The Sir

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 28, 2017 -> 09:16 PM) I’m still salty from last years screw job but Barkley did nothing tonight outside of a KR against an awful special teams. I’d knock him way down the heisman list. He’s great , don’t get me wrong, but there are others who are as good. I’m a PSU alum, but I agree. Way overrated. He’s only rushed for 100+ yards in three games this season. I get that D’s target him, and I get that our O-line is terrible, but Heisman winners overcome all of that and dominate. He has not, and if it wasn’t for the hype, he wouldn’t even go to NYC. Enjoy the CFP. Not sour grapes, but as I see it, Alabama will just slaughter everyone any way.

I've come up with a fitness challenge for tonight's game. During every commercial break, I am going to do flutterkicks. At every mention of Turner or Altuve by the announcers, I am going to do 4 pushups. Every time there is RISP with less than two outs, I am going to do a minute of plank. Without knowing much about my personal fitness, beyond that I'm in more or less decent shape, what do you guys think? Is this too easy, or am I going to die? Anything I should add?

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Oct 12, 2017 -> 10:28 PM) I’m a fan of replay in general but the “did his foot come a centimeter off the bag” calls are so dumb You're on the bag or you're not. You can't enforce the rule if being a slight distance off the bag doesn't count. That's what's dumb.

Meh. The outfield cam seemed to show he was out. Whatever- Jose Lobaton is dogs***. For that matter, the entire Nationals team is s***. I haven't lived in Chicago in 20 years, so I'm not at risk of being tormented at work if the Cubs win, and at this point I think the Nationals ought to flop like they do every postseason.

The Twins have now been to the playoffs five times since 2004. They've lost all but one of the 14 games they've played in that time, including the last 13. If they don't win the first game of their next appearance, they will have the all time longest playoff skid.

Chris Sale has 300 Ks for the year. At least one start left. It should be two, but I'd be surprised if he starts the penultimate regular season game for a Red Sox team that will be playoff bound.

QUOTE (ChiliIrishHammock24 @ Sep 13, 2017 -> 12:54 AM) Sox lose, Giants lose, Phillies win. 1.5 GB of Giants for 2nd pick 2.5 GB of Phillies for 1st pick Only 2 ahead of the Phils.

The Indians are going to win again, bringing the streak to 19. They have favorable pitching matchups the next two days, including Kluber tomorrow, so they could very well tie the MLB record of 21, set by the Cubs in 1935. The 1916 Giants won 26 in a row, but there was a tie in the middle of that.

QUOTE (GermanSock @ Sep 9, 2017 -> 10:26 AM) Not worried about his mlb stats, trout just had a 87 wRC+ his first 135 mlb PAs. However I'm a little worried that he hasn't really lowered his K rate in AAA this year. He is still very young but I would like to see at least some improvement in that regard. Still if he can stay at 30% in the majors while keeping the walks up and hitting for some power he will be at least a solid player even if it is with a lowish average. And if he can lower it to 23-24% he can become a star. Bryant also struck out 30% in the minors and his first year and then improved to low 20s. That improvement is rare and most do not make it above A ball but it can happen. Trout was also 19 and had a 22% k-rate for those 135 PAs.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Sep 9, 2017 -> 08:23 AM) With all the guys breaking out this year across the league after years of struggling, I'm not worried. I think he'll need a couple seasons to figure it out and that's OK. This isn't an objective answer. Just because other guys figured it out doesn't mean Moncada will. The guy has significant swing and miss issues, and he has at every level of the minors, and they manifest no matter what side of the plate he's on. The one positive we've seen so far is his ability to take a walk. By all means, give him more time, much more time. But right now, there's little to be hopeful about.

QUOTE (Tony @ Aug 22, 2017 -> 01:31 PM) Jason: Bryon Buxton has been otherworldly since July. Has he arrived? If he maintains this type of offense and defense next season…where would that put him in the league for value compared to others? Top 50, 20, 10..? 1:55 Eric A Longenhagen: I really hope he has because it will give me someone to point to and say, “Remember what we said? Please be patient with Prospect X when he struggles at the big league level for a while.” 1:55 Eric A Longenhagen: Like literally I expect to do this with Moncada next year. From the FanGraphs chat Button got 3 hits on July 4, and has pretty much taken off since then. However, that's been all of 105 PAs. Moncada has 111 PAs this season. If Moncada's SSS shouldn't matter, why should Buxton's? Dude's been garbage for two years- no reason to act as though a good month changes that.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 21, 2017 -> 05:52 PM) Just ugly from Yoan. Has no idea how to protect and his swing from right side is not MLB caliber Think Kopech will end up the prize of that trade. But that sucks because he can't really exceed Sale, so we'll have ended up trading Sale for a guy who might approach his talents, a highly touted MIer who strikes out way too much and s***tily switch hits, and two longshot back end pieces. I don't honestly think this will end up a positive rebuilding trade for us.

QUOTE (TheTruth05 @ Aug 21, 2017 -> 04:53 PM) You can't succeed with a 36% K rate and non-Joey Gallo power. I hope he can improve a la Kris Bryant, but it's no sure thing. He's always struck out at high rates.

The ubiquitous Moncada K.

QUOTE (Tony @ Aug 17, 2017 -> 06:26 PM) Yeah, you tell'em! f*** Moncada, amitre? You can't actually be this dense. Can you? Yoan has strikeout issues. Serious strikeout issues. Those issues could, and in my opinion will, stop him from being what people expect him to be. Hitting a homerun is nice, but it doesn't change his issues. Joe Borchard hit monster home runs too, but it didn't override his issues (and no I'm not comparing the very different tool sets of these two players). I just can't stand seeing Yoan do something positive, and then have some tool wanting to know the whereabouts of that one guy who dared to doubt him. I'm right here, my doubts are still right here.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Aug 17, 2017 -> 06:13 PM) lol, where's that dude now that was trashing him? Right here. He's still got strikeout issues. One homerun doesn't change that.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Aug 16, 2017 -> 11:00 PM) By this logic, I guess you wouldn't have wanted Kris Bryant a few years back as he K'd 28.6% of the time in AAA. Funny how that's gone down in the majors. Maybe because he has elite bat speed & a great batter's eye and he's been able to make the necessary adjustments. Moncada's K rate was 28.3% in AAA this year. He's got tremendous bat speed & a plus batter's eye. He's a special f***ing talent just like Bryant and your view on him is simply short-sighted & lazy. Kris Bryant's OPS was 275 points higher that year than Moncada's this year. Strikeouts aside, his AAA stats in 2014 were insane. Moncada is not Kris Bryant.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Aug 16, 2017 -> 10:51 PM) You've never seen what makes Moncada so exciting? Five tools with a plus batter's eye isn't exciting? wRC+ of 156 & 152 in high A & AA as a 21 year old isn't exiting? 45 stolen last year isn't exciting? I swear some of you guys have the patience of a three year old. Dude was almost universally considered a top two prospect for good reason and that's because he has the talent to be a top two or three player in baseball. Whether he gets there, who knows, but people need to stop jumping to ridiculous conclusions a month into his professional career. Most young players don't come up and dominate from the get-go. If you can't accept there is a learning curve, do yourself a favor and come back a year from now when the worst is finally behind him. I'm gonna be honest- I have no idea what wRC+ is. I also don't care. You like peripherals? Try this one. 22% K rate at A in 2015. 25% at A+, AA in 2016, 28% at AAA in 2017. I can understand Blake Rutherford might need to fill in his boots a bit to reach his full power potential. I can understand that Zach Collins has been focusing on his D and his bat is still pretty advanced, stats be damned. I can be plenty patient with the young ones. But I don't see how a guy who has had serious contact issues his entire career will suddenly fix them to be a decent ball player. And Dombrowski still kept Devers and Benintendi and traded Moncada. Why would one of the game's best GMs be so certain as to which highly touted prospect to trade?

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Aug 16, 2017 -> 10:48 PM) If you'd rather have Robles and Giolito than Moncada and Kopech then I don't know what to tell you. Nobody else was ponying up anything that good for Sale. I suppose that's the tricky part. If we do Sale for Robles, Giolito ++, where do we deal Eaton? Also, we constantly talk about Yoan being the best prospect in baseball, but if Dombrowski was only willing to trade him and not Devers/Benintendi, shouldn't that tell us something? It's not like we're the first to point out his shoddy contact rate.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 16, 2017 -> 10:41 PM) Boston wasn't trading him Then we should have looked elsewhere. I just don't know how, in the 2017 draft, we seized on this idea of low-K types, but less than a year earlier, when making the most important trade in recent history, we ignored that aspect when choosing our top prize.

Ugh. I really wanted Benintendi from the BoSox and I have never seen what makes Moncada so exciting for people. That k-rate is ugly. 28% at AAA, 37% up here? Good luck, kid, but that won't work.

Not just 2017, of course, but I've started watching the entire Bond series recently. Below, I've ranked the ones I've seen so far... 1. From Russia with Love 2. Casino Royale 3. License to Kill 4. Dr. No 5. Goldfinger 6. On Her Majesty's Secret Service 7. The World is not Enough 8. Quantum of Solace 9. The Spy who Loved Me I long ago saw Die Another Day and Tomorrow Never Dies, but can't really remember them enough. I recall disliking them though. I've also seen The Man with the Golden Gun, which most people rank pretty low, but I don't remember it that well either.

Gavin Sheets hit a bomb. Burger is 2 for 2. Not sure why I ever found Skoug interesting. Apparently scouts saw something that dropped him to round 7.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Aug 10, 2017 -> 06:23 PM) Does Moncada have a higher ceiling than anyone in baseball not named Mike Trout? I think it's an easy yes, but curious if I'm missing anyone. Eloy Jimenez.

QUOTE (flavum @ Aug 9, 2017 -> 06:29 AM) 54 days left Magic Number: 54 I think this one is better called the "tragic number".