witesoxfan

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Sep 30, 2013 -> 12:25 AM) What does winning 70 games every season for 50 years get you? The fact that the worst teams get the best draft picks is EXACTLY why being average is the worst thing you can be. You don't get anything good for being an average team. EDIT: And I never said being terrible was better than being great. If you aren't going to have a good year, the next best thing is a bad year. The order in fates you want for your team go.... 1) Very good 2) Very bad 3) Average So, rather than winning 85 games last year and nearly winning the division, you would have rather the team been terrible, because it's only average and the team missed the playoffs. Just so we have it on the record.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Sep 29, 2013 -> 09:59 PM) If they think they are back, refer them to my earlier post. Ronald Reagen. Even the Pirates have made the playoffs. 4 times

QUOTE (WilliamTell @ Sep 29, 2013 -> 09:44 PM) The biggest difference for the Chiefs is Andy Reid of course. The attitude he's brought to Kansas City has been better than expected. What a difference a new quarterback makes too. Wow. Part of the KC's problem last year was their offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. The guy seriously looked lost and probably should have been coaching a high school team with his offensive playbook. And Romeo Crenell is a great defensive coordinator, but he just doesn't cut it as a head coach unfortunately. I'm one of the biggest Chiefs fans on this board so to me it's amazing in the turnaround. But I also know they've had an easier schedule then most teams. After their week 10 bye week, it'll get interesting. They play Denver twice, San Diego twice, Indianapolis, and Washington...maybe by then Washington will have turned it around.......and Oakland. Going into the year I was hoping KC would be 6-3 going into the bye week in order to have a shot at the playoffs. Now I'd love to see them at 7-2. Tennessee, Oakland, Houston, Cleveland, and Buffalo. This is kind of a scheduling anomaly in regards to playing Buffalo for the 7th year in a row I think. Buffalo is 5-1 in the pats 6 years, haha. The year KC beat Buffalo the Bills went 4-12 and the Chiefs went 11-5, and it still took overtime for KC to win it. The Bills own the Chiefs.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Sep 29, 2013 -> 04:45 PM) The worst thing you can be in professional sports is average. For that reason, I believe this was a very productive season for the White Sox. I give us an A- grade for this season. Well done. That is absolutely the most ridiculous thing I've ever read. Being average is not the worst thing because that means you are winning some and that you are at least relatively close to having a winning team. Being terrible and losing most of your games is the worst thing which is why sport leagues give high draft picks and the right to pick the very best players in the draft to those worst teams. By your logic, the Sox could lose 90-100 games for the next 50 years and it'd be perfectly fine by you. I mean, if you can lose for 1 year and it's a good thing, then you can assuredly lose for the next 50 years and it'd be good too.

Trading for Brandon Jacobs

QUOTE (ChiSoxFan05 @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 04:53 PM) He's pitched significantly better this year than last, and if his ERA is identical or worse then last year, he won't have much to show for it except for WHIP And a better FIP. And xFIP. And WAR. And SIERA. There are plenty of things that will say "Chris Sale was better this year compared to last year."

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 04:59 PM) Do we not agree that lefties have more value than righties? He was ranked in that article as the #8 prospect in the draft. I am saying if he was right-handed, he would probably be quite a few positions worse, no? I don't think that matters. Lefties are nice because they will hit righties better. Still, good hitters will hit guys no matter what hand they throw with, and at the top of the draft like that, you are going to find those hitters. Draft the best guy you can, period.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 04:49 PM) In fairness, Vance was very good until the last few weeks of the season when it went to hell. Maybe he got tired. You still want to see him do it at AAA first. The only time you can legitimately skip a reliever a full level like that is when it's a guy like Bobby Jenks who throws 102 MPH QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 04:53 PM) not quite Ha, you're right. 4.5 per 9. Actually 4.7, but I figured I'd give a rough estimate. I don't lose anything.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 04:47 PM) Eric Hosmer, Yonder Alonso, Prince Fielder, Adrian Gonzalez, Pat Burrell, Carlos Pena, Todd Helton, Frank Thomas, Will Clark, Mark McGwire were all 1B taken in the top 10 picks recently. In fact, there were only about 4 1B that I saw drafted in the top 10 that I didn't include on this list because they were not very good (guys like Travis Lee). I agree that 1B should be a default position that sluggers fall back in to, but if the consensus really is that this kid has the best pure bat in the draft, and has that plus-plus power, I'm totally fine with getting him at #3 if he has a great senior year in HS, and a lot of that is because he is left-handed. If he was a righty, I wouldn't even be looking in to him honestly. Well that's silly too. You take the best player possible, regardless of what they do. This isn't football where guys are almost certain to make it and be productive. There are a ton of guys drafted in the top 10 that don't ever end up doing s***. I mean, you could have the next Frank Thomas available to you at 3, but you wouldn't take him because he's right handed? You might end up with Dmitri Young or Tony Clark then which isn't bad but it's not Frank Thomas, and you could end up with Marc Newfield or Dave McCarty instead.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 04:42 PM) Good for him. I like that he may be putting loyalty over the quest for another ring. Loyalty or comfort. He knows these fans. These fans know him. They know what the expectations are going to be. If he goes to New York, they may be unreasonable with an aging slugger, and if he goes to Miami, he's not going to be playing in front of anybody.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFan05 @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 04:42 PM) Why is Kevin Vance being left out of all the bullpens? Because he walked 4.5 batters an inning at AA and, despite a good strikeout rate, still had a 3.9 ERA. Really, if you can't get AA hitters out with pure stuff (low 90s fastball, curveball, changeup), or you can't locate it well enough to do so, you are going to struggle in the majors.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 04:37 PM) I have not had a chance to see Petricka or Webb pitch - who do we like better? Both? Veal has resurrected some hope for me as a loogy, but I'm wishing for a veteran lefty bullpen presence as an offseason move. Boone Logan, anyone? And there always seems to be a few aging Japanese starters available from their league, who come to the States to finish their career in an MLB pen. Maybe that will be a possibility. Somewhat fearful of Abreu signing, given that his weaknesses sound too familiar/similar to DV. Not saying they're the same guy. Compare pretty much any of these Cuban sluggers "Quick swing, lack of patience, huge power, tendency to chase sliders." Did I nail all 3 of them?

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 03:47 PM) Interesting. Cabrera sucks at 3rd and Peralta has a great fielding percentage at SS. You would think they would move him to 3B, a position he's familiar with, and DH Miggy. Victor Martinez has hit 364/.416/.504/.920 in the second half. Over the course of the 2013 season, he's played 3 games at C, 11 games at 1B, and 139 at DH.

This is a guy the Sox should bring into the organization. He's a really smart and talented baseball person. To put any of the past blame on him when Loria and Sampson have pretty much made all the baseball moves for them over the past 3-5 years is terrible.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 03:28 PM) Rienzo's ERA month by month in Charlotte. April: 7.72 Mary: 5.74 June: 2.30 July: 1.23 It's easy to see why you would think that. Speaking of his terrible two months to start '13, does anyone if he had an injury or was working on something in particular? I'm guessing he was likely just adjusting to the league itself. He made 1 start in AAA prior to this year.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 02:51 PM) As I recall, there was a reason for his going to every one of those teams except Baltimore, really. He chose Minnie on his own and did well. Dodgers wanted him as a pinch hitter deluxe. He didn't mind going back to Cleveland for a love fest of sorts. Philly actually wanted him as well. I think Baltimore was the only weird stop, his final stop. Call me crazy, but I think Paulie will choose the Thome route rather than the George Brett route. Brett up and quit cause he wasn't putting up Brett-like numbers. I think quite the opposite. What more is Konerko going to accomplish? At the rate he's on, he's going to have to play a minimum of 5 more years to get to 500 homers. He's not going to win any individual awards. He's got a World Series ring. Thome stuck around as long as he did to try and get a ring. He never was able to. But he got plenty of accolades - a silver slugger, 600+ homers - and decided that it was time to go (and also, no teams would sign him because he wanted to play this year too).

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 01:56 PM) That would be wild and fitting, to end it this season on a home run, and enter his offseason of decision making knowing he hit a homer in what might be his final at bat. Does anybody else have as strong a vibe as me that Paulie is not ready to quit and really not wanting to quit? My vibe on Paulie (without ever meeting him) is he loves the game of baseball, but is also a very smart person and knows he'll be going out on a very sour note if his power numbers remain the same next year and hit BA dips to Dunn-like levels. Paulie hitting .205 or .210 or .195 with 8 home runs and 40 RBIs in 450 at bats would be a bad way to end a career. Paulie with this year's numbers would not be good, but not utterly embarrassing. But a healthy Paulie going .280 with 17-25 homers and 80-90 RBIs ... what a way to go out!!! Do all of you agree with me he does not look or act like a guy who is ready to quit? His demeanor playing first, etc? A lot of times, it doesn't matter if a player wants to quit or not. If he could, Jerry Rice would still be playing football and Frank and Griffey would still be playing baseball. At some point, your body simply can't handle it. If he comes back, it is going to be in a limited capacity primarily against LHP.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 01:48 PM) Very sad, but I don't think he's going anywhere. Even if somehow the Sox pull off a miraculous recovery and compete next year with Abreu, look at it this way, Paulie, Abreu and Dunn can platoon between DH and 1B. If Paulie is healthy and rocking, he can play first and Dunn/Abreu can platoon at DH. If Paulie stinks, he can platoon just with Dunn and let Abreu play every single day. We owe Dunn nothing in his final year of his deal. We owe Paulie the right to end on his own terms. I personally think the guy knows he can still play the game of baseball. Whether the Sox let him do it in Chicago or he goes somewhere else, we shall see. He's not gonna retire (unless his injuries are Urlacher-like where he just can't compete well). That is wrong on so, so many levels.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 01:14 PM) The Bulls are winning the Championship this year(just for you J4L), so I'm going with that choice. While that may be, it physically can't happen before the Bears winning the Superbowl

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 01:39 PM) Garcia yes, Rienzo probably not. A lot of scouts doubt Rienzo's ability to stay in the rotation but I trust our development in pitching more than anything. Yeah probably not an honorable mention, I was think his overall numbers were better for some reason.

Common trivia is that this is the first time in 21 years that the Pirates have made the playoffs. Less common trivia is that this is also the first time in 21 years that a team from Chicago or New York is not in the playoffs.

Frankly, I think it would be more lucky than anything else and, conversely, he has been unlucky to go 11-13. Here are some of his lines from games he has gotten a ND or a L. 7.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (ND, Sox won 2-1) 8 IP, 6 H, 0 ER (2 R), 1 BB, 14 K (L, Sox lost 2-1) 8 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 13 K (ND, Sox won 5-4) 8 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 10 K (L, Sox lost 4-0) 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER (3 R), 1 BB, 9 K (L, Sox lost 3-0) 8 IP, 7 H, 2 ER (4 R), 3 BB, 11 K (L, Sox lost 7-3) 9 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K (L, Sox lost 1-0) 7.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER (3 R), 1 BB, 6 K (ND, Sox lost 6-4) 7.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K (ND, Sox lost 7-6) There were a few others he could have won (had a 6 IP, 1 R outing against Oakland that I didn't mention), but I wanted to make a point to show how many times he pitched through at least the 7th inning and still got a no decision or loss. With run support and/or better defense, it's safe to say that he wins at least 7 of those. If we give him 3 ND's and 4 of those losses, he is at 18-9. Because he's 11-13, does it reflect on how he's pitched this year? What more could he have done in these games to get himself a win?

I know you can say this a lot of times, but it really feels like this is a clear cut transitional phase in MLB. A lot of the teams that were and have been good, relatively speaking, are beginning to enter rebuilding phases while a lot of the teams that have struggled for a while are putting everything together and competing. Jeter will probably announce his plans to retire after 2014, and then there are others like Oswalt, Halladay, and Beltran getting up there too. ARod would be included except that he's signed for like another 4 years after this.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 10:17 AM) Unless they signed him to a cheap extension (which I doubt), I assume he's going to retire at this press conference. Rivera, Helton, Konerko, Pettitte. I think this fits better. Kotsay was good in his prime but I don't think people will wax poetic about him 10 years from now

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Sep 27, 2013 -> 10:01 AM) Sickels has always leaned more heavily on statistical success in the minors than most of the 'pop scouts.' Hard to ignore Johnson/Semien though, given that they avoided embarrassing themselves at the ML level this year. We might have 2 top 100 guys next year, isn't it exciting? Lol It'd be 3 with an honorable mention if Garcia and Rienzo were still eligible too, but they're not.