Vance Law

Pods is Babe Ruth compared to Pierre. When was the last time Pierre hit anything as hard as that medium soft single?

Thats 3 bloop hits for Kotsay in 2 nights

People talk about various parks being big, cavernous, having a lot of room in the outfield (Petco, Kaufman). Other parks are described as bandboxes (Sox park, Philly, Cinci). Obviously, the infields of all of the parks have the same dimensions, and the outfields don't. Does anyone know of any resource online that simply calculates the area (square footage) of each playing field in MLB? It would interest me more to look at those numbers than it does to hear the broad categorizations of big and small.

Ah, yes. They're basically the same guy to me in my head. They are also kind of, but less so, Eric Hinske.

Blalock just needs to change his shoes again and he'll get hot.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 29, 2010 -> 11:55 PM) Well see how it all plays out at the end of the season, but Thome had some good months last year, as well as some horrible ones. I think you are missing the point that horrible for Thome is still better than Kotsay's best. Even if he doesn't keep up his current pace, he will end head and shoulders better than Kotsay and well above league average (just like he always has) and for dirt cheap. There are only 13 teams (other than the Sox) that use a DH, and very few that both a) had that spot open and B) had a reasonable chance at contending such that they would give up even a couple of million to sign someone rather than giving some youngster the at bats. You can go back and look at threads from the time before the Twins signed Thome and you will see a ton of us saying exactly that.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 29, 2010 -> 10:30 PM) Im sorry but there is just no way anyone expected that Thome would turn back the clock. He didn't need to put up a 1.000 OPS. He didn't need to turn back the clock to be clearly, significantly better than Kotsay. He could turn forward the clock, Thome at 50 years old is better than Kotsay today.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 29, 2010 -> 10:37 PM) While you cant get caught up in sample sizes, did you honestly believe that Thome would put up an ops over 900? I believed Thome could be in the ballpark of .900, just as he always has (.865 the past 2 seasons). And especially if he'd only starting against righties. I knew for certain Kotsay couldn't get near that and it would be an absolute miracle if he could put up .800. With Kotsay you'd have to be happy if you got .750, but even that has turned out to be a pipe dream.

Has anybody noticed that we are a MLB best 16-8 in 1-run games?

QUOTE (WCSox @ Jun 29, 2010 -> 09:52 PM) Dunn currently has a 146 OPS+ in 314 PA. Thome has 148 OPS+ in 137 PA this season. Granted, Dunn is young enough to be in the lineup every day and he can play 1B without killing himself. But the point still stands that we could've avoided spending an extra $4.5M and giving up two of our better prospects by re-upping the older, more fragile player with similar offensive output. The extra $4.5 mil for just half a season. and Thome hit another home run tonight......for the team leading our division. It was the ultimate no-brainer, and Ozzie proved himself to be just that. "I never tell Kenny who to sign and who to release - well a couple guys to release. I told Kenny, 'Hey, I don't want this guy at the ballpark.' And there's one guy where I said to Kenny, 'Hey, can we keep this guy?' And that was Kotsay.'' http://blogs.suntimes.com/whitesox/2009/12...er_talk_fr.html

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Jun 29, 2010 -> 09:42 PM) Why is it an insult to the fanbase?? Dunn is better than Thome. And yes, better players tend to cost more. Dunn costs more than what it wouldve taken to sign Thome (peanuts) That much, yes, is true; Thome is a bargain. But that isnt to say he puts your everyday lefthanded slugger role at a championship level like Dunn would. Thome .951 OPS Dunn .909 OPS (in the NL)

QUOTE (Lillian @ Jun 29, 2010 -> 06:06 AM) The Sox should bring up De Aza and let him lead off and play left field. He's not only a decent hitter with a little pop, but he can also steal a base. His defense is good enough to play CF, and in left he would be way above league average. This link provides a little insight on De Aza: http://soxbronzetitan.wordpress.com/2010/0...ejandro-de-aza/ I was thinking the same thing. Does anybody think that De Aza couldn't at least beat Juan Pierre's 59 OPS+? In addition to his speed, he can actually take a walk and get a few extra base hits.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 29, 2010 -> 04:42 PM) Beckham has been looking better lately, that's not a buzzkill, that's a player I'm psyched to see play. With a single tonight, he will have hit for the cycle....over 5 games

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 29, 2010 -> 05:04 PM) There is never a guarantee of success. I just was merely pointing out that there is more to economics than win shares, etc. If you want to win now, you generally are going to overpay in terms of prospect talent. (edit) Expected 1.047 ops against righties? 2009 he hit .881 ops against righties. 2008 he hit .868 ops against righties. Unless he found the fountain of of youth, no one expected him to get back to 2007 form especially because he seemed to be suffering from injuries last year. Ok then, does anyone expect Dunn to keep hitting .276 for the rest of the year? How about next year or the year after? Is he going to hit better coming over to the AL from the NL?

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 29, 2010 -> 04:36 PM) What is the value of a playoff appearance? My guess is in excess of $6mil. Thus if Dunn = playoffs it doesnt matter what numbers you throw around, it will be a win for the Sox. And Dunn > Thome, so if we had Thome we may never get Dunn. Not to mention Thome is only playing part time and theres no way of knowing if those stats extrapolate to full time player. To be fair about this comparison- we could have had Thome for the entire season, not half. Paying Thome $1.5 rather than $6 mil, leaving money available to fill other needs. Playing part-time doesn't make it easier to hit, it makes it harder. Thome is doing what he has always done. There is little reasonable doubt that a platoon of Thome and Jones (or CQ w/Jones in RF) would have been great all year. Thome is destroying righties as expected. Putting up a 1.047 OPS. edited for clarification

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jun 29, 2010 -> 01:16 PM) Ummmm, Jake Peavy and Alex Rios last year. I will put a finer point on it. This does not seem like Kenny's m.o.: an article comes out saying Kenny is in talks about a specific player, that he is targeting that specific player over and above other similar players (as the "sources" say), and then picks up that player. The Rios example does not apply (though, you're right, I did not elaborate to describe exactly what I meant). Putting in a waiver claim on a player does not involve any negotiating or jockeying for position and bidding among other GMs for the services of the player. You simply put in a waiver claim. With Peavy, I don't recall (and I could be wrong on this) too much discussion before we heard, "the White Sox and Padres have agreed on a deal for Peavy. Now it's up to Peavy to accept or reject it," in May. Again, I could be wrong in that case, and if so, it seems to me one of the few times that has occurred. It seems to me that Kenny operates more frequently in more secrecy to get deals done a la Swisher, Teahen, Quentin. But then again, we haven't been in this situation before with Kenny- midseason, in the race, and with one huge, obvious, glaring hole to fill and a lot of clear options to fill that hole. Either way, Dunn, because of his expected cost in $$ and prospects, particularly if we're making the first big deal of the trade deadline season, would surprise me. If it happened, nothing would then make me happier than if Ozzie made his gut apologize to us for not getting Thome and then resigned (yes, person, obviously not going to happen).

I'll believe it if I see it, I don't expect to see Dunn coming here. When was the last time we added a player through trade or free agency that was actively talked about in the media before it happened? When there were articles saying Kenny is in talks with team x to get player z. If anything this seems like deliberate obfuscation to raise leverage with other targets. $6 mil and top prospect(s) for a 3 month rental seems extremely not sensible. If it included signing him to an extension, it makes more sense. Also, making a lot of sense would be signing Jim Thome this winter for $1.5 mil for the entire season, as he's putting up a .927 OPS.

Does anyone have ESPN Insider who can paraphrase what the "Is there a market for Berkman?" post says?

QUOTE (WCSox @ Jun 28, 2010 -> 02:02 PM) LaRoche also has a $7.5M mutual option for next year. Not sure if he'd choose to take it over a multi-year free agency deal, but I doubt that the market pays him that much in 2011. And it also solves our 1B/DH hole next season. It goes up to $9.5 mil if he's traded. So, he's not worth the option, he's just a rental.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 04:09 PM) Because you just don't do it in baseball. This is not a logical argument. QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 04:09 PM) You lose the entire team as a manager. You become a clown. I don't see how "you lose the entire team as manager." You are suggesting that now, for that but not for anything else he has done, Ozzie would be considered a clown? QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 04:09 PM) The fourth inning is too early to make substitutions like that. Why? Is the reasoning for this, "you just don't do it in baseball?" QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 04:09 PM) It's like Kotsay and the team would say, "WTF, what did I do??" And a good response would be, you have hit left-handed for your entire life. That's what you did. And by virtue of there being twice as many right handed pitchers as left handed, you have played way more than your performance warrants. We brought a legit prospect up and he's wasting away on the bench because we haven't seen many lefties. We won't see on in this series. Don't worry Kotsay, you will continue to get more playing time than you deserve until Kenny steps in an picks up a legitimate hitter. But Viciedo could use some at bats and all signs point to him being able to do more with them than you. Again, I make all of these points as a logical exercise. I know Guillen is not going to make that move. It is a moot point. But I do not see any legitimate arguments as to why it is not a better option in the effort to win this game than keeping Kotsay in there.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 03:58 PM) You (or whoever brought it up initially) advocated putting Viciedo into the lineup at the start of the bottom of the second. Either way, pinch hitting in the 4th is still dumb. I suggested putting Viciedo in for Kotsay at DH. So, having him hit the next time Kotsay is scheduled, which turned out to be the 4th. I knew that wouldn't happen. Ozzie is not going to make that move. I see that you've called it dumb, and other people suggest that "you don't do that." But I don't see any reasoning behind the comments.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 03:54 PM) You don't pinch hit in the 2nd inning. 4th........for Kotsay

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 03:43 PM) You can't be serious. You don't yank your starters this early just because a lefty is in. That is not common sense at all. It is ridiculous. Your starter is Mark Kotsay.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jun 25, 2010 -> 03:37 PM) I left to take a piss and I come back and missed our entire inning on offense? haha 22 min piss?

Common sense says Viciedo should go in. He's been brought up, is barely playing because we haven't seen many lefties. Lefty comes in to pitch in the 2nd. Will there be any intersection between common sense and Ozzie Guillen?