3E8

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 4, 2013 -> 11:42 AM) The Sox want to trade their bad players for good players. Source?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 4, 2013 -> 11:07 AM) How many blockbusters did KW pull off by this time last year? None. But Sergio, Quentin, and Frasor had each been traded. And he picked up what would become nearly three wins in superstar rookies Quintana and Veal.

Hahn and KW are probably polar opposites when it comes to patience. KW could never wait to get his chips in the pot. We're used to having more offseason activity by now. Hahn is more conservative and can hold out in attempt to get what he wants. Hahn's best skill as assistant GM has been in contract negotiations, so that should translate well when he makes his first trade.

I really like Sale, but I would accept an offer for Stanton as quickly as I could.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jan 1, 2013 -> 06:20 PM) Like Eminor3rd said, Dunn needs to have something like a .350 OBP to be truly productive. So really, if he hits .220 to .230, he'll be fine. Too bad he hit .200 last year. QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 1, 2013 -> 08:16 PM) Right -- I'm not in love with how his season ended up. I wish he would have been better. But I think he still has it in him and we're just not getting enough production anywhere else to supplant him. How many hits do you guys think the shift took away from Dunn? 10 potential hits would've been 19 batting average points.

Kubel spent most of the season hitting in front of Goldschmidt, as well as at least 10 games in front of either Montero or Hill. All three players had a higher wOBA than Kubel. To say with better protection Kubel would have easily hit .300 with 40 HRs and 120 RBIs (something that has been done once in baseball since 2010) is preposterous.

QUOTE (Lamar Johnson 23 @ Dec 21, 2012 -> 04:08 PM) I believe ownership owes it to it's fan base to put the best team on the field that it possibly can. Period. Not the best team it is willing to afford. The Sox have put themselves in position to put the best team on the field they can by letting AJ go. Flowers and an extra $7.5M to spend is better than AJ returning and Flowers warming the bench. So although the offseason has not been active for us, let's wait to see what Hahn does with the roster come spring. He may use the saved money to take on a contract in a trade which upgrades a position other than catcher. That way we will potentially put the best team on the field we can for now, while also integrating a young pre-arb player into the lineup to help us put a better team on the field for the future too like the rest of us are concerned about.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 21, 2012 -> 05:58 PM) Im sure im not the only one that has had to wiggle out from under a barbell on the bench. I got a little too ambitious with my bench the other week. I laid there saying "help?" for almost a minute before someone came over.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Dec 21, 2012 -> 10:32 AM) Computers do not agree with you guys and say Sox are one of the least improved teams this offseason. See table in this article. I'm surprised that we're projected currently as a 77-win team. I had figured us slightly above .500. The 2012 team outscored opponents by over 70 runs, a pythagorean 88-win team.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Dec 21, 2012 -> 10:18 AM) How do they rate catcher's? Anybody who's being honest with themselves and watched the Sox a lot last year can see that AJ was brutal behind the plate. He was still docked about half a win for his defense on b-r.com. Which means he's given up that many runs defensively in four of the past five seasons. It was clear from the eye test like you say that his pitch blocking ability was lacking. AJ had 54 wild pitches thrown to him (some of those should be "wild pitches"), which was 10 more than any other catcher in the AL.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Dec 20, 2012 -> 11:06 PM) More on Flowers/AJ -- Merkin piece. Glad to read Flowers' hand healed well after being hit by that maniac.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Dec 20, 2012 -> 07:25 PM) Uh, yeah, "downgrade". Not even the biggest Tyler Flowers backers would argue otherwise. I would. Flowers' wRC+ (similar to OPS+, but better metric) as a White Sox is 88. AJ had a wRC+ at or below 88 in four of his eight seasons with the Sox. As for defense, AJ is below average, Flowers is above average. Unless you think AJ is likely to not regress from his career-best offensive season, they are not that far apart. Even if AJ did replicate the power surge he had, the difference between the two over a full year is maybe one win. Considering Flowers is pre-arb for a few years and will make near the league minimum, letting him take the reigns is the right decision.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 20, 2012 -> 08:47 AM) Morales isn't a long term player either. He's almost certainly a 1 year rental. He's a 2nd year arb player this year, and probably unlikely to have arbitration offered again next fall. Morales' arb status isn't correct on b-r.com, he's entering his third arb year like Vargas. It will be interesting to see if Morales plays well enough to make the Mariners comfortable in giving him a qualifying offer at the end of the year, in hopes he'll turn it down so they'll get an extra draft pick.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 20, 2012 -> 04:19 AM) I'm sure it's discussed in the legalese, but how do they derive these percentages? The formula is not disclosed. But it does state future changes to the performance factor percentages will be made based on "broadcast revenue". So I guess that's the main component.

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Dec 19, 2012 -> 10:14 PM) Bs on the revenue sharing. All the tigers get is their slice of the internet,tv, and merchandise money. Same size slice that the sox got. Tigers have drawn well since 2006. And they have a decent tv deal. Hell, the tigers gave GM the centerield ad space in 2009 for FREE when GM was in the dumps. If they were on revenue sharing i doubt they would have done that. There is supplemental revenue sharing apart from what you are thinking about. See page 222 of the current cba. The White Sox had to contribute money to this revenue sharing last season and will be one of 11 teams contributing again in 2013. The Tigers were recipients in 2012, and will be again in 2013, albeit a lower percentage.

QUOTE (Jake @ Dec 19, 2012 -> 04:02 PM) He's only had an OPS+ of above 100 once. None of his offensive numbers, save stolen bases, are impressive. You put a ton of stock in advanced defensive metrics and his base stealing ability to find any value in him. He can shove that $15M up his ass. QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 19, 2012 -> 04:06 PM) Great post...agree 100%. I take it you guys aren't liking Alexei Ramirez's contract from here out.

What do you guys use to develop upper chest besides incline bench? I've been trying incline flys for awhile but don't particularly like them. Any suggestions?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 12:26 PM) Well he talks about OBP being a problem for the Sox and then basically alludes to the fact that Pierzynski doesn't get on at a good clip A .324 OBP is so good that without it, the team will not get on base. They aren't losing a roided up, .600+ OBP Barry Bonds here. *she and, good point.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 09:11 AM) So, I'm definitely going to be interested to see how Dickey plays now that he's in the AL East and whether or not he's a creation of the NL. We only have a 71-inning sample, but in the last three years against the AL, Dickey is 7-0 with an ERA under 2.00. So there's at least not a minor red flag. He may benefit his first season simply from most players never facing his knuckleball before.

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Dec 17, 2012 -> 12:35 PM) I think it was a great move by NYM to trade him. I can't disagree with you. The Mets got two very good prospects. Given the state of their team and the landscape of the AL East, trading Dickey made sense. The Jays are in the opposite situation, and going "all-in" to try and stop their postseason drought from reaching 20 years. Their rotation needed another reliable starter and they got the best one available.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 17, 2012 -> 11:20 AM) The Jays have a deal done with Dickey, reportedly. http://thestar.blogs.com/baseball/2012/12/...gh-griffin.html So they'll have the Cy Young winner for three years, $30M. Nice deal.

Per Rosenthal, the Dickey trade is complete contingent upon the Blue Jays being able to successfully negotiate a contract extension. Given this info, I like the trade for both sides.

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Dec 15, 2012 -> 01:57 AM) Explain to me why every state that allows concealed carry or open carry have a much lower death rate due to guns than most other places do? This debate can go on forever. Hard fact is even with all this, they won't be able to take away the guns. Its pointless to keep going on and on. Also, just because you can carry openly or concealed doesn't mean people will. Its your choice to do so. QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Dec 15, 2012 -> 02:06 AM) Ok stating EVERY state is a bit over board. http://www.statemaster.com/graph/cri_mur_w...ate-per-100-000 Just read something interesting on that link. 57% of ALL deaths by firearms are Suicide. USGO 2010 Did not know that. I used your link of firearm death rate by state (data is from 2002), then looked at concealed carry laws by state from 2002 (link). Of the 20 states with the highest death rate, 18 of those states allowed unrestricted or shall-issue concealed carry. Those types of concealed carry states had the six highest death rates. On the other hand, states that did not allow concealed carry or only allowed concealed carry under may-issue permit had 14 of the 22 lowest firearm death rates. Five of the no concealed carry states were among the 21 lowest death rates.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Dec 14, 2012 -> 03:52 PM) IIRC the vast majority of prohibition alcohol was smuggled in, not made in bathtubs. The same would happen with guns. Ok so fine, maybe you make a dent on the random killings (which are still rare and random) but you're not stopping these major tragedies. I still think there's a big difference in cost and difficulty of manufacturing/transporting arms and ammunition compared to alcohol and drugs. According to this, there are over 50 armament manufacturers in the USA. There are four in Canada, one in Mexico. The black market definitely exists, and would have to be met by suppliers overseas, but it would produce a more limited supply. If it reduced firearm homicide in the USA by 20%, then over 2,000 less lives are lost each year using the current rate of death.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Dec 14, 2012 -> 02:01 PM) if guns are banned, the black market demand would be huge. think alcohol prohibition big. But wouldn't the supply for black market firearms and ammunition be much different than the black market for alcohol?