chitownsportsfan

alright we've made it to Hitter's Camp! What's next, Sox Fest, then Ps and Cs? Then games, THEN REAL GAMES!

It was a really tough time for me personally. Was 22, was a few credits short of graduating college, which irked my dad greatly seeings how he had pitched in about 60K for me to go to an expensive private school. I was living at my parents' house, but they weren't living there (dad and mom have moved downstate for work at that point) and it was a really shitty winter and spring taking classes at the local community college, barely talking to my dad, fighting mostly when we did. Anyways, that 2005 season brought my dad and I closer and made us some shared joy. It was a very emotional season for many fans I'm sure. I will NEVER forget that I left the sports bar (the only one in town) that had the game on up in N. MI after the bases were loaded for El Duque in ALCS. I figured for sure he'd blow it, how couldn't he there was nobody out...bases loaded...but that SOB got it done and from that point on the Sox mostly cruised to the title. I was sitting in my car outside the bar listening and made the biggest "WHOO YEA" when he got the last out. That's right it was 3-2 check swing K, wow!

About 10 years too late, but nice to finally see. Get everybody on the same page and have a unified teaching philosophy throughout the system.

@Look at Ray Ray Run the fact that he put up that peak without a whiff of PED is the most incredible thing about Frank as a player imo. Sure he was into weight training and legal supplements from his days a TE at Auburn, but Frank was clean and about as natural as you can get in pro sports. An amazing athlete.

I like OOTP but I've found as I've gotten older I just can't get into it like I used to. It requires a lot of time, every season is probably about 5-7 hours. But when that game clicks, it clicks.

I thought it was mostly a stat BP made up because they couldn't think of anything better. Then I saw Omar Narvaez stab at the ball for a season and became absolutely convinced it plays a big (too big, the umps should be better) role in what pitches get called balls and strikes. It's not even so much turning "borderline" pitches into strikes -- it's making sure obvious strikes get called strikes. Omar loses so many fucking calls on the outside edge that are obviously 2/3 in the zone on pitch trax because he's diving out to get them and the ump is influenced. I can't wait to watch Grandal 120 times next year behind the plate. Should be good for about 5 calls a game going the Sox' way or so that previously wouldn't. McCann isn't a very good framer either. Grandal is elite.

@Dick Allen strange hill to die on. Sure these guys are replacement level but they are young enough to where an improvement or breakthrough still might happen. It's a bad time of year for teams to try and make claims most 40 mans are fairly full, so it's not like "nobody wanted them". Nobody wanted to give up a 40 man spot, which now the Sox don't have to either! Genius.

after looking at his stats 3 million sounds about right. He's like a 1 WAR player. Better than Engel tho.

what's the cost going to be? 1 year 6 million? If so, it's a no brainer. Engel's time is up.

Given that literally every other athletic endeavour on the planet has gotten incredibly more advanced, seen records broken and so forth given the passage of time -- sorta leads me to believe that today's MLB players just might be, on average a little better than previous generations. That said, greatness is greatness, that's why baseball stats that are normalized by year and relative to the league are so fucking cool; we can easily compare players relative to their peers. And of course if Ted Williams was alive today or any other superstar of the past they'd have gotten the best sports training and science and all the advantages so they'd just as good as Trout or Lebron or Bolt or whoever.

Work works. He'll be back. Nice video, hardly a glamorous lifestyle on the margins of MLB.

Oof. So they traded for him when he needed protection that soon. Obviously wasn't an issue on the 40 man then, but is now. It's a loss at the margins but it's still a loss.

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I'm almost certain he'll get claimed. Maybe they should have just exposed him in the rule 5. Personally I would have rather cut Seby but maybe they prefer catching depth to pitching right now. Although I don't think Seby is any sort of real depth.

I thought Medeiros would pan out into a decent swing man or 5th starter. So much for that. I think they probably asked for younger guys but were rebuffed.

I'd imagine that there are vectors that have very limited N values. So for instance a sample of like 3 where two guys made the catch and one didn't on a ball hit x angle into the air with v velocity with the fielder needing to cover d distance. Maybe they do some sort of "best guess" given statistically similar vectors.

Nick's really bad but part of it is that he had to switch from a very tricky, huge RF at Comerica to a smaller but also tricky RF at Wrigley given the wind patterns. He's a shitty OF but you can hide a guy like that in some parks much better than others. The Cell certainly plays easier than Comerica in the OF.

Moncada is going to have a monster fucking year now that he's got a year under his belt at 3rd. Can see him moving into the top 5 defensive 3B in the game on top of his offensive contributions, inching him closer to MVP level. Thanks for this awesome thread.

I'd like to see AJ and Frank as guests this year with Jason. I think Jason could keep those guys talking enough to make it interesting. Stone is cool but he walks all over Jason, Jason doesn't realize it, and they end up bullshitting each other for 20 seconds meanwhile the game is going on. Overall this year I hope that Jason realizes it's no longer a rebuild year and that the focus should be on the field 100% when it's a close game. Sure yak it up when it's a 10-1 laugher but Jason too often is doing his corn dog shit from pitch 1. There will be big games this year, big important games. Let's see if Jason can step up into that atmosphere.

I'm surprised they convinced him to take a club option with that low of a buyout.

My point wasn't that Hahn sucks or that Theo is great but that fortunes change quickly and one thing that never changes is championships won, banners raised. There isn't a single Cubs fan in the world that would return the ring in exchange for a 90+ win projection 2020 and 2021. You get the ring then you figure the rest of it out. And things change internally after you reach the mountain top it's a lot harder to keep all the egos in check, which makes team building much harder. The White Sox experienced this with Ozzie going rogue after 2005.

I think they will either cut Fulmer or Zeby. No loss either way at all.

See I like the idea of having to get to the floor as you'd see more player movement like that. The NBA usually has a couple clubs looking to to just that each year and can make for some interesting trades.

Yes with national revenue sharing there's no reason not to enforce a floor. There isn't a single owner that can cry poor given the current finances of MLB.

Is the luxury tax even needed (if it ever was) now? I don't see a need for it. I'd like to see teams spend as much as they like without penalty. I think it's healthier for the sport.