witesoxfan

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 20, 2012 -> 07:18 AM) The Cubans usually have the false ages though. El Duque and Jose Contreras come to mind. I generally only think of Dominicans with false ages, and false names for that matter. Santiago Casilla was Jairo Garcia, Juan Carlos Oviedo was Leo Nunez, whatever Roberto Hernandez Heredia was Fausto Carmona, and Vladimir Guerrero, not that long ago, was determined to be 1 year older than he was. I'm sure I'm missing quite a few as well. I think, to gain citizenship within the Dominican Republic, and then to gain a work visa through the United States, it's going to take a damn safe certification. Some may have gotten by it before 9/11, but I don't see it anymore. In fact, I think the Sox are smart in signing Cuban players because their ages are almost certain to be correct.

OK, yeah, give me Brentz, Workman, Miller, and Bowden instead of McGuire and Drabek. I'm perfectly fine with that.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 19, 2012 -> 12:16 PM) This year's Verducci effect article is out, and the White Sox take 2 of the spots on it, with Axelrod at #2 and Stewart just barely making the list. I had no idea the Sox had jumped Axelrod's innings by 60 last year. I know he knows it's not scientific, but I do remember when he came out with this. It may be something I do over the next 2 weeks or so, but if anyone else has done it, I'd like to see some sort of working percentage within this group. Injuries, regression, progression, stability...anything. It's a decent guideline to follow, and it makes sense in a lot of regards, but there's obviously more to it than that, because CJ Wilson, not even caring about age, jumped 130 innings in 2010 and he was much better this year. Derek Lowe made a similar transition and he was mediocre in his second year and awful in his third year of the transition, but he's been generally fine ever since. My hypothesis is that it has no statistically significant effect, but that there may be certain characteristics that can be traced to it.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Jan 17, 2012 -> 05:35 PM) We coud have afforded that And you have no grasp with reality nor as to where this team should be. The White Sox could certainly afford that, but they could not afford to have their #1 prospect - Dayan Viciedo, who is no longer "prospect" eligible - sit in the minors any longer. They also have very little chance at competing this year, and having an oft-injured outfielder take up space and then, according to your plan, play out the year and then be let go to free agency (or resigned, which would be even worse) for nothing. The White Sox did well. Trading away good players is, sometimes, a GOOD THING. I would be curious to see what your current roster looking at the 2007 roster would look like right now. I'm sure Crede, Uribe, Podsednik, Garland, Jenks, Iguchi, and Dye would all still be on it. Perhaps Mackowiak as well. Most of them helped us win a World Series. But we still wouldn't have Quentin. QUOTE (SI1020 @ Jan 19, 2012 -> 03:07 PM) There's a stat for everyone. His DWAR was in plus territory in 2011 as were other metrics. Am I saying he's a stud defensively? No. At best he'll be somewhere around adequate with limited range. If you are using defensive runs saved, as in the FanGraphs stat, then sure, he was "in the plus territory." His UZR was 0.6 and his UZR/150 was 1.7. The previous 3 seasons? Year UZR UZR/150 2008 -3.3 -3.7 2009 -14.5 -25.2 2010 -24.3 -35 The developer of that statistic has said that it takes 3 years worth of data to develop any sort of consistent criteria on a player. This causes problems because players, as they age, get less athletic and slower, which will deteriorate defensive skills. You take whichever 3 year sample you like - 08-10 or 09-11 - and either way, you get a very, very bad defensive outfielder.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Jan 19, 2012 -> 01:07 PM) Now wait a minute. We need Crede on the Sox first joking right?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 17, 2012 -> 11:14 PM) But you simply can't measure that "clutch" factor and how many times Martinez has historically come up big in RBI situations... On paper, you can replace him (ala Moneyball theory). But it's just not the same when the opposing pitcher looks at that line-up and sees Martinez not in it. You can't measure something that's non-existent.

Rotoworld brought it up, but Carlos Pena makes a lot of sense now. Anybody thinking that this will increase their efforts to sign Cespedes or Fielder is dumb...they still have Victor for 2 more years after this and, had they signed Fielder, would have 4 guys for 3 spots (Cabrera, Fielder, Martinez, and Avila), though that would be a fun offense to watch. And if they were going to go after Cespedes, they were always going to go after him and this really wouldn't affect that this much. Pena makes a lot of sense because he can almost certainly be had on a 1 year deal and, if they get lucky and he hits for a bit of average too, he's a nice player to have in the middle of that lineup.

I'm still asking for Deck McGuire and Kyle Drabek. No need for anything more, but there's no need to take anything less either.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 17, 2012 -> 10:11 AM) A .750-.800 OPS at 3b with solid defense is a very valuable player. If that pushed up to an .825 OPS then that player is a borderline all star. That's at best, which leaves room for him to be a .700-.750 OPS player, which is not something to be desired at 3B (even though anything in that would have been good from 3B last year). Nobody expected Brent Morel to be a real strong offensive player and, save a strong September last year, everyone's expectations have been proven correct thus far.

QUOTE (103 mph screwball @ Jan 17, 2012 -> 08:58 AM) I don't get why Morel would be a surprise to Soxtalk. I'm not nearly as knowledgeable as many of you when it comes to the farm system, but we saw this with Morel. He was projected to be a good hitter. He would start off at a level and suck. He would make an adjustment in the middle of the year and hit well. He would get promoted, suck, adjust, and be a good hitter again. He has figured it out and I'm very enthusiastic about Morel. Add the fact he may be even more comfortable with Ventura's new leadership who happens to be an ex-3B, this could be fun to watch. Add this guy as a sleeper along with Beckham in your fantasy league. He was projected to be a .750-.800 OPS bat at best and most people considered him to be a short-term gap until something better came along. A Scott Brosius type player.

Not sure it was brought up anywhere, and it's a rather trivial or perhaps even meaningless point, but Pineda's ERA on the road last year was 4.40. The peripherals were still pretty good all around (and in fact, his HR/9 was actually better on the road than at home, which is somewhat surprising), so like I said trivial or even meaningless. I am interested to see how he does in the AL East. The only good offense in the entire AL West was the Rangers and he fared only so-so against them - a 4.74 ERA in 3 starts. I actually like this trade for the Mariners, and I know I'm one of the few on that, without considering anything else they have in the minors. Montero's raked at every level he's been at (his worst was last year with an .814 OPS at AAA, but he was still extremely young for the league and hit to the tune of an .870 OPS the year prior...oh, and that nice little .996 OPS he had in his cup of coffee last year) and hitters are generally safer bets to make it than pitchers, even ones that did what Pineda did last year. If Montero can play a passable catcher, he becomes a monster, and if you want to save his legs, perhaps you can try Smoak in the outfield. I do like it for both teams. The one drawback to Pineda is that, barring the Yankees starting him in the minors this year, he's only controlled for 5 years and gets expensive a year sooner than Montero.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jan 13, 2012 -> 08:02 AM) Were there signs that Schmidt was gonna suddenly get injured? He was 34 and decreased a bit from his peak, but he was still an All-Star in 2006. When the signing happened, I don't think they could have predicted he would only pitch 42 innings at a 6 ERA clip in 3 years. Don't remember watching him in the second half of 2006, but a 4.76 ERA as opposed to 2.78 ERA in the first half as well as his BB/9 and HR/9 getting quite a bit worse were pretty solid indications that something was up.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 08:38 PM) There's one where you have to give Guillen credit. He stuck with Alexei through the first 6 weeks of the 2008 season, didn't send him down to Charlotte, and that patience really paid off. My biggest concern is we really need a true CFer...and Cespedes isn't that. He reminds me of Vernon Wells, for some reason. Uh, no. Ozzie benched Ramirez about 4 games into the season and he didn't get another shot until Uribe was hitting so poorly that HE needed to be benched.

QUOTE (wallyburger @ Jan 4, 2012 -> 08:30 AM) +1 +1'ing him is like giving Bernie Madoff a recommendation. Actually, no, that's giving McGrad too much credit. I read about 3 lines of his post. All he does, and all he's ever done, is rip Reinsdorf. Jerry Reinsdorf could find a way to both spend more AND less money on the White Sox, win a World Series, find a cure for pancreatic cancer, and McGrad would still find something wrong with him. The fact that I am criticizing him right now, "behind" his "bac,k" is something he would blame on Jerry Reinsdorf. Don't +1 him again. Please.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 11, 2012 -> 02:33 PM) You can be the back-up plan, lol. You're like the Rick Hahn in this situation. To tell the truth, I'm 42 and have never had a child or intentionally set about to have sex with the purpose of getting a woman pregnant, so it's making me a bit nervous that I have to perform "under pressure," and I don't think the odds of getting pregnant from just 1-2 times could be much more than 20-30%. The really funny thing is that I just talked to my ex in the Philippines and she doesn't want to get married but she now also wants to have a baby with me in 2013, haha. So I'm going from babyless to Philander Rodman (Dennis' dad) in the span of one week. Knock on wood/crosses fingers. yeah, f*** this, I'm sticking to socks and towels for a while.

can I help get her pregnant?

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jan 7, 2012 -> 10:54 AM) But who do you prefer between Jimenez and Jackson? That's the real question. Cheese pizza

Oh, and why did the f***ing creators of the English language, as assbackwards as it already is, decide that "enough" is pronounced "ee-nuff" but thorough is pronounced "therr-oh?" Starting tomorrow and probably only lasting 45 minutes, I'm pronouncing enough as "e-no" and thorough (and f***ing through for all I care) as "ther-RUFF." Then we'll really find out who the top dog is.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jan 6, 2012 -> 08:10 AM) Since when do you eat Taco Bell and have your s*** come out solid??? I do not believe this has been discussed thoroughly enough.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Jan 6, 2012 -> 07:33 PM) The number of AL starters who have thrown at least 574 innings averaging an ERA+ of 105 or better over the past three seasons like Floyd has? 10. And two of those guys just got $58M and $65M respectively. Floyd isn't a top of the rotation starter, but still valuable. If I could internet-makeout with you, I would. Gavin Floyd may not have "stones" to make it as a clutch postseason pitcher but he was regarded as a stopper in the second half of the 2008 season by both the local and national media (when, in fact, he was actual regressing quite quickly to his mean). He's streaky...almost every single pitcher in this league is streaky. You only notice said streakiness when they are on a team that you follow quite closely. As was mentioned somewhere on here, perhaps even within this thread, Ubaldo Jimenez has basically made a living based off of one 16-20 start period. He's been about as good and perhaps worse than Gavin Floyd outside of that stretch of games...I haven't checked the numbers. I do honestly think I'd take Floyd over Jimenez right now on the White Sox, contracts not considered, simply due to durability and relative consistency. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that Ubaldo Jimenez is basically Edwin Jackson, only Dominican instead of American, with one extremely good half of pitching. He strikes out a few more, but their relative command of the strike zone and their stuff is practically the same. I'm taking Gavin Floyd before I take Edwin Jackson, and I'm taking Gavin Floyd before I'm taking Ubaldo Jimenez, over the duration of a full season. If it's 1 game, give me the guy with the stuff, which is something Floyd struggles with from time to time. That's one game, which is something I don't care about at this point. QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 7, 2012 -> 02:14 AM) Must be "damaged goods" concerns about Drabeck and his performance downfall last year. After Sirotka, have to do excessive due diligence, especially with young pitchers. No, not after Sirotka. You do your due diligence on every.single.trade you make. It's absolutely stupid and careless not to do so. Good organizations run that way. Sirotka has nothing to do with this and all you are trying to do is make some sort of Toronto-Chicago trade connection between this. Considering that trade happened almost 11 years ago and the Blue Jays have gone through 2 GM changes during that time frame, I think that one is pretty much in the past and nobody thinks about it anymore. It doesn't have to be Drabek. It could, quite frankly, be anybody.

I would trade Rios straight up for Soriano, straight up. I would, in no way, shape, or form, trade Dunn for Soriano.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 02:16 PM) Enjoy 73 pags of Arod. http://youbeenblinded.com/wp-content/uploa...d-hp-binder.pdf That thing must have come out of a steer's ass.

Actually, some women die from giving birth. And, the fact of the matter is, that hole where you stick your little wee-wee (which can be quite difficult to get in sometimes, no matter how small one may be) is the same place where something the size of a damn grapefruit comes out. Honestly, if you took a s*** the size of a grapefruit and it said it spherical form upon exiting, I'd congratulate you too, even if you named it Bono Jr.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 11:25 PM) Because AA and KW are newfound best friends forever and 25% of new trade rumors should therefore connect the two organizations together. That and the fact that they Blue Jays need a "middle of the rotation" starter and Floyd is exactly that...3, no worse than 4. That still doesn't really explain it. FarrellBall offered up the idea first here. It makes sense that after a couple days of deliberation amongst themselves and with each other that they'd have come to a relative price that they like and now they are hammering out the final details or perhaps adding on to it. It's been cited by two seemingly unconnected sources - a guy who runs a Blue Jays blog and a student at Purdue University - and the student has even name dropped a bit (said his cousin's name is Leann, who lives next to his sister, which is confirmed here (his cousin and Gavin's wife's name)). Where there is smoke, there is fire. This actually reminds me a bit of the Adrian Gonzalez rumors in the '09-'10 offseason where everyone and everything was throwing Soxtalk under the bus. If nothing happens, then nothing happens, we let bygones be bygones, and we move on. It doesn't mean that nothing was going on at that time period and it doesn't mean nothing is going on now. I'm excited to see what comes of this. Sort of.

McGuire and Drabek seems like it would be suitable value. I understand that it's not the precedent at this point in time, but the Sox dealt Garcia after 2006 for Gio and Floyd, who were both good prospects with one of them having fallen a bit. He was coming off a mediocre season, had seen his velocity drop, and only had the one remaining year on his contract. Floyd has 2 and has been a very valuable starter for the past 4 seasons. I don't know a lot about McGuire, but from what has been said on here, I like him already. I just don't like him as the centerpiece of a trade for Gavin Floyd.