OmarComing25

This does kind of feel like the year to do it. The Cardinals are injured and their pitching has fallen off a bit as of late. The Pirates have to beat Arrieta. The Dodgers have sucked against teams over .500 this year, and though the Mets' offense is much improved vs. the last time they faced the Cubs, their pitching has also slipped lately and they did go 0-7 against the Cubs. That said, the playoffs are a crap shoot and baseball rarely fails to surprise you. I wouldn't be all that surprised if the Wild Card game turned into an 11-10 shootout instead of the pitching duel everyone is expecting, because baseball.

I've heard a lot of talk about unbalanced schedules lately, but I see two issues that remain even if we were to "balance" them out like they were before the divisions. 1. Teams like Oakland and Seattle are going to get boned with all the extra mileage they would have to endure, which is already a big disadvantage they have to deal with. 2. Even if you face the same teams as everyone else, it's highly unlikely you're going to face the same set of pitchers as everyone else, some teams are going to luck out and miss more aces, while an unlucky team will face them more often. This is a problem unique to baseball. Obviously there's nothing you can do about #2, but this means that even with 100% balanced schedules some teams are still going to get a raw deal compared to a balanced schedule system in other sports.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 2, 2015 -> 12:08 PM) Yay can't wait for another offseason for him/the org to make excuses that he wasn't healthy during the season. He actually was fine in 2014, I'd definitely take a ~.700 OPS from the catching position, the problem is there's little chance of him repeating that, especially considering a lot of his 2014 production was fueled by a high BABIP.

I love Buehrle but unless we improve the defense I could easily see that move backfiring. We all know he has the skills to pitch well without striking out a lot of guys, but I'm not sure he ever pitched with such an atrocious defense behind him. If Thompson plays over Avi though then that alone could improve it considerably.

1. Blue Jays 2. Pirates 3. Mets 4. Rangers 5. Astros 6. Yankees 7. Dodgers 8. Cardinals 9. Royals 10. Cubs

I want the Blue Jays to win because of Buehrle, and I want them to beat the Dodgers in 7 after a blown save by LA. Then the Dodgers get pissed off at coming so close and give Price a blank check in the offseason.

QUOTE (coco1997 @ Oct 1, 2015 -> 01:29 PM) Sale & Quintana to LAD for Seager, Puig, Urias, Grandal, Guerrero and Ethier. If you're the Dodgers why not just sign one or two of the many SP on the market this offseason instead of trading away tons of assets?

QUOTE (flavum @ Oct 1, 2015 -> 12:36 PM) They are signed to great deals, absolutely. That works in the Sox favor on what they could get back from other teams. Now, I don't think the Sox will do this. They'll try to craft some scenario where a 2016 team has a shot to surprise...and they'll probably fail again. You can still plan for 2016 as a rebuilding year and craft a scenario where the team has a shot to surprise. It doesn't have to be mutually exclusive.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Oct 1, 2015 -> 10:59 AM) That's pretty much a given. You could go back all the way to 1901 and I would still think that 2013 was one of the worst years for the White Sox franchise ever. They were absolutely terrible from start to finish. I guess Rodon is a great reward for having to endure that trainwreck of a year though. I realize it's obvious to say but a lot of fans just like to lump all non-playoff years together, which I think is a bit short-sighted.

In my opinion the Blue Jays have the best argument for best team in baseball this year, I'm tired of people just assuming that best record = best team.

Am I the only one who enjoys seasons that don't end up with the Sox in the playoffs? The last three years have sucked, but 2012 was fun, and 2006 and 2010 were great rides. Hell 2008 is actually a lot closer to 2005 for me than you might think just for Game 163 alone. I'd much rather have those types of seasons than the typical Marlins' season. Doesn't mean the Sox front office shouldn't be held accountable for not making the playoffs, but to me all non-playoff years are not the same. They're frustrating, sure (especially the end of 2012), but 2012 was still >>>>>> 2013.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 1, 2015 -> 09:45 AM) You are reading his post backwards. He is saying if WE were one slot lower the team that would have been in front of us would have picked Rodon and Fulmer respectively. Exactly what I meant, I should have written one spot lower, not higher.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Oct 1, 2015 -> 08:49 AM) Fewer teams make the playoffs in MLB than the other sports. The Sox have sucked but as far as comparing across other sports... *shrug* This is a good point. Teams with losing records make the playoffs in the NBA and NHL every year, and occasionally the NFL, it's significantly harder to make the playoffs in baseball. Not to excuse the Sox of course, but I wonder how many people would be complaining if the Sox didn't fall apart the last 10 games of 2012.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Sep 30, 2015 -> 11:07 PM) Exactly my point. It may seem unfriendly but that is more of the quality of our staff and lineup. No I'm saying that the quality of our staff and lineup gave nothing to do with how hitter-friendly the park has played. The stat takes all of that out.

Sano has a .415 BABIP, he'll come back to earth.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Sep 30, 2015 -> 07:16 PM) Dimension wise it is small. Factor could be our pitching staff despite Shark and our anemic offense. Park factor accounts for the quality of your pitching and offense though.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Sep 30, 2015 -> 08:18 PM) Hawk is becoming delusional. He became that a long time ago.

The funny thing is, if the Sox only made changes in the radio booth the same people complaining now would be complaining that the Sox only made changes that aren't going to improve the team. The changes that need to happen need to happen at the top, who calls the games in the booth is utterly meaningless.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Sep 30, 2015 -> 05:32 PM) Agree. Boras clients have done this before. What better place to rebuild value as a hitter than the cell? If he doesn't get a QO, I'd offer him a one-year deal if he's willing to take a deal like that to rebuild value to try again next off-season. The Cell isn't as big a hitters park as you think, good for HR but not much else. Played middle of the pack this year for offense.

Arenado isn't going anywhere, but he would cost Quintana+ a good prospect or two, no thanks. Say no to Frazier, would cost too much and his performance has fallen off, plus he's not young anymore.

Who's this 3B we're going to trade for though?

QUOTE (Tannerfan @ Sep 30, 2015 -> 02:03 PM) Oh thank God. It's so important to not make any changes to this winning organization. Attendance is down, viewership and listenership is down, losing is holding steady. All is right in White Sox world. I'm really looking forward to extensions for Harrelson, Ventura, Williams and the entire coaching staff. The three year plan is solid. Yeah Farmer and DJ were why we didn't make the playoffs. This board is hilarious sometimes.

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Sep 30, 2015 -> 12:44 PM) I wonder if anyone has every sat him down and said essentially, "Avi, you suck at baseball. I mean you REALLY suck at baseball. Do you understand that? You need to make massive improvements if you have aspirations to continue being a major league baseball player." I'm sure that would really help his development.

Also, it should be noted that Thompson's BABIP in September is just .250, which is actually on the unlucky side considering he's still driving the ball, yet his OPS is still >.700 and he has 0.3 WAR. He does that over a full season and he's a 2 WAR player.

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 30, 2015 -> 12:21 PM) or those %'s really good or what?? is there a publish link so i can keep that save in my fav's??? The current leader among qualified hitters in line drive rate is Brandon Belt at 28.7%, and the hard-hit% would put him right around 60th or so. League leaders: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=...=0&sort=5,d Thompson's batted ball stats: http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playe...n=OF#battedball