caulfield12

Overall career numbers, no way. Period of extended dominance (see Johan Santana, but longer)...checks all the boxes that he was one of the best pitchers of his generation.

He even included Hawk's TWTW components like "grittiness" and "dirt bag" in his Rowand Tribute. (Well, he didn't but certainly COULD have, lol.) In all fairness, everything you read about Nick Madrigal, he's actually a very similar player to Aaron...with the difference being he has the most advanced bat to ball skills (not power, of course) of all the collegiate hitters in his draft class. Of course, it's not surprise then that he's not universally adored by the advanced analytics crowd. That would be boring, right?

I think he meant on the FA market, where Jones and CarGo and Valencia are the best RF options left. Not in the sense that we literally have seven Top 15 level prospects who happen to play the same position/s.

I don't disagree. Markakis was the best name out there, and he signed for a pittance due to his age and comfort level. Pederson, Jay and Jimenez make the most sense, at least for now. That could change again at mid-season. You also can't risk trotting Palka out there 140 games if you're serious about contending unless Rusty Kuntz (Alex Gordon's coach) has been tutoring him all off-season long. (I don't ever recall the White Sox coaching magically "coaching up" someone who wasn't suited for the OF in the last 10-15 years, through many attempts.)

We don't REALLY need Castillo, Herrera, Colome, McCann, Nova, Alonso or Jay, either (nearing 30% of the roster)...but we have them now, so the ONLY thing that makes sense is trying to ramp up to competitiveness as quickly as possible with Machado in a limited window AS LONG AS it doesn't hurt your long-term (and you can argue trading Bush for Pederson on both sides) 2021-2024 window. That's already seven TYPICAL "win now/all-in" moves when they're adding Tier B/C veteran players in an attempt to build around the Core 4. The only difference is there's no headliner, like a Frazier or Samardzija or Cabrera/Robertson. Heck, Jeff Keppinger 2013 would fit in quite well with this collection of talent.

Where does Usain Bolt rate, lol? He always gets a slow start out of the blocks because he's so long and rangy...but if you measure him (or, let's say, Avi Garcia), he really gets going after about 20-30 meters. But Avi's athleticism is counterbalanced by bad reads/jumps and routes and the fact so many plays don't require a 30-40 yard flat out sprint, the play's already over (ball over your head, for example) in the first 10-15 yards. And didn't the White Sox have someone like Saladino a year or two ago ranked as the fastest to 1B...when there were clearly guys like Anderson, Engel and Moncada who were flat out faster going from home to 3rd, 1st to home or 3rd, etc.

The White Sox have prioritized defense, though...with the Madrigal pick. They could have taken Bohm and "solved" their generational-long 3B issue, right? (Well, we can argue about Burger, but that's another story.) At any rate, without Machado, then trading for Pederson likely makes no sense. In that situation, you can play guys like Yolmer, Leury, Engel and Palka to your heart's content as we finish with 65-69 wins. If they DO sign Machado eventually...especially with a 3-4 year opt-out, then they suddenly have to do everything to maximize their window with him, within reason, of course. That means Adam Jones or Carlos Gonzalez added to a corner OR trading for someone like Pederson to pair with Jon Jay in the outfield. Another veteran starting pitcher (preferably LHP) to round out the rotation (if it's not Hill). Shocking the world and also signing Kimbrel for 1-2 years (this one, far and away, is the most unlikely).

We didn’t solve this dilemma with Mackowiak and Anderson in 2006...Ozzie attempted to bail out a struggling offense in the second half, to the obvious detriment of outfield defense. Of course, the fWAR differences were not as great for those two as these guys in 2019. Another way of looking at is how much better their pitching stats will be (focus on more K’s?) when they’ve learned to pitch with a fear of allowing fly balls...and then in 2021 they’ll have an above average defender out there to rely upon. Really good pitchers always figure out a way to make adjustments if they actually belong in the big leagues, right? And Adam Engel just doesn’t seem like an everyday starter on a team with 75+ wins. Plus, they can always sub Engel in as a defensive replacement when they are ahead late. Plus, in those 40% of blowout loss situations, his D wasn’t going to matter one iota.

I’m going quickly posit a guess you haven’t even watched the movie she is nominated for...she’s definitely no Amy Schumer. She can do drama quite effectively. She won’t win, but it was a really strong performance. UK actresses that are not headline stars sometimes get overlooked, that has been Collette’s fate much of her career.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/collusion-collision-slow-markets-bryce-harper-manny-machado-threaten-labor-peace/

Well, since we currently have a month-long school holiday for Spring Festival, I’m pretty sure I can manage my own sleep schedule...you’ll be happy, though, to get a break when we travel to Guangzhou and the Philippines, so that’s probably when all these signings go down, Feb 4-17.

We could easily have signed Hamilton, though...

Harper to Braves out...as well as Machado to Rangers, unless they are dumping Odor. 3B more logical destination for Cabrera.

Plus, the music and Jon Hamm’s g/f. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/2019-oscars-instant-predictions-will-roma-green-book-blackkklansman-win-185815714.html An early set of Oscar predictions...

But it’s still hard to measure who gets the best reads or best initial jumps and takes the best routes. How many balls did Pederson field that less than 50% of CFers would be expected to make that play? That would be more interesting to me rather than just flat out sprint speed.

Just curious where does Palka rank on that speedcast? The Molinas might be too slow to register, along with Crede and Paulie...

Does that include ordering people to go to bed because they mention HeWhoShallNotBeNamed?

Mackowiak was sub 20 feet/sec?

https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-tv-network-crane-kenney-20190121-story.html A large part of the reason Sinclair wasn’t going to work for Cubs and MLB, beyond the obvious political alliance/s https://blogs.fangraphs.com/a-cubs-sinclair-partnership-may-be-cause-for-concern/

Maybe we need to add Tartabull to our front office, too.

Well, since we wouldn’t need to spend $300+ million on Manny Machado...it’s an issue preventing a lot of Sox fans from sleeping fitfully these days. Thanks for your sincere concern, though. I guess I am also singlehandedly responsible for influencing many to think Bryce Bush will have a similar career if traded?

I think they are leftover rants from C-SPAN’s Washington Journal that thankfully were pre-screened out.

Epstein should be fired for lying about Bryant then. If JR doesn’t open up the purse strings, he can certainly fire Hahn to cover for him but ultimately it’s Jerry’s Show at this point.

Joe Borchard and Josh Fields had great makeup, too. Didn’t help all that much. (Some will put Beckham in there with those two, but nah.)

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/leaders_most_asgame.shtml Other than Pete Rose, Bill Freehan, a bunch of roiders and handful of players not yet inducted...you’re saying that I basically stated he would be in the Hall of Fame. Where did I state that in the thread I started...or anything in close proximity to it?