caulfield12

I said "compelling argument," not that I personally agreed. Jordan was a better defensive player, and at his peak was Defensive Player of the Year...we can't say the same thing about James, sometimes he's great and sometimes he's disinterested, depending on his motivation and the situation. MJ would just strip away your manhood as a defender. LeBron wants to win, but Jordan had such sheer force of will to win in any and everything he competed in, the most competitive athlete I've even seen in my lifetime, along with Tiger Woods from 1997-2006/07. Now, of course he had Pippen, Grant and later Rodman, but that doesn't take away from his greatness IMO. And Jordan hit so many freakin' clutch shots with that line drive jumper of his, going all the way back to the National Championship game in 1982. There's no doubt who I would choose to take the ball with 10-12 seconds left on the shot clock. Jordan would never, ever defer in that situation, he would figure out someway to get the ball in the hole.

And putting up those numbers playing 81 games per year at Safeco makes it even MORE impressive. Nobody can match Boston, but Seattle is finally living up to expectations that went with the Cano and Cruz signings last year. They just needed the starting pitching to go with the offense and defense.

To me, THE DECISION, and it wasn't his idea surely but he went along with it...will always be negatively associated with LeBron. I've always admired him as an incredible athlete who can do things at that size that nobody has ever done, especially from a passing standpoint (ala Magic Johnson but that's a bad comp) as well as his sheer will to get through traffic jams and power to the rim. Like MJ, he's worked extremely hard to make his outside jump shooting game a legit weapon when needed. LeBron's happiest is when he has a strong cast of players around him who are improved by his presence collectively rather than him having to individually will a team to victory, like we saw in CLE in the beginning and again last season due to injuries. If he wins this Finals and can defeat the Warriors, then you're coming closer to making a compelling argument for GOAT. On the other hand, you have his hand-picked All-Star team in Miami that was forced upon us...not 100% sure that Curry's fully healthy, but this is about as close as we're ever going to get as a match-up with both teams and stars at their peaks.

If someone would have written that Paulo Orlando, Whit Merrifield, Sal Butera, Brett Eibner and Cheslor Cuthbert would be "leading" the Royals into first place as the calendar turned to June, that same sabremetrics person would definitely be counterarguing "regression to mean" catching up to them at some point. Until this year, Butera and Eibner have been more well-known for their "flowing locks" and "popularity with the ladies" than anything they've ever accomplished on the field. In the end, Cain/Hosmer/Perez are the heart of the team now, and the only ones deserving of All-Star consideration despite the likes of Omar Infante and Morales (hitting under .200) being second at their positions in early All-Star balloting for the 2nd consecutive year.

There's one positive for the Mets. They had the opportunity to lustily boo Chase Utley over the weekend when the Dodgers were in town, now they can boo and heckle another former Phillie all game long in Jimmy Rollins.

And Delmonico's had less than one week at Charlotte. If he can keep putting up those numbers for least 45-60 games, then you might be able to talk about more realistically. White Sox fans saw more than enough of Sanchez last year...I don't think they have the patience for another 100+ games of mid 500's OPS.

NO. The White Sox are going to have until the end of June at least...after a good stretch of games against the rest of the AL Central. That's the time when you might start want to talk about taking offers for Cabrera, Lawrie and Frazier. The obvious problem is very few teams want to trade productive major league talent right now, so if they realistically want to compete in 2017, they can't be breaking in Anderson, Fulmer, Jacob May, Trey M. and a host of others at the same time with all these prospects you're hoping to get for Todd. Trading Frazier is basically a form of surrender or White Flag. Yes, Lawrie could play 3B, Saladino SS and they could move Anderson to 2B and perhaps not suffer an incredible fall-off offensively, but there's just too many unknowns in all three of those players to bet on each of them for 2017 with any degree of certainty. A week from now, we'll probably be frustrated with Saladino and want Rollins back...or tired of Lawrie's K's or eye black or pink fangs. We're certainly ready to throw in the towel on Avi/Sands and Avila. Tell me what team's going to trade for Frazier and what they're willing to give up that would help the White Sox in 2017...otherwise, it's not worth it.

Can someone find their respective BAA and OPS against fastballs from RHPers at 93+MPH?

One enigma with Erik Johnson is enough. Let's hope that Fulmer can pull himself out of this and stay in Birmingham.

I'm not saying I'm in favor of benching Lawrie, he can actually dial it up and hit really good FB's unlike some of our other bottom of the order hitters. If Ventura's made up his mind before tonight's game that Rollins will play and he already announced it publicly, don't see him going back on that. Could have just as easily said you DH Frazier and play Saladino at 3B but we're in an NL park and definitely need the threat of Todd's power bat in the middle of the line-up. Same thing with sitting Frazier, not when he's leading MLB in homers and Abreu's continuing his disappearing power act. You could also play Tyler in LF, move Eaton to CF (or use Shuck there) and Melky back in RF.

FRI Jordan Zimmerman vs. Carlos Rodon SAT Justin Verlander vs. Chris Sale SUN Anibal Sanchez vs. Jose Quintana Absolutely need to take 2/3 and send a message to the rest of the AL Central we're not going to be rolled over by everyone but the Twins. Indians and Royals have a pretty big four game series starting on THURS in CLEVE.

On the other hand, the team just seems to win when he's on the mound. There's no quantifying it. Right now, it's probably a toss-up. Guess it doesn't really matter, since Shields isn't going anywhere after giving up 10 runs today in a pitcher-friendly SAFECO. Ranaudo's also been impressive enough desperation pitching trades aren't necessary at the moment.

It really sucks to be celebrating a victory and already arguing/debating about why in God's name Saladino isn't being given the opportunity to continue his excellent stretch of play!!! Another thing he has shown is turning on (at least fouling off) some pretty good fastballs during this streak. He has a really quick bat when things are going well and he's in an offensive rhythm.

The problem with all of those guys like Coats/Hayes/Delmonico...is that we need a CF if Jackson's going to be out long/er-term. Replacing Avi Garcia or platooning him with a LHB, that's another issue altogether.

Rangers are going to have to think long and hard if they want to trade Profar and Gallo for another starting pitcher. Tough call. As long as they're in 1st place, they won't have the pressure to do so. But the Mariners are giving them a run for their money so far. Yet another injury to the Royals. Brett Eibner had to taken off the field on a stretcher after going after Brad Miller's triple in LF. Jorge Bonifacio or perhaps Hunter Dozier would be the next man up. Left lateral ankle sprain, no knee damage.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/batvspitch/_...8/jimmy-rollins Rollins is just 1/8 career-wise against deGrom, a walk and two K's. That's definitely not a compelling reason for him to be out there tomorrow. It's not like Saladino's the catcher and needs rest in a getaway afternoon day game to finish the series. http://thebaseballcube.com/players/profile...=Tyler-Saladino Tyler has played 69 career games at 2B, 437 at SS, 65 at 3B, 12 at 1B and 8 in LF.

How do you not at least have Saladino playing 2B tmrw? Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

Looks like they've found a formula for the late innings. Putnam instead of Albers.

Here we go again, 9th inning and a lead...is this the night the Sox can finally get over their current mental block?

That brings (a slumping) Cespedes into play in the bottom of the 9th. Walker 4th...

Flores, Plawecki and Ty Kelly coming up. All three at .202 or lower. Let's go, Nate.

We can pass the Indians again. YAY!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 31, 2016 -> 07:48 PM) Nice to know you have quit on two guys who aren't even a combined 50 years old yet. There's quite a bit of territory between "quitting on them" and not expecting anything above a 650ish OPS in the future. They are/should be the last guy on a really good playoff team.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ May 31, 2016 -> 07:46 PM) Are you overreacting to one bad save or do you think that the Sox have a tall task in the ninth? It's hard to tell. Maybe he'll be fine. Actually, it seems or feels like Robertson has struggled at times with bottom of the line-up hitters more than the top or heart of the order. Plus, he's pitching in NYC again, that should give him some added adrenaline.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 31, 2016 -> 07:42 PM) What are irrelevant to the discussion for $1000 Alex? They're GRINDY. The problem isn't producing enough grinders, it's not producing enough studs. We have had enough Carlos Sanchezes and Micah Johnsons recently.