witesoxfan

QUOTE (Special K @ Feb 9, 2011 -> 12:19 PM) Young wants out, the Rangers seem willing to consider. Obviously it's not going to happen, but it'd be pretty sweet. If Kenny were to consider it, he'd more than adequately fill what I feel is the biggest hole in our everyday lineup. Obviously money is an issue, and I don't know what package they'd consider, maybe something based around Tank, but it would certainly make the Sox a top 3 offense in the AL. I'm not normally one to consider home/away splits because hitters generally hit better at home than they do on the road. Young's are scary though: 2010 Home: .307/.361/.509/.871 2010 Away: .260/.299/.380/.679 2009 Home: .347/.411/.525/.936 2009 Away: .297/.337/.511/.848 2008 Home: .305/.362/.441/.803 2008 Away: .264/.317/.364/.680 Career Home: .322/.372/.487/.859 Career Away: .279/.322/.411/.733 I would venture to guess that if Young were to play his home games in Chicago, his home splits would be something along the lines of .290/.340/.480/.820, and his road splits would be about the same, perhaps something like .280/.325/.410/.735. That's roughly a .775 OPS overall, give or take 25 points in either direction. Assuming the Rangers take on $20 of the $48 million he has left, you are paying about $9 mill a year for a guy who is solid offensively and mediocre to bad defensively. That's a huge amount of money and something the Sox simply can't afford. Worst case scenario, he is mediocre offensively and bad defensively, and it also stunts the development of Brent Morel. Oh, and he's going to be 34 next year, and 36 when his contract expires, which means he is probably going to regress as the contract goes on, meaning you are probably looking at a .775 OPS as a BEST case scenario in year 3 with his defense going from bad to very bad, which means he could very well the team in that final year of his contract. It's just not a good idea no matter how you slice it up. QUOTE (Special K @ Feb 9, 2011 -> 12:31 PM) I figured the Rays might be all over that. It's just his contract is too large. Why? They have Zobrist, Rodriguez, and Brignac (though he's going to be their SS) that can all play 2B, and some dude named Evan Longoria at 3B. And, considering the Rays are a team that has shown a tendency to favor good defensive players, Michael Young makes even less sense for them in that regard. The Rays lack of interest in him has nothing to do with his contract (though it doesn't help matters). He just doesn't fit the mold of the type of player they bring in.

Had Jackson simply played one sport instead of both, I think he probably would have been a Hall of Famer in whichever sport he chose. But as a result of playing football, he didn't have the time to put as much work as most should into studying pitchers, and due to playing the outfield, his legs wore down crazy, and then the hip happened. You hear the phrase "once in a generation talent" all too often now a days, but Bo Jackson quite literally was a once in a generation talent.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 9, 2011 -> 11:37 AM) Chad Hutchinson, Craig Krenzel, Kordell Stewart, Jon Quinn? Close. Sexy Rexy instead of Kordell.

QUOTE (MuckFinnesota @ Feb 8, 2011 -> 11:44 PM) This may need its own thread, but it related to the gym and dieting. I'm at about 200 pounds which isn't that bad considering I'm about 6'2'' and weighed in around 185 when I went away my freshman year. I work out about five times a week, but with the winter being the way that it is I have been running for only 20-30 minutes after I lift and am taking it easy in the weight room. I'm a novice when it comes to the weight room and I honestly need someone to just come up with a plan for me. St. Ambrose has a crappy weight room but it will have to do till May when I graduate. All that I am trying to do is tighten up the ass a bit, tone up the legs, maintain the current abs that I have/strengthen them a little and work on tone in my biceps...perhaps strengthen my back and triceps. What I'm doing in the weight room is as follows: Lat pulldown (10, 8, 6 reps - 105, 120, 130 pounds) Bench press (10, 8, 6 reps - 120, 130, 140 pounds) Pushups (20 before exhausted) Some odd weight machine that appears to strengthen deltoids (ranging 120 - 140 pounds at 10, 8 6 reps) 3 sets of planks (30 seconds each - I don't know what will reduce the shaking when I do them but I can complete them.) There's the seated row that I could do and also a tricep rope that I could do to strengthen that section. Cardio activity for 30 minutes following weights - random hill generator on the bike, average level on the oliptical (weak ass machine or I'm doing it wrong) or running on a treadmill for 30 minutes (the treadmills are facing against the wall without TVs, so I have to read and use music to keep myself motivated). I don't know who could show me how to do the dead lift or make sure I'm honest with squats (as most of my friends quit when it comes to lifting commitments) but I want to do them correctly and still be able to do cardio - is it best to just alternate days so that I can do so? I'm also trying to eat better but I've already done my research on that and am going to eradicate some of the s*** that I eat from my pantry along with kicking out some crap from my diet. If there's any further information that you need, please let me know. I want to do what is best for my body at this age. My opinion with regards to lifting is that you shouldn't concentrate on certain areas but instead do whatever you can to work out your entire body. There can be certain restrictions, mainly past injuries - the military press is going to be hard if you have bad shoulders, most leg activities will be hard with bad ankles or knees, and the standard squat should be avoided if you have a bad back - but I think you should work out your entire body. Part of this is due to me doing that right now while I am trying to just get all around stronger, because I've never really worked out before, but part of it is due to health too. If you overwork your quads while not getting your hamstring enough, you will end up injuring your hamstrings more often in the future due to your quad simply being much stronger than your hamstring. I would assume the same is true for biceps and triceps too, but don't quote me on that. The workout I am currently doing is actually one that was apparently used by the Arkansas football team. It's only a 4 day workout - we have it split up so that days 1 and 2 of the workout are on Thursday and Friday with 3 and 4 being on Monday and Tuesday with Wednesday being a bit of a free day. Days 1 and 3 work out legs, triceps, and biceps, but mostly focus on legs. Days 2 and 4 are pretty much entirely just the upper torso. On our free day, we work the areas that we don't isolate specifically with these workouts, as well as other areas we feel will help us the most. It goes something like this Day 1 - Squats, Front Squat, Leg Curls, Lunges, Dumbbell Squat and Presses, Towel Triceps, Preacher Curl (and usually abs) Day 2 - Bench, Pause Bench, Dumbbell Shrugs, Seated Military Press, Lat Pull Downs, Seated Rows, Pull-Up Burnout..one other too that I can't recall. Day 3 - Cleans, Overhead Squats, Roman Deadlift, Leg Curls, Dumbbell curls, Towel Triceps..one other too (and abs) Day 4 - Incline Bench, Close Grip Bench, Dumbbell Shoulder Flies, Bent Over Rows, Dumbbell Military Press, Bar Shrugs, Reverse Grip Lat Pull Downs, Dumbbell Bench Day 5 (free day) - Calves, Groin, Hip Flexor, Forearms, Pull-Up Burnout, Abs, Back Extensions And then I do some type of cardio every other day. I've been on this workout for 3 weeks now, and I have seen my bench press go from 110 to 150 (I will plateau soon enough), I've seen my dumbbells increase anywhere from 5-10 pounds and my bar (and other machine) workouts anywhere from 15-30 pounds, and I have already added quite a bit of muscle definition. I've also been hitting it really hard because I want to get bigger, but you can do variations of these exercises at lighter weights if all you are looking to do is maintain while adding definition. There are also some of these - notably the core exercises of these, which are the bench, squats, cleans, as well as the deadlift - that having a spotter, whether to help you lift or to simply make sure you are doing it right. There are several sites that have workouts set up that people do, so I would suggest doing some independent research too to see if you can find something that suits your desires a bit better as well. Hope this helps!

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Feb 9, 2011 -> 12:00 AM) Wait? You mean the same year that New York Yankees right fielder Gary Sheffield finished 2nd in AL MVP voting and a couple of young AL West 3B were showing the game a glimpse of the future with career years: the incomparable Hank Blalock (23, .855 OPS, AS) and the unstoppable Eric Chavez (26, .898 OPS). Wow, those two had great careers. Meanwhile, over in the AL East, the Orioles were in the process of becoming relevant again and had the AL OBP leader and a better 3B than either of those two - THE Melvin Mora. Over in the NBA, the Minnesota Timberwolves were the best team in the Western Conference while the Indiana Pacers had the most wins in the NBA that year with 61. The two worst teams in the NBA that year? The Orlando Magic (21 wins) and the Chicago Bulls (23 wins). In the NFL, the Bears started 4 different QBs - mad props to anyone who can name all 4 - and Lovie Smith was a rookie head coach.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Feb 8, 2011 -> 11:27 PM) The Sox have twice as many playoff victories in the past 6 years than the Twins do in the past 19. The last time the Twins won a playoff game, George W Bush was President...and he would be re-elected less than a month later. I had just started my junior year in high school. Barry Bonds had 703 home runs. Jeromy Burnitz finished 8th in the NL in home runs. Should I keep going on? It could be pretty fun.

QUOTE (WhiteSUX @ Feb 8, 2011 -> 11:11 PM) You guys do realize we've been in the playoffs 6 out of the last 9 years. while you have been watching pre-season bears games at hooters sports bar. Alright I'll give you guys the 2005 season but at that time the baseball world was still in shock by the red sox winning the 2004 series. You guys really pulled a fast one on us. What's that? Sorry, I can't hear you with your hands around your neck.

It's about Shipps' penis. It works. Congrats! That's awesome.

QUOTE (WhiteSUX @ Feb 8, 2011 -> 08:28 PM) Kenny the only Cuban's you're gonna see this year are the ones Mauer and Morneau smoke after winning the A.L. central title SLAPSHOT! Actually, Alexei Ramirez and Dayan Viciedo are both Cuban, and odds are very good that Kenny Hates Prospects will almost certainly watch a White Sox game, whether in Spring Training or the regular season, with both players being in the game, so hence he would see Cubans (PLURAL with the "s", not a possessive 's), so the logic behind this post in several spots is actually incorrect. Also, having a Cuban cigar is illegal in the United States, so they better be in Morneau's home or they'd be arrested. Bye.

Is this right? The White Sox have won more playoff games than the Twins over the past 3 years? And the White Sox have more World Series titles in the past 10 years? But I thought the Twins were one of the top teams in the league!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 8, 2011 -> 05:47 PM) He had 1 good season there judged by UZR, 2007 when he played RF 130+ games and was supposedly above average. Since then, he's played there 132 games, and put up a -12 UZR. Which would mean that he's played 160 games in the outfield the previous 4 seasons. It's not surprising that when he played a ton out there, he was good, and when he didn't play a ton, he was only OK or bad. I think the numbers probably do him justice. Average arm, slightly below average range, will catch pretty much everything that comes at him. For what he is expected to do with the White Sox, that's perfect.

So you can't just let people fill in a SLG column. OK, have fun.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 8, 2011 -> 05:16 PM) Just not well. -0.9 UZR in his career in the outfield There are plenty of worse outfielders. As a backup outfielder, he's perfectly acceptable.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Feb 8, 2011 -> 04:23 PM) I agree and would normally take that bet too, but we really are running out some crap this year from a 4th OF perspective. Teahen is the best bat but he's not an OF, DeAza can play CF but he's below average at best offensively, D2 has the D but can't hit the broadside of a barn, then there's Gartrell, etc. This is a midgets game and Little Lastings is tall enough to play. Mark Teahen has started 290 games in the outfield in his career. Mark Teahen can play in the outfield.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Feb 8, 2011 -> 11:32 AM) Why would them filling out 5 mean they are willing to fill out 10? That's twice as much, and even I don't want to fill out almost 300 spots. 300 and 150 are quite different. "And if people have an average in mind, of course they are going to dick with AB and H to get it where they want to, that's kind of the point. " I don't agree. I think a lot of people will say "I think Beckham will hit .290 next year", but then they would have to sit there and tink with hits and AB until they get a number that comes out to .290, and then then they do the 1B, 2B, 3B, and HR, they need to have it equal the hits they put in, ect. Also, I don't see how HBP or SF are anything that anyone can guess with any sort of accuracy. Sure, you can assume Quentin will lead the team, and Pierre might be up there too, but those stats are too much dependent on the pitcher's inaccuracy, and aren't really numbers anyone is familiar with. Could you tell me who led the league in HBP last year or SF and with how many? Probably not. But you are much more likely to know who led the league in AVG, HR, RBI, SB, and maybe OBP. Because 150 is an infinite amount more than 0. 300 is only twice that of 150. Perhaps I just come from the school that if you are going to do something like this, you should try and find something of substance out of it. As it's currently constructed, you aren't going to get a great deal out of it. If people believe Beckham will hit .290, they can also figure out about how many at bats they think he will get (as well as BB and HBP while making an educated guess towards SH and SF), and from there they can figure out how many hits he is going to get. They are already going to do doubles and homers, so you make an educated guess as to how many triples he ends up with, and from there you simply subtract. The only reason you do HBP, SF, and SH is to help determine plate appearances, which will allow you to be able to calculate OBP, SLG, and then OPS. If you are going to do OBP, you have to do SLG. Even if you don't want to make actual calculations based on doubles and triples and homers and whatever else, you freaking HAVE TO have SLG in there as well.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Feb 8, 2011 -> 04:32 PM) If we could get Anderson and maybe teach him a little 3B, I'd like our bench if it were: C - Castro 1B/3B/OF - Anderson 3B/SS/2B - Vizquel OF - Milledge Going to be pretty tough for Anderson to play 3B throwing with his left hand. --- I seem to recall there being a clause in Anderson's contract that if the Rays didn't get rid of him, he would be guaranteed $4 million over a 2-4 year period. That would be a big reason why they got rid of him if it's true.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 8, 2011 -> 07:35 AM) When you have guys who have already been proven to be injury prone, you can't complain if they happen to go down at the same time other guys go down. Yeah, Drew stayed healthy for a season, but that's a rare occurrence. Beckett didn't stay healthy, Cameron didn't stay healthy. If they'd instead had stronger rotations and a more-likely-to-stay healthy CF, then they might well have been able to fight through some of their bigger losses. JD Drew has played in 137 games or more in 4 of the last 5 seasons, and Mike Cameron had played in 120+ games in the previous 4 seasons as well as 141 or more in 3 of the past 4. You can say that they are injury prone, but Drew stayed healthy (again) and Cameron missed a hell of a lot more time than he had in the previous 4 years. In fact, the last time Cameron missed a significant amount of time, it was when his head ran into Carlos Beltran's head. I wouldn't say that has anything to do with his body but instead a freak accident. I don't think Cameron is injury prone, he just so happened to be injured last year. And they did have a CF who was more likely to be healthy in Jacoby Ellsbury, and he missed the most time of all. You can't expect a team to miss as much time as the Red Sox did to injury last year, even if you have some injury prone players. You expect some injuries - you don't expect to lose half of your starting lineup for a period of time.

God I hate that guy. Can't believe I watched 1:45 of it. So f***ing stupid.

If people are going to fill in 5 slots for 30 players, they are going to be willing to put in 10. And if people have an average in mind, of course they are going to dick with AB and H to get it where they want to, that's kind of the point. It's pretty simple to do something like that. And for pitchers, I would actually reverse it and allow for IP and ERA and then figure out the ER from there. For hitters - AB, 1B, 2B, 3B, HR, BB, K, R, RBI, HBP, SF For pitchers - G, GS, IP, ERA, BB, H, K, HR, and SV too, though I think that will be pretty split between Sale and Thornton For accuracy's sake, this seems to be the much better route.

OBP is going to be just as complicated. Preferably, what you would do is simply set up all of the counting stats and then enter in the formulas for OBP, SLG, and OPS. Actually seems pretty simple.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 7, 2011 -> 01:09 PM) You can when it includes guys like JD Drew, Josh Beckett, Mike Cameron. Drew only missed about 20 games and Beckett missed about 12 starts (but that was probably for the better considering how poorly he pitched last year). Cameron did miss a good chunk of the season though. The bigger losses were Ellsbury (about 140 games), Pedroia (about 80 games), and Youkilis (about 50 games). Those were far more significant, and using simple WAR, probably cost the Red Sox a total of about 4-7 WAR.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 7, 2011 -> 12:01 PM) Any Super Bowl records broken yesterday? First time in the history of the Super Bowl that the Packers and Steelers played each other.

A sweater vest! He's wearing a sweater vest!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 7, 2011 -> 11:01 AM) Hopefully you get the comparison though...both teams had some big needs and some small needs...they went after some undervalued/aged players to try to fill their small needs, but in the process wound up not filling their bigger needs. I kind of think they filled most of their needs pretty well. You can't really predict losing half of your starting lineup to injury.

I don't think anything of Andy Wilkins, not yet anyways. It would appear that there are some tools to work with, but playing only 1B really limits his value and he just didn't do quite enough for me this year to stick out, so he's either going to have to destroy the ball this year and really make a name for himself or prove that he can play some OF too. Blanke isn't the next Johnny Bench by any stretch of the imagination, but he hit for a higher average and showed more power than Wilkins did and played catcher, which is the big difference to me. It's pretty much impossible to take anything out of Rookie ball performances from 21 year olds who are simply there adjusting to the lifestyle of a professional baseball player, so everything is taken with a huge grain of salt. The main reason I even mentioned Blanke at all is because he hits for power and plays catcher. This year, with both of them being in either Kannapolis or Winston-Salem, will be much more telling. And if they aren't with either Kanny or W-S, that is even more telling about how the organization feels about them. The main thing I was doing was giving you a name to remember in case you see it in a publication at some point within the next 2-3 years. I don't expect anything out of players who are in rookie ball unless they are highly regarded by several others or they are putting up good numbers and are young for the league.