Greg Hibbard

Would someone mind terribly giving this thread some context

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Sep 22, 2011 -> 05:28 AM) Morel in September 2011 7 HR, 17 RBI, 13 BB, .279 BA, .405 OBP, .689 Slg, 1.094 OPS, 12 K Everything but BA easily surpasses his high for any other month indicating a definite change of approach . Jesus, 1.094???? How does he rank among all players in OPS for the month?

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Sep 21, 2011 -> 03:24 PM) All of this, exactly. And it's still not hard to understand. Milkman, based on your easy to understand criteria, how many teams in the majors had successful seasons in 2011? here's my count: successful: philly and NYY only if they win the series. boston or tampa if either makes the playoffs, the other is unsuccessful. detroit, cleveland, texas, milwaukee, arizona, atlanta. unsuccessful: the other 20 some teams seems like 2/3rds of the time we should count on going six months to be disappointed, angry or both, huh

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Sep 21, 2011 -> 12:18 PM) Seeing as how I like teams to win games, a .750 OPS taking up a corner outfield position in the American League is f***ing bad. http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting/_/pos...t/OPS/minpa/375

I would be interested in people defining whether 2006 was a "successful" season, then. I'm not sure how many wins over 90 an organization can reasonably "expect"

Thome vs. Kotsay.

Guys, let's clarify something. I don't think the 2011 White Sox are "successful", nor am I asking if you think they are "successful" I'm asking how you define success, and if they had gotten in as the 6th best record would that be successful, and if baseball's playoff format needs to be revisited.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Sep 21, 2011 -> 12:09 PM) Of course the sox have the 9th best record in the A.L. and are 9 games back of sixth place so I don't see any way you could call this successful. I don't call this successful.

For most people, a "successful season" in major league baseball is solely defined by whether or not their team makes it the postseason. For some others whose teams have frequently been successful and/or set the bar higher, only advancement in the playoffs will constitute a relatively successful season. For the fans of a couple of teams such as the Yankees (and I would argue Red Sox and now possibly Phillies), only winning the World Series constitutes a successful season. To me, this is horribly depressing. Why is it depressing? Well for one thing, baseball is one of the longest, most grueling regular seasons of any of the major sports. I am struck by the disparity between a "successful season" in MLB and a "successful season" in any other sport, because in most other sports, about half the teams go to the playoffs. There are additional levels of playoffs to measure "success" by. In baseball, by most people's definition, 22 of the 30 teams have "unsuccessful seasons" even under the most forgiving terms of the common connotation. As it pertains to the White Sox specifically this season, several people have said this season that mere squeaking into the playoffs by winning the division was not enough for this team - that the expectations were that this team would advance deep in the playoffs because its payroll was relatively high. However, this season, 6 of the top 10 teams in payroll won't go to the playoffs. Is it right to have such an unforgiving standard for "success," where we don't necessarily apply it in other sports? Moreover, is this really the way this sport should really be set up in the postseason? If baseball had 6 teams advance in each league - about equivalent to what it would be in football or basketball, and the White Sox got in as the "6th seed" - would that be some measure of a successful season? More importantly, isn't it time baseball gets its ass into the 21st century and has a greater percentage of teams make the playoffs?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 21, 2011 -> 11:27 AM) I'm dubious that he'll hit 12 HR if he puts together a solid season, considering that a bad season has involved 8 HR. A really good season from him, based on this year's numbers, might be in the 20 HR range. I think you're right, for the record. I just think that with the recent success, there's thankfully more ways to get to a good offensive season than just 15+ long balls.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 21, 2011 -> 11:07 AM) I've been encouraged by him the whole season, since about May 7 when he started making consistent contact. I might well have been his biggest defender when people were riding him in June/July for his lack of slugging and walks. There's no reason why 15 HR is beyond the pale for him. We'll see. Oh, your initial remark made it seem as though you might have been dubious of his potential.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 21, 2011 -> 11:02 AM) He's hit 8 HR this season in a season where even his defenders will admit he's had a disappointing/developmental season. Don't you agree that his splits are more encouraging than discouraging?

QUOTE (spiderman @ Sep 21, 2011 -> 10:38 AM) He's our 3B for next season, but he's got to hit 15 HR at least. You can't play at that spot in that park, and not hit HR's. Ehhh, I'd take 12 homers if he hit 30 doubles, walked 50 times and played stellar defense.

I am a Pierre apologist, but will admit De Aza in a full season is probably going to have a better OPS, wOBA and RC+ than Pierre will have even in a year that Juan hits .300/.350/.340/.690. That's not to say that I think Juan is awful (he wasn't for the last several months). The main reason De Aza is better is his doubles and homers, but the dude also legged out a few triples in very limited time, which is a nice thing for a leadoff guy to have in his toolbox. Real excited about this kid. Hoping for .265/.335/.415/.750.

34 RBIS from the 8/9 hole isn't terrible, especially considering he's going to end up with just 400 ABs. You're only going to max out at 70 or so RBIS from that position with 550 PAs anyway.

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Sep 17, 2011 -> 12:13 PM) Nice to see Morel find power, but I've got to believe that if there was any semblance of meaning left in the games the Sox play (there hasn't been for quite some time now) his power would still be a myth. That first Detroit sweep took a lot of pressure off this team. I think Morel was questionable going forward as recently as July, and I think this stretch has proven he's our answer for at least 2012. I'd also like to see what some of these young pitchers can do in ML situations, particularly if we decide to deal Danks or Floyd.

Let's see some development!

I'm more encouraged by the increase in walks recently than anything else I've seen. Walks are so crucial to managing slumps. If we have a hitter on our hands he can eventually draw 70 walks a season, it softens the blow of a .150 month significantly.

I think it's incredibly easy after a disappointing season to see the wheels falling off in all directions. Really, the difference between a 75 game winner and a 90 game winner is sometimes 1-2 players. I'm confident the lineup and staff have enough major pieces to be effective next year, provided they perform, provided that we have new leadership, and provided we obtain some better complimentary pieces.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 13, 2011 -> 01:38 PM) If he wants to be back, I seriously doubt the Chairman will say "No" for financial reasons. That makes it quite likely that he would be back. Has he said anything about wanting to be back recently?

Why do a lot of people assume Buehrle will be back? I'm confused on that point.

I really don't think a pure platoon is that bad of an option with AJ and Flowers for 2012, especially if they sprinkle in the occasional PH/DH appearances. They could easily each wind up with 275-300 PAs apiece. AJ also potentially has much more trade value at the deadline next season.

Just once I would like to see him try to honestly answer the ways in which he has done his job.

Let's say I just patently accept that Juan Pierre is 100% to blame for the three games this season in which he dropped a routine fly ball. Now, let's go ahead and ridiculously assign another 2 whole losses to him for his April offense. There, that's 5 of the 22 losses. Who are the other 17 on?

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Sep 12, 2011 -> 12:15 PM) This great pitching you say is how many games back and a .500 team not so great Porcello would be the 4th starter easy on the Sox. IMO. This team is a .500 team and how many games back because of the hitting.