witesoxfan

I haven't paid attention too closely, but have there been any flyballs towards Viciedo?

QUOTE (La Marr Hoyt HOF @ Mar 1, 2011 -> 03:00 PM) First of all, challenge ... Dunn is the guy in Major League running the 40 who gets beat by Willy Mays Hayes coming from behind in his PJs Secondly, again not saying you're wrong, but I thought you usually wanted your 'best hitter' / best production guy in the 3-hole, and think that regardless of his walks (especially given his speed), you don't want a mid .200 hitter, who is slow, and strikes out 150+ times per year hitting in the 3 hole, especially when you can hit him 4th/5th given the talent in this line-up Dunn has played the outfield (terribly) in his career. Just try and imagine Konerko at any point attempting that, and your head will explode. Dunn is faster than Konerko. Being big doesn't take away from that. And besides, Willie Mays Hayes was ridiculously fast. Like 5.00 60 yard dash fast. No one can touch Willie. With regard to your second point, according to ideal lineup construction, I would imagine the lineup is something along the lines of Beckham - 2B Konerko - 1B Quentin - RF Dunn - DH Rios - CF Ramirez - SS Pierzynski - C Morel - 3B Pierre - LF You want your highest OBP at the top of the order, but that would be relative waste of Dunn's power. Having him hit 2nd is an option as well, but due to that total power, hitting 4th would be preferred. The second best OBP guy is Konerko, but having him hit leadoff would again be a relative waste of his power, so having him hit 2nd atleast allows him to utilize that power a bit better. I was torn between Beckham and Quentin hitting leadoff, as Quentin is likely to have the better OBP but is also far more likely to hit for more power too, and so I have him hitting 3rd. Beckham should get on base more than Rios, so he's the leadoff hitter by default. Rios then hits 5th as the worst of the best (which is not a bad thing), and then the rest of the lineup is just filled out in sequential order of what I figure to be their offensive values (Ramireez > Pierzynski > Morel > Pierre). It is actually been proven statistically that you should not want your best hitter hitting 3rd but instead 1st, 2nd, or 4th, depending upon the skills of the other players within your lineups. Instead, you want your 4th or 5th best hitter hitting 3rd (preferably 4th because they will get approximately 40 more plate appearances per year than the player hitting 5th). Hitting 3rd will, approximately 30-35% of the time, leave him with no one on base and 2 outs in the first inning. If he gets out, which is certainly possible, you then have your 1st/2nd/3rd best hitter leading off the top of the 2nd. This also works out because your #4 hitter is still going to get quite a few ABs, and because 3 of the top 4 hitters on your team will be hitting in front of him getting on base quite a bit. So, basically, I agree and disagree with your general train of thought. I don't want Dunn hitting 5th because that is taking very valuable plate appearances away from him. At the same time, I would prefer that he hit 4th in the lineup with someone else hitting 3rd, but I don't see that happening. In the end, I would prefer Dunn hitting 3rd to 5th because he is going to get those extra 40 plate appearances a year hitting in that spot, and he should be getting on base enough that he will give Konerko plenty of opportunities to drive him in (whether that be slowly trotting around the bases following a Konerko home run or scoring from 1st on a double).

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Mar 1, 2011 -> 11:35 AM) Are we still referring to the actual dog? win

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Mar 1, 2011 -> 11:22 AM) I'm such a contrarian that I hate almost all of the things you people have already mentioned, and I couldn't even think of all of the stuff I hate. I can tell you the thing I hate the most that a lot of people seem to love: onions. They are on everything if you don't specifically request that they not be. I'll throw out entire plates of food if there are onions in it if they can't be picked off easily, like if they're chopped up. One bite of a single little onion piece and I'll no longer stomach the food. Onions prepared in any way? Because I absolutely love sauteed onions on a burger or steak, but raw onions don't do it for me on a burger. I don't mind a few chopped onions on a chili dog, but any more than "a few" and it becomes overpowering. And I absolutely love onion straws (like a blooming onion) but really don't like onion rings. Basically, too much raw onion flavor can ruin a dish, but just a hint of it or have them cooked until all of the sugars come out of them makes for some tasty food.

4/10 Why can't Charlie just go back to being Wild Thing?

QUOTE (La Marr Hoyt HOF @ Mar 1, 2011 -> 02:49 PM) All good for conversation... Might I suggest however that Dunn is even slower than Konerko and can eat a bag of raw meat before getting home vs. Rios, who has speed. Doesnt matter if he has a higher OBP if he can't score from 1B. Just saying, think he is a true clean-up guy and you protect him with TCQ until Ginger Kid's prophesy comes true and then you put Rios or Beckham in the 6-hole Dunn is actually not that slow. He's not fast, but he's stolen 59 bases in his career. They were all early in his career because he hasn't successfully stolen a base since 2008, so he has slowed down, but it's not like Konerko is getting faster. So, yeah, you can suggest that Dunn is slower than Konerko, but you'd be wrong. (you also don't have to be moving quickly when the ball goes over the fence) /obligatory

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Mar 1, 2011 -> 02:06 PM) How has that been proven. No pitcher has ever suffered the injury? From what I understand from what ptatc has said, no pitcher really has suffered this injury before. There have been lat injuries before with pitchers, like Penny had last year, but none of them have actually had the lat come clean off the bone. The injury itself occurred because Peavy was dropping his arm angle when he was throwing to get more movement on the ball and I'd assume that there is some sort of unnatural movement to that (as if throwing overhand wasn't unnatural enough already). He's seen the injury in other throwers, especially javelin throwers, but he's said that after the surgery is done and the strength in the muscle is built back up, there are really no problems with it. Ptatc has already predicted that Peavy will try to drop down again in the future, which is something the White Sox will try to have him avoid doing. He also predicted that, similar to Contreras, the Sox will instead simply pick certain spots where they will allow him to drop down rather than letting him rely upon it. However, assuming Peavy continues throwing overhand, there should be no more problems with his lat. This really isn't a shoulder injury at all where you there is muscle damage within the shoulder that will limit him at all.

There were reasons to be optimistic with Floyd though. He'd put up good numbers in the minors before and had reached the majors pretty early considering he was drafted out of high school. In 2006, he saw his walk rate go down, his home run rate stay constant at a solid 0.7, his hit rate went down by over a full hit per inning (I believe hits allowed to be a dependent statistic so you can't take a ton but it's still good to see that it went down) and his strikeout rate improved a little. Humber's home run rate has remained poor no matter where he goes, his strikeout rate got worse, and his hit rate only got fractionally better. He saw a significant improvement in his control, and that's about the only saving grace. All that really tells me was that he was locating better, it doesn't tell me he had a breakthrough in his mechanics or that he is suddenly going to be an effective pitcher. I could locate better and cut my walk rate, but I would still get destroyed if I pitched in the majors.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 1, 2011 -> 10:20 AM) Eh, people can pull out their quotes on Gavin after he got here, and they would look pretty similar. It's probably nothing, but I am giving our coaches the benefit of the doubt with their history. The words "caught his eye" and "possible 5th starter IF Peavy..." really say it all to me. Cooper doesn't necessarily like him, but doesn't dislike him. He's better than Lucas Harrell and whoever else, but as was mentioned above, that doesn't take a lot. If you have a good fastball and a good breaking pitch, you can put up an ERA of 5.50, which would be better than anything Harrell would put up in the majors. QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Mar 1, 2011 -> 10:44 AM) I agree. The fact that he was a former 1st RD pick at least tells me he has shown dominant stuff at some point and he has the ability to do well. It tells me he has shown good stuff in the past, had a projectable body, and they believed he could be atleast a middle of the rotation starter. Or it tells me that they - the Mets, who drafted him - believed he was close enough to the majors at the time that they drafted him that they could either get some pretty immediate results out of him or be able to use him as a trade chip early in his career. Just because a guy was a 1st round pick doesn't mean he's ever had great stuff. Remember Jason Grilli? 94 MPH fastball that was straight as an arrow and no real breaking balls. From 1997 to 200, here are pitchers taken in the top 5 (asterisks will note if they can be considered "good") 1997 - #1 Matt Anderson, DET 1997 - #4 Jason Grilli, SFG 1998 - #2 Mark Mulder, OAK* 1998 - #4 Jeff Austin, KC (#6 in 98 was Ryan Mills by the Twins. He never made it to the majors) 1999 - #2 Josh Beckett, FLA* (#6 and #8 that year didn't pitch in the majors, #7 was Kyle Snyder, who was terrible, and #9 and #10 were Zito and Sheets who were good) 2000 - #2 Adam Johnson, MIN 2000 - #4 Mike Stodolka, KC (didn't pitch in majors) 2000 - #5 Justin Wayne, MON 2001 - #2 Mark Prior, CHC* 2001 - #3 Dewon Brazelton 2001 - #4 Gavin Floyd, PHI * (6-9, 11, 12, and 16-18 were all pitchers. The only two to reach the majors were John Van Benschoten and Aaron Heilman. Remember when Benschoten was going to be the next great minor league find for the Sox?) 2002 - #1 Bryan Bullington, PIT 2002 - #3 Chris Gruler, CIN (didn't pitch in majors) 2002 - #4 Adam Loewen, BAL 2002 - #5 Clint Everts, MON (#6 in 2002 was Zach Greinke) 2003 - #3 Kyle Sleeth, DET (didn't pitch in majors) 2003 - #4 Tim Stauffer, SD (perfect example of a top 5 pick who no longer has good stuff. This, IMO, is the best case scenario for Philip Humber) 2004 - #2 Justin Verlander, DET* 2004 - #3 Philip Humber, NYM 2004 - #4 Jeff Niemann, TB* 2004 - #5 Mark Rogers, MIL (6, 7, 8, and 10 were Sowers, Bailey, Townsend, and Diamond. They have all been pretty terrible, but atleast Bailey still has a shot) 2005 - none - Ricky Romero and Mike Pelfrey have been pretty solid...Townsend was drafted by the Rays and has still done jack s***) 2006 - #1 Luke Hochevar, KC 2006 - #2 Greg Reynolds, COL 2006 - #4 Brad Lincoln, PIT 2006 - #5 Brandon Morrow, SEA* (giving it to him assuming he stays relatively healthy) (also in 2006 were Andrew Miller, Kershaw, Lincecum, Scherzer, and Kiker) I count 25 pitchers draft in the top 5 over that 10 year period. I count 7 that were good. Is being a top 5 pick really a sign of talent? Or, perhaps, 6 and a half years after he was drafted, his arm isn't nearly the same as it was when he was drafted and he has not developed the way others thought he would...considering the White Sox are his 5th organization, I'm going to guess it is the latter. He was a big armed pitcher in college with good stuff who looked like he could be a fast riser. Turns out the heavy workload and the increased stress on his joints really screwed him arm, and now he doesn't have nearly the same type of ability that he did when he was drafted in the top 5 and if he can scratch out a career as a 13th pitcher shuttling between AAA and the Majors, he should be pretty goddamn thankful. I hope the Sox found a diamond in the rough. I hope he turns into a good pitcher and the Sox can use him out of the bullpen and he becomes an effective weapon. I really do. I just don't see how it is possible.

QUOTE (Pale Sox @ Feb 28, 2011 -> 11:48 PM) I think his name has a lot of nickname potential. Like if he makes a great play to kill a rally....that's demoralizing. He's the demorelizer. DM. Ha, that's so cheesy that it's awesome

I'd be in

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Feb 28, 2011 -> 12:37 AM) Sam Adams Cherry Wheat is disgusting. One of the worst beers I've ever had in my life.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Feb 28, 2011 -> 05:46 PM) Yeah, .218/.260/.276 in 2010 for Miguel. Not his best work, but since he brings good defense at a premium position he will remain a prospect. Didn't have a terrible K-rate either. I don't have high hopes for him, but he's still young and has hit in the past.

Sure, it's possible. There are a lot of things that are possible. Is it likely? Not at that price. Minnesota isn't stupid and the Yankees don't get everything they want for nothing.

I was in midseason form, and Charley Steiner helped me out. Inning and a half into the game and Steiner's amazing ability to talk to himself finally TKO'd me. I understand that you don't want to spend a lot of money on a Spring game, but jesus dont make a guy suffer by having to call a Spring game on his own, because that makes the viewing experience that much worse.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Feb 28, 2011 -> 09:43 AM) I'm taking off of work this afternoon for the sole purpose of going home and watching a spring training baseball game. Is there something wrong with me? If it is, I don't care. I can't wait! If you took the day off to watch a Spring Training game one month from now, you would have a much bigger problem on your hands.

QUOTE (La Marr Hoyt HOF @ Feb 28, 2011 -> 10:20 AM) Rios is, at-best, a 2/6-hole hitter. Using a clean-up batter in the 3-hole is a waste of his production... No it's not. You prefer to see him hit 4th, but really, hitting behind two guys who are going to get on base quite a bit as it is and guaranteeing a plate appearance in the first inning is not a bad thing.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Feb 27, 2011 -> 11:18 PM) In other news, I'm going to South Padre Island in 5 days for Spring Break. So ridiculously jacked. f*** it's already Spring Break time?

Why can't we just call him "Brent" or "Morel"?

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Feb 27, 2011 -> 03:53 PM) Punto is injured. Not sure how bad though. Pretty sure he had hernia surgery and is going to be out until like mid-May. Not that it's a huge deal, he's not a very good player.

I actually don't really have a problem with it. From the sounds of it, Jenks wasn't exactly a class citizen last year and has been a problem for a while. On top of that, the White Sox took him in, coddled him, and apparently lied for him and let him get his life situated. He had the nerve to talk a lot of crap about the White Sox organization and the Sox need to take care of their reputation above all. Ozzie letting the world know that Jenks is in the wrong is fine by me, and really, I don't think that the White Sox players mind it. Hopefully it does die down shortly though. Games with Boston will be interesting now too.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 25, 2011 -> 03:21 PM) Did they interview Ozzie? Kruk talked to him a little bit...the bit thing Ozzie hit on was how he got hired. He mentioned that he was the 3B coach for Florida with Torborg managing in 2003 (who would then get fired shortly after) and after the season, Torborg called up Reinsdorf and said that he thought Ozzie was ready to manage. He said Jerry couldn't believe it and that Williams "puked" (his exact word) when he heard about the possibility. All he wanted was a shot, and he's gotten it. He also made more than 1 fat joke about Kruk, which is always OK by me.

QUOTE (ChrisLikesBaseball @ Feb 26, 2011 -> 06:13 PM) You don't moonlight as a pretty blonde named Casey do you? :lolhitting Maybe

WOOO GO TEAM B

QUOTE (ChrisLikesBaseball @ Feb 26, 2011 -> 06:00 PM) Is this hmmm like a lightbulb going on over your head? If so, I recommend it. If not, don't judge me!!!! More or less acknowledging that I may have made the same move last night.