witesoxfan

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Jul 22, 2013 -> 02:52 PM) Was he talking about his coaching when he referred to the pile of crap out there? No, he was talking about the crap he took on the sideline because his rascal didn't move fast enough to get him to the locker room in time.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 22, 2013 -> 02:50 PM) But he's also significantly outperformed Middlebrooks this year. If all you can give me is 286 PA's last year, I'm extremely skeptical about saying Middlebrooks is vastly better than Gillaspie. I really do agree. Middlebrooks has better power, but to me, it's a coin flip between the two of them.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 22, 2013 -> 10:59 AM) Any idea who this involved? Buster Olney ‏@Buster_ESPN 3h Heard an incredible story this month of a pitcher who announced to his teammates in the dugout that he drilled a guy because he's a PED user He didn't say it was this year. It could have been any time in the last 10 years. I don't think we'll know until someone says it.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 22, 2013 -> 01:36 PM) I think that's right where Sale should fit in, and I'd bet that the only things holding Sale back are "not pitching in a major market" and "being quite skinny", which may or may not translate to an injury risk. I agree that it's a good spot for Sale. I think the biggest thing that's keeping him down on that list is the whole "being a pitcher." It's just hard to count on consistent success and health from pitchers.

I understand that this is just trade value and isn't based on anything contractual, but most of the top 10 are there simply because they are good young players. What this tells me is that FanGraphs believes McCutcheon has the best contract in the game and, as I seem to recall, Sale has the best contract among pitchers in the game.

QUOTE (beck72 @ Jul 17, 2013 -> 11:54 AM) Middlebrooks has been hurt this year. Going into 2012, he was the Red Sox #1 Prospect and #56 overall. If the Red Sox made him available this deadline I'd take a flyer on him returning to form. Well that's fine and dandy, but his K/BB in the minors is 3.4 and the year that apparently made him a legitimate prospect, it was 4.4. Middlebrooks seems as though he's going to be a BA dependent player, and when a guy who strikes out as often as Trayce Thompson is dependent upon BA, it's not a good thing. No, I'd stay as far as from Will Middlebrooks as I could.

QUOTE (Knuckles @ Jul 20, 2013 -> 01:15 AM) New York Yankees sign Polish RHP Artur Strzalka Source: Mister Baseball The New York Yankees have signed right-hander Artur Strzalka to a seven-year minor league contract. He is the first player ever born and developed in Poland to get a contract with a MLB organization That's awesome

To me, Samardzija is a lesser version of prime Kerry Wood. The raw numbers will look incredibly similar, but it's an easier league to pitch in now, so we say lesser.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jul 22, 2013 -> 10:55 AM) Logically we should; he's a very good pitcher, teams need starters, etc. I just don't think we will. And it's not us - I just don't think teams will relinquish them. I don't think the Cubs will for Garza either (unless one considers Olt a top 50 still). But I hope I'm wrong. The Cubs should never have gotten a top 50 prospect for Garza. He's a free agent after this season.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jul 22, 2013 -> 10:51 AM) The way that whole post was laid out was legitimately funny. It reminded me of the first couple times South Park did the Loch Ness Monster/Tree-Fiddy bit. Each time, there has to be more build up -- a bunch of content that seems plausible implying a return to contention with a few simple acquisitions and then - WHAM - awwww it was that gol-durned GRADY SIZEMORE again askin to be a legitimate middle of the order threat! I'm like GET OUTTA HEAH YOU DANG GRADY SIZEMORE WE AINT GIVIN YOU NO $3.5M TO BE ON THE DL for the motherf***ing win

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jul 22, 2013 -> 10:43 AM) Swisher - 2 were ML ready and one was our top pitching prospect in the low minors. And a lot of these prospects in the various top 50 lists, including many "untouchables" are still in A ball, so they have high value. Williams was an aggressive GM....he gave a top 5 prospect in all of baseball plus a starting catcher for a good-not-great Freddie Garcia. He way overpaid, but it worked...the prospect was a bust and Garcia had a fine year in 2005. He then turned him into Gio and Floyd. He did all sorts of things -his top draft choice the year before was traded for a rent of either Everett or Alomar - forget which. But there's not a GM in baseball except perhaps Bryan Sabean who had the guts to do those deals that Williams made. Everyone's afraid of trading the next Bagwell. But toward the end, his aggression started failing. So anyway, as we're dumping veterans, perhaps there's a new Kenny W out there to trade with us. Heck, the way prospects are valued, the real "value" very well may be in the veterans. Reed was never a top 5 prospect in all of baseball. He was as high as 25. The most optimistic comparison I ever saw was to Tony Gwynn, but the more common comparison was Mark Kotsay. He never got close to that. If you are talking about Royce Ring, he was traded for Alomar. He did the most of any of those players traded for Alomar, and he did nothing, so maybe we should applaud Williams for realizing a bad draft choice and capitalizing on value while said player still had it. There were very few trades I had any particular problems with that Williams made towards the end. I didn't like any of the Swisher trades, but the returns themselves are indirectly why. Instead, I don't and never have liked the idea of buying high on a player and selling low, thus the trade I disliked more - far, far more - was the 2nd Swisher trade. I liked the Vazquez trade, even if the return has become mediocre. The 2nd Jackson trade produced good value overall. Oh, and the last statement you've made is the irony in all of this, because that's exactly how Williams felt and GM'ed.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Jul 20, 2013 -> 06:30 AM) Rios is owed about $20 million through 2014. Sox executive vice president Ken Williams has become more involved in potential acquisitions and has scouted the minor leagues, according to a source. I have said this earlier Hahn is not being given full reigns and KW would make final decisions. KW pulling rank is wrong let Hahn do his job. Yes, more involved in look at the players the Sox acquire. This is not news, so you can take your tin foil hat off. QUOTE (GreenSox @ Jul 20, 2013 -> 01:18 PM) WE traded Garcia to get Gio back; but then Williams gave him to Oakland when he paid double any reasonable price for a decent hitter in Swisher. Hopefully they are letting Hahn negotiate these trades. Yes, Williams said "We don't feel we're including enough in this trade, we need to give you Gonzalez too." Orrrrrrrrrrr Gio Gonzalez was the main piece in the deal and Beane wanted him to send Ryan Sweeney and Fautino De Los Santos too.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 21, 2013 -> 11:49 PM) Why do they want Reed if they are happy with Benoit then? They don't like to use Benoit on back to back days because of any number of shoulder surgeries he's had.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 19, 2013 -> 10:13 PM) What was your favorite memory of the Hanson era? Did I ever tell you about the time that Alan Hanson got a home run on a ground ball to shortstop? So anyways, Alan Hanson is up at the plate, and the pitcher is just giving him mean looks and spitting everywhere, but Alan Hanson just winked at him and hit a ball to the shortstop. Then the shortstop fielded the ball and threw it to first, but Alan Hanson was already rounding first! So the first baseman throws it to second but it was too late! So the second baseman tries to get ahead of Alan Hanson and throws it to home, but Alan Hanson stops in the base line and starts river dancing. The catcher didn't know what to think, so he chased after him and wouldn't you know, Alan Hanson backflipped over the catcher and somersaulted his way to the plate. Wouldn't you know, the men's Olympic gymnist coach was there, and signed Alan Hanson up and he brought home the gold for the USA.

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Jul 19, 2013 -> 07:14 PM) The closer to the deadline the more likely someone is going to panic and give up a lot more than they normally would. Or the more likely a selling team is to cave and just get what they can when they can. It's a two way street.

It's a fundamental argument. Fact of the matter is college players are getting for free what most people have to pay $75-250K, and that's a college education. That's a lot of value, but most guys don't use that. Alloting some of that money towards entrance fees and simply re-investing the money or giving it back to the students would be a far better idea. If they can knock even $1-2k per semester off tuition costs, it will free up that much more money for students that can be saved later on, and it will ultimately bring in more students as well.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jul 19, 2013 -> 03:01 PM) I agree with everything said here. I never really understood the desire to have a "real play by play guy"...Baseball is such a simple game, I don't think there's a need for a play by play guy to tell us what we're seeing. On the radio yes, of course, but on TV I don't think it's needed. I'd rather have Hawk story time over someone just telling me what I'm seeing. Jesus, baseball is anything but a simple game. There are times I get confused as to what's going on. Having someone who knows what's going on and can explain it to me is greatly appreciated.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 19, 2013 -> 04:17 PM) I'll stop now. I can't get my point across. My final statement in regard to your post: I am saying NO PLAYER should get that kind of money. That owners should ASSUME the injury issues will happen or something will happen. I was trying to make the point that teams CONSTANTLY are trying to dump players almost immediately after signing them to huge contracts. My solution: DON'T SIGN THEM TO BIG CONTRACTS TO BEGIN WITH. Since I can't get my point across, I'll stop. You are making a philosophical argument, as in "These players do not provide $22 million worth of value to the economy." I'm fine with that, but there are going to be inefficiencies throughout any economic system. Beyond that, these guys ARE worth $22 million to someone because someone paid it.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 19, 2013 -> 04:13 PM) Now I know what players say about "taking it out of context" regarding their statements. I said Robin deserves to get the boot over this mess of a defense and boneheaded mistakes and the fact a .500 team is 17 under .500. I said it's Baines' turn and let him manage the REST OF THIS SEASON. If Robin is fired somebody would have to manage the rest of the season. By saying "no value" I messed up there. I meant no signfiicant value to anybody when coupled with how much money they are making. Like Dick Allen said it makes little sense to pay a ton of cash to a team just for taking one of your players. You want Ventura gone after one season where the players haven't played very well, especially on defense, but you were just fine with Ozzie allowing that kind of s*** for the last 3 years of his tenure. Gotcha. Anyways, no, if the Sox were to trade Rios and Ramirez and added no money, they wouldn't bring back a big return. The Sox don't necessarily need to free up payroll for any number of reasons, so they may kick in half of the money for the contracts or so to bring back better prospects, thus their value would be approximately $24 million, which is worth quite a bit.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 19, 2013 -> 03:28 PM) Dude, he was hitting around .160. There is no question he was trying to hit for a higher average. Well we heard early in the year how he was going to try swinging early in the count to try and hit homers and get more base hits, and that's what he ended up with. He went back to his old philosophy of waiting on pitches, drawing walks if necessary, and hitting the crap out of the ball, and he started performing better. I don't think it's a coincidence.

QUOTE (Paulstar @ Jul 19, 2013 -> 03:24 PM) Its all debatable. Maybe all Dunn is good at is hitting bombs. But maybe, just maybe, if he brainwashed himself into not wanting to swing for the fences, maybe used a lighter bat, and went with a more all around approach where he is willing to make adjustments during at bats and sacrifice power here and there, I think he would benefit greatly. But maybe like you said it is something he just can't do. Also, I shouldn't say contact approach as that implies you just trying to make contact. A better way of phrasing it would be a hit the ball hard where it is pitched, and protect with two strikes (not try and still drop bombs) approach. It's all hypotheticals and theory anyways, but I just don't think it would end well. Takes him a long time to get the bat through the zone, real long arms, not great bat control. This isn't Paul Konerko who, when healthy, has great bat control and speed and can hit the ball better. I would like to see him go with the ball more, but he's been better about that lately and, really, he is the kind of guy who can honestly hit a ball on the outer half of the plate over the fence in right field. Long, long arms, long bat, country strong.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 19, 2013 -> 03:20 PM) I disagree. He has made more contact the last month and a half and everything is better across the board. April/May 195 PA 69 K 19 BB 11 IB 4 2B 12 HR June/July 165 PA 39 K 27 BB 22 1B 5 2B 12 HR The more contact Dunn makes, the more balls he will hit over the wall. Making more contact =! trying to hit for contact I think he's seeing the ball better and he's hitting the ball better, but I don't think he's trying to hit for a higher average by any stretch of the imagination.

QUOTE (Paulstar @ Jul 19, 2013 -> 03:07 PM) I get what you are trying to say, but I don't think Dunn is a good example. Adam Dunn is someone who is big enough and strong enough to still hit home runs when he isn't trying to hit homeruns. That is why the HR, BB, or K approach doesn't make sense to me. I truly believe if Dunn stopped trying to hit home runs, you would see his K's go down, his average go up, and home runs remain around 40, maybe a slight decrease. Maybe also the avg. distance on his homers would go down, but who cares about that as long as they are going over the fence. I don't believe this to be true at all. If Adam Dunn started swinging for more contact, he'd still end up striking out at about a 28-30% clip and he would only hit 20 to 30 homers. If it were as simple as him trying to hit for average to cut back on his strikeouts, he would have done it a long time ago because it would make him a better player. He doesn't have good enough bat control nor speed to be able to fight pitches off like many guys do. He does have enough bat speed and strength to hit the ball 500 feet.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 19, 2013 -> 02:25 PM) Crazy? Two guys we are desperate to get rid of? I don't understand reasoning sometimes. Why should they be dying to get Alex Rios and Alexei Ramirez? The Pirates are doing OK without both and both are not all-star caliber players. #1) The Sox are not desperate to get rid of Rios or Ramirez. They'd be content going into next season with both. #2) The Pirates have gotten absolutely horrible production out of their shortstops and right fielders this year You really let the anti-Sox blinders get to you sometimes. It's OK to look objectively at the Sox players.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 19, 2013 -> 01:54 PM) Nolan Ryan wanted to go to a 4 man rotation when he took over in Texas, but because all your talent isn't homegrown, it's going to be hard for a team to have 4 major league quality guys physically trained for that unless a lot of other teams jump on board. Hawk had an idea where they should make the seams higher and larger so pitchers wouldn't have to put as much stress on their arms throwing breaking pitches. So then we'd see curveballs that break 4 feet. That sounds even better, allow the pitchers to throw even more unhittable pitches. It's at least thinking outside the box, but we'd see guys striking out 300+ again.