witesoxfan

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 13, 2015 -> 11:09 AM) A ton of that slash line gets lost in completely different eras of baseball. Adam Dunn's career wRC+ was 123, Kingman's 113. Dunn was the better hitter but maybe not as much as we would normally think. WAR is also tough to judge based on different eras, as defensive values 30-40 years ago are estimated, but Kingman's was ~20 while Dunn was at ~22. They were fairly similar.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 13, 2015 -> 10:46 AM) IMO, a "comp pick" is now at the point of being dramatically overrated, at least here. If you give me the choice between a comp pick and a guy at AA putting up moderately good but not spectacular numbers and ask me which one is more likely to be a big leaguer/put up >1 WAR in their career, I'll absolutely 100% say the AA guy. Something like 50% of the guys in those rounds look weak by the time they're even in the lower minors and never improve. Another big chunk is lost at the jump to AA. Then there are some who get injured. Only a fraction of comp picks ever get to the point that Ravelo or Phegley got to. Then there are guys like Phegley who get a callup and fall flat. Teams are able to stack the deck somewhat by the fact that the MLB draft has so many rounds. If you have 19 picks after the first round, and they vary from having 10% chances to make the bigs down to 1% chances in round 20, you've got a good chance to pull a big leaguer out of those rounds every year and if you're good at it or lucky maybe more than one, but adding in an extra pick with a tiny chance of making the bigs doesn't change that. At the same time, the Sox last 2 second round picks look like absolutely phenomenal prospects at this juncture, and those picks occur after the compensatory round. It'd be a ways out. At the very, bare minimum, it's a safeguard.

Adam Dunn is in no way, shape, or form a Hall of Famer. He will likely be on the ballot because he hit a lot of home runs, but if he gets more than 1 or 2 votes, I'd be incredibly surprised.

I started posting here when I was 15. I'm 27 now. That's crazy.

QUOTE (Doc Edwards Shot @ Jan 13, 2015 -> 10:33 AM) He just got paid so much by the White Sox the past 4 years that there's zero pressure on him to continue his nosediving career. He can comfortably retire. He was still a perfectly acceptable option against right handed pitching, but I think he has other investment ventures he wants to spend more time with, plus he has a family too. He's done all he wants to and I don't think he necessarily enjoyed the past couple of years. This is better for him.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Jan 13, 2015 -> 10:06 AM) Why the hell would you trade prospects for a rental? If the SOX traded for this guy for a year, they are dumber than I thought. Because they didn't give up any really good prospects. They aren't bad prospects, but they all have imperfections and some of them can be critical. I was the biggest Semien fan around but saw a fairly convincing argument that indicated that his IFFB% is indicative of a swing profile that will struggle in the majors and that his BB% and K% were highly inflated due to the inferiority of minor league pitching. Basically, he sits and takes first and second pitches a lot and MLB pitchers throw more strikes and have better stuff, so he was down in an 0-1 hole quicker and then has to face MLB caliber pitching as opposed to AA and AAA pitching. Chris Bassitt has solid stuff but most likely profiles as an OK middle reliever with set up guy upside. Josh Phegley didn't have a future in Chicago, so even if Oakland finds use for him, what were the Sox going to do with him? And Rangel Ravelo is a 1B prospect who hasn't shown significant in game power. His raw power might be like a 60, but he's only shown a 35 or 40 in game, which screams AAAA profile. The Sox still get one year of Samardzija, they get a prospect if he leaves via the compensation pick, and they got Michael Ynoa out of the deal too, who is a guy the Sox scouting staff raves about and considers him as a possible high leverage relief arm if everything pans out (meaning a possible closer of the future). There's still plenty to like about the trade if Samardzija leaves.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 08:42 PM) I would say the SS the A's gave up may end up being ranked similarly to Anderson, which is what I said our package would start with. His ceiling is lower, but yes, it's very similar. It'd be incredibly difficult to find a comparable package for the Sox to give up.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jan 13, 2015 -> 07:55 AM) Is it just me or does 4.4M sound astronomical for what Viciedo will give you, which is a few HR's, a lot of K's, a low average and a low OBP? Edit: Oh, and I forgot bad fielding. I'd have preferred if they just let that black hole in our lineup go. Not astronomical, but it's probably more than his value. Delmon Young is a very comparable player overall and he had to settle for a 1 year, $3 million deal. Really though, teams are paying $6-7 million in the free agent market for 1 WAR players. If some team out there believes he can improve defensively to the point where he's not a total liability and they feel they can get him to hit .250 or .260, he'd be worth it. At this point, those both seem like long shots.

A guy I think would make a great head coach is Dick Jauon.

QUOTE (RaySox @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 05:53 PM) Hey SoxTalk, I'm a pretty young fan and I continuously read these forums for news and conversations about the team I've always loved. I've even bookmarked the site because I check it pretty much every day. So I finally figured, hey, if I'm reading these every day... might as well join in on the conversating! Hope a young sox fan like me is welcome around here The more, the merrier. Welcome aboard bud.

Also, just so you guys know...at 9:12 AM CT (because that's what time I checked the temp when I got in this morning), it was -18. I really don't mind winter so much, but when it gets double digits below 0, it's too damn cold.

QUOTE (shipps @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 04:37 PM) I thought this was done a long time ago. They tendered him a contract at the non-tender deadline. We were aware of approximately how much he would cost, but didn't have exact figures. With the arbitration deadline approaching, they would have had to sign him to a contract or have the arbiter decide his salary, and that's always very messy.

This does not preclude them from moving him still. It was something that had to be done. However, each passing day increases the chances of him remaining a member of the White Sox, so there's that too.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 04:08 PM) It's always going to happen when everyone loves to hate and laugh at that team. If this happened to the Panthers no one would care. But it's funny when it happens to a team everyone hates. It's no surprise. I don't think it's funny, and frankly with how incredible the play was, I wish he would have secured the catch because it was absolutely phenomenal.

At full speed I thought it was a catch. Upon seeing the review, I agree with the overturn. Bryant did a great job of high-pointing the ball, but Shields got a hand in there to jar it a bit. As Bryant was coming down, he controls it for a second, tries to reach towards the endzone (with the ball in hand), and the ball comes loose upon hitting the ground. The ball popping up off the ground signals shows that to me. If he had control of it, the ball would have remained in his hand the entire time. He never had full control of the football. An incredibly athletic play, but it was correctly ruled an incompletion.

QUOTE (Armchair Hahn @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 02:42 PM) I didn't know there was such thing as an "optimistic" Sox fan. Nice to meet you.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 12:57 PM) I think people see Seattle and go "see you just need a good defense to win it all". Seattle is probably going to down in history as one of the best of all time. So were the Ravens and Bucs when they won. The Bills have a good defense, but it's not historic. I also don't think it's close. The Bills allowed the 4th fewest points and yards per game. The Seahawks allowed the fewest points (15.9), followed by the Chiefs and Lions, both at 17.6 followed by the Chiefs and the Lions. The Seahawks also allowed the fewest yards (by quite a bit, 267 yards per game compared to the second place Lions at 300.9) The Bills also led the league in sacks, forced a ton of turnovers, and were on the field more often than the Seahawks were (almost 3 minutes on average per game). They're also getting Kiko Alonso back next year too to add to the linebacking corps. Getting back to the playoffs would be a good thing, and I won't say that the Bills defense is anywhere near Seattle's yet, but they will have another top unit next year barring catastrophic injuries. There may be some conflicts between Ryan and Schwartz, but they could also brainstorm and make the defense better and more complex too.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 12:34 PM) Yea this isn't the NFL of 10+ years ago. Nowadays you need a top 10-15 QB to get to/win the dance. Prior to last season, did anybody really consider Russell Wilson a top 15 QB? Does anybody consider Joe Flacco or Eli Manning to be top 15 QBs? Those are your last 3 Super Bowl winners, and Eli's won 2. You need a guy who can be an average QB who can win games against tough teams. You don't need Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady to win, but they certainly help. I'm not crazy about a guy like Matt Moore, but he isn't the worst choice in the world and he'd provide competition at the very least, though he wouldn't win a Super Bowl. However, guys like Sam Bradford and Jake Locker have the talent to be the type of game manager who can win you a lot of games, but they're incredibly risky due to their injury histories. Put another way, if you asked 100 people who their top 20 QBs were, I think you'd see a lot of fluctuation between 12-20 on that list.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 11:54 AM) natural gas, forced air. A lot of times the HVAC guys want to do it based on safety issues. It's not that it's a hard fix by any stretch of the imagination, but it takes one person to screw it up and blow up their house to not only make it appear to be a rather dangerous fix, but to also put liability on the utility company saying "why didn't you just fix it?" It's the same reason that, to my knowledge, most utility companies will require access to the furnace when they do meter turn ons and furnace lights in the fall. Yes, most people could easily re-light their own pilots, but there is some inherent danger in doing so.

I think saying the Sox have the 8th best rotation in baseball is perfectly fine and maybe even a bit optimistic. It'd be dangerous in a 5 or 7 game series with the front 3, but the depth behind those big 3 is questionable. I like what Rodon can bring, but he's still gotta do it at the MLB level. Beyond him, you're looking at Brad Penny (and other NRI invites) and Chris Beck, and then hoping that Montas and Danish take enough steps forward to succeed.

SS, what kind of furnace? Electric, natural gas, propane...?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 10:12 AM) Cutler, Brian Hoyer, possibly Derek Carr if the Raiders were to draft a QB, Kirk Cousins, lots of potential retreads like Sam Bradford, Jake Locker. Not spectacular options but maybe something could build with in the right system? That's exactly it. With a defense as talented as their's they don't need one of the best QBs in the league, they need a guy who can move the chains, keep the offense on the field, and keep the defense fresh.

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 09:39 AM) Well, I am going by the eye test, which was admittedly a small sample size. But he looked like a big lumbering linebacker out there. I certainly would want him no where near the SOX roster. A big lumbering linebacker is a hell of a lot better than a clueless marshmallow. Viciedo, over the last two years, has morphed into one of the worst defensive outfielders I've seen. He was fairly competent from what I saw in 2012, but it's been borderline disastrous since.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 09:30 AM) What qb's could they possibly bring in? There is no good ones out there. Only thing I could see them do is possibly draft someone like Bryce Petty in the second round. That's the biggest problem, and really you're hoping to hit on Petty or hoping Hundley falls (and I think some team will take a shot on him in the 1st, so he's not going to last that long anyways). I think even a guy like Matt Moore is an option if he wants to give it another chance at starting though. QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 09:37 AM) u mad bro Yes because you are being a bird brain. The Jets and Bills are nowhere near each other talent wise. It may very well be similar to Rex his first two years with the Jets, and that would be OK by me considering they went to the AFC Championship two years in a row. QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 09:44 AM) I heard on the radio today that Marrone still gets paid by the Bills even though he opted out. This can't be true can it? Yes. Very good agent. I'm not upset that Marrone is gone though and Terry Pegula is worth $4.6 billion so it's a drop in the bucket for him.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 12, 2015 -> 09:13 AM) Its the Jets last year(defense is better, but Ryan always coaches his defense well). He just traded Geno for EJ The Bills went 9-7 with Kyle Orton as their QB. The Jets went 4-12 and they got absolutely curb stomped by the Bills twice. The Bills are a far superior team to the Jets at this point and Rexy loves his defense. The Bills are also not in salary cap hell and he has a far better GM giving him talent in Doug Whaley compared to Idzik. The Bills will be bringing in at least one QB and I wouldn't be surprised to see them bring in 2 or 3. It's not going to be EJ or bust.