Kalapse

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 03:00 PM) I am not sure any stats that are used in these comparisons are all that valid. I find it interesting thought that you are willing to dismiss one set of fielding stats and accept another. Explain to me how FLD% is a valid indicator of an outfielder's defensive ability.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 02:50 PM) Fitting a profile is not the way to make sound financial baseball decisions. It's just too risky That's actually how you DO make sound financial baseball decisions. There's a good chance Crisp bounces back next season and puts up ok numbers with good defense at a very low price. Podsednik will likely put up similar numbers, is 4 years older, plays poor defense and will be more expensive and require a longer commitment. When you're banging up against your budgetary ceiling and have more than a few large holes to fill, you make gambles like this one rather than pay overpay for the older player who probably isn't any more of a sure thing.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 02:46 PM) I am talking about Crisp and reports of a weak arm. I checked on their stats and don't see that much of a difference in fielding pct. Granted Pods arm is not that strong either. But side by side I don't see Crisp as an upgrade over Pods. Interpret the numbers anyway you want I guess. That's because FLD% is worthless, it only takes into account errors, and unless you have a big, wild arm or just flatout drop flyballs you're not going to commit errors in the outfield. Crisp's career Outfield UZR/150 is 10.9, Podsednik's -1.8. Crisp in CF: 5.8, Podsednik: -5.6. So over 150 games Crisp will save you 11 runs and Podsednik will cost you 2, there's a big difference in the numbers and they both have bad arms.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 02:17 PM) Huge Frnak Thomas fan here and I sure he gets in but maybe not first ballott. My question, did the steroid scandel actually escalate his status as his perceived cleanliness and being in front of the steroid outcry overcome his sullen reputation. Will voters and purists take a more favorable look at him now than compared to if there was no steroid scandel? Also if he retires after 2004 wouldthe higher batting average have helped or are the 500 homers more important? I belive his career average may have dropped almost 20 points from 2000 but I could be wrong. Look at that rankings above and see how many of those guys are steroid guys. Although I think Bonds was clean up until 1998. It will be interesting to see how the McGwire, Bonds, Palmerio, Sosa voting plays out prior to Thomas becoming eligible. Maddux, Biggio and Thomas would be a great class although I think Clemens is in there as well.....or is Clemens with Bonds??? Also Biggio and Thomas may not be first ballot. 500 HR is the big one. He had a .321/.440/.579/1.018 career line going into the 2001 season but only 344 HR, that's not good enough. After '04: .308/.429/.567/.996 and 436 HR After '07: .303/.421/.561/.982 and 513 HR And now: .301/.419/ .555/.974 and 521 HR

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 02:34 PM) I thought you liked to argue? There are no guarantees with a fellow coming back of major shoulder problems other than he is cheap to sign Of course there are no guarantees, that's why he'll make next to nothing in guaranteed cash in 2010 and you give players physicals before you sign them. I'm not a fan of Crisp but I can see why they'd turn to him especially with Podsednik pricing himself out of town. There's also no guarantee that Podsednik puts up an OBP north of .340 next year or doesn't spend a significant amount of time on the DL after getting his money, he does have a reputation for that sort of thing. You should be happy, this could easily be posturing on the Sox's side trying to get Podsednik to lower his demands.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 02:33 PM) Arm strength and other reports on his fielding. Fast isn't everything in the field What reports and since when does Podsednik have a good arm? Here's a report: 4.4/5.0 in reaction/instincts and 4.1 in hands. If you're going to talk about speed not being everything then you should apply it to Podsednik who gets by in the field strictly based on his speed alone.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 02:29 PM) I am not so certain Crisp is that much better in the field Based on what?

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 02:26 PM) Me too. Pods was healthy and performed yet we had people degrading his abilities becasue he had been hurt in the past. Now we have this rumor about being interested in Crisp, who was injured last year and hit .228 for crying out loud. We also are back to this how we have liked someone for years and now we can sign him. Yes because he is over the hill and cheap. We can do better IMO. 1.) Crisp is 30 years old, that's not over the hill. 2.) Do you honestly expect Crisp to hit .228 next year? If not then there's no reason to bring it up.

There's little doubt in my mind that Jordan Danks would be a more valuable player than Gary Matthews Jr. in 2010 just based on his vastly superior defense alone. Not only has Matthews turned into a dreadful offensive player but his defense has nose dived as well. He has negative value to a team. There's $23M left on that contract ($11M more than Konerko) you'd have to get an unheard of amount of cash in return from the Angels to save money, no part of it makes sense.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 02:13 PM) Is this the best we can do?? REALLY? CO CO CRISP?? .228 batting average?? Please NO! I hope we can do better... Yes, because he's sure to do that again. Hell, his OBP was .336.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 02:02 PM) I'd rather have Pods Depends on the price. Crisp won't be getting much in guaranteed money where as Podsednik will command a multi-year deal (at least until he goes unsigned into February.)

Crisp would really need to play LF, his arm in center would cost the team a ton of bases over the course of a season.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 11:23 AM) Frank Thomas was the second best hitter in the 1990s and the best right handed hitter of the 1990s. The fact that he testified in Congress during the steroid discussion and was the only active player who was never accused nor caught using steroids to help in coming up with the Mitchell Report. As funny as this will sound, Frank Thomas's character, along with his on the field accomplishments of course, is what is going to get him into the Hall of Fame, and it should be on the first ballot. Frank's ranks amongst all players with 4000+ PA between '90 and '99: H: 11th (1564) 2B: 11th (317) HR: 9th (301) the list ahead of him is just sad: Canseco, Palmeiro, Sosa, J. Gonzalez, Belle, Bonds, Griffey, McGwire RBI: 6th (1040) Only 59 behind the leader: Albert Belle BB: 2nd (1076) #1: Bonds IBB: 3rd (133) Griffey and Bonds ahead of him AVG: 4th (.320) #3 Edgar Martinez, #2 Mike Piazza and #1 Tony Gwynn OBP: 1st (.440) #2 Bonds at .432 OPS: 3rd (1.013) #2 McGwire, #1 Bonds. Frank finished 23 points back up Bonds but 47 points ahead of #4 Mike Piazza RC: 2nd (1292) #1 Bonds in runs created

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 12:57 PM) He fell just shy of 3,000 hits. Of course he should at least be considered. So what if he played forever. Almost everybody in his hit range has made it. Of the 5 hitters in directly in front or behind Harold Baines on the All Time hit list Harold has about 500+ more games played than all of them except Brooks Robinson, Mel Ott and Babe Ruth. Reaching 2800+ hits by way of being a only a good hitter for a very long time doesn't really impress people especially when the only reason you played that long was because you only saw the field 4 or 5 times a game as a designated hitter from age 28 on. Those guys around Baines on the hit list are some of the greatest players of all time and largely dominant players for their era.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 10:15 AM) Tell that to Joe DiMaggio. The record for most consecutive appearances by a closer without allowing an ER is held by Ryan Dempster.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 11:47 AM) I was specifically referring to watching him pitch, regardless of success rate. Have you seen him pitch? He's like an OCD buffet out there, and takes forever to deliver a pitch. He's the Venezuelan Steve Strachsel.

QUOTE (jphat007 @ Nov 24, 2009 -> 11:39 AM) What was his inherited runners scored? How many games did he blow or lose? I don't have any numbers right in front of me but one of the most vivid things I can remember from this past season was Pena pitching terribly when we were still kinda in it. I remember telling myself that if he was a major part of the bullpen in 2010 we'd be screwed. But I don't have the tiem to look up the numbers today so I'm just going to have to be anecdotal. 54% stranded which isn't terrible considering he inherited 26 runners in 36 innings with the Sox (that's a s*** load). 3.77 FIP (fielding independent pitching) so he wasn't getting a lot of extra help from his defense, his k/9 was up to 7.25 as was his k/bb at 3.22, his biggest problem was his HR rates went up his HR/9 was up to 1.00 from .79 in ARZ and his HR/FB raised 3.4% with the move. I'd say he's a pretty good bet for 2010.

If you can link me to one of the old versions I'd be willing to update the names and code.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 23, 2009 -> 07:12 PM) That's fine but what I don't like about the moves are Teahan/Vizquel while an upgrade from Getz/Lillibridge, may not be the $5 million upgrade it costs. I personally don't think Beckham at 2B, Teahan at 3B is much of a defensive upgrade from Getz/Nix at 2B Beckham at 3B. Offensively it could be, but Teahan is no lock to take off offensively. It kind of reminds me of the Cory Snyder acquisition. A talented guy who had a tough time making contact but was a scout's wet dream. Vizquel definitely can play 3B and SS better than Lillibridge or Nix, without a doubt and is an upgrade offensively over Lillibridge, but really not much at this stage. But how often is he going to be playing SS or 3B or 2B? Not much if no one gets hurt, plus Omar doesn't steal you bases anymore. Getz could get you a bag as could Lillibridge, plus we are talking about a guy who will be 43. He still seems nimble, but 43 year olds tend to tweak things a lot easier than younger guys. He definitely could be a weapon as a pinch bunter. It definitely appears the Sox will have one of the older benches in baseball. Brent Lillibridge is a non-fact, for as bad as Vizquel is at the plate he's significantly better than Lillibridge -- that's just how bad Lillibridge is with the bat -- and I don't think Brent's proven to be anything special defensively despite what a few of the scouting reports said about him from his time with the Pirates and Braves, I'm mildly surprised he wasn't out-righted to Charlotte once the season ended. You need a backup infielder who you know you can trust at 2B, SS and 3B when these guys do get their days off and Nix showed he can't be trusted to play SS and Ozzie's obviously not a fan of his bat so he's not going to be that guy. Vizquel's defense is going to be valuable, he won't be knocking in runs but he will make the pitcher's lives a lot easier when he is in the game and that is incredibly important. As for the base stealing; I really think Alejandro De Aza or another speedy true CF will make this team (Kotsay really can't play CF anymore) and give you that real speed off the bench that Ozzie will exploit as often as possible so Vizquel's lack of speed won't mean much. I don't think they're worried about Vizquel tweaking anything given that he's slated for about 200 PA this year, he's also been incredibly healthy even once he started getting into the upper 30's, aside from the knee injury that ruined his '08 season he hasn't missed any time do to injury -- since turning 38 he's missed 5 games due to injury/illness (not counting the knee injury of course): a sore groin that cost him 2 games in '07 and the flu cost him 3 games last year. He's just one of those guys that stays healthy and does his thing. Then there's the possibility that maybe, just maybe he does teach the young guys a thing or two, he's always carried the reputation for being a great teacher and terrific clubhouse guy which is really just gravy IMO. I don't disagree on Teahen, I'm not a fan. We're just gonna have to hope that Kenny knows what he's doing though I'll believe it when I see it. I don't think Adrian Beltre's going to get a very big contract this offseason and he would have made a ton of sense for this team.

UPDATED VERSION [11.23.09] (CLICK FOR FULL SIZE) Added the Rule V protectees and Omar Vizquel

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 23, 2009 -> 04:08 PM) Plus we'd need to clear space in the locker room for his dealer. You have to be pining for Flowers to be traded this offseason.

He hasn't aged a day in 10 years.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 23, 2009 -> 01:58 PM) Now we should leave Beckham at third, Omar at ss, Lexi at second and Teahen our do everything reserve. Omar plays for us one year then the following year we get another vet ss. It makes perfect sense. Teahen is not the answer at 3B, but he is a great great utility guy. Cmon Sox, do the right thing. Lexi should be our second baseman for the next 10 years. Gordon is great at third. It actually makes no sense as Omar Vizquel has no business getting more than ~200 PA over the course of a full season coming off the bench seeing as how he's one of the worst offensive players in the game and completely incapable of holding up over a full season's worth of PA's. And your definition of the word "great" is just appalling.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Nov 23, 2009 -> 01:49 PM) I'll never forget when I first learned of the Thome trade on the radio. You hear the word 'shocked' all the time. But I can honestly say I was in complete and utter shock when I first heard. I remember punching a door after hearing Rowand's name in the report, I was so pissed that they would let him go. It took me about an hour to come to my senses and appreciate the trade.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Nov 23, 2009 -> 01:51 PM) Very true. Besides a few gold gloves, the awards have been very well deserved this year. Well, the Gold Gloves are voted on by the Managers and Coaches and not the BBWAA like the MVP and CY so they don't really go hand in hand IMO.