Kalapse

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 10, 2009 -> 02:17 PM) Everbody's been clamoring for a leadoff man on our team with some speed. We have arguably one of the best in baseball right now (the way he played this year) yet we are not crazy about bringing Pods back. It's so easy to take your own players for granted. If Pods is healthy, he ain't done yet. And we have youth in the minors to replace him if for some reason he pulls a Rios. The average OBP for an AL leadoff hitter is .354, Podsednik is currently at .358. The average line is .283/.354/.419/.774, podsednik: .307/.358/.412/.770. Being about league average does not make you one of the best in baseball especially when he's piss poor in other facets of the game at which you expect your leadoff hitter to excel. He's a 34 year old man without a position, a career .340 OBP and very bad injury history putting up about league average numbers for his position in the lineup while supplying your team with some of the worst baserunning in the game. If Kenny doesn't look to upgrade the leadoff spot this winter I'm going to be very upset. By the way, just in the AL: Figgins: .303/.402/.397/.799 Jeter: .330/.397/.470/.867 Ichiro: .357/.386/.461/.847 Span: .309/.393/.409/.802 Roberts: .283/.350/.454/.804 Scutaro: .282/.379/.409/.788 Ellsbury: .300/.350/.411/.761 (60/69 in SB) These are your best leadoff hitters. Not only are they better at the plate but they also hold other valuable traits on the diamond. And that's not even counting guys like Sizemore, Granderson, Kinsler, Bartlett, Dejesus and Upton who are either having down years or just haven't logged enough PA in the leadoff spot this year. Can we set our standards just a wee bit higher as a fan base, please. There are leadoff hitters in the AL with OBP in the .380 to .410 range who are capable of running the bases adequately and playing some decent defense.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Sep 7, 2009 -> 08:36 PM) I don't think you can offer him any less than 80% or something of what he made this year. So it's going to have to be at least $4.4 million or so. I can't see him passing that up... And if Dotel countered with $6M he'd win.

Highest single season ERA+ in the AL since 2000: ERA+ NAME YEAR IP CY Voting 1 291 Pedro Martinez 2000 217 1st 2 210 Pedro Martinez 2003 186 3rd 3 202 Pedro Martinez 2002 199 2nd 4 197 Zack Greinke 2009 198 --- 5 182 Johan Santana 2004 228 1st 6 177 Derek Lowe 2002 219 3rd 7 175 Cliff Lee 2008 223 1st 8 164 Tim Hudson 2003 240 4th 9 163 Felix Hernandez 2009 193 --- So as of today Zack Greinke has the highest non-Pedro ERA+ this decade. Oh and he's 10th on that list if you stretch the parameters back to integration (1947). Here's how consistently effective both Greinke and Felix have been this year, highest Quality Start % in the AL since 2000: 1 .862% Pedro Matinez 2000 2 .824% Dan Haren 2007 3 .821% Zack Greinke 2009 4 .821% Felix Hernandez 2009 His final 4 or 5 starts will determine quite a bit but Zack Greinke is having one of the best seasons by a starting pitcher in American League history, it's just a shame that I wouldn't be surprised to see him finish 3rd in the Cy Young voting behind Sabathia and Verlander because he plays for the team with the worst offense in the AL.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 7, 2009 -> 01:28 AM) Richard is 4-1 for the Pods? Me thinks we could have used him on the road trip from hell which only ended our season while Peavy was rehabbing. Now 4-2 in 8 starts. With a 5.40 ERA, 1.700 WHIP, 10.1 H/9, 5.2 BB/9 and 7.0 SO/9 to go along with it. Yeah, he's been awesome. The Padres have scored 5.4 runs per game in his 8 starts and he's gone 6+ IP in 3 of those 8.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Sep 2, 2009 -> 12:39 PM) Kalapse, I don't care much in regards to Pods, Konerko, Linebrink, and Dotel. Well I like Pods and Konerko and were stuck with Linebrink next year so I'd hope they'd all do good, but I'm more or less saying, would you want Ramirez, Getz, Beckham, Quentin, Rios, etc all sucking miserably. Would you want Danks and Floyd to get hammered? Those guys are the core for next season, a core that I believe in, and I certainly don't want to watch that core play absolutely miserably and I'm pretty sure season ticket holders wouldn't either. Now the odds of all that happening are slim, but I'd be content if we lost games because Dotel came in and stunk or something along those lines but I want the youngsters playing good and our core to grow. No and I doubt they will. If the Sox are going to lose it's going to be because the bullpen blows up or the vets don't hit and frankly that's fine by me. If the Sox lose 3-1 with Danks having a damn good outing but Dotel gave up a big HR late and Podsednik went 0-5 with runners in scoring position I'm ok with it. It also doesn't mean I'm going to sit there and cheer against the team, I'll just be fine with it if they lose. Beckham and Quentin can still perform well in losses, if Podsendik, Dye, Konerko and Pierzynski blow the team isn't going to win.

QUOTE (wallyburger @ Sep 2, 2009 -> 01:39 PM) Dick "Richie" Allen. 1972 37 dingers. Dick Allen never played the outfield in a White Sox uniform and he was almost exclusively a 1B in '72.

QUOTE (Cubano @ Sep 2, 2009 -> 12:53 PM) Then, I do not know where I got he was a CF. Then, I have more question. Ha, ha, ha. Who is the LF in Chi Sox history with more HR in a season? What LF has the most HR in his career? It has to be Carloses. Quentin last year and Lee. Am I missing anybody else from previous decades? Thanks, 49 - Albert Belle, 1998 36 - Carlos Quentin, 2008 35 - Ron Kittle, 1983 32 - Ron Cittle, 1984 31 - Carlos Lee, 2004 31 - Carlos Lee, 2003 Minosos is 13th and 14th with 21 and 20 HR in '56 and '60. 152 - Carlos Lee 135 - Minnie Minoso 135 79 - Albert Belle 51 - Carlos Quentin 50 - Tim Raines

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 2, 2009 -> 12:05 PM) I think Jas is saying if players that we are depending on for next year, which is a good chunk of the roster, perform badly enough that we plummet down the standings many people might not renew based on those some players potentially sucking again next year. You're right, read that wrong. I'm stuck on the "minor tweak" comment. Season ticket renewals is probably the best argument, not sure I buy it but I can see where you're coming from.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Sep 2, 2009 -> 11:45 AM) It impacts the fan base and potentially puts renewals in doubt. If this team wins like 4 games in September that could severely mess a lot of things up. It probably doesn't, but it could. Not to mention winning 4 or 5 games probably means a s***load of guys have really sucked which again makes you question what might be there. Bottom line, I like my teams to win and play good. Position player wise (since it'd be tough for the pen to get any worse) what players that you really want to see retained might play poorly enough down the stretch that it spells their departure from the team? Pierzynski, Rios, Ramirez, Beckham and Quentin aren't going anywhere (Nix and Getz are likely safe as well). Konerko? Dye? Podsednik?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 2, 2009 -> 11:30 AM) Not to mention what it does to our season ticket base, which in the long run is almost more important than our draft pick when it comes to deciding what the future of the Sox looks like. Let's not forget we have had exactly one good first round pick in the last 15 years or so. That's not very good odds. And that 1 pick just happened to be in the top 10. The Sox's last 4 top 10 picks have been Gordon Beckham, Alex Fernandez, Frank Thomas and Jack McDowell. So their track record for top 10 picks is actually rather impressive. Is a large percentage of the season ticket base really going to renew if the Sox go .500 (I really can't see this team performing any better) from here on out as opposed to .300?

QUOTE (Cubano @ Sep 2, 2009 -> 11:25 AM) Minoso also hit 24 in 1958. He is listed in LF and OF. It is confusing. I thought he was primarely a CF. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/...i01.shtml?redir Kalapse: How about Minoso? He played 147 games in LF that year and 1 at 3B. "OF" is a general category counting all the games he played in the outfield that season and since all his games played in the outfield were in left his totals for "LF" and "OF" are identical.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Sep 2, 2009 -> 11:25 AM) Plus you finish strong and it also shows you have a good team and it ensures we don't just entirely blow this thing up. Small changes are needed and I think Kenny knows that. We should get a shot at a pretty good player picking in the top 15 anyway and I expect us to be in that spot. If Kenny knows this team only needs minor tweaks then why would a strong finish change anything?

QUOTE (RibbieRubarb @ Sep 2, 2009 -> 11:11 AM) How can you root for your team to lose? I don't understand that mentality. Draft picks or no... Because in his mind it improves the White Sox's chances of winning in the future. I said this in '07 and I truly believe it; how could it possibly be a bad thing to root against your team if you truly believe that a loss is better for the team in the long run than a win? Win 15 of your final 30 and finish in 3rd place with a pick between 13 and 15 or win 8 of 30, finish in 3rd or 4th place and get a top 10 pick? Once you fell your team is out of it you start looking for the best case scenario and in his mind that would be a high draft pick.

With at least 70% of their games played in CF: 24 - Aaron Rowand, 2004 24 - Larry Doby, 1956 22 - Tommy Agee, 1966 22 - Jim Landis, 1961 20 - Ken Henderson, 1974 For a career: 83 - Jim Landis 73 - Chet Lemon 54 - Aaron Rowand 38 - Larry Doby 38 - Happy Felsch

QUOTE (iamshack @ Sep 1, 2009 -> 11:55 PM) Kal, What exactly are the rules regarding Thome re-signing here? So assuming the Dodgers don't offer him arbitration, does that mean we can sign him without having to surrender a pick? If the Dodgers don't offer him arb then any team is free to sign him without relinquishing a pick. If he's offered arb and declines then we'd have to give up our 2nd round pick in order to sign him, since we're going to have a top 15 pick we wouldn't have to give up a 1st rounder (the top 15 picks in the draft are protected). If they offer him arb and he accepts then they'll have to pay him $10M+ to come off the bench next year (or find a trade partner).

Well, at least we won't lose a first round pick when we sign all those type A free agents this offseason.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 1, 2009 -> 11:42 PM) I'm sure Jimmy loved (loves) the great city of Chicago, but can you imagine how happy he is to get the hell out of Dodge? After this road trip in which his team simply laid down and got creamed? He has to be the happiest man alive arriving in the Dodger clubhouse. I still can't fathom however him wanting to pinch hit. He's still capable of whacking some big home runs and it's impossible they play him at first base. As sad as I am to see the big lug go ... I'm happy he doesn't have to endure September with this Sox club that hopefully will be rebuilt and ready to go in February. Not sure who but one of Konerko or Dye said that yesterday was the first time they've ever seen Jim Thome down in the dumps after he accepted the trade to L.A. he loves it here and really didn't want to leave.

Well #2 is where you miss the whole point. Jim Thome gained 12 games in the standings last night. He went from a team that's 6 games out of the playoffs to a team that's 6 up. He has a much better chance of getting his ring with the Dodgers than he did the Sox. The trade was made as a favor to Thome, the class act that he is. This also changes nothing in terms of 2010, Thome will be a free agent at year's end free to sign with the Sox if the 2 sides see fit.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Sep 1, 2009 -> 03:54 PM) Owed about $10 million for 2010. $12M

QUOTE (longshot7 @ Sep 1, 2009 -> 03:45 PM) At 92M (and I don't think Danks will get that much), they still have about 20M more to add. Another bullpen arm, Chone Figgins, and a RF/DH type should about do it. $112M? They're going to finish this year at about $98M if you stretch the numbers and I have a hard time seeing payroll go up from there. $92M could very well be the budget for next year given all the variables involved. And Danks will get about $4M max, IMO.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Sep 1, 2009 -> 03:38 PM) Jenks, Danks, Floyd, and Quentin will cost us well over $20 million in arbitration next year (probably closer to $25 million). Not true... That's a lot of money concentrated into 9/25 of the roster. Throw in the arbitration salaries and now we're at a minimum of $87 million (probably closer to $92 million) for 13 players. I wouldn't be surprised at all of Paulie and Jenks were dealt this winter, just for sake of salary relief. Don't forget Floyd signed a deal before the season started so he's one of the 9 players that under contract for next year leaving only Quentin, Danks, Jenks, Wise, Carrasco, Betemit and Pena as the arbitration eligible players in '10.

QUOTE (knightni @ Sep 1, 2009 -> 03:20 PM) Dunn = Thome on the bases and at the plate Apparently you've never actually seen Adam Dunn run.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 1, 2009 -> 02:58 PM) I prefer to use whatever money we have to spend on upgrading defense and the bullpen. Call me crazy but I have a feeling Pena will have a nice season next year. We seem to pick up guys who stink when they first get here and turn a corner the following year (see Thornton and Floyd). It's usually a very bad idea to spend money on bullpen arms. The position is just way too volatile from year to year. You're better off putting together a group of cheap vets and youngsters with good stuff/control.

QUOTE (WCSox @ Sep 1, 2009 -> 02:45 PM) You forgot about the $25+ million going to Peavy and Rios next year, the raises that Jenks, Floyd, Danks, and Quentin will command via arbitration, and the money that the Sox are losing due to economy-driven losses in advertising and luxury suite sales. The Sox have less to spend next season than a lot of people think. $67.05M guaranteed to 9 players (Buehrle, Floyd, Konerko, Linebrink, Peavy, Pierzynski, Ramirez, Rios, Viciedo)

With at least 80% of games played at the respective position: 21 - Alexei Ramirez, 2008 20 - Ray Durham, 2001 19 - Ray Durham, 1998 18 - Tadahito Iguchi, 2006 17 - Ray Duhram, 2000 30 - Jose Valentin, 2004 28 - Jose Valentin, 2003 25 - Jose Valentin, 2000 21 - Juan Uribe, 2006 20 - Juan Uribe, 2007 20 - Ron Hansen, 1964