chitownsportsfan

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Jan 3, 2018 -> 01:25 AM) He'll be as ripped as Kopech by March. We're gonna have to build a bigger field for these guys.

He's in the best shape of his life...in January? But where's he gonna be in March?

Hopefully this results in more quality Sox coverage online, not less. There's a chance for someone a bit younger, with maybe a bit more of an unique vision to take over SSS. Vox is apparently an awful employer so it will probably need to mostly be a labor of love. Jim does journalism for a living so I'm sure at a certain point he figured branding his own site again would result in more revenue and satisfaction for him long term.

Not a big Jim fan but this is a big blow for SSS, obviously.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 29, 2017 -> 05:30 PM) Can I find 15 WAR by 2019 or 2018? 2018 I agree with your skepticism, I just want a baseline to look at because this does feel like something > a 65 win team right now, based on what we saw last August. When we swap in 3s for Kopech and Jiminez and 5 for Machado, plus maybe get more from a developed DH spot? 2019 I can totally see that level of a boost. For various reasons I think this is a 75 win team not a 65 win team. I'm skeptical that Jose Abreu isn't going to crack 3 WAR and I'm also skeptical that Avi is going to turn back into a 1 WAR pumpkin. I think Moncada is going to put up 3-5 WAR as well and that Yolmer is closer to a 3 WAR true talent than 1 WAR. The pitching side of things, with probably a veteran flyer being added in spring and maybe Kopech and Hansen coming up in late summer and Rodon's status up in the air -- I have no idea. The bullpen blowing high leverage situations isn't going to reflect too much on WAR but it will have a bad effect on winning. And the pen IS going to be awful. No doubt about that, at least as we sit here today in late December. I'm ready to start spring training. The last two weeks of Dec and the month of January are always the worst imo. Just let us get to February 1st and then I can stop staring out the window, or maybe I still am but I can see the snow melting and the sun getting higher in the sky.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 29, 2017 -> 05:06 PM) I count 17 WAR in that projection am I right? Can someone who has seen how these turn out give that in terms of a "Projected record"? If this team does that...they're likely what, a 55 win team? So that's our starting point and anything beyond that is more improvement than expected? Like a 65 win team. Can you find 15 WAR somewhere that ZIPS doesn't see? To get the Sox to 80 and ready to compete in 2019? Probably the biggest delta I see is between the IF projections and my own expectations. ZIPS sees 6.9 WAR between Yolmer, Jose, Yoan and Timmy. I could see that group putting up 10-12. It's going to take some improvement that ZIPS doesn't see from the young guys but hey that's why they play the games.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Dec 29, 2017 -> 04:44 PM) Bad. Very very bad. Yea it looks pretty brutal. That said, I'm taking the over on a lot of those wRC+ projections.

I really can't stand Carson Cistulli but the projections are thankfully free of his words: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/2018-zips-p...cago-white-sox/

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 29, 2017 -> 03:59 PM) I think the only league right now where they're anywhere close to risking all the gains of the last 10 years via labor issues is the NFL. Everyone in baseball is still getting rich. Owners, players both. Just an interesting trend to see teams ponying up for fewer years to avoid the long term risk. Yea but the players aren't seeing enough of the profits: Since 1995, MLB’s overall league revenues have increased nearly 650%, going from around $1.4 billion to over $9 billion in 2014. During that same time period, though, MLB payrolls have only increased by around 378%, from roughly $925 million in 1995 to just under $3.5 billion last year. We'll see if the union can remain united enough to commit to a strike. Nobody wants to kill the golden goose but if I'm a MLBPA analyst I'm seeing worrying trends.

Free content in the middle of winter! http://www.baseballhq.com/node/6027?org=CHW&year=2018

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 29, 2017 -> 03:21 PM) That's rather fascinating. I think we are headed towards a strike.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Dec 28, 2017 -> 03:22 PM) I hope they do a full investigation and I hope MLB takes a strong stance against this behavior. From the way she described it almost seems like they had a clubhouse bet on who could f*** her first. The 1st base coaching hitting on her is also off putting given that it's a workplace environment for both.

What a POS. Always is about power in these situations. Rich athlete thinks because he's rich and an athlete no woman can turn him down. The ironic thing is that most of these guys pull more dime pieces in one month than most of us will in a lifetime and yet that's not enough. This sounds so much like the Roethlisberger stories. I think his agent has some explaining to do as well. Sounds like his agent was the wingman for this disgusting behavior.

Wow, ZIPZ sees 4 war for Yelich and 1.9 for Eaton. Selling Eaton after that magical 6 WAR season was a stroke of genius. He'll be lucky to put a 4 WAR season before he retires.

Oh noes! They are going to "pull him off the market"! What great binary thinking they display over there in Bmore. No s*** nobody is going to offer you much for a rental that probably near 2/3 of clubs can't even come close to resigning. If they are hell bent on trading him then revisit it at the deadline they will have more leverage.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 17, 2017 -> 01:44 AM) https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/12/al-r...do-red-sox.html No s*** clearly you left out the subtext: Eloy was offered

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 15, 2017 -> 11:16 PM) Yeah, it's a tough one when its a midsubstance tear. It's like trying to tie two pieces of spaghetti together. The internal augmentation device is needed to hold it together while it heals. He should be able to play again but it is a tough one and he'll probably miss a good chunk of this year. edit: I didn't explain the internal augmentation device. It will be a type of synthetic substance such as gortex or the kevlar. They will weave it through the tendon to add stability to the structure as it won't be as strong as it can be for about 18 months. He'll probably play earlier than that but tendon (and most tissues) take about that long to achieve full tensile strength. informative post, thanks -- crazy what they can do! God bless my surgeon. Hopefully he can return to baseball and have a decent career.

QUOTE (ron883 @ Dec 15, 2017 -> 10:33 PM) That makes it all the more depressing. First game of his career.... So sad. I feel awful for the kid. The way he tried to stand up and collapsed is the same thing I did. You literally have nothing connecting your quad muscle to your joint. There is no "there, there". You just collapse like an accordion. You try and move your leg and realize you cannot. Odd feeling.

I had his injury and it's a nightmare. Way worse than an ACL. Apparently his tendon was basically cut in half by the box. That's even worse than mine and he might never play high level baseball again. Most times you rip the tendon off the patella and the surgeons will repair it by drilling holes in the patella and attaching it using kevlar. You can recover and play high level sports again (Jimmy Graham) but it's a long ass road back. I am not sure how they even repair a tendon that is cut in the middle. The patella tendon is the 2nd largest tendon in your body after the achilles and is just as important.

Not much activity on twitter tonight. Only interesting thing I saw was someone claiming that the Orioles want to wrap this up by the end of the weekend.

QUOTE (Soha @ Dec 15, 2017 -> 03:32 PM) It's not as unlikely as you make it seem, given the luxury cap, and how far under it the Sox are, and how those 2 teams are already skirting it. Yep.

QUOTE (Quin @ Dec 15, 2017 -> 03:19 PM) Avi + Adams + Puckett Yes/No? f*** yea.

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 15, 2017 -> 03:01 PM) https://mobile.twitter.com/masnRoch/status/...703697763110912 Makes me think teams are offering MLB players Avi and Anderson. Get it done Hahn.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 15, 2017 -> 01:25 PM) Wouldn’t holding onto Kahnle have given them just as good a shot at signing Machado after 2018 (at least they’d have a legit closer) than trying to convince him now? Next offseason, Hahn’s going to have to get all of those weak spots covered (similar to the strategy of signing Cabrera, LaRoche and Robertson) right on top of each other...before he can get a commitment from a legit Top 5-10 FA. Or Kopech, Jimenez, Moncada, etc., are all going to have to play like monsters and the real Rodon is going to need to show up finally. Too early to be drinking, even in China.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Dec 15, 2017 -> 01:20 PM) Left out of a ton of this conversation is whether it is a good idea for the White Sox franchise to pursue a free agent like Machado, who is predicted to end up with a $300-400 million contract over 10+ years. We all would love to have Machado, but I really wonder if it is in the club's best interest to sign a player to mega money for 10+ years, full NTC, multiple opt outs, etc. It looks like a great idea now, but paying a player $30-40 million when he is over ago 30 might not look so good. Thoughts? If you're locking him up for 10 years 300+ million there's no opt out. It would probably be a dealbreaker for me. Having an opt out at say 28 would be brutal. He'd almost assuredly take it and would leave the Sox holding all the downside risk on the deal and none of the upside. These opt outs are poison pills.