Kalapse

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 03:08 PM) Who else in that lineup would fit at hitting 2nd? You could put Rios there and Teahen 3rd, but then you've got Konerko protected by a guy hitting Works for me. f*** "protection" I want my best hitters at the top of the damn lineup, not arguably our worst overall bat hitting #2 because "he fits". I don't believe for a second that Harden's going to lay a 3-1 fastball down the pipe to Konerko because he doesn't want to put a man on base for Teahen. The theory of lineup protection is shaky at best especially when we're talking about Paul Konerko and Mark Teahen.

I love Rios and Teahen in the top 5 but MUST Vizquel hit second? That's just silliness. I absolutely hate having 2 guys at the top who are in no way a threat to go for extra bases let alone reach base.

So I posted this yesterday: Nothing has changed on that front but I have another fun fact: Juan Pierre is one of only two players in the game with at least 60 PA (Pierre has 84 PA) and no extra base hits, the other is Chris Coghlan. If Juan doesn't pick up an XBH sometime in the next 3 games it'll mark only the 3rd time in his career in which he's failed to pick up an XBH in a full month's worth of play. The other 2: April, 2002: .284/.371/.284/.655 (102 PA) Sept, 2000: .286/.339/.286/.625 (124 PA) April, 2010: .211/.268/.211/.479 (84 PA) Other players with only 1 XBH: Pierzynski (1 2B), Podsednik (1 2B), Borbon (1 3B), DeWitt (1 2B)

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 02:40 PM) Oh come on now, you are including Peavy in there. Still, even without him, that's a .170 average. The only guys in there who look truly bad are AJ, Rios and Vizquel (and I'd bet Vizquel doesn't play). Kotsay, Quentin and Ramirez are hitting .375 against him, in very small sample sizes. Hey, I just used what was on his BR page, I wasn't about to do the math to subtract Peavy's 2 PA you're welcome to do so, however. I was just posting the numbers as I like to do most days, not making any kind of statement (aside from Konerko and Pierzysnki's struggles that is).

Well, it'll be our first opportunity to see him in a warm open air environment this season. 3 of his starts have been in low to mid 40 degree temps at first pitch with the other being indoors.

Yeesh, career vs Harden Konerko: 1-15 w/ 4K, 2BB Pierzynski: 0-11 w/ 4K Rios: 2-11 Vizquel: 2-9 w/ 3K, BB Kotsay: 1-3 Quentin: 1-3 w/ K Peavy: 0-2 Ramirez: 1-2 Combined: .143/.186/.143/.329 w/ 12K, 3BB, 0 XBH in 59 PA So Konerko and Pierzynski are a combined 1 for 26 w/ 8 K against Harden. Perhaps AJ could use another night off.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 01:28 PM) Because Ortiz is washed up, Lowell's contract runs out at the end of this season, and they could certainly use another bat in the middle of their lineup after this season. They also have the money to allow both Lowell and Ortiz to remain on the bench, while the Sox do not have that luxury. Ortiz's contract is also up after this year.

There's a damn good chance John Ely gets the start tomorrow for the Dodgers at Citi Field.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 27, 2010 -> 04:06 PM) He's a catcher in the same way Vizquel or Pierre are a threat to go yard (boo-yah!) in any given at-bat. Great arm...the mental/strategic side of the game, preparation, working with pitchers, calling pitches and setting up opposing hitters....TOTAL FAIL. And it's sad, he has some great physical tools, speed for a catcher, etc. It's much, much simpler than that. He's a "catcher" but he has a ton of trouble catching the ball. He's at the very bottom of the league in doing so. This is a good, if not tedious at times, read.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 27, 2010 -> 03:57 PM) There are a few guys I'd like to see back but Olivio would be replacing quite arguably our worst player right now. Miguel Olivo is a catcher only in the loosest definition of the word.

Ryan Sweeney to play corner OF and lead off.

Alexei Ramirez is one of 2 players in baseball with at least 60 PA and no walks., the other is Pedro Feliz. So Alexei currently sports a 0:11 BB:K ratio. Pretty special if you ask me.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 27, 2010 -> 03:06 PM) Pierre 7 Beckham 4 Jones 9 PK 3 Rios 8 Q dh Ram 6 Lucy 2 Nix 5 Buehrle pitching Career vs Wilson (remember this guy was a reliever): Pierre: 0 PA Beckham: 0 PA Jones: 0-1 w/ K Konerko: 1-5 w/ BB & K Rios: 2-6 w/ K Quentin: 1-3 w/ HR Ramirez: 1-3 Lucy: 0 PA Nix: 0-0 w/ BB Combined: 6-18 (.333) w/ 3K, 2BB, HR

QUOTE (bschmaranz @ Apr 27, 2010 -> 12:33 PM) You woulda thought they'd learned their lesson when they gave Thome all that money. Really isn't Howard the same type of player? Ryan Howard couldn't hold Jim Thome's jock. In his 8 seasons leading up to his arrival in Philly Jim Thome hit .293/.426/.588/1.013. Howard's come close to replicating this line only once (he actually surpassed it) whereas Jim Thome AVERAGED that line over an 8 year span. People thought Jim Thome struck out a lot well Ryan Howard is a totally different monster and he doesn't have anywhere near the AVG or BBs of a prime-years Jim Thome to make up for it.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Apr 27, 2010 -> 09:30 AM) I wouldn't say it's that bad of a contract. The guy's averaged around 50 HR/140 RBI for the last 5 years & been top 5 in the MVP vote each of those years. It was lame when Heyman tweeted that this morning and it's lame now. For one; it's 4 years, not 5. I'm so sick of hearing about his RBI totals: if you're a very good offensive player as Howard is you had better be putting up astronomical RBI totals when you have the VERY BEST combination of great OBP and great speed guys ahead of you as Howard has as the cleanup hitter for the Phils over the course of his career. Just look at these OBP and SB totals from the top 3 spots in the Phillies lineup over past 3 years: 2009: #1: .294, 32 SB #2: .376, 23 SB #3: .392, 26 SB 2008: #1: .356, 50 SB #2: .347, 39 SB #3: .359, 15 SB 2007: #1: .345, 40 SB #2: .358, 36 SB #3: .384, 17 SB 2006: #1: .331, 37 SB #2: .396, 14 SB #3: .395, 27 SB He's in the very best position in the majors to drive in runs, this just speaks to the fact that if you get guys on base in front of good hitters they will drive in runs, the more often these guys get on, the more runs will be driven in. There aren't great RBI men, there's just very good hitters who are afforded a high number of RBI opportunities. You drop Howard in the Sox offense and something tells me his RBI totals take a precipitous drop. And then the MVP voting: I have a problem with people using votes from sports writers as some sort of gauge of a player's worth, like these people know what the f*** they're doing. Look no further than 1 spot ahead of Howard in the Phillies lineup to find a perfect example of why Sports Writers don't truly understand the game. The Phillies truly best player over the past 5 years hasn't finished any higher than 7th in MVP voting in his career, has twice finished outside the top 10 and watched 2 of his teammates take home the award. Ryan Howard's a hell of a baseball player but I have a huge problem with the way people try to prove it. There's no doubting the man is an incredible HR hitter but he doesn't draw walks like the elites of the game to make up for his perennially low batting averages (and astronomical K rates) which is why he hasn't cracked a .400 wOBA since 2006 -- a year in which he'll never replicate -- and he's 23rd in wOBA over the past 3 full seasons. So people have to make other, straw man arguments to prove his greatness. Why he can't just be considered a greatly flawed, incredible HR hitter who doesn't do much else and is put in arguably the best position to succeed of any player in the game, I'll never know.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 26, 2010 -> 09:05 PM) Trying to actively get players to not hit home runs would be detrimental and stupid. Trying to get players to stop swinging for the fences every time they swing the bat would be very helpful for an offense that is hitting .222 as a group. The funny thing is our 1.112 OPS DH swings about as hard as he can at basically every pitch he sees.

So since he was already signed to a 3 year, $54M deal add this new deal on top of it: 5 years, $125M and you get 8 years, $179M or $1M less than what Tex got last offseason (8 years, $180M). So in reality no precedent has been set, rather Teixeira's contract continues to be the new precedent for elite 1B.

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 26, 2010 -> 03:47 PM) Well, the thing is...if you have players on base a lot more, you have a lot more chances to get a hit with RISP. I mean, a good average with RISP would be .300, right? So 70% of the time you are failing. And if you have a lot less chances with a runner in scoring position, that 70% seems a lot worse. Kalapse had a great stat that almost seems obvious, but the teams that typically have the highest # of men LOB are usually good offenses in runs scored. It's all about creating a lot of chances in a game. Not executing 100% of the time, because in the MLB that isn't realistic. (or even 50% if that seems too hyperbolic) That's all Joe Pos. I just love this this segment right here it's really the reason why he's so awesome, what he's saying is so basic but very very true: http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2010/03/15...-damon-detroit/ He wrote this a month ago but in my mind it basically explains why Ryan Howard just got 125 million dollars, those RBI totals weigh heavy in a lot of minds. Well, you really should have incredible RBI totals when you hit 40+ HR a year and consistently have great OBP guys in front of you.

Over his last 38 Games and 148 AB dating back to September 1st of last year AJ is hitting .196/.241/.216/.457 w/ 0 HR and 3 2B. (.020 ISO) Things change when you hit your mid 30's (this is AJ's age 33 season), horrible slumps are significantly more worrisome. There's what 4 games left in this month? Well, so far this is FAR AND AWAY the worst month of AJ's career. He's currently hitting .140/.197/.158/.355 (0 HR, 1 2B will account for that .018 ISO). He's only posted a sub .600 OPS in a month 6 times since becoming a full time starter in 2001 and he's never had a sub .500 let alone sub .400 OPS for a month of work. His previous worsts: May, 2001: .226/.238/.274/.512 Apr, 2004: .236/.267/.250/.517 Jul, 2002: .225/.257/.268/.524 Sep, 2004: .186/.255/.256/.511 Sep, 2008: .224/.258/.306/.564 Sep, 2009: .231/.268/.253/.521 So yeah, that .140/.197/.158/.355 takes on a whole new level of bad looking at those previous career lows.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 26, 2010 -> 01:49 PM) Supposedly the exact same deal that Floyd signed was offered to Danks as well. I think it's ridiculous to read anything into Danks' rejection of that offer. Floyd signed for 4 years, $15.5M on 2/24/09 and by March 15th Jon Lester (a close comparable to Danks) got 5 years, $30M. After Lester was inked the Sox's offer to Danks looked like a low ball offer. Coming off that '08 season Danks was 2 years younger than Gavin (I suppose he still is), left handed and put up better numbers, there was really no reason for him to take the exact same contract as he was worth a good deal more than that, as Lester proved 3 weeks later. A 23 year old player rejecting an offer worth far less than his closest peer going into year 3 of his major league career doesn't scream "I'm looking to test free agency" to me. It looks like a rational decision and a decent gamble on Danks' part. 13 months later and he's probably looking at at least 270% more guaranteed money.

And the precedent has been set. Fielder, Gonzalez and especially Pujols are all salivating right now, that's an ungodly amount of money. I don't even know how much Pujols is going to get at this point, the all time record will most definitely be threatened, though. 10 years, $275M would have to be the starting point.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 25, 2010 -> 08:00 PM) Speaking of crocks of s***, I am shocked, that you, of all people, would put any support in the ridiculous concept that is the closer in MLB. I don't like it but much like the "leadoff hitter" I have to learn to accept it as a part of the game that will not be going away any time soon. And since the people who run and play the game of baseball are so set in their ways Bobby Jenks is going to be in the game just about every time we have a 9th inning lead this season so like it or not the manager needs to show faith in the fat man and not embarrass the hell out of him on 19 games into the season.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 25, 2010 -> 05:08 PM) You have to have some faith in your closer. If you take him out right there, it hurts his psyche and hurts the club's psyche and even if you win, it may be detrimental to the team overall. Putting Thornton in right there would have been micro-managing, and it's something Manuel would have done. No matter the statistics you can throw out about a situation like that, these athletes are still human and their confidence within their abilities will fluctuate depending on what you do. If it's a computer simulation, I bring Thornton in to get that final out, but it's not and leaving Jenks in to win it or lose it was the right move. I agree with you 100%. Watching the game it didn't even dawn on me to get Thornton in there vs Griffey, you just don't pull that s*** especially in April, it just wreaks of desperation and humiliates your closer. If Jenks had just thrown 3 fastballs down the middle of the plate between Griffey's belt and belly button Grif didn't have a chance in hell, it's not like he had to retire Chase Utley, Griffey shouldn't even be in the league right now. Of course I also think game to game momentum is a tremendous crock of s***.

The Sox would be rather lucky to lock him up to a deal that looks like this: '11: $6M '12: $9M '13: $12M (first year of free agency) '14: $14M (second year of free agency) That's 4 years, $41M guaranteed with no option. Allowing him to hit free agency at age 30. I think you have to guarantee 4 years, they'd be incredibly lucky to include a 5th year team option. You have to pay a premium when the player is only 2 years shy of free agency.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 23, 2010 -> 10:19 AM) Why might those guys be starting too often? It couldn't be because Beckham and Rios haven't been hitting any better than Vizquel and Kotsay, could it? Well that's not even remotely true unless you're basing this off 1 game.