Eminor3rd

It's gonna get better, and worse, and better, and worse, and better, and worse before we get where we really want to be.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 15, 2018 -> 09:38 PM) So, apparently so far this year Tommy Kahnle has been an utter disaster with an ERA close to 9. His fastball is down 3 mph and the Yanks are worried. Always Trade Relievers™

QUOTE (ChiSox1917 @ Apr 15, 2018 -> 02:48 PM) The problem is that the league is far past due for expansion. It's now been 20 years now since the last expansion team, and it really should be about every 10-15 years that two teams should be added. Bring back the Expos, and then add one to three more expansion teams and you'll see a reversal of that trend. Expansion hurts pitching more than it does hitting statistics. ...which incentivizes specialization, which leads to more relievers.

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Apr 13, 2018 -> 10:43 AM) This is like someone posted this when Uribe was playing, their computer went down, and as soon as it got rebooted all this time later, it finally posted. Holy s*** this IS Juan Uribe.

QUOTE (insiderinfo @ Apr 13, 2018 -> 11:27 AM) I really don't like him at second base. It's been messing up his swing so much. His trip to the minor leagues hleped, but I think he should go back to hitting right handed only. He was more patient and saw more pitches. He is an under rated shortstop with a cannon for an arm. Why did Ventura moved him to 2b? Does he think Ozzie didn't know is a a good shortstop? He strikes out way too much now. Tony thinks he is gonna come around and start peppering the ball all over the field. I don't think he will every be the same until he goes back to swinging right handed and plays shortstop. Are these the best boards for sox talk? I cna't find the boards on the whitesox website no more. By "Juan," do you mean Yoan Moncada? What is the connection between playing second base and not swinging well?

"It's funny." -- Rick Hahn

Made one trip to Arizona for St about five or six years ago -- absolutely awesome vacation. Recommend it to everyone.

If Boston blew the "good defense" whistle while Donaldson was AB just because he knew Donaldson hated it, there's no way I can possibly be mad at Donaldson for doing that lol.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 1, 2018 -> 09:32 PM) I'm a Sox fan so I go along with what the team wants to do. The difference is I issue blame where I see it. And Shields was the wrong veteran pitcher to add. Why? He stinks IMO, advanced stats be darned. Good lord, how did the idea that advanced stats LIKED James Shields somehow enter into your head?

Too much pop

Hoping he ends up in Japan. For us, no -- he's never had a good season, and there isn't much reason to believe he will. If we were still tearing down and the money was right, I'd be on board, but I'd rather give ABs to our current guys at this point.

There's gonna be a car wreck, so why not cause it?

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 2, 2018 -> 08:51 AM) My white sox fan instincts kick in to believe a pitcher like Jaime Garcia will run right through us but I'm trying to remember this is a pretty new team with different tendencies. Same, same.

I've been super low on Giolito since he made it to the majors, despite the fact that seeing his curveball live and up close last year when he was with Charlotte was one of the most memorable baseball events I experienced last year. But I'm extremely encouraged by the the arm slot change and resulting velocity bump. I only watched one of his spring starts, and it may just be me WANTING to see it, but it really seemed like there was more horizontal movement on the fastball. Will be interested to see if that data backs that up.

Saw a lot of Pinto last year (I work for the AAA affiliate where he played). The breaking stuff never seemed to fool anyone. He gave up a lot more contact than you'd expect given his velocity. Also worth noting that our park is well-known for suppressing homeruns.

The Dodgers are not going to give up a decent prospect for someone to take Kemp unless moving Kemp's money allows them to add another significant player via trade or free agency. If that wasn't Darvish, I don't know who it's going to be.

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 1, 2018 -> 02:12 PM) Heyman sure has tied the sox to a lot of players that they haven't acquired this offseason. Yeah, to me, this is the offseason where the mainstream press, in general, lost a lot of credibility on rumors. They showed us that in the absence of actual information, they will treat speculation the same as they would treat news.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 28, 2018 -> 01:53 PM) Does WAR accumulate the same if someone was playing 2B more than half the time? in other words, are the standards for each position identical? If Yolmer Sanchez had played 3B exclusively and put up the same numbers, would his WAR have been different in any way? I believe it is pro-rated for the amount that a guy plays at each position. As CWS said, it wouldn't matter for Yolmer since those positions are the same, but I think it DOES matter for guys that play 3B and SS a significant amount, for example.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 28, 2018 -> 10:40 AM) https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=...=&players=0 Nunez across two teams had a fWAR of 2.2, but also was not a part of qualified batters in the list above. Only 5 teams in the MLB last year accumulated 2 WAR at 3B. Where is this from, you just said 19 teams had a 2 WAR 3b? Even if they played off 3b for a portion, someone else could not be such a net negative that it drags all those teams down. You can't use the Batting Title Qualified as a filter in this case -- that's always a higher number than people realize. And since WAR is a counting stat, there isn't even any sampling issue by dropping it. Might as well set the PA filter to 0. Which, in case anyone was wondering, shows 23 third basemen at over 2 WAR last year

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 27, 2018 -> 12:08 PM) You are arguing about signing Machado. Do you really think that is going to happen? I think there is a better chance Moustakas would sign for something the White Sox are agreeable to, than the pipe dream that is Manny Machado, who doesn't even want to play 3B. My point was there was going to be a price that made sense. From the get go. You are the one arguing, no, no, no. Making up stuff, rounding down to say he's average. Using stats of players who barely played to try to make him look worse. And it still wasn't enough, so you want to start it again. This is the thing: of course there's a price where it makes sense. You could have said "all I'm saying is that Moustakas' price might fall far enough where it makes sense to pivot from the unlikely plan of signing Machado." And maybe I might disagree that I think it'll fall that far, but that's the end of it. Two reasonable sides to the same coin. You spend so much time trying to find decimal points where you can catch where my on-the-fly, message-board mental math is off, you rarely bother to even consider my point. And so we constantly argue only to find out we barely even disagree.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 27, 2018 -> 10:52 AM) Why are people so opposed to Moustakas, but seemed to really dig signing a 30 year old catcher to a 2 year deal, which certainly doesn't fit with the rebuild? Because it was 2/$15mm, and the only guy who stands to lose PT is Narvaez. I think most of us would take Moustakas at 2/$15mm, even if it meant fewer ABs for Yolmer.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 24, 2018 -> 02:21 PM) BS I mentioned discount 100 tmes and mentioned my term earler. I think if the Sox thought it was OK for a guy to be aound for 2 years and influence others, they may have gone after Frazier for what he ultimately settled. I have said many times it is unlikely Borax would settle for what the team is willing to pay. Then what is the point here? Why are you arguing so vehemently with me that we should sign a guy at terms you don't believe he'll sign for? Ok, yes, if Mike Moustakas takes some insane discount, totally counter to both precedent and his agent's stated intentions, to the point where it's clearly below market but still relatively long-term, then I can get on board with signing Moustakas. Is that what you wanted me to say?

QUOTE (Lillian @ Feb 24, 2018 -> 11:09 AM) Why not 5 years, at $12 Million per year? That would cover his age 29, through 33, seasons. That's still mostly within the normal prime, and 4 of those 5 years are within the anticipated window of contention, for this rebuilt team. It's hard to imagine that the Sox couldn't use his LH bat, somewhere even if it were as a DH. I think it's possible he may have to settle for $12m per year, but I think it's EXTREMELY unlikely he would want five years at that rate. Generally, when guys find their markets have fallen apart and have to settle for less, they do so on a short-term deal so that they can try again against a different market. My guess is he either signs for a one or two year deal in the $12 - 15mm range or a four or five year deal in the $18 - 20mm range. If, for some reason, he's willing to do a long-term deal at a clearly below market rate, then yes, we should consider signing him.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 24, 2018 -> 11:39 AM) Yes. I edited my post, when I realized it. Purposeful deception, lol.