shysocks

QUOTE (flavum @ Feb 19, 2015 -> 03:21 PM) It seems like they want Johnson to win that job. I'm glad they have a Plan, B, C, and D this year, but I'm expecting Johnson to be batting 9th on opening day. That would surprise me. Anybody but Sanchez on opening day would surprise me.

Eaton has the 8th-highest GB% of anybody with as many PA's as him since he reached the majors, he doesn't pop up, and he runs well. If there's a player whose .359 BABIP I wouldn't be worried about, it's his.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 19, 2015 -> 12:06 PM) After I wrote that piece in October, I had a conversation (electronic) with Scott Merkin (MLB beat writer) about it. He said that the team was 100% convinced it was primarily a mental thing with Erik, FWIW. I hope they're right because that would be a significant boost. To the question posed earlier, I have to think Noesi is all but locked in out of ST. Doesn't mean things won't change two weeks in, but I trust the Sox not to put too much meaning in spring numbers.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 19, 2015 -> 08:01 AM) Yea, that is pretty weird. You look at Ratners IMDB, and literally the only connection they have is the recently announced Beverly Hills Cop 4. You somehow forgot the memorable Tower Heist.

QUOTE (VAfan @ Feb 18, 2015 -> 04:53 PM) Thanks for the chart. Nice addition. As for rejecting guys who don't hit leadoff enough, someone else is filling the leadoff slot for that team, so why not try comparing apples and apples? Eaton is never going to be one of the best hitters in the game. But he could become one of the best leadoff guys. Obviously, he has to stay on the field first. Here's another way of looking at it - team stats out of the leadoff spot. The Sox come in around the middle but they'd be much closer to the top if Eaton got, say, 90% of the plate appearances there instead of about 73%. We did quite well in OBP, as you've pointed out. Here are the other players the Sox used at leadoff. The lesson, as always - Leury Garcia is terrible.

Guys with more than 300 plate appearances at leadoff last season, sorted by total offensive runs. Threw baserunning runs in there too to show that Eaton is near the bottom, to nobody's surprise. Why 300 PA's? I don't know, seemed appropriate. It really depends on how you want to define what a leadoff hitter is. If you want to reject a bunch of other guys because they didn't hit first in a high enough percentage of AB's, what's even the point? I see a few guys on that list that did a better job than Eaton but as long as he shows last year wasn't a fluke, we'll be happy.

QUOTE (brett05 @ Feb 18, 2015 -> 11:47 AM) I think it's almost all upon the White Sox. Jeff has stated how he disliked playing for the Cubs and the attitude they have up there. I think if the White Sox stay in it near the trade deadline and make a move to get better, he signs long term with the club and passes on FA. I'd be ok with 4/80 to 5/105 He'll be looking for at least six years and I bet he'll get it.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 17, 2015 -> 07:26 PM) How is Matt Lindstrom high reward? I thought about greening it but I was feeling spiteful. See the Matt Albers thread if you haven't read it yet.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 17, 2015 -> 04:37 PM) @mlbtraderumors: Angels Sign Matt Lindstrom To Minor League Deal http://t.co/nJSE9tmTN4 Good low risk, high reward move by them.

I'm FAR from an expert on urban development, but the timing and pattern of the West Loop's growth (now as opposed to 20 years ago, biggest development has happened at the eastern edge as opposed to near the stadium) leads me to believe it isn't because of the UC.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Feb 17, 2015 -> 02:56 PM) http://m.espn.go.com/mlb/story?storyId=12334819 Most Improved Team- Sox #1 in AL Best Free Agent Signing- Laroche #4 in MLB Best Trades- Shark trade #1 in MLB Best Minor League Free Agent- Geovany Soto #1 Sort of surprised at how high Laroche is. Was going to say exactly that. Even more surprised at the Samardzija trade, given he has only one year of control. Also, LMAO at Gordon Beckham being called a "super utility man."

Did somebody say perverted?

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 09:16 PM) Left shark you are such a s***-head My favorite thing about this picture of left shark is everything. My second favorite thing is how it makes everything I say look like I'm shouting it angrily to the heavens.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 04:19 PM) FALSE. Low risk/high reward things: 1. Insurance industry 2. Fan takes half court shot to win a million bucks 3. $1 lottery ticket "Low risk" and "low monetary commitment" are not necessarily the same thing. A lotto ticket is the ultimate high risk/high reward transaction because there's an almost 100% chance that you won't get anything back, but obviously if you win, you win big. And if there was a contest where Hahn could attempt a half court shot to win Max Scherzer's services for seven years, I hope he'd give it a shot, but that's not a marketplace. QUOTE (SoCalSox @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 04:42 PM) Low Risk= minor league contract with a $1.5M ceiling. High Reward= a good bullpen arm that throws 50 innings and doesn't consistently blow games. If you honestly don't think players like this can change the outlook of the team, you obviously didn't watch much of last year or any team that had a bad bullpen. Albers is low risk/low return all the way. Maybe we disagree about what constitutes a high reward, but I've watched plenty of Sox baseball and I still don't think a run-of-the-mill middle reliever qualifies. QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 05:17 PM) Eh, I sort of agree with him. It's a good move and I'm glad the Sox made it, but when it comes to low risk/high reward moves, Jesse Crain is probably the biggest low risk/high reward signing of the group. If he's healthy, he's going to be a very valuable member of the pen. I know you're trying to agree with me, but "If he's healthy" is exactly why Crain is also a high-risk move despite not costing that much. The market pretty much agreed on his value- if more teams thought he would return to form (thus lowering the risk), his price would have been higher which would lower the return (the $/WAR he can provide). It's also possible everyone was wrong and the Sox saw something that made Crain a sure shot - it happens in "perfect" markets like the NYSE all the time. QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 14, 2015 -> 10:24 AM) Another great post by shysocks. It is a great post because I agree with it. I don't think anyone's hating on it. Thanks much, and no, I'm not hating on he signing. It's fine. I was just bothered when "low risk high reward" came up in like four consecutive posts because it's just not true.

At the risk of sounding like a s***-head, I have to take issue with people characterizing this move as "low risk, high reward." First of all, such a signing is inherently impossible - that's not how risk and reward work. Second, I would not call Matt Albers a "high reward" guy. That would imply some kind of big upside, but realistically, the most we'll get out of Albers is a pretty good groundballing middle reliever. And while that'd be lovely, it's not going to change the outlook of the team.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 12:57 PM) No, I really don't think Cooper gives a single f*** about anybody's arb clock. That's definitely true. Doesn't mean there's no link, like Hahn reminding Coop to just let everyone know how much they like Noesi. Honestly, the equation Noesi Keeps Spot = Rodon Stays Down occurred to me and I've fit the evidence around that. I'm only80% kidding. QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 01:01 PM) It doesnt really seem like the White Sox have been overly concerned about anyones arb clocks in the past couple years. They have been fast tracking high draft picks wherever they could Beckham and Viciedo come to mind, although those are less recent examples. I think they were all set to play that game with Davidson last year too before he belly flopped, although that was also different because we had no designs on contending. Either way I have no doubt they'll screw around with Rodon and I'll be glad when they do.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 12:34 PM) None of you have commented on what was, at least for me, the most interesting and debatable thing that he said. He asserted that Beckham was the best defensive second baseman in the League. He also said that he was the best at turning the double play. Many on this board would disagree, vehemently. Even the notion that he might be the starting second baseman raises questions. Hawk said that Sanchez could not cover the ground, or throw like Beckham. Thoughts? Hawk's an idiot, there's my thoughts.

HEY HEY HEY, IT'S MATT ALBERS.

A little conspiracy theory I've been concoting lately: Does anyone else think that Cooper talked up Noesi at Soxfest specifically to set up a narrative for keeping Rodon in the minors past the Super 2 cutoff? Everyone knows it'll be a service time issue, but this way the Sox can point back to January if Noesi is faltering to start the year and say, "Hey, we have a guy who our coaches really believe in and we're gonna give him a longer leash to figure things out."

QUOTE (VAfan @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 12:23 AM) 1. Who's going to emerge as our starting second baseman? Sanchez, who ended last season there? Micah Johnson, the speedy lefty? Bonafacio, who's probably better in a utility role? Saladino, who's coming off injury? Or even Gordon Beckham, in a bid for the Sox to torture us once again after we thought we were done with him? Has to be Sanchez right now, Micah is not quite ready. Sadly, I can also see Beckham taking over for a stretch due to others' non-performance. By the way, the very first time I hear Hawk talking about what a leader Gordon Beckham is or some horse****, I'm muting him forever. 2. Who is going to stick at backup catcher? Soto? Brantly? Nieto? Kottaras? It's Soto's job to lose. Also Flowers isn't going anywhere, people. 3. Will Jesse Crain be healthy enough to help us this year? Will Nate Jones? (This is a two-fer.) No and no. 4. How will the Sox deploy Carlos Rodon? Will he stay in the minors long enough to give another season of control? When will his major league debut be? Will be in the bullpen, or as a starter? Will he displace Nieto or Danks if he starts? Seems like it's all pointing towards a midseason bullpen callup. Can we all remember that his effectiveness is not guaranteed, by the way? 5. Gillaspie and LaRoche don't hit lefties very well. Who subs for them? Seems like Bonafacio and Beckham are both candidates to platoon with Gillaspie. But what about LaRoche? Beckham or anybody else can sub for a DH if need be, shouldn't be a problem. 6. Who is going to be our 4th (or 5th) outfielder (assuming Bonafacio will also sub in the outfield a fair amount). I'm... not sure. Honestly, Viciedo was a better fit for this team than Beckham. It's kind of an issue right now. 7. How does the rest of the bullpen shake out behind Robertson and Wells? Of course pieces will probably move up and down, but out of ST my guess is this: Robertson Petricka Duke Putnam Jennings Guerra Webb Exactly as Huskers has it. 8. Will these players all be healthier this year? Adam Eaton? 123 games. Avisail Garcia? 46 games. Jose Abreu? 145 games. Chris Sale? 26 games, 174 innings. Who knows? A better question is will Avi prove to be a Major League starter? 9. Will guys like Matt Davidson and Eric Johnson get their careers back on track to where they can be seen at least as future help, if not being ready to help this year? Johnson will be high on the depth chart if somebody gets hurt and could prove to be an adequate fill-in again. I have no idea what to expect from Davidson but I don't think he'll crack the 25. 10. Who else are the Sox going to add to help the club in 2015? Some outfielder.

I've been addicted to a game called Chariot lately, it was free on Xbox One a few months ago but I didn't get into it until recently. I think it's 15 bucks now and it's on PS4 and Steam as well. It's a physics platformer where your character has to pull a chariot through big levels using a rope. It has pretty graphics and it's very satisfying when you beat a level because of the slow pace and mastery of the physics engine required. The "hidden level" at the end was a two-hour grind and is the most difficult thing I've done in a game in at least a couple years but it's optional and the rest of the game is still very rewarding. Recommended.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Feb 9, 2015 -> 07:35 PM) Nope. He's overrated (4.5 FIP in 2014) and a terrible person (domestic violence and assault). We don't need that. THIS

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Feb 9, 2015 -> 09:19 PM) Good lord. You're paying over double his value. This idea that this one hero is going to win us a world series is just silly. And does anyone even bother to look at his recent production? + on the hook contractually thru age 37. Tampa can keep its hero. That's like the ninth time in this thread that you've pointed out Longoria's recent production while ignoring people telling you that it will be better next year and you should look at more than just the previous season. He is a stud and his contract is a plus, as Kalapse points out.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 9, 2015 -> 09:34 AM) I remember when some were predicting 50 homer seasons for Josh Fields. He was 16 short of that. For his career. He's still hitting adequately out there for every AAA team in the minors, so I wouldn't put his career in the past tense just yet. That magical season is still a possibility!

I'd love to have Venable. He can play center and could be relied on to start for extended periods of time when somebody gets hurt. Wondering if he's getting old and the power is just flat-out gone now, but he would not take much to obtain.