Balta1701

QUOTE (scs787 @ Nov 13, 2014 -> 10:54 AM) This has kinda morphed into a bullpen thread so I'll bring this up here. Last year Hahn brought in a bunch of guys that didn't give up the long ball. If that philosophy (If it was indeed a philosophy) continues then none of K-Rod, Romo, or Janssen make sense. All rank in the "top" 20 in HR/9, Gregerson comes in at 60th while pitching predominately in a pitchers ballpark. Conversely, Andrew Miller ranked 47th in least HR/9....Zach Duke 51st I'm fairly content with the RH relievers sans maybe a closer, but Burke Badenhop(4th) and Joba Chamberlin(44th) are the only other FAs in the top 50 of least HR/9. I feel like Hr/9 is a number that bounces around fairly often for starters, so just intuitively I'd guess that there's a ton of variation in HR/9 for relievers from year to year. Am I wrong in that assessment?

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 13, 2014 -> 10:43 AM) If I wrote this already in another thread, sorry for doing it twice. I wish there was a sox catch all. yesterday I was reading on mlb rumors that the Phillies are looking to trade Howard and will be willing to eat a big portion of his salary. 2 questions. does anyone think he will be a good pickup for the sox and does anyone know what kind of shoulder injury he has? Here's the thread where everyone agrees he would be a terrible pickup.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Nov 12, 2014 -> 10:01 PM) I'm not entirely sure Obama wouldn't have voted for it, but the bottom line is he didn't even have a choice so he was better off than Hillary. For a state senator, keeping your mouth shut on national issues is the version of playing it safe.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 12, 2014 -> 09:19 PM) Then there's only LaRoche (and he has some questionable splits which will worsen with age), Melky Cabrera and Markakis, and Markakis isn't a middle of the order hitter, either. Someone like Heyward, at this point in his career, isn't that...even though in the beginning it felt like he would be a 3-4-5 guy for 15 years. With as left-hand heavy as our lineup and org are, I'm not that worried about questionable splits. We've got a RH heavy lineup anyway, we've got 2 righties around as our middle infielders and they could certainly fill in the other side of a platoon. If we added a RH hitting OF to team with him, then basically I think we're set up to run out a deep roster that is pretty darn well balanced and it just requires Robin to actually use the guys in the right role.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 12, 2014 -> 06:36 PM) I'm not saying they aren't important, but they are nowhere near a big enough piece of the pie to factor into a FA decision. And again, less than half of them are really considering not renewing anyhow. I'd say they're important in that "Season Tickets are a major thing that changes when you make the playoffs". They're the payoff for making the playoffs and losing them is the punishment for missing the playoffs 6 years in a row.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 12, 2014 -> 06:14 PM) I just don't agree with this. I think that it is an argument made by marketing and echoed by media, but I don't think actually affects ticket sales in a significant way, at least not in Chicago. Firstly, season tickets make up a much smaller portion of total attendance than people assume. It's significant, but the industry is moving toward groups. Secondly, while all STH will be very vocal about the team's direction, the majority of them are going to renew regardless. They'll grumble, but they'll be there. You will lose some that are on the fence, but it ends up being a much smaller piece than it seems. The largest portion of the crowd on any given night is walk-ups, and they are, by far, the most sensitive to wins and losses. You can look at our attendance figures the past decade and see this pattern in play. Most recently, even the IN season record hasn't affected things much. The years when you see attendance increasing are the years AFTER a successful, winning season. So the overall point is that, IMO, the Sox should not be thinking about their acquisitions in terms of sending a signal to fans; they should just be trying to build a winner as efficiently as possible. The faster they can do that, the faster they'll be in the black. That doesn't mean Hahn shouldn't pay lip service to the media about "being aggressive," but at the end of the line, the numbers are going to follow the win column, even if they show up a year late. The best thing he can do for the team, financially, is build a team that contends for several consecutive years. The bolded is actually an argument that Season Ticket sales are in fact really important because season ticket sales for the next year are gotten by bundling them with playoff tickets.

Ryan Howard's OPS the last 3 years is .720. 2 of those years, he only played 1/2 the season. Last year, he put up a career worst .690 OPS. Maybe he gives a tiny improvement in health and performance if he's a full time DH, but would you pay $12 million a season for a full time DH giving even a .720 OPS? That's the same amount of money we paid for Adam Dunn for a guy performing much worse than Adam Dunn right now. Even counting Dunn's disastrous 2011 campaign, Dunn outproduced that while on this current contract.

Tigers resign Martinez. Ergo, the Minnesota Twins lineup appears. Obviously.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 12, 2014 -> 05:36 PM) The good news is, 2 years from now, Tigers are likely going to find themselves in between a rock and a hard place and by that point we better darn well be contending with an upward ascent. I still think we can contend this year (not saying be the favorite but contend) and then a year from now emerge as a bigger contender and hopefully near favorite. We can't just sit idly and waste cost controlled front-line stars. We just can't do it. You don't know when the well will run dry. I also don't blame the Tigers for what they are doing. They have all of this money invested and have some long-term hits, but if they don't do it now, then they almost wasted most of what they already have on their books...they kind of have to stay IN vs. exit and just hope to really enjoy this ride. IMO they already are between a rock and a hard place. To avoid losing their #1 starter will take a payroll >$175 mil, and that literally is just to tread water with guys like Cabrera slowly getting older. I still think we can contend this year as well, but I don't think >$60 million on a DH is the way to do it.

QUOTE (Bigsoxhurt35 @ Nov 12, 2014 -> 05:26 PM) Money is no object to them. Never ending Assuming they pick up their options on Avila & offer arbitration to guys like Price and Porcello, this deal puts them currently at $150 million committed for this season. And that's with Scherzer as a free agent. Subtract Scherzer from their roster last year, replace him with 1/2 extra year of Price, and have VMart return to his normal career power production, and that team probably misses the playoffs.

This just puts us in a better position to compete with them. That is not sarcasm.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Nov 12, 2014 -> 02:34 PM) Could the argument not be made that he did just this the last two seasons? Last year? No. That team was beaten up badly, they couldn't have beaten the Heat even if he came back for the playoffs. He could have made the difference in them getting to round 2, but nothing beyond that, and that's only because they were down to 1 point guard. 2013, maybe. They needed him then, that team had the starting lineup we all wanted to see together except for Rose, and he should have been ready to go much earlier in the season than last year so he should have had more time to get back into the game as well.

A few extra seconds in the extended trailer!

He generally fits the white sox's needs. However, no.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Nov 12, 2014 -> 02:00 PM) When did I say I want them to sign Scherzer? You keep implying that I said that, when in reality I think it would be a terrible idea. And sorry, expectations always drive ticket sales to some extent, I can't believe you and SS2K are actually arguing against this. Fans purchase single-game and season tickets in the offseason, and those decisions are heavily based on expectations. If the team goes out and spends $40M on free agents and vastly improves the team, those fans will be excited/optimistic and will more often than not purchase more tickets than they would have otherwise. Obviously if the team fails to meet expectations, walk-ups will drop as the season progresses. Winning clearly has a major impact on ticket sales, and I would argue to a larger degree, but to say offseason expectations have no impact on is on a Greg-level of thinking. In 2010 the team lost 1000 fans a game compared to 2009. They did their "all in" campaign going into 2011, spending big on a free agent market and building a deep roster that was supposed to win right then. In 2011 the team finished below .500 and lost 2400 fans a game compared to 2010. They spent big on free agents and their ticket sale drop was bigger than the year before. In 2012, the team was in contention most of the year and lost 500 fans a game compared to 2010 despite spending cuts during the offseason, a change to a rookie manager, and no big free agent signing to sell. So let's make that clear: Biggest ticket sales drops: being under .500 regardless of whether or not there's a big free agent purchase. Ticket sales stay steady when they compete the whole year. If the "Selling the team in the offseason" effect matters, it's a lot smaller than the "winning ****ing ballgames" effect.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Nov 12, 2014 -> 01:53 PM) I like it plus I would look at Cotts too Cotts is a guy who would make sense if they really like Snodgress as a potential bullpen lefty. He throws hard, he's been worked as a starter and done well enough in that role, he had a really good fastball in college and IIRC threw out of the bullpen there somewhat, but he's not quite big league ready yet. I already like Surkamp as a lefty, he had a really good run during his 2nd stretch with the big league team last year and should have a good shot at one of those spots, Cotts could be a decent bridge until the minors can generate another lefty if they really believe in the 2 they have.

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 12, 2014 -> 01:52 PM) This isn't a scenario we are even living in, getting upset about this stuff is just ridiculous. Sports fandom in 21st century is 90% psychoanalyzing bulls***. Rose sat an extra day with 2 SPRAINED ANKLES. He evne tried playing on it the day before. He isn't holding the bulls hostage. Meanwhile the Bulls almost killed a player 2 years ago. How's that for corrupted power. I am not nearly as annoyed at Rose for playing with 2 sprained ankles as I am at the Bulls training staff for letting him play when he wasn't healthy enough to avoid reaggrivating them.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 12, 2014 -> 01:41 PM) Healthy =/= ready to play in the NBA at his normal level. Yes, maybe he should have tried to come back in 2013. But I really doubt the Bulls were pushing him. He was what, 23 when that happened? With his career ahead of him? That's not an easy decision to make from either side. By the accounts at the time, the only way he was going to get comfortable playing in games was to play in games, once it had healed the risk of having the same injury again were no more than they were on the day he originally hurt it. So with that one, the fact that he didn't come back really was frustrating. The other thing to remember is that he potentially gave away a chance at getting his first ring by not coming back. That team in 2013 could have had a shot in the playoffs with the full Butler/Rose/Noah/Deng/BoozerGibson lineup, the thing missing was Rose.

QUOTE (JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ Nov 12, 2014 -> 01:31 PM) haha ok. Again, by all accounts he was healthy. How was he at a greater risk of getting hurt by playing last spring then he was last summer playing for Team USA? He was training, conditioning, practicing for the better part of the winter and you are telling me he was rushed back too quickly? What's your basis for that statement? Last spring he was just off the meniscus surgery and I don't think he was practicing during the winter, he was only just barely getting back as the playoff started.

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 12, 2014 -> 01:26 PM) They barely made the playoffs in a terrible division. They could have gone farther but Mike Shanahan decided he was going to single-handedly murder his quarterback. Actually...a guy who single-handedly murdered his starting quarterback could actually fit the Bears fairly well now that I think about it...

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 12, 2014 -> 01:23 PM) And that's a moronic, short-term outlook on the situation. Frankly, i'm not even sure the Bulls wanted him back. He wasn't going to help them beat the Heat and you're risking him getting hurt again. Can you imagine the uproar if he was hurt by being rushed back too quickly? Oh wait, no, i'm sure fans would be happy because he "gave it is all" and "put the team and franchise before his personal health and future" right? His career ending by a dumb move like that surely would be forgiven because what grit that guy showed! The time I wanted him back was in 2013 when he was practicing in January and I expected him back by the AS Break. That would have been enough time to get back in game shape before the playoffs on a team that could have challenged the eventual champs. 2014, he wasn't there until late in the season and yeah, you can't work him back in that way (although it would have been really, really nice to have an extra PG on the roster when Hinrich was playing 48 mpg)

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 12, 2014 -> 01:16 PM) I am not sure what your point is. Thornton has been one of the most consistent LH bullpen options in baseball over the last 8-10 years. He's closer to an aberration than the rule of thumb. So tell me why Andrew Miller, with the run he's currently on, can't be/isn't one of those guys? If you can convince me he isn't using something other than "bullpens are unreliable" I'll sour on going after him, but for the last 3 years he's been very reliable.

HUMAN KIND JUST HARPOONED AND LANDED ON A ****ING COMET.

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 12, 2014 -> 10:40 AM) This is "politico history". The anti-bill backlash was why Obama was powerful in the first place. It didn't start in south carolina. People didn't want to rehash the womanizing and perpetual scandals of his eara. I'd also strongly ad the Iraq war to that list. One candidate voted for the worst political decision of my lifetime, one didn't have a chance to but was on record speaking against it.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Nov 12, 2014 -> 09:53 AM) My thoughts exactly. Miller is a perfect illustration of the unpredictability of relief pitching. There is an available left-handed reliever who will have a better 2015 than Miller for a quarter the price. Just find who it is and get him. But don't pay top dollar for Miller. Did any left handed relievers have a better 2014 than Miller?