Balta1701

QUOTE (Charlie Haeger's Knuckles @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 06:11 PM) I hope if that's the case they keep Viciedo for CarGo's obligitory 100-game DL stint. Just to brainstorm...if injury is his issue, could he survive as a full time DH? Hit well enough and maybe play the field 20ish games a season or something like that?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 04:35 PM) That scares the locals I'm sure, but educated people should be able to distiniguish a one-time action like that. And that is still a big leap to thinking the US is intentionally creating and spreading a disease like this - one that, by the way, may end up hurting themselves. Hell, like 2k5 said, look how much the educated people in this country trust vaccines right now.

QUOTE (LDF @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 04:09 PM) I hate to say this, but with the way the advance stats, isn't that what the future holds? use advance stats for every situation and needing specialist as players? The problem with doing that is roster size. Especially with a backup catcher and 12 man pitching staff there are only so many match ups you can do with a 25 man roster. For us right now if both Sanchez and Semien can at least be non-terrible contributors, we can rotate those 2 through the IF positions along with Gillaspie (and maybe soon, Micah) and be able to play match ups there pretty well, but Alexei and Abreu aren't likely to be moved for match ups. So we have some ability to do that, but you still need solid regulars.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 03:36 PM) To help with isolation and care efforts. I thought I heard that a bulk of the people heading over are from the Army Corps of Engineers, so they'd be helping build facilities. Similar reasons to why we sent our military in after the earthquakes in Haiti. Our efforts to build a series of isolation units/field hospitals in the hardest hit countries are currently going very poorly as well. That needs reinforced.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 02:55 PM) Starting to become depressed. What I'm gathering is that all of our young talent are only a good hitter if platooned for their respective handedness and are not capable of playing defense. Sounds like we are close. That's actually not bad as long as you have a couple key cogs to make things work. We do. You stick a bunch of platoons around Abreu and it will still look decent. WE just need our corner OF's to be much less terrible than last year, and maybe even count on a bit of an upgrade at 2b. Plus getting rid of the terrible bench will help as well.

QUOTE (LDF @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 02:11 PM) not factoring DV in this opinion, Garcia defense works out great for at DH. plus less likely to get hurt. He hasn't shown it yet but he is young so that's not surprising...with coaching and practice, Garcia still has the tools to become a tolerable OF. Whether he will or not no idea, but he's not a lumbering blob out there, he just needs to get the skills down.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 01:59 PM) Yes, ideally you want one outfielder and one infielder, but if you get two OF you can move Garcia to DH and if you get two IF you can move Semien to LF and Gillaspie to DH, so you aren't talking about high stress position changes here. I don't see why the White Sox have need of any more infielders on their current roster as opposed to just "filling" the DH slot with whatever. Ideally I feel like we need an OF and a DH. Maybe you could convince me we need a 2nd backup IF, but with Semien and Sanchez both available that's probably already demand for more at bats than we have available barring injury.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 01:40 PM) I don't think position should be a primary concern for the Sox. Acquire the two best hitters they can within their budget, and then figure out where everybody plays. Gillaspie can move from 3B to DH, Semien can play any IF position plus possibly LF, and Garcia could potentially move to DH, all depending on what positions the two new guys play. I think position has to figure into some moves because I see a major need at corner OF and a glut in the IF. If you add an infielder you're making one problem worse and forcing a guy to learn a new position. If you add an OF, you solve a problem and then you can worry about the best fit you can find. I am generally not a huge fan of the concept of a permanent position switch for these Ifs we have. I could see us getting away with Semien moving to a corner OF spot permanently and being a decent hitter, but the other guys don't seem like good fits especially if you take the team's word that "Micah will not be moving". If you're finding a "good hitter" at a position we already have that compels a guy to learn a new position...the guy you're picking up better be a real steal because the guy you're moving will have been working on different stuff all winter.

QUOTE (LDF @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 01:43 PM) and I agree 100%. but don't forget he has power, players with power does not grow on trees. also replacing that player with another player with same or more power and have better hitting avg is going to be hard. I would take less power in exchange for a generally better hitter. Only 1 of the top 5 teams in HR made the playoffs this year, Baltimore, while teams 29 and 30 both did. It's clearly helpful, it's not a bad thing, but you can't sacrifice all other parts of the game for power.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 01:10 PM) How about a right hander that kills lefties? If the splits are 10 points or less regardless of the pitcher they face, bring 'em on! The problem is that the manager made it clear this year he will design a lineup to break up righties if at all possible. If you can suggest someone who fits, but the manager drops him in the order because he's a righty and there needs to be a lefty in-between him and Abreu, that sorta doesn't work out.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 12:03 PM) They won't non-tender him. They will offer him for sure, and then try to move him. My guess...if they tender him a contract, he's on the roster at the start of April.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 10:05 AM) Yes, I get that you have to make the playoffs in order to win in the playoffs, but if you're a GM and you have $15M to spend for next season and with that $15M you can get two 2.0 WAR pitchers, or you can get one 4.0 WAR pitcher and then fill the other spot with a AAAA player, shouldn't you take the second option? Generally yes, I'd say its preferable to have a #2 starter quality guy, but especially in the latter case you underestimated what they'd actually be paid. Teams seem more likely to pay a premium for the 2nd guy, making him a $20 million contract if everything else is somehow equal.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 09:52 AM) So, I think there are two issues at hand. (1) Is the difference in roster usage from regular season to playoffs enough to change how good teams are relative to each other and (2) if so, do GMs need to take this into account when constructing their rosters? My prejudices are: 1. Yes, there is enough of a difference in the playoffs that such things do matter. 2. No. It's too hard to make the playoffs every year that you have to give priority to making the playoffs. Once that happens you count on it being a crapshoot even if it isn't. Do whatever you can to make the playoffs first.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 09:21 AM) Not this one. Not a SS who has to be a utility guy and is coming off TJ surgery, making me wonder about how he'll handle throws that first year back. And will miss some time at the beginning of the year, forcing me to burn an option or signing early on then drop someone. And who had two straight mediocre years before turning it around this year. And who has shown he needs adjustment time, so he'll likely be pretty awful with the bat as a minimal-time player. Not to mention it forces me to not use him as often as I'd like to use a utility INF. By the way he's 25 and will turn 26 during next season. He's extremely low risk to be claimed, in my view. He has some talent, but with the logjam already developing in the White Sox infield, it's also likely not a huge loss to the Sox if he is claimed by someone. He's not going to take a 3b spot, he's not going to take a 2b spot, the only place he could be really useful is SS, and that's blocked by an expensive veteran. Only caveat to that is if Alexei is traded, then he could well rapidly become needed.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 09:09 AM) The book on USCF is basically that it's a below average park to hit in for average, a slightly above average park for homers for LHH, and a very friendly park for homers for RHH. Which is exactly what everything other than the hidden book shows.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 10:31 PM) Look at page 73 in the 2014 BP then pop off. A low is accusing someone of lying without even checking. There are 3 possibilities. 1. You're flat out lying. 2. You're not paying attention as you are reading the book and you are quoting a number incorrectly. For example you could be looking at only the splits for LH hitters - in the linked BP numbers that anyone can read, those were about average all 3 years. 3. You're actually reading it correctly, but you're so incurious that you're just quoting the numbers as gospel and not bothering to think through where those numbers come from or what difficulties might be in them. You're then tossing aside the same calculation done and presented by 4 different places (well, 3 different places and the same exact place) because they fit your agenda without giving any reason why the version you prefer is better other than it shows what you want it to show. When I replied, I originally included 3 different calculations all from different sources for exactly that reason, because I expect some scatter depending on how you treat the fact that "players often play better at home anyway". But processing that would undermine your agenda and require you to actually stop and think before coming up with it. Whatever the actual case is, the end result is just a sad spectacle.

QUOTE (LDF @ Oct 3, 2014 -> 12:29 AM) define upgrade, someone who will hit with power isn't that DV? how many hrs does he have? they may lose those power numbers that everybody is saying. Dunn is traded / retired. DV - what going to be traded or something else who is going to replace those homeruns? Reed is not an elite, but he is a closer. really how many more wins / saves Reed could have added? no one will ever know. 21 home runs really isn't that helpful if a guy is putting up the rest of the numbers Viciedo put up. He's bad on defense, he struck out 120+ times, he doesn't get on base, he didn't bring really anything else useful to the table, and he's going rapidly the wrong way. This is a bad combination.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 10:27 PM) My word is solid. Anyone with a 2014 BP can verify my post. The only one making things up is you saying they would be 5th if they played at Comerica Park. "Making things up" = "4 separate links including one to the source you say you're citing establishing that over the exact time period you asked for". You are truly at a new low. I'm out. This is just sad.

Well, that's 4 linked websites all of which say the same thing, a slightly above average hitters park that sometimes plays extremely above average, versus your word. Everyone else can take their pick about what to believe. Hell, even if you posted the document I'm going to go with what every other place, including BP, says.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 10:05 PM) Not making anything up. BP has it at 100 the last 3 years. Exactly average. 2012: well above average for both righties and lefties, 12 more runs than average ballpark. 2013: above average for righties (105), slightly below average for lefties (97), translating to an above average hitters ballpark. 2014: 104 for righties, 98 for lefties, same story, comes out to an above average hitters ballpark overall (and wondering if Chris Sale isn't impacting the lefties). Did you seriously think that because you posted twice without including a link that I couldn't check? (2011, similar story, 107 for righties, 99 for lefties, above average hitters park each of the last 4 years. 4 years in a row you are completely wrong even for the website you're supposedly citing).

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 09:44 PM) It has played as a neutral park the past 3 or 4 years yet no top half of the AL finishes. Next excuse. Also check their splits. Many pitch much better at home. 2010: 4th best hitters park 2011: 14th 2012: 2nd best 2013: 14th 2014: 7th Always above average, overall not Coors but one of the better hitters parks in the league. someone else's version just for good measure: Fangraphs has us as an above average hitters park corrected downwards for WAR in 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010. Had enough or going to make something up again?

QUOTE (LDF @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 08:44 PM) a great catch on the interview. do you or anyone think that Trey will have enuf power to be a first baseman? Met/interviewed him in person last year right after the draft. Big frame, skinny guy at the time. Plenty of room to add mass/power but long term who knows? Ryan Sweeney was supposed to add a bit more power and become an all star and he never did.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 05:55 PM) 2014 - 4.30 team ERA, 13th out of 15 2013 - 3.98 team ERA, 9th out of 15 2012 - 4.08 team ERA, 8th out of 14 2011 - 4.10 team ERA, 8th out of 14 2010 - 4.09 team ERA, 8th out of 14 2009 - 4.14 team ERA, 2nd out of 14 2008 - 4.06 team ERA, 6th out of 14 2007 - 4.77 team ERA, 12th out of 14 2006 - 4.61 team ERA, 10th out of 14 2005 - 3.61 team ERA, 1st out of 14 2004 - 4.91 team ERA, 11th out of 14 2003 - 4.17 team ERA, 4th out of 14 I didn't note 2002 as Nardi was the coach for half a year there and Cooper was cleaning up a mess. On that list, I see 2 teams that had great pitching, 2 teams that had above average pitching, 4 teams that were pretty mediocre, and 2 teams that were bad, and 2 teams that were very bad. That's a fairly stable bell curve Cooper has working right now. But that's happening in a hitters ballpark. An "Average" White Sox pitching staff throwing in this ballpark would be 8th/10th in ERA in the AL. Put the same pitching staff in Comerica and they're 5th in ERA.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 01:39 PM) The procedure is specifically for EBV outbreaks and includes branching paths based on potential EBV exposure. I don't know how many people fly from Sierra Leone, Liberia or Nigeria to the US and then go to the hospital for one reason or another within three weeks, but if it's a decent amount of people*, you need to find a way to screen out who actually should be tested. *I don't know what sort of resources are available for EBV testing and what would count as enough people that testing all of them would overwhelm the system and create a backlog where more likely cases don't get tested quickly enough. I should also add, if "testing people who just flew from Africa for ebola who have symptoms similar to those of the flu" takes some time, quarantine them and test them for the flu. If that comes back positive, maybe you worry less.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 02:08 PM) The Frontline Ep said 70% mortality rate in Africa. Who knows how much of that is the standard of medical care there, versus the actual strength of the virus. Just making an educated guess...so far it seems like a whole lot of it is the standard of medical care. Nigeria had a few cases crop up, they clamped down on them and the outbreak there as of now seems to have burned itself out with only a 40% mortality rate.