Vance Law

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Nov 22, 2013 -> 04:39 PM) Bourjos has done nothing in his career to warrant an immediate starting spot anyway. He sure did in 2011.

QUOTE (Andy the Clown @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 09:46 PM) Kinsler is a horrible player at this point, and he's not cheap either. Baseball Reference has him as the #15 most valuable position player in the AL last year with 4.9 WAR

QUOTE (Baron @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 09:42 PM) I honestly dont know what the Texas Rangers are doing Dealing the most expensive of their too many middle infielders and getting what should be a huge upgrade at first base. Their first basemen put up a .700 OPS last year. Looks like a smart deal for both sides.

QUOTE (flavum @ Nov 20, 2013 -> 03:07 PM) https://twitter.com/CST_soxvan/status/403252792615112704 Anybody know anything about Elmore? Looks like the thing that stands out most about him is that he played every position last year, including pitcher and catcher.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 08:53 PM) I wasn't. If Garcia had to start at 2B Sanchez would assume his bench role. Ahh, I thought you meant nod as starter after Semien

QUOTE (ChiSoxFan05 @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 11:45 PM) Well, we were also discussing strikeouts, and if you compare Ozzie's time to Robin's so far, we have far more strikeouts per season then we used to with Ozzie ball. You should take a peek at the way strikeouts have been trending in ALL of baseball the last several years.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 19, 2013 -> 03:42 PM) For argument's sake, if we went into next year with the infield as is (Beckham-Alexei-Gillaspinger), aside from Semien, Sanchez has to be the next guy that gets the nod as far as infielders. You're forgetting Leury Garcia

Murphy might be a slight upgrade offensively (if the shift to the AL didn't mess him up) and a downgrade defensively. Doesn't seem like the type of move Hahn would make with respect to looking for long term solutions.

He starts at AAA unless Ramirez, Beckham, or Gillaspie are moved (and not replaced in trade). He'll be an every day player with the Sox if one of those is injured, he's dominating AAA/ one of them craps the bed, or when we start selling pieces off at the deadline if we're nowhere near contending.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 16, 2013 -> 02:21 PM) Whoever initially posted that #57 prospect was wrong. Pre 2012, AJ Cole was #57 overall on BA's list. Pre 2013, AJ Cole was unranked. In 2012, Cole had done very well in low A and was promoted to high A where he made 8 starts. In those 8 starts he went 0-7 with a 7.82 ERA and 1.842 WHIP. Cole's stock was WAY down from when he was ranked #57 overall so everyone should stop referring to the "#57 overall prospect" when guessing what it would take to get Jaso. Also, Jaso's value following 2012 was his highest point ever. He had a 3.5 WAR in 2012 and in 2013 he regressed to 1.1 and now has concussion issues clouding his future. Then consider the fact that another year of him on his rookie contract is completed. So not only is the former return for Jaso being misinterpreted, Jaso's own stock is down from where it was at the trade. I agree with everything you say here. However, "Bill Beane decides to sell low on a guy making almost no money" is not a sentence you usually hear. Jaso is just the kind of catcher we should go after if he were dirt cheap, but I don't see a reason for Beane to move him unless we offer him too much or unless the concussion issue is going to make him basically valueless.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Nov 15, 2013 -> 01:06 AM) Not straight up. Maybe a package of something like Jaso, Doolittle(LH reliever), and a hitting prospect Steverson likes. I loves me some Jaso, but he's a platoon player, I'd hate trading Hector for a platoon player. Pretty much all catchers are basically platoon players. Or should be. This is the important half of the platoon. Which we lack.

I consider that the single worst move I've ever seen the Sox make. Thanks, Oz. If you make the assumption that if the Twins don't get Thome, they use a replacement worth 1 WAR, the difference between one team getting Thome vs. the other was about 7 wins. Twins won the division by 6.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Nov 14, 2013 -> 05:05 PM) I'd still love to see the 2006 season play out with Chris Young in CF and no Javy Vazquez, with McCarthy as the 5th starter. To this day, I never understood why we had a compelling need to have six major league capable starters, at the cost of one position in the starting line-up suffering. Thome + Anderson was better than Rowand + Everett. So the offense was and upgrade over '05. Fangraphs shows Anderson was better than Rowand on defense in '06 as well. The one and only reason the Sox didn't make the playoffs is because the team ERA went up a full run more than '05. It's unfortunate Vazquez pitched as badly as the rest of the Sox that year, but getting a 200 inn. workhorse who strikes guys out was not the wrong idea.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Nov 13, 2013 -> 10:14 AM) I wonder, though, why his OPS was so much higher in games where a LH pitcher started. With such a small sample size, it wouldn't be difficult for a handful of homers off righty relievers in those games could have a big effect on that number. Edit: in reality, he hit 6 homers off lefties last year. He hit 9 homers in games in which a lefty started. So he hit at minimum, 3 homers off righty relievers in the 26 games he started against a lefty.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 12, 2013 -> 10:34 PM) First major fail by Rick Hahn. Hopefully PK retires. Regardless of what happens, I don't know if it's appropriate to use the adjective "major" in reference to the 25th man on the roster.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 12, 2013 -> 06:01 PM) So 2014 bench pending a Konerko return is probably: CA Phegley OF Danks IF/OF Garcia 1B Konerko IF Keppinger I think that's one too many, right? If they were to bring Konerko back, either Kepp is dealt or Danks is AAA unless I'm counting wrong.

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 12, 2013 -> 06:48 PM) Drastic decrease. Yes, I corrected my post.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 12, 2013 -> 06:48 PM) Would definitely be a major roster crunch to have Abreu/Dunn/Konerko all at once. Maybe they feel like we have so many versatile bench guys that they can pull it off. This could be a big year for Jordan Danks, but it means there's really no room for both Semien and L. Garcia, and I'g guess Semien is the odd man out there since Garcia can play OF -- unless we dump Keppinger. Semien was never going to be on the bench. He'll either start in AAA or start for the Sox if Gillaspie or Ramirez or Beckham were dealt.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 10, 2013 -> 06:49 PM) I still don't see a team that fits Adam Dunn. But 1Bmen will get injured, DHs will get injured, 1Bmen and DHs will underperform for teams who are buying at the deadline. If Dunn can manage to be something resembling solid, someone will want to add his power.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 10, 2013 -> 03:04 PM) If they want to spend money, I think they have one big contract in them still...but if that doesn't put them in the playoffs, that's it, they're spent with no additional room for upgrades for several years. They'd have the $14 million for Ramirez and Keppinger gone after '15. And Beckham would be a free agent.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Nov 10, 2013 -> 02:51 PM) And if we keep Dunn until the deadline we finish with the 7th worst record instead? Who cares? Save $ and get younger, this team won't be serious contenders with or without Dunn. Regardless of whether or not you or anyone else thinks the team can be contenders, Hahn has made it clear that they're not punting the season. He'll be there opening day with the plan B being he hits well and nets us better prospects at the deadline if and when the Sox are out of it. In other words we make the assumption that the Sox will be sellers at the deadline, eating half Dunn's salary in a trade this offseason would net us prospects X. Making the measured gamble that Dunn can hit well in the first half (in effect eating half of his salary by playing him) would net us a group of prospects better than X.

Interesting article on Gammons website here regarding the drastic decrease in power hitting. To me it adds up to Konerko getting an incentive based deal somewhere if he decides he wants to play next year. http://www.gammonsdaily.com/mlb-power-at-t...ly-meet-demand/ Some interesting numbers from the article: "In 2004, nine players hit 40 or more homers, led by Adrian Beltre’s 48, and including Jim Edmonds (42) and Paul Konerko (41). In all, 37 players hit 30 or more homers." "In 2013, two players hit 40 or more homers, Chris Davis (53) and Miguel Cabrera (44). Davis and Cabrera are included in the grand total of 13 players who hit 30 or more."

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Nov 9, 2013 -> 02:07 PM) Who determines what a line drive is? He had 28 xbh's in 408 PA's. Hes not driving the ball. Baseball Info Solutions, who track every pitch and the trajectory of every batted ball in every game. I don't think 'what constitutes a line drive' is a particularly controversial or debated topic. Pretty well agreed upon.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 8, 2013 -> 04:21 PM) But it doesn't seem to me rebuilding should include the Kepp/Gillaspie combo. Sox have some money. Can't they find a stop gap third baseman or just plug Semien in there and get rid of one of the two, Kepp or Gillaspie? If Keppinger can simply produce at his career normal level against lefties, the platoon with Gillaspie would have put up an OPS around .770. There were only 7 3rd basemen in all of baseball last year who produced at that level. Whoever this 'stopgap' is you speak of would be worse than that. The reasons for keeping that platoon are: Gillaspie is giving positive production for no money, and just in his rookie year. Who knows, he could even improve. You're already paying Keppinger and you actually believe he will get back to normal against lefties in which case he would be a positive asset on the field and would rebuild his trade value. In addition to being bad, Keppinger was also very unlucky last year. I can't find this stat for the whole season, but through July he was baseball's unluckiest hitter. http://www.bsports.com/statsinsights/mlb/l...-on-line-drives

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 4, 2013 -> 11:13 PM) For $10 million a year, that doesn't hugely impress me. It's the free agent market. It's like a convenience store, you will overpay. You don't want to field your whole lineup that way, but we've got no catcher in the organization with any hope of successfully hitting right handed pitching. If it's only 4 years, he's got a better chance of earning his contract than McCann.