Eminor3rd

Everyone always knew I was just a wite-support puppet.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 08:30 AM) He isn't be ranked because of his stats though. He is being ranked there because of his tools, and his projectability. Personally I would rank Davidson ahead of the guy (and did on my list pages back), but it isn't just because of his age.5 Yeah, like I said, I'm not saying he shouldn't be ranked or even that he shouldn't be ranked highly -- I just can't believe that (to so many of us) he's leapfrogged a bunch of guys that are safer bets with similar ceilings, that's all.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 10:04 AM) "Longer than planned" HAHAHAHAHA. I mean, could someone be any more off base with that comment? We wouldnt even be remotely close to contending if it was "taking longer." Classic Seriously, lol. We have a shot at .500 in YEAR ONE.

Congrats, gentlemen!

QUOTE (southside hitman @ Jun 16, 2014 -> 09:02 AM) http://www.chicagonow.com/future-sox/2014/...ues-to-impress/ Recap posted highlighting Leyer. Also, here's this on Leyer: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/prospect-wa...14-improvement/

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 13, 2014 -> 01:38 PM) In this day and age, top HS kids are just as scouted as anyone else. I doubt anyone wouldn't put an 18 year old ARod or KGJr at the top of their list just because they were HS kids. Same with Aiken or Kolek this year. No reason not to rank them where they should go. We aren't talking about kids pitching in the wilderness where no one sees them. But the competition that they're up against is poor and inconsistent geographically, making the "results" close to meaningless (aside from "he was mowing kids down" vs. "he was getting lit up"). Further, a typical HS pitcher can't do most of the things he needs to do to succeed at the ML level; they're guessing that he can develop those things over the next 4-5 years and turn into a ML pitcher. Typical college arms have one or two things to work on and they'll be given a shot in a year or two. EDIT: To clarify, I'm not against Adams or his ilk being ranked highly in general, just against the idea that he ranks ABOVE hitters we have in AAA who are struggling a bit for the first time. Everything I've read about Adams is that he has the ceiling of a very good starting pitcher, top of the rotation-ish but not a league "ace." Matt Davidson, specifically, has the ceiling of being a similarly ranked third baseman, and he's so so much closer to that than any HS kid that's got 4-5 years of development risks ahead.

Article by Jeff Sullivan about how increased change-up usage may be increasing odds of Sale staying healthy: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/how-chris-s...imself-healthy/

I'd love Martin on a 3-year deal to buy time for the development of the next guy. League average-ish bat, great game caller and leader (allegedly).

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jun 15, 2014 -> 10:40 AM) As judged by Rick Hahn. ...and literally every single source of information we have, from mass media to internal board relationships.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 15, 2014 -> 09:51 AM) This is your worst post yet. Lol

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 14, 2014 -> 04:09 PM) This guy gets waived about as much as Flowers strikes out. Which time did you suggest he get picked up? In 27 combined innings in the minors and majors this year he has walked 43 and had 14 WP. I have a feeling the White Sox will be releasing him at some point. It was last year about this time, I think. I just thought that he fit the profile of what Coop was good at fixing -- huge arm, doesn't know where it's going. Not likely to work out, but I wanted them to give it a try.

QUOTE (Hawkfan @ Jun 13, 2014 -> 05:02 PM) Is he going to use a tee?

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 14, 2014 -> 10:13 PM) So it's only gonna get worse? BABIP typically normalizes somewhere around .300. It's not unheard of, on the extreme end, for guys to get full seasons at +/- about 100 points on that, but usually when they're really high it's because they're absolutely raking and when they're really low it's because they are popping it up a lot. Ground ball hitters will have slightly higher BABIPs because grounders turn into hits more often than fly balls. Beyond those factors, the rest is what is referred to as "luck" -- are the balls a guy hits "finding holes" more or less frequently than average? Looking at Flowers' batted ball data, three things stick out: (1) crazy high LD rate (25% vs. career 18%), (2) crazy low FB rate (19% vs. career 35%), and (3) crazy high GB rate (55% vs. career 45%). By itself, this is good. Basically a lot of his fly balls have been line drives instead this year. The problem is that LD% tends to be the least stable of those numbers, meaning that when it's high it is typically part of an unsustainable hot streak. So that LD rate will most likely go down, and his BABIP down with it since those liners will more likely become fly balls than more grounders. If he keeps hitting a ton of grounders too, he'll probably still have a BABIP north of .300, but since he isn't the "speedy infield hit" type, it probably won't be a ton higher. If you think that he has figured something major out and the line drives are sustainable, then you could make an argument that his BABIP could stay elevated, somewhere in the .350-.400 range. The major issue with that, of course, is that it's already in the .400 range and he still isn't very good. So yeah, it'll probably get worse, assuming he continues to be the hitter that he has been this year.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 14, 2014 -> 05:18 PM) The sick thing is his BABIP hasn't gone down very much in the last week. Yeah, crazy to look at his line and think his BABIP is still over 400 for the year

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jun 14, 2014 -> 05:05 PM) Didn't he tender him a contract this past offseason. I am not saying it was wrong because I think De Aza is going to get hot and at come at least close to his norm before it is over, but his being on the roster is Hahn. If you love everything Hahn has done great. But even Hahn hasn't loved everything Hahn has done. No, you're right, they aren't all hits in retrospect. I'd definitely mulligan 10-20% of them. But I don't think there's anything that he's done that I haven't liked at the time he did it. Each one is a gamble, so they won't ever all work out.

I got flamed here for suggesting we pick him up the last time he was waived for free. I guess now we'll see if there was ever any hope.

Yeah I think we all knew this was coming. You can't BABIP .750 very long. 38% K rate. Woof.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Jun 14, 2014 -> 03:31 PM) Your poor grammar aside, aren't you exaggerating just a bit? You LOVE Paulina? Not like, not understand, but you LOVE the Paulina signing? You LOVE Mitch Boggs? Not like, not understand, but you LOVE the Boggs signing? You LOVE the Davidson trade? You LOVE the Sierra signing? You LOVE de Aza? De Aza had nothing to do with Hahn, and Sierra was a waiver claim injury replacement. And yes, still like the Davidson trade. It's 'Paulino'

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 13, 2014 -> 09:28 AM) I didn't take a ton of time when I did this one, but I do remember debating Adams anywhere from 5 to 9. One way to think of it is, Tyler Danish was seen early-on as a Top 10 guy out of high school... and I think Adams has better stuff and a higher ceiling, based on the reports I have read so far. I think he's got a #2 type starter as a "ceiling", and that's higher any pitcher in the org right now other than Rodon, IMO. That said, honestly, you could slide him to 8 or so and I wouldn't argue it. It's very tough ranking a guy like Adams against a guy like Sanchez, or even Davidson - just so different in so many ways, it is hard to pin down value. Maybe the easier way is to rank pitchers only, for example. Fair enough, makes sense to me. Thanks

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 13, 2014 -> 10:12 AM) Rodon hasn't thrown a professional inning yet either, and I don't see anyone having trouble ranking him #1. The difference between division I collegiate athletics and random High School athletics is massive not only in the talent gap, but the relative standardization of talent and the visibility of both the prosepcts themselves and their performances. MASSIVE difference between Rodon and any HS player in terms of what everyone knows about them.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jun 13, 2014 -> 01:05 PM) I am about to sacrifice a turkey burger. When I do so I would like all you mods to know that I did it because I felt a Trade Winds forum was necessary. A TURKEY burger?! What are you some kinda high-falootin' craft beer drinker? Votin' Obama and trying to take the LORD GOD out of the pledge of allegiance?

QUOTE (SmashROT @ Jun 13, 2014 -> 12:00 PM) The K-Zone deal is a pretty cool gimmick. I've seen the section near full in the two Sale starts I have attended. With that said, it's 980 seats or something. This really has very little impact on the overall attendance. If say, half of those fans were planning on attending the game anyway, what are we talking about here? 400-500 attendance bump per Sale start? Small potatoes. It isn't enough alone, but it's stuff LIKE this that create a unique an exciting environment and, thus, give the stadium experience some actual advantages to other mediums.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jun 13, 2014 -> 09:34 AM) I think it's pretty likely that most baseball "fans" in general aren't hardcore fans, they are just these breathing things that meander around indiscriminately and eventually if hit with enough social stimuli will find their way into the park to buy something. Maybe the Sox need to have a Justin Bieber celebration night or something to connect with all of those kids who will force their parents to take them out to the game and buy them a bunch of crap. Sox maybe should forget about baseball some of the time, just do whatever they have to do to get a bunch of these morons in the seats. I mean like, don't even think about them as baseball fans or even real people, just think of them as rodents, but instead of trying to get rid of them you are trying to attract them. Sprinkle some seed around, throw out a block of cheese, giving them a few hiding places, and let's bring in the rats. Then the Sox can raise the payroll and put out a better product, and I can watch/listen to that higher quality product from the comfort of my own home. This is how we look at it in the minor leagues. Not exactly as "rodents," but as though we're trying to get them to come hang out at the park DESPITE the fact that there's baseball. Winning doesn't affect attendance at all; but tonight's "Set the Guinness Record for Most People Wearing Fake Moustaches Night" is sold out (and I just had a mini panic attack about ten minutes ago when I couldn't find the 7,000 moustaches we bought in the promo closet. But it's okay, I found them). Major League teams seems to have really conservative promotional schedules because the players can be the draw, but as the average fan shifts more toward watching the games on TV, it seems to me like the stadium needs to evolve its model to provide more experiences/food/giveaways that you just can't get unless you show up.

QUOTE (The Mighty Mite @ Jun 13, 2014 -> 10:02 AM) Where were all the bandwagon fans in 2012, we were in first place for 120 days and couldn't even hit the 2 million mark. In Florida, being annoying.

Also, we should have three gamethreads apparently, rofl.