Eminor3rd

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Apr 28, 2016 -> 11:53 AM) I'd argue that over the past few years, I learned one thing about those teams, our defense was atrocious. It had nothing to do with a defensive slump, it had to do with us having a lot of really bad defenders. That's true, but it's separate from my point. For example, Alexei Ramirez and Adam Eaton are capable fielders who have had prolonged streaks of excellence and prolonged streaks of bone-headedness. I wasn't trying to say that the Sox have lost because of slumping, I'm just trying to say that defense can totally slump and we've seen it.

Small pet peeve, not to take away from the overall message, but: I hate when people say "fielding doesn't slump." It absolutely slumps, and it's hard to believe that anyone who has watched the Sox regularly the past few seasons doesn't know that.

Awww, Danks

http://gfycat.com/SlimArcticGreatargus

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Apr 21, 2016 -> 03:25 PM) Danks actually pitched decent but the offense remains putrid. Updated numbers: In 10 out of the 16 games played, Sox have scored three runs or less (62.5%) Have now lost three games when holding opponents to three runs or less. Garcia needs to go away now to Charlotte. He's brutal. Mark Danks pitched like crap, defense made a bunch of plays, balls got hit at defenders, and he got 4 DPs. Absolutely brutal to get that kind of luck and not be able to score enough runs.

Gotta be patient here

God forbid anyone ever be on base.

God damn it

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 21, 2016 -> 12:59 PM) In this game: two struggling offenses make two terrible pitchers look adequate. You get the sense that the other shoe is going to fall at any moment.

Basically, a Danks start is like 6 rounds of Russian Roulette. Dudes are gonna be on base, the ball is going to get hit hard. How many times in a row can it be hit right at an infielder? Enough to give the bullpen a chance to win?

Danks is trash at this point. I hate to say it. He has to air it out to touch 89, and it costs him all his control.

Weaver throws like 75 mph now. I've gotta believe he's going to start getting hammered. Might as well be today.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Apr 15, 2016 -> 11:17 PM) Austin Jackson improved 2 positions defensively. Eaton's a pretty nifty RF. I was thinking the same thing tonight on several occasions.

QUOTE (daggins @ Apr 15, 2016 -> 08:41 PM) Chris wants that CY. He can taste it. He'll have to outpitch Matt Albers.

If this wasn't a hard pass before the shoulder injury, it absolutely is now.

Haha

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Apr 14, 2016 -> 10:06 AM) Let's not pretend that Avi hasn't shown flashes in the past to show that maybe we shouldn't write him off at 24 years old. I think people forget how young he still is. He also had a fairly major injury that really hampered his development. From the time the Sox acquired him until his injury he had a .298/.332/.450 slash with 162 game averages of 23 HRs and 81 RBIs over roughly 200 PAs as a 22 year old. Sure he had a bad year last year but I'm not ready to write him off. Last year everyone thought Trayce Thompson was going to be our savior. Apparently everyone forgets that TT is older than Avi and put up an OPS that was 200 points less than what Avi did in AAA. TT is a plus defender and baserunner. That cherry-picked slash line doesn't float when it's attached to one of the worst corner OF defenders in the majors. I really don't know that he HAS shown flashes of anything. He's had a good game here and there, sure, but there's been no significant stretch of time where he's been even above replacement level. I get that he's athletic and has upside -- we all do -- but the reason this thread was started isn't because of a bad 8-game stretch, it's because of a bad 250-game stretch.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Apr 14, 2016 -> 08:43 AM) It seems like Eaton will be our only "everyday" outfielder with Melky/Jackson/Garcia/Shuck/Sands sharing 2 OF spots and DH. Indeed. Seeing more and more teams move to this model.

QUOTE (VAfan @ Apr 13, 2016 -> 04:31 PM) As much as everyone wants to wail on Avisail, I think you have to take his slow start in context of how other players on the team are hitting. Garcia's OPS of .530 is actually AHEAD of Brett Lawrie .516 and Jimmy Rollins .505, and part time guys Navarro and Shuck, and he's not far behind Alex Avila. Only 2 hitters are excelling for the Sox -- Eaton and Abreu. EVERYONE ELSE is below where we would hope they will be on the season. The problem with Garcia isn't so much the slow start to the season as much as it is the slow start to his entire career.

Ump was legit bad.

Yeah, good riddance.

Guys we didn't f***ing DFA Trayce Thompson, we traded him for Todd Frazier. The fact that we needed a third baseman more than literally anything else and the price was Trayce Thompson does NOT mean that the White Sox think Trayce Thompson sucks.

None of these are solutions. The front office doubled down of the Garcia bet, now they have to see if it pays off. If it doesn't, hopefully it won't have dragged the team out of contention and they can expend resources to replace him in July.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Apr 11, 2016 -> 01:33 PM) The number being used ("over 3") is 3.57. 3.57 is definitely not 30% less than 4. You're also assuming that he never improves. (Since OP said he doesn't put up a season as good as 2014 Rollins even at full ceiling, and someone decided to make WAR the only stat being talked about) Ok, well it definitely is still 15% less. And you could remove that line and still have all the same arguments. I would agree with the sentiment of the poster that Saladino has shown us literally nothing to indicate that he has a 4WAR season in him somewhere. It's possible he reaches 4WAR in the same way that it's possible that literally any player reaches 4WAR, which is in the instance that players sometimes miraculously get a lot better. One partial season of defensive data (that takes about three full seasons to become reliably predictive) does nothing to change that. OP's point is correct: even acknowledging Rollins' age and decline, it's far more likely that Rollins bounces back to a level he's reached several times in the past than it is that Saladino reaches a height several times higher than has been indicated by anything he's ever done.