Dick Allen

QUOTE (AustinIllini @ Sep 15, 2015 -> 08:24 PM) If I said this, everyone would flame me. Congratulations on understanding the state of the White Sox. Wasn't Olt the Opening Day 3B for your Cubbies?

Strasburg tied his career high with 14 Ks tonight. He had 14 Ks his first career start.

QUOTE (ChrisLikesBaseball @ Sep 15, 2015 -> 06:24 PM) Also, that's one of the two games that isn't available through the surveys. Then I bet he isn't interested.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Sep 15, 2015 -> 06:24 PM) Are you serious? The stadium wouldn't be full anyway even with the free ticket promotion, and even if it was, who cares if an adult gets a figure? They aren't earmarked for kids only. I have no problem with an adult getting a figure. But he already posted he was buying $7 tickets so he could go through several times to pick up more than one. This is an attempt to get a few for free.

So a grown ass man can grab stretch Sale figures that kids could have? I hope your attempt fails.

I guess the Cubs won't sweep the Pirates after all.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Sep 15, 2015 -> 11:40 AM) Good, my goal is to look cool and smart. Albers is pictured next to "just a guy" in the dictionary, despite his remarkable August in which he allowed 14 hits, 6 walks, and a hit batter in 13.2 innings. He's also allowed 10 inherited runners to score this year, which is tied for 35th in MLB this year behind a whole bunch of guys who've thrown more innings. The 1.38 ERA is a mirage and GM's know it. Any return for him would be a long shot to ever contribute, Gordon Beckham trade notwithstanding. Should he have been traded? Sure. Is it worth complaining about? No. Yeah, the "Beckham was traded for a guy who may be decent" doesn't mean Albers would be traded for a guy who would be decent. If it was, the Sox then should get a serviceable pitcher and a starting SS for John Danks considering that's exactly what they got for Jaime Navarro. One month of Matt Albers gets you scraps. Maybe those scraps become a decent player. Odds are, in a year, you forget exactly what the Sox received for Matt Albers. The White Sox are paying the guy. You would think if there was something offered they were even remotely intrigued with, they would have sent him packing. Obviously, there was not.

One thing people forget with Ozzie, the White Sox don't want to deal with Oney Guillen tweets anymore. That is part of hiring Ozzie. You get that crap. It gets picked up by websites and suddenly, if everything isn't perfect, your manager's son is constantly ripping your team, and it is everywhere, for everyone to see.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Sep 14, 2015 -> 07:59 PM) Rumor has it Hahn still likes him. That was a Marty rumor. It seems to have been torched by Ozzie Jr. slamming Hahn and his lack of playing experience a month or so ago. Ozzie isn't going to manage the White Sox again. That Ozzie Jr. stuff was strange. Usually he is the one offspring who sort of stays out of stuff. Not only did he rip Hahn, he praised KW.

QUOTE (bmags @ Sep 14, 2015 -> 10:32 PM) Robertson could also find it within himself to overcome adversity and hold 4 run leads Flare for a double, strikeout, 1st and 3rd nobody out. He did give up a walk and a solid single, but he certainly didn't pitch bad enough to give up 4. I am a Flowers defender, but there is no excuse for the glove work in the 9th.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Sep 14, 2015 -> 03:37 PM) No but I think it's part of why people think he will eventually be a success at the major league level, feeds into the whole "he destroyed the minors" rhetoric. Whereas in reality he was terrible for 3 years, was above average in 2012, and extremely good at AAA in brief stops mainly on the back of some ludicrous BABIPs. I think his 1000+ MLB PA tell us more about who he's going to be than 250 AAA PA. Trayce's BABIP is obviously sky-high too but at least he's doing on it on the back of a decent BB:K, and showing strengths elsewhere. So you want to ignore Trace's walk rate as a 24 year old in AAA, and hold Avi's numbers as a 17-19 year old against him. OK.

The wave is lame.

Didn't Ozzie manage last week? The Cornbelters?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 14, 2015 -> 02:24 PM) However, if your requirement for competing next year says "we need one of these guys to be all star quality", you probably should rethink your plans for competing next year. You are already in for the Sox will suck the rest of the decade, so you really shouldn't worry about 2016.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Sep 14, 2015 -> 01:53 PM) Tyler Flowers is one player. Generally, there's a strong correlation between high-minor walk rates and major walk rates: And I'm not even saying Trayce is going to be good, I still need to see a lot more for him to be a starter, I'm still in the "probable good fourth outfielder" camp, all I was saying is that some people talk about Trayce like he hasn't really produced in the minors because all they're looking at is batting average. Assists don't mean that much when you are as terrible as Avi is. He is a huge liability in the field. That's where you start and end with his defence. He is also a really bad baserunner, ranking 141 of 153 players this year in baserunning runs. Assists mean outs, and it's not like he's Juan Pierre and everyone is running on him. He is a bad fielder, there is no question, but his assists and home run saves have made up for some of that weakness. Avi is also playing his first full season in the major leagues, despite his ABs which have been flung around. I just think if you can't get off the Avi Garcia is awful and always will be, you should probably lay low on Trace Thompson for the time being.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Sep 14, 2015 -> 11:19 AM) Trayce also has a long, long history of walking a lot, whilst Avi has a long, long history of not walking. What do you think of their respective defences? So did Tyler Flowers. Once you get to higher levels, it's a new game. Trace has been great, but his defense has been shaky. Several curious routes, a huge error, and also seems to be thinking about that error at present. Avi is a bad defender without a doubt, but also leads the league in assists, and at least 2 home run saving catches. If you want to say Avi is horrible without a chance to be any good, saying Thompson is a guy who is going to be good is a long reach. Fangraphs isn't the way to identify prospects.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Sep 13, 2015 -> 09:01 PM) a) There's probably not a huge difference in what you should expect from them offensively in the majors, but Trayce can be valuable with a 90-100 wRC+, whereas Avi cannot, due to his horrendous defence and baserunning. b) Avi's BB:K rates were very poor in the minors and his success was often dependent on extremely high BABIPs. Trayce always ran a nice BB%, his problem was striking out too much, he has shown signs of improving on this weakness. c) Avi has had over 1000 PA at the MLB level and has been almost the exact same player throughout them. Avi's walk rate this year was higher than Trace's in AAA.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Sep 13, 2015 -> 11:13 AM) One thing people sleep on because of low batting averages was that Trayce was an above average hitter for EVERY league he played in bar rookie ball in his debut season and 20 PA in his first go at AAA. (wRC+, far right, 100 is average) If that is a sign of future success, explain to us the hate for the younger Avi Garcia.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Sep 13, 2015 -> 04:16 PM) They must have, because no other team hits him as hard as they do. They certainly didn't look like they knew what was coming after he departed either.

There is no question in my mind Minnesota has figured out how Sale tips pitches.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 12, 2015 -> 08:04 AM) Second wc and the one game play in gives incentive to win the division over one of the wc slots anyway. That is why I really like it, it gives huge advantages for winning the division, and keeps several teams in the playoff race until the end. IMO, it blows the old way out of the water. What it come sdown to is the Pirates will have to beat Arrietta to continue their season. The Cubs will have to beat Cole, and they won't be line-ed up for the next series. Back when they had the one WC there were several times teams would have rather won the WC than their division based on match-ups. That is not the case anymore. The ome thing I am not understanding is the media in Chicago. For a team that is currently a second WC, if you just listened to the media, the Cubs are easily the best team in baseball. Every time they beat a bad team is proof. When they lose to the Phillies, it is just a bump in the road.

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ Sep 12, 2015 -> 02:02 PM) So I noticed a lot of "extend QO to Shark for the pick" on this thread, but what if he takes the QO? That's a distinct possibility at this point given how much he's damaged his value this season. Not really. He damaged his value for sure, but he was looking at if not 9 figures, close to it before this year, and no injury. He isn't going to take a $15-17 million guarantee for one season. Why would he think next year would be any different if he stayed in the same place? He is a goner and appparently both sides are ready to move on.

The WhiteSox did shiputdown Danks in Sept 2007 and he came back much improved in 2008, pitching a gem of a game 163. Of course he was getting tatooed in 2007. Skip a start but don't shut him down.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Sep 11, 2015 -> 03:01 PM) Probably because someone with a spreadsheet convinced JR that spending money on draft picks will often save you money in the long run. Baseball has changed rapidly in the last 5 years home grown talent gets locked up. The best talents never reach FA and the mediocre vets that do reach FA are so expensive and not "sure things: thus it's incredibly variant and silly to rely on them for wins. Mediocre talents Panda, Hanley and even La Roche and Melky are what you can buy on the FA market. Mike Trout isn't walking through that door. Hell, neither is Albert Belle. Yet the Cubs are the envy of a lot of Soxtalk, and besides Schwarber and Bryant, how many of their own draft picks dot their roster? I am pretty sure the White Sox have more of their own picks on theirs and what they do is wrong.

If someone told you there were no injuries and on Sept. 11 John Danks' ERA would be .29 lower than Samardzija's, in March would you think that meant Danks was exceeding expectations or that Shark was turrible.