witesoxfan

Another point about Viciedo/Beltre, you can point out that Beltre was the Dodgers starting 3B when he was 19, but you also have to consider that he'd been in the Dodgers organization being developed and groomed as an adolescent by the Dodgers for 4 years by that point in time because he was illegally signed as a 15 year old, and he'd only turned 15 three months prior to being signed. Viciedo was signed as a 19 year old, and 3 months later, he turned 20, thus the age difference between them was 4.5 years between signing dates. And Viciedo wasn't groomed from age 15 and on to hit American pitching; he was playing in Cuba where expectations and the culture of the game itself is quite a bit different. Hell, the culture of Cuba itself is vastly different than that in America...it's no surprise that he took a while to adjust. For some perspective, it will be 18 years on August 12th of this year since the players went on strike and the season was cancelled. Adrian Beltre was signed BEFORE the players went on strike. I love Viciedo and I really do think, Marty, that you are one of the very, very few on this site who does not. He really does have the look of a guy who is going to hit for a lot of power.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 2, 2012 -> 11:34 PM) The Twins are really, really bad. I'd go as far to say they're in worse shape than the Astros, as at least the Astros have decent young players. Twins offense is fine. They need new middle infielders, but they have a really nice core group of guys that can hit the ball. Obviously not tonight, but it's good enough. Plus they have some good hitters in the minors too, so they'll be able to make those additions just fine. The main problem is that they have no pitching. They have a team ERA of 5.59 and their starters have had just 5 quality starts in 24 games. Seriously. Wrap your mind around the fact that Jake Peavy has as many quality starts as the entire Minnesota Twins do, and then you realize how bad that pitching staff is. And, unless I'm missing something, there isn't a lot on the way up either. Denard Span needs to be the first one to go for them. Mauer and Morneau are far too expensive and injury riddled to get much of anything for, but the Astros got 4 decent players for Bourn, so I don't see why the Twins can't do the same with Span. The Twins are an incredibly loyal organization, so I might be wrong, but I don't think Gardenhire will be back next year barring something miraculous (and with Pavano, Blackburn, and Marquis in the rotation, I don't see any miracles on the way). That entire team seems like it needs a new face, and following this year is probably the time. What's more amazing to consider is that, in my lifetime, the Twins have had 2 managers. I turn 25 in July. The Sox have had like 7 or 8 or I don't know, and the Marlins have had like 8 different managers and they've been around fewer than 20 years. It's stupid.

Marty, you are either seeing something I'm not with Viciedo or you are watching a different Viciedo. He has great plate coverage, incredible bat speed, and incredible power. He's just has a lot of work to do still. The main problems I see with Viciedo are: 1) He tries to extend his arms on every single swing. I don't think I've seen him shorten his swing yet to just try and make good, solid contact at all this year. It's like he wants to put every single pitch he swings at in the stands somewhere. There's nothing wrong with extending and trying to clobber a pitch most of the time, but there are moments when a player needs to shorten up and just make good solid contact. Pitchers know that and use it to their advantage. 2) As a result of trying to extend his arms every single time, he's trying to pull everything into the LF bleachers. Pitchers know that and will throw him away, away, away and they'll watch him either roll over the ball or they'll see him cheat and reach out across. Neither one is a desirable. 3) As a result of trying to pull everything to left, there is no versatility to his approach right now. He's still an extremely dangerous hitter, but it's very easy to get him out so long as you can locate. Anything you throw him away is either going to be popped up or rolled over. I have yet to see him really even try to take anything to center or right field this year. But you want an example of great plate coverage, incredible bat speed, and incredible power all in 1 video? Your browser does not support iframes. It's more centered than I originally thought, but it's still low, it's still on the outer half of the plate, it's off the end of the bat, and he still hit it 350+ feet. In fact, more than anything, that video is reassuring to what I thought about Viciedo tonight watching him - he looks like a young Adrian Beltre at the plate. You can judge for yourself Your browser does not support iframes. They stand quite similar, go about attacking the ball the same way, have similar bat speed, plate coverage, and power. And even more, they walk about the same too. Viciedo strikes out a bit more, but seeing Viciedo put up anything between .850 and .950 OPSs for a good portion of his career wouldn't surprise me, but while hes young, seeing him put up something at or below .750 wouldn't surprise me either. He, more than anybody else on this team, needs to work on going with the pitch. I feel like I've said that ad nauseum the past few days, but when he can figure out how to go to RF and RCF with the ball, then he can start swinging with authority to those places, and then hitting becomes a whole lot easier for him.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 30, 2012 -> 07:57 AM) When Frank Thomas was 32 (same age as Pujols), that was the 2000 season. He was robbed of an MVP award by a guy who was more synthetic testosterone than man. When Frank Thomas was 33, he put up a .758 OPS on the season...because he tore a biceps tendon and played ~20 games. QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 30, 2012 -> 06:17 AM) This is when Thomas started struggling in his career too, give or take a year. Pujols may be more similar than we think. If his career continues to mirror Thomas at all, that is going to be one of the worst contracts of all time. I'm allowed leeway, right? Thomas was dogs*** in '98 and '99, relative to the rest of his career, and he was 30 and 31 in those seasons. You are nitpicking. ---- Hell of a game in Toronto tonight. Know what made it better? Jose Bautista.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 2, 2012 -> 12:38 AM) Or, if they want to go "cheap," Edwin Encarnacion, somone of his ilk. No way. Edwin Encarnacion is in his 8th season in the majors. He's a guy who's bad enough defensively that teams want to move him from the position, but whose bat doesn't translate anywhere else, and he's not bad enough defensively that it keeps you from playing him there. He's eclipse a WAR of 2 once, and generally sits in the 1.5 range. The Sox simply can't give up anything from their minor league system for such a marginal upgrade. They may as well stick with Morel in that case and let him work through it, or give a shot to anybody else within the organization.

QUOTE (balfanman @ May 1, 2012 -> 07:22 AM) Because Scherzer and Porcello aren't going to combine for an ERA of 7 this year. It's possible that they have a down season, but they'll be better than .500, barring any sort of crazy injuries. Again, I ask why? How do you know this? I'm not knocking you individually, but it seems to be a consenses that Detroit is just going to take off one of these days and the best we can hope for is to stay within 10 games and maybe a shot at the 2nd wildcard. It may happen, but I think that it is at least evenly possible that they are stuck around 500 most of the year. Their pitching overall doesn't look that good to me. Their offense, for that matter, doesn't look like the powerhouse it was supposed to be either. JMHO There was a lot of smoke and mirrors with their team last year...the fact that Valverde didn't blow a save is reason enough...but there are just too many good players on that roster right now for them to not be a better than .500 team, again, barring crazy injuries. They've been predictably bad defensively (UZR is right around -12, which means their poor defense by itself has cost them a full game in the standings, roughly speaking) but, according they have produced negative value offensively thus far, meaning in this young season, they have lost more games than won because of their offense. This is essentially the same team, minus Victor Martinez, plus Prince Fielder, that finished 5th in the entire MLB last year in offensive value at 90.8 batting runs above value meaning, when not taken out of context for positional adjustments, their offense alone won them 9 games. The offense is good and has plenty of talent. They're going to hit. There may be a few guys who regress a bit - Alex Avila and Jhonny Peralta come to mind immediately, plus Betemit was really good down the stretch for them last year too and he's in Baltimore now - but they're going to hit. The main thing at this point is getting Scherzer and Porcello straightened out. I half tongue-in-cheek stated they'd win 100 games after signing Fielder, but I really can't see any scenario where they win fewer 85 unless it involves someone getting injured. That is a very, very top heavy organization (no offense intended to Cabrera and Fielder, who are going to eclipse 600 combined pounds before they do home runs), and one significant injury to Verlander, Cabrera, or Fielder puts their season in very serious jeopardy very quickly, and if two get injured, they may as well pack it in.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 1, 2012 -> 10:39 AM) Stats would indicate the offense hasn't improved. Even Rios had a better Sept 2011 than Apr 2012. I think they do look better. It's still early, so stats are skewed all around, but Konerko, Pierzynski, Dunn, and Rios all look good at the plate and are generally hitting the ball well right now. De Aza looks like he has a plan and usually puts a good swing on the ball every time he comes to the plate. Beckham is still here or there but he looked great tonight, destroying a mistake pitch and then going with two other pitches on the outer half of the plate. Ramirez always looks lost in the early part of the season, so there's nothing I worry about there. Viciedo is a talented hitter and is still learning, but he still needs quite a bit of refinement. The one guy (who I really like) who I just haven't seen anything from this year is Morel. He just doesn't look like he's swinging with any authority whatsoever right now. I don't remember which AB, but there was a pitch tonight that he should have absolutely smoked with the way the bat made contact, and it had absolutely nothing on it. I love him defensively, but he isn't even offering the occasional homer that Crede provided when he was young. In fact, 3B is probably the one area where the Sox could find a big time upgrade at this season that would be really, really worth it. The one guy who has been mentioned on here before is David Wright, and if the Sox can play above .500 ball through June, I think that is a route Williams will look to take. Even an .800 or so OPS at 3B would be a huge bonus, and Wright has done that quite often in his career. It's too early to even be considering that, because perhaps Morel starts hitting with some authority here soon, but as of now he really seems to be the biggest hole in the entire lineup.

That was such a fun game to watch. De Aza absolutely SMOKED that double.

QUOTE (danman31 @ May 1, 2012 -> 12:12 AM) That's still a significant improvement. It's a bit of hope. Hell, if he can play good OF defense and put up a .220/.300/.400 line from the left side of the plate, that's worthy of a spot on the bench if nothing else.

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 30, 2012 -> 01:54 PM) Realistic goal this month: Cle 2-1 Det 2-1 Cle 2-2 KC 2-1 Det 1-1 LAA 1-1 Chi 2-1 Min 2-1 Cle 2-1 TB 1-2 17-12, 13-8 in the division. That certainly looks doable. Figure a sweep here or there and a lost series or getting swept here or there, and that looks very possible. I think 15-14 is more likely because this has the feel of a .500 team without a big addition offensively (whoever and however it may be), but it's going to be worth watching. QUOTE (balfanman @ Apr 30, 2012 -> 05:37 PM) Why? It seems a lot of teams, most notably us, have a bad season when expectations are big. Who's to say that Detroit doesn't have much better than a 500 season? Sure they could take off, but how many years have we been saying that about a White Sox team that was supposed to do better than they did? Because Scherzer and Porcello aren't going to combine for an ERA of 7 this year. It's possible that they have a down season, but they'll be better than .500, barring any sort of crazy injuries.

I honestly never thought that Greg Walker was a bad hitting coach, but by the end of his tenure, his methodology and sermons were obviously not getting through to the hitters. I was tired of him and I did want him gone, and so did others within the organization. The team looks a lot better this year, and I think Greg Walker being gone is part of the reason. A lot of times, players just need to hear it from someone new to have it click for them again.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Apr 30, 2012 -> 07:09 AM) AP is not even 6 months removed from a damn near 1.200 ops postseason run. He'll be fine. That was 18 games. I would much rather use the 22 games from this season. To be fair, the relative drop off from 2010 to 2011 is about the same as Thomas from 1997 to 1998. From this point forward, he is only going to get less athletic as well. I think he'll be a really good hitter for a long time and he definitely has a chance to hit like 800 homers, but it's fun to make bold generalizations 1 month into a 10 year contract.

QUOTE (black jack @ Apr 29, 2012 -> 12:05 AM) They peaked last week. It's .500 or below from here out. Try to move Dunn, Rios, and Peavy while/if they can. well f*** me if I didn't waste $125 on MLB.tv then

This is when Thomas started struggling in his career too, give or take a year. Pujols may be more similar than we think. If his career continues to mirror Thomas at all, that is going to be one of the worst contracts of all time.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 29, 2012 -> 05:08 PM) Genius. I'd keep my eye on this boy. I wouldn't encourage him.

Holy reach Seattle

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 26, 2012 -> 08:00 PM) Really, bills went for te secondary. That's a pretty deep defense now, but passing on Floyd surprises me. There are enough receivers in this draft that going secondary makes sense. It's not my ideal pick, but I'm not running the Bills, so my opinion doesn't mean a thing.

I got this thread up a little late, so this response is going to look out of place. The Browns didn't give up any real good pick though. Yeah you can get good players with 4th and 5th round picks, but they have another first that they can trade out of for a reduced price if they want to add picks. They kept their premium picks, and the ensure that they get the guy that they absolutely want. I don't mind a trade like that.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Apr 25, 2012 -> 10:04 PM) Could see the Bears taking Osemele from ISU in round two. DRAFT THREAD FEROCIOUSLY CUTE

QUOTE (zenryan @ Apr 25, 2012 -> 10:04 PM) lol, we'll see. maybe the Bucs will trade down. Either way, I think it's going to be interesting to see how this thing plays out after once the Rams get on the clock. I think a trade down is very possible, especially if the Bucs are willing to have a relatively low asking price. There are enough teams who love Fletcher Cox that jumping in front of St. Louis to ensure that pick would be well worth it. If Philly is willing to give up their 2nd with that 1st as well as maybe a 4th or a 5th, that seems like it could honestly be enough to make it worthwhile for Tampa to move down simply because they can get more value for their picks.

Michael Pineda torn labrum out for year

Less than 24 hours away from the MOST EXCITING EVENT IN ALL OF SPORTS. I joke. I was all super excited for the Bills to pick, because they have a ton of great options at 10, and then I see a report that they may be thinking of moving up to take Kalil. And, even though I do love Kalil, that's just stupid. To me, there are atleast 4 players who they are/should be looking at: Kalil Floyd Barron Keuchly And you can throw Kirkpatrick or Gilmore on there too, because CB is a huge need as well. Add to it that Gailey does love his athletic QBs and Tannehill can't be ruled out either if he makes it past the Dolphins. And they want to trade up? Jesus, any of those players (aside from Tannehill) improve the team a great deal this year. I really like the idea of Barron and using him in nickel packages to cover tight ends, which was an area where the Bills were torched last year. It never dawned on me that really is a natural fit. I like Keuchly too, but a big, strong safety seems perfect. I'd like Floyd too but there are plenty of players they can go after at WR. They really just need a guy to consistently stretch the field. You can find that in round 2 or 3. I'm very excited. This genuinely is one of my favorite times of the year.

I've liked pretty much everything Ventura has done, but in the admittedly small sample size I've seen of Santiago, he just doesn't have the makeup of a closer. That fastball is pretty straight and that screwball is very, very hittable. This situation is comparable to putting Boone Logan in the closer's role out of Spring Training in 2007. The kid has talent, but it's not as a closer and it's definitely not right now. I like his makeup and the fact that he's not afraid to go right at hitters, but if you are coming with a straight 94 over the middle, they're gonna hit it.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 23, 2012 -> 11:56 AM) I've thought often of David Wright on the Southside since it's all but guaranteed he moves this summer AND he'd be an instant super upgrade. The Sox have nothing to deal with, though, so it seems nearly impossible. My fantasy team is loving his rebirth this year with those shorter CITI Field walls helping his confidence. Imagine what the friendly park factors of the Cell would do for him. http://qkme.me/3oyk2c

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 24, 2012 -> 11:51 PM) I just hated the offense tonight. Sox didn't come close to scoring. Even though Gavin was matching that no-name pitch for pitch, out for out, it seemed obvious Sox would get shut out and Oakland would not. There wasn't a hell of a lot anyone was going to do against Milone with the way he was throwing. Oh, and BTW, this no name pitcher had an ERA of 3.05 and WHIP of 1.14 in 516 career minor league innings. And the past two years have been better, to the tune of a 3.03 ERA and 1.10 WHIP with a K/9 of 9.1 and BB/9 of 1.2. He doesn't allow homers either. He's a good pitcher. Not a world beater, but I would definitely say his upside is that of a #2-3 starting pitcher.