JUSTgottaBELIEVE

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Aug 30, 2015 -> 10:01 PM) See edit in my earlier comment. Bottom line, NL = NBA Eastern Conference, AL = NBA Western Conference. I believe Sale would absolutely dominate in the NL and I have yet to see factual evidence provided in this thread that would change my mind. Sure you can call the statistics that I cited as insignificant due to sample size but what statistics do you have that would prove this small sample size should be completely disregarded?

QUOTE (AustinIllini @ Aug 30, 2015 -> 09:59 PM) My comment was true, yours was uninformed. it had no relevance to the discussion I was having with others. no idea why you felt the need to jump in with a completely irrelevant comment to the discussion at hand.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 30, 2015 -> 09:57 PM) Sure since their offense is incredibly cheap potentially $500-550M tied up in 3 pitchers sounds like a pretty steep investment regardless

QUOTE (AustinIllini @ Aug 30, 2015 -> 09:57 PM) Cubs still aren't in the AL, so this comment is irrelevant. so was yours...

QUOTE (AustinIllini @ Aug 30, 2015 -> 09:55 PM) You would be wrong. This season is gravy. You better believe the Flubs are the favorite for David Price. Epstein isn't shortsighted. No high end Cub prospect is worth a rental. if he signs Price in the offseason, can he afford Arrieta after the 2017 season when hits free agency?

QUOTE (AustinIllini @ Aug 30, 2015 -> 09:53 PM) Yeah and we are still horses*** Cubs aren't even a playoff team in the AL. they'd be fortunate to be 5 games over .500

like J4L said a few weeks ago, no hitters aren't even a big deal anymore (especially when pitching against NL teams)

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Aug 30, 2015 -> 09:47 PM) That's comparing apples to oranges, there are so many factors that played in Greinke's season so far, 1 being this is his contract year, the other being that he's been extremely lucky. He currently has the 2nd lowest BABIP in the league at .234, for comparisons sake his career BABIP is .300. Sale is at .290 career wise FYI. If you were wondering why Greinke became so good this year, look no further. Sale will get better in the NL, but he won't shave 1 full run off his ERA. Just because he's facing a pitcher instead of a DH or that you are trying to extrapolate a 91 inning career sample size is not a convincing argument. see that's the thing it's not just the DH factor. yes, that's part of it but as a league the NL has FAR worse hitters (and pitchers) than the AL.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Aug 30, 2015 -> 08:31 PM) At their best, Sale and Kershaw are 1A and 1B, but Sale goes through the motion and gets hit hard every now and then. Kershaw is the perfect model for consistency and rarely gets himself a bad start. So even if Sale moves to NL, he will still run into those bad starts. He will be better than a 3.20 ERA, but won't be Kershaw good. And for that reason I will agree with LittleHurt, assuming a sub 2.00 ERA is a bit far-fetched. Out of Grienke's 7.5 seasons pitching in the AL, he only had one season in which his ERA was lower than Sale's CAREER ERA. Yet he has an ERA of 1.61 and WHIP of 0.85 pitching in the NL this season. I fail to understand how Sale with a sub-2 ERA while pitching in the NL is far fetched. Sale has a CAREER ERA of 2.85 and his highest over a full season is 3.07. How is that inconsistent? Sure he has some bad starts here and there but everyone does. I would venture to say he'd have far less of those bad starts pitching in the NL.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 30, 2015 -> 09:52 AM) But the other 10 AL pitchers with better ERAs than Sale this season wouldn't see similar decreases because? Maybe they would? I haven't watched the other top AL pitchers nearly as much as I have watched Sale since he joined the Sox so I can't speak for them. Have the other top AL pitchers dominated the NL the same way Sale has over the course of their careers?

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 30, 2015 -> 07:27 AM) 91 innings in 5 plus seasons? That's hardly an established pattern, it's not even half a normal season workload. I'm sure his numbers would be better, but given the grind and ups and downs of a full season and NL teams seeing him more, I don't think you can just assume a sub 2 ERA. That rarely happens as it is. Kershaw has done it in each of the prior two seasons and has a good chance of doing it again this season. In my opinion, Sale is just as good as Kershaw so I certainly can assume he'd replicate Kershaws numbers if he pitched in the NL. Sale's career statistics against the NL even if they only amount to ~half a seasons worth further support this argument.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Aug 29, 2015 -> 09:45 PM) So his ERA would drop in half with a switch to the NL? And by your math Sonny Gray would have a 1.10 ERA in the NL? Doubtful. Didn't say all AL pitchers, just Chris Sale. How do you explain his sub 2 career ERA against the NL while his career ERA against the AL is around 3? This year there is an even greater disparity between his AL vs NL numbers. Coincidence or established pattern?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 29, 2015 -> 07:56 PM) He also missed any NL teams when he was in his 2 rough stretches. That can happen by chance too. If he'd hit an NL team in early April or late July his numbers could look a lot worse. Nah, I'm confident his ERA would be below 2 in the NL this year. He has a career ERA of below 2 against the NL. I don't think that's a mere coincidence or by chance. Plus imagine roughly half of those games were at home with a DH, imagine if all games but interleague road games were played without a DH. Yea I'm thinking an ERA around 1.6-1.8 if he pitched in the NL this year.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Aug 29, 2015 -> 12:35 PM) Grienke esque Yup, without a doubt. 1.20 ERA in 30 innings against the NL this year and of those 4 starts 3 were against NL playoff teams (Cubs and Cards). The numbers Sale would put up in the NL would be video game worthy.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Aug 29, 2015 -> 11:53 AM) Sale is better than Bum and Ker. I don't think their unbeatable but I think their offense is way better than the cubs. Sale would have a sub 2 ERA in the NL

Vegas certainly isn't buying into this Cubs team. Odds to win the series are worse now than they were before the season started.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Aug 19, 2015 -> 10:14 PM) There are no more type A B or C free agents. So how does it work? As long as the sox make a qualifying offer and he rejects the sox are compensated with the signing teams first round pick?

Anyone know the answer to my question?

Will shark still be considered a Type A free agent after this horrendous season he's having?

QUOTE (AustinIllini @ Aug 16, 2015 -> 11:49 AM) Nope it's all luck. The Cubs haven't won anything in the last 100 years and it's clearly because they're not winners. 2005. Blah blah blah. When did our fanbase become so obnoxiously predictable? And yet sox fans are supposed to blindly buy into the hype surrounding all their young players? Let's at least see these guys prove it over the course of a full major league season before anointing them the next dynasty. With the Cubs, I will certainly take the side of them repeating their historic futility over the likelihood of them becoming the "next cardinals."

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Aug 16, 2015 -> 02:42 PM) Dude, there's been, like, 47 no-hitters/perfect games in the last five years. It's not even a big deal anymore. But striking out 20 doesn't happen every day. In fact it's only ever happened 3 times in baseball history. Now that would be special.

Sale >>> bryant

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Aug 16, 2015 -> 02:42 PM) Dude, there's been, like, 47 no-hitters/perfect games in the last five years. It's not even a big deal anymore. As a sox fan against this Cubs team it would be

I said it before no way he's pulled in the midst of a no-no. Not a chance robin takes away potentially the only moment sox fans will remember from 2015 especially given the opponent.

F'n filthy! Sit down chubby