southsider2k5

Scott Merkin ‏@scottmerkin 3m3 minutes ago Boyer: "We’ve seen our renewal percentage jump up and then our new sales have been something we haven’t experienced in quite some time."

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 02:27 PM) I think he will join the broadcast booth or at least local tv and than move onto bigger and better things. AJ would be a great successor to Hawk in the booth.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 01:39 PM) Yes, you CAN quantify it. The average cost of an out is -0.299 runs across all base/out states. Given Leury's .268 OBP and Alexei's All-Star™ .305 OBP, Alexei could have been expected to avoid that cost four percent more often. FanGraphs game logs (http://www.fangraphs.com/statsd.aspx?playerid=5913&position=2B) show us that Leury had exactly 30 PA as a leadoff hitter last year. If Robin had magically known what Leury's OBP was, he could be expected to reach base 8.04 times out of the 30. Alexei, on the other hand, could have been expected to reach 9.15(!) times over those same 30 plate appearances. If luck was on his side, Alexei could have prevented that 0.299 run loss once! Holy crap, batting Alexei instead of Leury at leadoff could have given us an almost 30% chance to score ONE more run last year! What if that one run could have been the difference between winning 73 and 74 games? It's reeling. Except it's WAY less than that because Leury would have had to have batted somewhere else in the lineup. Oh, and many of those PA came as a pinch hitter, making the math even more ridiculous. Also, that run value for an out is from the steroid era, so it's actually too high. So no, it didn't and doesn't matter. At all. I am a batting order nazi, and even I can admit that the difference in batting Leury first instead of some other slightly less bad leadoff option for like 4 games over the course of an entire season is not even REMOTELY close to being beneficial enough to shake up a lineup, even if you BARELY believe in there being a negative effect to shaking up a lineup. You're grasping at straws here. Again assuming that the guy who you put into the leadoff spot doesn't mentally zone out because he isn't in his usual spot.

QUOTE (BrianAnderson @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 01:17 PM) I, Brian Anderson have been just waiting my time to get back in the game. No but seriously, Anderson was trying for an invite last year - didn't get one. He done. Kudos for waiting to post until someone mentioned Anderson. Welcome to Soxtalk.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 12:55 PM) It was a lot more than 1 game, he had more starts in the leadoff spot than any other spot in the lineup. And the two hole was his next most frequent spot. More often than not, he batted right in front of Abreu when he started. And we're talking about the WORST hitter in Major League Baseball last year. He posted a wRC+ of 2, the absolute lowest amongst players with 100+ plate appearances. Just watching him you could tell he was not a major league hitter. Under no circumstance should he ever bat leadoff. I don't care if someone is uncomfortable for a couple days, you're better off putting a halfway decent hitter in front of Abreu than Leury Garcia. But you got to love Robin's logic, fast guys must bat at the top of the lineup regardless if they can hit or get on-base. You are making the assumption that this is his logic here. He never said anything close to that. Even if he did say it, he would never come out and say that such and such player would be a guaranteed 0-4 in the leadoff spot (or any other spot), because he mentally couldn't handle the challenge. It is the same sort of thing between working the 7/8th inning and closing. By the numbers, it shouldn't make a difference. Between the ears, it does for many. If you move around an entire line up to cover the sitting of one guy, you exponentially increase the odds of someone being in a spot they aren't comfortable with.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 12:39 PM) Right, if Leury batted leadoff when Eaton was in the lineup, then I'd be crying bonkers. But I don't know, he could have moved Alexei there for a day I guess, but why mess with Alexei when he's miscast there too? Alexei being an example of a guy who completely changed his hitting style to hit 2nd, as opposed to when he hit down the line up (didn't swing for power).

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 12:31 PM) If you guys thought steroids were bad: In 2005, a Florida Marlins batboy was suspended six games for accepting a dare from Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Brad Penny, a former Marlin, to drink a gallon of milk in less than an hour without vomiting Ha, we did the same thing when I worked on the floor of the CBOE in like 2000. Kid could have made something like a $1000 if he could have kept it down. Let's just say he didn't.

Apparently even Bears ownership is getting pushed around at Soldier field. http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/12/16/bea...by-saints-fan/q

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 12:25 PM) There wasn't any. It didn't matter. Team sucked, players sucked, no one on the team could get on base except Abreu. Who else was going to bat leadoff? It never mattered. Also, my comment was directed toward criticism of his bullpen management. That can also come from knowing your players. Some guys can't handle change. Some guys take change too seriously. Changing around your entire line up to replace the leadoff hitter could do more damage than just putting a bad hitter into the leadoff spot for a day.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 12:26 PM) You call it depth, I call it ace + ace + ace + ace + ace = WSWS TWTW

QUOTE (shipps @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 12:25 PM) I am also invited to spring training so not a big deal. http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/ticketing/...ts.jsp?c_id=cws

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 12:20 PM) /swoons

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 12:15 PM) As a hybrid. A gunslinging pitcher/outfielder who is out for justice on the south side. And looking damned good doing it.

QUOTE (robinventura23 @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 12:14 PM) will he be part of the press conference today? He will be the guy holding the microphone cables for the cordless mics.

QUOTE (flavum @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 12:10 PM) I agree, but every team brings in retreads on minor league deals. There will probably be 15-20 non-roster invites, and he's one of them. No big deal. Yeah, he is on a minor league deal. I would bet he also has an opt out option for the end of March if the Sox don't put him on the 25 man roster. If he is good (lol) that is good for us. If he isn't, there isn't any harm all here. You send him the way of every other failed free agent minor league signing.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 11:47 AM) He's still alive? Then cross him off of the list.

Chris Kuc ‏@ChrisKuc 25m25 minutes ago #Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said he didn't know if Duncan Keith's illness is mumps-related.

Ken Rosenthal ‏@Ken_Rosenthal 12m12 minutes ago Timetable on Kang: Bids must be in by 5 pm ET Fri. Korean team notified of high bid on Mon. Three days to accept, 30 to negotiate deal.

MLB Pipeline ‏@MLBPipeline 40m40 minutes ago With @WhiteSox signing of Melky, they lose their third-round @MLBDraft pick (#81) & now go from #8 to what is currently #112 without a pick.

I wonder if Penny has a place in Charlotte?

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 11:33 AM) He showed up at camp last year about 30 lbs overweight. The situation is a bit different now.

Scott Merkin ‏@scottmerkin 34s34 seconds ago Hahn: "We are not under any edict to cull payroll at this point."

Scott Merkin ‏@scottmerkin 9m9 minutes ago When asked for specific win total looking for in '15, Rick Hahn said 90 if not beyond. But that's target every year to be playoff viable

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 11:20 AM) We might as well sign Scherzer. That would be the first really bad contract they gave out this winter. I think the Robinson deal is close, the years scare me more than the dollars. But to go to the 7ish years and $200ish million it will take to sign Scherzer is just begging to be a disaster of a deal.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 16, 2014 -> 11:13 AM) Yeah, it changes the spending perspective completely. I'd love to know how the phones are ringing right now in the Sox ticket office. Doug Padilla ‏@ESPNChiSox 10m10 minutes ago Rick Hahn says that because ticket sales were up after winter meetings moves, Reinsdorf gave approval for Cabrera contract. Goes without saying that the White Sox are headed above what they expected to spend on 2015 payroll. Daryl Van Schouwen ‏@CST_soxvan 12m12 minutes ago Hahn: '2 driving factors. Jerry giving us latitude to aggressively pursue Melky and response we've received from Sox fans so far'