Dick Allen

1st major league hit.

What are the odds Suzuki sucks next year?

Sox score, Sale gives at least one back. f*** you Robin.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 07:44 PM) Popping out to 2nd is getting in front of it? He jammed himself broham. I thought the discussion was his foulball. That is what you replied to.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 07:34 PM) Yea it was a hanging breaking ball. His swing is so damn long that instead of pulling it and ripping it he drops his back shoulder and makes contact with the ball when it's already out of the prime hitting zone. He was out in front of it.

If first base is open, Abreu is probably going to get walked every time now.

I've been close on a couple of 3 ways before.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 03:22 PM) Even ignoring the whole minor-league track record thing which I talked about extensively, 73 wRC+ is slightly more than 22 Yes, but it isn't very good.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 03:09 PM) I mean I'm not going to go try to find posts from two years ago, but I know how I've always felt about him, and if I was advocating moving him, it was for the same reason as now, which is (1) guys that are 32 tend to begin getting worse and (2) our team is not good enough to get to the playoffs even with his contribution now. It's very simple, and really hardly personal to Alexei at all. He had a 1.9 WAR in 2012, 3.2 WAR in 2013 and so far a 20.3 WAR in 2014. He doesn't appear to be slowing down too much or anywhere near being overpaid. Why, if you are trying to win, do you trade a reasonably priced SS for some question marks and then really have to be lucky to get half the performance out of his replacement? 1.9 WAR was his worst season since he's been an everyday player. The not getting to the playoffs even with his contribution is pretty weak as well. Chris Sale hasn't made the playoffs. Neither has Abreu. Where do you draw the line on that argument?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 03:04 PM) Semien has a wRC+ of 118 in AAA this year. Yes, but not in the major leagues and he has more plate appearances than Leury.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 03:04 PM) My "sources" on Google seem to think it was Will MacKenzie's now ex-wife Alli Spencer, who was a FHM model. sauces

Anyone see the Real Sports piece on golf on HBO? It was pretty interesting. Courses are closing, kids are playing less and less. The run they had with Tiger is gone. The common complaints were too expensive, takes too long and too hard to play. They talked to the CEO of Taylormade and they are trying a lot of new things, like foot golf, which seemed horrible to me, like kicking a soccer ball until you get it in a huge hole, or the one I found interesting, 15 inch wide cups. Bryant Gumbel played with the guy and said it was fun, but didn't consider it real golf. The CEO said that goal was to make it fun. To get people on the course. I guess it shaves about an hour off a round. Jack Nicklaus thought any ideas to get people on the courses were great. Curtis Strange was the opposite.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 02:51 PM) My point is that Saladino's peaks have been legit excellent for the level. Leury's solitary peak was basically average for the level. We also know a lot about what Leury can do in the majors. 220 PA is not insignificant, especially when it results in a 22 wRC+, even if it's less than ideal circumstances. Jordan Danks has only done well when he's really old for a level, so that's not an accurate comp. We also have a decent sample of what he can do in the majors. We don't know about Saladino. Sure, there's a strong chance he can't hack it. But if his peaks are for real, he's got a way better chance than Leury does. Either way, it's worth finding out. In my opinion of course. If we have enough infor to know what Leury is, using the same criteria, it's time to cut bait on Marcus Semien as well, correct?

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 02:16 PM) Saladino put up a 140 wRC+ at A, 144 at A+ and just did 134 at AAA. The best Leury ever did above rookie-ball was 104. Otherwise it's a bunch of 60s 70s and 80s. Saladino has also had markedly better plate discipline everywhere, which quite strongly correlates to eventual MLB performance. There's a substantial difference between their bats. Either way, I'm not even arguing Saladino is a starter. I'm arguing he's more likely to contribute positive value as a bench piece. Apart from generally being a better bat, he crushes lefties. We have a third baseman who destroys righties and can't hit lefties. In 2012 both Leury and Saladino even though Saladino is 2 years older played in AA. Leury's wRC+ was 104, Saladino's 99. Last year Leury put up an 89 in AAA. Saladino repeated AA and put up an 87. I AM SHOCKED YOU MISSED THIS. BTW, if wRC+ in the minor leagues is really the end all, the White Sox and the rest of baseball are really missing the boat on Jordan Danks.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 02:06 PM) That's where the disconnect is. I define "hot hand" and "figuring things out" as different things. Like, I'm a bad basketball player, but I play anyway because it's fun. Even though I'm bad, sometimes everything just clicks and I can bury shots from the perimeter for a while. It isn't just luck; I can feel my body in sync and it seems so simple to just put the ball in the basket. But it doesn't last -- that's what happens when I'm at my absolute best, but my physique hasn't improved, my mechanics haven't improved. I'm jsut "on." Everyone that plays long enough will be "on" from time to time. It's one of the beautiful and unpredictable things about sports. Conversely, I had a huge breakthrough when I was about fifteen and playing in a Fall Instructional Baseball league. I was in the cage with my coach and trying to get myself out of a slump wondering why I was barrelling everything up in practice but I couldn't make solid contact in the game. Then it hit me: the difference was that I was EXPECTING to hit every pitch in the cage, but I was wasting time evaluating the pitch before deciding to swing in the game. A conundrum. In my head then, I just switched it around: when seeing a pitch rather than deciding if it was good enough to swing at, I started deciding if it was good enough to TAKE. When the pitcher released the ball, I was expecting to hit that ball until I noticed something that proved otherwise. This let me get my mechanics in line quickly and allowed me to react to location much faster. It was a breakthrough and I immediately began to hit way better. That, to me, was an example of "figuring it out." I changed something that allowed my average performance level to rise. I could stiil get "hot" or "cold," but the mean of those performances changed because my skill level changed. Yes, but I'm not suggesting calling guys up because they are hot. I am suggesting when you have the luxury of not having to call someone up who you are going to be calling up to carefully pick the time to call them up. When they aren't going well is not the best time to call them up. I mentioned Viciedo previously. He had already been with the White Sox and was obviously going to be back at some point. The Sox needed offense and he was on a crazy streak in Charlotte. They let him play it out. Eventually they called him up when he was struggling, and he struggled. He might have struggled anyway, but we all know when Tank is hot, he is hot. When you have the luxury to decide when, and often times you do not, do so when it makes sense. Maybe they have been hot for 4 days and that was how long it was going to last anyway, but so what, it's better than thinking they haven't hit in a week but they are due so bring them up to the next level. Seems to me if you are a candidate to be called up, there really is nothing major the organization is waiting for. It's a game of failure. It's hard enough to hit just getting called up. Semien also has to see his average up on scoreboards from what he did earlier. He's probably going to be pressing. I think he would be far better off coming up and using the "I've been hot and deserve this" vs. "they want to see what I can do". Especially when his first AB back he won't be able to avoid .218 posted everywhere in the stadium.

Anyone ever check out Adam Dunn's minor league stats? He was Kris Bryant with fewer strikeouts.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 01:55 PM) I picked your post because I wanted to argue the point of using a hot or cold hand to decide. I have no opinion on whether or not he's ready. A hot hand suggests you have figured things out. When you are slumping, there are problems. That's what I don't understand.

QUOTE (JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 01:49 PM) We'll agree to disagree because while you might not be able to predict the length of hot streaks, I do think there is a greater probability of a minor league callup experiencing immediate success at the major league level if he is coming in hot and confidence is high compared to struggling and confidence low. Exactly. He's hitting well for a reason. So his mechanics are probably really good, and the confidence. Like Flowers who was mentioned. Sure, the glasses may have made a physical difference in his hitting. But he's hitting around .500 since he put them on. Nobody's that good. He got a couple of hits, and suddenly he doesn't have 1000 things going through his mind when he steps into the box, and he hits. He'll be back to a bum soon enough, but the mental aspect is huge.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 01:46 PM) Right, because good performance also correlates with "figuring something out." I'm just saying there isn't value to a callup just because of a hot hand. You need more information than any of us are privy to in order to identify if a player has taken a stride forward versus just "seeing the ball well." If all this information that none of us are privy to is needed for a call up, why are you just arguing with my view and not the others who want him called up? The White Sox haven't called him up. Wouldn't that suggest this information we cannot possibly have is saying don't call him up?

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 01:21 PM) I played a lot of baseball, all the way through American Legion, and I'm NOT arguing that you don't feel better sometimes than others. I AM arguing that we cannot predict the length and continuation of these "hot streaks." They have random lengths and random endings. So it doesn't help us to say "call him up while he's hot" because it's just as likley that his hotness would end that very day as it is that it would continue for one day or two days or three days. Similarly, you could call a guy up when he's cold and he could start a hot streak the very next day. If you do truly CHANGE something, it isn't a hot streak, it's a breakout; a revelation. And you've set a new level of performance and will now have hot and cold streaks based on that new level. We can't really tell the difference by reading box scores -- we need the coaching staff to say "Yes, I told him to change his approach. He has now succeeded in that and is seeing succes as a result. He is ready to take this approach to the next level." No you can't. But generally if you are banking on someone's slump ending because they are being promoted to the major leagues, you are going to be dissappointed. Guys generally do get called up when they are going well.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 01:23 PM) The last post I read was yours before I wrote mine and much to my surprise TUC, Chisoxfn, caulfield and even Wite with his joke about resigning Dunn all pretty much said what I said with minor differences. Everyone sucked balls but unlike TUC I think Dunn has been better this year than any of the previous yrs. Of course , he needs a new contract so maybe he's trying a little bit harder so I'm not as disappointed with him as I am all the other suckees. I also think moving Danks isn't all that important. He's still got multiple years on that contract and teams just don't bite on that any more unless you're near elite level. So might as well keep him starting and maybe through some miracle he re-establishes himself. Sierra, Wilkins, Semien, Micah, Sanchez bring em on and let's get this party started ! Dunn is better because the big mistake the Sox made, bringing back Konerko, has kept him from hitting more often vs. LHP.

QUOTE (Jake @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 12:47 PM) Cleveland definitely thought they were a playoff team and it wasn't an outlandish thought. They were just a mess in the clubhouse, Kyrie was awful out of the gates, and they may have had a terrible coach. I actually see Kyrie potentially torpedoing all the good vibes over in Cleveland. I think he's a terrible teammate. Possible, but with LeBron around, and most likely Love, he's #3 in the pecking order, not top dog. That will probably keep him on the straight and narrow.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 12:54 PM) Again you misunderstand and make it sound like I have been falsely saying he's bad for years, which is not true. I love Alexei and have always been a champion for him. He is good now, will be declining/have declined when we really need to have solid production from SS, in a year or two. Since we have a ton of guys ready to try the position, he has to go. If for no other reason than we need to get his replacement some ABs and development time. Also because we still have a lot of holes to fill and have to move someone to get talent back. Go back to your posts 2 years ago and last year. There is no way you thought he would be anywhere near as valuable this year. He doesn't have to go. There aren't a ton of guys the White Sox have ready to try the position. Face it, if the Sox thought Semien was a SS, he'd be playing SS everyday. If they thought Sanchez was a SS, he wouldn't have been playing 2B the past few years. Odds are very long either is an everyday calibur major league SS. The White Sox have basically conceded that.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 12:41 PM) Alexei isn't trash. He's a declining asset that has trade value and he plays the position the we're deepest in in the upper minors. He's a perfect candidate to be traded. You have been saying he is a declining asset for a couple years. Eventually you will be correct, but he's a nice guy to have around now.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 12:36 PM) He only had one stop where he was anything other than bad offensively and that was fueled by BABIP. He's also on pace for nearly 200 PA this year. That's not barely playing. Saladino is the better option next year once he's back and it's not even close. He has had 112 PA in 109 games. That is barely 1 a game and a 166 plate appearance pace for a 162 game season. That's barely playing. Tossing Saladino? Really?