Kalapse

QUOTE (ChiSox420* @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 02:00 PM) My guess would be sending Nix down to AAA to work the Ks and with Getz I envision him wearing a Royals uni next year.... I don't think he'd clear waivers.

Just ignore Vizquel's age, it means next to nothing. He lost his speed a few years ago but his instincts and flawless fundamentals have kept him playing at an elite level at SS. He's still a blast to watch play the field.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 01:28 PM) I've seen a couple posts here about Kotsay not being able to cover CF. I wouldn't start him there, but as occsional relief for Rios, I think he'd be fine. Rios will probably play 150 games there anyway, and I don't think Kotsay is so bad in CF that 12 games worries me. He's not the CF he once was, but he can cover the position without being a total disaster. Too small a sample size for him for the stats to mean much, so, I am going on what I saw. I'd rather keep De Aza in AAA, for if someone gets hurt. Just my .02. He caught 2 balls in CF (9 innings) for the Sox and 18 in the OF total. Doesn't seem like your eyes have much of a sample size to go on either. He's rated very poorly in CF each year since 2005, that's 3,437 innings. And now he's 34 and played only a handful of innings at the position last year.

QUOTE (scenario @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 01:06 PM) Anybody know if Lillibridge has any options left? Unfortunately, this kind of information is impossible to find. There's just no convenient location to find this sort of info on every member of the White Sox's 40 man roster. It's a shame really.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 12:40 PM) If he is the utility infielder, playing 3 times a week makes sense. One game in every 10 or so, per skill position player (3x16.2 is 49 games actually starting), plus the occasional PH/PR and late defense type role. Sounds about right to me. And I don't think we're trading Nix, because I don't think he gets you anything in trade anyway. I think he stays with the team, CJ isn't ready yet. Bench of Nix (who can play some corner OF as well as 2B, 3B), Vizquel (all skill IF), Kotsay (all OF, 1B), and the backup C. Gives you pretty good coverage all around. There's a damn good chance Alejandro De Aza makes the team talking over the "Wise" role. He'd be the speed guy off the bench and can handle the outfield substantially better than Kotsay who really shouldn't get much if any time in CF next year. The wild card in this situation is that Nix is out of options.

QUOTE (spiderman @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 11:56 AM) From a sabermetrics POV, how does he rate last season? Obviously, I'm sure he has fallen off from his prime, but how does he rank amongst other guys? SS 2007: 1219.1 INN - 20.6 UZR/150 2006: 657.2 INN - 13.1 UZR/150 2009: 196.2 INN - 32.6 UZR/150 2B 2009: 126 INN - 0.3 UZR/150 3B 2009: 101 INN - 56.1 UZR/150 He's also doing quite well in Tango's Fan Poll. He's still a real good fielder.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 11:53 AM) Looks like I'll need to update my Fighting to Win!™ signature to include Mark Teahan and Omar Vizquel. 2010 will be so exciting! Did you really expect to be excited by the new backup infielder?

QUOTE (Paint it Black @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 11:46 AM) I'm speaking in general terms of course, most players hit their peak between 27-32. Oh, and that is if you believe he ACTUALLY IS 28. What is Vizquel going to teach Alexei an infield coach can't? There are not any huge secretes. Maybe he helps him, maybe he doesn't. I don't really see what it matters. The whole "mentor" thing is just speculation anyway, Vizquel is a good fit as a defensive specialist backup infielder when you have 3 question marks on defense at 3B, SS and 2B. Assuming he does get signed, I'm just glad that the Sox are showing a little interest in defense -- they've been indifferent for quite a while.

QUOTE (spiderman @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 11:45 AM) My only issue with this move is that I'm guessing that Vizquel would make around $1 million (whatever the minimum is for a veteran like Vizquel)....The Whtie Sox say that they are cash-strapped. I know it's not much, but I'd rather be patient with the money, and see what develops in the market place. That's $600K over the league minimum, it's not going to keep the Sox from making any other moves. We needed a backup infielder who can play good D all 3 positions and Vizquel fits the bill.

QUOTE (Paint it Black @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 11:40 AM) Okay hes 43 and bad. There are better replacement level shortstops out there than Vizquel. The "teach Alexei things" is just an idiotic argument because you assume that Alexei has room to improve. He's 28 (I said 27 earlier I misspoke) entering the peak of his career. It's pretty silly to say he can improve on defense at that age when really, defense is the first set of skills to deteriorate. Kenny obviously disagrees with you. He's been making excuses for Alexei for the past few months and has now signed him a mentor. Given that Vizquel is still a damn good defender, will not make much and this team is in need of an injection of defense there isn't much to get upset about here.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Nov 20, 2009 -> 11:37 AM) Then couldn't we just sign him as a coach? The guy will be 43 next season. I understand that he has been a great defender in his career, but he can't honestly be anywhere near as good as he was. He's still awesome in the field, doesn't really matter how old he is.

This would be solid. If you're gong to sign a veteran backup infielder you might as well make it an elite defender who's willing to work with the kids.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 19, 2009 -> 10:36 PM) Crede put up a .703 OPS last year. Over the last 3 seasons he's averaged 78 games played, 306 plate appearances and a .293 OBP. People need to seriously let him go already.

37 years old $45M and 3 years remaining on deal 88 ERA+, 1.515 WHIP and 5.1 K/9 in 2009 The Sox already have 5 legitimate starting pitchers There is no in house replacement for Konerko Even if you threw in Linebrink that's only $22.5M ($12M for Konerko, $10.5M for Linebrink) on the White Sox's end. The Sox already have a ton of money locked up for 2010 and will need plenty of room under the budget to sign their arb eligible players, as it stands now there are 6 of them. How exactly is this a good fit?

QUOTE (qwerty @ Nov 19, 2009 -> 01:23 AM) I can be as blunt and vulgar as they come, but there is a time and a place for that. The best discussion here, all around for that matter, is in the chat room. It's too bad the chat crew members are looked down upon, because honestly, people are missing out. It can simply be a blast at times. That's only if I'm around. There's really no point to the chat without me.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Nov 19, 2009 -> 01:10 AM) I would have to say. This is probably the first year that I have enjoyed your post game show. Probably the first year we have seen more of your personality than just the cut and dry guy. I was a big fan of Wills. He seemed like one of us, one of the fans. Just like you deal with, he had his group of crazy conspiracy theorist that would call the show. Hell that was before 2005. You can imagine those calls. Your first year you seemed like a carbon copy of the guy you replaced that did the post game when the show was on AM1000. Similar voice, similar tone, etc. Over the years you have gotten better at your craft and have loosened up a bit. This year you seemed to have a lot more leeway with being able to take a stand and stick up for points you believe in. Thats when you became a radio show that I could listen to. The more you keep it real, the more the company man thing will go away on its own. Hater.

Picked up the New Super Mario Bros. Wii yesterday. Very fun game, breezed through the first world but there was a nice step up in difficulty to the 2nd, I'm anxious to get back to it today. In my mind there's nothing better than a side scrolling Mario game.

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 17, 2009 -> 08:11 PM) I'm on the record as some sort of steroids apologist? Flowers got busted for PED's as a minor leaguer.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 17, 2009 -> 03:34 PM) The only award that is even relatively difficult to figure out is the NL Cy Young, and there are quite a few deserving candidates in that race. The MVP winners have to be Mauer and Pujols. I still have this horrible feeling that Jeter will steal the MVP away from Mauer.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Nov 17, 2009 -> 06:04 PM) Okay there's nothing wrong with making it really clear how strong you feel about a point, but there's no need to demean callers/fans of the show just because they disagree with you. Honestly, if Bernstein didn't belittle callers I wouldn't listen.

QUOTE (scenario @ Nov 17, 2009 -> 02:45 PM) Here's the problem I have with your analysis... There are no real slackers at 1B in MLB... (see list below). And it's not like we could just go out there and scoop one of them up to replace him. So mentioning Paulie is 20/25 paints a picture of a sub-par player who could easily be replaced... which is not true. An .840 OPS with 25+ homeruns and 90+ RBIS is not as easy to replace as you're trying to make it sound. Adam LaRoche, Nick Johnson and Russell Branyan are not looking at $12M a year. LaRoche will be the highest paid and at most I see him getting $8M unless an incredibly desperate team bids against its self and substantially overpays. Lyle Overbay failed to qualify last year but still got 500 PA and a .363 wOBA, he'll be given away this offseason to a team willing to pay his $8M salary. Jorge Cantu, another capable 1B put up a .357 wOBA last year and will be traded for very little this offseason. Carlos Delgado didn't qualify last year but is probably good for an .800+ OPS, is capable of playing 1B and will be signed on the cheap. Then there are players like Jack Cust and Carlos Pena (Branyan as well) who pop up every year, perfectly capable of hitting the s*** out of the ball but need to be given the chance to play, Jake Fox is a prime buy low candidate this offseason (Chris Davis if he can fix his approach and Mike Jacobs if everything goes just right for him). Then the inconsistent/injury prone bunch including Aubrey Huff and Hank Blalock who aren't going to make much on the open market but are perfectly capable of putting up decent numbers at 1B. There's also the conversion route, taking a big infielder or corner OF and moving him to 1B usually due to defensive deficiencies, Troy Glaus and Jermaine Dye are 2 free agents who's names are thrown around a lot in this regard.

All is right in the universe.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 17, 2009 -> 12:34 AM) Is Paulie really this bad a player compared to others at his position? Yes. He finished 20th out of 25 qualified 1B in wOBA last year and these are numbers that will likely decline next season. And yet he's the 8th highest paid 1B in baseball. Yes, yes it is. 5 of the top 6 hitters in terms of wOBA in 2009 were first basemen. That's because you generally have one of your top 2 hitters playing that position since you don't have to be a great athlete to play the position and defense at 1B isn't greatly valued. No, no he didn't. He provided below average offensive production for his position and barely out produced the likes of Magglio Ordonez. He's a pretty solid defensive 1B, there's not a ton of value in that. The good organizations typically look to get their money's worth when paying out 'decent' salaries, the chances of this happening with a 34 year old, $12M Konerko are slim It's ok to be a fan of a player, you just have to realize when he's hit the downside of his career and is no longer worth what he's being paid or failing to match the production you'd expect from someone that plays the most important offensive position on the diamond.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Nov 16, 2009 -> 09:09 PM) Paul Konerko is not finished nor is he a mediocre fielder IMO. I think Kalapse is just being too criitical agin of one our guys. Heck by the time some get done evaluating our players you wonder how we managed not to finish 7th in a 6 team division. Real simply. Aside from being a decent defender what ability does Paul Konerko possess that's above average for his position? It's real easy to just say that he's good, you have to be able to back that up with a little evidence. Where would you rank him amongst the other 1B in baseball taking into account all factors including age and salary? How much better is he than Adam LaRoche? He's probably looking at ~$6M-$8M a year in free agency and is Konerko's left handed twin. I do think it's funny that you believe I'm over critical of players on a team that finished 3rd to last in runs per game in the American League and 4 games under .500 in what was probably the worst division in baseball.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 16, 2009 -> 05:26 PM) He's a better defender than Rios, Buehrle? Yeah, he's a solid 1b, but it's not like we're picking up omar vizquel in his prime here, come on. If Rios is in CF (which he should be) then he needs to prove that he's elite out there, he did it for a couple hundred innings in Toronto but it's going to take a bit more than that. There's no doubt in my mind that he's an elite RF and far more valuable than a 1B. But yeah, Rios will likely be our best defender this year but right now Gonzalez is one of the best of the best at his position no matter how little you think of it. Buehrle? Really? You have a problem with the guy who will be expected to pick Teahen's errant throws out of the dirt but you mention the pitcher? A guy who had a grand total of 55 chances last year?