The Sir

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 05:36 PM) Ok, that's fair. His wOBA is .294 but his xWOBA is .384. Better? Sure. But I’m not a huge sabes guy. What does that mean and how does it negate whiffing 35% of the time? My lasting viewpoint, FWIW, is that hitting it hard doesnt mean much when you often don’t hit it at all. Not that revolutionary, but it doesn’t seem like Benetti agrees.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 05:34 PM) By all means call out his strikeout rate, but you sound like an idiot when you talk like Moncada isn’t one of the most physically gifted players in baseball and wasn’t a consensus #1 overall prospect like a year or so ago. If he fails it won’t be because the organization failed to identify talent or developed a “prospect crush”, it will be because they still haven’t figured out to develop players with swing & miss issues. He was. I can’t and won’t deny that. That’s as much a fact as his k-rate. But prospects fail. When prospects show a 35% k-rate in their first 300 MLB PAs, that possibility seems more likely. And I’ll add, unlike some, I realize this is a BS season. Let Moncada play 160 games. Let him lead off for every one of those. If he strikes out 230 times, it’ll be time to have a conversation about his importance in the future of this team. But, while I’m wary right now, I have no desire to see big changes right now.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 05:20 PM) I know it's tempting, but let's not feed the troll guys Sorry, kid, but wiseass remarks aren’t a great rebuttal to the fact that our cornerstone prospect in this rebuild strikes out 35% of the time. Do better.

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Apr 12, 2018 -> 05:20 PM) Just wait until it warms up!!!!!!11 Dude, you can’t be pessimistic about the young guys. This organization has failed to spot actual talent for over a decade, and yeah, their current prospect crush has a terrible strikeout habit, but you gotta have faith. Our front office has earned the right to not be questioned by the likes of you, thanks very much.

Love that Benetti calls a .200 BA a “misnomer” when talking about a guy who strikes out twice in every five plate appearances. Jason is a damn moron.

At this pace, if Yoan gets 700 PAs, he’ll strike out 277 times. But can someone please tell me how hard he hits it on the half of his ABs where he does put it in play? So glad we got this guy for Sale!!

QUOTE (FloydBannister1983 @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 07:08 AM) I'm not sure about that. He's been on fewer all-star teams than Mark Buehrle and is showing signs of breaking down. He excelled in the post-season but he only finished as high as fourth in Cy Young voting. Buehrle finished fifth. He is not much more of a star than Mark Buehrle. Disagree. He’s 28. He’s passed 200 IP while keeping his ERA under 3.00 four times, which Buehrle never did. He’s struck out 200 batters three times. He’s been a key player on three WS winning teams, and his performance in the 2014 Series was legendary. He might be breaking down, and if that happens, or he turns into Tim Lincecum, he won’t make it, but if he even comes close to his historic output, he’ll get in. He’s a far greater pitcher than Mark Buehrle.

I'll amend my post by saying that, not looking at any statistics, but just based on what I've seen, it seems like Moncada Ks looking a lot. Suggests, to me, that will improve as he gets more exposure. So maybe it's time for optimism.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Apr 9, 2018 -> 08:56 PM) I agree with all of this. I think his overall game makes him have a really high floor, which is often overlooked. I think this is the very reason we traded Sale for him, high floor and super high ceiling. You can see him easily popping off 1 WAR in a hot week where his tools are flashing. 3 WAR would be a great year for his age, but I think his tools automatically puts him at a 4 WAR floor, probably even this year. I'm beating a dead horse here, but with his strikeout rate (which has been bonkers everywhere he's played) means his floor is TOTAL BUST. I cannot agree with assuming that, at worst, his floor is 4 WAR. He might cut down on the strikeouts, and he might succeed. That's totally possible. But we are setting ourselves up for disappointment if we look at him as a sure thing. He has a big flaw, and if you do the math, it's not hard to see how he fails. 700 PAs x30% K-rate=210 Ks (his MLB K-rate is 34.5%; I'm factoring in some improvement, but not much, because his MiLB rate is around 25%) x15% BB-rate=105 BBs (I'm improving this rate from 12% in MLB and 13% in MiLB) Give him 20 HRs, 4 3Bs and 30 2Bs, and assume a BABiP of .345 (considering the point about exit velocity and FanGraph's suggestion that .345 indicates "batter is above average in this aspect of the game and is probably making better contact on average than most"). This produces a BA of .245, an OBP of .357, an SLG of .413 and an OPS of .770. If you adjust his BABiP to .380, which FG describes as "virtually impossible", his OPS rises to .828. That's with a number of generous assumptions. And .770 may look nice enough, but like you mentioned, this is what we got for Chris freaking Sale. He needs to not just be an MLB starter; he needs to be a star or the FO has failed. People often suggest he's the next Robinson Cano (.849 career OPS). I've heard that he should be better than Ray-Ray (.788 career OPS). Sounds great- but he's not there yet. I do not want him to fail (that was suggested to me the other day- I've rooted for this team since 1992, when I was 5, thanks). I want him to be great. But there's a chance he won't be, and frankly, that is a big chance. He needs to stop striking out. It could happen. Kris Bryant dropped from 30% to 19% in three years (improving past his 26% in MiLB). But it may not- Miguel Sano has never budged from around 35%. If Moncada can pull a Bryant in the K category, he can absolutely be what we need him to be. But if he stays idle like Sano, we lost this trade. Period.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Apr 7, 2018 -> 02:15 PM) He struck out, but another 3-2 count Timmy worked. Man he looks great up there. Yeah, the increased patience gives me a lot of optimism about Tim. If he can learn to walk and work the count, he can become one of the best SSs in the league.

QUOTE (maxjusttyped @ Apr 7, 2018 -> 01:33 PM) He's not everyone's cup of tea, but I love listening to Benetti call a baseball game. His explanation of OPS+ & ERA+ and why they're important tools to evaluate players is more informative than anything Hawk has said on a broadcast in years. I’m not much of a sabremetrics nut, but explaining that an OPS+ of 151 means you are 51% better than average and any HOF voter who disregards that shouldn’t be a voter isn’t really that insightful. Even I already knew that much, and the second part is just an opinion, and a dumbass one. Benetti sucks.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 7, 2018 -> 12:37 PM) Leury actually deserves a full season as he showed more potential last year than Engel could dream of I wish there was a way to bump Yolmer out so we can slide both Cordell and Leury in. I’ve never been a Yolmer fan.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 7, 2018 -> 12:32 PM) What an ugly swing. He's just not a major leaguer Yep. And I get that wins are unimportant this season and that we want to see the kids development, but Engel has had enough time. Cordell deserves a full season to see what he’s made of. The longer we wait with a guy who clearly isn’t a MLBer, the less viewing time we have with the guy who might be.

QUOTE (Knuckles @ Apr 7, 2018 -> 11:51 AM) PS. That's 4 walks for Tim in 7 games. That’d be amazing. If you plugged that walk rate into his output from last year, his OPS rises to .760. And that’s not accounting for the fact that greater patience probably leads to a better BA and SLG.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Apr 7, 2018 -> 11:46 AM) more bad luck for Moncada, FFS. Bad luck? The dude has 12 Ks in 32 PAs. Sure, he hit that ball hard, but bad luck is not the cause of his overall struggles.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Apr 7, 2018 -> 11:46 AM) Ok why ? You over reacted a few games ago on Davidson too. Engel hit .160 last year, and his MiLB stats don’t really suggest a greater ability. His rope ought to be very short. Give us Cordell.

Surprising result from Yoan. I’m totally shocked.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Apr 3, 2018 -> 06:52 PM) I still don't know why you think he's gonna be a worse hitter than he was last year I dunno, man. Math is math. However, I did short him about 10 walks. Maybe that does it.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Apr 3, 2018 -> 06:43 PM) an ops of 740 from your age 22 2B, assuming solid baserunning and defense is like a 2-3 WAR season. If he can OPS 840, that's like a 4 WAR season. You can see why people are excited... And where did you get 100 extra OPS? Is he gonna hit 20 more home runs than I gave him? Remember, I was generous on his BABIP, so .740 is lucky. Not likely. The only path to serious success lies in cutting down strikeouts. It seems like he strikes out looking a lot, so maybe that’s a positive sign, but if it doesn’t get better somehow, he’s not going to be worth what we gave up.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Apr 3, 2018 -> 06:16 PM) just stop. you're already in a hole. How many f***ing times did Aaron Judge strike out last year? 208. HAVE YOU SEEN WHAT BASEBALL IS IN 2018? Goodness. Nobody gives a f*** about strikeouts. Hit the ball hard and far and take walks. Yoan Moncada has a chance to be the best 2B in my lifetime, surpassing Durham. Let's just try and enjoy the ride the kid is 22. Who cares what people give a f*** about? Strikeouts aren’t bad because people dislike them; they’re bad because they guarantee you’re not going to get on base. Duh. Assume 700 PAs for Moncada. At his K rate, that’s 230 Ks. Assume 80 walks, leaving 620 ABs. I’ll give him 20 bombs and a .340 BABIP, that leaves him with 145 hits for a .235 BA. Do the OBP math and give him a .180 ISO, and he’s got an OPS of .740-ish (definitely not Cano, and not even Durham). And I was generous with BABIP- it just doesn’t take a demagogue to see him being a bust unless he cuts the Ks big time. And don’t bring Aaron Judge into this. Dude hit 52 bombs last year. And plays for the Yankees. There’s a big reason he’s turned into some kind of icon.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 3, 2018 -> 05:54 PM) Wow, can’t even take this post seriously. The typical unsubstantiated tripe from you. I don’t take you too seriously at all, but if you’re capable of it, I’d love to hear your reasoning as to why we shouldn’t be concerned that we traded one of the best players/contracts in baseball for a guy who could K 200 times in a season.

Missed his last AB, so this is more a delayed statement from earlier, but I’ve always been baffled about why Moncada excites people. Strikes out waaaaay too much. Think Kopech will be the actual prize from the Sale trade, and it won’t even be close. Also, is there anyone left who thinks Saladino doesn’t suck? I called that one a while ago.

I get that Engel apparently changed some things this spring, but I really hope he’s on a short leash given how terrible he was last year and guys like Cordell waiting in the wings.

QUOTE (Knuckles @ Mar 31, 2018 -> 04:10 PM) I'm trying to watch on MLB.TV but it's blacked out again. I'm in Texas. Same thing happened for the opener, anyone has any idea? I’m in North Texas and it’s working fine. Sorry, man.

Surprise- I think Giolito proves to be our indisputable ace, at least until the arrival of Kopech (who will be Sale like). Disappointment- Moncada is going to strike out a TON. He'll put up a decent OPS because of the eye, but he will never reach expected levels. Dark Horse- I think Cordell comes up, steals Engel's job away and becomes our everyday CF for the immediate future.