Kalapse

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 20, 2010 -> 12:08 PM) MLB dropped Cliff Lee's suspension. I guess he convinced them his injury caused his wildness. Not sure if he's ready to come back this weekend against the White Sox. He's not supposed to be back until May.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 20, 2010 -> 07:52 AM) But his overall defense at the position is (or was) awful, since he seemed incapable of throwing to first base. Yeah, I don't get how he can now be considered "solid" after being atrocious with us. He's only had 15 opportunities to field and throw the ball since leaving Chicago (3 this year) and he does have 1 (fielding) error in the 15. For his career he's only had to make 41 throws in the field, he's failed to make the throw with a resulting error 5 times: that's an .891 fielding percentage on throws in the field.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Apr 20, 2010 -> 12:30 AM) Total agreement that there's no comparison between Pierre/Ellsbury right now. However, I don't think using career SB% as a point for Ellsbury applies considering the massive difference in sample size. I get that but if I'm forced to compare the 2 I don't have much of a sample size in any category. If you use the last 3 years Ellsbury (529 SB opportunities): 85%, Pierre (630 SB opportunities): 78%.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Apr 19, 2010 -> 02:58 PM) Quentin is >> Drew and you leave Jones of of the equation for some reason. I will also say that I do not think elsbury is >> then Pierre. Jon Lackey was lit up today. JD Drew has put up .900+ OPS's each of the past 2 seasons, and an .890+ OPS in 3 out of the past 4 seasons and an 8.1 UZR/150 over the past 3 years. He's consistently banged up (137+ GP in 3 of the past 4 years isn't too bad) but he's one hell of a baseball player. I'd say he's better than Quentin given just how much Quentin has to prove and what JD Drew has produced over the course of his career. Ellsbury put up a .350 OBP, .770 OPS and 70 SB with an 85% SB% last year in the AL EAST at the age of 25. Those are awesome numbers. The last time Juan Pierre had anything near a .355+ OBP in a full season's worth of PA? 2004. A .770+ OPS? 2004. 70 SB? He had 64 in 2007 with an 81% SB% but he holds a career 75% SB% compared to Ellsbury's 85%, Juan is consistently in the mid 70's, there's a huge difference between that and mid 80's. Now Juan is 32 and has put up a .289/.334/.364/.698 line over the past 5 seasons (and that's including his obviously anomalous 2009 season) Pierre just can't compete with the likes of Jacoby Ellsbury who is a significantly more valuable offensive ballplayer.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Apr 18, 2010 -> 01:52 PM) Pierre isn't nearly as bad as some people here think he is. He has no power, but will hit .285-.295, put up a .300-ish OBP, and steal 30-40 bases. He'd be a good #9 hitter on a lot of teams. For what the Sox are paying him, he's not a bad investment. It's just too bad that he's leading off. I don't think you'd see many complaints about Pierre if he were the #9 hitter, he'd be quite valuable in that role. On the plus side Mark Teahen is now hitting .276/.432/.483/.915.

QUOTE (Brian @ Apr 17, 2010 -> 08:45 PM) No hitter and 6 walks? That is AJ Burnett like. Wasn't that bad, Burnett walked 9 and hit a batter. Both Verlander and Sanchez walked 4, Doc Gooden walked 6 and only struck out 5 in his no hitter back in '96. In 1965 Jim Maloney no-hit the cubs while walking 10 and hitting a batter.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Apr 16, 2010 -> 05:13 PM) Actually Kotsay has gotten on base a few times this year & they've won when he's been in the lineup. Your math seems a little faulty. We're 3-2 when he's in the starting lineup. Coincidence? I think not.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Apr 16, 2010 -> 01:53 PM) Come on Wells can at least play defense and is an ok hitter. Soriano has no baseball skill any longer. 5 years $90M.......WOW Over the past 2 seasons only 3 players in baseball have a UZR/150 of -20.00 or worse, those players: Brad Hawpe (-36.1), Jermaine Dye (-22.9) and Vernon Wells (-20.9). He has the 6th worst UZR/150 over the past 3 years at -13.5. +/- has him at -26 over the past 2 years which is the 4th worst in baseball regardless of position. Regardless: Wells is 3 years younger, has shown some signs of life at the plate and should be able to play a mediocre corner outfield and won't destroy you with just horrendous mistakes late in games. It's a $14M difference over the next 4 years (2011-2014).

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Apr 16, 2010 -> 12:53 PM) Now that is surprising. I thought Detroit would be far and away in that stat. We're tied with Detroit in FBv and we're slightly ahead of the Yankees in SLv.

We have the highest average fastball and slider velocity of any pen in the game.

QUOTE (JorgeFabregas @ Apr 16, 2010 -> 12:14 PM) I always thought Injuns was appropriate, considering their racist mascot. Lucky for them no one knows their organization exists so they're able to get away with it. To their credit: they haven't fully done away with the smiling Indian cartoon but they use the "I" logo for about 70% of their signage these days. They're slowly but surely moving towards the "I" as their primary logo.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Apr 16, 2010 -> 11:59 AM) Boooooo politically correct...booooooo!! Hurray for racial slurs . . . hurray!

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Apr 16, 2010 -> 11:54 AM) 2-1 you mean. And what's w/ the thread title edit? Injuns and Failbot aren't bad! Sure, if you're 7 years old.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Apr 16, 2010 -> 09:55 AM) I don't understand trading for Gonzalez for basically just one season (doubtful on the possibility of an extension like Garcia signed right after being traded in 2004)...you know he's going to test the market with how underpaid he is. Buddy Bell on the subject of Tyler Flowers "We are trying to transition him back to the basics to get back to where he was last season....Too many thoughts, you just can't play [the game that way]." On his offense "We think the world of him offensively. Very intelligent kid." Let's say the deal was Santos, Flowers, Hudson and Shelby/CJ/Sergio Morales/M. Gonzalez, would anyone pull the trigger on that one? So the 3 to 4 months that would remain in the 2010 season don't count?

There's been a lot of talk about the Blue Jays making a couple bullpen guys available, the Phillies and Indians have been 2 of the most likely suitors mentioned in reports. This is likely why there would be an unusual number of scouts at a Blue Jays game.

I haven't intentionally seen even a second of an ESPN program that wasn't a baseball game in about 2 years. My life is significantly richer because of this. I can't think of a single reason to watch any of their original programming; it doesn't really qualify as "entertainment" in my world, I think "shrieking for the stupid" is a far better description of what you're really getting. So I suppose if you're dimwitted and enjoy being lied to and screamed at you could find some entertainment in a few of those shows. And anyone who gets MLB Network and is still watching Baseball Tonight there's something seriously wrong with. I'll put Mitch Williams up against anyone who's ever appeared on Baseball Tonight with confidence that Mitch will significantly out entertain, inform and hold your interest over multiple shows.

QUOTE (knightni @ Apr 15, 2010 -> 06:01 PM) Who was the last right handed hitter to hit .350? Looks like Pujols a few years ago. Most guys who hit for high average are lefty batters. Since 1980 12 different right handed hitters have hit .350+ and 12 different left handed hitters have hit .350+. Difference is: Boggs and Gwynn both did it 5 times, Suzuki and Walker 4 times and Bonds, Olerud and Helton all did it twice so that's 29 total. For the righties only Garciaparra and Pujols have done it multiple times (2 each) so that's 14 total. So over the past 30 years the number of unique instances is equal but lefty hitters do it more consistently.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 15, 2010 -> 03:29 PM) You might want to occasionally loosen up the chin strap and relax. I was not being facetious, I actually find you humorous.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 15, 2010 -> 03:26 PM) I will note that in my journal. You do that, funny man.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 15, 2010 -> 02:27 PM) What does he do for them? Man the buffet table? He was 5 for 13 with 4 walks and a HR in pinch hitting situations last year. He also had a pinch hit game tying RBI single in the bottom of the 8th in game 4 of the NLDS.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Apr 15, 2010 -> 12:52 AM) I wouldnt really want any of those guys right now. Sure they are alright, they get some outs, but really. Those guys are a bunch of "B" players and everyone knows it. They have roles sure, but come on, those are not ur sure thing bullpen guys at all. And how many of those are there in baseball? Bullpen guys who you know are going to be good year in and year out.

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 15, 2010 -> 01:02 AM) to be quite honest, i'm a bit surprised he's had just 1 one hitter and 2 two hitters. It doesn't seem like those have been rare. Well, that's 2 hits over 9 innings of work, that's rather rare and hard to do. He has 12 starts of 7+ innings and 2 or fewer hits over his career. 10 of 8+ innings.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 15, 2010 -> 12:16 AM) Don't we agree he's a good basestealer? He just had some brain lapses when he got picked off. As Ranger would say, those pickoffs didn't make or break us ultimately. Being picked off 11 times in 5 months does not constitute "some brain lapses" it's the pattern of a s***ty base runner. The 70% SB% (very bad) is just icing on the cake of suck that is Podsednik on the basepaths.

Santo Luis was a Rule V project that wasn't worthy of a spot on the 40 man roster, you can sometimes sneak those guys through waivers in April and save yourself a 40 man spot. It's best to have 39 or less guys on the 40 man roster at all times for flexibility purposes. This opens up the possibility of making a waiver claim or the like. Most all trades before June are made out of necessity and are of little to no import. You're never going to see a decent player for prospects deal done in mid April when all team are still technically "in it."

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 14, 2010 -> 06:58 PM) Carlos Pena's season last year blows my mind. He hit .227 and almost had a .900 OPS. That seems like it should be impossible. I mean, I realize Thomas did it for a month in 2005, but that's a f***ing month. Pena did it in 135 games. A .310 ISO with a .227 BA is crazy. He's off to a pretty damn good start again this year to (3 run homer today). Maybe this year he'll get more singles than homers, but I really hope he doesn't. From what I can tell he's the only player in big league history to put up an OPS of at least .890 and a batting average of .230 or lower over a 500+ PA season. The only other player to do it with at least 33 PA in a season was in fact Frank Thomas in 2005. So only 2 players have gotten at least 33 PA in a season and put up an OPS of at least .890 and a batting average of .230 or lower. So yeah, it's basically next to impossible. Only 7 players in the history of the game have put up an OPS of at least .800 with a batting average of .230 or lower over a 400+ PA season. The last one to do it was Adam Dunn in 2003 when he put up a .215/.354/.465/.819 line with 27 HR in 469 PA. The highest OPS of the other 6 was Gene Tenace in 1980 who put up a .222/.399/.424/.823 line with 92 BB in 416 PA, that's the 2nd most walks all time in a season with 420 or fewer PA; Ferris Fain walked 94 times in 358 PA in 1955 his line for the season: .260/.455/.326/.781