Balta1701

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Jul 25, 2015 -> 02:29 PM) I do think 2016 is a rebuilding year and 2017 is the year you hope to contend. Even if they trade Q, Shark and LaRoche between now and the start of spring training, the players they acquire will most likely need a year in AAA or play in ML but learning as they go. I would think next year would also be a year we see Johnson and Rodon evolve as well. I think that, I don't think the organization thinks that. And my fear is it will work out just about as well as this year.

Swear I checked charlotte's starting pitcher this morning and it was listed as EJ, now it's listed as Marin and EJ is not scheduled any time in the next few days. His last start was on the 20th so today would be normal rest for him, Penny and Carroll are listed the next couple games.

Wait, Charlotte's listed as Marin? 3 hours ago I looked at that and it said Johnson. Wish I'd captured a screengrab. Sure seems like they're skipping Johnson, presumably so that he's able to pitch in the big leagues in 3 days.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Jul 25, 2015 -> 12:50 PM) Why would you send Avi down??? He is not blocking anyone ready to come up from AAA. At that same time, it is not like he is not getting to play at the ML level and just sitting on the bench. This is a lost season and ultimately losses are better than wins for the next draft. Avi won't learn anything in AAA that he can't learn in the majors. By the end of this season you can decide if he can play RF or is he destined to be a DH( and do the Sox want him in that role). If this team were to want to upgrade to win this year, that's the most obvious position where an upgrade is possible without giving up a huge ransom. I fully agree with you this is a lost season, but then again I would not have done anything this franchise did coming into this year, so until they actually make a move I think is quality I'll continue assuming they'll do things I would judge to be mostly dumb. Also, if you're deciding what you're doing with Avi based on this season alone, the answer is probably going to be to non-tender him. He needs, IMO, at least a full offseason to completely revamp his approach at the plate and his swing if he's going to turn into something decent, he's shown zero signs of improvement this year and nothing he's done would even make him a decent DH. If you're deciding where he goes based on this season it's to the same place viciedo went, someone else's minor leagues. The real question is whether you're willing to play him another full season next year and accept that playing him another full season = a legit rebuilding year.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Jul 25, 2015 -> 12:39 PM) When was the last team to win the World Series without at least one lockdown starting pitcher (like this year's Royals lack)? Usually you need at least two (Bumgarner last year pretty much counted as two by himself). The 2014 Red Sox had 1 guy with an ERA under 3.6.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Jul 25, 2015 -> 12:23 PM) Actually, adjusting for park would hurt our pitching WAR, not help it. The Cell is 28th in park factor this year (Wrigley is 30th). The A's park is actually 18th. The Cell has played pretty big this year, our offense scores a lot more on the road than at home, and our pitchers give up a lot more runs on the road than at our ballpark. That's assuming their adjustments only look at this year rather than the long term trend though, right?

Here's an interesting note. Out of the top 5 teams in the AL in starting pitching fWAR, 3 are well under .500 and #4 is .500. The White Sox, A's, and Indians are 1, 2, and 4, the Rays are .500 and #5. The only team in the top five in starting pitching fWAR in the AL actually having a good season is the Astros. I posited yesterday in a different thread that maybe starting pitching doesn't have the value it did a decade ago since pitching is so much better now, this trend does not hold up in the NL where the Cardinals, Pirates, Cubs, and Nats are all playoff teams, but at the very least it's intriguing. In the AL, if you're loaded in starting pitching, you're not anywhere close to guaranteed to be a good team. OTOH, 4 of the top 5 teams in relievers fWAR are currently playoff teams in the AL, and the only team in the top 5 in position player fWAR that is not currently .500 or better is the Tigers. Maybe loading up on starting pitching really isn't the path to the playoffs any more.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jul 25, 2015 -> 11:52 AM) Is WAR park adjusted? Sox starting pitching is why I think they shouldn't be going into any sort of rebuild. When trading Shark, they absolutely should be looking for a near ML ready piece. If they could actually hit on a couple good bats next year, they could be in good shape. Yes, WAR takes into account the fact that the Sox Park plays better for hitters than the A's park. I'm not sure, honestly, how well it would do if the Sox Park was actually playing "bigger" this year.

QUOTE (thedoctor @ Jul 25, 2015 -> 11:04 AM) it would be interesting after all of this if they went out and added a bat. probably would piss a lot of people off. What available bats are a good fit for this team and actually available? I can't think of an available catcher who would be a big enough difference maker to motivate the Sox to make a deal. AJ's having a solid season and you could slot him in next to HGeovannyH for an upgrade. Stephen Vogt having a solid season for the A's but since he's controlled through 2019 that's a huge price. Lucroy tops the list but huge price again and he's having a down year. Are we willing to spend Anderson + more to get Lucroy or Vogt? 3b Todd Frazier is the obvious upgrade, but that's a defensive downgrade and another huge price. That'd again have to be Anderson + probably more than 1 of our minor league pitchers. They're not benching LaRoche, they're not benching Abreu, 2b we could make an upgrade but not likely a major bat available since it's 2b (you want to take on Cano's contract?). They're not benching Eaton, Cabrera is never going to live up to his contract since he's a terrible defender but he's hitting well lately so even if you try to upgrade him you might not get big results. The place where you could find someone cheaply, where there are guys who are free agents at the end of the year that might not cost Anderson, is right field. You'd still pay for a guy like Upton, you'd pay less for a guy like Marlon Byrd but get less of an upgrade, but are they ready to send Avi back to AAA? So to get a real upgrade it's either benching someone with a big contract, sending Avi down and replacing him, or going all in and trading Anderson + Montas + more for a major investment.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 25, 2015 -> 11:10 AM) This is because BABIP has no role in FanGraphs' WAR calculation. It's based on FIP, a stat whose strength is ignoring bad BABIP luck/bad BABIP from bad fielding. Which is odd though because if they're not factoring in BABIP it's hard to figure out how they come to the White Sox having such strong starters when our starters have given up 50 more earned runs than the A's. Fangraphs weights strikeouts a lot, they weight innings pitched a lot, so our guys do deserve to be up there, but man we're really, really outperforming our ERA on fWAR by a lot.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Jul 25, 2015 -> 11:16 AM) Yep, look at the Royals. League's worst starting pitching yet they still are well ahead of everyone else (though I still think the lack of innings from that rotation bites them in the ass at the end of the season). They're strong in the field, ridiculously strong in the bullpen, average to above average on offense, weak on power but get on base a lot. Their starting rotation will absolutely hurt them if they do nothing about it, but "one weakness" is something you can strengthen at the trade deadline.

QUOTE (LDF @ Jul 25, 2015 -> 11:10 AM) this team is soooo freaking bi-polar it drives me nuts. They're the exact opposite of bi-polar. They're uni-polar. They have great starting pitching and nothing else. That's 1 pole. The problem is that there's more to the game than starting pitching. Some degree of balance is necessary.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Jul 25, 2015 -> 10:19 AM) Levine mentioned the Pirates interest in Alexei on the radio today. Ramirez to Pittsburgh for C Taylor Gushue. Is that too much? He's playing well right now. The Pirates don't really need him now that they traded for Aramis. If we were going to ship him out we needed to be more aggressive. IIRC they also got Aramis for virtually nothing and the Brewers chipped in some money with him, which the White Sox would have been unlikely to do anyway, and Ramirez might well fit their needs better than Alexei anyway (when the injured guys get back they could still use the RH power bat).

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jul 25, 2015 -> 08:46 AM) I see that Robinson Leyer is pitching for Birmingham. That's pretty aggressive promotion. Was anyone hurt?

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jul 24, 2015 -> 09:53 PM) Jose Quintana, Jeff Samardzija, Alexei Ramirez, Avisail Garcia, and Emilio Bonifacio for Yasiel Puig, Joc Pederson, Julio Urias, and Corey Seager. why would the Dodgers want any of those last 3 guys? I guess Avi replaces the 2 OFs they're trading away but they'd be better off this season not playing Avi and just throwing some random backup out there.

It is quite nice having Jose Quintana on our team.

Also poor rundown format by Alexei, then Abreu.

Jose now at his longest outing of the year.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 24, 2015 -> 09:36 PM) I wonder what those numbers look like if you excluded Chicago. It seems to be the one place where it's getting worse. (And Milwaukee ) using the FBI definition of mass shootings, 4 or more in a single event, Chicago doesn't show up as a hotbed in the last couple years. It has a couple but doesn't stand out like it does with its normal murder rate.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Jul 24, 2015 -> 09:35 PM) Why is Duke up? Put up Jennings and let him pitch the 9th if Q gets in trouble when's the last time he pitched?

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Jul 24, 2015 -> 09:00 PM) He has actually been taking pitches well since his time up though, just like Micah did in the beginning of the year. His 3.62 P/PA isn't bad, but certainly not great. Tied with Asdrubal Cabrera, Kendrys Morales. Avi, for example, is at 3.53, Alexei is at 3.45, Abreu is at 3.71, for guys we're more familiar with. LEague average is 3.8.

Jose Quintana seems pretty good at this.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jul 24, 2015 -> 07:45 PM) Rondon at 2B Alvarez at SS Peter at LF If Peter can be good there, that could fast track him to the majors being able to play the OF. I guess this also gives Rondon a chance to work with the bat. If he can get his bat to play they could move him back to SS.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 24, 2015 -> 06:02 PM) Tex would have shot him after the first blast of the gunman's gun. Be honest and think here. In a movie theater, under fire, it's dark, only light is from the screen. You really think that under fire, probably from behind, you could turn around, aim, and get a clean shot off without accidentally hitting the wrong person? While the person has a semi-automatic handgun and can keep pulling the trigger? Per the police, as the crowd was leaving the theater this guy snuck into it and almost got out of the theater before someone stopped the crowd/stopped him. The people fleeing the room didn't identify the shooter as he left the theater with the group. They couldn't tell. Now you're telling me you could honestly figure out who the shooter was with enough accuracy to pull the trigger? The closest example of a mass shooting interacting with a person carrying a weapon I can think of is the Gabrielle Giffords shooting and the person across the street who had the gun nearly shot the wrong person. And that was in the daylight.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Jul 24, 2015 -> 07:47 PM) Pitching to me is the single most important (and rare) aspect to the game today so I can see why the Sox would be reluctant to do that. I'm just not sure this is true in this era any more. Even average, cost-controlled position players are starting to look like all-stars. Guys I barely wanted 5-6 years ago are now legit AS starters, while guys who today are top 10 Cy Young award people have stuff that seems like it would blow peak Johan Santana out of the water.