Eminor3rd

Merry Clinchmas!

QUOTE (chw42 @ Sep 26, 2013 -> 01:28 PM) Carlos Quentin Alejandro De Aza Jayson Nix Esteban Loaiza (if he counts) D.J. Carrasco J.J. Putz Cliff Politte Shingo Shingo!

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Sep 26, 2013 -> 02:36 PM) BAD to be sure but all the same a guy who in two and a half months time hits .300 is doing SOMETHING right, therefore not deserving of an F. He had an absolutely horrendous start and I think his overall stats which you quoted are a wee bit clouded. Still, I agree he was bad. At the seasons start I hoped for a B or C type season from him not a D or an F. QUOTE (scs787 @ Sep 26, 2013 -> 02:37 PM) I think he deserves SOME credit for his June and August numbers. June- .317/.388/.400 August- .316/.359/.474 Even if you wanna throw out his September (.307/.350/.417) due to only having 36 Abs. The fact that he's played mostly 1B/3B/DH does put a damper on those numbers(namely the slugging%) but overall I'm fine giving him the D grade..Though I won't really argue with anyone giving him an F. I see your point(s). On a related note, it's almost hard to believe how bad he had to be the rest of the year to have had 2-3 solid months in there and still to end up with his season line how it was.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 26, 2013 -> 02:32 PM) There are definitely rotations I'd take above the Sox - off hand, Texas, Oakland, and Detroit come to mind, with Boston and Tampa right around there - but it's a good foundation. I think Danks can be a 4.00 ERA guy again, but it's been a while since he threw this many innings. I agree with you on all that. I think Dick Allen is making a strong contrary case because we (all of us) have had to hang our hats on the quality of the rotation as the bright spot long enough that we are perhaps overrating it a bit.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 26, 2013 -> 02:23 PM) I will let you believe that a rotation featuring Chris Sale, Hector Santiago, Jose Quintana, John Danks, and Erik Johnson is average. This is a petty argument. It's above average, but let's be honest, it's not THAT far above average. Sale is elite, QUintana is very good, Santiago is solid, Johnson will probably be solid, and Danks is a disaster that may never recover. A lot of what makes the rotation valuable is the upside of Johnson and Santiago, which is real, but who knows when it will show up. Danks is far from a sure thing at this point.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Sep 26, 2013 -> 02:08 PM) I like how you came up with the grades and as far as Keppinger goes, that's exactly what I was talking about. Because of those months where he hit .300 or better, he does not deserve an F. I think too many here on Soxtalk are blinded by their hatred for him. I'm blinded by his stat line: .253/.283/.317, 59 wRC+, -4.9 defensive runs, -3.7 UBR, -1.6 fWAR. I mean, holy s***.

Can't see any way Keppinger isn't an F, considering he was the least valuable player in the entire AL by fWAR.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Sep 25, 2013 -> 03:14 PM) You would say that. It's only appropriate that his name got me a consolation game finish.

QUOTE (knightni @ Sep 25, 2013 -> 11:30 AM) Too friendly for an ogre. More like a baseball incubus. Incubus should have been his nickname

Lyle Mouton! Ron Karkovice! Matt Thornton!

QUOTE (knightni @ Sep 25, 2013 -> 07:28 AM) Alex Rios appears to be some kind of unlucky charm. He succeeds individually while sucking the winning out of the ball club. He's a warlock! His magic is based on absorbing the life force of his teammates!

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Sep 25, 2013 -> 09:30 AM) Hell no! Why not? It would be an incentive based deal, so you could cut him in the Spring if he looked horrible, and relying on him as a 5th starter would allow us to deal a good pitcher (or two!) for ML offensive talent. Sign me up for Floyd on a 1yr/~$2m guarantee with ~$4m in incentives based on IP

QUOTE (Jake @ Sep 24, 2013 -> 04:48 PM) You must not remember the departure and return and departure of Angel Sanchez Ahh yes. You're right. I didn't remember that. I don't think there was even a yawn at that one.

Largest collective yawn in Soxtalk history?

Wow, what a disaster he has turned out to be.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 14, 2013 -> 05:50 PM) Forced to use a pin or password because of work email.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 22, 2013 -> 11:43 PM) Why does Robin all of a sudden want to manage forever? If his stance has completely changed, my guess is he'll sign that multi-year extension if it's offered again this offseason. If we suck defensively and on the basepaths again next year, Robin should be on the hotseat. He probably won't be, though, cause Sox are not going to be in the news much next season if we are out of it in May. My guess is attendance also will take a big hit this time if we suck a second consecutive season. p.s. To those of you who get mad when I bring up how expensive it is to go to a game, the current edition of ESPN the Mag has an article on best/worst franchises. The BEST FRANCHISES currently (Memphis Grizzlies is No. 1) are ones with very cheap season ticket prices and food prices. ESPN said surveys say AFFORDABILITY is huge now with fans. Fans don't want to be robbed at their sports venues. Finally, I'll be at the United Center this year to watch Duke play Kansas in men's college basketball and Kentucky play Michigan State. I have to drive a car to the United Center and not take public transportation. Do you think a.) I'll be mugged or b.) my car will be damaged/stolen? I have to stay a while after the game waiting for a friend who works at the UC. Will I be mugged going back to my vehicle? Thank u for all the answers. Do you typically get mugged in parking lots of major sports venues? If so, maybe it has to do with what you're wearing or saying.

I hope every team loses all the games

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 23, 2013 -> 11:54 AM) Relevant http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-quality...-cy-young-race/ The more I think about it, the more I really think Sale deserves to win the Cy Young this year. I think there are a bunch of guys lumped at the top. Sale should be top 3, but I won't feel ripped off when he doesn't win it. I just hope he land sin the the top 5 somewhere so people will think to look at his numbers.

It almost makes TOO much sense for them to dump Victor, move Miggy to DH, and hand Castellanos the 3B job. I bet the Orioles would bite on Victor if they paid half his salary.

If the Sox take care of their own s***, the Tigers won't matter. Players don't have the careers they're supposed to as often as you think. Guys break out randomly and they decline sharply when something goes wrong. The Sox are in LAST PLACE. We need to get good, not worry about Detroit getting bad.

Oh. Sorry

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 20, 2013 -> 12:31 PM) Luck had nothing to do with this year. Timely injuries, horrible defense, and even worse baserunning are the big problem. Right, so from a front office/roster building perspective, luck had EVERYTHING to do with it.

Based on what I know about AAAA White Sox pitchers, Axelrod is due to throw a perfect game tonight.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 20, 2013 -> 03:05 PM) This also brings about the idea of "clutch." In almost every circumstance, there is no such thing as "clutch." Guys will have "clutch" seasons but they will also have seasons where they are not "clutch," when in reality their numbers will not be signficantly different. Now, you can surely find areas where some guys are better or worse, but at the end of the day, Dunn's splits with RISP - .224/.395/.457/.852 - and with no one on base - .238/.345/.496/.842 . The other thing it brings up to me, and this was read in Baseball Between the Numbers, which is a BP book, is that Mike Redmond hit like .500 in his career against Tom Glavine. There are extreme sample size issues though, and while Redmond may have had a bead on Glavine, over time that would have evened out and Redmond only would have been a .300 hitter (or whatever) against Glavine in his career. When you hear people (Hawk) say "he sees him well, he's 4 for 9, 2 of those hits left the yard," you should say to yourself "that means absolutely nothing whatsoever because he could just as easily go 0 for his next 3 and suddenly he's not even hitting that well. These two were both way off topic, but they popped into my head right away. Yep. When SABR guys say "clutch" doesn't exist, they aren't saying that pressure and emotion are not parts of performance, they are simply saying that "clutch" does not exist as a predictive statistic. Largescale studies have shown, overwhelmingly, that no matter the particular "pressure" situation (i.e. versus a pitcher, in the ninth, RISP, playoffs, etc.), his career numbers are a better predictor for his future outcomes than his previous performance in similar situations. It's a matter of smaller sample data. Clutch is real, it just isn't something you can use to make roster decisions.