chitownsportsfan

One thing that is interesting is that Q only has a career BABIP of .266, this year he's down to .223. Given even average luck and he'd be looking at a 270/370/550 line, and that would be a monster year. The guy is not made of very sturdy stuff though, hopefully he can stay healthy. He should be DHing as much as possible.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jul 11, 2010 -> 09:04 PM) I just checked for sure, the combined wOBA of the 3 is .383. Those three have produced 43 batting runs, the team itself is at -14 batting runs as of yesterday. So the success of the second half on offense isn't really up to these three, it'll take a big turnaround from Beckham, Pierre, Kotsay, etc to really make this a good offensive club. You can get these guys help, but unless the guys that are already here produce, this offense will be pretty mediocre. I don't think the offense will ever be anything other than mediocre unless you see something flukish happen where Jones goes on a tear, Pierre heats up, AJ starts actually taking walks, hell freezes over, etc. Luckily with this group of pitchers an average offense will suffice.

How horrible does the Teahan signing look now? I mean, it looked bad at the time but with Vizquel and Brown Bear giving the Sox a nice little offense/defense platoon at 3B there is no room for him on the roster. Like others have said, just man up and cut Kotsay. Sox don't need a backup first baseman that is barely hitting his weight.

Yea he's back. I would continue to try and protect him by using him as a DH. Sox need to keep this guy healthy and as long as Jones is on this rollercoaster ride (he's going up now) he should be out in RF because he's very good out there whereas Q is average at best. Sox' offense really is "stars and scrubs". You have Rios/Kong/Q with an wOBA total of .385 (that's really good) but you also have guys like Pierre, Beckham, AJ that are just having horrible years. Even though Q is only batting .244 he's had rotten BABIP luck but his power numbers and isoD are as good as ever. I am expecting a 250/345/520 line with 30+ dingers and around 110 RBI when it's all said and done. That's the sort of power threat this team is going to need to make a pennant push.

This is huge news. I was operating under the assumption that neither of these guys would be ready until May/June at the earliest. The fact that both are throwing off the mount already an excellent sign. Every day that goes by with no setbacks is another day closer towards fulfilling their 4th and 5th starters that this team needs to win the Central. A 4th and 5th starter combination of Marquez/Broadway/Egbert/Richard is a recipe for another 72 win season.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Feb 26, 2009 -> 06:02 PM) Which leaves a pain in my stomach that we passed on one year of Hudson Meh. Hudson prolly means no Colon. I think Getz is fine for good defense and a 280/350/360 line or something.

Saw the box, an impressive line from the pitchers. Good to see Carrasco striking guys out. Broadway and Egbert look like 6th starter fringe types but perhaps one of them can pitch well in spot starts or out of the pen this year. Viciedo ripped a single and Beckham the BB and SB. Yep, it's spring training. Time for the ...

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 23, 2009 -> 01:12 PM) On a positive note, we do have 3 of the top 57 but nobody in the Top 30. I really think nobody has a firm idea where to slot Viciedo. Legitimately, based on his hitting skills alone, he's thought to be a Top 5-10 guy. We'll have a much better idea down in Arizona what we might actually have on our hands...or we might be wishing we had used that $11 million to sign Ben Sheets instead. Could go either way. Interesting question though...would you rather have Ben Sheets in 2009 or Viciedo in 10/11/12? If the Viciedo bidding happened again, it might be somewhere between $4-8 million instead of $10+. Yea I really think people are sleeping on Viciedo hard core. From the amount of money he got (and the interest from teams like the Yankees) I would think he would have been a top #10 pick in this year's draft. So he's overweight? He's 19 years old for god's sake. Give him a year or two with a professional training staff, a personal chef, and the pride of being a cuban MLB player and I think he'll be a bronze titan soon enough. Most non-track athletes (football players, baseball players, basketball big men) are a bit soft in their late teens. I see no worry here. Plus the Sox are expecting him to compete for a starting 3B spot as a 19 year old! That speaks to the lack of any real options in the org, but it also speaks to how advanced Danny is for his age.

what is there, 31 teams? So assuming a random distribution you'd expect every team to have a least 3 guys in the top 100. So Sox are just average there. anyways, I put very little stock in Law's observations. He goes and watches a player once or twice than passes judgment. He basically admits as much in the article. Not my idea of proper scouting, which should be a mix of DETAILED and SUSTAINED observation and statistical analysis.

lol, what is it with some of you guys. Cabrera is a great defensive shorstop and was a good, useful player last season. Now he's going to get us 2 top 100 draft picks. That's awesome. He didn't hit very well but what shorstop in the AL could have been had that did? Uribe has one of the best arms in the game, but he also has limited range, who knows how bad it is now with the weight he's gained. And Uribe isn't any more of threat to hit than Cabrera. Who cares if the guy pissed some people off, he helped on the field and that's all that mattered in the end. I have a hard time believing playing the way he played that that many people on the team had a problem with him.

LOL, Konerko is an "above average 1B with a great contract"? Say that again? He's an average 1B with a bad contract in the downside of his career. We are stuck with him 2 more years, I just hope he can put up an 850OPS in one of those years and not completely s*** the bed in the other.

I might not be opposed to bringing in Melky with the condition that he isn't promised anything and that he could very well lose the spot to Swisher or BA. It's going to be impossible to improve CF without getting one of Swisher/Thome/Kong/Dye gone, and I think that Thome is the guy I'd want to move the most. Pick up 5 million or so from his deal and suddenly teams would get pretty excited to have him for 1 year for 8 million. Seattle, Baltimore and the Angels would be interested I think.

Wow, this thread has really brought out all the "arm chair" GMs hasn't it? First off, Konerko has a FULL NO TRADE CLAUSE in addition to still being owed about 25 million dollars. There are probably a handful of teams he would even consider going to, possibly the Cali clubs since he's a Cali native. He's expressed a desire to stay with the Sox for the duration of his contract. He's about as untradeable as it gets. Secondly, Casey Blake is a mediocre 3B who will be 35 years old next season -- this is the answer at 3B? Coco Crisp hasn't managed to play over 120 games since 2004. He's constantly injured and when he's healthy he's a mediocre option in CF. He's been a huge bust with the Red Sox, no other way about it. No, there are no easy answers. A quick rundown of the roster finds that these spots are covered: 1B: Konerko SS: Ramirez LF : Quentin CF: Swisher RF: Dye C: AJ DH: Thome None of those guys is likely to go anwhere. Now filling 2B and 3B is going to be a huge concern. Brian Roberts is a frequent mention and there is little doubt he should be at the top of the list as far as everyday 2B that should be available. He's still plenty young, although not ideal young, and he swings a good bat and plays solid defense in addition to adding some speed and good baserunning. 3B is going to be harder. Any trade that arrivers at Brian Roperts probably wipes out the farm system (again). There isn't much to start with. But KW is a good GM and he'll make some trades this offseason as his style. But there are no easy answers for 2009. One thing is clear though and that is that the team is much better positioned then seemingly last offseason where they had no young building blocks outside of a shakey John Danks. The addition of Ramirez and Quentin and the emergence of Floyd gives this team some good young building blocks even as there other key players age.

Cabrera really seems to be in the middle of most of the dugout celebrations. I'm not sure how you can knock him for not being a "team guy", even with the scorer and Dye bulls*** from earlier in the year. He's a mercenary sure, but he's also playing a valuable role as a great defensive shortstop with acceptable offense on a team in the middle of a pennant race. There are plenty of guys looking to get paid in MLB, I don't blame O-Cab for looking to lock up one more big contract before he enters serious decline. As long as it doesn't affect him on the field I have no problems with it. I can't imagine where the team would be with Uribe at SS, especially after Crede went down yet again, that would have led to serious depth problems.

Boy, it sure is great to have a lineup that has so many great hitters in it. Swisher, Quentin, Dye, Thome, Konerko, Griffey, Ramirez, those are guys that can HURT the opposition at any time, a great mix of OBP, power, and contact skills as well Kudos for KW for putting this together. Just shows how irrevelent speed is to a good baseball team. This teams gets on base and gets extra base hits: works well!

These responses are funny. Cabrera is a 3rd in the AL in WS for SS, is way, way ahead in defensive WS and other advanced defensive metrics, and is swinging a decent (for a SS) bat. And take it from me: I f***ing hated this trade and hated O-Cab as late as this July. But he's made a believer out of me. He's not a great hitter, but he's a guy that from SS will put up a solid 280/330/390 line and more than make up for his offensive mediocrity with great defense. Like most of you after watching him for a few games I thought his defense was horrible. He rounds off balls, doesn't have a strong arm, and seems to just make routine plays look hard. But after watching him play (I'd say I've seen about 50% of the innings played so far this year) he really does make all the plays. He might not have the best range, or the best arm, or the best hands: but he does have good skills in all those areas. Rarely does he not make a tough play. The advanced defensive metrics back this up. Furthermore, he's going to net the Sox 2 nice draft picks this winter, what the hell isn't to love about that? Cabrera is a vital player on this good Sox team, there is no reason (other than the meaningless scorer stuff) to not like him.

I have no problem with Cox rolling the dice in that situation. The chance that Cabrera gets a hit is less than 30%. The chance that the Rays f*** up the throw and tag is greater than that, albeit probably not by much, but it's still the right decision. Making a pressure throw and tag is not easy, and we saw that today.

Well, to bring this thread back on topic: the addition of Swisher has been an excellent move and whereas before I thought it would make the difference between 80 wins and 82 I now think it was one of the key pieces that will put this team over the top as they go for a division title and hopefully more. There is strong case to be made from the batted ball data that Swisher was just really f***ing unlucky for about the first 1/2 of the season. Swish is never going to hit .300, but he does have a hell of an eye and some pop. He has never wavered in his approach despite the bad luck, something that is a mark of a good hitter. He leads the league in pitches seen per plate appearance and maintains that ISOd of over .100 like it ain't no thang. Furthermore, his ability to play a decent CF, a good corner OF, and a good 1B have done wonders for a team needing flexibility. And of course, Sweeney was about what people expected (good contact guy, decent eye, little pop, solid starter on a decent team, 4th OF on a good team) and DLS and Gio have been huge dissapointents. And I don't really believe in the whole "clubhouse intangibles" deal, but Swisher certainly doesn't hurt in that regard.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 21, 2008 -> 08:51 PM) I can't imagine we'll see Carrasco in the rotation from here on out. There's not enough time to stretch his arm out now...and we don't want to have to expose our entire bullpen if the game is close (or we're ahead) when he leaves. OTOH, it seems that Richard/Broadway are unlikely to go more than 5-6 innings in most starts also, but at least they theoretically have the ability to do so. I would be hard-pressed to imagine DJ doing that at this point in the season. And yes, the rosters are expanding soon, but I think KW and Ozzie made the right choice and I don't think they'll reverse direction and switch again, especially since we've won the last two turns from the 5th. Good points, I think DJ will stay in the pen.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Aug 21, 2008 -> 08:35 PM) Cabrera leads all major league shortstops in defensive win shares...by a lot Yea, it's not even close. I was a huge Cabrera trade hater before I saw him play one of the best gloves in the league for the last 120 games. He doesn't have the strongest arm, the best hands, or the best range -- but he's very solid in all of those areas. He's had a couple of "WTF" plays this year but by watching him and coupled with the advanced defensive metrics that have him pretty easily the best defensive SS in the AL this year he's made me a believer. That's the great thing about SS, a guy can OPS 660 and because of defense can still be 3rd in the AL among SS in win shares. Only trailing Young and Peralta. I was really down on KW last year, and his method of team building is pretty f***ing unorthadox, which makes him hard to give the benefit of the doubt to. He basically doesn't give a s*** about prospects but will gladly sign foreign players under the rader (Iguchi, A-Ram, Shingo) that he routinely gets big impacts out of. His exploitation of the Dbacks this winter was simply a mark of genius. A common stereotype about KW is that he isn't a SABER guy, but then he goes out and gets a guy that has posted excellent OPS' at every league of baseball when not injured. Then he uses another sound management technique (trusting underlings like the training staff) to assure himself that the guy is over his injury problems. KW makes his share of head scratchers, but more often than not he's dead on. He has totally earned my respect this season, even moreso than 2005. He has completely turned around a situation that most of us thought was hopeless, the addition of players like Floyd, Danks, Quentin and Ramirez he revamped the outlook this year and in the future for this team. I don't think KW is the best GM in baseball, but he's def among the top 10.

I'm fine with Richard getting the start. He walks a fine line out there right now because his fastball is far and away his best pitch -- if he doesn't have the movement or velocity and control of it he's toast out there -- but thankfully a fastball isn't that hard to locate compared compared to off speed stuff and I have confidence he can get it done as a decent 5th starter going forward. It would be silly to bring up Haeger for a start when Broadway and Richard have already been thrown into the fire and responded decently. How many more times will the 5th starter's spot come up? I can't believe it will be more than 4-5 more times. Give those starts to Richard, that's fine. One thing interesting is that if Linebrink comes back it really opens of the possibility of Carasco moving to the rotation, as he won't be needed for very many relief appearances with Jenks, Thornton, Liney and Dotel in front him. In hindsight, the move to keep him in the 'pen for now is looking like a very smart move.

QUOTE (WilliamTell @ Aug 10, 2008 -> 08:42 PM) Yeah he has turned his season around, it's just the clutch factor that remains terrible for Thome. Uh, please do some research: 1045 OPS with RISP and a 5.7 clutch according to THBTs. For comparison, Quentin is a 4.1.

Really? Brian f***ing Anderson? I guess part of this is the subjective, but jeez, Brian f***ing Anderson? I can't wait until Pablo Ozuna makes #20 and Pods is #11. BA is a good 4th oufielder with the Sox who could be an above average starting CF on another team, that's about it.

QUOTE (rudylaw @ Jul 30, 2008 -> 10:10 PM) This game was a perfect example of what we need to do to win. It's all about the pitching. It does not matter if Paulie does not hit. It does not matter if Swish does not hit. All that matters is that our starters pitch well. If they do we will go to the playoffs and we could go a long way. Uh, and score 8 runs? Baseball is about outscoring the opponent, doesn't matter how it's done. I think that's a gross oversimplication.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Jul 30, 2008 -> 10:01 PM) First off- I didn't hear him say it was offered. Secondly- The Manny trade isn't official yet, settle down. I would not have liked that trade at all. The whole point of the Cabrera deal was to have him be a mercenary and to get the 2 draft picks when he leaves in FA. Well, he can't leave in FA if he's not with the team anymore. And Street has lost his edge this season, not sure how that trade helps the club this year, let alone down the road. [Edit] I just took a look at Streets stats, seems he's been a victim of mostly bad luck this year and is still only 24 (did not know that at all). I would have traded O-Cab for him straight up with that info at hand, looks like Beane was too smart for that one though.