Jake

I would say skipping his start at the next chance (when there is an off day) is the most logical thing. Time in the bullpen could make some sense, but it's tough to control when he gets to pitch (how do you predict the next blowout?) and you can't risk him in a competitive game. You can only DL him if there is something resembling an injury going on.

I wouldn't give him any reps on the MLB roster, that's for sure. If he wants to go to AAA and prove he can hit, then why not

I believe Danks said that he would stay in shape for the time being but was not going to be a minor league baseball player, even if that meant that he'd not get to play anymore.

I didn't realize Soxtalk had gone full panic mode on Frazier

I'm not going to s*** the bed over his current performance, though at points in his last outing he looked a lot like a guy whose head was not in the right place. His throw into CF and later a successful throw to 1B were hallmarks of a guy who has absolutely no confidence in what he's doing. Confidence we can fix, so hopefully we do.

Heathcott has long been regarded as a very talented player with real MLB potential, but has been railroaded by injuries. He's spent the equivalent of well over 2 years on the DL in the minors, including two major knee and two major shoulder surgeries. Has some raw power, is (or at least was) fast and could play CF defense. Could end up being a name you hear again, which would be nice because it's such a sweet name.

As far as I'm concerned, if Gawker deserves to be punished for outing the guy, they should be punished for outing the guy. But that's not it because there's apparently no case to be made about it. Instead they will be drained of their resources trying to fight the guy's lawsuits of very dubious merit. Creates a disturbing precedent.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jun 14, 2016 -> 12:02 PM) This is the issue with looking at stats in general. You can manipulate them any way you like to make a point. What one person thinks is important, another does not. This is the issue with WAR and many of those other overall numbers. The people who created them created it with what they though was important. So they are biased toward that line of thinking. FWIW, stats like WAR were created in part with careful attention to how the stats correlated with other outcomes, like winning. Other methods of slicing and dicing (look at RISP! high leverage! etc.) are going to be less justifiable

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jun 14, 2016 -> 12:47 AM) REVERSE TEXAS SAXET QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 14, 2016 -> 12:47 AM) Now reverse the season please thanks nosaes eht

Hard to take the polls too seriously with such a high number of don't know responses. You don't expect the undecideds to break 50/50 in general, but it can be hard to know who exactly they are at least without more supporting information

Something I've observed is college grads feeling very much confined by the things they studied in school when they look for work. You can use college to learn a trade or specific set of skills/knowledge that translates clearly into a career field, but you don't have to. But if you do take a route in your studies that doesn't automatically qualify you for some specific profession, you have to disavow yourself of the notion that you need to find work in your major field. You can do a lot of things with a degree in philosophy, but you probably won't work in philosophy. But you should have learned to be a thoughtful, critical, and communicative enough person that you can go into an organization and really prove your worth. I see many of my peers feeling trapped by their degrees, but the vast majority of jobs out there aren't looking for a specific college major, but they do care about whether you could graduate from a reputable college. My older sister graduated from college with a degree in English, loved her experience, and felt that it made her more prepared for the working world. What did end up doing for a living? Being a regional supervisor for a home furnishings chain. Indeed, they didn't have classes in that, but she got herself a job and started looking for ways to move up the food chain. That's not to say everyone will manage to do this or that finding a job is easy, but you do have to broaden your horizons a bit. Another challenge I tend to see people facing is geography. If you live where your parents live, that might not be where the jobs are. If I moved in with mine, I might be able to use the fact I know people in town to find decent work, but it would be far from a guarantee...it's a place where the number of jobs is going down, not up. For a lot of people, that might be the sneaky problem with having to move back in with family.

Time for Sox to get rid of all the #VoteJRoll stuff on their social media

Is anyone here familiar with contract law? I'd be curious whether a person who is highly intoxicated can have their agreement to a contract invalidated.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jun 10, 2016 -> 11:14 AM) Hadn't though of that you're right. He can't even have an "agent" yet just an "advisor." I thought I had heard about the NCAA changing up those rules recently. Am I wrong about that?

Pretty exciting stuff, to say the least. I am very fearful that Anderson is not ready for this level, or at minimum we might have wasted the chance for him to develop into a more patience and higher contact hitter. If he has the talent and gets enough of an opportunity, he should be able to work through those things at this level. We'll find out. On a lesser note, I wonder whether veteran FAs will begin to look at the Sox differently after seeing us repeatedly cut guys like Rollins, Latos, and some others in the recent past. On one hand, they get their money regardless, but on the other getting released like that mid-season is a possible death knell to an aging guy's career.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jun 10, 2016 -> 11:45 AM) Playing time- does Saladino start more or does Anderson? Is Anderson being used more as a PH/pinch run? You won't see Saladino at SS except when/if Anderson has a rotten run at the plate

They should probably wait for Saladino to outplay Rollins before getting rid of Rollins

What I would really like to see from Anderson before he comes up is a somewhat extended stretch where his walks go up and strikeouts go down. He's not at full "sound the alarms" level right now, but (for lack of better term) in all probability he has little chance to be more than an average hitter if his plate discipline doesn't improve. And, as we know, it's really hard to improve those aspects of your game in the major leagues. If he's walking 3.5% and striking out 22.5% (roughly) in AAA, you typically expect both of those things to get worse in MLB. They could bounce back and improve over the years a major leaguer, but that requires him to hit well enough to overcome never walking and not making much contact.

I seriously doubt that Morneau has some real animus towards the Sox that would make him not want to come here

I would definitely be in the camp of people suggesting that you evaluate the trade solely based on its merits, not on what other trades for other positions you wish were made. We could have used an SP, though perhaps not as much as a DH or SS or CF or RP. But it's really hard to get a competent SP via trade without parting with a lot of talent, so it makes sense to jump on the chance to do it when presented with that possibility.

Your reason is Jerry Sands

Latos seems like a guy who might be able to turn into a really effective reliever

QUOTE (raBBit @ May 31, 2016 -> 04:59 PM) I am not sure which video/GIF you're referring to. While your analysis is correct, I looked at much more tape than what I posted in the article along with scouting reports from last year. He's always been on the 1st base side and really, it makes sense given his lack of size thwarting him from getting a good angle on the ball. It worked a lot better with his mechanics from last year. This year, that placement is exacerbating him opening as you're alluding to. He's got some work to do for sure. Thanks! Strangely enough, Bell and Perdew aren't of the opinion his mechanics are different so it's questionable. He surely looks different to me. I did the non-lazy thing and just looked at actual photographs of his position on the rubber at Vandy and W-S...and yes, regardless of where he might be in that video (it's hard to see), he definitely is on the 1B in all the old photos. The irony is that if he's going to start striding open or more neutral it may no longer be the ideal place on the rubber.

He's started 8 out of the last 12 games and at the beginning of that stretch, he was still being outhit by Rollins. Robin isn't going to just quit Rollins cold turkey, it's going to be a continuation of the gradual transition that we've seen so far. It's a matter of fairness to the players involved. And for the love of god, let's not lose our minds over matchups. Rollins has some noticeable R/L splits this year—but not over his career—but he's not the only player involved. There may be a goal here of protecting Saladino against what they expect are tough matchups for him. And, of course, he played Saladino today against a lefty and that seemed to work out pretty well. Let's not sweat the small stuff. Rollins is on track to slowly lose his share of the starts, but he won't lose them all right away. And the starts he gets aren't necessarily going to be tailored to his perceived strengths, but may have more to do with the schedule and what matchups they think work best and worst for Saladino

Hopefully this feels like getting over a mental hurdle for everyone. A lot of pressure should be lifted.