lasttriptotulsa

QUOTE (oldsox @ Aug 11, 2014 -> 09:00 PM) one of which was the last out in the 2005 WS, scooping up a low throw from Uribe. Routine. No. Uribe's throw was perfect. Head high on the money.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 11, 2014 -> 11:13 AM) Here you go: http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?sh...aded&start= That's the one. So essentially 6 out of 53 would have taken Konerko over Frank. That is 11% which is not an insignificant number.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 11, 2014 -> 11:07 AM) Ok, just because a couple of idiots thought something, doesn't make it worth mis-portraying the conversation. There are also a couple of people who think that Ventura has cost this team 20 wins this year. That doesn't mean that it is worth mentioning as a "conversation". If the thought is one-sided, by definition it really isn't much of a conversation. My point is that Konerko was never nearly the player that many on this site thought he was. If you throw out these last 2 seasons, he had accumulated an fWAR of 28.3 over 14 seasons. That is essentially an average baseball player. He only ever had three seasons where he reached 3 and never once reached 4. If you ignore WAR and just want to look at offensive numbers, his career wRC+ is 119. Good for just 467th all time.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 11, 2014 -> 10:50 AM) I don't remember this at all. It happened just within the past couple years. Most though the idea was ridiculous, but a few thought Konerko's supposedly good defense made up incredibly huge gap in offense.

I like Konerko as much as the next guy, but I think a lot of Sox fans are blinded by their Sox homerism. Throughout Konerko's career he's been a slightly above average first basemen who has put up some decent counting stats because he has had a fairly long and healthy career. He's not a HOFer like some think, he's not a MLB legend (Sox legend, sure). At one point on this site there was even a discussion about who would people take in their prime, Frank Thomas or Paul Konerko? I mean come on.

Typical Greg posts. Gives Konerko all the credit for the 2005 World Series, but none of the blame for the Sox failing many other times.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Aug 10, 2014 -> 11:39 PM) To start Rodon's clock for Robin Ventura September mop-up ball would be ridiculous. He is precisely the player who should not be rushed. and you certainly don't waste his time as a bullpen pitcher. Surkamp is a strange send-back, with no other lefty available. If they plan on Rodon being on the opening day roster next year, his service time from this year means nothing.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 07:00 AM) De Aza did almost that exact same thing a few months ago, it is in chw42's avatar I almost think De Aza's might have been worse.

Nobody bunt tonight or we might have a fight on our hands.

Doubt he makes it to the Sox.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Aug 5, 2014 -> 06:27 AM) He's hitting .252 with a .380 BABIP, he will not settle in at .250ish. Have you ever watched a game, or do you just read fangraphs all day long. Watching Flowers at the plate lately, there is no reason to believe that he could not be a .250 hitter going forward.

QUOTE (JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ Aug 4, 2014 -> 12:37 PM) I don't see how LF (Gordon) is a more defensive-minded position than 1B? Guys are moved out to LF to hide because they can stick (similar to 1B). If we were talking CF, SS, or C then that's a different animal altogether. None of these guys play a premium defensive position in my mind (3B is probably the closest out of the three) Just as a reference, here are the positional adjustments that baseball reference uses. 1.C: +10 runs 2.SS: +7.5 runs 3.2B: +3 runs 4.CF: +2.5 runs 5.3b: +2 runs 6.RF: -7.5 runs 7.LF: -7.5 runs 8.1B: -10 runs 9.DH: -15 runs As you can see, while LF and RF are not premium positions defensively that are more of a premium than 1B.

QUOTE (JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ Aug 4, 2014 -> 12:10 PM) how flawed is WAR when Abreu is at 4.0 and guys like Josh Donaldson, Jason Heyward, and Alex Gordon are 4.5+? I realize Abreu is hurt by his baserunning/defense but his offense is SO much better than those three guys that there's no way their baserunning/defense superiority should overcome Abreu's immense run producing capabilities. Are the White Sox really only 4 wins better with Abreu rather than a guy like Garrett Jones playing 1B? Another thing to remember is that WAR is essence a counting stat. It accumulates as the season goes. Abreu spent 15 days on the DL costing him 13 or 14 games played. None of those other three have been on the DL this year. If Abreu had not gotten injured and played those games missed around the same level as the rest of the season, his WAR would be around 4.5. And as Wite said, those other three are plus defenders at more defensive minded positions than first base. That's the big difference. It's not that Abreu is necessarily a bad defender, but he is in a sense penalized for playing 1B from the get go.

QUOTE (The 815 @ Aug 2, 2014 -> 09:25 AM) Can someone explain how his arbitration clock would work if he came up in September? I don't know when time starts and what "super-2's" are and so on. That would be good to know before my opinion is "why start his clock so early, just wait till next year." I think a lot of people get confused on this so you're not alone. His service time starts as soon as he is called up to the majors. A player is eligible for arbitration after he has 3 years of service time and is eligible for free agency after 6 years of service time. The "super 2" stipulation allows for a player to be arbitration eligible after 2 years of service time if they rank in the top 22% in terms of serivce time amongst all players with more than 2 and less than 3 years of service time. This allows the player to have 4 arbitration seasons but does not change the year they become free agent eligible. Here are some examples of what they could do with Rodon: If the Sox plan on having him on the opening day roster next year, which I wouldn't be surprised, his service time from this year would mean nothing. He would be eligible for arbitration in 2018 and free agent eligible in 2021. If the Sox do not plan on having him on the opening day roster next year, but do call him up this September, they would have to wait until some time in August to prevent Super 2 status. If he was awarded Super 2 status, he would be arbitration eligible in 2018 and free agent eligible in 2022. If they do not call him up in September and wait for the Super 2 date to pass next year (usually around July), then he would be arbitration eligible in 2019 and free agent eligible in 2022. I think the Sox best option would be to bring him up in September to get his feet wet and then have him on the opening day roster next year if they feel he is ready. This would give him a good chance to learn through his rookie season and give the Sox a better chance to compete when they should be ready in 2016. If he ends up being good right off the bat, they will probably have a chance to be competitive in 2015.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 4, 2014 -> 09:18 AM) Just throw out the Puig idea. He doesn't have anywhere close to that ceiling. Actually De Aza/Viciedo hybrid makes more sense. The power and speed of De Aza (15-20 homer top, 30 steal top), with the arm of Viciedo (but better, really a plus/plus arm). The baseball IQ of both of them, including defensive instincts. Agreed. Sierra can't get away with the dumb plays like Puig can because Puig is uber talented. If Sierra wants to make it as an everyday player at any point in his career, he needs to get the most out of his talent and not make the dumb mistakes.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Aug 4, 2014 -> 09:13 AM) Even if you gave Sierra the rest of August & September to start and he did well, would anyone here really want to bank on a two month sample and enter 2015 with him as one of our starting OFs? The way I see it, Eaton & Garcia are all but guaranteed two of the three OF spots. If we're serious about competing next year, we should be looking for an impact bat to fill that third spot, not a toolsy guy with unrealized upside. Sierra makes sense as a 4th OF and if someone were to go down with injury, that's his chance to prove himself in a greater role. I know I wouldn't want to be the GM that gave 600+ plate appearances to Sierra while trying to make the playoffs. I definitely agree with the bolded part. I don't see the Sox using Sierra as an everyday outfielder, but in using him as a 4th outfielder and possibly getting him ABs as the right handed part of a DH platoon (or more likely Tank as the DH and Sierra in the OF in those games), they could get him 250-300 PAs over the season. If he excels and forces himself into more playing time, well that's a good problem to have.

I don't see Sierra being a "core" piece. I do see him as guy that the Sox should hang onto. He seems to be a pretty talented ballplayer from what we've seen of him. He is still 3 seasons away from arbitration so his low cost makes him valuable to the Sox. It will be interesting to see what happens once Garcia comes back. I don't know for certain, but Sierra has to be out of options otherwise the Blue Jays wouldn't have let him go. Garcia needs to come back by August 20th I believe, so we'll see who gets sent down for those 11 days before the rosters expand.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Aug 3, 2014 -> 04:58 PM) You think I hate Dunn because he is hitting .227 this year?? That is his highest average since being on the White Sox.... You specifically cited his average and RBIs from this year as evidence he sucks. Now I remember why I stay out of game threads.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Aug 3, 2014 -> 04:50 PM) Also if Dunn was hitting .245 or .257 I would have no issues with him except for his K rate With Dunn's number of ABs, .245 vs .227 is 5 singles. You are going to base your hatred of a player based on 5 singles?

MLB average runners on base through 367 PAs: 219, Dunn 201. MLB average RBIs through 367 PAs: 37, Dunn 44. So he's driven in significantly more runs than average with significantly less opportunities for his number of PAs. So you can throw your lack of RBI theory out the window.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Aug 3, 2014 -> 04:28 PM) He is still horrible.. .227 with 44 RBIs? what kind of DH/1B is that? Congratulations on citing possibly the two worst stats to evaluate a hitter by. Remember, Dunn typically bats behind a guy that has driven in 83 with 31 homers. There's not a whole lot of RBI opportunities left after Abreu bats.

QUOTE (LDF @ Aug 2, 2014 -> 03:55 PM) the injury is not life threatening > yes I agree, he is not like JR Richards who died while warming up for a game. the scene is plain and simple horrible. those visual scene of him breaking his leg is what I believe many are talking about. in addition, while we are fans of the sports doesn't mean we wish the worst and he still had a career ahead of him. now everything is a question mark. I feel for him that is all. JR Richard is still alive. He had a stroke but it did not kill him. He even attempted a comeback but was not successful.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jul 31, 2014 -> 03:04 PM) Not a fan of Young, but I understand the dedication. Seems like people either love him or they hate him. Or they think he's okay. To quote Mitch Hedberg.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 12:00 PM) We're not looking to a spot-patch together a platoon situation to cover a weakness, that is what contending teams do. We are rebuilding, that means we need youth and upside. Now let's say we deal Alexei over the offseason and in the deal we pick up a kid at the AA/AAA level maybe even one who has had a cup of coffee in the Majors, and we think he's our guy as soon as midseason 2015 piossibly. If we do that then we'd need someone to plug into that spot for a while, and you could argue for Dunn, but I think that would be stupid. It would be smarter to give those PAs to someone else who could help us in another area, or at least if it is a vet it would be much smarter to give those PA to a vet coming off a bad year/suspension/etc. looking to rebuild value, like a Mike Morse or Nelson Cruz last offseason, or something like that. The lack of lefthandedness really wouldn't matter at that point, we'd be looking for trade value. And at this point you can clearly see Dunn has no trade value. It's been obvious to some of us for a very long time. That pretty much describes Adam Dunn perfectly. If Dunn had a smaller contract this year, he would have been gone at the trade deadline. He will have zero problem finding a job. With one or two moves, the Sox could easily contend this year. Realistically we could've contended this year had it not been for losing our starting RF, closer, 2nd option as closer and others to various DL stints.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Aug 1, 2014 -> 11:44 AM) The interesting thing to me about Cleuluis are his splits. He's a switch-hitter, but way better from the right side. This year he's hitting .281/.373/.417 as a righty and .229/.284/.249 as a lefty. He's naturally right handed so that's not that big of a surprise. If he keeps putting that line up left handed, he may need to think about ditching the switch hitting thing.