vilehoopster

Okay, wOBA, that's a completely new one for me, never, never heard of that. Okay, true his OPS is rather stinky right now, but he has been in the slump since the all-star break, just like the rest of the team. I would bet big money that his OPS rank at the all-star break and by the end of the season will be much better than 17th. Again, I will take home runs and RBIS and all-star apprearances over wOBA. Can baseball find anymore silly stats to obsess with? It's borderline hilarious.

I can’t wait to see Abreu starting at 1st base next spring and in the spring of 2021. I have feeling my “can’t wait” is much more likely than yours.

It was posted a month or so ago, the one I’m referencing.

Or I can value the 3 rbis he got in the one win at TB, and how he came within 3 feet of saving the Sox’s terrible performance last night.

Plus, how much value does a “projected” war have. I project Abreu’s war in 2022 as 7.5. That barely has less validity than this stat thing you show.

I value all-star appearances, RBIs, and total bases over war. Ever since about a month ago or so when someone posted that Colome had a war of 0.5 (with all his saves) while Herrera had a war of 0.7 (with all his gas can pitching), war has had almost no credibility with me.

Plus, he’s 2 and 0 versus the Cubs; that buys a lot, A LOT of forgiveness from me.

Sorry to give you guys my usual comment of don’t trade or flip him, but . . . You guys all saying dump/flip him, you do realize he’s our 2nd or 3rd best starter? You realize that, right? I am far from in love with Nova but I would rather see him than the other options, whatever that may be. As a guy who spent about $225 dollars to take his family of 4 to a game on Fathers Day, only to see Despaige (however his name is spelled) pitch and who felt a little cheated by the White Sox that day (down 7 to 1 after three innings), I really think for the sake of the fans (especially ticket buying fans), the Sox should keep one of their few competent pitchers rather than dump him for some prospect who will never make the majors. And I know it’s still a rebuild, but We’re still tuning in and still buying tickets, and I think the FO should still keep trying to win rather win than trading one of our better starters in pique of frustration.

What are you talking about? Your answer here seems to imply, what imply, clearly states that hitting home runs hurt a team’s chances of winning. I’m not sure if you know this, but hitting home runs and doubles score runs and here’s what you don’t seem to get, but you need runs to win. Have you watched the last two Sox games? Runs and the extra base hits that score runs are kind of important. Not sure if you get that concept. That must be why every team is stressing launch angles and sacrificing strike outs and batting averages for home runs. There must be some way those pesky home runs help winning.

1st of all you don’t like Abreu. That is a so obvious from this entire thread. Really. You’d rather give Reed a shot, REED? so you’d send an all-star off for somebody’s low level prospects. This entire thread is total BS. I also want to be prepared for 2021, but I want to prepare for next week and next month. I want to prepare for tonight’s game. I say it over and over: I like it when the Sox win. Sox wins make me happy and Sox loses make me pissy. But when I read stuff like this on here, I think I am a minority. You guys would rather watch some low A level prospect improve his batting average from .247 to .253 than see the Sox have a winning home stand. I don’t begin to understand what motivates a thread like this. It’s easier for me to believe this thread was started by an Indian’s or Royal’s fan trying to undermine the Sox than a real White Sox fan. That this thread shows up the night after Abreu had an RBI double and a 2-run homer shows you have no sense of timing or Abreu’s value. One good thing is that I just read MLB.com’s list of top 20 trade rumors and, thankfully, No White Sox were mentioned, not Abreu or Colome. Thank goodness the Sox front office seems to like winning more than whatever alternative the guys agreeing with this thread seem to enjoy.

Really, I don’t know what this means. Did you leave out a word. Not being snarky.

Wow again. The guy saves the game two nights ago. Now he’s a bum. Trade him too.

Wow, working hard not to give Abreu credit. What is that? His 70th RBI? You’re right, no bat speed. Trade him.

He might be. But if you went just by the comments on this board, it's much more likely he is the most under-valued player in recent history.

Ahhhhh, the cryptic gif as a reply.

Not gonna happen; keeping them both for 2020 and beyond.

Nope, in fact, I have always felt that Jeter is the most overrated shortstop and maybe even the most overrated player in the history of baseball. If it weren't for the fact that he was a Yankee . . .

Do you really believe this? Or are you just blowing off steam? I can't believe you think this is true. I think Abreu has earned the right with management to voice his frustration; I would like to think Hahn and crew are not this petty. Now, I could be wrong and the tank could start tomorrow and I wouldn't be totally shocked to see Abreu, Colomen and whoever gone. But if we worked in the same office and were talking in the break room, I would bet you big bucks and give you pretty good odds that Abreu will be with the White Sox the next couple years.

Time for me to defend Abreu, AGAIN. First about the frequently stated idea that Abreu is in an obvious decline is just wrong. But it's been said on here so often that many people just accept it as fact, when there is no fact to it at all, none. The guy who brought up the batting averages is just using that stat because it fits this continued false narrative that Abreu is in decline. Steve Stone has said over and over during the telecasts that Abreu has made the conscious decision to sacrifice his batting average to drive in more runs. And you know what? It's working. The most RBIs he has ever had are 107 in a season, he has 68 already and 63 at the all-star break (If I remember correctly). He's basically on pace to get a 120 RBIs. Clearly his best RBI season in his career. Is that the evidence of a guy clearly in decline? No way. I wanted to throw in doubles as another example of his increased power, but too much math comparing the doubles year by year, so I'm gonna use total bases as another example of him having his best year EVER. Before this year, his best year ever for total bases was 343 in 2017. He already has 187 total bases. Let's be conservative and say he only gets 160 more bases the rest of the year, he will still break his all-time record. Does that sort of thing happen to guys in decline? Of course not. And you guys how talk about his lack of range on defense, such an abstract, unprovable thing. Let's talk about how he's scooping up bad throws better than he ever has and throws very well for a 1st baseman, again, Steve Stone mentions that all the time, how good he is throwing to 2nd and 3rd. So he's not declining defensively either. Also, I am so tired of this "He's an average 1st baseman" stuff. He's not. Do average players represent the AL at the All-star game? He was an all-star 1st baseman this year; he was one last year, and he'll be one next year as a White Sox. Another thing that somewhat cracks me up is the irony of people on here suggesting that Abreu should just shut up or play or implying that he has no right to his opinion because he's part of the problem. Jose is saying exactly the same thing that 95% of the people on this board are saying: he's upset with a whole lot of the wtf personal moves by management. Isn't that exactly what we all have been saying pretty much this entire year?

I buy this assessment of my post 100% But it drives me to distraction that people on this board keep calling for trading such important players right as things are starting to look up and become exciting (let's not overreact after the Oakland series). And people on this board have repeatedly stated that they enjoy watching prospect improve more than watching the Sox win, that the improvement means more than the wins, so some of that hyperbole is justified.

In 2014 he had 36 home runs and 107 RBIs. Barely past halfway and he has 21 home runs and 66 RBIs. And he usually doesn't get really hot until August, so I think it is a very valid argument that he's having his best year every.

The Sox have about 20 more wins than they did at this time last year. How is that not productive? What is productive for you?

Okay, I'll bite. What fact isn't correct? Do we have two better guys in the bullpen than Coleme and Bummer? "Only two good guys"? Was Jose not an all-star for the 2nd year in a row? Is he not having his best year? Are not numerous posters on the board talking about how Sheet seems to have found his power stroke and he has a ton of RBIs? Of course I can't prove as a fact that flippers enjoy seeing the Sox lose, but when people come on here saying that it's time to tank the season and go for another high draft choice, and these same people keep wanting to get rid of many of the Sox's best players: Abreu, Colome, Bummer, McCann, how can I not think that their ultimate goal is for the Sox to lose. I think my opinion is at least as valid an the people who keep wanting to trade some of our best players for unknown minor league players.

So Yolmer is today's scapegoat for stinking it up in Oakland? Is it time to release him? Yes, I would rather see Madrigal at 2nd base now too. But, for whatever reason, he's not here, so clearly Yolmer is the best we got to put there. Hopefully Madrigal will be there next year, but I really think we gotta ride the season out with Sanchez. Rondon is batting .203, Yolmer is batting .250; that's a huge difference, huge. Yes, he started out the year very badly defensively, but if we're gonna cite small samples, he also threw out two guys at home and threw out a guy at 3rd in that one Boston game. There's an awful lot going on defensively for him to have pulled that off. I used to coach basketball, and I had this backup senior post player, and he drove me crazy: he'd get burned on out-of-bounds plays, could only score on offensive rebounds; no offensive threat, and he just took up space. Well, after one game I freaked out with my assistants that we gotta quit playing him; he give us nothing. I was yelling at them. They all agreed with his problems, but then they calmly pointed out that there is no one else better. All the guys on JV were too small and could never defend the post or get a rebound. We had to play him because that's all there was to put in as a back up. Until Madrigal comes up, Yolmer is all we have at 2nd base, and really, he is far from terrible.

No, no, NOOOOO! Let's keep the only two good guys we have in our bullpen. I really do believe that some of you flip guys enjoy it when the Sox lose: the excitment of the early draft choice, following some prospect down in HIgh A or lower, who will never make it to the majors but still living this fantasy, b****ing about the Sox when they lose. You flippers enjoy that more than the Sox winning. Hey, if you wanna trade someone, let's trade Vaughn. We have an all-star 1st baseman (two years in a row) and Gavin Sheets doing very well down in AA (Or is that too close for you flippers? Do you flippers only care about prospect in the DZL or AZL?). Let's sign Abreu to a three year deal, and when he really does start to decline (as opposed to right now when he's having his best year as a White Sox), Sheets will be ready to take over at 1st base. There's nowhere for Vaughn to play; he's blocked by an all-star for the next couple years. Vaughn is really hot right now and a complete unknown; that makes him more valuable. I assume that there's tons of executives who suffer from "Second-String Quarterback Syndrome" and are absolutely sure that the total unknown is going to be better than someone who has been doing a great job for years.