, hell yea. 91-93 would be a little concerning, but it's early in spring.

Reflects the quality in the AL central this year. Many projections have the Indians as a top 5 team.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Mar 5, 2015 -> 03:45 PM) I definitely value tools more than stats when looking at young players. I'm probably at the opposite end as Eminor. With that said, I totally agree with him about Avi. He's got some major red flags. I hope I'm wrong, but I just don't see it. I just don't see the red flags personally. All he's done in his 500 or so MLB PA is hold his own, many of those coming before he turned 23. Yea he hits a lot of ground balls, he also carries a career .329 BABIP which means he's fast to first and hits the ball rather hard even on the ground. Cut the grass a little shorter at the Cell! Seriously though if he struggles to do anything more than 260/300/400 this year then yea, he's little more than a below average starter given his likely difficutlies in RF, but if he goes say 280/330/460 then he's back on track to have a solid 10 year career in RF for the Sox. This guy is raw, despite breaking into the bigs at 20. The Tigers jerked him around and the injury obviously messed him up last year. That he was even able to hold his own after missing 3+ months was impressive to me. He even played winter ball, not something many guys with his talent and big league experience would even bother with, coming off an injury or not. He works hard and has tremendous tools. It doesn't always work out, and the production so far hasn't been there, but hey, progress is not always linear.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 5, 2015 -> 08:12 PM) And nearly unlimited range to his left blah blah blah. I tell ya stone pony if gordon could actually hit his way out of a paper bag he'd be up there with frank white, bill mazeroski, Robby cano, Robbie alomar, and my ol buddy pete with Los Carmines. Player tracker is supposed to be coming this year. It will confirm what many of us already suspect: for all the talk about his "elite" defense at 2B, Gordon has mediocre range at best and his overall impact at 2B is "solid" and far from elite.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 5, 2015 -> 05:19 PM) Fwiw, Steiner blamed Micah for having his back to the runner and being a bit out of position to catch the ball and make the tag...that he kind of caught it and chased rather than setting up properly. Would have to see the replay. Johnson just helped turn a double play. This is the kind of thing to work on in AAA.

QUOTE (kevo880 @ Mar 4, 2015 -> 12:17 PM) What a great article. I have read articles in the past talking about how under rated he is, but this seems to nail it on the head of exactly what has made him so successful. He pounds the zone with a lively fastball and has solid off speed stuff. He doesn't however stand 6-5" or throw mid 90's and he's a bit on the reticent side with the media. Throw in his awful run support and it's the perfect storm for under-rating him. There aren't 20 starters in MLB I'd take ahead of him. Hell, you can make a good argument he's better than Shark.

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 5, 2015 -> 01:50 PM) Post of the Day Yea I was gonna say that's like a 2.5 or 3.5 WAR season depending on his defense. Personally I think Avi is going to have a solid year, but a 2.5 WAR season from him guarantees nothing really. It certainly helps but Sox need more production from more spots for a division title.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 28, 2015 -> 07:31 AM) If I made a 2 year projection at the beginning, I would agree, but year to year with teams that change, to say spot on is silly. Once you are innaccurate, to look spot on, you can't get more accurate, but be innaccurate some more. The projections are fun to look at, and brings up discussion, but to say they are accurate isn't right. It is OK advanced stats is no more accurate in telling you how a season will unfold, than any ither way. If you knew, it would be boring. Who do you think is the best player in baseball and the 2nd best?

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Mar 5, 2015 -> 01:10 AM) So what happens when Micah wins the job? They gain it back on offense, duh. [/micahsupportersunnysideupbot] Seriously though I think I'm coming around on Micah. Narrative is reality at times. The guy seems to have "it" whatever that means. Of course, every other guy out there was the big dick in hs and college and usually the minors so that ain't worth much. Question is, can he field his position? If he can, and the Sox are convinced, cool, Sanchez starts on Sale and Danks days . Only action Beckham ever sees is hitting fungoes after being cut and becoming the "assistant to the manager".

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 18, 2015 -> 11:32 AM) Cabrera's past hangs over him, and rightfully so. If he didn't have that history, he would have gotten a deal similar to Panda this year, maybe more. I like that comparison. Pablo's clearly the better player at a more premium position but his deal has zero upside. At best he's worth his contract. Personally I think there's a fat chance of that happening. Melky only needs to about 5 war in his contract to make it worth it for the Sox. Melky is a good player he's not the same guy he was in NY at the dish anymore. Maybeyou can say that's due to PEDs but I saw the guy make one of the more bone headed mental gaffes a ballplayer will ever make (missed a ball tipping his cap to the intros at yankee stadium about 20 feet in front of us back in 2009) and it's clear he had a lot of mental growing up to do on and off the field . When you break into the Bronx at 20, a full time starter at 21, it can go to your head. Something clicked with the guy a few years ago and I think he's going to produce about 6 WAR in three years. A lot depends on his defense but in the smallish LF of the Cell I can't imagine he'll have much trouble. PEDs or not, the guy keeps himself in great shape and at 29 hard to imagine he'll decline too much athletically in three years. Injury could happen, and he does have some history there (the tumor thing wtf) so as with anything hope for health.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Mar 4, 2015 -> 11:09 PM) No errors today. Hopefully we see improved defense this year compared to last. The more I think about this team the more I like it. They also replaced Dunn and Viciedo with Melky and La Roche, that's good for 5-8 runs saved right there (including La Roche taking 30 starts away from Jose as well, which is a good thing all around) and then you add in the possibility of Sanchez at 2B and they could easily be 1-2 wins better defensively. One thing Hahn did, he didn't just add to the team, he added almost perfectly at the margins. Bullpen, Defense, Base Running were this team's bugaboos last year. For once it wasn't getting on base. Fix a couple of those areas, improve a little more on offense, and there's your 88 wins and a division title or wild card. Not saying they are going to win 88 but they certainly have a chance. I think the over under is 82-84 but once in awhile this team could peak out at 88-90. And bottom to 78-80 of course. Let's hope for health and the new additions to contribute.

QUOTE (LDF @ Mar 4, 2015 -> 09:45 PM) but isn't that like his SOP. gets in a little trouble every once in a while and pitches himself out of the jam without little of no damaging effect. i may be wrong here. but i am stoke for him. So Garcia look really good with the bat today, and by what i was reading, it appears as the sox runners were taking that other base when they had the chance. niccceeeee i love it. It's nice to actually have a few guys that can take an extra base. As I said in another thread, simply removing the slugs (Dayan, Kong, Dunn) is going to lead to more runs. Those three guys are possibly three of the slowest 20 runners in all of MLB. Having them all on the team was a big detriment to any sort of overall baserunning prowess.

QUOTE (Blackout Friday @ Mar 4, 2015 -> 06:20 PM) See BS, Chicago! I had to. It was in the spirit of Lionel Hutz. No, money down! He can change his approach all he wants his swing is fundamentally broken. Beckham has one of the longest swings in MLB. The next inside fastball he turns on will be the first of his career. Maybe 2nd. He also generates very little bat speed for such a long swing. I think at this point the success of his rookie year was him guessing fastball time and time again and with no scouting report on him he was able to take quite a few into the gap in right. He should probably just go back to being a complete guess hitter. Might run into one from time to time. He has no plate coverage either, that's another problem. Unless it's in his incredibly small wheelhouse (out over the plate and slightly down) he isn't going to do s*** with it. Look at this heat map: http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/hotzones/_/i.../gordon-beckham pathetic. It's f***ing sad he's back. Reminds me of Hinrich coming back to the Bulls. Why can't we quit these guys?

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Mar 4, 2015 -> 12:18 AM) You are basing things off dumb projections? Why are you a Micah hater? Everyone, including ZIPS (the machine that it is) saw Sanchez last year. Isn't likely to hit much more than 250/290/350 but he's a slick glove guy metrics and scouts both saw that. We saw it, dude has serious range and a solid arm at 2B. Micah is likely to be a poor fielder even if he's better offensively. I don't like that trade off on this team.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 3, 2015 -> 10:01 PM) Not stealing 125 bags last season... 2015 ZiPS 119 544 8 58 44 31 5.9 % 18.9 % .104 .302 .253 .299 .357 .292 82 -1.1 -12.0 -1.0 WAR:0.5 2015 ZiPS 135 582 6 57 44 15 5.3 % 17.9 % .086 .301 .253 .297 .340 .284 76 0.2 -15.0 8.1 WAR: 1.3 You guess who's who and whose side I'm on. Sox need defense more than stolen bases. Sanchez is the obvious, save choice for a team that thinks they are contending. Let Micah bang the wall down in AAA by going 300/380/500 through June with 30 SB. If that happens and Sanchez is no great shakes then yea, f***ing promote the dude. I'm not even saying ZIPS is better than the Sox' judgement if they think he's the man than fine. Just don't do it on 80 or so almost meaningless spring PA.