Vance Law

How rad would it be if Buehrle came up with a knuckleball a couple years from now?

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jan 13, 2015 -> 02:43 PM) It's not set, if they cut him before the 25 man roster date in early April he's only due 750k. It is apparently not quite that cut and dried. http://www.southsidesox.com/2015/1/13/7536...d-inevitability

QUOTE (BigFinn @ Jan 8, 2015 -> 06:11 PM) Jay Jaffe of SI.com lists Tim Raines as the 8th best left-fielder in the history of baseball. The only two players ahead of him on the list who are not yet in the Hall of Fame are Barry Bonds and Pete Rose. Raines compares favorably with Rose on the rate stats: Pete Rose: .303/.375/.409 Tim Raines: .294/.385/.425 Rose might have had more hits, but Raines had the better OBP and hit for more pop. Combine that with the superior base-stealing skill set, and if I had to pick a starting left-fielder for my team, I'd pick Raines over Rose any day of the week. Tim Raines should have been in the Hall of Fame long ago. He'll make it with the 2016 or 2017 class. Singles hitter Pete Rose is one thing. How about his teammate, slugger, and Hall Of Famer: Andre Dawson .279/.323/.482 .806 Tim Raines .294/.385/.425 .810

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jan 8, 2015 -> 08:43 PM) Soxtalk has an Ozzie like obsession with the replacement level Jordan Danks. They don't need a fourth OF that can play CF because of Melky. Melky starting 10 or 15 games in CF to spell Eaton isn't the end of the world. Of course, they could always bring in a veteran type in the spring to compete for the role if they feel it's important. Good lord, Melky should not/ will not be going anywhere near CF. The outfield defense projects to be very subpar at the corners with Cabrera and Garcia. It is a clear deficiency on the team and 'excellent defensive outfielder' is a wise use of one of the bench spots in my opinion (and I suspect others'). If not Danks, I hope they get someone who is a plus defender, like Danks.

QUOTE (lvjeremylv @ Jan 8, 2015 -> 08:16 PM) Danks is awful, who cares, lol Everyone's awful. Players are awful in lots different ways. Players are awful while at the same time being excellent. Like Danks. If you only consider defense and baserunning, Jose Abreu is a giant sack of s***. Why people are discussing it is out of an interest in surmising what the intended makeup of the bench is.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 8, 2015 -> 05:32 PM) Because Andy Wilkins is a better hitter than Jordan Danks. Yeah, but: Why would you keep Danks and DFA Wilkins? Because Danks is an excellent defensive outfielder and the Sox starting outfield at present are bad, injury prone, and bad at defense. And there's zero room for Wilkins on a team with Abreu and LaRoche.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 8, 2015 -> 04:43 PM) Weird Yeah, I'm surprised as well. I wouldn't think you can have Bonifacio as the only bench guy who can play CF as he presumably is covering a bunch of other positions, and Eaton's a good candidate to get banged up and miss 3 games in a row here and there. And with potential butchers Garcia and Cabrera out there, 'excellent defensive outfielder' is even more valuable. JB Shuck has only played a few CF games in his career and it'd be surprising to assume he could do it without watching him in spring training. My first guesstimate is that there's another move(s) coming that involve bench/OF.

QUOTE (woods of ypres @ Jan 6, 2015 -> 11:00 PM) So, is this the platoon partner for Gillaspie then? Bonifacio has a career 97 wRC+ vs LHP Gillaspie has a career 124 wRC+ vs RHP That, assuming my math is right, combines for: 294/347/378 (725). A .725 OPS is in between Panda and McGehee. Maybe around a 106 wRC+? That 106 wRC+ would have to be inaccurate. Using your career splits methodology. Sox faced 73.64% right handed pitching last year. 26.36% x 97 =25.57 73.64% x 124 = 91.31 wRC+ would be 116.88

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jan 6, 2015 -> 02:51 AM) I'd have to absolutely agree with that. I don't think he is a bench player though. My guess is Bonafacio becomes our starting 2B, who will spell anyone who needs it, allowing Carlos Sanchez, Luery Garcia, or JB Shuck to get some starts at 2B. I think this move pretty much sealed Micah's start in AAA. And the other 3 guys will battle for backup IF spots. I'd say you are very much in the minority here. It would seem clear that as things stand now, Bonifacio is Gillaspie's platoon mate at 3rd and a super utility guy who can play infield and outfield, pinch run, and replace just about anyone defensively. The starting second base job will go to Sanchez or Johnson. Circumstances could arise where Bonifacio takes over the 2nd base job if he's hitting great and Sanchez and/or Johnson fall flat on their face and the team is in contention. But the opening day starter will be Sanchez or Johnson.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 5, 2015 -> 03:14 PM) Better than the Saladino alternative I was thinking would happen, and I think it hints at the strong likelihood of Johnson winning the 2B job. I agree it's better not to have to pencil Saladino in. Let him get healthy and hit his way onto the team. But if Johnson wins the 2B job, Sanchez is back to AAA. Couldn't they have just used Sanchez as the utility infielder QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 5, 2015 -> 03:14 PM) The means a bench of: --Backup C --Bonifacio --4th OF (right now Viciedo) --??? The ??? can be just about anyone, now that Bonifacio is there, because he can cover basically any position AND can PR. So his presence actually adds flexibility to the rest of the bench. You could go Sanchez or Saladino, or you could even have another OF, an extra pitcher, or heck even Davidson or Wilkins (though I think those are unlikely). If Bonifacio means Viciedo stays, I would say: --Backup C (Kottaras) --Bonifacio --3rd DH (Viciedo) -- A lefty who is a good defender. You don't want 2 of your 4 bench players to be defensive liabilities. So I'd assume..(Danks)

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 5, 2015 -> 01:19 PM) I hope he'll be used as the utilityman that he is, but I have a feeling we'll try to start him at second. Zero chance unless Sanchez and/or Micah fail at it first and Bonifacio is having an unexpectedly great season.

A guy this versatile perhaps implies that Viciedo is staying. Bonifacio is the 2015 Leury that allows Viciedo to be the 2015 Konerko. If so, I hope Tank can at least get back to crushing lefties. I do like that it was for only $3 million, thought he'd go for more.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 31, 2014 -> 02:47 PM) The question to ask in reply is...would you be willing to miss the playoffs this year if Sanchez and Johnson can't provide decent performance out of 2b? There's also Saladino and if none of them can handle it, there's the trade deadline if the rest of the team is kicking ass. But one of our middle infielders has to be given the 2nd base job.

Huge fan of Zobrist. Terrible idea throwing away prospects to get him for 1 year. Would love to sign him as a free agent if we still have a need at one of the positions he plays.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Dec 26, 2014 -> 10:43 PM) Denorfia and Valencia were the guys I mentioned in the other thread like this. I'll stick to them. Maybe Alexi Ogando on the starter depth because of his flexibility. I think his agents would be wise to want to deal with a team like the Sox. Valencia would make a lot of sense. They have no place for him on the Toronto roster. Blue Jays are also the masters of turning nothing-special guys into major successful power hitters (Bautista, Encarnacion). I wonder if they'd think they could do the same with Viciedo. They're going into the season with Justin Smoak as their 1st baseman for god's sake.

QUOTE (bear_brian @ Dec 24, 2014 -> 03:17 PM) Bonifacio. He kills lefties No, he killed lefties last year in 104 PAs. The year before he was absolutely brutal against lefties. And the year before that he was even worse. If the team were constructed like last year, and it was a necessity to have one player who could play CF and middle infield, Bonifacio would be ideal. But since it's not, for a platoon mate for Gillaspie, you could do better than someone with a career .721 OPS against lefties. If he hits lefties like he did in 2012 or 2013 you may as well have Gillaspie hit.

A lot of mentions in other threads and in this one of getting Bonifacio. He can play the infield and outfield, which is good versatility. He's a bad hitter which is bad. We want a lefty catcher in there- I'll take Kottaras over Brantley We need someone who can play centerfield- Danks does that well It'd be nice then to have two right handed bats to platoon/take at bats away from Gillaspie and LaRoche. It'd be great if Saladino were ready on opening day. If not someone, like Adam Rosales or Ramon Santiago makes sense. So does Gordo Beckham. Assuming that player can cover any infield position, you could try to pick up the best lefty-killing bat you can find. Chris Denorfia is one name. Allen Craig. Keep Tank?

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Dec 23, 2014 -> 07:18 PM) I'm going to say Saladino, Kottaras and two guys not currently on the roster. Nice. Who do you want them to be?

Bench. Who's gonna be the bench?

QUOTE (ptatc @ Dec 18, 2014 -> 05:59 PM) Defense? Numbers seem to suggest he's been around average for his career.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Dec 18, 2014 -> 05:19 PM) Yep, it's a new environment. A 690 OPS from a solid defensive catcher is fine. My problem with Flowers is that I expect him to OPS 640 and be .5 WAR or so. He might end up sucking that bad. However.. Things I think could bode well for Flowers 1) .891 second half OPS. That can't be 100% luck. And it was the tail end of him getting his first full season as a starter. 2) A legit back-up will let him rest more than with Nieto. More rest throughout the year might help his performance. 3) Legit left-handed backup will allow him to get a greater percentage of his at bats against lefties, against whom he had a .732 OPS last year.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Dec 18, 2014 -> 05:42 PM) So the left handed version of Tyler Flowers huh? More like if Adam Dunn were a catcher. 14% career walk rate is impressive. .762 OPS in 300 PAs the last 3 years.......but that's on 6 different teams. Why does no one seem to want to keep this guy who is productive?

QUOTE (Andy the Clown @ Dec 18, 2014 -> 03:42 PM) The problem is that we already have offensive holes at C an 3B. You can't expect to be contenders with huge gaps at a third of your positions. QUOTE (Vance Law @ Dec 18, 2014 -> 03:38 PM) I think people in general are bad at understanding what bad is these days QUOTE (Vance Law @ Dec 18, 2014 -> 03:38 PM) The average 3rd baseman in the American League hit .249 last year, a .701 OPS. That's average, not weak.

Seems like he's way better than Brantley.

QUOTE (buster @ Dec 18, 2014 -> 11:17 AM) I like what Hahn has done to date. But in my mind it is imperative that he pick up a solid fielding 3rd basement. I don't care if the guy is a .250 hitter. They have picked up enough bats so they can add a weak stick at 3rd base. The average 3rd baseman in the American League hit .249 last year, a .701 OPS. That's average, not weak. I point this out because I think people in general are bad at understanding what bad is these days and consequently have a bad understanding of how good Gillaspie was at the plate. He's been subpar defensively. He should be platooned. But the guy has a .765 career OPS against righties and we have him for basically zero dollars. I'd like to think Saladino can do fine with those 150 PAs.