Balta1701

QUOTE (shipps @ Jul 23, 2015 -> 10:40 AM) Levine really seems to think that Samardzija is going to be moved really soon. I am not so sure though, seeing that we may not be able to get anything better than the value of the compensatory pick if we kept him and let him leave in the off season. If you get a guy closer to the big leagues who has already done something in the minors...that to me is better than the value of the comp pick. At least you've seen him outside of high school/college.

The case for moving Robertson: 1. The White Sox paid a premium price for him on the grounds that they needed and established closer to compete. They aren't competitive even with one, even if that logic is sound. 2. Robertson's deal inflates the next couple years, so the premium price we're paying for him actually becomes higher. 3. If the White Sox move him and decide they still need a closer...similar performance to what we've seen this season (or even better) will be available quite often. Teams with $10 million+ closers are often happy to dump that contract onto other orgs, as we should be. 4. If the White Sox could turn either Jones or Putnam or Webb into solid closers, that not only increases their value to the team, it also jumps their trade value and could make them worth a comp pick in a few years when they do hit FA. 5. The White Sox have bigger needs in their lineup where that money could much more appropriately be spent. The reason why it's a bad move is: you think the White Sox have a competitive roster in 2016 and you're not willing to take chances with the bullpen. You're still willing to sacrifice the long-term health of the franchise to compete in 2016, and you guys know my response to that already. And all of those, btw, were written without noting that Robertson really isn't pitching like a premium-priced closer.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 23, 2015 -> 08:25 AM) Really true. So far a very boring deadline trading season. It obviously will pick up, but nothing but very generic rumors out there now. I'm getting the impression this one will be an avalanche. Once the first move breaks, teams will suddenly go for whatever they've been pondering.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxLifer @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 04:15 PM) http://m.mlb.com/news/article/137998440?pa...;adbpr=18479513 I like the suggestion of packaging a reliever for a better return that appears in there.

Sigh

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 10:13 PM) If the Sox brass thinks Saladino is the answer at short, and that won't be determined at least through spring training next year, then you will start seeing Anderson getting time at third base next year (and maybe yet this year). At least if it were me, I would not worry much about moving Saladino (or Sanchez) back to 3b if Anderson earns his way to the big leagues at SS. I wouldn't move Anderson at all if possible, he actually is showing improvement at the position, don't interrupt that.

Reynolds used to being told to come back to the plate after it happened a couple times yesterday.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 10:01 PM) Sometimes you just don't see a guy well. You guys bagging on Avi I just don't understand. He's 23 . Saladino is 26. Avi's got a ton of talent as evidenced by the fact that he's a total hack up there yet batting average wise he's like 2nd on the team. If he ever learns how to hit and not just rely on his natural ability. he'll be pretty good. I'm bagging on him because our org was dumb enough to think he could be a major piece on a contributing team this year and might be even stupider to think the same thing about him again next year with an extra year's evidence. I'll bag on Saladino if the White Sox think that about him next year. Playing him is fine next year. He needs a complete swing and approach overhaul. But for God's sake if you're playing him then get rid of as many of these big contracts as you can and act like you're rebuilding, because if you're playing Avisail Garcia another full season next year I've got news for you...you're rebuilding.

Garcia completely blown away on 3 fastballs up in the zone.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 09:47 PM) Would you agree that Tyler's batting style is probably more sustainable for a nice average than Phegley? Just based on the eye test if nothing else? I believed Phegley's power was more legit and there was no "high babip" or any giveaway like that.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 09:44 PM) I agree years for a Sox hitter. Josh Phegley hammered the ball for his first 2 weeks and then fell off a cliff.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 09:41 PM) I root for all of them. I don't think people have a lot of faith that he'll ever be what he was before the injury. That being said, he has shown some flashes this year of being serviceable, with his performance being a lot more acceptable if he was being paid like a fifth starter. Sanchez now hitting .202. Wouldn't mind seeing how he played SS if we move Alexei, and call up Micah. Both Saladino and Sanchez can play SS and 3b. I'm game for playing both of them at those 2 spots for a while.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 08:08 PM) Anderson ( at SS) and Micah( at 2B) are both at this stage very questionable defensively. Now maybe Anderson can play 2nd but I doubt they will ever be the Sox doublplay combination. Maybe the defensive light goes on for both guys but hopefully one can play average defense at 2nd since I think both can hit at ML level. Only way we're going to get them there is to work them at it. And that means understanding how weak our roster is and using the positions to let them grow.

12 consecutive scoreless for Danks since the AS break. Something looks odd about his beard today. Either his beard looks longer than normal or his face looks thinner.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 06:55 PM) To be fair, AAA isn't a mandatory step. Lots of org minor leaguers on AAA staffs. That said, he only spent a year above A ball, which is pretty ambitious. I believe one of the same people who had Micah leapfrog AAA this year also went on record saying that the gulf between AAA and the bigs has never been bigger. With the pitching in the bigs right now, I have to agree with that too. Makes me really want them to let these guys work at AAA.

Sun Times has an article up pointing out that Abreu only has hit "4 line drives this month". of course, I'm not even bothering to link to it because it's in the Sun Times and their insane number of popups literally makes the page 100% unviewable.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 06:46 PM) This, of course, is what we should have done in 2015, but I agree with you. Still, there is no 3B or catcher on the horizon and the Sox need to do looking for deals along those lines as well. If somehow Micah and Anderson were both positive offensive contributors by 2017, that could offset 3b and maybe even allow Sanchez/Saladino to hold it down effectively, esp. if Saladino can find a way to grow as a big league hitter given the start he's on...but the only way we're going to have confidence in any of that is to slow down and play the guys we have for a season to see what they can turn into. That said...would continue looking for candidates at those slots in trades as well. And it still leaves us a glaring lack of power, as well as major potential gaps in the corner OF. Woulda been really nice to have Semien in this mix as well. Hell, with Abreu's season, woulda been nice to have Ravelo as a 2016 candidate arrival as well (even though he's also been hurt this year).

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 05:35 PM) I'm wondering if the Courtney Hawkins saga actually caused some changes with promotions, though the radical changes for getting all hitters on the same approach ain't happened. If it did, the "Micah Johnson had 2 weeks in AAA, he's fine for the big leagues" they pulled this year doesn't show it.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 06:03 PM) Nobody is going to let good hitting leave anymore. It will still be a crap offense or 2nd contract guys. I don't know how his offense will look by then, he's trending downwards but still in his 20s, but Carlos Gomez did stand out to me amongst the potential 2016 class. Other than that though, you're right. We need to get some production out of the guys we currently have. Unfortunately I can't guarantee that...but I will say that the only way to turn these guys into big league hitters is to give them a chance to be big league hitters. Put Eaton, Garcia, Johnson, Abreu, some of the IFs out there in 2016 and see if we can turn them into something tolerable. Otherwise, we've got to replace about 6 different positions this year to even have a shot at getting a competitive offense together for next year.

QUOTE (SCCWS @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 05:37 PM) How will the offense look???? If you don't trade pitching, other than Shark, how are you filling the numerous holes offensively and defensively. Use 2016 to develop what we can out of Garcia, Eaton, and the middle infielders we have. 2016 clears out LaRoche and Danks's money as well, leaving us with only Cabrera as a likely bad contract. Right now it looks like Jose Abreu is going to either be a long-term DH or a guy who is regularly banged up and not able to contribute like he did in 2014, but 2016 will provide good evidence if that's not the case (maybe he gets a better training routine next offseason and comes back healthier?). From there, now we're in a position to know better what positions we have major holes at. If Garcia hits like this in 2016 you cut him loose if you intend to compete in 2017, if he does turn into something useful then at least we'll have a positive season before we count on him. If Eaton is still a replacement-level player that's fine, you stick him 7th in the lineup and deal with it. Hopefully....Anderson continues the run he's on and can be a tolerable player by then. That leaves us a bunch of money to spend, either on the FA market or by taking on other team's salary in trades starting around the deadline and going through the after 2016 offseason. Hopefully we get something out of Samardzija that is useful in the lineup and makes up for all the pieces we gave away, and we're in a position to make a big upgrade or two to fill the last couple slots.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 04:48 PM) You showed me one stat. One freaking stat. That is "all the other performance" issues. Most every team in baseball would take Jeff and plug him into their #2 or #3 spot. If you showed me the stat and he was getting hit massively harder and was no longer a good pitcher, sure, I could bite, but what I am telling you is that stat would regress anyway (due to change in leauge) and then you take away early starts where he might have been pressing, and you have a trend where that reduction in K/rate isn't near as significant. I work with numbers enough to know you can find any player and complain about them. Maybe we should stay far away from Mike Trout because his strikeout rate increased exponentially from the 1st two years. I can cherry pick stats all day long. Is their a signficant # of stats that say Shark isn't a solid #2 / frontline #3 and that I shouldn't expect that going forward? Has his stuff fallen off a cliff? I can't do any better to show Samardzija's K-rate rolling off a cliff than this image. Unfortunately the board won't let me embed it. If this isn't a trend of a guy showing his age I don't know what is.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 04:39 PM) Additionally, this is a guy who moved from the NL to the AL (technically a little over halfway through last season), so I would expect his k-rate would come down given the fact that he stopped facing a pitcher 2-3 times a game. It dropped from 8.6 to 8.0 when he went to Oakland last year for >100 innings. It's down a lot even from where he was in Oakland.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 04:41 PM) On a sidenote, i am an advocate of trading Shark and Q and then making a run at Shark again in the off-season, but if he truly were willing to sign a 4 year deal that would be a hometown discount, I'd be willing to listen. Despite all the other performance issues that tell me to stay away and the fact that the white sox are piling up pitching prospects that should be in line before him, I also think the trump card remains "if the White Sox have $17.5 million to spend next offseason why on Earth are they spending it on their starting rotation"?

Oh, and if he's sacrificing strikeouts for more ground balls, his ground ball rate is also the worst of his career. That bounces around enough that I wouldn't call that as scary of a trend as the dropoff in strikeouts...but if he's cutting down on the strikeouts to get more ground balls...he's failing at both.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 04:35 PM) Good post and completely agreed. However, if you believe him to be a 4-ish ERA guy going forward, that is back-end of the rotation material, not a #3 starter in this current run environment. It's below average. Either way he's certainly not going to be worth anything close to $18ish million a year if his K-rate doesn't improve. Maybe 4-ish is a bit harsh, but 3.6-3.75 is not. Slightly closer to average?