Jose Abreu

Eric Hubbs‏ @BarstoolHubbs A little birdy told me Jacoby Ellsbury is heading to Milwaukee. Nothing definitive yet, but keep your ears peeled. I'll believe anything at this point

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 05:34 PM) Yeah outside of Yolmer, I am not sure I see what the match up between the Sox and Brewers would be. Avi. They really don't have a glut of outfielders like their fans claim. All I see are Braun, Brinson, Santana, Phillips, and Broxton (who isn't really an MLB caliber OF). If 4 outfielders is a glut, then I guess every team has a glut. I could see something involving Avi with us taking Phillips back, or perhaps even taking Braun's contract off their hands for additional prospects.

Doubt the Santana tidbit has to do with us, unless it's another 3-teamer.

QUOTE (GenericUserName @ Jan 21, 2018 -> 04:44 PM) Is it the Brewers getting an OF? I thought they already had a glut of OFs and I took the tweet to mean they were going to deal one of those guys. Perhaps, but why would we need an OF? Unless he means an OF prospect

Avi?

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Jan 20, 2018 -> 10:08 PM) With UA taking over in 2019 I’m betting some uniforms do get changed, ala the way Seattle’s did in the NFL when Nike took ovwr. I could see a re-do for San Diego or Detroit happening I think it could be like the NBA and Nike this year, where literally every uniform got changed (most only slightly).

Blue Jays acquire Randal Grichuk. Cards clearing up their OF logjam

QUOTE (BrianAnderson @ Jan 19, 2018 -> 03:01 PM) Forget where I read and apologize if I misread. It was a few days ago via one of the sox beat guys. Clicked the link on twitter and read the article. don't remember which though... I remember him reading that he said there are more moves to be made. Didn't elude to anything big like a Yelich, made it sound more like small deals from what I remember. But I remember thinking it was odd saying that the team wouldn't be as it's currently constructed in a few weeks. Seemed like an odd statement. Again could have misread.. That article aside, I just have a feeling that Yelich is coming to the Southside. It just fits too well into what he keeps repeating. About not making a deal unless it has a strong long term effect. I found it: My apologies, he clearly didn't say the opposite. At the same time, I feel like this was more directed towards the Gonzalez Germen type of moves, but it's anyone's guess.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 19, 2018 -> 02:55 PM) How could you say no? Rutherford is coming off of a horrible season and if he shows no improvement is barely a top 30 org prospect. Cease by all accounts is destined to be a closer. It would be selling high on Hansen who had a great year but is by no means a lock to be a top pitcher. Yelich gives you cost certainty and flexibility heading into 2019 free agency class. Before I respond, I'd just like to preface by saying that I'm not one of those people who doesn't understand Yelich's value- the combination of his contract, defense, and hitting makes him one of the most valuable assets in baseball. That said, Rutherford/Hansen/Cease is probably fair value once you factor in Jeter's ineptitude. I wouldn't do it because we're not yet at the point to sell prospects for premium assets, except for in some crazy case where Mike Trout were made available. I'm not as down on Rutherford as you, but I especially disagree on Cease, who I believe can still be a starter. I don't put much stock in his 2017 numbers, which were tainted by a comically bad defense behind him.

Scott Merkin‏Verified account @scottmerkin How does Engel feel approaching the '18 season? "This is the most excited I've been from an offensive standpoint in my entire career. If Spring Training started today, I would feel like I'm in a better spot than I've ever been, and I just believe in what I'm doing."

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 19, 2018 -> 02:50 PM) Hansen, Cease, and Rutherford has been my proposed package all along and matches what they are supposedly asking for. Other teams like Braves could beat that though. I agree that this is probably what it would take. I'd never do it though, and I doubt the Sox would either. Not worth it at this point in the rebuild

QUOTE (BrianAnderson @ Jan 19, 2018 -> 02:40 PM) Mark my words the Sox will make a relatively nice move in the next 2-3 weeks. One we weren't necessarily expecting. Could it be Yelich? I personally hope so. But the Sox are going to add. Hahn said in an interview a few days ago that the team as constructed currently won't be the team reporting to camp in a few weeks. He's got something cooking still. Sign me up for Yelich. Didn't he say the opposite?

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jan 17, 2018 -> 04:47 PM) It kinda makes me question the scouting on this guy if all of a sudden he's gone from a corner type with average speed to a CF with above average or even borderline great speed. Like, are the stopwatches in Cuba subject to time dilation? You'd think the one thing they could pin down would be his running ability. He's what, 19, so it's not like he's developed a ton from a 14 year old kid since the time of those reports last year. Maybe he was injured and is now 100%? That's the only thing I can think of that would result in such a scouting report change on his speed. When was he ever a corner guy with average speed? I remember him having a ceiling of a speedy, power-hitting CF from the time we began pursuing him. Never heard anything about his speed being anything less than well above average

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Jan 17, 2018 -> 10:49 AM) This. Leury in CF, Delmonico in LF versus RHP. Leury to LF and Engel to CF late in game defensive replacement. Leury in LF and Engel in CF versus LHP. Delmonico isn't the kind of guy you hide vs LHP. He's just as good, if not better, against LHP.

The Athletic published a Robert article just now. I'm not a subscriber but perhaps there's some insight to listing Birmingham as a potential starting place for him in there.

Birmingham??

QUOTE (Leonard Zelig @ Jan 12, 2018 -> 11:36 AM) Why are we limited to those 2? I'd be interested in the results of a poll that included all options, because I don't think either of the two listed options will end up being the Opening Day starter

I don't see the point in not starting one of Giolito or Lopez. They're the clear 1 and 2 pitchers in our rotation as of now, and hiding them from Opening Day because they're young is pointless- they're gonna have to make high-pressure starts someday, so why not do it now when we're not trying to compete?

Lucas Giolito

QUOTE (wrathofhahn @ Jan 11, 2018 -> 01:32 PM) Yep they need to bring in at least one more guy. Why? Rodon and Kopech figure to be in the plans too. That's 7 total starters. After this signing, we have enough depth

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 5, 2018 -> 03:06 PM) Sure it does. That's why it's an average. In this situation you have a player who pitches pretty well most of the time but has a tendency to lose it on occasion. This can very helpful in how they use him. Maybe the blow up was after three straight days of pitching or after 3 days of not pitching. the definition of average is combining all of the performances together. it can tell you an awful lot. It's better than the "small sample size" look. Although to be honest anything less than a 110 games or so is a small sample size when looking at a full season performance Say this blow-up occasion is one time, and is not a 3-4x per season type of deal. A reliever goes 60 IP allowing 18 ER for a 2.70 ERA. On his last outing of the season, he has a total nightmare performance and pitches 1 inning, allowing 7 earned runs. His season ERA goes from 2.70 to 3.68. The average fan looks at that 3.68 ERA at the end of the year and deems him an okay middle reliever. In reality, his season was likely stellar, but his average stats like ERA are heavily skewed by that one outing. Fans in general just seem to take stats such as ERA out of context all the time. For relievers especially, I think there are far better options for judging their performance.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Jan 5, 2018 -> 09:41 AM) I will always remember that one game against Greg's Royals when if he had not pitched, his ERA would have been about over a run lower. And that's one of many reasons ERA isn't a stat that should be thrown around as often as it is for relievers. One bad outing completely shatters it, and thus makes the pitcher seem a lot worse than he actually is. Sure, the stat is simply displaying an average, but said average doesn't really say much about how good a reliever is over time.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jan 4, 2018 -> 09:39 PM) "Over the last two seasons, Soria had 14 blown saves and a 3.89 ERA. He became a lightning rod for the frustrations of Royals fans, who had become accustomed to unprecedented success from a bullpen combination of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland." Somehow I knew you'd reference a middle reliever's blown saves. Did you know that Mike Trout had 0 saves last year? The Angels should cut him! That statistic is just as relevant to Trout as blown saves are to a non-closer.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 4, 2018 -> 06:38 PM) The fact that no team was willing to take Jake Peter in the rule 5 kind of makes you think losing him isn't going to bite you on the ass one day. The Dodgers, the team known for having endless resources and scouting and depth, clearly wanted him, which at least tells me they'll give him a shot. Rule 5 is riskier since you're stuck with him taking up a roster spot- and given how much depth they have, it would be hard for them to afford having an unproven guy taking up a spot all year.