Balta1701

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Dec 29, 2017 -> 04:12 PM) Yea but the players aren't seeing enough of the profits: Since 1995, MLB’s overall league revenues have increased nearly 650%, going from around $1.4 billion to over $9 billion in 2014. During that same time period, though, MLB payrolls have only increased by around 378%, from roughly $925 million in 1995 to just under $3.5 billion last year. We'll see if the union can remain united enough to commit to a strike. Nobody wants to kill the golden goose but if I'm a MLBPA analyst I'm seeing worrying trends. Even though the fraction of $ going to the players is going down - the players have seen a payroll boost of a factor of 4 over 20 years. Salaries are doubling every 10 years. Are you willing to risk that so that you can get salaries to double every 8 years instead of 10? Frankly, I wouldn't be. That's what I mean by killing the golden goose.

I count 17 WAR in that projection am I right? Can someone who has seen how these turn out give that in terms of a "Projected record"? If this team does that...they're likely what, a 55 win team? So that's our starting point and anything beyond that is more improvement than expected?

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Dec 29, 2017 -> 02:46 PM) I think we are headed towards a strike. I think the only league right now where they're anywhere close to risking all the gains of the last 10 years via labor issues is the NFL. Everyone in baseball is still getting rich. Owners, players both. Just an interesting trend to see teams ponying up for fewer years to avoid the long term risk.

That's rather fascinating.

QUOTE (Tony @ Dec 29, 2017 -> 01:14 PM) 2006 CF was one of the biggest mistakes Ozzie made during his time with the White Sox. If he would have stuck with Anderson as the true starting CF and didn’t screw with him early in the season, I think that season would have gone a lot differently. (Buehrle was also a huge disappointment that year.) I've said since 2006 that even if the advanced stats don't show it, they are a playoff team if Mackowiak never once played CF.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Dec 29, 2017 -> 01:40 AM) Hoiberg has the guys playing hard and they appear well coached (more importantly...the coaches seem to be getting good development out of the players). Agree with everything you posted, with one exception, the bench. The bench has been quite good (Niko / Portis / Nwaba have all been excellent off the bench (even Grant isn't awful as a bench guard). Dunn is really fun to watch. I am obviously in the minority, but its been fun watching Dunn / Lauri get minutes. I hope this team can find a way to get a top 5 pick while still seeing a ton of growth from its core players. I could argue Niko is making a solid argument to be part of that core. The way they're playing right now, it will take several major trades of players away from the Bulls or a major injury for this team to be thinking about a pick better than slot 10 or so. This is both a credit to Hoiberg and a reason to think the Bulls are going to be stuck drafting around #10 for a long time. They better hope they find a 2nd round bargain at some point.

Is Davis really likely to stay healthy even under the kind of rules he was under last year? If so, that's a fair signing.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Dec 28, 2017 -> 01:26 PM) Had to go back and look at Mackowiak's numbers after seeing he was positive WAR. Too bad he wasn't a corner bat or bench player. Mack had an excellent first half with the bats. He'd have been a dynamite player if he wasn't in CF.

Worth adding that one of the reasons Rowand had a down 2006 was that he broke his face slamming into a fence.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Dec 28, 2017 -> 12:12 PM) That's less than he was projected to get. Still makes no sense for that team unless they think they are going to be competitive in like the 3rd/4th year and beyond in that deal. There you go. I don't care if JD Martinez is available for $30 million less than we thought he'd get, he makes no sense for us and when we are ready to do some damage his salary will be in the way.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Dec 27, 2017 -> 10:20 PM) This is how I feel. Just the name alone means something kind of like Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver and Ken Griffey, Jr.. I would always hope that if he joined the Sox (won't happen) he'd have a lot to offer as a player/coach. The guy could hit and field and throw. He'd surely have pearls of wisdom to share. At some point I'd rather take the money spent on a guy like this who probably last year made as much as our head coach and just hire better coaches.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 28, 2017 -> 11:51 AM) MLB Network‏Verified account @MLBNetwork 16h16 hours ago The #Padres are reportedly prepared to offer Eric Hosmer a six-year, $120 million deal. #MLBTonight Good luck with that.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Dec 27, 2017 -> 06:01 PM) If greg was a black muslim would people defend the racial stereotypes Balta hurled at him? No, Greg would be busy reminding them that his religion is important and theirs isn't. But that's ok because it's right and we should protect his safe space.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 27, 2017 -> 03:26 PM) I understand that, but if you are confident in an established free agent fitting into your window, you don't pass on him because of your minor league depth, that's too risky. Unless it's 5 Kopechs. I'm not saying Arrieta is that guy by any means, but by 2019 one of those 5 guys mentioned may need a new elbow, another may be deemed useless already, and then your rotation is incomplete. And if your young bats are ready to roll, you may wish you had a quality veteran arm in that rotation. Then save your money this year, work the guys this year, and see who gets hurt. Maybe it's a pitcher, maybe it's a position player. Then replace that guy for the 2019 season.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 27, 2017 -> 12:01 PM) To sell more tickets and earn more revenue to not sign Machado or Harper with.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 27, 2017 -> 09:28 AM) He just buys what guys like Trump and Hannity and Rush say. The fact that it is made up doesn't appear to faze him in the least. He just has the attitude if it is, it's messed up, but not really either not wanting or caring to know if it is. You can show him Trump is a phony. Show him he said happy holidays when the evil Obama was saying Merry Christmas. Show him his kids and his company still use happy holidays, and because it doesn't fit with what he listens too, he just acts like it isn't so. These guys said Trump brought back Christmas, so he did, and that's that. Someone at Southwest Airlines said Merry Christmas. According to what he listens to, that would never have happened if Trump wasn't POTUS. Someday, maybe he will see how ridiculous this is. It's not just that. It's the underlying issue that is bigger. He's a white, male, christian. He needs to be reminded constantly that he's better than everyone else. That his way of celebrating is better. That his holiday is more important. That's why he "gives credit" for fewer people saying "Happy Holidays" and more people respecting the importance of his celebration. If you even pay attention to New Years, you are a threat! People like this are the biggest safe-space demanding snowflakes. The very idea that anyone would celebrate different from them is a threat that they need to use the government to snuff out. People like that disgust me. Go to church if you want! Go to synagogue! I don't care. Just don't lecture me about why I need to celebrate and venerate your holiday in your way.

So, watched first full bulls game of the season last night. It was just bland. There was so little exciting about the Bulls style of ball it made them hard to watch, and they still won the game. They won because they didn't turn the ball over, they didn't make mistakes, they let the other team make mistakes and just played normal basketball. There wasn't huge amounts of ball movement. There wasn't spectacular plays. There were no great feats of strength. They just played decent basketball and let the other team make more mistakes. I hate to say this...but that looked like a very well coached team winning the game because they were following a coaches formula to the letter.

Guys, it's a game thread. I wouldn't do the deal I just wrote either, I was playing the game. Sometimes that's fun to think through what would be involved in making a deal work.

I kinda get it, but bah, play the kids.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Dec 26, 2017 -> 08:53 PM) I wouldn't say I'm offended by Happy Holidays. What I do is take notice of "Happy Holidays" when it's really close to Christmas. And sorry I have noticed a difference this year. And it's got to be because of Trump's stance, so I'm giving him credit on one little thing. I do realize he is a pathetic president and all around bad guy and all that. But I'm pretty sure SW Airlines and some of the stores I've been to wouldn't be saying "Merry Christmas" without Trump's edict. At any rate, I don't mind Happy Holidays so much. I just noticed this year when I actually said Merry Christmas to people the words sounded strange coming out of my mouth cause I don't dare go there. I basically don't care. I've made a personal decision to never say Merry Christmas lest I offend somebody. I don't get mad if somebody says happy holidays to me. I'm not a maniacal person. These are just my observations that Merry Christmas returned this year as a greeting and I saw fit to credit Trump. You make me want to take my Christmas lights down. I want it to be a holiday where I can celebrate anything I want. You want it to be a holiday where you get to impose your religion on me. Jerks like you are trying to ruin Christmas for me. Happy Christmas jerk.

I have no idea how the Bulls are winning this game.

QUOTE (2005thxfrthmmrs @ Dec 26, 2017 -> 12:05 PM) Over the last 30 years the Christmas games never repeated from the previous year, except for the Miami - Lakers games with the Kobe Shaq rivalry during the mid 2000s, and those teams never met in the Finals. Overexposing these matchups may have a slight boost in rating on Christmas, but hurt the playoff ratings because fans have seen it far too many times on free TV. I'm fine with them putting on this game once or maybe 2 years in a row, but 3 is way too much given how much they have played. Those 2 teams will play 2x each regular season. That number isn't changing because of the christmas games.

So, while dealing for Trout, the actual issue is not necessarily that you have to put a fair deal together for Trout. The White Sox could do that with their top 3 prospects and an additional solid piece. We could do that, but that is not the only thing that matters right now. The consideration no one has mentioned yet is Ohtani. The LAA just signed potentially the largest bargain on the free agent market. A guy who will fill a bunch of seats and could well push them into the playoffs if he's everything promised, and he signed with them for like $3 million. So, do you want to tell me, honestly, that the Angels made their pitch to him without saying anything about "We have the best player in baseball in center field" or "We're a playoff team if we add you to our pitching staff and DH slot"? I don't believe that. Which means that, if the Angels did trade Trout, I have to say "How do the Angels do that without hurting their big league team"? That's a huge challenge for the White Sox, it'd be a huge challenge for the White Sox if they still had Sale. So, I have to start with the big leaguers. Abreu and Garcia. These are guys who maybe can contribute to the Halos winning right now. They're not perfect roster fits, but they can win games right now. Then I have to give 2 pitchers who can make the Angels better this year. Giolito and Lopez have to go. That's the place the Angels could do such a move thinking "This will make us better right now". Then the final piece has to be someone who can fit into CF right now. I'm not sure Moncada can do this. I'm not sure Anderson can do this. But they've got to gamble on one of them - Moncada or Anderson, as able to take over CF right now and not be a total disaster. Given the choice? Moncada, Lopez, Giolito, Abreu, Garcia.

QUOTE (Scoots @ Dec 26, 2017 -> 09:08 PM) Which is odd, because I feel like they have had a plethora of them over the years, and dominant ones to boot. THat's how it worked out with the trades. They gave up 2 big time LHP and brought back 4 big time RHP, counting the Eaton deal. Then, Fulmer and Hansen, their 2 top drafted pitchers, also RHP. so suddenly they go from 2 big league lefties to 4+ minor league righties, and the only lefty they held onto destroys his shoulder.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 26, 2017 -> 08:43 PM) I guess I don't hold James Shields in as high regard as others do. Giolito and Lopez are hardly proven at the major league level yet, and everybody hates Fulmer. That's hardly loaded, you can't assume minor league pitchers are gonna automatically kill it at the major league level. Kopech is hot stuff, but you don't ignore other major league pitchers because of him. He might hurt himself during a workout anyway. But the White Sox are in a position where by 2019, Kopech, Lopez, Giolito, Fulmer, and Hansen are all, barring injury, going to get extended stretches in the big leagues to prove themselves. And there's more behind them, and there's Rodon. These guys may not all succeed...but until you're confident one of them is useless, you have to know what spot they're going to take. Theres a nonzero chance I'll be saying we need to trade Hansen next offseason if the other guys hold their own, because there's only 5 rotation spots and we have more than 5 near-MLB-ready guys already.