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QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Sep 8, 2014 -> 12:03 AM) So who else got f***ed by Julius Thomas tonight?? Hoping for a huge day out of Calvin Johnson tomorrow to pull out a win. I would have been but Patterson had a big day to offset it somewhat.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 6, 2014 -> 02:07 PM) I worship Paulie, I'm just saying there's no reason to play with a broken hand when it's your last season. It's not a fractured hand really. It's to the sesamoid bone. They are two little bones at the base of the thumb that serve as guides and protectors for the thumb flexor tendon. There are about half the size of a pea. It really doesn't effect the function of the hand other than it hurts like crazy.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 5, 2014 -> 05:57 PM) 162 game averages look better for him because he missed a lot of time right? Even if you don't believe the small differences in numbers, career Wins Above Replacement gives a good way of comparing relatively how much damage a guy has done over his career. Right now, Mauer is at about 45 WAR regardless of where we look. That's about at the level of guys like Mark Grace, that's behind David Ortiz, etc. For a hall of famer I want to see a guy get a lot more than that, to clearly stand out. At the very least for Mauer based on those numbers we need to start thinking about him putting up 3 more All-Star level seasons, and that might be hard as a 1b since he'll have to hit more as a catcher to get past guys like Abreu who tear it up at that position. At around 60 WAR, you start getting into guys like Sheffield, Andy Pettitte, Chase Utley who have had long enough careers that you can legitimately start thinking about them being borderline. Notably, I don't think those guys are hall of famers, they're hall of very good. Once you start getting past 60, then you can start really making the case that a guy did a lot of damage for a very long time, really start going into their numbers and ask "is this guy a hall of famer". Again, don't focus on the exact numbers, use that as a scale. Mauer has put up 5 WAR seasons in his career but that's as a catcher. For him to do that as a 1b, he needs to do the kind of damage Jose Abreu has done, and this year he's been no where near that. Does he have a 3-4 year burst like that in him in his early 30's? I'd say I'm skeptical. He has a long way to go. His peak wasn't long enough or extreme enough to carry him and his body seems to be wearing down. If he'd kept up the 2009 form for a couple years that could have done it, but he didn't. He had one incredible year, a series of very good years, but we don't put guys in the Hall of Fame for being very good, we put them in there for being great. It's sad to think that a guy having the season like Abreu is only 5 games better than a replacement player let alone an average player. It really shows that one player really doesn't make much difference in baseball.

QUOTE (Buster Posey @ Sep 5, 2014 -> 05:39 PM) A friend asked me earlier this week if I thought Joe Mauer belongs in the Hall of Fame. I think he does, but I wanted to see what the rest of you think. Mauer's lifetime numbers aren't especially impressive aside from his batting average and OBP, but if one looks at his 162-game averages, the case for his HOF induction becomes much stronger. That he's won multiple Silver Slugger Awards and Gold Gloves--as well as an MVP--also helps his argument. Thoughts? I don't think he's done it long enough yet. He seems to be tailing off as well. His OPS is slightly better than Konerko while konerko did it over 7-8 more years. Everyone really agrees that PK doesn't belong there.

QUOTE (bmags @ Sep 5, 2014 -> 05:06 PM) I agree with this. That's a huge risk. Would anyone put money on more than 8 carries from Spiller? It may happen but very scary. The coaches quote was they wanted to get him 20 touches a game so tat's why they went with him on kickoffs. But Spiller vs. the Bears defense is tempting. I'm leaning towards Bell as his work is supposed to increase this year due to Bush being worn down at the end of last year.

QUOTE (flavum @ Sep 5, 2014 -> 04:11 PM) He's injured, but not done. https://twitter.com/whitesox/status/507999273318113280 This is a pretty rare injury. Just need to wait for the pain (inflammation) to go down.

Spiller or J. Bell from Detroit in a PPR league for RB2.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Sep 4, 2014 -> 10:04 PM) I couldn't have been more wrong about Pete Carroll and I hate it Agreed.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 11:55 AM) You do know that most (if not all?) public schools have had their funding cut repeatedly over the years and that rising tuition rates reflect that, right? There are other causes as well (bloated admin salaries and head counts), but loss of public funding is a major part. The schools in Illinois have had the funding dramatically cut (our budget is equal to what we received in 2001) and cannot raise tuition very much. This is why you see schools like UIUC bring in a great number of foreign students, they are not subject to that tuition cap. Also the way schools received their "budgeted money" is not like the real world. The state say you get X amount this year. However the way it works is that the school pays a bill and must submit a request for reimbursement from the state for the budgeted money. The state then usually waits months to reimburse the school and at the end of the budget cycle states" we decided not give reimburse your full allotted budgeted money." So the schools can usually depend on a 10-15% decrease in whatever budget was promised. When I started in the mid-90's the state supplied 80% of the total budget, now they are down to 25%. As I say we've gone from a state school to a state supported school to a state affiliated school.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 10:47 AM) Right now these guys seem like locks for next year: 1B: Abreu 2B: Johnson/Semien/Sanchez SS: Ramirez 3B: Gillaspie CF: Eaton RF: Garcia That's six spots in our lineup already filled. As of today, here's how we'd fill the other spots internally: C: Flowers LF: Tank/Semien/Danks/Taylor/Mitchell DH: Tank/Wilkins/Taylor I agree that LF & DH are higher priorities, but improving at catcher should also be on the to-do list. Flowers may be passable by league standards, but hoping for average production out of a position should never be a goal. I'm pretty sure Hahn will be looking for an upgrade this offseason, whether he can find one at semi-reasonable price will be the true challenge. The highest priority should be the bullpen.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 09:03 AM) You know what? You're right, for some reason I was thinking it was only his first full year back. But he really did have most of 2013 (though at 130-ish IP), so this is (mostly) his second season back. He should have been better by now, injury-recovery-wise. This is the key factor. He only threw 130 innings last year. After 130 this year he was building endurance and working with fatigue. It will be interesting to follow him as his innings increase next year. While he didn't pitch well overall, I think he was better early in the season as opposed to late. It does give some hope for next year.

QUOTE (bmags @ Sep 3, 2014 -> 09:29 AM) Every once in a while though, Aikman will come up with some real gems of analysis that I had never heard of. He at least stays away from the platitudes of "toughness" and the like. Unfortunately, this is no longer part of the NFL.

QUOTE (onedude @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 10:04 PM) Honestly...He officially pitched that amount, but do we add all the pre game and pre inning pitches to that total? I think a good way to condition a pitcher is to have them continue throwing after they've exited the game. Not necessarily 100% but enough to build a bigger stamina/endurance. You really don't want them throwing after the game because of all the fatigue and stress they've put on the arm. I do agree they need to throw more but it should be on the off days. Physiologically, when the muscles are fatigued they will provide less support to the joint and put a greater stress on the ligaments. This is a good way to have a UCL sprain or tear.

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 09:39 PM) hey that is kool. I really enjoyed this. peace Me as well. Discussion is the only way to learn.

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 07:53 PM) I will give you that. but if he is not use to it or if he didn't build up to it, is the point I am trying to make. just in a fleeting moment of craziness, you let a pitcher throw those extra pitches. is what I am comparing, sale is a valuable piece of the sox future. I would gladly be wrong, if someone can convince me otherwise. There really isn't a right or wrong as there isn't a great deal of research on any of it. My opinion is just that it was early in the season however throughout spring training and into the season he had built up to it. He's had times on the DL where he trew 80 pitches and it caused problems. He just has mechanics that are very difficult to repeat and is prone to having issues, albeit minor ones so far. Hopefully he is good enough at it that they remain minor problems.

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 07:08 PM) do you by any chance remember the pitching count? wasn't it over 120+ and so far in the beginning of the season. It was 122 I think. I still don't think there is a correlation between the 2. 122 isn't that high and it was one time. If it happens repeatedly and it's a higher number then I would start to question it.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 03:54 PM) rauner is killing quinn in the polls btw rauner and rahm are tight so expect not much to change I didn't know this and it's a shame. Why is it that all of the elections are now becoming vote for the lesser of two evils rather than someone you could really get behind.

With Bassitt and Carroll listed as available RH, who is the 5th starter? Sale, Q, Danks, Noesi, ?.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 03:51 PM) Bryan Hoch ‏@BryanHoch 56m Joe Girardi: Masahiro Tanaka diagnosed with arm fatigue by team doctor, scheduled to throw bullpen this week. This can't be true. He has thrown many more pitches in games when he was in Japan. How can this be The answer is he has benn throwing more often and maybe at a different intensity.

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 03:04 PM) speaking of sale, do you remember when robin kept sale in the game, early in the season. sale wounded up missing some time b/c of a sore arm. I don't think it had anything to do with keeping him in the game. Injuries and soreness happen when pitching. Sale has had similar experiences when only throwing 80 pitches in the previous game.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 02:58 PM) I've always kind of wondered, since starters have a bullpen session anyway on the side, why certain teams have never tried to maximize their talented pitchers and let them have an in-game bullpen session. At least in situations where your teams pen is thin from a couple bad starts, etc. I presume the answer is the bullpen session is far less intense then an in-game session, so it really isn't the same and thus you are adding unwanted stressful innings to the pitcher. This is correct.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 12:43 PM) I think it's the by-product of optimization. Any time you push the human body to its limits, you are increasing injury risk. I think that teams have shown they would much rather carry more pitchers and squeeze every ounce from them than to sacrifice any level of performance for the sake of longevity. It's the nature of the beast in an environment where supply is unlimited -- you're never going to run out of guys who are willing to do what it takes for a shot at the show. This is it. The controversy is would Sale throwing 91 in the 7,8 and 9th inning be better than any of the fresh relivers? The answer is the Sale would be but many of the other pitchers would not. So to work with the pen the teams "dumb down" the really good pitchers to the level of the guys who would not be in the league 15 years ago. The supply may be unlimited but the quality of that supply is not.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 10:48 AM) I agree. To me, Semien and Sanchez have that ahead of Micah. The media is blowing him way out of proportion. He's a nice player, but show he can stay healthy and then make decisions from then on. I think the Sox believe Johnson is the better player. He is the future of that position. It may not be at the start of the year but he will be the starting 2B at some point next year.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 09:18 AM) Nolan Ryan in his 40s was throwing a ton of pitches in games. Supposedly earlier in his career, he went over 200 a few times. Pitch counts didn't used to be a big deal. Now when guys get to 100, everyone starts freaking out. That can be changed. One thing that is a lot different today, is guys are throwing harder. 90 is mediocre. Almost everyone throws 90. The other thing is, your harder throwers are also throwing a lot of sliders. Most power guys, used to throw curveballs. Guys are also trying to get a lot more out of sliders than they used to as well. It's more the fact that there are more pitchers needed in today's game. Many of the pitchers on rosters now would have been injured or burned out in the minors 10-15 years ago. The slider isn't the problem. It's the fact that pitchers are trying to throw harder more often. Part of this is that they know they only need to go 6 innings.

QUOTE (The Wiz @ Sep 2, 2014 -> 12:37 AM) I still don't understand why more people don't complain/comment about possible under use as a problem. I mean pitchers in the MLB and MiLB are now on schedules where they are used the least amount ever any pitchers in the history of baseball have ever been used, yet injury rates only increase. I guess another part of the problem is that pitchers are also getting stronger and bigger and throwing harder than ever before and that could be a cause as to why. It's so complex too because everyone is different and there are people who can go out there and throw forever and be fine, and others who seem to have a limit on how many pitches they can throw until their elbow blows up. It starts in little league. With the limitations there, the pitchers aren't conditioned for it. I agree that they really need to throw more but at less intensity. Some of it also the way the teams are invested in thepitchers. They baby them in the minors compared to 20 years ago. In previous eras, many of the pitchers today would have benn injured and never made it to the MLB. In the MLB today pitchers are less durable but the MLB through expansion, 5 man rotation and increased bullpen usage they need more pitchers.