witesoxfan

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 12, 2014 -> 10:14 AM) ...and at age 24, gave us a clinic on how 20% HR/FB is not sustainable. Here is the list of players since 2000 that maintained a HR/FB rate of 20% or greater, min 600 PA: Barry Bonds Manny Ramirez I'm going to go out on a limb and bet you one hundred gazillion dollars that he never reaches that HR/FB rate again over a full season (500+ PA) -- which means that if he's going to get to 25 HR again, he will have to learn how to hit first. Which, consequently, also explains how he was able to hit 25 HR in this offensive environment and still manage a below-league average offensive year overall at 98 wRC+. By the way, I sincerely hope Viciedo has an offensive Renaissance and you guys feed me s*** all season. I will only promise this so long as you rub it in our faces when Viciedo s***s the bed again.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 12, 2014 -> 06:58 AM) Ervin Santana has signed a one-year deal with the Braves. The deal makes so much sense for a contending team whose rotation was just decimated by injury. Thank f***

QUOTE (danman31 @ Mar 12, 2014 -> 12:13 AM) Since Borderlands 2 got brought up again, I'll mention that I'm considering getting the Vita version, which comes out this month. I haven't touched a Borderlands game before, but have seen little bits of video gameplay to have a concept of what the game is about. Is there any way I should play or is it pretty self explanatory? People talk about level caps with that game, is there a set number of missions in the game or is there always random stuff that pops up? Is it linear? Just play it, you'll see. The original Borderlands blows, but Borderlands 2 is soooooo awesome. Funny you mentioned the Dragon Keep DLC, I've actually been playing that one. So money. I started at a level 30 or 31 just trying to level up for the final legs or so of my campaign, and I'm up to 37 now...just playing that DLC. "What do you say to the Dwarven king?" "I PUNCH HIM"

10 for everyone

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 11, 2014 -> 04:24 PM) After the flurry of moves today, my realistic side says a minimum 50% chance that he ends up back in Buffalo, and my homer side says it's closer to 85%. The Rams don't have any money, the Jets need CBs and offensive pieces, and the Redskins have needs all over. The Raiders could step up and make a big offer, but Byrd doesn't seem like their sort of move. Idiot. Byrd is a nice guy to have in CF, but he's not worth that type of contract. I also have no idea how they'll have money to resign Graham next year though. Guess the Bills will just have to sign him and give a big middle finger to New Orleans.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 11, 2014 -> 04:11 PM) It believe -- don't hold me to it -- that in Baseball Between the Numbers they showed a significant difference in walks that a guy gets when they bat in front of a pitcher, but that was it. Look that up, wite! I'll forget when I get home. I was close to citing it, but this year the difference was negligible. In the NL, the AVG/OBP splits by batting order go as: 7- .249/.307 8- .238/.302 9- .173/.218 In the AL, the AVG/OBP splits by batting order go as: 7- .248/.310 8- .243/.304 9- .235/.290 For all intents and purposes, these are the same. I think the main 2 factors are this: #1) The MLB average OPS this year was .714. Not even 6 years ago, you were BENCHED for putting up a .714 OPS, and now it's considered league average. Just as a general rule, if you have lesser chance of being hurt by whatever it is you're dealing with, you're more likely to attack it rather than be careful with it. #2) Pitchers are far more athletic and managers are far more aggressive in removing pitchers for pinch hitters now a days. With deeper bullpens (some managers even use 13 pitchers at times, which is absurd since 11 was the standard just 10 years ago), managers will dip in to that well as much and as quickly as possible. I can look up more later (or others can as well, just look up league splits at b-r.com), but you will see that this was far more well defined in the early to mid 2000s. At one point in time, 8th place hitters in the NL averaged an IsoOBP of like 80+ simply because teams were walking guys that put up .725-.750 OPSs to get to the pitcher. Now, with the difference between 8th and 9th place hitters diminishing at a rapidly increasing rate, there's less advantage towards walking the 8th place guy.

Is it possible that we have a Payne Stewart sort of situation but on a greater scale?

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Mar 11, 2014 -> 04:18 PM) I still think Jairus Byrd is the only free agent worth signing. I'm curious to see where he goes. After the flurry of moves today, my realistic side says a minimum 50% chance that he ends up back in Buffalo, and my homer side says it's closer to 85%. The Rams don't have any money, the Jets need CBs and offensive pieces, and the Redskins have needs all over. The Raiders could step up and make a big offer, but Byrd doesn't seem like their sort of move.

The safety market exploded, except one guy didn't even get a whisper. Really hopeful that Byrd ends up back in Buffalo after this.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 11, 2014 -> 02:42 PM) This is actually what makes me most afraid for him -- I believe I've seen him legitimately try to be selective too. 'twas most of the second half of 2012, when it looked, to me, like he was really REALLY trying to get deeper into counts. The problem was that it looked hapless. He was taking great pitches, then guess swinging at bad ones still. And it is THIS period of time that made me believe that it isn't a matter of patience with him, but rather a lack of ability to recognize pitches. If my hunch is correct, then he probably isn't even coachable. Anyway, I don't bring that up very often because I can't prove that he was actually trying to be patient, it just seemed like it to me. Do you know where to find avg. pitches per AB sortable by season splits? http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting/_/yea...e/type/expanded http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/30103/dayan-viciedo 3.64 P/PA in the second half (post ASB) in 2012. It was 3.69 for all of 2012. It was up to 3.82 P/PA in 2013. This is why we keep statistics

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Mar 11, 2014 -> 03:09 PM) 7 million a year. Wow. That is like a million dollars per sack. Hahaha. To be fair, he will help shore up the run defense too. That was brutal last year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 11, 2014 -> 02:25 PM) Miguel Cabrera had a really nice pop with Prince there. His walks dropped, his doubles turned to homers, and his SLG went up. He walked 90 times last year, 2nd most in his career. Also had the fewest doubles in a season of any full year in his career. He also had by far the best offensive season of his career. I think he had a case of "best hitter in the league in the prime of his career" last year.

QUOTE (59th street @ Mar 11, 2014 -> 02:27 PM) Agree. I am an optimist by nature and still believe that Viciedo has shown plenty to be excited about. I truly think he would benefit from some PROTECTION in the line up. Last year he mostly had either Keppinger of Flowers batting behind him, not exactly the kind of hitters who would make a pitcher ever show Dayan a strike. Couple that spot in the order with his aggressive/undisciplined approach and it is no surprise that he was chasing all kinds of unhittable pitches last year. There was a brief 2-3 week period last year where he was slotted 5 th in the line up and was at his most productive. I understand he needs to be a lot smarter in his approach and more selective but with better protection in the line up he would likely see a lot more strikes and be a much more dangerous hitter. I am not in favor of selling low on him. I think he would benefit from not swinging at pitches 6 inches out of the zone. He could have Eddie Gaedel or Ted Williams hitting behind him, but if he's swinging at junk, guess what's gonna happen?

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Mar 11, 2014 -> 01:41 PM) An infielder or elite defender that puts that up isn't far, sure. But a corner OF that is a defensive and baserunning liability needs to hit better than that. That's why that 96 wRC+ from last year, for example, led to a -0.1 fWAR. Also, barring stark improvement in his OF defense this year, the guy is destined to be a DH as soon as 2015. The AL league average DH last year was 111 wRC+. Also, this again ignores his startlingly declining plate discipline. His ticket to good playerdom must be paved with a change in philosophy, not simply a few more reps of his current plan. This is the absolute most important part and about the only area where you and I disagree. I saw Viciedo as a patient hitter last year. It was only for about a 7-10 day stretch, but I saw it and it was amazing. And the only reason he was so patient was because it hurt to swing the bat, so he had to do it selectively. I'm sure they have, but why not try and work this method from that angle? "Pretend it hurts to swing the bat." He was taking pitches, popping outside fastballs to the right center gap, yanking inside fastballs down the line and into the outfield, and drawing walks when he wasn't getting those pitches. And then he suddenly feels better and OH YEA BRO I CAN JACK THIS BALL OFF THE GROUND INTO THE GULF swinging strike 3. I'm really, really, really hoping Abreu's mindset wears off on him a little bit. (oh, and obviously we disagree because you essentially do not believe he will while I do believe he will, but it's merely opinion and all we have to go on is the facts and the facts say he has gotten worse. I'm also a Bills fan, so eternally the optimist, always the loser)

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 11, 2014 -> 02:13 PM) Not even a tangible difference in the number of walks a guy gets? Not particularly. The only way you will see it is if there is an extreme difference - I am talking something like a top 20-30 hitter hitting in front of a bottom 60-90 hitter. Otherwise, you just won't pitch that differently and guys won't hit that differently. There is only one guy I can think of in the last 20 years who you really saw make a difference for the guy in front of him, and that guy broke some record or records or something.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Mar 11, 2014 -> 02:07 PM) @kentsomers don't know if this has been out there since twitter broke. hearing Dansby to Browns, 4yrs/$24m. $10m year 1, $14m guaranteed. 10 million dollars this year for a 32 year old linebacker. Browns. They could be good this year, but what a bad contract. At least it's a big time thumper in the middle for Pettine's D.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Mar 11, 2014 -> 10:35 AM) Grace also played great defense and had a 2B for most of his career that put up #'s of a typical 1B. Mark Grace also hit like a typical, average 1B of that period. He just didn't hit for power.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Mar 11, 2014 -> 09:51 AM) Does the Riley, Zo, Hardaway Heat ring a bell? We handed their asses to them back then, then eliminated defending 07 Heat champs in a sweep, now they've handed our asses to us in recent years. This isn't a new rivalry. To me, rivalry means franchises, as in Bears vs Packers, not Peppers vs Rodgers. Same in hoops, IMO. If nothing else, it's good to see that teams can still hate each other in the NBA.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 11, 2014 -> 09:41 AM) The guy can literally pick his destination. I think we can cross one team off of the list for sure... Yes, the Cleveland Browns.

See, here's the thing though - Adam Dunn is not useless. Say you're a firefighter and you go into a commercial kitchen and see a stockpot and you say "Why do you need a pot that big, that's silly, IT'S USELESS" because you don't see that it actually has a use. This is how you are treating the Dunn situation. Dunn's use is very limited and there are certain things he should absolutely not do. These include: play first base, play left field, play right field, hit against lefties, sacrifice bunt, steal bases, cook meth, write songs, sing songs, dance in the rain, tackle trains, and perform surgery. However, he is still a talented individual, and there are somethings he should do. These include: DH, hit against right handed pitching, swing hard, invest in movies, grow beards, eat grilled cheese sandwiches. There are also things he's going to do no matter what you tell him: hit homers, strike out, and draw walks. So long as Dunn gets 80%+ of his ABs against righties, he'll be utilized properly and there is a good chance the Sox will be able to deal him at the deadline. Also, the Sox do not have to deal either Viciedo or De Aza. They could just as easily trade or DFA Jordan Danks.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Mar 11, 2014 -> 09:22 AM) YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS Sox are about to take 50 cents on the dollar for one of two better players in DeAza and Viciedo, just because they are too cheap and/or stupid to admit their mistake and cut Dunn's fat ass off the roster. I mean we're talking about Michael Saunders here for f***s sake. My God. Yes he has talent, so do all our other K machine OF, but if either of Saunders/Viciedo becomes a true offensive weapon it's going to be Viciedo. And Hahn is thinking about dumping the guy because there's no place to play him and DeAza both. And of course you'll get the Paulie haters saying we're only having this problem because Paulie is here. Paulie is going to help the kids that matter. Dunn does nothing for anyone, just takes up ABs. MLB IP & PA to probably 98% or more of the players in this organization are rewards worth fighting for and laying out for ala Micah Johnson or crashing into walls for, etc. like Mitchell or taking lumps for like Eaton, etc. OTOH Dunn's PA are a gift, totally undeserved, totally unnecessary, and one which further hamstrings the organization by forcing the dumping of one player or the setback of at least one if not two other players. When the Sox rolled out the red carpet for that lazy bastard they should have slathered that thing in peanut butter flavored glue and filled the clubhouse with grizzly bears. I hope this guy breaks a leg & goes on the DL. HATE HATE HATE DUNN The clubhouse must absolutely hate Dunn. He must be miserable and just a jerk to everyone and he doesn't help young players at all because ALL HE TELLS THEM TO DO IS STRIKE OUT. Calm down. You'd swear you perform Satanic or Voodoo rituals trying to remove Dunn from the roster. It's not going to happen. Oh, and on what planet is Dayan Viciedo a better player than Adam Dunn?

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Mar 10, 2014 -> 11:17 PM) Absolutely complaining. Every 2/3 game makes Robin trot him out there to go on another 1/23 streak. Every 2/3 game where he runs into a ball or two makes Dunn apologists like you point fingers at Dunn haters in a condescending manner and also, even worse, gives you hope that he's figuring something out. Let the haters hate. He's paid $15 million dollars on a team representing a blue-collar part of town, bats in the middle of the order and sucks. How can you tell people not to be upset with him during a 1/20 streak? It's ok to say he sucks. He's ours for another year- let the people boo if they want. MURICA

QUOTE (OsweGo-Go Sox @ Mar 11, 2014 -> 08:29 AM) I totally remember that. It was in August or September 2011? Against the Mets, I want to say? Twins

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Mar 10, 2014 -> 11:02 PM) OT: Am I the only one who still wants us to do whatever it takes outside of Sale/Abreu/Garcia to land Giancarlo Stanton? There are 29 other teams beside the Sox that really want Giancarlo Stanton too. He's pretty good.

Tony Pena, Jr. This is the catcher Tony Pena's son.