chw42

Coop can definitely fix Cabrera! (sort of green).

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 11:23 PM) I just don't like this exception that people make for leadoff hitters. I want the player who receives the most PA's on my team to be a good hitter, who is also capable of getting on base, hence why I'd go with Beckham. If Pierre bats 9th he'll still be coming up to bat in front of the 1/2/3 hitters but he'll get significantly less PA's in the process. Surely that's the best of both worlds? Doesn't that describe a very good two-hole hitter? I understand your logic perfectly about Pierre hitting 9th and I'd think that it might be worth a try. However, we'll never see that in action so we'll never see if that would ever be the case, unfortunately.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 11:10 PM) If CHONE says Pierre is a good bet to put up a .340-.345 OBP then that's just one more reason for me to dislike that system. Pierre's OBP is pretty much all batting average with HBP thrown in to help out his s***ty walk totals. The fact that this guy puts the ball in play SOOOO much and still can't hit anything with authority is troubling as hell to me. If Pierre is going to post an OBP around .340-.345 he's going to be hitting somewhere around .300-.310, and I don't see him doing that here. He definitely could hit .290-.300, which would put him at around a .340 OBP if you're semi-optimistic. Pierre hits twice as many grounders than he does fly balls or line drives. I don't think it's really going to matter what kind of conditions we have here. Most of his line drives will be base hits and those 25% of fly balls have a better probability of traveling, which could actually help his XBHs. If you argue that he has no power and that those will get caught, fine, but I'm sure some of them will also travel and drop. A league adjustment can't always be predicted correctly. Quentin and Podsednik adjusted to the AL fine, and it was actually stronger when they got here than it is now.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 09:50 PM) I'll rattle off some quick projections. (wOBA): Teahen- .330 A.J.- .315-.320 Alexei- .330+ (although I think he can take a step up to the .340 range) Konerko- .355-.360 Beckham- Hopefully .360+ but .350 is probably more realistic Quentin- anything less than .370 will be disappointing Rios- .345-.350 Pierre- .310-.315 So the roaming DH monstrosity aside I expect Pierre to be our worst hitter. He's not a .340/.350 OBP guy, he had a good '09 season but in all likelihood his OBP will return to ~.330 next year, and that just doesn't cut it, especially when you have zero power. I would bat Beckham leadoff. It definitely wouldn't be ideal and I'd prefer to see him in the 4-5 hole but I just don't see a viable option other than Beckham. wOBA is a great stat, but Pierre's a leadoff hitter. Honestly, I think OBP is still the best way to judge a leadoff man since his job is to get on base. If he gets extra base hits, awesome, but I don't think measuring how far on base he got is the right way to gauge his job. If he gets on base, he's done his job. Anything else is extra. If you want to talk about him as our "worst" hitter/run producer (not in an RBI sort of way), then fine, he is. His lack of power and his barely above average OBP don't mix well for that. However, he's a leadoff hitter.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 09:26 PM) Pierre only got on at a .365 clip last year because he hit .308 in the NL and got hit by a pitch 8 times. Pierre's career OBP: 2000: .353 2001: .378 2002: .332 2003: .361 2004: .374 2005: .326 2006: .330 2007: .331 2008: .327 2009: .365 He'll be playing in the AL for the first time in his career and he will also be playing in a small ballpark. I'd expect something more like .280/.325/.360/.685 out of him next year, but with a ton of SB and CS and a lot of hot air from the Hawkaroo. I can't argue against his 4 straight seasons of mediocre OBP, but you can't treat last season like it didn't exist. He definitely won't put up a .365 again, but I think we can expect .340. If you're going to weigh his previous 3 seasons altogether , with a 50% weight towards the most recent one, you're staring at an OBP around .340-.345. And since he's moving to the AL, we can maybe take 5 points off of that, but the thing is, you don't know. CHONE hates him, but that's pretty much expected. You got that line from CHONE, lol.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Jan 12, 2010 -> 08:32 PM) Damon/Beckham/Quentin works great for me at the top of the order. Pierre should bat 9th. I really don't understand why anyone wants him leading off. He's our worst hitter, so we give him the most PA's? Seems completely devoid of logic. How is he our worst hitter? Sure, he doesn't hit for power, but when it comes to getting on base, he does it at an okay clip. I'm pretty sure he can put up a .340-.350 OBP, which is around what Podesdnik gave you last year. It has been made clear that Gordon Beckham will not be a leadoff man. He has too many other tools that could be useful in other spots in the lineup. Other than Beckham, you really have no other viable option to leadoff. Now, if we get Johnny Damon, it would be another story. Although I'd like to have Damon in the two-spot given his combo of decent power and good OBP. I like sabermetrics just as much as the next guy, but the SABR community's constant bashing of Pierre is getting annoying.

It just gives Flowers some more time to develop. Perfectly fine with me.

We all knew this.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 10, 2010 -> 07:53 PM) It doesn't seem as bad as it was spread over 10 years...this deal intrigues me. Yeah I just read that, I guess it's not that bad then. Still, you're committing at least $25 million to a raw player who might not be ML ready in a year or two. Seems like a bit of a stretch.

That's a horrible contract for Cincy. I thought Jocketty was smart...?

Next week's game is bound to be real good too. Saints and Cardinals should be high scoring as well.

I don't want Branyan. The guy scares the s*** out of me when we play against him, but I have a feeling I'll hate him for his strike outs.

Vlad is a Ranger. Looks like it's Thome or platoon.

I'm surprised Dayton Moore actually got a reasonable deal here.

QUOTE (Buehrlesque @ Jan 7, 2010 -> 11:30 PM) With Cust off the market (thank goodness), and Vlad seemingly out of the Sox price range, might KW try to pry Brad Hawpe away from the Rockies? His D is brutal, and he had a lousy second half last year, but he's better than the rest of the cheap, retread FAs out there right now. What else is left anyway? Thome, Damon (probably too expensive), Huff, Delgado, Ankiel, Blaylock...(I don't see Branyon happening here). Outside of a few that will want more money than the Sox will spend, all the options that are left are pretty similar. Maybe KW is just going to wait and see who's left in March and bring the cheapest guy in. Since they have Seth Smith, Dexter Fowler, and Carlos Gonzalez in the outfield, dealing Hawpe is a real possibility for Colorado. Who would you give up for him though?

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 8, 2010 -> 09:35 AM) It's really too bad that these two companies couldn't merge and combine their respective expertise into a new machine. Microsoft has the better software (better multiplayer interface, party system and nerd (achievement) point system), but PS3 has the better hardware and multimedia options. That'd be blasphemy.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 8, 2010 -> 10:42 AM) I dont I think Betemit alone cost the Sox one win on defense last year.

Hilarious. They have 4 members of our team from last year now. xD

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 7, 2010 -> 01:34 PM) LOL That's a good one if that was actually in the contract.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 7, 2010 -> 04:43 PM) $5 million is a lot in this market. For a guy like Vlad, yes.

Cardinals hands down.

QUOTE (BaseballNick @ Jan 7, 2010 -> 03:25 PM) Rangers offer Vlad a 1 year $7mil deal. I doubt there are many/any teams willing to match that offer. I sure as hell don't want him for that much. Crasnick is reporting that Guerrero probably won't get more than $5 million from Texas. Plus, Vlad isn't all that happy with the Rangers' offer.

I'd get Bosh any way I possibly can and extend him in the off-season for as much money as we can afford.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Jan 5, 2010 -> 06:27 PM) I don't know why the Cards gave him that much. They were bidding against themselves in this case. Scott Boras could have pulled the 1-2 year deal on them and then they might have had to deal with this mess again in two years where Holliday might have more suitors. I think St. Louis is just happy that they got the deal done. Plus, with Jason Bay's contract as a stable, you'd think that $17 million for a far superior player in Holliday is worth it.

The Cubs just lost the NL Central, but we knew that was going to happen anyhow.