Balta1701

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Nov 29, 2015 -> 05:03 PM) Alexei is also 5 years older than Cabrera, and Cabrera had a OPS greater than 700 Through 2013-2014, Alexei had a .703 OPS, Asdrubal Cabrera had a .697 OPS. Alexei may be too old to do that any more, fine. Are we ready to pay $10 million for Asdrubal Cabrera to put up a sub .700 OPS the next 2-3 years if he puts up the numbers he did in 2013-2014, or is that a contract we're likely to regret? How can we be certain that his 2015 campaign, during a contract year, is more representative of what he'll do in his 30s than his previous 1200 PAs?

We better beat f***ing Purdue.

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Nov 28, 2015 -> 10:41 AM) so, like.....it would be nice to talk about some potential moves that would actually IMPROVE the team. We're in a world where J.A. Happ gets 3/$36. You want to improve the team? Make as many players from your own system turn into big leaguers as possible. Otherwise you're throwing money out to try to catch up with teams that are paying a huge premium for that "one last piece".

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Nov 28, 2015 -> 10:10 AM) Agree. And honestly if this guy's healthy, I think it's a great signing at $2.5 million. Even when he was really bad last year he still put up a .666 OPS against righties. The bulk average for catchers in the AL was .676. Even if he's not healthy that can still be an upgrade over Flowers out there against righties.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 28, 2015 -> 10:04 AM) Thats not good, but i really dont see how that has anything to do with what happened outside the club. If he is fearful for his life, he probably shouldnt be hanging out at clubs, calling people broke and yelling "i got your money". Especially at 19 years old You could either take that as a "reason why he'd overreact" or as a "this isn't an isolated incident already" and I think either of them could be accurate.

QUOTE (Brian @ Nov 26, 2015 -> 04:22 PM) Jahlil Okafor on TMZ getting into fight outside a club last night. He's only 19 still. Video doesn't make him look good. Report today that a heckler pulled a gun on him earlier this season.

If you want another piece of evidence that the FA market has become a completely impossible way to build a team, there you have it.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Nov 28, 2015 -> 05:03 AM) Asdrubal's bat is an upgrade over Alexei, Saladino and Sanchez since Asdrubal had a 744 ops in '15 which is 100+ higher than those three. The defense as I said is debatable because Alexei is regressing and will continue to do so. Asdrubal's glove and bat play up much better at 2B which is a position in need of an upgrade and would move Sanchez into the utility roll where he's likely to end up anyway. If the Sox had to, they could play Saladino at SS which is his natural position. That's if the Sox cannot find an upgrade at SS which they should still have the resources to do even after signing Asdrubal and trading for Lawrie. A 3-4 year deal for Asdrubal wouldn't be a thing, imo. Looking at his numbers over the last several years, his offense being better than Alexei et al is almost entirely driven by his slugging percentage, he's had OBP of .299, .307, and .315 the last 3 years. His slugging seemed like it has been trending down since 2011, bottoming out in 2014. Last year his HR rate bumped back up a bit, but at the same time he also was hitting a lot more weak infield fly balls & similar hits like that, so from his numbers I question whether a .744 OPS is what you'd get from him on a 3-4 deal. I certainly can't rule out the .700 OPS/.694 OPS he put up in 2013 and 2014 being more representative of what you'd get from him going forward.

Well the good news is, we didn't go after him aggressively and then have something like that happen.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 28, 2015 -> 07:11 AM) His advanced MLB numbers where still horrific. Huh?

A generally reasonable move regardless of what their other plans are for this year. No one was remotely pushing that position, they needed big league depth, Flowers alone can't be counted on as holding that position next year, if either of them outperform they become tradeable assets at the deadline, and if they spend a ton of money elsewhere they can at least say "we're tolerable at catcher next year and probably about where we were in 2015".

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Nov 20, 2015 -> 02:26 PM) Conor had only 15 PA against LHP this year, that gives me the confidence that Robin will platoon LaRoche, especially because it's the last year of his contract, there's no need to "justify" the salary anymore. But you're right, it wouldn't be that surprising if he didn't. That was also in no small part because Beckham was actually hitting well the first month of the season and Robin was playing the hot hand.

It doesn't work out one for one with Walker because of where each team is, but I could actually see the Pirates being willing to have some interest in Danks. They need to fill a rotation slot for 1 year because they're competitive right now and look down the road to having Glasnow and maybe Taillon taking spots in the next 2 years, they have some money available after retirements, and they could use a veteran left hander in their rotation alongside the guys they have. Plus, jumping leagues could help Danks have a better year too. Walker is a poor matchup in that deal because they'd want to use walker to get something useful, just been pondering that as a way to clear some money

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Nov 22, 2015 -> 12:50 PM) I would rather get a close to MLB ready prospect too but we can't expect much given the amount of money Robertson makes and that there are some cheaper closer options available. I'm not getting my hopes up, that's for sure. If you're not going to get a long-term piece back for Robertson, there's no reason to move him. Moving him for a guy who can fill a hole right now makes no sense as it opens up another hole. May as well hold him and see if someone gets more desperate if you can't get something at the minor league or pre-arb level for him.

QUOTE (Baron @ Nov 18, 2015 -> 07:14 PM) That's who I would want. They can keep Baez. Baez is a guy I wouldn't mind the White Sox gamble on - I like the idea of piling up guys who have talent but who have had major issues in the past to see if they can turn things around. That's one way to fix the mess fairly quickly - find a guy another team gives up on that turns his career around. However, I'd look at him that way - nothing more than a low value gamble, whereas I think they'd still like to get substantial value for him.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Nov 18, 2015 -> 07:08 PM) With the Verlander and Cabrera deals, what other choice do they have? Get that, just kinda also feel like they need another year to restock and for the stuff they traded for at this deadline to establish itself before that makes sense. Anywho, at least it makes Price more expensive for the Cubs.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Nov 11, 2015 -> 09:57 PM)

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Nov 18, 2015 -> 12:21 PM) Their rotation ranked 12th in the MLB in WAR and 6th in the AL. They were also 13th in the AL in ERA out of their starters. This might be a case where "bad defense" is making the algorithm overcorrect for their starters, esp. given the unique ballpark.

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Nov 18, 2015 -> 06:57 PM) Balta bringing some heat tonight! See, I can still be positive about guys in our organization

Generally half surprised that Detroit still looking to "all-in" it again. Can't help but expect them to do something big in the FA market after that deal.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 17, 2015 -> 03:26 PM) I disagree. His third pitch is isn't developing, his command is suspect, he's overweight, he has bad knees, he hasn't gone deep in games at any level, his future indicators do not inspire confidence, etc. If I am the Sox, I see his market and move him for the right package or I continue to develop him as a starter with the understanding he's more than likely a reliever. I disagree with all this except for the point of his command being an issue. "Not going deep into games at any level" is 100% what I would expect from his background. Just look at it - at age 17/18 he was in the Dominican Summer League pitching 20 innings per year. He threw 40 innings in the low minors at age 19. At that same age, Carlos Rodon threw 114 innings. Just look at that track and ask yourself how far behind that would leave him even if everything were perfect. You're surprised at him not going deep into games? Yeah he probably threw a few extra innings in summer ball elsewhere, but a guy on a big league track from the U.S. is getting SO much more work it's not funny. Every single one of those things you just mentioned can fit easily into this narrative. He isn't going long into games? 3 seasons ago he threw 40 innings. He hasn't gotten his command down yet or his 3rd pitch isn't developed? He's thrown 380 innings in the minors in 6 seasons. Carlos Rodon threw 360 in the three seasons where he was 19, 20, and 21. You can't be surprised when a guy is behind the curve set by your #1 prospect when he starts of WAY behind that curve.

QUOTE (LDF @ Nov 18, 2015 -> 05:19 PM) i am going to play devil's advocate and ask these question. 1. could the sox know that it was far fetched to make the playoff and was hoping to sell tickets?? 2. did they really think the team had a chance but was snake-bit by a lousy start?? obviously they didn't think it was RV failure b/c they gave him another chance to manage, The problem continues to be that they "SHOULD" have understood it was far fetched to make the playoffs. For that team to make the playoffs they needed an enormous number of things to go right - including things that don't happen. When you buy multiple veterans on the FA market, some of them fail. We needed all of them to succeed to even have a shot, and even then we could have been outgunned easily by the Royals. We needed everyone to stay healthy - which by some miracle actually did happen. We needed our own guys to develop rapidly, which didn't happen, but which is another failure that comes back to them - either failure to find them coaches that could help them succeed or a failure to understand how likely our own guys were to fall flat on their faces. I keep using the putting your mortgage up as collateral in Vegas metaphor. You're not dead if you lose your house, you still have your health, and there is a finite chance you could win. But if your bet goes wrong...you better know exactly what you're going to do if you lose your house.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Nov 18, 2015 -> 02:22 PM) f***...I'm turning into Balta (and I like being a super optimist). By the way, I still think we can retool pretty quick cause our stars should command a kings ransom. I also don't think we have the right manager but I don't know that I can pinpoint why cause the team also has sucked (and a mgr can only do so much) but the poor fundamentals, I can't ignore. Stupid players sure, but also reeks of lack of preparation or the right messaging. fathom would probably tell you that I spent like my first 5-6 years here being the optimist to his pessimist.

C'MON D 3 MORE MINUTES.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 14, 2015 -> 06:45 PM) I don't think they've been bad for Michigan. They are allowing a lot of contact in the secondary. They called an offensive PI early in the game against IU that disagrees with the rest of this statement, but otherwise I can't complain that much.