Balta1701

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Apr 22, 2012 -> 09:51 AM) Its not about the 1st round matchup, its about the 2nd round. I would much, much, much rather play the Celtics than the Pacers. Let Miami get beat up by Indiana. Pacers clinched the 3 seed yesterday. So round 2 would shape up as Bulls/Celtics, Pacers/Heat, barring a Bulls meltdown later this week. Meanwhile, the Knicks are sitting people like Chandler and seemingly willing to lose games and wind up in the 8th spot.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 10:19 AM) http://didbrendanryanswing.com/

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 09:58 AM) It's getting to the point where he might need to be banned from the league. IMO he should be out at least 10 games (depending on Harden's health, maybe more) with a stern warning that another act like that and he's banned from the league for good. With his history, that should be the season for him.

Contreras signed an extension with the Sox after 2005, and then spent most of those extension years hurt, so yeah, the team definitely was trying to run out the clock on him. And Peavy...yeah, we've definitely been waiting 3 years now to shed that overpaid contract. Dunn and Rios I put on that list because they'll never live up to their contracts with how far down they were last year, and last December, no one here would have supported keeping them if someone else would have claimed their contract. So yeah, for all of them, I definitely feel like they wound up on the "do whatever we can do to get rid of this guy so we don't have to pay his contract" system. Oh, and we can also add Swisher to that list, he was dumped for next to nothing so we wouldn't have to pay his expensive years too.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 09:51 AM) We can probably count on 1 hand how often this has happened in past 30 years on the Sox... From just the last 5 seasons, I've got: Dunn Rios Peavy Contreras Vazquez

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 09:43 AM) Unfortunately the actual market doesn't really correspond to fWAR values yet. Generally I feel like fWAR actually mostly "overpays" people who sign FA contracts, do you disagree? If my feeling on that is right, then that would make me thinking we paid a "premium" price for those 2 guys even stronger.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 09:35 AM) Viciedo will be fine IMO, but he's going to have some struggles along the way. Morel and Beckham can't be this bad for much longer. The good news is that Dunn & Rios are taking some of the heat off those guys for the time-being. My worry on all of those guys is still the same...that if the team is going to decide they want to compete, they can't tolerate these guys slumping for all that much longer, and that means Fukudome and Lillibridge are going to start putting them on the bench. But...putting them on the bench is the worst thing we can do to develop them. That's the big catch-22 here. We're going to have to lose games we could be winning to turn those guys into anything useful...but if we don't do that, then they're going to need to be replaced next season.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 09:32 AM) This is not true. The price we paid is only high because they have failed to produce. Should they play to their capabilities, the price we paid was below market value. Obviously, I understand there is quite a debate to be had about whether or not either of them will play to their capabilities. Well, that's a statement I can back up some... With Dunn, for example, if you go to the fWAR version, he's been a $14 million player 1 time in his career, 2004. He's been a $13 million player one time other than that. Yes, his defense held him back, but the "position adjustments" at DH are high enough he's not likely to overcome that. fWAR would think he was a $10 million or so player even if he had a very good season at DH (Victor Martinez was a $13 million fWAR value player last year), so based on that standard, paying $14 million a year for him was a premium price. Rios...you could say he was a bargain based on his all-star 2007-2008 seasons, where he put up $25 million in fWAR value a year, but since then, he's put up $1.3, $14.8, and -$3 million in value. He's sorta fairly paid for his $2010 season, but obviously 2 of the last 3 years he's massively underperformed. So yeah, if he 'plays to capabilities" you're right on him and that's a below market value price...but like everyone else here, I'm skeptical. So that's part of my case for why I think we paid premium for both of them. I always thought the dollar amounts in fWAR were pretty generous, and both of the guys have been hugely overpaid the last 3 years, and Dunn has never put up enough performance to justify a $14 million salary. I'm ok with paying that premium if we're trying to win "Now"...if we're not, then I have trouble with thinking that's a good way to spend cash.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 09:29 AM) Well, someone taking Balta's position will argue that unloading that salary will put the organization in a better position to succeed in 2013/2014/2015, etc...but I ask the question, what is the ultimate goal here? Last I checked, Kenny's spoken goal is to win another Championship...what the hell are you doing if you're tearing apart a winning team to save $ for the future? Hoping to get right back where you already are now in two or three years? We have the young arms now to sustain the signings of Dunn and Rios if they are being somewhat productive. Peavy's salary is off the books after this season. So let's roll the dice with the team we envisioned 2 and 3 years ago, not unload the key players for nothing just as they finally began to bear fruit... I guess the question then is...do you think it's worth calling us "all in" again for this team, this year? Because if we are, then we should also start acting like it, and that means Beckham, Morel, and Viciedo ought to be back in AAA pretty quick too, because they're costing us games with how bad they're producing while we try to develop them.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 09:26 AM) the 1990 Athletics had a 3.18 team ERA for the season. Holy bajeezus. (Can I ask what website you got team stats going back that far?)

QUOTE (Reddy @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 09:24 AM) haha ok wow didn't realize that. did a check myself and even our '05 team had a 3.61 era. I'll concede this point. however, no reason we can't be among the top pitching staffs in the league all year. Well, I can give reasons but no need to...I'd say the larger point is that if Morel, Beckham, and Viciedo don't step it up, then I don't know how this team could be competitive without putting up that kind of historically good ERA level, since, for example, I doubt AJ Pierzynski will stay in the MVP race all year with the bat. Teams can have the best pitching in the league and not be anywhere close to competitive. Oakland and Seattle tend to be up there, for example, although there are some big ballpark effects.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 09:20 AM) Exactly what I'm thinking. At this point the die has been cast...a few years ago. May as well see what we can get out of it now, because the alternative is unloading money and getting nothing in return...and that does nothing for me. It's not saving ME a dime...so I don't f***ing care what their payroll is. It's not like ticket prices are going to drop because the teams saving money...so no thanks...I'd rather keep Rios/Dunn and see what we can get now. Here's my opposing perspective... You may not care about what the team's payroll is "Right now", but the time when you're going to care what it is will be next offseason, when we're forced to make decisions on which failed prospects (Morel, Beckham) to replace and who else takes a spot in the rotation/bullpen. We paid a huge, premium price for both Dunn and Rios, on the grounds that we were going to "Win now" at the time we acquired them. That didn't happen, but we're still paying that premium price. Clearing the remaining years was all anyone could imagine doing last offseason, and it's still the right move IMO...that way, the team stops paying a premium price for that RF and DH, both of whom could be replaced for less money on the open market. And if we can clear them, that gives us room to pay Free Agent premium prices for the positions (2b, 3b) that we really need to fill next offseason in order to legitimately become a competitive team.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 09:18 AM) i did say low-to-mid 3's. that includes something like a team era of 3.30, 3.40 - which I think IS sustainable. Mind you, this would be the lowest Team ERA in the AL since at least the start of the steroid era (can't quickly check team stats before ~ 2000.)

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 02:27 AM) Mitchell drove in 5 runs with HR last night. He leads the Southern League with 15 RBIs in his first 16 games. Must have been one helluva HR for them to give him 5 RBI on it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 09:14 AM) A 3.16 team ERA and .219 BAA are unsustainable in this day and age. Not saying we don't have good pitching, but this is out of line for what we are capable of doing over the course of 162 games. Hopefully Brent Morel striking out at 3x his normal rate is equally unsustainable.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 09:10 AM) I'd just like to add that I don't want to get rid of "this" Rios. We put up with the crap Rios for years, and it seems like he may be turning a corner...trading him wouldn't produce much of a trade because of his salary, so instead of getting nothing in return, I'd like to keep him if this is the version of him we will be getting. Waiting until he's playing good and then trading him would make me sick, especially if he stays good and some other teams gets to reap the benefits after the years of frustration we had to deal with. I'd sooner keep him because his contract would dictate little to no return in shedding him right now. Do you honestly believe you're going to keep the good, focused Rios around long-term after having 1 good half-season out of the previous 3?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 22, 2012 -> 08:39 PM) I've never seen AJ accused of not caring before. Except for when he had all the TV's on college football in the locker room in, what was it, 2010?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 22, 2012 -> 08:06 PM) I'm shocked we won 3. Is this one of those wraparound 4 game series like the one the Royals are getting smoked in, or did we sweep? Go Sox. Swept. Sox are off to Oakland tomorrow.

Remenowsky gives up a couple in the 10th.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 22, 2012 -> 07:06 PM) That will be a good test...one thing's for sure, we didn't just go into the tank after Tuesday's blown game. Also happy to see them not blow up after yesterday's excitement.

8 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K's for Castro, ERA down to 3.75, leaves the game tied at 2. Scoreless ninth for Remenowsky.

Nice to see the O help out the staff for a day.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 22, 2012 -> 06:52 PM) Angels will get things going soon, in my opinion. The Tigers are going to hit a roll too. Not having Price Pfister drops that rotation down a serious level.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Apr 22, 2012 -> 06:50 PM) we got career years out of uribe, iguchi, pods, and the entire bullpen and rotation. Really, no we didn't. Uribe had a vastly better 2004. Podsednik had a great year in 2003 and was still well down from there, and was almost worthless in the 2nd half. The Bullpen and rotation...yes...but not anyone in the lineup other than the Captain.

LOL Stoney