Eminor3rd

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Sep 11, 2017 -> 08:59 AM) I've actually made posts critical of the board for giving Jose TOO much praise during his struggles. I guess me and greg have been posting on two different soxtalk.com message boards. greg is basically yelling at a cloud, arguing against a stance no one has taken.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Sep 3, 2017 -> 09:15 PM) Literally can't get him ? He can still sign for 300K can't he ? I know it sounds ridiculous but in the context of the highest amount he can be offered it's not a big difference. If he becomes a major leaguer right away wouldn't his minimal salary be added to the bonus pool money and he would be under control for the normal amount of time? A promise to let him attempt to be an everyday player and starting pitcher seems like something that other teams wouldn't promise. Also do we think part of the offers to him will promise to extend or renegotiate his contract or is that not kosher ? Right, $300k is what I meant by "penalty box money." It's possible that he literally doesn't care about money at ALL and would sign for the minimum, but unless (1) the Sox are the ONLY team that will let him hit, or (2) he's REALLY excited about being part of a rebuild, we don't have anything to offer him that another more popular and more competitive team couldn't top.

Or, you're like us, and clinch the wildcard on the last day of the season and suddenyl realize that you have 48 hours to prepare for playoff games that no one p[lanned to have. And then one gets rained out last night and everyone is confused because you aren't having a doubleheader like normal. Been a crazy couple days. Love these articles.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 5, 2017 -> 07:34 PM) I would love Engel to be able to hit, even a minimal amount.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 4, 2017 -> 10:08 PM) Almost all of the mega contracts turn out to be disasters. I mean Detroit got rid of Verlander's contract but still had to pay some of it to the Astros. It's why I laugh whenever they talk about guys hitting free agency how much money they are going to get. The media here hasn't estimated what Hosmer is going to get but with 22 homers, 77 RBI and a .317 average, he'll get a ton of money. Astronomical amount. But after two years in his 7 year deal the team will desperately want to get rid of him. That's how it works. My stance on here is well known. I never wanted a rebuild. I wanted to spend, spend spend and stay competitive. Why? Jerry doesn't care about me paying 30 bucks for parking or whatever it is. Jerry doesn't care about me paying 9 bucks for a hot dog. Jerry doesn't give a s*** about my money; I don't care about his pocketbook. Just.Spend.Baby! Greg. The first half of your post say that free agency is a fool's errand, and the second half says you want the Sox to be nuts in free agency. Can you please explain this?

QUOTE (sin city sox fan @ Sep 4, 2017 -> 02:47 PM) Some of you need to accept the current value of MLB players today. The Cubs signed Jason Heyward to a 8 year / $184 million dollar contract just 2 years ago (and he supposedly turned down 2 offers of over $200 million). His lifetime stats are a .262 BA / .412 SLG / .756 OPS. Avi has career stats of .273 BA / .410 SLG / .734 OPS. Avi is a younger player than Jason was at the time and is having a far better season than Heyward has ever had in his career. The numbers I quoted would still be a good deal for the organization. We would have been wiser to sign him long term earlier in the season for less money (as I advocated), but if we don't sign him this offseason, it will take even more a commitment to keep him on the southside for the bulk of his HOF career. And that contract is UNIVERSALLY considered a total disaster, despite the fact that Heyward is an above-average to elite defender by both scouting and advanced stats.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Sep 4, 2017 -> 09:21 AM) You're right, fair enough. But how long are you going to dismiss the results? The dude has clearly sustained this through several different phases of the season. He hits the ball extremely hard and has the speed to beat out a lot of balls that don't get through the left side of the infield. Let me ask you this: Are there a lot of other guys who have the kind of exit velocity Avi has averaged this year combined with a much lower than average launch angle? And have good speed? Just curious. Honestly, I think it's another full year. There are just SO many guys who looked awesome for one year on a huge BABIP who fell apart immediately. If he has the same year next year as this one, I'm thinking "OK, maybe this guys is just different." But the problem is, by then, he's a pending FA. I guess if he does it and the rest of the team just f***ing shoves all year and looks like a near contender, then it's worth it to keep him and make one title shot with him. But it's just so unlikely for BOTH of those things to happen. Like, he definitely MIGHT be that guy. I'm not saying that he CAN'T be. But if you're running the team you have to look at the risk/reward. He also definitely PROBABLY isn't that guy, based on everything we can measure. And if you bet on him, and he is this unprecedented legit guy, then what you have is one relevant season of a 3-win OF. Which is nice! But when you factor the risk, it's a lot to bet on a good-not-great outcome. I think this conversation is entirely different if he has this success in his first or second year. And, should the offers for him not be very impressive, there is certainly a point where it still makes sense to roll the dice for that one decent competitive season. But given the risk profile and the service timeline, it definitely makes MOST sense to try to sell him at peak value. That doesn't mean give him away for nothing, but the most intelligent outcome would be to sell him now for some real value that can be realized 2-5 years down the line, if it can be achieved.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Sep 3, 2017 -> 05:56 PM) Maybe we have different definitions of approach. Maybe I should 've called it concentration level or hitting smarts combined with a looser/quicker swing from weight loss .You just cant pick out sabre stats and say his approach is the same because so much goes into it when there is a drastic change in results not just luck . Haven't defenses in MLB evolved to eliminate luck as much as possible ? We might be able to say it will be a career high in BABIP but he's hitting the ball all over the field so defenses have trouble with him. His improved speed has led to quite a few infield hits. I am at a disadvantage because I don't analyze the things you do. I only know what I observe and my understanding of the game. And right now Avi has made the necessary changes in many areas to improve his overall game. That cannot be denied and I hope that evolution continues even if an unusually high BABIP does not. I just hate the term luck when anyone talks about BABIP because it belittles the players very hard work to improve. QUOTE (iamshack @ Sep 3, 2017 -> 06:06 PM) He's barreling up balls all over the place. I know Eminor isn't high on his plate discipline, but his approach is just fine. His problem is the launch angle really results in a lot of singles, which limits his value as a corner outfielder. QUOTE (iamshack @ Sep 3, 2017 -> 06:06 PM) He's barreling up balls all over the place. I know Eminor isn't high on his plate discipline, but his approach is just fine. His problem is the launch angle really results in a lot of singles, which limits his value as a corner outfielder. So what part of his approach do you like? He swings at terrible pitches and maintains a groundball swing path after five full seasons. "Barreling" the ball isn't an "approach," it's a "result." He's succeeding despite doing things that don't usually lead to success. Again, he may surprise us all and be the first guy ever to sustain a .390+ BABIP, but would you bet on it? He may finally learn to hit for 25+ HR power, but there's nothing to suggest he will at this point. A 3 win player is a nice player to have around. but if .395 BABIP Avi is a 3 win player, then normalized Avi is, AT BEST, league average. There's nothing wrong with a league average player, but you don't build around him when he's a year away from free agency. Look, I'm open to finding some evidence of something sustainable that changed with him -- I've just yet to see it. I just want what's best for this team and everything I've seen says is telling me this guy is a flash in the pan.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Sep 3, 2017 -> 03:54 AM) Don't really agree with the strictly artificial. If it was so easy a lot more guys would be hitting .320 but hardly any do among the so many talented ball players in MLB. Is Avi the only one being so lucky or is it a product of hard work and making adjustments to his approach . I'm sure he's hitting the ball harder, and that's good. But his approach hasn't changed much at all -- he's still swinging at more than 40% of the non-strikes he sees, where league average has dipped below 30%. His BABIP is .395 and literally leads the entire MLB. The last time someone ended a season with a BABIP in the .390 range was... Chris Johnson in 2013. No one (in the modern era at least) has ever repeated something like that. Avi has maxed out the level of productivity he can achieve while maintaining his terrible approach to hitting -- and the result is a ~3.0 WAR player. I'll admit that I didn't think he had this in him, and I suppose it's possible for him to repeat against the odds, but it would make him the first person ever to do it. Add the fact that his service time is running out, and the correct move is absolutely to try to sell high. The chance that it turns out burning us is non-zero, but it's extremely small.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 31, 2017 -> 05:55 PM) We certainly don't know for sure that either the Dodgers or Yankees will decide to get under the Tax this year. One of them wins the World Series and that could change their thinking for next year. They're both in position to, but they may throw that out the window as well. Money shouldn't matter -- the most he can get if he comes this year or next is something like $8m. He turned 23 this year.

Unless he signs for penalty-box money, the Sox literally can't get him because they blew past the cap with Robert. I don't think he'll sign anywhere that he can't hit, and I don't think it's likely that a team will let him play in the field. IMO, the early frontrunners have to be Texas and NYY. But who knows -- anything can happen.

Why is everyone acting like we're in a rush to lock in roles or something?

And a Texas team bails the Tigers out of another albatross contract. This sucks. They're supposed to have to suffer for the win-now moves, but they keep finding someone to overpay for the back ends of these contracts. What's next, a legit prospect for Jordan Zimmermann?

#afternoondelight

No surprise. They consciously chose Luis Robert. And as much as I want Otani, I'm totally okay with the decision, because the Sox weren't going to be able to be anything other than extreme longshots to land Otani anyway. I've been following Japanese baseball the past several years, and I've seen a decent amount of Otani (I subscribe to Pacific League TV, their online streaming service). He is no joke as a hitter. If there's ever someone who could legitimately make a non-gimmick run at two-way player, it's him. The word on him has ALWAYS been that he doesn't care about the money and he just wants to compete at the highest level. Some may remember also that the DOdgers actually agreed to terms with him as an amateur out of High School, but there was a fair amount of controversy, as the NPB agreed to the posting system partly so that MLB teams would NOT poach all of their best talent before it had a chance to blossom in Japan. Supposedly, Hokkaido convinced Otani to back out of the Dodgers offer on the strength of two primary conditions: (1) Otani would be allowed to be a two-way player, and (2) when Otani decided he was ready to jump to the MLB, Hakkaido would let him go, no questions asked. All signs are pointing that if he feels he's ready, he WON'T wait until he's 25 and can sign a FA deal. And if that's true, every team not in IFA-penalty prison will have the cash to sign him, so he'll be able to choose exactly where he wants to play. Some say he prefers the west coast, some say hge prefers the cache of the Yankees, others say he'll go to whoever let's him hit. Regardless, unless the White Sox were the only team willing to let him hit, it doesn't seem like they would have anything at all to offer that another team couldn't beat. They wouldn't be able to outspend anyone because of the new CBA. So, I think it made total sense for them to focus on the Latin American stud, where they had a pipeline and community to lure him in, and they were able to force the issue with a big check. Too bad -- Otani is going to be fun. But they made the right call, IMO.

If Kopech forces his way into the MLB rotation next year, even EARLY next year, fine. If Kopech is in the MLB rotation on Opening Day, the White Sox are stupid. Service time is important.

Rob Brantly has been just demolishing the IL all year. I'm mildly excited to see if he finally turned a corner.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Aug 22, 2017 -> 06:16 PM) Eh, he's 28. At this point, I think he's just a good AAA catcher/potential ok MLB backup, regardless of how well he hits in the minors. Right, probably, but Kevan Smith is 29. I'd rather see if Brantly can be a platoon piece than give pending FA journeyman Soto ABs in September. The only reason I can think of to play Soto is to do him a favor to show he's healthy going into FA.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Aug 22, 2017 -> 04:14 PM) Forgot he was even on the team, rather than Brantly this is probably your Sept 3rd catcher. The thing is, Rob Brantly has earned another shot. I looked up his numbers after he destroyed us (Lehigh Valley) a couple weeks ago -- he's running like a 140 wRC+ or something.

Surprised to see this. If it was going to happen, would have been nice a week earlier so I could have seen him

QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ Aug 17, 2017 -> 03:10 PM) Even the walks have stopped. He's one for his last twenty with 10 strike outs and no walks. He's not struggling, he's drowning. Anyone still convinced he'll climb out of this is deluded. You don't have to take the exact opposite point either, but now it's time to seriously consider that Moncada is a complete and total bust. It has gotten so bad that the Buxton comparisons are starting to look generous. I hope he turns it around, but watching him play leaves almost zero room for encouragement. You forgot the green font

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 17, 2017 -> 11:57 AM) I wish some poster would make a thread that tracks how all of our former players are doing. I watched Robertson get a save last night. I haven't heard much about any of the former Sox now on other teams. It would be cool to have day to day updates on each of them. That's like checking your ex's Facebook. Gotta let it go man

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Aug 15, 2017 -> 09:06 PM) Thank goodness.

It is very likely that our return will not be someone on the 40-man roster.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 13, 2017 -> 10:37 PM) Guys, I didn't believe it before, but now I am sure of it - the White Sox are in full on rebuild mode. I thought with a young group of fire throwers in the bullpen and a veteran saddled rotation, along with a rejuvenated offense, the Sox were absolutely still trying to contend. But, with the trade of Tyler Clippard, I now have absolutely no doubt that they are rebuilding. Killer blow to the bullpen. Smdh I don't think I've seen enough evidence of this supposed "rebuild" yet. I think they're just getting rid of guys that Kenny doesn't like.