RME JICO

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 10, 2009 -> 07:47 PM) Back when the Sox were drafting guys like Broadway and McCullough in the first round, giving up draft picks was ideal. Its saved you millions for garbage.However, now that could be like giving away someone like Beckham.

Rios was a Type A player in the offseason, so it is nice to get him without giving up draft picks. I also like the fact that KW is getting more than 2 month rental players in Peavy and Rios. It is hard enough to find moves that help now or later, let alone for both situations. He pulled off 2 of them in a matter of 2 weeks.

How many games had Longoria played before signing that contract? I am sure the Sox would be all for that, but I am not sure Beckham would do it. Longoria has to be regretting it now.

It seems like Pods has completely changed his approach at the plate, and it has paid off. He is basically putting up Jacoby Ellsbury numbers minus the total SB's. For what Pods brings to the team, it is hard to match his production for the price the Sox have him for. I could see them bringing him back next year unless the Sox pick up someone like Crawford.

Thome is a pretty damn solid hitter. You can take a little bit of an average drop, because it doesn't seem to be hurting his OBP or SLG. 2 dingers already tonight with 4 RBIs.

Francoeur's OPS numbers in the minors before being called up: .809, .539, .852, .770. Beckham never dropped below .863 OPS at any level. It looks more like you are comparing Francoeur's ceiling to Beckham's norm.

We are 8-8 over our last 16 vs TB, DET, MIN, NYY, and LAA. That is about where I expected us to be, which is nice considering we went 1-6 vs DET and MIN. Hopefully we can do something against O'Sullivan, who threw a no-hitter in Triple-A last week.

Did AJ really throw 2 runners out? Nice win when our #3 through #9 hitters combined for a 3-25 night and 7 K's.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 4, 2009 -> 06:32 PM) After 184 at bats, Beckham has 6 home runs, 17 doubles, .860 OPS. Same number of at bats last year, Longoria had 8 home runs, 11 doubles, 1 triple, .780 OPS. Similar ages at the time too I think. Very interesting....

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Aug 4, 2009 -> 06:30 PM) Who wins Ditka or Beckham? Chuck Norris or Beckham?

Longoria vs Beckham?

Since June 28th, Getz is batting .364 (11th in MLB during that timeframe), with 9 2Bs, and 7 SBs. Beckham is batting .373 in that same timeframe.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Aug 3, 2009 -> 07:39 PM) Yeah, they're definitely flawed (like us). But all the "suck and "horrible lineup" talk isn't justified at all. No they don't "suck" but this is not the same lineup as a couple of years ago. MCab is his normal self, but after him they only have 3 others with an OPS over .800 (Thames, Inge, and Granderson). We have 5 players over .800 OPS and that doesn't count Quentin or Ramirez. So we have a legit chance to have 7 players with an .800 OPS and the last 2 would be Pods and Getz who are not automatic outs. Nix is even a great sub with a .750 OPS. If Kotsay and Castro start hitting we will have a very solid bench as well. For their pitching staff, they have been fairly solid as a team, but the numbers are somewhat skewed due to how good Jackson and Verlander have been. Comparing rotations, and especially after Peavy is back, we matchup very well against them.

5-3, but they have an out. Woo Hoo. Man is Baltimore bad.

5-0 Baltimore over Detroit in the 1st vs Verlander - WOW. If they can steal this game vs Verlander, that would be huge.

Ouch. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4374407 That trade almost looks like they both should've stayed put.

He obviously doesn't know about Kalapse's Payroll resource. We have a bunch of starters playing under below market prices or situations for almost the same length as Peavy's contract: Floyd, Danks, Getz, Ramirez, Beckham, Quentin, Pods, and Thornton are all in that category, and the Sox have a ton of money coming off the books this winter (Thome, Dotel, Contreras). Also, Peavy will only make $3 million more than Buehrle for 2010 and 2011 combined. So if Peavy's contract is so bad, then Buehrle's can't be much better. I also love his rationale. The whole wins vs salary argument is weak. Yeah, on a win vs win scenario, Richard will cost less than Peavy. However, if Peavy is winning 5-6 games more a year than Richard, that is the difference between the playoffs and golfing in October. You can't put a price on that.

They have 7 players batting over .290 and have won 5 in a row. Great time for them to lose a few. Also, there pitching hasn't been very good. Lackey with a 4.00 ERA, Saunders at 5.07, and Santana at 7.31. Both Saunders and Santana have struggled of late, so those 2 games with Floyd and Danks taking the mound should be wins.

One of Fields' biggest issues is Strikeouts. If he could cut down on those, all his other numbers would go up.

QUOTE (flavum @ Aug 2, 2009 -> 07:52 PM) August 25th seems perfect to me. He won't be pitching the first game of the Boston series, which also means he won't pitch the Wrigley game on 9/3. I'd rather him not be swinging a bat and running the bases. Let's not tempt fate. So if he starts Aug 25, he starts Aug 30 at NY. Then with a six game homestand, the Sox can get him two home games Sep 4 vs Boston and, Wednesday, Sep 9 vs Oak. Then maybe 9/15 at Sea; 9/20 vs KC, and then two starts vs Detroit to finish the season. Not that I thought this through or anything. Yeah, if it is not the 24th or 25th, then it would be the 29th or 30th. Those dates as his first start would guarantee he pitches in both of the final Detroit series (assuming Ozzie keeps the rotation the same). Regardless, it is nice to know we will only have to see 2-3 spot starts before he is ready.

If ready, I would think you would want him for the Sawks and Yanks series'. Based on the schedule, and utilizing the 3 days off in August, the Sox only have to use a Spot Starter twice if they want to. LAA - JC, GF, JD CLE - MB, Spot, JC SEA - GF, JD, MB OFF OAK - JC, GF, JD KC - MB, Spot, JC OFF BAL - GF, JD, MB BOS - JP, JC, GF, JD NYY - MB, JP, JC MIN - GF, JD, MB CHC - JP This would give him 8 starts including one in each of the final two series vs Detroit.

He has looked great since the ASB, and PETCO will only make him better. I hope he pitches well and beats the Cubs every chance he gets.

Wow Sizemore is really having a bad year.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 1, 2009 -> 07:15 PM) I prefer Nix out there. He actually takes a ball (gasp! sometimes more than one per at bat, gasp!), he doesn't swing the for fences every time (gasp!) and with Getz and Pods we have a team that can run, run, run. We lose Alexei's crazy strong arm at SS, but I don't think Nix makes the X number of errors Alexei is going to make, so to me, that's a wash. What say you? Ramirez takes walks, he is not Uribe. Ramirez is 4th on the team in walks. Swinging for the fences? Nix hits a HR every 18 ABs and Ramirez hits one every 33 ABs. Are you sure you don't have your logic reversed? Nix is a very solid Utility player, but I would rather have Ramirez in the lineup. With Quentin getting back into shape and Getz heating up, the lineup is looking really solid from top to bottom.

With all the roster changes, I will have an update out very soon (hopefully tomorrow).