scenario

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Oct 10, 2007 -> 05:33 PM) the deadline to protect players is in the week before the draft itself. If the Sox decline the options on Pods, Erstad, and Uribe that will open 3 spots on the 40-man. They will definitely protect Egbert and Russell, even if only to trade them later.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Oct 17, 2007 -> 03:28 PM) So what does a guy like Wasserman work on in winter ball? Are they going to try to get him innings, or work on a new pitch? I think that Wasserman views himself being on the fringe of making the team next spring, especially if the team goes out and gets a couple of relievers this winter (which they will). And even though he performed pretty well during his time with the Sox, that's probably true. He's not a lock next year if they pick up two righty relievers this offseason. Volunteering for winterball is likely his way of letting management know he's willing to do everything it takes to make the club.

I scanned the rosters for Venezuelan League teams and saw Carlos Vazquez and Ehren Wasserman listed. Vazquez has pitched in one game already, but I didn't see any stats for Wasserman yet.

His splits are pretty interesting. Take a look at the OPS progression by month... and look at the difference pre and post all-star... and the monster month he put together in August. I think he can feel pretty proud of the way he rebounded after a really bad start. Month AVG 2B HR RBI OBP SLG OPS April .143 5 1 10 .232 .238 .470 May .224 5 1 7 .340 .318 .658 June .250 5 1 5 .348 .355 .704 July .265 5 5 17 .330 .469 .800 Aug. .330 8 6 15 .425 .583 1.008 Pre A/S .211 17 4 27 .304 .316 .620 Post A/S .298 11 10 27 .396 .528 .924 Totals .245 28 14 54 .340 .400 .740

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Sep 21, 2007 -> 06:41 PM) I guess it takes a big hulking mathematical formula to show that Jerry Owens is good at baseball. No. A .321 BA and .415 OBP do a pretty nice job.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Sep 21, 2007 -> 02:20 PM) ... not to mention makes no adjustment for the fact that the reward of a stolen base is much less than the risk of a caught stealing. Not true. There are several very good analytical studies that show the benefit of steals normally exceeds the potential cost.

I like the thinking in this thread. Kudos to northsidesox for the attempt to bring steals into the overall offensive equation. My thoughts regarding measurements.... I like the idea of simply adding stolen bases to the current formula for slugging percentage (which would have to be renamed of course), so it gives a true picture of total bases per plate appearance. The resulting number could then be added to OBP to give us a 'steals adjusted OPS value' or OPSS. As a few posters have mentioned, obviously with runners on a double is likely to be more valuable than a single and a steal, but... It might also add some value (and interesting discussions) in adding 'speed' to OPS discussions and comparisons.

QUOTE(29andPoplar @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 09:03 PM) I also was able to follow Great Falls and listened to many games on internet radio. A fun team, and you get to pick up lots of knowledge about these guys. You're absolutely right. Alot of details about player talent and development that you learn about by listening to the games never make it into the boxscores. For example, two guys who turned it on late and became very important contributors to the team are SS Greg Paiml and pitcher Leroy Hunt. Paiml struggled early but the proverbial light switch flicked on in early August, after which he became one of the best players on the team. Similar for Hunt... he got lit up several times early, but after he settled in he became the best setup man in the bullpen... a hard thrower (95mph) with good control who was dominating people. (And he is only 19.) Just by watching averages, those two guys would have been easy to ignore because of how they started, but their development suggests they are talents worthy of keeping an eye on. (Paiml did end up having pretty good overall numbers because he had an absolutely monster 2nd half.) Another little trivia thing about Paiml I think is interesting... when he was growing up, he was a ballboy for the Birmingham Barons. That's going to make a good story if he makes it to that level. Probably doesn't happen too often.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 07:40 PM) Excellent info - thanks for posting it! I am interested to see what this kid does next year. No problem. I followed the Sox minor league teams, particularly Great Falls, pretty closely during the second half... even listened to quite a few games via Internet radio. With the big league club bowing out early, it was nice to have something positive baseball-wise to look forward to. This was a pretty magical year for Great Falls. They had the best winning percentage of any WhiteSox farm club since 1989. We had the Pioneer League pitcher of the year (Moreno) and Poreda outpitched him but didn't have enough starts to qualify. Add on top of that, the best hitting team in the league with 5 players who had a .900+ OPS. Five... on one team! Pretty stunning when you think about it. I think next years Kannapolis club is going to look alot like this year's Great Falls team, only adding Logan Johnson + Nick Mahin. Could be a very good season for the Intimidators.

QUOTE(danman31 @ Sep 12, 2007 -> 10:51 PM) C.J. Retherford needs more love. I know the guy didn't get drafted and is 22, but he just turned 22 in August and has the best overall numbers on the team. He had 47 XBH in 261 AB!! Absolutely. CJ Retherford had a GREAT year. There are good reasons he was selected MVP of this year's Great Falls team... He finished the year with 1.000+ OPS... He lead the Pioneer League in extra base hits... and he broke the all-time Pioneer League record for doubles (he hit 30). I think he'll be an interesting player to follow and watch the progress of. To put his numbers in perspective, there have only been two players in the last two years to have a .900+ OPS at Great Falls: Francisco Hernandez and Chris Carter... both who are considered Top 10 Sox prospects. I posted some additional information about him awhile back on the scout.com board. Too much to copy. Here's a link.

I think Collaro is going to become a minor league free agent this fall, isn't he?

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 01:31 PM) I figure with another good appearance or two, he should be a favorite to make the pitching staff next year. If Gavin has a quality start next time out, he'll be tied for 2nd longest QS streak by any Sox starter this year. The only starter with a longer run than 5 is MB who's had 8, I think. The most Danks strung together was 4.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Jul 26, 2007 -> 01:52 AM) Oneli Perez... It's a crazy story, I mean I can't even find stats on him from before 2005. I hope he continues to progress. Here's a link I found that may help a little http://www.minorleaguesplits.com/pl/470/470358.html It looks like he played in the DSL prior to 2005.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jul 2, 2007 -> 06:25 PM) I'm really excited for an Owens-Terrero-Gonzalez outfield. The real disturbing part is that Owens-Terrero-Gonzalez wouldn't even be our starting outfield in Charlotte.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jun 5, 2007 -> 03:11 PM) well then, to use an oft-used phrase here, I'm glad you're not GM Amen to that.

Greg Couch is a Jay Marriotti wannabe who doesn't analyze sports... he simply wants to start 'fires' and get people's attention. Don't forget it was a Couch article that kicked off the whole Ozzie-Marriotti fiasco.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Apr 1, 2007 -> 06:35 PM) WTF is a hall-of-fame leadoff guy? I know you're not talking about Pods. That would be ludicrous. There's really no such thing as a HOF leadoff guy, or at least there are zero modern representatives. The two best lead-off type guys of the last 25 years aren't in the Hall (Though they only become eligible in the next two years) Many don't think Raines is a deserving candidate. I'd say they're wrong, but nobody is dumb enough to suggest that Delucci would play over Raines... that is until you brought it up in a failed attempt to make a point. The point is simple. You DON'T have to hit for power to be a successful leadoff hitter. Using OPS overweights power factors into the comparisons. That's why it's not relatively pointless to use in comparing leadoff guys. What's the role of a leadoff hitter? Get on. Get over. Get into scoring position. Period. That's why OBP is valuable. That's why steals are valuable. I think it is utterly and completely LAUGHABLE that anyone who thinks they know anything about baseball would want Dellucci to lead off for us. Ridiculous.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Apr 1, 2007 -> 06:10 PM) Let's look at it in more objective terms: 2004 - 94 OPS+ 2005 - 128 OPS+ 2006 - 125 OPS+ Pods over that same time: 2004 - 79 OPS+ 2005 - 86 OPS+ 2006 - 76 OPS+ So... looks like Delluci's WORST season over the past three years is still better than Podsednik's best season. Oh, and the Michaels comparison is brutal, too. Michaels never flashed enough power for a long period of time to be a full-time player. Will Delluci's number fall a bit now that he's more of a full-time player? I'd expect that... but they'd have to fall a LONG way for him to be as awful as Podsednik. If OPS is your measure of success for a lead-off hitter, then you'd end up playing Dellucci ahead of several Hall of Fame lead-off guys. Bad idea.

David Dellucci - last 5 years... Year G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP 2002 97 229 34 56 11 2 7 29 28 55 2 4 0.245 0.326 2003 91 216 26 49 12 3 3 23 23 58 12 0 0.227 0.301 2004 107 331 59 80 13 1 17 61 47 88 9 4 0.242 0.342 2005 128 435 97 109 17 5 29 65 76 121 5 3 0.251 0.367 2006 132 264 41 77 14 5 13 39 28 62 1 3 0.292 0.369 Here's the short version: 2002 Sucked as a part-timer 2003 Sucked worse as a part-timer 2004 Got more walks, flashed a little power, still didn't hit well enough to play full-time 2005 Got full-time at-bats; only hit .251; but he did get 76 walks; and hit 29 homeruns; not too bad 2006 Had a 'career year' in 264 at-bats playing in the National League as Philadelphia's 4th outfielder And "he'd make a great leadoff hitter for us". LOL. A little early for drinking on Sundays, isn't it?? Reality... he's Jason Michaels with a little more power, who can't hit as well for average, and has a lower OBP.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 31, 2007 -> 11:41 AM) Our pitchers were awful last year. If he's going to get all the credit for how they pitched in 2005, then he deserves some criticism for 2006. I don't think AJ deserves 'all the credit' for 2005. Nor does he deserves criticism for Garcia's fastball and Buerhle's location disappearing... or Contreras getting hurt. Regarding the earlier post picking Dellucci over Pods... I know there are alot of people who don't like Pods, but come on... Dellucci has a sub-.250 career average hitting in the American League. He had a career year in the National League last year. Big deal. His total career batting average (both leagues) is about the same as Pods hit last year which everyone is abusing him for. His career OBP is only slightly higher than Pods'.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 31, 2007 -> 11:35 AM) Errors for catchers is a pointless statistic. He still hasn't caught one ball cleanly on a play at the plate (not like it matters with the pathetic arms we have in the outfield). I love AJP, and I think his attitude was possibly the most responsible thing for our 2005 season. However, he struggled last year, and his game-calling wasn't very good. There's still no comparison. VMart is the Michael Barrett of the American League, only Barrett is actually a much better catcher. That should pretty much tell the story. And AJ "struggled last year"??? What are you talking about?

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 31, 2007 -> 11:29 AM) Also, VMart is a switch hitter, so he's more effective vs LHP than AJP is. AJP didn't exactly have a stellar year catching last year, and if I recall correctly, the Indians starting staff had a superior ERA to that of the White Sox. And as for throwing out runners, with the way our pitchers hold on runners, it doesn't matter how good or bad the throwing arm is behind the plate. I'd take Hafner over any player besides Pujols. See my reasons for taking VMart above. AJ set the American League record (all-time) for consecutive games without an error last year. And handling the staff, he's like a coach on the field. VMart has a noodle for an arm and looks like a first baseman trying to catch. And he's clueless about calling a game... looking into the dugout practically the entire game. No comparison.

VMart is probably the worst defensive catcher in the American League. Why would you take him over AJ? Power?? In the last two years, Martinez has hit 36 home runs. AJ has hit 34. The difference in their offensive stats is mostly based on two factors: Martinez walks more He bats higher in the lineup I'd take AJ for his defense and ability to handle the staff.

Peralta and Uribe are pretty close to a wash IMO. Peralta had one good year offensively and he's a butcher in the field. I'd take Uribe for his defense.

Which Tribe players would actually start for us? I'm not talking long term. I'm not talking multi-year 'potential'. I'm talking about 2007. If you mixed the two rosters, who would win the starting positions? Position Players First, compare the position players for the two starting lineups... Consider both offensive and defensive contributions. Konerko vs. Blake Iguchi vs. Barfield Uribe vs. Peralta Crede vs. Marte AJ vs. Martinez Pods vs. Dellucci Erstad vs. Grady Dye vs. Trot Nixon Thome vs. Hafner Starting Pitchers (the way they're slotted in the rotation) And who would you take in each of these matchups? Contreras vs. CC Garland vs. Westbrook Buerhle vs. Lee Vazquez vs. Byrd Danks vs. Sowers