witesoxfan

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 19, 2011 -> 04:02 PM) Weird, I thought Hynick left. Maybe him and Humber can compete for a long man slot in the pen? And its interesting to still see Lucy around, and great to see Phegley being at camp. Jared Price though? WTF? Just a body to catch. There are 28 pitchers in camp, and they have to get them all into shape, and it will be easier to do so with 6 catchers than 5. It's also never a bad thing to get catchers experience with other pitchers, as it would be a great learning experience for them as well.

So it's like quite literally the Ferrari of watches. I mean, seriously, if that thing doesn't cure cancer, I have no idea why someone would pay that much for it.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 19, 2011 -> 07:55 AM) Yes, me stating that I wouldn't expect a thing from a 28-year old failure of a 'prospect' we claimed off of waivers is hardcore negativity. It's just REALLY annoying whenever we bring in a bum, be it waivers, Rule 5, minor league free agent, that inevitably we get a hoard of 'well, he was once a top prospect, I don't know, 5 years ago. Maybe Coop can do something with him. Low-risk, high reward' yadda, blah, gag, barf. This occurs EVERY year. People will get excited about small moves just because a small move is better than nothing, so then they envision getting the next diamond in the rough. There are 1, maybe 2 of those types of players that come out of Spring Training, otherwise they're all retreads. There are some players that I get genuinely excited about, but I know how to temper my expectations. I love the Bruney MLC and I think he has a legitimate chance to make the team if he can show that he still has something left in the tank, but I'm definitely not going to suggest that he is going to close for the White Sox this season.

And yet the f***ers keep on winning. It's like their bad personnel decisions never come back to bite them in the ass bad enough to the point where they lose the division.

To be quite fair, Philip Humber is a pretty terrible pitcher who has pretty much none of the stuff that made him a high draft pick in the first place. Asking anything from Humber other than replacement level production and minor league depth is asking for too much.

LeBron didn't exactly go to a hated rival either, he just bailed on Cleveland.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jan 18, 2011 -> 11:12 PM) Dayan has enough trouble tracking flyballs in the infield, he will not be a possibility in the outfield. I don't understand why people see that as an option. 3B, 1B or DH, that's it. Because it is a skill that can be learned. He may have trouble tracking flyballs down now, but if you work with him on doing so, he will improve. The best case scenario is that he improves enough that he can become a passable outfielder and the worst case is obviously that he does not, but there is very little harm in trying.

Galarraga seems like he would make a great 7th inning reliever. Absolutely killer against righties and good enough against lefties that you could let him face them in medium leverage situations. Of course, that's in a perfect world, and it's certain he would rather start ballgames.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 18, 2011 -> 01:10 PM) Again, the WAR number only counts as a bargain if you compare it to the hypothetical value of that season on the free agent market. That isn't a hypothetical value, that's what teams pay per win share and it makes sense to look at the value of a contract compared to what other teams pay per win share around the league. It just doesn't make sense to say that so-and-so's production on the year was worth $10 million when he puts up 2 WAR, because that by itself really means nothing.

Twins are paying Matt Capps $7 million. Just so you are all aware, that is more than half of what Jesse Crain will be paid for the duration of his contract. And it will be paid in 1 year, not 3. That is sweet (though it's not as if their team is going to be any worse because of it)

No

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 18, 2011 -> 07:41 AM) It's only a steal if you compare it to a hypothetical world where every player that comes up qualifies for FA after their first season. Assuming the value of a win is $5 mill and not the other way around, a 5 WAR player using the 40/60/80 rule is worth $45 million during his arbitration years, which is still quite a bit below his current contract. If he has one great year durng the contract, it justifies the entire thing.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jan 17, 2011 -> 04:28 PM) I forget where I just saw this, but some scout said he is a 60 power, 65 arm, and 55 speed. Those are pretty good ratings. They just said he needs to work on his contact skills. He was the 7th best prospect in the Nats system, a system that included Strasburg, Storen, and other pretty legit players. And making contact is by far the most important aspect of hitting, and isn't an easy thing to improve without sacrificing power. Joe Borchard had better power than that, I assume a better arm, and similar speed, but has been relegated to AAA because he can't make contact. They did well to get a guy with good tools, but as was said, this is Tom Gorzelanny we're talking about here, the Nationals aren't going to trade a monster prospect for him.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 18, 2011 -> 01:54 AM) Do you really think there's a team out there that's going to gut their farm for a couple months of Pujols? In other words, would you trade Sale, Viciedo, maybe, you know what, nevermind. I can't even use the White Sox in this hypothetical because the farm is so bad. I can't even come up with a fantasy trade that could net us Pujols. Well even just using the White Sox as a hypothetical, even if the package wouldn't be good enough, is trading Beckham, Morel, Viciedo, Sale, Santos, and Thompson worth 2 months of Pujols? I don't think it'd even be possible for the Cards to trade him at the deadline simply because there is no way in hell they'd receive proper value for him. The only teams that I can think of that really have the depth in their farm systems to make such a move - we are talking like 2 top 20 prospects and 2 more top 50 - will be long out of contention and/or* I don't see any way possible that he'd sign a contract extension with them. *the "or" included because Tampa Bay would almost certainly have enough and shouldn't be long out of contention, but there's no way they'd be able to pony up the resources necessary to resign him, though that goes without saying

QUOTE (3E8 @ Jan 17, 2011 -> 06:00 PM) If you use the 40/60/80 rule, (the percentages of their market value a player earns in each arbitration year) and assume Votto continues to be a 7-win MVP-caliber player, the Reds just saved themselves a bunch of money. Even if you assume he's "only" a 5 WAR player, this is still a steal for Cincinnati.

QUOTE (beckham15 @ Jan 17, 2011 -> 08:35 PM) just because your fastball can touch 100 doesnt mean that you have closer "stuff" you have to have the mentality, you can't just throw anyone you feel like back there and expect them to succeed. i agree it is a buy low type of scenerio but there is no way you get the guy for EJax he has too many question marks right now and until he proves he can put it back together i wouldnt trade anything major for him Mental attributes have virtually nothing to do with physical attributes. If he can't handle the rigors of closing, that is a completely different debate. He absolutely has closer stuff, because of his fastball and slider. And when I refer to stuff, I don't refer to his makeup (as in, "does he have the stuff to handle it?"), I am referring to the quality of his pitches.

QUOTE (La Marr Hoyt HOF @ Jan 17, 2011 -> 07:17 PM) no he doesn't....... When he is healthy, he has a fastball that can touch 100 and a killer slider, so he absolutely has the stuff to be a closer. Whether he actually has that this year or in the future is a completely different story. This isn't like talking about a 38 year old Greg Maddux though, this is still a guy who turned 25 in September who can easily find his stuff again. Right now, it doesn't make sense for the Sox, but if it were a buy low type of scenario, I could see the Sox being all over it.

.781 OPS and was repeating High-A. Not a good contact rate, good walk rate, a little bit of power...he looks like a marginal prospect, perhaps a guy that could develop into a starter or left handed platoon mate at some point down the road, but hardly anything exciting.

QUOTE (DOWNTOWN PANTHER @ Jan 17, 2011 -> 10:56 AM) This is AWESOME!! Im happy the Reds can have him for at least 3 more years. I like our team this year!! They already had him for 3 more years before this deal. It's simply about financial security.

I've just started reading "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" based on the recommendation of several people - Stephen Covey himself when he came and talked at USD 3 years ago, and James Anderson (son of "Famous Dave" Anderson) - and just through the first part of the book, it's been amazing. Obviously nothing has changed overnight, but it seriously feels like, while you are reading, you are getting a make-over, and it really opens your eyes as to what a person needs to do to improve themselves. I can come up with analogies all night, but even just through the first 45 pages, it would come highly recommended.

Gonzalez has to prove that he can maintain his ground ball rate while improving his control if he is going to remain a #2 pitcher. His batted ball rates were good last year, but he was touted as a flyball pitcher when the Sox had him, and he was pretty damn lucky on his flyballs last year as well (7.4% FB/HR). If that regresses to the league average or even a bit above that, which would increase his homers allowed anywhere from 5-10, his ERA is already jumping a quarter of a point at the very minimum, and that's maintaining his current flyball rate, which could very well be lower than is to be expected from him. And, because his BABIP was already pretty low at .283, he is likely going to allow a few more hits (though with a good defense and good stuff, he can probably maintain a lower than league average BABIP). If his flyball rate increases along with the regression, his ERA could sit around 4.25-4.50 next year. I'm not going to make any predictions, largely because I wasn't actually able to see him pitch, but just because he has been successful over his past 40 or so starts doesn't mean anything looking at it from the White Sox perspective. For all we know, his HR/FB could have been the complete opposite in Chicago, and because the White Sox defense wasn't as good as the A's, he could have been even worse in 2009 (had he been called up) or 2010, and that may have been the signal the White Sox needed to trade him while he still had some value. If there is a player to be pissed at in this jumbled mess, it's Nick Swisher. In the end, looking at Gio Gonzalez as if he could have been the difference is absolutely silly. There is too much convoluted information between the time he was traded until today to be able to make any rational judgment on what Gonzalez could have been - so forget about it.

Yeah, don't think I could have been more wrong had I tried. Not that he was any good for the Vikings or the Titans, but the Patriots really missed having a legitimate deep threat in this game. The only time I think I saw Brady try something really deep was to Brandon Tate. They simply weren't able to stretch the Jets' coverage, and that stopped the Patriots running and short passing game.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 15, 2011 -> 07:09 PM) Wow, did that hurt your lungs? The first one did on Thursday when I actually went on a jog (because it was the nicest it had been in 2 weeks...clear, sunny sky, no wind, and..it was 15 degrees), as I took like 3 breaks on a mile and a half run due to fatigue and pain. Tonight, I was just doing some sprinting/half-speed exercises for 15 minutes. And sprinting on snow is still only about 90% speed at best. Still, it felt really good and my lungs feel fine.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 15, 2011 -> 09:36 PM) Kind of crazy that the Packers have taken out the #3 and #1 seeds on the road before we've even stepped on the field. Should be more scary than anything. The Bears and Packers know each other pretty well though, so I think it'd be a pretty good game.

Of course as soon as I start working out the Soxtalk Gym forum is closed. I love how good I feel after running, even if I was running in 3 degree weather. F*** is it cold here.