username

QUOTE (Jack Parkman @ Apr 12, 2017 -> 04:41 PM) This is different, because bad stretches involve bad luck. When a hitter strikes out 33% of ABs in with no walks, in a 7 game stretch, it is more than a "bad stretch" it is being bad at hitting a baseball. Sure, he has 4 hits but until Anderson starts hitting it hard with more consistency, and making more contact, I am going to assume that he sucks. Hasn't your argument been that prospects are suspects until proven otherwise? I'm taking that approach. Yes, I wanted the rebuild but I'm not afraid to call a spade a spade. His hard contact rate was significantly higher than most elite shortstops in baseball last year. Over a way bigger sample size. Check out fangraphs if you don't believe me. Hitters go into funks. Did you ever play baseball? Ever have a bad game? Saying a small sample K rate doesn't fluctuate is among the dumbest things I've ever heard on this forum.

Not sure how he can criticize Moncada's bat wrapping tendencies and be okay with Bellinger's swing long-term (it's got a serious hitch and wraps a bit as well) but that's just me. The SO criticisms are certainly warranted, but from what I've seen he's not chasing pitches - guy actually has great plate discipline, which tends to translate to fixing problems like that. The strike out to end last night was the perfect example: he worked a deep count and got a bad call by the ump.

Moncada bomb!

Michalczewski 2-3 with a triple and a walk. Would love to see him show some more pop and cut down on the K rate a bit. I know that ballpark really suppresses power though.

QUOTE (oldsox @ Mar 26, 2017 -> 11:50 AM) Long Term Capital Gain, right? What is the rate now? What will it be when he sells? Yeah if he dies and passes it along, the "basis" of the asset should step-up: i.e. his heirs wouldn't have to pay as much in long-term capital gains taxes when they sell it, since they received the asset at its current value. Its an interesting component of the tax system.

QUOTE (soxfan2014 @ Mar 24, 2017 -> 01:50 PM) Lol yes, I'm sure the idea has never occurred to Epstein./green I can see the hesitation on Jimenez, but Happ is completely blocked and won't have a position on that team. Heck, even Baez is basically a utility player for them. Even Jimenez doesn't make much sense unless he sticks in center, Schwarber can't play anything but LF and Heyward isn't going to rake in $20+ million a year to sit.

Guys, he wasn't going to be a free agent until 2023. He sacrifices a bit of upside for more immediate guaranteed money, and his two option years are still a lot of money. Time value of money plays a big role in this stuff as well. $50ish million in your hands before 2024 might end up having more present value than a giant contract from 2023 onwards anyways. Could it end up being a bargain for the Sox? 100%. But there's a lot more win-win to these deals than the average fan gives credence to.

QUOTE (reiks12 @ Feb 27, 2017 -> 01:45 PM) McHugh dealing with 'dead arm'. http://m.mlb.com/news/article/217257300/as...wing-off-mound/ Beat me to it. Could be nothing but if it lingers the Astros could definitely lose some leverage.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Feb 21, 2017 -> 01:58 PM) What young core? Sure they are pretty deep with pitching. I still see a really thin system positionally. No? Basabe is nowhere near ready. Other than Collins and possibly Moncada coming up what young core are we speaking of? How could you forget the Glassman Charlie Tilton???

I'm not so convinced that the Cardinals won't pursue Q. They've got arguably the top C prospect in baseball, plus Weaver and Perez. Kelly is close to Tucker in prospect status on a lot of lists. Magnerius Sierra, Bader, Sosa are also interesting. Even if they can't pull off a deal, them being involved could spur the Astros/Pirates/Braves to up their offers - ala the Nationals on Sale.

Blevins back to the Mets too. Market is about barren at this point.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Feb 1, 2017 -> 06:21 PM) What'd he say? 1) He's hearing a lot of mixed messages - one of the teams in the bidding thinks it won't happen until the trade deadline. 2) He doesn't buy that because he thinks waiting would greatly affect the Sox ability to tank this year. 3) He's heard that talks with the Astros have picked back up. He clearly didn't know of anything imminent - but in conjunction with the Nightengale leak it seems like the Sox are making a push to get something done before Spring Training. Edit: sorry for the double post you beat me to it!

Phil Rodgers about to go on MLB network to discuss Q

QUOTE (GermanSock @ Jan 28, 2017 -> 03:24 AM) There is some reason for concern, not just the walk rate but also the high k not so great power combination. Last year he had a 95 wrc+ but on the strength of a 375 babip. If that regressed to league average it could get ugly. As I said I believe he does more power in him if he increases his launch angle. He does have a bit of pop (almost league average ev) but his launch angle is 3 to 4 degrees below league average. His strikeouts have a little room for improvement too, although even with an improved patience his in the zone contact rate does not point to a better than around 23 percent know rate. But if he increases his walks to 6%, lowers Ks to 23% and increases iso to 160 which I think is realistic he could become a league average hitter which in combination with his defense would be a really solid well above average shortstop. But he does still have some work to do because his babip is not going to stay as high. .375 is quite high, but he's likely to continue to post above league average BABIP numbers. High speed, hard contact guys are the exact type of players that tend to generate a higher % of hits on balls in play. I think you're right in that he'll probably never get his K rate below 20%. But a slightly above league average hitter with good defense and baserunning is likely a perennial 4 WAR guy at short.

Brian Bilek just posted that Q was moved to Friday only for Soxfest and then just now removed from attendance. Looks like he removed the tweet though?

This take on Tim is painfully stupid in a manner of ways" 1) I'm really not a fan of the author's methodology here. He acknowledges that speedy players are inherently penalized by things like GB%, and doesn't compensate for it. AND, only 3 shortstops received contact ratings above 100, so it's clearly an issue that plagues gauging shortstops systemically. 2) He totally discounts Anderson's hard contact %. While trajectory/launch angle can be controlled to an extent, to my knowledge they aren't always consistent. Trajectory/launch angle is something that players work on all the time - look at Kris Bryant this past year. I'm much more concerned with the notion that Anderson, on the whole, was hitting the ball hard. Looking at his hard/medium contact rates they're off the charts (above Lindor), which fits exactly what we all observed from him during the season. 3) Anderson's strikeout problems began to wane over the course of the year, and I'm willing to bet they continue to drop below 25%. Further, his BB% has always risen as he spends more time at a level, which is exactly what happened as the year wore on. He'll never walk a great deal, but a guy like Alexei with worse hard/medium contact rates was able to have some awesome years despite it. 4) Anderson is clearly developing more power. His HR/FB rate is likely to rise as he continues to mature, and his hard contact rate combined with a bit more loft in his swing could cause these numbers to greatly jump. Power jumps are far from unprecedented with guys like Tim.

Marlins just gave up 2 pretty decent prospects and a lotto ticket for Dan Straily, LOL! The guy had a 4.88 FIP last year. Have to think that can't be bad for Q's market. https://twitter.com/ken_rosenthal/status/822069860620533762

Feels like a total posturing leak on the Astros's side. Probably in response to the Sox attempt at posturing through Levine.

Fulmer's end of year AAA appearances were actually pretty encouraging. If he can keep the walks down and his stuff bounces back a bit I think we'll be singing a different tune next year. Kid just turned 23.

Yeah I think it's a bit early to project absolutely zero power for Albies despite a healthy minor league track record. Dude made it to AAA as a 19 year old and held his own. Adam Eaton had 0 home runs as a freshman at Miami of Ohio (as a 19 year old) haha.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Jan 11, 2017 -> 09:50 PM) James, also mentioned that his friend said that trading Mallex Smith was necessary and speculates a return could include 5 players. Interesting. Necessary for reasons related to a potential Q trade or for other reasons? Also thanks for the info!

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 11, 2017 -> 09:36 PM) The idea that Sean Rodriguez or a Brandon Phillips "rent-a-player" would be blocking Albies long-term seems pretty far-fetched. The Braves are ATTEMPTING to be competitive this year, but they know their window won't begin until 2018 at the earliest, and more likely 2019. Haha yeah obviously dude. But they have guys like Demeritte in the lower minors that are long-term options so a bridge makes sense. They're also in on Dozier, which should tell you something.

I've already touched on this but I really think the Braves might be posturing for a big starter trade. 1) Most obvious: recent rumors for them on Q and Archer. 2) They attempted to get Brandon Phillips and then signed Sean Rodriguez. Would seem to indicate Albies is expendable, which a lot of Braves fans have been speculating. 3) They extended Inciarte, potentially making Acuna long-term expendable (I now he's far away). 4) The trade today . . . trading a useful OF and bullpen piece for more young lefties, which is exactly what they already have ton of. After rejecting that massive offer for Archer (from the Astros) and then trading Smyly, I think it's totally possible the Rays hold onto Archer this year. Would seem to make Q the likely option. This has already been somewhat touched on but Albies + Acuna + two of their young high-upside lefties makes a ton of sense. And I think there's been way too much smoke on them to think they aren't serious.

Hopefully the Smyly move gives the Astros some anxiety. Would love to see Trumbo or Hammels head to the Rangers as well.

Probably unrelated, but the Braves just traded Mallex Smith and a bullpen piece for two class A pitchers. One of which is a pretty well-regarded lefty. Would make sense if they're about to unload some young pitching for a front-line starter, like a bunch of people have been speculating recently (Justice, Bowman, etc.). Then again, could be absolutely nothing. Edit: Crasnick is now reporting another trade is coming, but from the Mariner's side.