White Sox were 14th in team ERA.

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/pitching/league/al

 

7th out of 15th in the AL without adjusting for the league's worst defense and USCF.

 

I'm pretty sure the WAR pitching stats are even better....top 3-5.

 

#1 in quality starts in the AL as well.

Edited December 13, 201510 yr by caulfield12

I was talking to a bunch of cubs fans last night. Just to test the waters, i threw out a random trade proposal of "as cubs fans, would you trade Shwarber for Rodon straight up?" Responding "No" all around. Am I nuts to think they are nuts?

 

 

I had a Cub fan tell me trading Schwarber for Q straight up was idiotic. Cubs fans like having a weak rotation.

 

Am I the only person in this world that thinks Schwarber's declining stats through out the season and lack of position are bad omens?

Am I the only person in this world that thinks Schwarber's declining stats through out the season and lack of position are bad omens?

I don't think he is going to be a .330 hitter like he was early in the year. But the power is real, he has a good walk rate already, so if he settles in as a .280 hitter, he is going to be a top-10 offensive player in the league. Defense, ya, there is no getting around he is bad. But he is going to have multiple 40-plus HR seasons.

Am I the only person in this world that thinks Schwarber's declining stats through out the season and lack of position are bad omens?

No position isn't great, but dude made it to big leagues in one year. I'd not be that concerned that he wasn't an mvp in that amount of time.

Schwarber is awful vs lefties.

 

Wouldn't surprise me to see him hit .240 next year

Well, in their defense, their team was 3rd in team ERA last year. It had the NL bump, but, if that's weak, I'll take it.

 

But would you really take their 3, 4, and 5 over the Sox 3, 4, and 5? On paper they have nothing special behind Arrieta and Lester.

But would you really take their 3, 4, and 5 over the Sox 3, 4, and 5? On paper they have nothing special behind Arrieta and Lester.

In the long term you clearly take the white Sox 3-4-5 because in the long term you clearly pick Rodon above Lackey and EJ has some talent in there as well. But next year? How rapidly does Rodon step it up? Does he turn into an ace in year 2 or does it take him a couple more years of development? You still would expect Rodon's arm to start getting worn out when he gets to 150+ innings next year because that's all he got in 2015, and he still clearly has work to do on some of his pitches. To compete next year, you can make a solid case you'd pick the Cubs' 3-4-5. The only reason why you'd take the White Sox 3-4-5 is if Rodon becomes a true ace in year 2, which would be fast for him.

 

In the long term of course you go for the White Sox because youth + talent, but the Cubs aren't playing for 2018 when they think they can take home a 2016 trophy.