nrockway

Sure, Martinez had a very nice season and was paid a fair contract. You could say the same thing about Wacha, a very good pitcher paid a fair amount (perhaps underpaid). Fedde was objectively a steal though. Somebody within the organization thought it was a good idea to pay him. If the Mets were in on him, they definitely could've used him and have an unlimited budget, they could've paid him. As I say, glass half full, that feels like a good sign. Now just figure it out with every other department, not just 30+ pitchers.

out of that list, I'd call Fedde the 'steal' of it. it's too bad it turned into Vargas (jury's still out on him I guess), but you gotta give the front office credit for seeing something there though, that evidently only 'wunderkind' Stearns also saw. I suppose the discussion is about something different, but I don't know what Fedde's deal has to do with anything. He was probably in discussion with teams well before he eventually signed with the Sox...but the market was dry for him. Had to think he was expecting a bigger payday. Do we think the Reds would've rather paid Nick Martinez $21mil for 4.0 bWAR or Erick Fedde $7.5mil for 5.6 WAR? Easy to say in hindsight. I guess this is to say, glass half full perspective, it's probably a good thing that the Sox were able to identify Fedde as a useful player when other teams didn't. There was no point in signing Martinez, Gibson, Maeda, re-treading Lance, etc. I tend to think there's reason to be optimistic that the organization is at least competent on the pitching side of things. My hope going into next season is that some of these new hires can help out on the other side of the ball. Jury's out on Getz.

Is that not a minor league deal? edit: nope. hmm.

Not much to discuss! I was wondering the same thing about the Nicky Lopez clearing waivers thread; I blinked and it was four pages.

Oh duh I forgot if a team selects the player, he has to be on the major league roster the whole season. You’re right, Gladney wouldn’t last. Hack might (his glove is ok, arm great, bat bad) and so might some of those pitchers. Colson is obviously a no brainer. Mcgough, hoopii, schoenle (try spelling these names on mobile from memory) could probably stick on a mlb team. I’d keep any one of those guys over, say, Gavin sheets.

Someone like Salvy? I wish it was offseason 2023 and the worst thing we could’ve done was trade for Perez.

I have a good feeling about Gladney and still Hackenberg. I think another team might actually select Gladney above some of those pitchers. Frankly there are like 5 or 6 guys I’d want to protect. Would’ve been nice to see a trade to clear up some 40man space.

Is Austin Slater about to produce 10 WAR for the Angels between June and August?

SoxTalk marketing: I read your comment, paged back, and looked at another pantyliner advertisement to see what you were talking about. It was worth reading. I would donate to SoxTalk if they got rid of the ads. edit: the ad has been updated to a woman who seems to need legal help after being charged with a DUI, but when you click the link, it directs you to a solitaire type video game. What? edit2: now the want to tell me about what type of adhd I have. I guess I went soxtalk to produce enough revenue to sustain itself…I’d rather pay a monthly fee. edit3: can somebody change my username to “MATURE WOMEN WRITE FIRST”.

lux sux why do I keep thinking your avatar of aj pierzynski is the vice president-elect? the beard only highlights the weak chin, it doesn't mask it. somebody needs to tell these guys.

if Zavala turns out to be a good player, is the Cease trade a 'good' trade? Sure wasn't the package I would've wanted, predicated on a pitcher who throws as slow as I do. I just don't think you can actually 'grade' this deal yet. It strikes me as difficult to judge any baseball trade in the moment unless it is for major league talent. The Dodgers obviously did something smart by acquiring Edman and Kopech even if Vargas turns into something. Was the Fedde deal a good one? I don't think so. Again though, the jury is out, though Vargas is arguably the worst MLB player I've ever watched play on a semi regular basis. But he was acquired for essentially nothing; the Fedde deal was smart, a move that no other team thought to make, I think you have to give Getz credit for that if you're going to critique what he was traded for. Why I actually opened this thread was to congratulate Crochet for winning Comeback Player of the Year! However, he's not really 'coming back' from anything. He's always been good, he's just finally healthy and was given an opportunity to start. He deserves some credit for his excellent season that nobody anticipated. I want to '#throw back thursday' to all those SoxTalk posters and facebook users who thought he sucked and wouldn't be able to start because "well look at the previous innings he pitched". pseudo-statistical 'projection'. it's meaningless. I'm sure MLB teams still 'project' players based on their three previous years' performance. meaningless and unhelpful.

I didn't cite a fuckin thing

You joke, but I'm certain the phpBB crowd is more qualified to run a professional sports team than most front offices.

what do I think they do?

everyone definitely saw that coming, right?

Interesting idea re: collusion. My thinking is that we overexaggerate the importance of "analytics" and it doesn't impact winning as much as we think. I'm pretty sure the main "projection" Fangraphs and ESPN use was developed by some high school students. Why isn't there an army of PhD students and post-docs producing baseball advanced stats for free? My thinking is that there isn't much there. Which is to say, I sort of doubt that if teams hired a team of PhD statisticians, they would be able to develop any useful and novel metrics. I think a team of scouts with GEDs are probably better equipped at the job. There is definitely use in visualizing data for easy digestion by players and staff, ie developing hot/cold zone charts for hitters or showing the trajectory of various pitch types...but that isn't highly-paid work. I don't know what the industry standard is, but I assume it's low. Then again, there is relatively new data to look at...the Statcast cameras...that could probably tell you a lot. That's probably the competitive advantage, making that data into something useful. I assume the product that Statcast sells already does that though. And does it tell you anything that a hitting coach couldn't? What's the salary of the guy who interprets Statcast data? I can't imagine it's super high. I think biomechanics...physics generally... and kinesiology are probably more useful fields to apply to baseball than statistics TBH. I also like the Tom House approach of having an illustrious baseball career then doing a PhD and applying it to coaching. An 'analytics' guy like that probably commands a high salary.

literally the only reason. I'm not sure why it's a better situation. by what metric?

The CTA is night and day since COVID. Ridership has plummeted and the increase in violent crime is statistically significant. There is a well-researched positive correlation between ridership and crime. The system would probably be fine if people decided to ride it again, yet you have to convince people that it's safe and they should ride. A Catch-22 situation. People talk about Chicago today like we should be making a comparison between 2024 and 1990. The city is markedly different now than it was in 2015. I'm the sort of person who traditionally would ride CTA all night, that is no longer the case. I'm taking a cab if I'm out after a certain hour. I frankly won't even stay downtown after a certain hour. By the way, I like the CTA, I applied to be an intern there once upon a time. They are in trouble. They want to be real estate developers now.

Some of the points of comparison feel a bit contrived....also the 2017 Browns exist...but I'm clicking the like button anyway. Also every Oakland team is seemingly comparable to one another. The Raiders are just the A's, right?

He was incredible in DC though, right? Not necessarily a marquee team, despite being the nation's capital. I agree with you, he was a little lackluster in SD. I think his time in San Diego is an aberration. Also quite short. He was also statistically well about average in a Padres jersey....936 plate appearances, .893 OPS. sub.900 seems bad for Soto, right, but a 'down year' is an all-star year for most players. Pretty much my point. We'll see if he can maintain it. I hope so. He's a super fun player to watch. Have you seen a player with a better command of the strike zone? Robbie Grossman? I love the idea of being egotistical about being patient and taking a walk. Yet still hitting for both average and power. His defense is better year by year too. MLB wants to make Judge and Ohtani the stars, and they are, but I imagine Soto is a scarier hitter to face. I think this begs an interesting question: I suspect you follow the Padres with a similar SoCal gusto as I do, likely more so. Preller's teams have consistently underperformed. "On paper", these teams should have been much better. I like the Padres. I generally like the roster decisions Preller makes too. And they remind me of the Sox in this way: the players show up there and underperform and do better elsewhere, despite some different operational decisions ($$$$$). I guess what I'm trying to say is: is it possible that the White Sox make players worse and also the Padres make players worse?

I don't necessarily take pride in it. I didn't play for the team. I enjoyed watching it on television when I was 12-years-old though. The one game I went to that season is a lifelong memory. My contemporary association with the team and a game at the Cell is "fat woman shoots herself and another fan; CPD blames teens". I prefer my childhood conception of the White Sox. I know people around town still talk about it. In fact, it just came up for me in conversation this week amongst a group of young people who are 1) not baseball fans 2) weren't alive when it happened. I guess they have pride in their South Side team. I obviously see your point, we would prefer to watch a good baseball team than a bad one right now. But I will reiterate my point that it's insane for you to think winning the World Series meant nothing. It definitely meant something. Even the Cubs winning meant something for me, and I hate the Cubs.

Soto is easily the best baseball player I've watched since Bonds. Judge? Super overrated.

He’s getting hits off real pitchers too. 2-3 today, rbi double in a 1-0 win. He looked strong to end the season and fall is looking promising!

This is an insane thing to write and post

so Tim Hill is a better pitcher than Clase, right? imagine signing a relief pitcher to a multiyear contract.