Balta1701

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 06:56 PM) Adam, Mich and for this discussion Conor are all lefty. I believe someone posted the idea of Mich batting #1, if he makes it out of spring training. then the sox has Adam at #2 and then Jose at #3. that is still a left, left and a right handed hitting order. so lets say do not use Mich as #1 but Adam and in my book Conor as #2. again hoping that Conor comes out swinging like last yr. that is still a LH, LH and RH lineup. using maybe Marcus as a #2 hitter, I rather not put the pressure on him again. he may go back into a tail spin. some how the line up is going to get 2 of the same hands hitters. in top of the lineup, or 2 of the same hand in the middle. Robin will do whatever he can to avoid having that happen, including hitting people like Gillaspie right behind Abreu. He made that very clear last year.

QUOTE (bear_brian @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 06:30 PM) Cabrera would not hit behind Abreu, but IN FRONT of him, behind Eaton. We would still need to find a #4 hitter (my suggestion is Morales, since I believe he will come back from a very disjointed season last year). There is no comparison between Rasmus and Melky offensively - Melky hits for average, does not strike out, is a switch hitter, and would totally improve the top of our lineup hitting between those two and allowing Alexei to slide down lower in the order. I like the idea of trading for Saunders. He could provide rest for any of the three OF's, has lots of potential, and is a superior hitter to Jordan Danks. Robin would not hit Cabrera directly behind Eaton because Robin wants to break up the lefties in his lineup. You'd almost certainly see some version of Eaton, followed by Alexei/Semien (or maybe even Garcia?), Cabrera, Abreu.

QUOTE (Jake @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 04:07 PM) This just seems like basic and harmless self-expression. If you can't see the guy's ass, leave it alone. I'm actually surprised somebody hasn't challenged this sort of thing on first amendment grounds - maybe they got thrown in jail when they tried to. Probably because the people being targeted don't have the kind of money it would take to make that fight.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 03:08 PM) All that stuff is 3 years old . He has had good working relationships with a few of his hitting coaches since then. Except the same stuff seemingly led to him being benched down the stretch last year after another terrible season.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 02:37 PM) Usually dont they split the movie into two parts in order to preserve the story, and NOT cut out anything? Pretty sure that was why Deathly Hallows and Mockingjay did it The "double money" part is a pretty convenient benefit though, don't you have to admit?

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Nov 20, 2014 -> 12:26 PM) For Bulls fans, we should really be rooting for the Sacramento Kings this season. So far they are 6-5 this season and if they finish outside of the bottom 10 of the league, the Bulls will get their first round draft pick from the Luol Deng trade. This pick could become a huge asset in next years draft to move up or acquire players. of course, the problem is you posted this with the Bulls about to play the Kings.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 09:34 PM) You trapped yourself with this response. Not with this coaching staff. I know one thing...the Royals' staff would never tolerate the play we've seen out of him the last two years when he was quite decent in 2012. How do you explain that regression? It's not physical, it's almost completely mental/psychological. To my knowledge, putting on 5-10 extra pounds can't possibly be the reason. I completely agree with you which is why I'm surprised the two of you insisted he would make a major step forward next year. I'm ready to pull the plug and give up on him, non-tendering him in 2 weeks, so if I got an expensive backup/platoon catcher out of it, I'd be plenty ok with that. Maybe another team could get something out of him, but I have no longer any confidence that he'll be anything other than a complete disaster as a player for the White Sox.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 08:36 PM) Which still doesn't necessarily mean Navarro's going to have nearly the impact Viciedo will the next 3-5 years. It's just like the stock market. Past returns aren't necessarily an indicator of future performance. Caveat emptor. Do you guys genuinely think that Viciedo is going to be a significantly improved player next year? I certainly don't. Please someone tell me where he's going to actually make progress next year.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 08:19 PM) 2015 Steamer projection Navarro 0.3 WAR Viciedo. 0.6 WAR Actual WAR the last 2 years: Viciedo: -0.8 fWAR Navarro: 3.8 fWAR.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 07:31 PM) And what is to say that they haven't been offered a better player than Navarro, and turned that down, as well? Because that would have been foolish?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 06:50 PM) I think they'd find ways to skip a start about every 6 weeks. A typical season will see 32 starts in a year if a pitcher remains healthy. If you figure 6 innings per start on average - and that is an optimistic projection - a pitcher will typically throw 192 innings. If you skip 5 starts at 6 innings a piece, you are already back down to 162 innings, which is well within that range. You can't be afraid of letting him work through a dead arm period, but if he looks like it's catching up to him too quickly, you can just give him a rest. The question is whether hanging the extra 10+ innings per starter on everyone else and the bullpen is really the best thing for them.

QUOTE (flavum @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 01:49 PM) Anyone else look back at Sale being in the pen in 2011 as a colossal waste of his talent? Yes.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 01:51 PM) The thing is no team has ever gone bankrupt. Incorrect. Technically this counts too. In the first one, one of the biggest creditors the Rangers had during their bankruptcy proceedings was this muscle bound freak named Alex Roidriguez or something like that.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 01:46 PM) Tried clearing up the poll to make it less confusing. Now that you've changed the meaning I want to change my vote.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 01:32 PM) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er1zvNiYr48...eature=youtu.be Anyone get the irony in this commercial? DRose is standing and walking! Like Rory Calhoun! Hilarious! Had to.

Start him at Charlotte with a plan on an ~ June ish callup. The only way he pitches out of the bullpen at all this season is if the team without him goes on a run and wins 92 games, where he can stay at Charlotte most of the year, throw 170 innings there, and become a september callup in the David Price role. Despite wanting him in AAA, I voted starter to emphasize he should not be in the bullpen.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 11:14 AM) Which means there is zero chance he ends up with the Cardinals, that's not how they do business. They have stepped up and paid for FAs before, Matt Holliday being the most recent example.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 11:20 AM) So the reality is he is a #4.5 starter. And conveniently, if Noesi simply does what he did with he White Sox over a full season next year, no improvement whatsoever, he also would come in at a #4.5 starter. Between Danks working to get back where he was preinjury and any possible growth from Noesi, that does give us 2 guys who could pencil in as strong, back of the rotation options. The missing piece is the middle of the rotation, which Rodon can help with but isn't going to fill the full year.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 11:03 AM) The only one I could find was from 2006 Hardball Times. Obviously a different game now, but they went through every start, placed pitchers starts in 1-5 even if not qualified. and determined ERAs. Then, his current ERA would put him closer to a #3 than a #4 and #5s had a collective ERA over 6.00. Allowing for a decrease in offense, I doubt that drops 1.25, so while you get a pretty bad ERA from Danks, he probably would rank pretty high as a #5 considering he makes all his starts. Here was the 2006 chart: Lg #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 MLB 3.60 4.14 4.58 5.10 6.24 AL 3.70 4.24 4.58 5.09 6.22 NL 3.51 4.04 4.57 5.11 6.26 I would venture to guess, as bad as some think he is, if you designated John Danks a #5 starter and matched him up to the rest of the major leagues #5 starts, he would be looking pretty good. People tend to forget the guys who make one or two starts, and the teams that have 7 or 8 "fifth" starters. You can quibble with the numbers exactly some since there are assumptions into what goes into a 1/5 starter but here it is done in terms of fWAR earlier this year. In this compilation, a #4 starter averages 1.8 fWAR, a #5 starter averages ~0.2 fWAR, and last year John Danks put up 0.8 fWAR.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 10:13 AM) Lol hate to break the news to you, but you're expectations are really far removed from reality. You should just prepare yourself to be disappointed already. I'm not going to be disappointed when Alexei isn't traded.

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 09:37 AM) first has to come from the coaches who saw that it can be done or that there was a problem that needed to be fix. second is to convince the pitcher. now for the sox, can coop see that this might help???? Coop has already talked about making Danks into the next Buehrle, a successful pitcher based on control and movement, this offseason. He must have some ideas for him. Worth thinking about whether a guy coming back from a shoulder injury is a good candidate for an overhaul in arm position, but that's outside my expertise.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 09:31 AM) My point is , while Danks is now overpaid, and won't be sought by other teams, he does provide something to the White Sox. He isn't totally useless. I know quality starts are laughable for some here, but he had almost as many as Max Scherzer, and he pitched nearly 200 innings. He has always been, even pre-surgery, a guy who when he was hit around, he was really hit around. There are a few more games of that right now, but if it is conceivable that Zach Duke can turn his career around and be "fixed" at 31, Danks can learn to pitch with stuff that is shorter than what he had. If it were me, I'd dump the contract if I could, but it wouldn't be a top priority, and I wouldn't dump it in lieu of receiving talent. For once, I actually agree with DA.

QUOTE (spiderman @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 09:17 AM) I'm guessing that not every pitcher is as easily fixed as Duke was. Old habits are hard to break. To be honest, if Danks can pitch close to 200 IP again, as a #5 starter, how does he rank compared to others around the AL? Granted, he was signed to be a #2 or #3 starter, but this is what we have. He'd be about an average #5 starter paid to be a #3 starter if he kept repeating last year's performance.Maybe slightly above average as a #5, but below average as a #4.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 09:12 AM) What? You really thought the White Sox were going to make a play on Lester? ALL. THE. LEFTIES.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Nov 19, 2014 -> 09:09 AM) I think a more realistic trade would be something like Either + about $18M or so in cash, Schebler, and Jose Dominguez (24 year old bull pen arm that can reach 100) for Alexei and Danks....maybe we can get 1 more prospect, not sure, but I can definitely see a deal like that getting done. Ewwwww. A completely lateral move, no salary savings at all, and Alexei sent out for a bullpen arm. This isn't Jed Hoyer trading with the Cubs right before being hired by them.