thxfrthmmrs

Both Walker and Smith are doing very well after promoted from a extreme pitcher's park to a notorious hitters park. I hope that Smith has a good last month and a half and start off next season in B-Ham

This has gotta be the slowest combination of runners ever put on base at the same time

Watch Moneyball

If you are comparing Lee to Bogans, then you haven't watch Lee play or you forgot how terrible Bogans was. Lee is a decent defender in his own right and a very reliable three point shooter. The main difference is Bogans was so worthless on offense besides taking a corner three, and he wasn't even a good three point shooter to begin with. Lee is actually a pretty good player in transition because he is a good athlete and he finishes. He's not a great half court player, but definitely a lot better than Bogans.

Apparently, the Bulls are going to sign Radmanovic tomorrow. Something bad inside me just threw up.

With all the attention on Youk, I seriously didn't remember he was on the team. It's like he just vanished, and no one noticed.

If Knicks didn't match Jeremy Lin's offer, it sounds pretty silly for us to match Asik's contract given it would cost us over $30 million including the luxury tax in the third year. At the end of the day. Lin is still a starter caliber point guard, and his influence and marketability off the court is even greater than his performance, yet the Knicks opt to get creative and found a cheaper option instead. It's the New York f***ING Knicks we are talking about, it makes no sense for us spend money the Knicks wouldn't even spend for a lesser player on and off the court. I really hope Gar Forman was bluffing about matching the offer. Asik is a great fit for our team, and I couldn't imagine the team publicly telling other teams they are not going to match him before he even receive a formal offer. The Knicks were even firm about matching Lin's offer right after he got the offer. I hope the Bulls are just using the same tactic.

QUOTE (RZZZA @ Jul 17, 2012 -> 10:20 AM) Bleh. I'm less interested in how good the Mavs look and more interested in how bad WE look. The inability to even have a meeting with Mayo is a huge black stain on this FO. If details come out of this signing and it turns out they gave him equal amount of money we would have been able to give him, there's no excuse for this failure The Bulls DID meet with Mayo in Vegas. And D Rose reached out to Mayo as well. We did try as a team, but it just didn't work out due to other factors.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Jul 15, 2012 -> 12:21 PM) BJax has an even more alarming K rate and plays in a ridiculous hitter's league, whereas Mitchell is doing it in pitcher-friendly B'Ham. Jackson only have 10 or so more strikeouts than Mitchell. Mitchell's home and away strikeout ratio is almost identical. And you can't ignore past seasons where Mitchell struck out 183 times while Jackson strikes out in the 130 range. Mitchell hasn't hit over .250 in a full season, while Jackson has hit .290 and .270. There is really no debate who is the better contact hitter of the two as of now.

The Cubs already have a slightly better version of Jared Mitchell. http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?p...&pid=571804 http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?p...&pid=502200

SEVEN Rookie arms pitched out of the bullpen last night. Eight rookie pitchers if counting Quintana. That's gotta be a record if anyone can confirm. Even when the team is healthy, we only have two veteran pitchers on the team in Thornton and Crain. I will be shocked if KW doesn't get a veteran arm by the trade deadline or waver deadline.

I am glad JFP didn't pitch in the ASG. We need him to go at least 8 tomorrow.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 11:50 AM) Three comments... 1) The Bulls also bricked a ton of outside shots in that series. Bogans and Korver were essentially useless, bricking wide-open 3's all series. If they had hit a few of those, the series would not have ended in 5. 2) I never said they need another Kyle Korver. What they need is a 2-guard (not a backup PG that is never going to be on the floor at the same time as Derrick) that can do a little bit of everything. The ability to stretch the floor is important because otherwise you get teams successfully packing the paint like the Heat did in that playoff series, and they need at least some ability to get decent shots in one-on-one situations. That's very different from getting a pure driver that needs the ball to be effective and would take the ball out of Derrick's hands. 3) The Thunder are basically what you want, but it has very little to do with having additional ball-handlers. Their wing players aren't Tyreke Evans or Monta Ellis types that have to play on the ball to be effective. Durant isn't a guy that dominates the ball looking for driving opportunities. He gets a ton of catch and shoot looks and drives when the opportunity presents itself. Harden is similar. He's not going to get 6 attempts at the rim per game, virtually half his FG attempts are 3's. He drives enough to get to the line and make people respect the threat that he'll go by them. Unfortunately, those kind of multi-talented players aren't very easy to find. 1) The good ol' what if scenario. Bricking open shots happens in every game, every series, more often than you think. If three point shooting was a huge part of your offense, you are bound to have nights like that. It's pretty simple, the Bulls weren't going to win that series with the rest of that team if Rose was shut down. Suppose even if the shooters caught fire, they were still going to put Lebron Rose. With Lebron on Rose, and without that missing guy to run and create the offense, Bulls had no shot. 2) Sounds like you are talking about Ben Gordon or JJ Reddick. While I do see your point, I think the first need for that missing piece is ball handling and scoring, much like Durant and Harden, and the secondnary need is the three point shot. I think you are looking for a guy with shooting as a primary shooting, who can do a bit of scoring and handling, though I don't think that would be as good a fit and as effective in this system. 3) While we don't need a guy like Durant for us to beat the Heat, the guy we need isn't as easy to obtain as we would like, if it was easy, we would have gotten him already. I see guys like Harden Ginobili, the Joe Johnson from two years ago, and even Mayo or Thornton as great fits for the team. They also happen to be scorer first and shooter second.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jul 13, 2012 -> 11:16 AM) It really isn't. People have been asking for someone that can put the ball in the net, not someone that would take the ball out of Derrick's hands. No. The type of player you are describing is more of a 3 point specialist. We had one in Korver and he didn't help in the Heat series because he was a liability on defense. The Heat proved that they can shut down our offense if they put Lebron on Rose. We need another guy who can handle ball and score at the wing position. The reason Lebron didn't shut down Westbrook like he did on Rose is because they have Durant and Harden who can handle the ball, if they put Lebron on either of the three, the other two can still step up and create offense. That's why Westbrook was able to do his thing. We don't have that other guy on our team yet. We don't just need a shooter, we need a wing who can handle and create if we want to beat the Heat.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Jul 11, 2012 -> 10:25 PM) Like it - way to get creative and get it done. I haven't seen the post-AJP catcher in our system to this point, or I'm a long way from sold on any particular guy at any rate - maybe this is the guy. We gotta bring AJ back for two more years, no matter what. It's actually pretty typical for teams to pay for HS players college expenses up to a certain amount if baseball doesn't work out for them. One of my colleague's son was picked in the 19th round this year, JUCO guy, not a great prospect, but the team offered to pay for his college expenses if he quis baseball

I remember this article like it was yesterday. http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/draft2009/i...tory?id=4206996 For once I wish what Keith Law said was true. (For those without Insider, KLaw had Sox picking Trout in his mock, which was a rarity since he always bashes Sox for taking safe college arms.)

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 12, 2012 -> 01:35 PM) His move downwards also reflects other guys moving upwards and other guys being drafted too, don't forget. I am well aware of that. Personally, I would have him dropping several spots from the 4 or 5 spot he was at during the preseason, but not out of the top 10

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 12, 2012 -> 01:57 PM) Despite Mitchell's slump, he's beating him (Saladino) pretty handily on the OPS front playing in the same home stadium. Mitchell's just a much more dynamic and exciting player. 8 homers, all those triples, the increased walk totals....he's getting there, or at least making progress. Let's say Saladino is an "average" 2B defensively. That means he needs to put up a 700 - 725 OPS not to be hurting the Sox at that position. He has a chance, but nothing this year would cause one to reach the conclusion that it's a foregone conclusion he's going to put up those numbers. Will he be better than Escobar? Probably. But a starter? Maybe not. When you have a three month slump, then it's not really a slump, it's more so that he's not polished enough to hit the pitching. Have you looked at his BA for the past three months? He's hit .220, .210, then .150 the past three months while striking out 85 times in 215 ABs. He had only have ONE good months the past two years, that was this April, but he's reverted back to his old self again, albeit showing some improvements in walks and power. His ceiling was once absurdly high, and is still pretty high right now, but chances of him reaching the ceiling is very slim now. Mitchell at his floor will not make it too the majors. Saladino might not have a ceiling as high as Mitchell, but his floor seems to be a utility player at the majors, which is what I was saying. I don't know what you are trying say from all those rambling.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 12, 2012 -> 11:27 AM) We've seen some negative reports on his defense, that seem to indicate he is not even average for that level and his development. Also, while being in B-Ham may take some HR's away, it should cause THAT drastic a split, which suggests something more mental. Its possible the pressure that was added last year when he became so highly touted, then had an extended look in ST, is having an effect. Also hearing rumblings of some other, unspecified issues. His overall numbers are not good, but his K rate is a little lower and his walk rate is a lot higher, so those are good signs. Hopefully his strong July will continue. But having him in the teens on the list, right now, seems about right to me. I would like to hear some specifics about those reports. Coming out of college, he's known to have a pretty good glove and was a good bet to stay at short. Even as recent as last season, I heard his defense was adequate. Most players move to third base from short either because he outgrew the position or they lack the range or quickness. I don't think either scenario applies to him. If they feel that he doesn't have a strong enough arm for short, given his size and quickness, he will be experimented at second base before moving to third, which still makes him an intriguing prospect. The reason I would place him in the top 10 is that he has a higher ceiling and floor than most of the guys in top 15. I would even argue that he has a higher floor than guys like Mitchell and Thompson because they are still figuring out how to make contact with the ball. Without any solid evidence on his inability to stay at short, dropping him 12 spots on the list, given his improvements in several major areas, is too much.

My observations: People keep mentioning Barnum as a 18 year old when he's actually 19 and a half and turning 20 in January. It just bothers me when people understate age. I would perhaps even include Olacio in the bottom of the top 25 base on age and size alone, not to mention that his K rate is almost 1 per inning in Low A and Rookie ball as a true 18 year old starter. I don't get why people have ranked Saladino as low as 17. I think a lot of people have overlooked is his home and road split. The B Ham park is more of a pitchers park, his home OPS is an atrocious .588, but his road OPS is .908! His regression in hitting is more of his inability to adjust to a pitchers park rather his regressing as a hitter overall. He's actually hitting a lot better post all star break. Hitting 16 homers in the W-S hitter friendly park is definitely unstainable for him, but I think he also sacrificed some of his power to work the count, draw walks, get on base, and utilize his speed more often. He showed major improvement in that department this year. His regression as a hitter is overblown by some folks here. The kid just turned 23, provides average defense at SS. If SS doesn't work out for him, he will definitely be adequate at 2B. A middle infielder with potential for .800 OPS and ability to steal 30 bases would rank a lot higher than 17 in a system like this.

Dude, stop beating a dead horse. Your arguments hold no value nor influence when you persistently try to get other fans to feel the same way you do yet you are clearly ignoring how the fans, people who pay the players and made this game possible, feels at a game. Your ideas are extremely conditioned in that you believe that everyone should behave and feel a certain way at a game, and that every player reacts a certain way to certain events. Some times, it helps a lot to take a step back and understand how other people feels. If you feel that you don't want to boo the players, that fine's, I am not asking you to change your stance.

Anyone seen Breaking Bad? (Great show btw) When Jane Margolis died of OD, her father was devastated, and still went on to his job, got distracted by his thoughts, mis-directed the air traffic, ended up killing everyone on the plane. I feel that Dunn didn't handle this properly. The condition of his son is a sad story and no one deserves the fate. However the correct way to handle the situation was to let the team know about it and take as much time away as possible. He didn't just suck for a period of time, he sucked the entire season. He knows it, the team knows it. He wasn't just not helping the team, he was killing the team with his performance. He wasn't just making himself look bad, he was making his teammates look bad, he's not moving runners along, not driving them in, not giving his teammates good pitches to hit because he was historically bad. There comes a certain amount of responsibility when you are being paid $15 million for the year. I don't know how much his son's situation affected him last year, but if he felt that it was distracting him, and he was flat out killing the team, the correct way to handle it is to be upfront and take time off.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 9, 2012 -> 10:16 PM) Players dont have to come on this message board, if they voluntarily seek out criticism and/or admiration, they open themselves up to all of the ills on the message board. As I said previously a proper way to address your concerns is to "write a letter", posting on a message board is writing a letter. If they want to read it, so be it. You could spend the next 200 years debating, you arent going to change anyone's mind. You are making up rules again. If a player reads a message board and see any negativity, he's asking for it. If he asks for it, it's okay that their feelings get hurt. But have you ever heard about players not focusing on the game, i.e. drinking and partying? Or have you heard about players being lazy and not practicing? (I am not saying Dunn is, but there are certainly some Sox players who had been offenders.) If they sucked because of it, I guess they are asking for it, and we should boo them. Oh wait, according to you, we should never boo Sox players. You see, your conditions don't work in other scenarios. The notion that no one cares about how the fans feel at the game is plain ridiculous.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 9, 2012 -> 09:37 PM) Wont matter to me, I like negativity, so feed m. You are all over the place. How do sports shows, which are created to make money, have anything to do with a players performance on the field being impacted by booing? Do you even understand the word "fan"? Fan: A person who has a strong interest in or admiration for a particular sport, art or entertainment form, or famous person. Admiration: Respect and warm approval. If you are there for purely entertainment, and not to root for the Sox, you are not a fan of the Sox, you are a fan of baseball and then feel free to boo/cheer for whoever you want. But if you proclaim to be a "FAN" of the "SOX" you should cheer for them. Since when is cheering a job, lol. So is cheerleading not a job? Why do teams even hire them? So fans booing players at the game would impact a player, but if players come on here and see a fan writing negative comments or broadcasters criticizing them on TV will not impact their performance the next day. Have you not written about anything negative about any players on here? Didn't you say if there are 0.0001% chance that your actions will impact a player's performance, you would go against it? Why is it okay for fans to react here, when we do have players who come on this board? It seems that you are making up your own rules and conditions every time. Honestly, there are so many holes in your arguments I could spend pages debating it. I would stop here.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 9, 2012 -> 09:16 PM) Who cares about how the fans feel, the fans dont have to perform. No one is asking you to go on the field and hit a 90+ fastball, so I really dont care about you or other fans feelings. The fans SHOULD BE CHEERLEADERS, that is the point you are missing. Do you even understand the function of a cheerleader? They are supposed to get the FANS CHEERING. CHEER LEADER The point of a game is to win, if you care about the team, you should do everything in your power to help that team win. If you dont care about the team, go ahead and boo, it will make you feel better, and that seems to be what you care about, how you feel, as opposed to the team winning. DUDE WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM? Who cares about how the fan feels? Then why do they even have sports shows, forums like this, message boards on ESPN? Because THOSE ARE THE REACTIONS OF THE FANS WHO STAYED AT HOME! Don't you think it would yield the same impact as booing if the player comes on here and reads a negative comment about themselves? And no, fans are not cheerleaders. That's why they are different terms. Fans pay to see the game, it's not their job to cheer for everything that happens during the game. Cheerleaders get paid to do that job. I can't care about how the player feels, I pay to see the game, it's for entertainment, I am not there to do a job.