shysocks

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Dec 3, 2015 -> 09:00 AM) I agree it's just a stat to make up for deficiencies. A bunch of people got together and made up a stat so Tyler Flowers would look better.

Lots of good points being made in here: QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Dec 3, 2015 -> 07:37 AM) Looking at his stats, it looks like he's been more of a platoon/back-up guy except for a couple years. One would expect the Sox to truly use a platoon approach with him and Avila. QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Dec 3, 2015 -> 07:52 AM) @Buster_ESPN: Last year, Dioner Navarro posted an .894 OPS vs. lefties, so White Sox can work a platoon of he and the left-handed hitting Alex Avila. QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 3, 2015 -> 07:59 AM) Hopefully, Navarro and Avila can make it through the year healthy and be what we are hoping them to be. At least on paper, it seems a good idea, but they have both had seasons they didn't hit .200. But even worst case scenario, you aren't behind the rest of the league too much if your catching is an offensive black hole. Looking forward to seeing how a strict platoon will go. It seems weird that the very first thing the Sox did was jettison their decent catching tandem for a different decent catching tandem, but ultimately it's whatever. I would say a couple things regarding catcher defense. One, a catcher's caught stealing numbers have just as much to do with who's on the mound as with the catcher himself. Only the best throwers can overcome slow deliveries to limit the running game. I rarely look at catcher CS numbers because I feel like there's too much else going on. Two, to the guys saying "lol pitch framing who cares," read up on it, if only because there's a lot of entertaining stuff. It is absolutely a skill and some guys are better at it than others. I'm not sure it's worth >1 WAR because the umpire and the pitcher also play a role, but read some articles about it, particularly with .gifs. Look up Jeff Sullivan's worst called strikes and balls pieces on Fangraphs. The way a catcher fields pitches absolutely affects what an umpire sees. The MLB-wide OPS is 92 points lower after an 0-1 count than a 1-0 count. The difference between 2-1 and 1-2 is 350 points. Catchers can get extra strikes. And grabbing extra strikes where you can is important.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Dec 2, 2015 -> 06:48 PM) There are several reasons to non-tender Avi, but in the context of the Flowers non-tender it's more confusing, as at least Flowers has shown he can provide *some* value, at a position where FA/trade talent is way more scarce. I've written hundreds of words elsewhere on the issues I have with Avi's "potential" so I won't get into that. I agree so hard with this.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Dec 2, 2015 -> 06:12 PM) He'd be an upgrade offensively at the very least. Look up his road splits. He would be a marginal upgrade and he is - no exaggeration - trash as a catcher. He's barely a catcher at this point.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Dec 2, 2015 -> 06:09 PM) I see Navarro or Rosario as the most likely replacement for Flowers. Either one would be an upgrade. I'm so happy right now. Rosario would not be an upgrade. He is s***.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Nov 26, 2015 -> 08:52 PM) I think any negativity about this [signing Avila] is the result of the realization that Flowers will still have a primary role next year. Really though, everyone should have realized that months ago. Herp derp. Color me shocked.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 2, 2015 -> 02:53 PM) Wow, no comments on this? Kinda surprised. I was trying to come up with one earlier without stirring up a potential s***storm but I couldn't figure out a way and then I got sidetracked. Basically, while this... ...is true - what I think is and should be irrelevant to the Sox org - I don't think the point can be handwaved away so easily. I think the continued employment of Kenny Williams is at the heart of a lot of the loyalty complaints. Many people don't feel KW has justified his role as Reinsdorf's "trusted right-hand man" for so long. I agree with most of the piece, particularly that the exercise of trying to assign the org's moves between Hahn and KW is pointless at best.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Dec 2, 2015 -> 02:31 PM) I think on the hitting side of things you and Vance are correct. As far as pitching, it's almost uniform. I agree. There's an obvious reason for that, I wouldn't even try to argue otherwise for pitchers.

Gordon Beckham makes me sad and mad.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Dec 2, 2015 -> 10:17 AM) Beltran had been in the AL before, Victornio had one good AL season and now he's not what he used to be, Houston was in the AL when Martinez left, Bautista had started in the AL... there are many names of NL players who came to the AL and played worse than they used to. And for almost every single one of those players, there is an alternate explanation for the decline. It's not like these guys come to the other league and suddenly it's "Oh s***, I can't handle this!" They're the best in the world and the undeniable marginal advantage in the AL's talent level does not account for most of the falloff. Vance is right. This is a narrative that has gotten completely out of control.

Eh, there's still plenty of upside in that Zobrist deal. It's predicated on him being a useful (read: good) defender at multiple positions again, but my hunch is that he won't fall off a cliff as he hits his upper 40's like a lot of guys. His OBP has never been lower than .346 since becoming full-time. He just hits.

QUOTE (bruni @ Dec 1, 2015 -> 04:26 PM) Well gang, the Price deal (to me) officially seals the deal: The White Sox CAN NOT trade Q or Sale. There is no possible way to recoup the value that each is in terms of years of control and financial commitment left for the WSox. If I were Sale and Q, I'd be firing my agents for not having the foresight to anticipate the market for pitching. Security when young is one thing, but they cost themselves truckloads of $$. Keep the pitching and keep attempting to build around it. Don't disagree with any of the this. But something I haven't seen anyone point out is that most of the years Sale and Q signed away weren't free agency years anyway. They could've done worse, especially if either one had gotten hurt. Which could still happen. QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 1, 2015 -> 10:44 PM) You gotta remember though, if he opts out , that means he is more than earning his contract and can find a better deal. If he is injured or under achieving, no way he opts out. The opt out is an advantage for the player, not the team It is a no-lose for the player, of course, but it can also be a blessing for the team. If the player opts out then the team "misses out" on his oldest years of the deal. . And finally, why would the Rockies trade Arenado for a Q-based package? Somebody tell me a reason that doesn't involve that quote he gave about being unhappy. It makes no sense for them. Let's stop this. Any mention of his name should be punishable by a permaban. I'm 75% kidding.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Dec 2, 2015 -> 06:48 AM) http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/12/ben-...60-million.html "Ben Zobrist‘s projected price tag “keeps going up,” tweets Yahoo’s Jeff Passan, who hears from clubs involved in his market that the demand for his services has the price sitting at four years and $60MM currently. That price could still rise, says Passan. That he says the current price tag is about $60MM over four years would indicate that no club has approached that level just yet, although given the sheer number volume of teams that Zobrist could help, it’s easy to see how competition could push his eventual contract beyond that level." So Sox fans. Anyone still interested in Zobrist? I say thanks but absolutely no thanks. I'll contrast him to Victor Martinez. I hated the idea of signing V-Mart at a very similar age and price last offseason. Zobrist is different in that he is not coming off a career year and he is not restricted to one (non-)position. He's the anti-Martinez. I have to wonder if the decline in his defensive numbers last year was real and age-based, or just a blip. But his bat has always been really good and I expect it to stay good. In a vacuum I'd be okay with 4/$60 for him, but the state of the Sox should have them avoiding old guys in general.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Dec 1, 2015 -> 05:18 PM) You need to step back on statements like this. Rosario was released for a reason. poor hitting away from his home park and he is a bad defender. We may wish for an all-star catcher but at least Flowers is rated as an excellent defender ad on occasion provides some pop in that bat of his. It makes no sense to me that we would get rid of Flowers and count on a catcher that just got released by his team. You are losing not gainng by that ^ This. Rosario is not good. By any standard, really.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Dec 1, 2015 -> 03:58 PM) price to the Red Sox. 7 years 217 mik Nothing too shocking about that.

It's being sold on 12/5, so I assume it's part of the garage sale thing? I'd like if it were preserved too, but the money will go to charity, so it's fine this way too.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Nov 26, 2015 -> 08:50 PM) I'll just throw in that as pointed out in SSS someone like Soto got only 4 pinch hitting appearances which seems odd since he was the only RH power off the bench. Plus Robin didn't play him much while he was doing well. The second half Soto was bad but the 1st half he could've been used more. Also LaRoche played a lot in the 1st half even though he never really got untracked all season. Now with a club as offensively challenged as the Sox you'd think Robin would play a hot hand more even though there weren't very many hot hands to be found. I know they got him for a reason and they made every possible effort to play him to get him to hit to try to get some positive return on their investment but at some point it had to stop and in my mind it wasn't early enough. He's also the only catcher off the bench and taking a catcher out of the game is considerably riskier than another position. Re: LaRoche, he didn't go into the tank until mid-June IIRC.

I think any negativity about this move is the result of the realization that Flowers will still have a primary role next year. Really though, everyone should have realized that months ago. Avila's fine, we HAD to have a professional as our second catcher and we got one for cheap. Nobody in the org is capable. Robin will be able to handle the platooning just fine. It's Flowers for Sale and lefties, Avila for everything else. It's not rocket science, don't pretend Robin can't understand it. There's no salary issue to force his hand like with LaRoche anyway.

QUOTE (shipps @ Nov 24, 2015 -> 04:10 PM) What are his home/away splits? Because overall his numbers are pretty bad. For his career: Coors: .240/.344/.369 allowed Away: .202/.347/.342 Not much difference in the K/BB rates though. When the Sox acquire a reliever the first thing I check is his groundball rate. 54.8% last year for Kahnle, fits right in the Hahn mold.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 24, 2015 -> 02:34 PM) Again, it's motive. We know ISIS and AQ and the like want to kill Westerners. They threaten to attack the West all the time. They try to do it occasionally. That's something we can perceive as a real threat and actively work towards preventing. Crazy people killing random people in all corners of this country in all sorts of communities and locations is not something we can prevent. Last week when arguing for barring refugees, you were for any measure that made us "even 1% safer" from terrorism. Suggest such a thing to a conservative regarding guns in America and I don't think they'd be as receptive. So again: Varying proportionality of response to crimes based on their perpetrator is not exclusive to black people. You can try to explain how this-and-that makes it not true, but it is, and I don't really know how else it can be said.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Nov 24, 2015 -> 02:08 PM) Why doesn't that happen when the basis of the protests/riots is 100's of kids dead versus one or two. Why does the right have a conniption about refugees after the Paris attacks but shrug and say "nothin' you can do" when Sandy Hook gets shot up? As bmags said, this is not a phenomenon exclusive to one group of people.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Nov 24, 2015 -> 11:13 AM) But I agree with the premise that if you're debating whether to get a bat or a glove to replace Avi/Alexei, you go with the glove. That came out wrong. Obviously we need bats and gloves alike and I wouldn't want to just fill the team with a bunch of Tyler Saladinos. But it will be easier to acquire gloves, and they'd synergize with the strong pitching staff a bit.

That wasn't a great article. The solutions he suggested were either unrealistic (Move Melky to first base? How do we know he can play first base? People need to stop just suggesting shuffling guys all over the diamond like it's easy), obvious (Here are a few good outfielders, sign one!), or both (Sign Jason Heyward!). But I agree with the premise that if you're debating whether to get a bat or a glove to replace Avi/Alexei, you go with the glove.

*shrug* This means he can't be an announcer.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Nov 23, 2015 -> 10:20 AM) 4.71 ERA, 4.49 FIP, 4.65 xFIP, 6.28 K/9, 2.84 BB/9, averaging 5.9 innings a start. Not exactly good. Just to zero in the IP/start thing, that's pretty much the new normal. I isolated the AL because the NL's pinch hitting tendencies would throw things off, and out of 97 pitchers who made at least 10 starts, the average length of a Danks start ranked 44th. Six innings per start isn't a rarity, but it's not a given.