lasttriptotulsa

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Aug 8, 2016 -> 06:59 PM) By what specific metrics? Didn't you see the study released by the greg775 anecdotal research department on the quality of life in the US under Obama?

Totally thread worthy.

QUOTE (Ezio Auditore @ Aug 5, 2016 -> 11:59 AM) I can't read betting lines. what does this mean? Heavy favorite. You would have to bet $350 to win $100. A +350 would be just the opposite. Bet $100 to win $350.

QUOTE (kevo880 @ Aug 5, 2016 -> 11:48 AM) This is just a thought off the top of my head, but since Morneau has been playing, Avi has been playing mostly against southpaws so he is getting better matchups. He's hit righties better than lefties this year. 3 of his 4 homers since the break have come off of righties.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ Aug 4, 2016 -> 01:34 PM) Again, not the same. If Anderson showed the ability to walk at a 10% rate in the high minors like Bogearts did then this would indeed be a stupid overreaction thread. But as it stands Bogearts' worst walk% as a pro was still better than Anderson's best. So for those in the no worry crowd...can someone show me some players who maintained long careers with a walk % below 6 and didn't rely on power? Maybe it's more than I think, that's an honest question. There's some guy named Ichiro Suzuki who is about to get his 3000th hit and is going to sail into the HOF 5.5 years after he retires. Career walk rate? 5.9%.

QUOTE (miracleon35th @ Aug 5, 2016 -> 12:15 AM) *IF* Pittsburgh claimed Melky off waivers, what would it take to get McCutcheon, who they may be open to trading given the pretty severe fall off he has had this season? Or maybe that indicates he was on the juice last season? He was a .300 hitter last year and he was just benched for 3 games by Hurdle. They are in need of hitting and Melky, I think, could help them. If McCutcheon got back to his old form, he'd look great in our outfield. McCutchen would get claimed by just about, if not every, team in baseball.

Avi has to be one of the most frustrating players in recent Sox memory. You can clearly see that there is talent there. When he gets hot he looks like a potential superstar but when he's cold he does absolutely nothing. He has two months this year with OPSs in the .500's. If he could even manage a .650 OPS during his down stretches he would be a useful player. Hopefully he continues his hot stretch and something clicks for him. Still just barely 25 years old. Since the all star break - .290/.378/.742 The one good thing he has really done is improve his walk rate. It was an anemic 3.9% throughout his minor league career and has improved to a respectable 8.3% this year. Call me crazy but I still have at least some faith left that Avi can become a useful everyday player. While his defense will probably never be good, it has improved each year if defensive stats are to be believed.

Who needs walks? A HBP is just as good.

I think he'll hit much higher than .250. He picture him being a .280+ hitter. He'll probably never walk a bunch but even if he can get his walk rate to 5% he should be able to manage a .320ish OBP. With his speed and defense he can still be a very valuable player even if he only manages a .700 OPS.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Aug 4, 2016 -> 09:59 AM) As far as getting top-10 protection, even that has less meaning for me this year. Is there anyone in their right mind who wants the Sox to sign a guy with a qualifying offer in 2017? Yeah, this. There is nothing out there for free agents this coming offseason. I can see the Sox taking a shot at Reddick but he's not eligible for a QO.

QUOTE (ChiliIrishHammock24 @ Aug 3, 2016 -> 01:56 PM) Sure you can. As long as our bullpen, minus Robertson and Fulmer, implode and ruin every 5-1 lead we give them, it's entirely possible that the starter pitched well, and those 5 runs were scored through the help of Anderson, Tilson, and Saladino. This is baseball, individuals can have good games and the team can still lose rather easily. You must have a miserable existence as a sports fan. Openly rooting for your team to lose is just flat out disgusting.

QUOTE (gatnom @ Aug 3, 2016 -> 01:20 PM) It's worth noting that the White Sox are actually trying to do this, and all discussion of draft picks is purely done by fans. Since most people believe the season to be over, they just would prefer to get better prospects out of the next draft instead of rooting for wins in meaningless games. It's a given that the Sox are trying to win. Nobody is willfully losing; hoping they get a good draft pick too is a separate thing. When you have young players that you are developing like Anderson, Tilson, Rodon, Saladino and Sanchez there are no such things as meaningless games. You can't root for a team to lose but expect these players to do well and develop into what we need them to. Winning and good play go hand in hand.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 2, 2016 -> 09:14 PM) I was thinking the other day, we need a player (everyday player) who is a star to get us back on track. I thought it'd be Abreu, but he appears to be nothing special. We need a player in the realm of Paulie, Baines, Thomas, Ventura. We need a consistent star to pave the way on a daily basis. We do have a franchise in Sale, but I mean an everyday player. Our right fielder says hi.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Aug 3, 2016 -> 08:45 AM) I'm sure they tried. They'll try again in waivers and see if someone will just grab him. He's owed $30 million. If that doesn't work (and it likely won't), they'll do a giveaway and eat 2/3 of the contract. He's only owed $17.5 million plus the remainder due this year. If put on waivers, somebody will claim him.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 1, 2016 -> 12:17 PM) Or they trade for him while his value is low, he has a bounce back and they trade him for a huge profit. If that's their play that's a pretty big gamble considering he's due ~$20 million in salary over the next 2+ years.

Puig only has three years of control left. Their interest is pretty telling to me that they plan on competing next year and pretty much signals zero chance at a complete rebuild. It would make zero sense to trade Sale and Quintana and then turn around and trade for Puig.

QUOTE (Insp @ Jul 31, 2016 -> 03:02 PM) Why is Ventura keeping Rodon in when Rodon has shown that he does not have it today? He was pretty damn good from the 2nd on.

I think the Sox are going to plan on competing next year so there won't be any huge moves to the core (Sale, Q, Rodon, Eaton, Anderson, Abreu). I think there is a very good chance that Robertson will get traded and I think if they can get anything for Gonzalez they will probably take it. Duke could possibly get traded as well as he should have at least a little value. If Robertson gets traded, Jones should be able to step in the closer's role and give similar production that Robertson has. With Sale, Q, Rodon and Shields as a front four the starting staff should be in good shape making Gonzalez expendable. They could then sign a reclamation type project 5th starter or go with Ranaudo if Fulmer fails.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 28, 2016 -> 03:02 PM) Arguing politics is fruitless, but do you guys know what you are saying? Not to be a party pooper but Obama's tenure has seen the ultimate destruction of the middle class (the era of the layoff, furlough, salary cut, total change in businesses' relationship with workers; who the hell is hiring???) as well as close to a new social revolution in terms of shootings, disturbances in cities, race relation problems escalating. Inability to get any government consensus. He's one helluva likeable guy and a great speaker but I think he's been a disaster in terms of President. As a person? Great person, great speaker, appears to be nicest guy ever and that's very important in life, but you guys IMO are drinking the Democratic koolaid so to speak. Economically? Are you and your friends better off now than you were 10 years ago? I think the Average Joe is living paycheck to paycheck and one bad business decision from being homeless. Why the Obama love? disclaimer: I have the right to my opinion on politics as much as any of you Obama supporters who probably want me banned over this post. Sure, you have the right to your opinion. But when your opinion is backed up by saying many things that are factual incorrect it is no longer just your opinion. It means you are flat out wrong. Pretty much everything you said in your post, other than the comments on his character, are completely and utterly false.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jul 28, 2016 -> 09:44 AM) Honestly, how far back do you have to go to get a President better than Obama? He beats out Clinton, both Bushes, Reagan, Carter, Ford and Nixon handidly. LBJ has the Civil Rights movement, but he has Vietnam. Dwight would be a good argument. Truman as well. Obviously FDR is often regarded as a Top 3 president, so it couldn't get past him. Reagan? What are you talking about? Most Republicans I know consider him to be the greatest president there ever was. It doesn't matter that he defunded the mental hospitals allowing many mentally ill back on the streets. It doesn't matter that he allowed his wife to have a war on drugs that overpopulated our jails with people who did nothing but commit petty crimes. It doesn't matter that his economic policies led to a great recession. It doesn't matter that he funded terrorist. It doesn't matter that he refused to even acknowledge the HIV/AIDS epidemic until years later after thousands of deaths. Ignore all that and yeah, he was the best.

QUOTE (ronkark @ Jul 28, 2016 -> 03:11 AM) Really? You're putting it on injuries? Yes his stance was different than in his first year or two but for the last decade plus he was the same and never moved. Hawk talked about it all the time. In 2000 he hit .328. In the next EIGHT years, he never topped .277. Injuries you say? 4 of those seasons he had around 600 at bats. Boy, oh boy. Where do I begin? 1. Once you start citing batting average and RBIs without context as relevant stats you have lost all credibility 2. If you don't think that the multiple foot, ankle, leg, hip and triceps injuries helped lead to Frank's decline you are clueless. Not to mention that the seasons you are talking about his declining batting average occurred in his mid to late thirties 3. The only full relatively healthy seasons Frank had after 2000 were in 2002 (still recovering from tricep injury), 2003, 2006 (still recovering from ankle injury) and 2007. In those seasons he put up wRC+s of 119, 147, 139 and 127. In 2004 before his injury he was a potential MVP candidate and put up a 157 wRC+ and overall put up a 131 wRC+ from 2001 onward. For reference, Konerko only once in his career managed to reach the 147 wRC+ that an injury riddle 35 year old Frank Thomas managed and only 5 times reached the 131 mark. 4. Watch these clips and tell me that Frank never changed his stance 1990 - 22 years old. First career homer. Stance fully closed, slight crouch. Hrniak influence not fully present yet. 1995 - 27 years old. Prime of his career. Standing straight up. Hitting off the front foot, back foot comes off the ground. Hrniak influence very clear. 2003 - 35 years old. 400th homer. Stance much more open. Front foot up on his toe. Goes into a slight crouch as the pitcher winds up. This allowed him to adjust better to the inside pitch which he had issues with earlier in his career. Strictly a pull hitter at this point. 2007 - 39 years old. 500th homer. Stance even more open than 2003. In a very full crouch from the onset.

Indians and Red Sox both lost today. The Sox can pull within 7 of the division and 5.5 of the second wild card with a win tonight. Unlike most on this board I haven't given up hope yet.

QUOTE (kevo880 @ Jul 27, 2016 -> 01:11 PM) He would arguably be the top FA pitcher this offseason though if he finishes out the season strong. Could lock up similar money to what he's making now for longer than just the next 2 years. He's guaranteed $44 million over the next 2 years. Nobody is going to come close to that.

QUOTE (ronkark @ Jul 26, 2016 -> 01:42 PM) As for Abreu's bat, not that I'm comparing, but Frank Thomas the last few years of his career was getting jammed left and right and never adjusted. Never moved his stance because he figured he was already a a HOF. And he was. But his descent happened faster than it needed to because of ego and stubbornness. ABreu has not heard the right to not adjust to a league who has adjusted to him. The only cause of descent in Frank Thomas's career was injury. Had he not had multiple season ending injuries he more than likely would have finished with over 600 homers and 2000 RBIs. Watch early Frank Thomas and late career Frank Thomas and they absolutely did not have the same stance. Early on he stood straight up. Pitchers started trying to jam him inside. He then opened up his stance and went more into a crouch and became more of a pull hitter. Your assertion that he didn't adjust his stance because he figured he was already a HOFer proves you know nothing of Frank Thomas. He was obsessed with his stats and would do whatever he had to do to keep them up. For f*** sake the man finished 4th in MVP voting at age f***ing 38 coming off another season where he had a major season ending injury.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 26, 2016 -> 11:06 AM) Arbitration is based off of comparable players. His salary this year is meaningless. They want to know what players in their 5th year got in comparison to the stats that the player and his comparisons have put up. If they offer arb, that is what will be looked at. Prior year salaries are not meaningless. From the CBA Maximum Salary Reduction (1) Maximum Salary Cut Rule A Club may not tender, sign or renew a Player under reserve to the Club pursuant to Article XX(A) of this Agreement and paragraph 10(a) of the Uniform Player’s Contract to a Uniform Player’s Contract that provides a salary for: (a) Major League service that constitutes a reduction in excess of 20% of his salary for Major League service in the previous season or in excess of 30% of his salary for Major League service two seasons prior to the first season covered by the new contract