witesoxfan

QUOTE (T R U @ Mar 24, 2009 -> 03:02 AM) I thought it was funny that he didn't even show up to their first team workouts, sure its voluntary, but still. I think it's kind of expected. Dude keeps himself in magnificent shape otherwise, so it's not a big deal. So long as he's in camp and ready to go, I'm not going to worry about anything else.

man, f*** Japan

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Mar 23, 2009 -> 08:33 PM) Calling it even a "down" year is giving him too much credit. Nick Swisher was simply one of the 10 worst players in baseball last year. I'd love to know what his numbers were if you take away his one good month (was it June?). Going into June 1 - .200/.329/.308/.637 From July 1st on - .195/.306/.405/.711 So probably around a .670 OPS. And you can't simply forget about his best month, otherwise you can do that for every other s***ty player too. Tony Pena Jr had 235 PAs last year and put up a .398 OPS. In 15 PAs during August, he went 6 for 15 (all singles) for a .400 AVG, .400 OBP, .400 SLG, which leads to an .800 OPS. If you take that out, I could very easily see his OPS being in the .380 or lower range. In all seriousness, to suggest that Nick Swisher was one of the 10 worst players last year is flat wrong. Even if it was just one month, he still put up a 1.000+ OPS in June, and then he put up an .850+ OPS in August. Those months have to be counted, no matter how s***ty the others were. In the end, his season ended with a .742 OPS, and he wasn't even the worst offensive regular in his own lineup (Cabrera and Pierzynski were offensively worse, though Pierzynski is a pretty good offensive catcher which isn't speaking in raw offensive terms but rather more along the lines of VORP). Let it be known that I'm not defending Swisher...he was absolutely brutal. Just that he doesn't deserve to be called one of the 10 worst players in baseball. (Swisher actually had a higher OPS+ (given, 92 to 91, but still) than Chris Young, but I'll keep that hush-hush as Chris Young was also a decent base stealer and played superior defense to Swisher).

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Mar 23, 2009 -> 05:38 PM) In Buffalo or NE? Bears open in Green Bay. I love this. They get no in-game practice with their new 3-4 defense and I think the Bears can exploit that. at Foxboro FOCKKKKKKKK

Speaking of sports dreams and those that you can control, just recently I had a dream that I was in the lineup for Team USA in the WBC. We were playing against Japan, and I was hitting cleanup in front of Ryan Howard and a guy from high school (don't know the correlation). The coach announced the lineup, and Howard went up to bat even though it was my turn. I finally told him to get his ass back to the dugout because I was up, even though everyone knew I was pretty bad, and I stepped up to the plate. I have no idea who the pitcher was, but I had no chance against him, and I was late on everything...until I realized that I could control the dream. So I cheated and said that I was still up, and after about 8 pitches, I finally made contact with the ball. The next pitch I turned on and hit out of the park to LF, just barely wrapping around the foul pole. Don't know how I went from not being able to catch up to damn near pulling one foul, but it was awesome. Then I woke up. I've actually been having a lot of dreams recently, which is neat. I've had sex dreams where I'm with my girlfriend, then some random girl, then an actress, then back to my girlfriend, and then on to a different random girl and so on and so forth, and I never leave the room or change the scene or wake up or anything.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Mar 23, 2009 -> 07:52 AM) Beckham played vs. top college competition for 4 years. Granted the Cuban League is most likely tougher, Viciedo is much more raw than Beckham, IMO. Also considering there was a chance for him to make the team this year, it wouldn't surprise me in the least to see if he gets assigned to Charlotte. I'm not sure Beckham was ever considered to make the team out of Spring. It was generally agreed by the people on here that he would have absolutely had to tear it up (like .400/.500/.700 in Spring) and every other candidate would have had to tank for him to make, and those were the vibes the organization sent out too. Instead, he was just decent, and he's going to go down to the minors. I also don't know how raw Viciedo is after hitting decently, and AAA isn't a bad starting spot for him considering how he handled the Cuban league as a younger player.

I was born 41 years after the 43rd President of the United States.

Bills open the season against the Pats on Monday Night Football. TO signing is bad, AS IF

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Mar 23, 2009 -> 12:51 PM) Can you guarantee me Wise doesnt get to that ball? If he's playing in the same spot Anderson is playing, I can guarantee it beyond a doubt. Brian Anderson gets better reads, has better leaping ability, and is faster in the field than is Dewayne Wise. If he's playing shallow, which would be moronic in that situation as you play a no-doubles defense in that situation, then he probably gets to it. A batter gets 500-700 chances to hit the ball each year, given full playing time, you are correct in that. However, of those times, even the best will fail 55% of those times (meaning a .450 OBP), and the worst fail close to 75-80% of the time (which is Tony Pena Jr and hitters of his caliber). Dewayne Wise was around the 70% mark in that regard last year, and he's at 75% for his career. So even when it comes to hitting, he's been horrendous throughout his career. With that in mind, outfielders will make anywhere from 250-450 putouts in any given season, with corner outfielders making fewer than centerfielders. That right there tells me that outfielders have more of an ability to affect the outcome of the game than hitters do. If given the same set of circumstances and the same amount of balls in play, Anderson gets to 50 more flyballs than Wise (which is reasonable, as it means he gets to 1 more ball every 3 games than Wise), do you think that will save more runs than 15-20 clutch hits, any of which could be with runners on base or with the bases empty (because I assume you are suggesting that by clutch hits, this means he's either bringing in runs or starting a rally)? I will personally take the outs. It's a hypothetical question that's pretty impossible to answer due to any number of extenuating circumstances. If Podsednik is terrible, he wouldn't have played more than 70 games for the White Sox, which would then lead them to find a replacement for him both in the leadoff spot and in LF. You can't assume that if Podsednik puts up a .300 OBP that they would have kept him in the lineup, because no team that has any common sense would keep a player that bad in the lineup for so long. So, if I am to assume that, I'll take Rowand's defense because the Sox probably would have then gone to Iguchi in the leadoff spot and could have used anyone from Joe Borchard to Roosevelt Brown to Raul Mondesi to Jose Cruz to any other number of potential players that were within the system, signed and on the AA/AAA team, released throughout the season, or traded. Fair?

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Mar 23, 2009 -> 12:17 PM) Wise last year had the higher Avg and OBP than Anderson. He had 5 RBIs in 7 ABs in the postseason. Overall his postseason offensive stats were solid. You are suggesting that the White Sox start Dewayne Wise partly because of 8 plate appearances in the postseason. Wonderful. During the 8 at bats in which Brian Anderson hit a home run, his OPS was 5.000. Dewayne Wise can't beat that. Brian Anderson was a far more valuable player than Dewayne Wise was last season alone. He was slightly worse offensively and far superior defensively. I would bet that Anderson would get to more flyballs than Dewayne Wise gets clutch hits. That is absolutely the most absurd comment I've ever seen. Good fielding can prevent clutch hits from needing to happen. If a CFer makes a catch that prevents a double that scores 2 runs that ties the game, what is the need for the game winning homer? And beyond that, if there is such a thing as clutch hitting, why is there no such thing as clutch fielding? Do you remember how game 163 ended? To me, Dewayne Wise is a mediocre hitter who's best suited for a bench spot. QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Mar 23, 2009 -> 12:20 PM) And people will get on me for the last post, but I think in 05 our winning the world series was not all-out determined by having Rowand in CF. That was icing on the cake, but we couldve won the title with a lesser defensive CF. No, the 2005 title was determined for any number of reasons. One of them was undoubtedly the defense in CF. Carl Everett? Frank Thomas? Joe Crede? Juan Uribe???? All had very long swings. The Sox were not dangerous 1-9, they just didn't have a huge weak spot at any point in the lineup. I am not about to call Scott Podsednik nor Juan Uribe a dangerous hitter. Juan Uribe also played gold glove defense in 2005. Wise is a bad defensive LFer. Brian Anderson was also pretty damn good in high leverage situations last year (which were sparse, given, but that is to be expected with a part-time player). However, in about twice the plate appearances, he had a higher average and much higher on-base percentage than Dewayne Wise did in the same situations. Wise hit 2 big homers during the year in those spots, and as such, his OPS reflects that.

Calling Poreda up now is starting his clock early. It's not always popular, as the common belief is that you go with the best 25 men you can, but there is something to be said for waiting a month to start a player's clock. I haven't been paying very close attention, and I understand that Marquez could very likely make the team, but why would he not start while having Richard? I guess I'm just a little lost, even though I'm aware that Marquez was lit up not that long ago.

Last season, I saw Floyd pitch above his head for the first two months of the season, as he was getting very fortunate breaks that he probably did not deserve. As the season wore on, regression to the means occurred, but Floyd also developed as a pitcher a little more, and you could see him adjusting as the season wore on. Even though Danks is the best pitcher on the Sox right now, I still think Floyd has the highest ceiling of them all, and if his stuff slowly starts coming back to him, which it looked like at times throughout last season, he is going to be a damn good pitcher in the future.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Mar 22, 2009 -> 10:02 PM) Ah, another Pedroia comparision. The comparision is legit enough, but Pedroia just is the better player. .308 .392 .454 846; .286 .361 .381 742 The first one is Dustin's career minor leagues numbers, who is also two years younger at every stop. He has more power (though not much) a bit better eye, more XBH, a better OBP, the better OPS, and Getz is probably going to be the better base stealer, and will probably leg out more triples. The best comparison Getz has had was a poor man's Pedroia, which isn't bad to say at all, but isn't one of those star-type guys to have, he'll be hella solid for you, but one who you can easily move, make a super good utility man, or future trade bait. I don't want to sound like a Getz hater, and I know for sure playing in another sandbox at our park will definitely up his numbers just like his time in AAA Charlotte did, but Pedroia is just the better player. I love Getz though and if he can even come close to his AAA numbers for last season, he'll be a definite keeper and a nice problem for the future if the sox brass thinks he's solid/serivceable enough to solidify second base for us in the future. I don't see how you can know that Pedroia is a better player when Getz has had all of 7 career at bats. I don't understand how you can say he has better power when, once again, Getz has had all of 7 career at bats. I can say with certainty that Pedroia is almost undoubtedly the better player, but without ever having seen Getz actually play a full major league season, there is no way to know it just yet. For all we know, Getz could turn into the Sox next Ray Durham minus the great speed, putting up 15 homer power, along with good gap power, a good eye at the plate, and 15-20 stolen bases. Perhaps he could be better, perhaps worse. Maybe he's Mark Grudzielanek from the left side. Maybe he is Mickey Morandini. There's no way of saying until Getz is actually in the majors. What you can say is that he has a pretty solid track record along with good peripheral statistics and that, according to those, he should be a damn fine player in the major leagues and it's entirely possible that he could be a good enough player that you move other players around to suit him. He may bomb during the first week. All I know is that I'd much prefer Chris Getz to Jayson Nix, who, outside of 303 PAs in AAA in his 3rd year at the level, has proven to be a mediocre minor league player. Cory Sullivan, he of the .721 OPS in 1024 career MLB PAs, put up a .320 average and .848 OPS in Colorado Springs last season. Mike McCoy, who is a career minor leaguer with a career .707 OPS in the minors in 2700+ PAs, put up an .898 OPS in 162 PAs last year at Colorado Springs after putting up a .723 OPS in 176 PAs for Norfolk in Baltimore's system. I'm not sure why I went on this little rant other than to point out that Jayson Nix is a mediocre player and that Chris Getz is quite clearly the superior player.

On top of those raw statistics, here are some other fun ones Pedroia - 47.9% GB% 18.1% LD% 33.7% FB% 10.8% IF/F% Getz - 45.0% GB% 19.2% LD% 35.6% FB% 14.7% IF/F% Getz was hitting more line and more balls in the air than was Pedroia, though some of those were on the infield. Those numbers, though they're vague, tell me that Getz has a strong possibility of being a pretty damn good hitter at the majors.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Mar 22, 2009 -> 05:02 PM) OMFG... Look, Chris Getz' ceiling is very, very limited. He has a chance to be a damn fine ballplayer, but he will NEVER be an all-star and he if even sniffs the chance of lucking out to be one, then mostly every second baseman has to be injured or us as fans really rally, to vote him in as an alternate. He just does not have the tools (hell Nix has waaaaay better tools, if he put it all together, all-star type player, but he probably just won't hit enough at the MLB level which happens all the time with certain players). Now when Beckham is ready to man second/short and Alexei either switches to second, stays at short, or center and Getz is putting up .750-.800+ ops here then that's one thing. But the sox brass is smart enough to know that Getz is very a very valuable utility player in the future than a regular starter who will still get his at bats in. I see Getz more as a one year filler for Slayer who is just a stud with his bat in a valued position at SS or 2B (hell if the sox even entertain the thought of trading Slayer, his trade value as a 2B/SS dramatically increases and you can get more for him, that's what Tony is saying, which is correct) It's obviously a good problem to have for us next season or even later on this season for all we know, but until then, we'll have to see how things shake out. I want to actually see Getz play during the season before I declare him a very valuable utility man. .302/.366/.448/.814 .305/.384/.426/.810 The top is Chris Getz as a 24 year old in AAA. The bottom is Dustin Pedroia as a 22 year old in AAA, repeating the level. The only real difference is that Pedroia struck out half the amount of Getz (27 K's to 53 K's), but it's a pretty solid comparison. Getz showed much better power in AAA than Pedroia, and Pedroia put up 48 XBHs as a rookie, and 73 last year. I'm not about to declare that Getz will win an MVP within the next 2 seasons, just that it's very possible Getz could be a damn fine starter and that someone will have to move because Getz is as good as he is.

QUOTE (joesaiditstrue @ Mar 22, 2009 -> 06:06 PM) Anyone see the Sox going back and offering him another deal? Not gonna happen Definitely not right now. Danks is a better pitcher but I think there may be more concerns for injuries with him, so they'll let him pitch a bit throughout the year before increasing the offer to him.

it could very well just be that Gregor is late on reporting a debunked rumor

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ Mar 22, 2009 -> 03:48 PM) Sorry, but we don't really know that especially with this changing market. I am aware of much more established starting pitchers getting great deals, but what are you basing those numbers on? What's wrong with keeping him hungry, especially for a guy with such a shaky track record? The market for a starting pitcher who puts up a 3.50-4.00 ERA two years in a row is going to be more expensive than if he's just had one 3.50 ERA year. I figure that's pretty common knowledge, even if the economy gets worse before it gets better.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Mar 22, 2009 -> 03:19 PM) I would have waited one more year with him before signing him to an extension. Floyd can still go either way, IMO. However, luckily none of the money is a ridiculous amount if this doesn't pan out. If you wait one more year with Floyd, he's looking at 3 years, $18-20 mill plus an option worth probably $10-12 mill. Buying out these years now is the way to go, even if it's a bit risky.

I didn't even click on the thread and I knew that Steve was drunk when he posted this.

QUOTE (LosMediasBlancas @ Mar 20, 2009 -> 06:30 PM) I've never thought of CQ as an emotional guy. In fact, I'd call him the ice machine. He doesn't wear it on his sleeve, but he definitely is emotional. You can definitely tell he gets angry at himself at times.

QUOTE (greasywheels121 @ Feb 27, 2009 -> 09:57 PM) They sold me. Love the bigger lady in there. "I love sham chowder, it's delicious"

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Mar 20, 2009 -> 08:43 PM) Funny thing about Brandofan is I actually thought he was a very knowledgeable poster who backed up his views/opinions in great depth. The problem was when you dared to even slightly disagree with him. He also had a problem with the n and other f word.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Mar 20, 2009 -> 03:29 PM) Right. It wasnt like that one time when he was in the room when the declining skills clause was written I seem to recall Corg mentioning something along the lines of the diminished skills clause not actually existing because it was just some propaganda put out by the media/front office and that Thomas's entire contract was guaranteed. He had seen his contract, and no where in the contract was this supposed diminished skills clause.

perhaps I was a little extreme, as I'm in the part of the group that "feels he can be a decent player/tallest midget/yada yada," I just so happen to really, really like the type of player Anderson could be. It still feels as though there is no middle ground, but I believe that's just what I think when really those that like him think he should start, those that don't think he should be traded/sent down/burned alive, and those in the middle think he should be the 4th outfielder. I tend to bunch those that think he should be the 4th outfielder with the hate group, so that's more my misconception. I still think he's the best option for CF but I'm not sure the opening day CFer is currently on the roster.