witesoxfan

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 05:37 PM) In Cleveland, and other cities that have trouble drawing big crowds to the ballpark, there is an ongoing dynamic --similar to the chicken or egg conundrum-- that goes something like this: If few fans show up for games, the team doesn’t have money to sign good players, but if the team isn’t any good, many fans aren’t interested in going to games. et al Please please please make sure you provide a link when posting online articles.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 04:26 PM) Going off that, do you think we see a transition in 1B mentality? No longer are teams concerned about guys that are going to hit 30-40 HR a year and instead they look for high OBP and good defense? No. I think what you see happening is that teams are pursuing players who can play up the middle because they are going to be your best athletes while practically anybody can play 1B. Guys will start to weed themselves out and through the mere channels of supply, guys will be put at 1B who simply can't handle it defensively at 2B, 3B, C, LF, or RF. Similarly, guys who are typically going to be very good prospects out of high school and college traditionally play more demanding positions in college, and teams will realize they need to move to extend their careers (Delgado, Konerko, Pujols). The Twins have started this process with Mauer as well. I think teams will always try and put a bat, no matter what type, at 1B. If it's OBP, average, or power, they want a guy who can be good for them offensively. Teams are just going about it a different way. In the case of Keon Barnum - a guy who may be able to hit 30-40 homers some day - teams will make the exception. Let's just hope he works out.

This is the same GM who dealt Trevor Bauer, Matt Albers, and Bryan Shaw for Didi Gregorius, Lars Anderson, and Tony Sipp. I wouldn't rule anything out.

I think the more likely lineups of these being suggested are those that indicate the Sox using a mostly prospect laden lineup rather than spending significant amounts of money on lineups. That said, to suggest that the Sox won't spend any money in free agency is silly. I'm sure they will bring in a few new players, especially with all the money coming off the books at the end of the year as well as the $25 million supplemental income from the TV stuff. You'll almost certainly see one or two multi-year contracts given out.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 03:31 PM) Do they see themselves as more legit this year than in previous years? I.e. are they going to look for better deadline additions than "washed-up Derrick Lee" and guys like that? Lee was actually really good for them that year. Anyways, their team is much, much better this year than in previous years. Better and deeper pitching staff, more talent offensively. They could still use a bat in RF, and I'd have no problem taking on the "busts" that are James McDonald and Travis Snider.

QUOTE (Paulstar @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 02:44 PM) .800 OPS can kiss my ass if your batting .200 and striking out over 200 times. There is something telling when a player puts up his best seasons when a team is in last place, and when a team is in contention he's nowhere to be found. Some guys are winners and some guys are losers, and the fact Dunn has never appeared in one post season game, is very un-clutch and does most of his damage in non-pressure situations, I'm sorry, the guy is a loser on the baseball field. Again, if surrounded by the right people in the right situation, sure Dunn could be a productive player for a contender. But he is being paid to be the guy, and he's never been the guy with the white sox until this past June when the Sox fell into the laughingstock of the league. Then you are ignorant and there's no point in discussing this. Robin Yount played in the postseason only twice during his illustrious 20 year career. Is he a loser? On the contrary, David Eckstein played for in the postseason 4 times and won 2 World Series rings, which quite clearly qualifies him as a winner, correct? That Dunn has played on last place teams is circumstantial and has little to do with him. Oh, and BTW, this "he hasn't been the man until this June" is BS too, unless you, for whatever reason, consider the .953 OPS on June 16th of last year chopped liver. He fell of precipitously after that, as I have mentioned, but he was an incredibly valuable player for the first half of last year and, due to injury and whatever else, fell off in the second half like everyone else on the team.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 02:43 PM) We do not need a wholesale trade off in my opinion. Tweaking (in the legal sense of the word) yes. And a hot streak may show that is the way to go. We have real good players having bad years at the same time IMO Who are these real good players having bad years? Of those that I count, the only player who has been really good that's having a bad year at all is Konerko. There are players performing under expectations for sure, but I wouldn't classify what guys like De Aza, Dunn, or Ramirez have done (offensively) as "bad." I had no problem letting this team play through until July, but at this point, they really need to sell quite a few pieces off to recharge the team.

To be fair, this wouldn't be the first time the Tigers played below their talent level and lost to the Indians a year after getting swept in the World Series while the White Sox fell off a cliff and became one of the worst teams in the league.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 02:29 PM) Since nobody wants to believe me, then they can trust/verify on their own. Up to you. If you want to be a skeptic, you'll be right more often than not. Believe whatever you wish to believe. It's a free world. There's no "proving" he's going to be anything until he goes out and does it. There will always be Doubting Thomases, lol. But you're going to be on the wrong side of history. Yes, which is why I am generally a skeptical person - I choose to look at things rationally and realistically. I don't have to be a skeptic or irrational to say that Miguel Cabrera has been one of the best hitters of this current post-steroid generation. This is also why I won't say Yasiel Puig is going to be the next Roberto Clemente. I understand you have a soft spot in your heart for Clemente and watching Puig hit reminds you of him. Even so, comparing him to Clemente is an incredible reach right now anyways due to Clemente's humanitarian nature both on and off the field. Give it time. I'm sure Fernando Valenzuela brought up memories of a lot of great pitchers, and he was legitimately great for about 10 years, but he fell off pretty quickly after that and, after he turned 30, was nothing more than a mediocre pitcher.

Better off bringing back Ronnie Brewer and having a player who will just stay the f*** out of the way

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 02:06 PM) Greg, you're impossible. He's the best position player on our team, and has been for two years now. He hits homeruns, plays good defense, steals bases, and hits for average. What do you want? He must also save cats from trees, teach children algebra, and make fresh pink lemonade.

QUOTE (IowanSoxFan @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 12:59 PM) This is totally out of nowhere, but do you think Chicago could ever get a second NBA franchise? Weren't there some rumblings about the Hornets looking at Chicago a couple years ago? Just a random thought I had. I think Chicago could probably support another team, but really, you are looking at bigger divides than, say, Sox/Cubs or Yankees/Mets. It would have to be an energetic and very business and marketing savvy owner who could sell the idea to the citizens of Chicago. Same thing goes for a second football team too. At this point, it's too great a financial risk to add a 2nd team.

QUOTE (Paulstar @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 12:19 PM) I suppose it is also a coincidence that Dunn finally starts to hit once the White Sox are one of the worst teams in baseball? I didn't say it was Dunn's fault for the Reds being bad. However, I don't think it is a surprise that both the Reds and Nationals let him go and then both teams proceeded to become much better. Of course there are other reasons for their turnarounds as well, but I don't think you can ignore the Dunn effect. Honestly, I think Dunn is a loser because of two main reasons. The first reason is because he is not a very clutch hitter and that leads to reason number 2, he thrives in non-pressure situations. He is notorious for putting up big numbers when it doesn't matter. This post is so far off base it's hilarious. You must have missed Dunn putting up an .800 OPS last year when the Sox were in contention. When he "stopped" hitting in the second half, he was hurt and banged up, much like everyone else on that team. And the Nats and Reds competing after he left is coincidental and ironic. As was mentioned, the Reds found a pitching staff. The Nats did as well - some dudes name Strasburg, Gonzalez, and Zimmerman - and in his final year there, here were the numbers put up by guys with atleast 150 plate appearances: Ivan Rodriguez: .640 OPS Adam Kennedy: .655 OPS Nyjer Morgan: .633 OPS Roger Bernadina: .691 OPS Cristian Guzman: .687 OPS Willie Harris: .653 OPS Alberto Gonzalez: .578 OPS Wil Nieves: .554 OPS That team only scored 655 runs. Are you really going to blame that on Adam Dunn? Adam Dunn has been a victim of bad luck on teams, and he doesn't help defensively, but to essentially say "Adam Dunn makes teams bad and when he leaves teams are good" is absolutely 100% wrong.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 11:39 AM) Sadly, with the way this team is performing right now, I'd have more confidence in the remnants after a bunch of trades reeling off 10 wins than I do with this crew. I agree completely. I think we will see this team continue to struggle until September, where they'll be above .500. They'll still lose 90+ games, which, again, really is not a bad thing for this franchise right now.

After the unofficial halfway point (most teams have played alteast 81 games), your best team: the Pittsburgh Pirates. At 21 games over .500, they would have to fall completely on their faces for a 3rd straight year to not finish above .500 for the first time in 20 years.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 11:34 AM) It's over dude. Let's put this another way - for the White Sox to reach 90 wins, they have to go 58-25 from this point forward (.699 winning percentage). Hell, just to get to 85 wins, they have to go 53-30 for a .639 winning percentage. It's simply not going to happen with this team. The absolute best thing to do at this point is to sell pieces off. Really, the Sox winning like 10 of 12 at this point woudl be one of the worst things they could do.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 11:30 AM) Do NOT panic folks. Do NOT turn on each other like rabid dogs. We can turn this around. We CAN go on a hot streak . We will know when it's over if and when Hahn starts to trade our good players It's over dude.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 11:10 AM) @Chris_Broussard: Detroit's top priority this summer is to get Josh Smith or Andre Iguodala. @Chris_Broussard: Pistons also intent on bringing back Jose Calderon @CP3: I'M IN!!! #CLIPPERNATION @KBergCBS: Pending league cap figures becoming official on 7/10, Chris Paul's deal with the Clippers will be for $107M over five years, source says. @KBergCBS: Chris Paul can opt out of his five-year deal with the Clippers after the fourth year, league source tells @CBSSports. @chicagobulls: #Bulls will introduce draft picks Tony Snell (No. 20) & Erik Murphy (No. 49) at 11 am this morning w/live video on http://t.co/2vULgykxmc Bringing in mediocre free agents on top dollar deals is how Detroit got into their current situation to begin with. Neither Iggy or Smith are terrible players, but they aren't worth top dollars.

I have started playing Madden '12 online again. It's awesome sauce scoring touchdowns with Aaron Hernandez and yelling "MURDERER"

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 08:34 AM) This is the worst thing that has ever existed. It would be atleast 100x better if they were doing the Macarena instead.

That is pretty good.

If this isn't a job you would have pursued, you don't feel it advances your career, or you don't end up getting paid more or have more free time, then don't take it. Unlike other jobs, if they actually pursued you, you have leverage in this situation to ask for more money, so maybe that's something you do. "This is a situation where the costs of moving on to a new job outweigh the benefits of taking the job, so even though I feel I would embrace the opportunity, it is simply not worth it to me at this point." If they are truly THAT interested in you, give them the number it would take to sign you on, and go from there.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 1, 2013 -> 08:51 AM) At some point, you have to trust your eyes and instincts. Comparisons to Chris Shelton and some of the names being thrown around in this thread, like Karl Tuffy Rhodes, c'mon. But comparing his attributes and swing mechanics to Pujols, Gonzalez, Cabrera, Davis, and Stanton isn't ridiculous at all either. I'm not going to say he can't be a great player, but making those comparisons after 107 plate appearances in the majors is ridiculous and absurd.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 30, 2013 -> 04:50 PM) How is but more surprised that Wells was getting ready to throw and not just delivering a message to the bullpen that not showing that it was his idea to pitch, that he volunteered rather than being asked. Maybe begged would be pushing it, but with how our team has sucked raw eggs, it's nice to think that someone wants to contribute and help out. "Hey skip, if we are ever getting blown out and you don't want to waste innings on a bullpen arm, I'd love to come in and pitch an inning or two to save some miles on guys' arms." This is most likely the conversation Wells had with Ventura.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 29, 2013 -> 06:40 PM) This story appears in ESPN The Magazine's July 8, Kids In Sports issue. Subscribe today! YOU'VE HEARD THE HYPE: Since his June 3 call-up, Yasiel Puig has been compared to everyone from Roberto Clemente to Bryce Harper. You've marveled at the numbers: The 22-year-old outfielder is the first player in the modern era, which began in 1900, to record at least 27 hits and five home runs in his first 15 games in the Show. But how, exactly, has he done it? We asked John Brenkus and the ESPN Sport Science team to break down the swing of the 6'3", 245-pound Puig and compare it with those of the game's best power hitters. The findings: His talent isn't just special, it's downright legendary. 85.9 Max speed, in mph, of Puig's swing -- above average but not elite. It's his bat control that has allowed him to go yard on four pitch types, ranging from 72 to 94 mph. MLB comparable: Albert Pujols 45 Degrees angle Puig turns his back to the pitch as the ball nears, 10 degrees more than the MLB norm. The result is an upper body spring-loaded for max torque and acceleration. MLB comparable: Carlos Gonzalez .03 Seconds Puig's bat spends in the hittable area over the plate, despite a rather slow 0.16 of a second from the start of his swing to contact. Thank you, acceleration! MLB comparable: Miguel Cabrera 140 Degrees Puig bends his back leg, giving him a straighter stance than most sluggers, who bend at 120 degrees on average and rely more on the lower body for power. MLB comparable: Chris Davis 675 Peak angular velocity, in degrees per second, of torso rotation during Puig's home run swing -- simply wicked. No surprise that his dingers have averaged nearly 400 feet. MLB comparable: Giancarlo Stanton So they just compared all of his features to the best players in the majors. That's not unrealistic or anything, is it? I;m sure they could do this same thing for a bunch of other, lesser known players, and the comparisons would still hold true. He's been great. We'll see if he keeps it up. They usually don't.