witesoxfan

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 29, 2014 -> 02:10 PM) The rate from the first TJ is that high, but the rate from the second TJ is absolutely horrible. If a guy has one and doesn't significantly change his mechanics, he's a safe bet to need another at some point. The sooner he has one, the sooner he has another. You get careers that look like this: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/johnsjo09.shtml

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ May 29, 2014 -> 02:07 PM) When did I say to use assets for relievers? I would never do that. A. Our bullpen sucks with little hope of improving this year. We have 1 or 2 guys with good stuff. B. We have 2 good starters, AAAA filler and John Danks. C. Trade some assets to keep building for that 2-3 year plan. I have yet to see anyone suggest trading off big pieces (except me in hypothetical scenarios involving outrageous trade ideas, like acquiring Giancarlo Stanton), but if the team is competitive, it's counter productive to trade MLB players contributing towards that success for the future, even if the long run goal says it is for the best. And, if the team trades Tyler Saladino for a substantial upgrade in the rotation, bullpen, or lineup, are you really going to be upset?

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ May 29, 2014 -> 12:09 PM) Ban guns. No one can legally buy a gun or own a gun in the United States unless they are military/security/police. And I agree with not mentioning the persons name. Which is why I dont address it in any of my posts. I will not help them be remembered. So then you are banning hunting. I know a ton of people who would be incredibly unhappy about that. EDIT: I see this was covered already. Move along.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ May 29, 2014 -> 10:57 AM) Eaton has been to the DL twice and has an obp 25 points lower and OPS 70 lower than Flowers. Expectations matter too. I would not have been surprised by a Flowers dfa by this point. Instead he has been great. It just took both of us being down on Flowers for him to figure it out.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 29, 2014 -> 11:01 AM) Jimenez at 3y/$39M is a more than reasonable risk looking at these pitchers. I disagree with what you say but will defend to the death your right to say it.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ May 29, 2014 -> 10:52 AM) $$$$$$ Or injuries. That could be the Sox top 5 right now.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ May 29, 2014 -> 10:28 AM) If Jimenez would have been a bad signing, who do they target that is better in this year's free-agent market with the big spenders looking for pitching too? A lot of these guys will have options picked up, have retired, or are simply bad, but there are plenty of interesting names on the list that there will be options. Brett Anderson * Josh Beckett Chad Billingsley * Joe Blanton * A.J. Burnett * Chris Capuano Bruce Chen * Wei-Yin Chen * Kevin Correia Johnny Cueto * Jorge De La Rosa Ryan Dempster Scott Feldman Gavin Floyd Yovani Gallardo * Jason Hammel J.A. Happ * Aaron Harang Dan Haren * Roberto Hernandez Luke Hochevar Hisashi Iwakuma Josh Johnson Kyle Kendrick Hiroki Kuroda John Lannan Colby Lewis Jon Lester Paul Maholm Justin Masterson Brandon McCarthy Brandon Morrow * Jeff Niemann Ross Ohlendorf Felipe Paulino * Jake Peavy Wandy Rodriguez Max Scherzer James Shields Carlos Villanueva Ryan Vogelsong Edinson Volquez Jerome Williams

They were in on Tanaka until the end and believed they had a competitive offer (which I'm sure they did). They absolutely were looking for more pitching.

FWIW, hindsight is everything. I mention it a lot, but here's the thread Sox sign Felipe Paulino

QUOTE (TRU @ May 29, 2014 -> 10:13 AM) You're both right and wrong. Signing anyone is technically a "gamble". Signing Paulino wasn't a "Were going to sign this guy, send him to Charlotte, and maybe hit lighting in a bottle." gamble. He was a "This guy is a part of our major league rotation." gamble. Yuck. Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you. Paulino has good stuff, but he showed absolutely no command of it whatsoever. Sometimes you get guys like that and something snaps and they turn into good pitchers. That wasn't the case for Paulino.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 29, 2014 -> 10:03 AM) What's more troubling is his reaction to pitching without any days of rest. As a closer, you just have to be ready to go back to back...and even back to back to back. With 77 appearances last year, and the Dodgers basically letting him walk, you have to know that durability/stamina is a concern. Runners in scoring position, 2 outs, opposing batters are 8/17 with a 1.056 OPS. Pitching on 0 days of rest, opposing batters are putting up a 946 OPS is almost 50 AB's. I believe much of that had to attitude and off the field issues, not effectiveness.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 29, 2014 -> 10:03 AM) Yeah, draft pick comp is going to be pretty interesting going forward. There's a ton of reason to believe it'll be reworked significantly in the next CBA, but considering all the onus for change will come from the Player's Association, I'd be shocked if the cost didn't end up being LESS to the signing team in order to avoid stripping leverage from the free agents. If I had to guess, I'd say the next iteration will keep the comp pick for the QO team but remove the lost pick from the signing team. Who knows though. I think either that or giving different levels of QO (say a $14 million for a 1st/2nd, $10 mill for a 3rd or 4th, $6 mill for a 7th, something like that).

QUOTE (oneofthemikes @ May 29, 2014 -> 09:58 AM) I like the idea of being able to go way over slot for pretty much every pick for the rest of the draft, but Hoffman is a scary idea. I suppose Giolito worked out for the Nats though. Giolito was the 16th pick though. You can take risks in that range of the draft. At 3, you really want to make sure you hit on someone.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 29, 2014 -> 09:48 AM) The draft isn't supposed to be all that strong, and is high school heavy. I got in trouble for pointing out taking a HS kid in the second round, chances are he won't be able to help you , if at all, until 2019 or 2020. The Sox compensation for signing a QO free agent, wasn't going to be much lower ever. To get one next offseason, they probably will have to give up a first round pick. They gave up a first rounder for Dunn. Or that high schooler could (indirectly) help the Sox out as early as next year. If the Marlins and Sox had the basic pieces together for a Stanton trade right now, and the Marlins said "the last piece we need in the deal is Tyler Danish," do you think anybody in their right mind in that front office is going to say "No, we can't give him because he might help us out any time between 2017 and 2019"? Of course they'd include him. That pick is incredibly valuable whether it's a high school or college prospect. Beyond that, the compensation is not the end all, be all. It's the perceived value of the talent acquired. No matter what happens, I strongly doubt the difference between making the playoffs and not this season is going to be determined by Jimenez/Santana. In the coming years, I also doubt that would be the difference, but it's something they can approach at that point with other mid rotation starters. However, at this point, the team was just not close enough to competing. Because of the age of those two, it can be reasonably expected that their performance will continue to worsen over the life of that contract, which means their added value decreases as well and they are more easily replaced by a player like Hector Noesi, or, in the case of Ervin Santana, have absolutely nothing to show for him following this year anyways. Had the Sox theoretically needed to give up a 2nd round pick to sign either Abreu or Tanaka, nobody would have been THAT upset. It was always about giving money to a diminishing product and, to this point, we have seen that play out as predicted.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 29, 2014 -> 09:16 AM) It doesn't mean he didn't run across a scout who has some inside knowledge. So far the guy has been perfect with anything to do with the minors, which makes sense. My feeling is that we aren't going to get this info from anyone in Chicago. They are too busy protecting sources to actually report something. A guy like this who has nothing to lose, is a perfect place for info like this to come from. But then that's assuming that scout had given him accurate knowledge as well. The Sox could well be telling different scouts different things to throw people off. It matters less in baseball than in the NFL or, to lesser extents, the NHL and NBA, but that still doesn't mean you want people to have intimate knowledge of your draft plans. Basically, I don't doubt nor believe his list either way.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 29, 2014 -> 09:13 AM) This is starting to sound like all the arguments about Bobby Jenks his last couple of seasons with the Sox, lol. No it's not.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ May 29, 2014 -> 09:04 AM) This team isn't far out of contention with the pitching staff it has. Noesi and Danks last couple starts have been promising and it seems that they may be on track. If the team is still hanging around in July, it may make sense to go out and find another starter, but until then it gives EJ and Paulino time to try and rebound to competency. Personally, I think putting any additional resources into making the postseason this year is folly as it would likely cost assets that you would like to remain in your core for the next 5 years. I really expected this team to hit a wall at some point playing so many new starters, and while it appears Eaton has, Garcia and Semien are now out and have been replaced by veterans producing at a level consistent with their expectations. As it stands now, you play this season out like they did in 2012. You don't trade any components you feel are key to your future, but if you give up pieces like the Sox did then - Stewart, Lillibridge, Heidenreich, Walters, Hernandez, and Escobar - you don't think twice about it.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 29, 2014 -> 09:10 AM) Look at the Tigers/A's game last night... Nathan basically threw his rookie 3B (Castellanos) under the bus, and so did his manager Ausmus. It's Nathan's job to pitch over mistakes or "could have/should have" been outs. In the end, a closer is defined by his performance in those situations, like it or not. The fact of the matter is that even though Belisario's pitched in some difficult circumstances/situations, and that's uncontrollable on his part...his performance after a mistake happens is controllable. The White Sox won the game, everyone went home happy and Sierra had a nice "comeback/redemption" moment, but both the defense and the pitching needs to be better for this team to make it to the next level. Granted, it's a bit unfair to get all over Belisario, he was never expected to close a single game for the White Sox when he was signed as a bounceback candidate, but that's the situation now that he's facing. Assume Belisario is going to get 70 appearances this year. You are justifying removing him from the closer's role based on 2.86% if those appearances. He's absolutely the best pitcher in the bullpen, and if you want the best pitcher in closing situations, then he's the right guy for the job and you show a little faith in your employees and move on.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ May 29, 2014 -> 08:57 AM) Is there not Google Glass porn or Go Pro porn yet? Seems like an obvious idea to me. Have the dude wear one of those things while he's nailing the chick. That way the viewer sees it from that perspective. Their perspective. I mean, when I fantasize about that stuff, it's from my perspective. 1. Go to Porn Site 2. Type in "POV" 3. Jack it

QUOTE (Jake @ May 29, 2014 -> 12:59 AM) Yes, I believe that was Ozney. The allegation is that nobody wanted to draft him since it was common knowledge that we were going to draft him. When we "waited" until the 20th round to pick him, that was not indicative of his true value because if his last name was not Guillen he would have been taken much higher. That's what they said, at least. Yes, Ozney was considered a superior prospect, top 10 round talent, but nobody wanted him because of that. Ozzie got pissed because they waited to draft him till the 20th round. I believe that started over Oney too (draft KW Jr in the 5th but Ozney in the 20th hmmmm)

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ May 29, 2014 -> 08:05 AM) No, he doesn't work for the Knights, he is a reporter with the Charlotte paper and he reports on the Knights and other Charlotte beats. Much as I like his list, I doubt his "industry source" (note phrasing) is any more reliable than any of the other pundits we've seen. The Sox have literally 0 incentive to give out their list to anybody.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 28, 2014 -> 04:17 PM) "We're at the point, we hear 7 are dead oh well it's better than 30, 40. ... How did we get to this point? This is unacceptable." -- Richard Martinez http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/u...by-268023875650 Have people actually said "Oh good, only 7 are dead?"

Also, it's cool to see this: http://www.fangraphs.com/zonegrid.aspx?pla...10&view=bat Considering his perceived strengths and weaknesses, you'd think he'd be getting busted in more often, but they are really trying to go down and away.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 28, 2014 -> 12:01 PM) I wonder what he means about specializing in the wrong skills. He can run. He can throw, he can get to balls not a lot of SS can get to. His power has returned. He isn't going to walk much, and his BA and OBP are always going to be quite similar, but couldn't you say that about most SS these days? I believe he is implying that all of his offensive numbers are extremely dependent upon his average while his defense has slipped, meaning if the hits aren't falling, he's not going to anywhere near as valuable as he currently is.