witesoxfan

We should make America Day every day, and then make America Day a holiday, thus, every day is a holiday.

Nick Swisher, Ozzie Guillen, Orlando Cabrera, D'Angelo Jimenez, Jose Paniagua, Billy Koch, Danny Tartabull, Albert Belle, most of these guys are at or near the top of my list.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 25, 2014 -> 11:09 AM) There is Jacob May as well. What is interesting, is that one of the lineup features the starters. CF Eaton SS Ramirez RF Garcia DH Dunn 1B Abreu LF Viciedo 3B Davidson C Flowers 2B Beckham Could this be the lineup March 31st? The only thing that sticks out to me is Davidson, who could start out in Charlotte. I think you would prefer he doesn't. That lineup is light years better than in years' past, but god it still sucks.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Feb 25, 2014 -> 10:33 AM) Because I'm somewhat of a Brewer fan also, I've liked Overbay, Lucroy, Sheets and Jenkins quite a bit over the years. Fun fact: Brett Jenkins, the brother of Geoff Jenkins, was an instructor at a baseball camp I attended. He looked almost exactly like Geoff.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 25, 2014 -> 09:40 AM) Mack was DOMINANT against my boys early in the season. Picked off a ball and outran the fastest player on Ohio State. Great athlete. That's the game that's always brought up because it's him showing up on the big stage. Frankly, from everything I hear and read about him, I think he HAS to be the #1 player taken. I still see O'Brien taking Bortles though. Mack just does everything well on the field. QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Feb 25, 2014 -> 10:26 AM) Some mock drafts have Clowney falling to Jacksonville. He'll never reach his potential there. If I'm him sign the shortest possible deal and get out ASAP. All 1st round picks are required to sign a 4 year deal with a team option for a 5th. Besides, they have Gus Bradley coaching them. That's the same guy that helped form the Seahawks killer defense last year. He'd be under a great teacher. Even beyond that, that team needs a QB more than anything.

QUOTE (Jake @ Feb 25, 2014 -> 09:17 AM) I'd love to see a d-line with Clowney and Watt Clowney would play OLB in Houston. No doubt in my mind now though that Mack is the #1 defensive player in this draft. There was talk early on of the hometown kid staying home. That's not going to happen anymore.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 25, 2014 -> 08:54 AM) Wow, Dennard from MSU is a lot faster that many folks thought. I think Gilbert and Dennard are the clear #1 and #2 CBs in this draft. Gilbert has all the measurables you look for.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Feb 24, 2014 -> 06:44 PM) How can you like Puig? I love Puig. The dude is an absolute animal.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 25, 2014 -> 01:39 AM) It's a negligible risk on Paulino and Boggs. This is the point. I'm (the) one who thinks Paulino will pitch really well this year, but I can't assume he'll stay healthy. I do think he is going to pitch very well. I've said I think the odds are just as good that he pitches as well as Jimenez and/or Santana. I have cited the last several starts Paulino has made, but they've come over a 3 year period due to injuries. I think he is a very good pitcher who has been injury prone. If he avoids the DL - that is no small 'if' - I think he can and will be the Sox 3rd best starter this year. If Paulino gets hurt or Boggs bombs, you DFA them or don't bring them back next year. It's a drop in the bucket.

QUOTE (flavum @ Feb 24, 2014 -> 02:49 PM) Looks like the Pirates are picking up Morel. Might be an OK backup for Alvarez at 3B there, so long as he can hit left handed pitching. Or he can stay in AAA and do whatever it is he does there.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 24, 2014 -> 03:29 PM) It would really be doubtful he makes 32 starts. That's true too, but I'd say it's far likelier that he makes between 28-30 starts and gets to 170-180+ innings than it is that he barely gets to 150. While he's going to have starts where he struggles to get out of 4 or so, he's also likely to have more starts where he pitches into the 7th and the 8th, perhaps even the 9th.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 24, 2014 -> 03:22 PM) Better hitters, more stressful pitching, probably means shorter outings. While he may be capable of pitching a lot of innings physically, it doesn't mean it is going to happen. Assuming health though, you'd expect better than 5 innings a start. 150 innings over 32 starts is less than 5 innings a start

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Feb 24, 2014 -> 01:03 PM) I'd love a podcast This has been in discussion and is something we are strongly considering.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 24, 2014 -> 01:15 PM) And he ran a 4.84 40 at the combine He's also a much different type of player too, using strength and body size to get penetration. And even still, a 4.84 for a guy that size is still incredibly impressive. It's possible that Clowney isn't the freak we all once thought of him as, but he's still an incredible talent and I'd still take him top 5.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Feb 24, 2014 -> 12:12 PM) Bonus points for not saying 'intensive'. Points taken away for calling it a 10 yard "spit", so I can't win. (I am aware it is split, it's just a typo that is really funny if you try to visualize it)

QUOTE (scs787 @ Feb 24, 2014 -> 11:47 AM) As do I, which is why Donald running a 10 yard split .03 slower and Martin running it .03 faster than Clowneys time is both really impressive. For all intents and purposes, a 10 yard spit of 1.56 is the same thing as on that is 1.59. That's a really good thing for Donald.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 24, 2014 -> 11:27 AM) So he was smart for not trying? I think thats a pretty ridiculous assumption that he was going to tear his knee by trying. 4.53 official time BTW. I still dont get how the electronic time is not official. I don't think anybody said he's not trying, but doing what he can to not overexert himself when he's getting double teamed when the guys going up against him bigger than him (up to 40-50 pounds more) is not the worst thing in the world. The DT on his line got 10 sacks and the other DE was up there too with like 8-10 (or so I thought I remembered seeing). A guy with Clowney's talent, no I have no problem with his "lack of motor."

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 24, 2014 -> 11:16 AM) So he's the first good college player to be double teamed? Watch his film. The guy will be a freak a certain percentage of time but still has no motor. I think he's a waste of a top 5 pick IMO. And if he goes crazy and tries to get around a tackle, a half back undercuts him to take out his legs, and he tears his ACL, costing himself millions of dollars, are you going to say he's smart? If I were the Rams, I'd try and get Cleveland to move up, and then I'd take him at 4.

The guy was constantly double and triple teamed and there's no need for him to go above and beyond because he saw what happened to his teammate Marcus Lattimore when he tried to do too much and got undercut - he went from a 1st/2nd round pick to a 4th round pick. Clowney is still going to be a top 5 pick.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Feb 24, 2014 -> 10:54 AM) The floor has really dropped out on Bauer. He could still be something, but at this point he would be considered a busted prospect. That doesn't mean he will never be anything, Chris Davis showed last year that players can come back from "bust" status to be elite players. Its been two years since his ML debut and the Indians signed a free agent SP that keeps him from having a slot in the rotation this season, at least at this point. IF Zunino busts, its really on how the Mariners handled him. The guy hit .227 at AAA and the Mariners promoted him to the majors out of desperation. The reason he is on the way there is total mismanagement of his development. Can he overcome it? Sure. But it is a tough hill to climb. The guy had 51 AB's at AA and struggled to adjust at AAA. Agree it is too early to tell, but with the way the Mariners handled him and their desperation to win now, puts some additional hurdles in his way. Tate was in the mold of Jared Mitchell, and elite athlete - was committed to UNC to play WR - that was valued for his toolbox over his actual baseball skills. IIRC, Padres had to go overslot to buy him out of his football commitment. Has the same profile, struggles with pitch recognition, long list of injuries, and most thought contacted issues would be addressed once he was devoted to one sport full time. Trevor Bauer is going to be 23 this year and struggled with command in his first go around at AAA, and he's thrown 33.1 innings in the majors. He's not a busted prospect. I'd give up just about anyone in the White Sox system to get him. You'd be crazy if you wouldn't too. Mike Zunino has 193 PAs at the MLB level. While he was struggling to hit for average in AAA, he absolutely killed the ball the previous year. If he busts, it won't be because of how the Mariners handled him but because he couldn't handle the majors. Again, I'd give up just about anybody in the White Sox system for him.

He doesn't care about football you guys

Willie Bloomquist

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Feb 21, 2014 -> 03:06 PM) Last 5 #3 picks: 2013 - Jonathan Gray 2012 - Mike Zunino 2011 - Trevor Bauer 2010 - Manny Machado 2009 - Donovan Tate So.... Two appear to be busts, one is elite, and the last two are too early to tell though Zunino is moving toward the bust column, but still has a lot of time to recover. After Rodon and Hoffman, there aren't any guys that you can look at and know a guy is a MLB'er. If the Sox miss out on those two, I am all for them saving money in the first to spread out on guys throughout the draft that slide, like they did with Michaleski last year. Of course another guy could have a great year and vault himself into the conversation, but at this point, I dont see that can't miss guy. I don't know how you can say there are 2 busts from this group with Zunino on his way. Bauer was the 14th or 17th ranked prospect LAST YEAR, so to say he's a bust is incredibly premature to say the least. Zunino was drafted a year and a half ago and he's already in the majors. Saying he's even on his way to being a bust is absurd too. The only guy you can say for sure has busted is Tate, and that's been injuries, plus I recall some people suggesting that was a reach at 3 too.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Feb 21, 2014 -> 11:21 AM) After doing research on many of the stats this is one that bothers me the most, I think. If I understand it correctly (which is highly doubtful) FIP is predicated on the fact that pitchers can only control 3 factors: HR, BB and K. I think there is valid reasons to say that some pitchers can control the number of groundballs and thus control the game a little more. I realize it's not totally in the pitchers control because the fielders need to make plays. However, if the number of groundballs is increased the number of runs scored would decrease. There needs to be more stats focusing on runs scored versus runs allowed. I know there are some but there should be more focus on runs due to the fact that nothing else really matters in winning a game. That's pretty close. I think they basically use those 3 because most of the time, there is absolutely no way a fielder can catch that ball. What FIP suggests is that a pitcher can force ground balls exactly to where he wants the hitter to hit it (or infield flies or regular fly balls), but if he has statues that can only field what hits them and then only throw playing behind him, he can still give up an absolute ton of hits. FIP just tries to isolate the difference between a pitcher having a good fielding infield and a poor fielding infield while also taking lucky seeing eye singles out of the equation. Sabermaticians do realize that putting the ball in play, but weakly, is a very good thing. Regarding runs scored, I'm curious to know what you are looking for specifically? There was actually breakthrough research done regarding run expectancy quite a few years ago that suggested that the sacrifice bunt is a poor decision in almost all situations except in a situation where you are playing for 1 run (either to tie or win), there's a runner on 2nd, and 0 outs. It can be 1st and 2nd too with no outs, but in all other situations, bunting simply works against the likelihood that you'll score a run. Was there anything else you had in mind on that?

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Feb 21, 2014 -> 10:42 AM) A big issue I have is that baseball is so situational. Its very rare to have to players experience the exact same at bat. There are runners on base or not, sun, lights, wind, playing in a band box or a canyon, facing a pitcher with first base open, being up or down a run, seeing a pitcher for the first time or getting to see him for a third time. You tripped coming out of the dugout, made a bad play in the OF, made a good play in the OF, drank too many beers last night, the pitcher drank too many beers before the game, . Thats what makes baseball great, is that every at bat has so many factors to calculate in that is impossible to know the outcome. Stats like WAR are a guidepost, I get that, but should not be held as an end all be all of player production. If I am evaluating a player to come to my team, WAR is the last thing I would use as a GM. WAR is more like the preseason top 25 in college football, it is a measuring stick that calculates success in a vacuum but as an evaluation/scouting tool is not very useful. I wouldn't compare it to the preseason top 25, but more the top 25s as the season goes along. At the end, you'll likely have a few guys at the top that you can probably agree are the best all around players in the league, but what makes them that way is not told by WAR itself. If I told you Boston College beat Syracuse, the #1 team in the country, it tells you nothing about Syracuse other than the fact that people voting for the polls determined they were the best team in the country. Where they lack is that those are a matter of opinion - if a coach wanted to vote his team as the #1 team in the country, he could, while WAR is unbiased and looks only at the numbers. Still, to actually determine anything from WAR, you look towards your offensive and defensive runs created, and from there you can break it down further. As a scouting tool or predictor for success, WAR fails because that sole number itself tells us only how much value that player has added to his team above that of a scrub. There are numbers that make up that one cumulative number that tell us quite a bit about the player though, so you can make judgments, safe assumptions, and rationalizations for how good or bad players are.