chitownsportsfan

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.

IMO this team will go as the offense goes the rest of the year. Seems like the pitching will continue to be good but not great, but if the offense can pick up some slack then they will win 90 or so and that will be enough. Great game tonight, only go to see it after most of the fun had happened. Q! Alexei! Swisher and PK had an impact as well, good to see. Q continues to amaze, this guy might not be the league's MVP, but he's the Sox' MVP, with JD taking a close runner up.

Let's see, so far in this thread we've had someone call Mark Grace a "underperforming" 1B (119 career OPS+, career .303 hitter, always known for good defense) had a mostly CF playing player with a 99 OPS+ (Swisher) called "garbage" and that said player is lucky he plays in an era where his skillset is recognized as critically important. Wow, another classic. Swisher has been a major dissapointment no doubt, but the leaps in logic are just astounding. Comparing Uribe to Swisher is laughable. Uribe has proven himself garbage at the plate, and has ate himself out of the range needed to play his best position. Swisher is having a down year, but please don't compare him to a player that cant' get his s*** together enough to get in shape to help the team.

Cabrera has been excellent in the field this year, the defensive metrics confirm that. God damn Maggs.

This is a meaningless stat, Team OPS+ is 107 and OPS+ is 117 with RISP. Would I like to get improve the offense? Sure, but it's a good offense, everyone knows it's a homer happy, mediocre OBP, mediocre AVG and SLOW AS BALLS offense. It all adds up to above average, with coupled with the so far good pitching, has this team 15 games over .500 and with a good shot to make the playoffs. This thread is OVAH.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 23, 2008 -> 09:49 PM) So I was at Yankee Stadium today to see the Twins lose in person, then to find out later the Sox win. Good times. Yankee Stadium is a dump, btw. An old, historic dump, but now that I've been there I can see why they're tearing it down. You live in the city? I was there last night sitting in the bleachers. The guy 1 seat over had a retro Sox jersey on and we were loving it as the Yanks were pouring it on the Twins' bullpen. Got to make fun of some kids wearing Cubs jerseys too, just good natured stuff as they were about 7 or 8 years old. I don't think it's a dump, I've been to 4 games so far this year (and about 6-7 overall since I moved here) and all in all I think it's just an average ball park (for people living in the city the access to public transportation is rediculously good, I can take the D train 60 minutes from my apt in Brooklyn and be there), but the history is just unrivaled. That said, Yankee stadium has really changed for the worse. The whole thing is to encourage families (who will be buying lots of concessions) to come to the game. No booze in the bleachers, and quite a few sections in the nosebleeds as well. But the hardcore fans really are knowledable and get into the game, like standing and cheering on all 2 strike 2 out counts, going wild when the Yankes chase a pitcher, and generally staying till the last out. I'll be going back when the Sox come into town in September, got a couple hard core Yanks fans coming with me, should be a good time with both teams in the race. If any of you guys plan on going to that series let me know and I can recommend some things to do while in the city, etc.

If the season ended today CQ is the MVP no doubt, best player on a division winner and top 3 in OPS in the AL while not missing more than a handful of games. But the season doesn't end today and I have a feeling Arod will finish strong and take it. Of course, if Q keeps it up he will make it very hard on Arod unless the Yankees win the division. Just a great victory today. Stick it to the cocky Rangers (especially CJ Wilson, hey Wilson, how does Quentin's ass taste!), come from behind, gain a game on the Twins, maintain against the Tigers. I thought Clayton pitched well enough to get another start, the defense was absolutely atrocious behind him, and he probably only give or 3 runs to a very good Rangers offense if the silly errors aren't made. Showed some ability to miss some bats, which always is a good sign.

Where did KW find guys like Q, Thornton, Jenks and Ramirez -- he pulled them out of his ass. As long as teh payroll stays top 10 or so, there is no reason to think that the guys coming off the books (Dye, Thome, Kong) won't be replaced by sluggers making about the same.

Although I guess Ozuna is playing for the min, still doesn't really add much to their team. Their are plenty of fast guys in AAA that could fill the spot with some upside.

No offense to Ozuna, but this is why the Dodgers are going nowhere fast, they seem obsessed with overpaying for old players that arent' very good at baseball. I'm glad Ozuna found a home though, good for him.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 21, 2008 -> 01:32 PM) Why do people keep asserting that the team will not be competitive in year x? First of all, we're still sitting on Trader Kenny as our GM, so our team will almost certainly look nothing like it currently does in 2 years.. Secondly, we'll have cleared a hell of a lot of salary space 2 years from now with Jose, Konerko, Thome, Dye, AJ, Dotel, Crede, Cabrera, and Javy all off the books. But we'll still be sitting on Danks, Floyd, Buehrle, Fields, Alexei, Richar, Quentin, Swisher, Anderson, and whoever else from the minors we can develop in to something useful. That's probably as good of a position to be in as any team other than Arizona and Tampa bay has, where they're competitive now but are doing so with a decent number of young guys already in. Third...people insisted until they were blue in the face that we wouldn't have a shot this year and it was a rebuilding year. Then suddenly Danks and Floyd pitched up to their potential and now we're hoping we can beat the Twins this year and we've pushed the year people are writing off 2 years down the road. Yea, I'm not sure where that "we won't be competitive in two years from now" came from. I mean, MB, Danks and Floyd is a solid 1,2, and 4. Alexei and Q and Fields will all be cheap above average starters, Richar should be an average starting 2B, then with all the money coming off the books that will mean money to spend on all the other holes. KW has proved he's right more often than not. I don't see any reason why a team with a 100+ million payroll won't be in contention more often than not, especially with KW at the helm.

This is why Al Gore invented the Internet. This thread, right here.

Konerko OPS+ and age last 4 years: 2005: 134 (29) 2006: 136 (30) 2007: 116 (31) 2008: 82 (32) I think it's reasonable to say that Kong is on the downside of his career. That said, he's proven to be an above average hitter in his career, so even those he's past his prime should still be a decent hitter. I think it's reasonable to assume he will finish with an OPS+ around 100 this year (given enough PA), and that will be two years in a row with significant drop off. I'm in favor of benching Kong is he does not find anything by the middle of August: the team is so much better defensively with Swisher at 1st and BA in CF that it just doesn't make sense to give him anymore time to find it this year.

I like baseball mostly because my dad likes baseball. He had me playing pickle with my little sister as the baserunner when I was 7. I'll never forget going to Sox games with him when I was little and getting early so we could watch how the good players carried themselves and how I should play the game. I never made it past small time college ball, but I'll never forget how much I enjoyed playing and how much my dad enjoyed watching me play. That said, I've come to appreciate the discrete nature of baseball, how it lends itself so well to analysis and yet continues to amaze and surprise. It really is a beautiful game on many levels.

Who really cares that he made the All-Star game? Jason Veritek made the all-star game. Marmol made the all star game. Crede has consitantly proven that he'll give you a) an injury risk, B) an OPS+ around 100, and c) good to great defense. Now that he's up for a big contract and is a Boras client I don't see any "hate" -- I call it being realistic. I'm a fan of the White Sox, not a fan of Joe Crede. If he has to go to make the team better I'm not going to shed any tears.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Jul 15, 2008 -> 05:12 PM) So you want them to spend their money wisely, while at the same time go after soon to be vastly overpaid guys like Tex or Dunn? Doesn't make much sense. Considering how some other teams in our 'league' spend, i'd say the sox are fine: Tigers (Cabrera, Dontrell, Shef) Yankees (almost entire roster) etc. -Swish, a guy comparable to and higher priced/younger Hunter and Rowand, for pennies. -Q - pennies, many years of service -Alexi - dirt cheap, 4 years -2 top 3 starters in Danks and Floyd for nothing -Guys waiting in the wings like Fields, Owens (a trade chip), Getz, Beckam. Based on that, I'd say we have much more "deals" than overpaid guys. Uh, Contreras, Kong, that's 22 million right there. The White Sox aren't among the most efficient spending clubs, but they aren't the worst either. Having a large payroll allows for a greater margin of error, which is why they are in 1st despite the money wasted on Kong and Count. That is alarming though that so many fans want to sign Crede to a long term deal. He's an above average all-around 3B with a history of back problems and will demand every penny this winter. I'm thinking he'll want like a 4-5 year deal at about 8-10 million per. If some team wants that than fine. I"ll take Fields and his 325,000 and spend that other 8-10 million somewhere else.

What is this, satire? Thome has been ON FIRE the past month. He has been our best hitter over the last 3 years and in no way should he ever be in any rotation with Kong. If anything, Kong needs to start rotating with Swisher at 1B and get BA into CF 2-3 times a week. I give Kong until the first week of August to find something, anything. If he can't get his OPS above .725 by then he should be riding the pine most of the way out. Forget any fantasies of any other team picking him up, we are stuck with him.

Dye needs to settle down. I'm not worried about this little tiff at all though. In fact, Ocab is starting to grow on me. He's 14/16 (I believe) in SB this year, and his defense has been f***ing impeccable since about 2 weeks into the season, he has made all the plays. I don't even care if he finishes 270/330/350, his defense at SS is saving runs. Great win, and big props to Q for busting out big time and giving the team a chance to win it. If he doesn't hit those two home runs this is almost certainly a bad loss instead of a great win. Javier on the other hand continues to suck. I've rarely seen a guy with such great stuff pitch so poorly for long stretches. He just seems to be a mental midget. I don't even believe in that s***, but for a MLB pitcher, he has no fortitude on the mound.

This is really just Cowley trying to play some ignorant agenda. He's been pushing for Uribe to move on for awhile now. It's pretty great how the beat writer has such a petty agenda against one player and for another. I seriously doubt JC was that upset, this is just Cowley playing up his agenda. He is obsessed with Ozuna and somehow thinks he's a better player than Uribe. Thank god the Internet exists so Cowley can get his f***ing roasting. SSS has put him in his proper (dunce cap) place. Uribe offers much, much more value to this team. Cowley is dumb if he thinks Ozuna can play more positions competently than Uribe. I mean, the only thing Uribe has goign for him is his defense. If the Sox cut Uribe they would have nobody capable of playing SS outside of OC, and that would be disastrous.

QUOTE (Felix @ Jul 8, 2008 -> 12:20 PM) A sandwich pick at the end of the round doesn't replace Matt LaPorta, who was the seventh overall pick. They gave up six years of a player who is going to hit the majors in a year or two for a half a year of an ace pitcher. If they had any chance of resigning CC it'd be a much better deal, but as is I'd much rather get the six years of a player than the half year of a pitcher and unless the pitcher is the one thing that hands them a World Series, I don't like the deal (especially for a small market team that needs to value young players in their first six years of major league service time more than larger markets). How many more tickets will they sell now? How much payroll will they add in the offseason because of those tickets? How many more wins will it get them next year? How many more fans will that bring in? It's a great feedback loop, one that the Sox started when they won the the WS and upped themselves into the top 5-7 payrolls. There are more variables to this move then just a pure talent for talent swap and that's why I think the Brewers come out winners.

So we are winning 100 games and will only lose twice in the playoffs. Cool.

Well those geniuses were spot on last year. Who could have forcasted the breakouts of Q and Danks?