shysocks

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 22, 2014 -> 09:30 PM) I'm sick of the Tigers' domination of the Central. I'd love it if somehow they lost the wildcard game, as well. Something tells me they are built for the playoffs, however and this is finally their year to win it all. Hopefully they'll get it out of their system and the dynasty will be over. I disagree somewhat, to me this seems like the shakiest they've looked heading into October in a while. Scherzer is great. Price has been great all year but is looking hittable and has sailed past his career high in innings. Verlander is obviously not the same guy. If they plan on using Anibal out of the bullpen in the playoffs, that is a weapon, but otherwise the pen is the same mess it always has been. Maybe this is wishful thinking, because I'm sick of them too.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 18, 2014 -> 03:52 PM) A LITTLE BIT OF LEURY IN MY LIFE A LITTLE BIT OF EURY BY MY SIDE A LITTLE BIT OF MOISES IS ALL I NEED A LITTLE BIT OF AVISAIL IS WHAT I SEE A LITTLE BIT OF ADRIAN IN THE SUN A LITTLE BIT OF ALEXEI ALL NIGHT LONG A LITTLE BIT OF DAYAN HERE I AM A LITTLE BIT OF THEM MAKES ME THEIR MAN

Mauer is a bad example if you're trying to make a case for how important the hit tool is, because since he came into the league the only guy with as many plate appearances as him and a higher OBP is Pujols. His greatness is not tied to his batting average alone. I think we all can agree that you want a variety of hitters in the lineup and that a team full of Dunn's is no good. Here's what it boils down to though: Take the 10th best batting average in baseball this season (Posey, .310). We can't look at a .310 hitter's average alone and know he's a useful presence in the lineup. Then take a guy with the 10th best OBP (Abreu, .382). We can say with much greater certainty that guy is helping you.

I read a thought in a blog a while ago that I'm going to paraphrase now: If you boil both of them down to just what they are, on-base percentage is far easier to understand than batting average. Try explaining each of them to somebody who has never heard of baseball. OBP: The number of times the hitter reached base (minus as the result of an error or drop-third-strike) divided by the number of times the hitter came up to bat AVG: The number of times the hitter reached base (minus as the result of an error, drop-third-strike, walk, or hit-by-pitch) divided by the number of times the hitter came up to bat (minus times that resulted in a walk, hit-by-pitch, sacrifice bunt, or sacrifice fly) The reasons anybody cites batting average more often is because they've done it for 100 years and it's one third of an imaginary piece of headwear known as the Triple Crown. It's actually pretty strange to make a distinction between at-bats and plate appearances, as batting average does. Through the entirety of baseball history, a team's OBP correlates better with its runs scored than AVG. SLG, even better. This is a statistical fact.

Mouton with the late charge here.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Sep 17, 2014 -> 09:08 AM) Hey look, the Yankees are playing baseball police any coincidence that Brian McCann is on that team? Maddon's quote referring to Girardi pretty much sums up my feelings.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 17, 2014 -> 08:49 AM) It's not a price teams will be willing to pay. This. It's not fantasy baseball. Chris Sale

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Sep 16, 2014 -> 11:55 PM) Oh man, the trade in price on Watchdogs PLUMMITED over the past week. It was listed at $36 a week ago on Gamestop. Now it's like $17 or $18. Yikes. Guess I'll hold on to this or try to sell it to a friend for like $25. It's on sale for Xbox Live Gold members for $42 (weird price) right now. That could have something to do with it.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Sep 16, 2014 -> 02:44 PM) In 2014, here are the splits for non-pitchers batting against these pitchers. Kershaw: .197/.232/.294 Sale: .199/.254/.291 Felix: .202/.245/.307 Adjust for home park and you can squint and see a case that Sale is the best of the three.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Sep 16, 2014 -> 02:02 PM) If Sale doesn't deserve the Cy Young, then neither does Kershaw. I don't see it that way, for reasons already stated. Kershaw's numbers so eclipse the competition that the missed time isn't much of a factor. He'll run away with the award, and Sale won't.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Sep 16, 2014 -> 11:39 AM) And been nearly as good. It would be one thing if Sale was sub 2.00 ERA and the next closest guy was 75 points away with not so great periphs, however, King Felix has been pretty damn good too. The NL situation, where Kershaw and Wainwright probably finish 1-2 if the season were done today, provides a fine example of that.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Sep 12, 2014 -> 10:22 AM) Sale start last night earned him 0.5 WAR. That's a gigantic sum for 1 start, and he is now just 0.3 behind Felix, and 0.7 behind Kluber with 6 and 7 less starts respectively. If those guys have a real stinker either of their last 2 starts and Sale does well in his last two, it will be hard to ignore a guy who has accrued similar amount of WAR in that many less starts. I mean, we are all choosing to not care about Kershaw having the same amount of starts as Sale in the NL. That's because Kershaw has been so far beyond the competition. There's no other possible choice than him. In the AL, there are enough guys comparable to Sale that the missed time hurts. Pitching the entire season is an important consideration for Cy voters, and it should be. I agree that his rate numbers are the best right now.

The mood in Oakland:

Jed Lowrie has solved the Sale Puzzle.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 11, 2014 -> 02:48 PM) So why does Felix deserve the Cy Young over Sale? To me, Sale's numbers look better pitching in a much better hitting park. Sale's DL stint is basically what separates them.

ESPN has his ERA at a flat 2.00 after 7. And doubtless he'll be out for the 8th. He is annihilating.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 10:48 PM) Golden Retrievers are amazing if you can stand the shedding. The only reason we aren't getting another Golden is for that very reason. Best personality of any dog you could ever own. Everything you said is true. Callie, the Golden mix we've had for a little over the year, is the nicest dog I've ever owned by far, but there's fur everywhere. All the time. Worth it as long as no one has allergies.

Starting to feel bad for the A's. You can see how frustrated they are, their body language has been terrible this series.

DID YOU GUYS KNOW HAWK THINKS THE BULLPEN IS REALLY IMPORTANT

Hamilton is also getting paid approximately one s***load more than Dunn was.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 9, 2014 -> 03:21 PM) It is WAY too early for that. I want to see Wilkins get comfortable first before I pass judgement on him. Not saying he will hit .056 forever. He is just completely over-matched right now. I'd love for him to be our big lefty bat next season, but I doubt it'll work. If he is on the team, my guess is it will say more about the team's belief in its own chances of contending than its belief in him.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Sep 9, 2014 -> 03:12 PM) Nor do I think Viciedo will be back. Without the roster holds accounted for, Sox have $56 mil committed on 17 players. And I expect 3 spots to be filled by Wilkins, Sanchez and Snodgress. Meaning Sox should have $32 mil to spend on 5 players to reach a fair estimate of $90 mil payroll. I would be shocked if Wilkins is on the Sox next year.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Sep 9, 2014 -> 02:41 PM) How much is the Quintana bonus? I am not aware of a significant bonus amount due to Q next year. Either way, I have Sox at $56 mil currently with the guys likely to be brought back in arbitration. Meaning they will have $34 mil to spend to reach $90 mil. Even if they go the Shields route, they can afford him along with a couple other quality guys. I won't rule out that possibility just yet. Assuming the Quintana bonus refers to the way his contract escalates if he would qualify for arbitration. $1M next year without it, $3.4M with it.

On a lighter note, the Bulls make the top 5 of Zach Lowe's NBA court design power rankings. He says "a lot of people would put this at no. 1, and that’s fine." Gotta say, that new Hornets design at number 3 looks really slick.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Sep 9, 2014 -> 12:28 PM) If the Sox (1) can't trade Danks without eating more than 2/3 of his salary and (2) he is not one of the five best starters at the end of ST, then I am 100% behind sticking him in the bullpen. I know other teams have done it, but that may be too "outside the box" for Robin. It's a very interesting idea. Maybe it invigorates his career. He wouldn't be the first guy to benefit from that move. My concern is that his stuff is too far gone for it to even matter; the last thing you want is a reliever that gives up homers like he does. You'd hope the extra miles on his fastball from the lighter workload would help with that.