chw42

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 2, 2010 -> 04:19 PM) His weakness seems to be the outside breaking stuff...which is not uncommon, as you said. The good thing is, he does actually get his bat on those balls quite often. But if he could just lay off them a bit more...he does seem to lay off stuff inside fairly well, but that could be because he likes to dive across the plate a bit. He seems to have a lot of success on lower pitches in the zone, from what I've seen. He ends up golfing those a lot, which is why he hits a good amount of line drives. The thing with Viciedo is that he makes contact with 69% of the pitches out of the zone, which is above average. That may be a good thing or a bad thing, since pitches out the zone usually mean ground balls or pop ups. There's a growing process with these younger Cuban players. Alexei was pretty much the same when he first got here. Let's hope Dayan learns and progresses to draw more walks like Alexei did last year.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Aug 2, 2010 -> 03:39 PM) 432 players with at least 60 PA this season: Swing% 61.4% Francoeur 60.5% Jake Fox 60.0% Vlad 59.6% Delmon 58.4% Ivan 58.2% Chris Johnson 58.0% Dayan 57.7% Mike Sweeney 57.5% John Buck 57.2% Boesch 57.1% Stavinoha He has the 30th highest "out of zone swing%" out of those 432 this season (AJ's 10th) At least my observations that he wasn't as bad as A.J. at pitch recognition were right.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Aug 2, 2010 -> 03:52 PM) For anyone curious of Edwin Jackson's inherited runners numbers this season, they're incredibly tame: (1st/2nd/3rd = where Edwin left the runner) 1 IR 1 IS (1 out, 1st) 1 IR 0 IS 1 IR 1 IS (1 out, 2nd) 1 IR 0 IS 1 IR 0 IS 2 IR 0 IS 1 IR 1 IS (0 out, 2nd) 3 IS/ 8 IR Completely eliminate those 3 runs and his ERA is still about five. You would have thought the bullpen screwed him more. It's more or less his doing. That Arizona defense behind him is also pretty decent. Johnson and Reynolds have had pretty good years (for them) defensively. Their infield UZR isn't any lower than ours.

It's certainly nice of the Heat to fire 30 people in this economy when they were clearly going to be extremely well off. More reason to hate them.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Aug 2, 2010 -> 02:42 PM) People keep talking about his lack of plate discipline. Is it really the case though or do people just like throwing around the term because nothing is more fun than finding something criticize and/or nitpick at? The guy isn't a strikeout machine and makes contact; often solid contact. I haven't seen him chase too many pitches or look foolish too often yet up there. Just because he likes to swing at often one of the first good pitches he gets, that doesn't necessarily mean he lacks plate discipline. He's the kind of hitter we want swinging, trying to drive in runs. We don't need him up there trying to get on base ala a lead off hitter or waiting up there to give the guys in front of him a chance to swipe a bag. He doesn't walk, but he hasn't exactly looked like a guy who doesn't know where the strike zone is either. The lack of discipline is true. He swings at nearly 40% of pitches outside of the zone, that's pretty bad, but not unexpected.

Happy birthday guys.

The issue with ERA+ is that it takes defense into account, which is a incredibly big factor if you think about it. It's nice that it adjusts for parks and league, but it's not exactly a great indicator of talent with a smaller sample size. If we're talking ERA+ over 10 years, then it becomes extremely accurate. However, if we're looking at it over a time period of 5 months, I'm not so sure it would be a great measure.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 2, 2010 -> 02:22 PM) The problem with that is then the Mets are basically paying out $40-45 million a year just to Jake Peavy and Johan Santana...and they still have no OFs worth a damn, especially if you assume Beltran will suffer another semi-major injury as he always does. I don't think such a trade is worth it for the Mets... Yeah, I don't think the Mets would do such a thing, but if it were up to Kenny, I wouldn't be surprised if he thought about it.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 2, 2010 -> 10:44 AM) AL Central waiver candidates per MLB Traderumors. Interesting that they brought up Peavy's name. I never really considered that as an option. If the Sox brass feel that he may never be the same pitcher again maybe they try to unload him? And it makes the Jackson deal even more interesting. Somebody over at another forum brought up the idea of Jason Bay for Jake Peavy. Both make a similar amount of money over the next couple of years, Bay has an extra year of obligation. Depending on how Jackson progresses, I wouldn't be all that against such a swap.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 2, 2010 -> 01:45 PM) Corey Hart signs a 3 year extension through 2013. Pretty good deal for Milwaukee. Even if Hart isn't this good over the next three years, having him at around $9 million per is pretty damn good.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 2, 2010 -> 02:02 PM) Big surprise that ESPN's new power rankings still have Boston ahead of us. It's because they're Boston.

Just looked over our schedule. I think 18-10 or 19-9 are possible for what we can achieve for the rest of the month. That'd make us either 77-55 or 78-54 by September. If that were the case, we'd be in pretty damn good shape. With this schedule, we just have to do what we've been doing. Beat up on the bad teams (Baltimore, KC, Cleveland), compete with the good ones (Minnesota, New York, Detroit). With the Twins' schedule, I'm thinking they'll go somewhere around 14-13. So that'd make them 73-59, making them 4-5 games back by September. I can dream right?

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Aug 2, 2010 -> 12:01 PM) Reading comments is not wise. It's like reading YouTube comments, they make you lose faith in humanity sometimes. All the big site comments are impossible to read without getting annoyed.

QUOTE (Soxman72 @ Aug 2, 2010 -> 12:00 PM) I agree with you 100% The show is even using a ton of stock footage. Many views of the park show a ton of old blue seats. They are also repeating numerous interesting clips from previous shows. There is a lot of filler in each episode and very little behind the scenes. I still think it is fun to watch and I am enjoying them, but I expected more. I really wanted them to get into the Zambrano stuff and the Ozzie point of view, but it didn't happen. The draft episode was the best so far and I am looking forward to the trade deadline episode. I just do not want to sit through a "we love Jackson and we always wanted to keep him" episode. Some of them were from the 2005 WS DVD, lol.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 2, 2010 -> 11:54 AM) Plus Tim Dierkes has some history with Rosenthal...I think Tim interned or something for him. The Dodgers are falling fast though...they are 6.5 out of the WC behind 3 teams...and they are indeed bleeding money. They are paying deferred money to Andruw Jones still...ugh... They have a 4% shot of making the playoffs. I really didn't see the point of them buying at the deadline.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 2, 2010 -> 11:01 AM) And slightly off topic but anyone else notice that Linebrink's last 8 or 9 starts have been pretty damn good? Could you imagine if he had one of those elite half seasons the rest of the way? He's just not as fatigued since he's not getting used much. Since June 11th... 9.2 Innings, 9 hits, 2 ER, 4 BB, 8 K, 2 HR, 1.86 ERA. Because of the home runs, he does have a 5.47 FIP.

QUOTE (scenario @ Aug 2, 2010 -> 11:00 AM) Many people are not aware of the huge impact that Scott Linebrink had on Floyd getting his act together. Both have a very strong "faith-based" approach to life. Scott shared his thoughts, etc., with Gavin at a critical time in Floyd's development. And it has played a critical role in Floyd's new found self-confidence and success. At least Linebrink has something to contribute to this team, which is good to know.

We need the Rays to help us as much as possible.

A lot of those new BlackHawks fans will be pissed I imagine.

QUOTE (Pumpkin Escobar @ Aug 1, 2010 -> 11:32 PM) K. Pavano is having his 2nd good season of his career. Hardly one of the "best talents". I still cannot believe I am reading that. More then once, no less. It's like you'll say anything to try and pretend your point is more valid then it is. And you failed to accept that US, the White Sox, being a first place team, have minimal chance of seeing that "kind of talent" through waivers. Even if we used your cheap evidence of a whole 4 names in the history of the waiver deadline, out of the hundreds of talented ballplayers in baseball today, only Wagner made it through almost both leagues when claimed. Of the four guys you used. Rios, since you missed it, lasted 4 or 5 teams. Didn't see the top AL teams and didnt make it to the NL. Meaning, if it was this season when a guy like Rios was being claimed, a team like Detroit, would be in the place to get him and theyre much better then we were last season at the point of claiming Rios. Dunn, same deal, last 5 teams in the NL in 2008. Didn't see the frontrunner's of the NL and certainly not the other league. Sure Zona was in the race but the whole division was under .500 or at .500 at the time of the claim and most of the NL Central and NL East didn't get to see Dunn because they had better records then the lowly NL West. Fairly certain I can't make this any easier to comprehend. There is no certainty, since that is how this debate started, that a "impact bat" will be there for us in the roll we covet. That role, being a DH, preferably LH power bat. Maybe someone does get out there and i'll jump for joy but the point is that it is not as often as you're pretending it is, nor on the level of which we need. I hope someone is there and if so, thats great but rarely, rarely do you see the most vital need for a team, their biggest weakness, just sitting out there for a first place team to claim without someone stepping in and blocking it. That or the player isn't out there and they settle for a decent player - which we may do, but hardly the likes of Dunn or whoever you're insinuating is/will be out there. I'm sure we could find a minor bat but not "some of the games best talent". Doesn't work that way. Pavano actually had a pretty good season last year peripheral wise. It was a great pickup for the Twins at the time. His FIP and xFIP were a whole run lower than his ERA. That horrible Cleveland infield killed him.

QUOTE (Pumpkin Escobar @ Aug 2, 2010 -> 12:49 AM) Not sure if you've been told or asked yet but if you have comcast and not mlbnetwork you can still watch the show I think. I have MLB so no issues but my buddy doesnt. I was looking literally today at the ONDEMAND, Local section, went to sports or chicago sports, then go to white sox and it should be in there. It may just be in the chicago sports part too, cant quite remember it all. Anyways, you'll see the MLBNetwork thing under the White Sox and go into the shows - it says on mine they're complimentary. I'd assume you can see them then. I don't have Comcast On Demand or MLB Network, unfortunately.

lol you don't want to see Ozzie when he's pissed. He yelled at the reporter who had the mic too close to him after the Jenks implosion in Minnesota.

QUOTE (AWhiteSoxinNJ @ Aug 1, 2010 -> 08:57 PM) I didn't say it's going to be simple, but it's going to happen. And I'll be bumping everyone thread about them crying about the trade deadline when it's the unofficial trade deadline. More and more teams will fallout of contention in the next 30 days. Impact bats like Luke Scott, etc, will be available. Cry after August 30th if we don't do anything. You're making it sound like it's simple because you're so confident. We were all confident that Kenny wasn't going to leave the deadline without a bat and look what happened.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 1, 2010 -> 09:03 PM) Those episodes tonight were awful. Best part was KW's "hell no" response when asked if he thought the turnaround would be so sudden. It wasn't anything we didn't know.

Next week's episode will have talk about the trade deadline and Jackson for Hudson etc. Should be interesting.