Balta1701

QUOTE (3GamesToLove @ Sep 9, 2015 -> 09:59 PM) Lip, the White Sox are above league average at the catcher position. That was mostly Soto offensively and it seems a lot like the pitchers we're hopefully keeping don't fit very well with him. Plus, Soto's going to get a good raise in FA based on his offensive output this year. Flowers has been worth 0.1 fWAR this year. That's not average, that's "replacement level", aka "below average, what you can pick up off hte scrap heap for minimum salary". Maybe you can say "that's ok the staff likes him", but that kind of performance means you MUST be even better offensively elsewhere to offset it.

Hey there's a HR for Tyler. Things happened. Woo.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Sep 9, 2015 -> 09:16 PM) Well, from 7 to 7.75 K/9. Just means he'd strike out more batters but still have an almost identical ERA. I've just been on the kick all year of saying "that huge drop in K rate from last year is really going to hurt him eventually" and then August hit. That's one of the several big parts of why he's so bad this year, so an improvement in K rate, to me, would mean you'd expect him to pitch better. But anyway.

So 4 ER in 5 IP? pretty normal.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Sep 9, 2015 -> 09:10 PM) Samardzija next year if he signs with us: 8-12, 5.00 ERA, 4.25 FIP, 195 IP, 168 K If he signs elsewhere: 16-7, 3.34 ERA, 3.05 FIP, 214 IP, 200 K You've predicted that when he picks up his QO that he'll improve his K-rate. That's surprisingly positive out of those numbers.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 9, 2015 -> 05:33 PM) On the bolded, come on now. You mean the Iraq War? It's bad she supported it, no argument there, as it was clearly a very stupid idea from the start. But your hyperbole here is really something else. Stupidest, worst strategic decision in the last 50 years? 100% accurate, because 50 years ago was 1965 and the move to invade Vietnam had already been taken by that point and that's the only one I've got any time that century that rivals it. A further collapse of the middle east such that we're drawn back in to fight Isis and in a permanent occupation or unleashing of additional terrorism on the US Mainland now that Isis has the lone wolf citizen formula figured out could easily push that debacle past Vietnam, because they're really close - with Vietnam we just got out of the way and didn't really have anything major bite us back afterwards.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 8, 2015 -> 05:30 PM) This completely ignores the fundamental act of stupidity that was Hillary Clinton deciding to use a non-governmental email address and non-standard server to handle State Department business. It shows stunningly poor judgment on her part. If we want to talk about judgment mistakes by Hillary I continue to be open to that. For example, I've voted against her previously and will probably still vote against her again due to her incorrect judgment on the worst strategic mistake the United States has made in the last 50 years, perhaps in its whole history depending on how things shake out in that part of the world over the next few decades. Compared to that act of poor judgment, "having her own email server so she can use both work and private email on the same address while following poorly written state department rules" doesn't measure up at all.

QUOTE (bmags @ Sep 9, 2015 -> 03:04 PM) why does bwar and fwar vary so greatly with alexei. This has to be somewhat of the inverse of the pitching setup. bWAR really knocks our pitchers while fWAR is rewarding them because neither of them are fully able to handle things like "pitchers give up hits where fielders aren't playing". Fangraphs rewards strikeouts, B-R rewards giving up fewer hits. B-R is rewarding Alexei for generating more outs while knocking the pitchers for the ball being in the field. Fangraphs is hating on Alexei because they're giving all the credit on defense to the pitchers.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Sep 8, 2015 -> 09:57 PM) It's his 5th career HR Oh. Had no idea, my bad.

Aww, they didn't give Brantly the silent treatment.

QUOTE (AustinIllini @ Sep 8, 2015 -> 09:29 PM) There is no way he gets another extension. Hahn would be ruined by that. I don't think there's any way he coaches on a 1 year deal. Even if it's just a 1 year extension, they'll add a year.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Sep 8, 2015 -> 09:27 PM) He's already under contract for next season. They agreed to an extension in January IIRC Their extension was after the 2013 season, it runs through 2016. Robin signed that extension when he had 1 year left on the deal and per the press reports I've seen he's got 1 year left on the deal again. Hence, it's contract extension time again.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Sep 8, 2015 -> 09:25 PM) How they replace managers doesn't make me giddy. Maybe they would give Ron Karkovice as call. I'd be more upset if Robin was managing in the minors and had big league coaching experience but he doesn't. Who would want to manage this team where there is no philosophy practiced in the organization other than laid back and no accountability. Thome's next in line.

Still expecting a contract extension announced at some point.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Sep 8, 2015 -> 04:54 PM) Noesi has been with AAA Charlotte, correct? So are we adding him to the 'pen? Yes, Noesi cleared waivers earlier this season and has been pitching for the Charlotte Knights.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Sep 8, 2015 -> 05:17 PM) I think he'll get $150-$175 million. I think he'll get more than that. By a lot.

Ah, apparently the old "3rd string QB rule" was abolished after 2011.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Sep 8, 2015 -> 02:29 PM) Let's remember, though, that "settlement" occurs only within the context of civil litigation. A grand jury subpoena is part of criminal litigation. I am not sure the two are related. The police and State's Attorney's Office work toward a criminal prosecution entirely independent of whatever civil litigation is ongoing. The postponing of the grand jury could mean exculpatory evidence was uncovered that renders a prosecution meritless. While it certainly could mean the victim has recanted or admitted to lying, which would destroy the State's case, there are a lot of potential reasons in play. If the victim changes their testimony or declines to testify after reaching a large enough settlement, could that be a legal reason why a grand jury would be dismissed?

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Sep 8, 2015 -> 02:02 PM) More than half do, according to this fantasy site anyway: http://www.ourlads.com/nfldepthcharts/depthchartpos/QB Don't they keep the 3rd QB under those rules that he's allowed to be on the protected roster but can only play if the other 2 go down or something like that? Anyway, the "you don't overhaul your offense for your 3rd string QB" setup starts sounding accurate at that point.

QUOTE (BrianAnderson @ Sep 8, 2015 -> 01:47 PM) Player A are the Sox 3B combined this year, Player B is Freese, and Player C is Alexei (who I'm biased, but is having his worst year, but is still beating out the other options). I'll be honest, it was closer than I thought. But someone like Freese to me should not be the option ... he's just another guy on that long list. He's had 4 straight years of declining batting average, 4 straight years of declining OBP, 4 straight years of declining walks, 4 straight years of declining RBI .... I don't think you go out of house for that option. Freese has however put up a .712 OPS consistently over the last 3 seasons. He's basically as far below the average 3b offensively as Alexei has been this season below the average SS, to first approximation.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Sep 8, 2015 -> 01:40 PM) I did some quick research earlier this year and found that playing in Oakland isn't really the problem it used to be for the Sox. Throw in this year's sweep and I think my point is only enhanced. We absolutely seemed to have a hex against them in the mid-00's even when we had good teams and favorable matchups, but I buy this now. The bright side of opening with 4 in Oakland? The first week of baseball there are 0 snowouts. This is positive.

The strongest argument I have for why "Alexei at 3b" does not work: Average OPS of SS in major league baseball: .687 Average OPS of SS for Chicago White Sox: .625 Average OPS of 3b in major league baseball: .751 Average OPS of 3b for the Chicago White Sox: .624 Alexei at 3b basically just sets up the White Sox to continue to be far below average offensively at 3b. You can't just ignore his 1st half numbers and say "oh he'll repeat his 2nd half". He's put up a .677 OPS over the past 4 seasons, maybe you think "oh he'll just go back to doing that", but that's still well below average at 3b but closer to average at SS. If Alexei can't play SS any more, then his bat is below average at 3b by a lot and he's no longer a big league starter except on teams with a huge hole at 3b and strong offense elsewhere on the roster.

Next time I hear someone use the phrase "political correctness" that isn't coming from a white person complaining about how they're not allowed to say something negative about a particular group will be the first.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 8, 2015 -> 02:50 AM) Interesting weekend: a.) It was reported that Bernie Sanders leads in New Hampshire and is closing in Iowa. Color me skeptical. There's no way Bernie can be actually competing successfully with Hillary. b.) We've got some old candidates. Wow. Bernie is old; Hillary is old. Donald Trump is pretty old (69). Biden is looking like a guy who will run and he is old. Those are four candidates who will be close to 80 if they win two terms. c.) Hillary said she would not apologize for the emails. Said it was legal to do what she did. Is she in denial? I don't think anybody cares though. Which young candidate is going to rally? Are we really going to have a 70-something president? I know 70 is the new 50 but 70 is still kinda up there. c. Yes, her email server appears to have followed all appropriate state department rules. It has exposed that there are some issues with State Department employees emailing things that turn out to be classified over unclassified networks, but part of the problem with that is that the amount of classified information our government has is absolutely insane. The Secretary of State is going to be involved in a drone strike program but the details of that program and even its existence have been retroactively classified. And you've made it 100% clear you don't care. It does appear there is a good chance of a president who crosses into their 70s at some point during their administration winning this race, although obviously there are many younger candidates particularly on the Republican side.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 8, 2015 -> 01:21 PM) Something of concern as well is the Pirates have sucked big time against the NL Central this year. For some reason the Reds destroy Gerrit Cole but he's 6-1 career with a 2.93 ERA against the Cubs, 1.50 ERA against them in 2 starts this year.