shysocks

Lots of good points being made in here. The Sox have tried to shed Avi, but injuries and Adam LaRoche being an abnormal human being have thrust him back into the lineup every time. QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 1, 2016 -> 09:11 AM) So, Avi Garcia is a 2nd year arb eligible player next year and no reason to think that status will be changed much by the CBA. His salary this year is $2.1 million. In Viciedo's first arb year he made $2.8 million, and then agreed to a non-guaranteed $4.4 million deal to avoid arbitration. I learned thanks to this site that those deals are non-guaranteed, meaning it only costs a small amount to terminate an arbitration deal if the player is removed by opening day. It is possible that is something the union could target changing during the CBA, but assuming it doesn't, a reasonable path is the Viciedo one - they offer him arbitration knowing the contract will be non-guaranteed, get an agreement for something in the range of $4 million, look for better options, and have him available on the roster just in case coming in to ST. I agree that it would be reasonable, but I would be opposed to it just as I was opposed with Viciedo. Both were known to be bad and I'd rather the money, time, coaching effort, and Spring Training plate appearances just be used another way.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Sep 1, 2016 -> 09:33 AM) Shocker. Don't get your hopes up guys, it's going to be the same s***. Yeah this is the most likely thing. We might have a different manager though.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Aug 31, 2016 -> 03:56 PM) Sox are 6th in the AL for starters' ERA. You have James Shields to thank. http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=...0&sort=15,a To expand, because beating up on James Shields is one of my favorite pastimes: If you replace his 7.16 ERA in 81.2 innings with a 5.92 ERA (chosen because it is the ERA of the worst qualified starter this season, Anibal Sanchez [shields' yearlong total of 5.86 is second]), the team starters' ERA moves from 6th to 3rd (4.22 to 4.09). If you replace it with a 4.84, the number that Sox fans politely accepted from John Danks following his injury, it would move the Sox comfortably into 2nd place at 3.98. QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Aug 31, 2016 -> 04:08 PM) S/O Mat Latos as well Latos was bad but didn't really move the needle much - strip him away and the team number drops 0.03. Shields is a calamity.

QUOTE (JUSTgottaBELIEVE @ Aug 31, 2016 -> 03:38 PM) That rotation is better than decent. It's one of the best in the AL. Think about how poorly the bullpen has performed this year and yet the White Sox still have the fifth lowest team ERA in the AL. I have to imagine they have a top 3 ERA for starting pitchers. Can someone pull this data? Improve the pen substantially next year and they have arguably the best pitching in the AL. Sox are 6th in the AL for starters' ERA. You have James Shields to thank. http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=...0&sort=15,a

These day games in EST always catch me off guard.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Aug 31, 2016 -> 10:40 AM) Not sure he will end up even being qualified. He's not currently (just 1.1 IP shy) but who knows how he'll hold up down the stretch in his first big league season. The last two starts have been a little rough. He only threw 10.1 innings between the two raising his ERA from 2.25 to 2.69. Unless they shuffle the rotation he has 6 starts left. He will need to average 5.1 per start to be qualified. A couple short outings could do him in. He is only .08 ahead of Quintana anyways so catching him is doable with the way Quintana has been pitching and Fulmer scuffling a bit in the 2nd half compared to his 1st half (still just a 3.50 ERA in the 2nd half). A little off topic, but do they allow a pitcher who doesn't have the innings to qualify for the ERA title? With hitters and the batting title, they just add hitless at bats until they get to 502 plate appearances. I've never heard of anything similar for pitchers; don't think it exists.

I don't know, but it's the defining characteristic of the Robin Ventura Era, fair or not.

Example of the type of answer NSS is talking about:

Gene Wilder. =(

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Aug 25, 2016 -> 10:53 AM) They might be a laughingstock. It's not because of the Ballpark name though. It's pretty funny when a team that hasn't won a title in 109 years throws shade along with another one that hasn't won a title in 30 years. Good times. Guaranteed 1908 Field

Oh man, I hadn't even thought of the 20 loss angle. He could be the first guy since Maroth of the 2003 Tigers to pull that one off. Before that it was 1980.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Aug 25, 2016 -> 09:19 AM) In reality, is someone not going to buy tickets to a game because of the name of the stadium? I highly doubt it. They're going to not buy tickets because the product on the field is bad. If the Sox somehow make the right moves, compete, and make it to the playoffs in 2017, no one will care what the name of the stadium is. All that being said, they have to fix the problems on the field. This about sums it up for me, but some additional thoughts. The name is very bad. The red arrow is extremely bad. Day-of-game entertainment decisions based on the name of the ballpark... that concept probably doesn't exist. There may be a small group of people for whom this name change is a tipping point between being a Sox fan and going to games regularly, and not. I don't think that group is gonna move the needle though. Ultimately everyone who feels like this is ownership piling on misery - and I understand that feeling, that's how I felt at the trade deadline - will probably get over it. And if Cubs fans are making fun of you for it, just like toughen up a little.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Aug 24, 2016 -> 04:26 PM) So they did this for what reason? To piss the fans off? Sounds about right. Yeah man, that's why they did it.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Aug 24, 2016 -> 03:55 PM) All of them named after a product of some sort are all bad except Cincinnati Petco, Progressive, Safeco, Wrigley, Citi, Tropicana, Target, Rogers, PNC, Miller, Coors, Comerica, Citizens, Chase, Busch and AT & T They are all the same so what the hell difference does it make. I don't know man, somehow this seems like a step down. Maybe it's just the novelty and in a week it'll sound like every other corporate name. But that down arrow logo is really something. That will be bad forever.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 24, 2016 -> 03:46 PM) Yum Center is a great name Yum Center is a great name. KFC Yum! Center isn't. QUOTE (Tony @ Aug 24, 2016 -> 03:47 PM) It also isn't home to a professional franchise in a major 4 sport. True, but I wasn't restricting to pro sports. How about the SAC Kings with Sleep Train Arena? QUOTE (Deadpool @ Aug 24, 2016 -> 03:48 PM) HAHAHA That's GRate! Honestly, just calling it Grate Field for short works okay.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Aug 24, 2016 -> 03:39 PM) What stadium name is worse? For starters... http://www.kfcyumcenter.com/ Corporate naming leads to some awful, awful names. Guaranteed Rate is down there but I maintain it's not the worst.

US Cellular exited the Chicago market some time ago, so it was bound to change eventually. Originally those naming rights extended through 2022, I believe.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Aug 24, 2016 -> 03:34 PM) That is insanely bad LOL yeah it is. Far from the worst stadium name out there though. Pretty well confirmed now. Dan Hayes ‏@CSNHayes 43s43 seconds ago #WhiteSox have naming rights deal in place. Going from US Cellular Field to Guaranteed Rate Field starting next season.

I haven't seen this anywhere yet except @writesox on twitter but it seems legit. https://twitter.com/WriteSox/status/768546176148865024

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Aug 24, 2016 -> 10:38 AM) And very much still alive. Its frustrating, because it is so easy to identify 5 games (plus) the Sox should have won this year. But, that's baseball. Yup. You can probably pick out some games we should've lost too. Worth noting in all this "we could be right there" talk is that BaseRuns has us at 10 games under .500. But we've also had unusually bad injury luck. But we also haven't been a deep enough team to handle injuries in quite some time. Ultimately I think we're right where we deserve to be.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Aug 23, 2016 -> 12:41 PM) Is this the worst acquisition in the history of major league baseball? The D-Backs gave up good players to get Shelby Miller, who is hilariously in the minors right now. That trade was much worse, though Miller at least has youth on his side and has bounced back from a bad year before. The only bounce Shields is getting is of the dead cat variety. But that's the best thing I can say about the Shields trade - that it wasn't the worst in the history of baseball or even this year. The worst thing I can say is that it was obviously a bad idea from the word go and a singularly fire-able offense.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016...h-truthers.html Pretty much.

Poop on Kaplan if you must, but the evidence of discord in the Sox org has been plain to see for a while.

QUOTE (Tony @ Aug 15, 2016 -> 02:59 PM) Sausage Party sucked Haven't seen it, but it looks pretty dumb from the ads. I think I saw a Matrix bullet time joke in there, in 2016? I mean that's a gigantic red flag. I was puzzled when it started getting good reviews but your post pretty much allows me to confirm my uninformed opinion. (Aside: I realize you're supposed to be in an altered state when you see it, and that's not really my thing, but it hasn't stopped me from enjoying other Seth Rogen / Evan Goldberg work)

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 15, 2016 -> 08:19 AM) Bolt was literally cheesing for photos at the end of his race, lmao I'm sure everyone's seen it by now but just an unbelievable photo. Hilarious.