ThunderBolt

The argument is who is the proper second basemen, right now. Getz’s evolution as a baseball player appears to be more long-term then anything. Right now, defensively and offensively Nix is the better developed player, and therefore, would contribute more in the race for the division this year.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 20, 2009 -> 08:18 AM) Ironic that on a board that has been b****ing for years and years about an "all or nothing approach" there's a thread about an injury to a guy who can do a lot of things being a good thing because it gives a prototypical all or nothing hitter more playing time. Jayson Nix is far from being all-or-nothing. Even if he didn’t draw walks and hit bombs, his defense makes him infinitely more valuable then Chris Getz. Look at the numbers, Chris Getz was an offensive black-hole at the start of the season; he’s clearly experiencing some growing pains. Nix provides an asset that's a little more valuable then a potential .360 OBP and 30 stolen bases.

QUOTE (WilliamTell @ Aug 20, 2009 -> 01:59 AM) Do you think the top 6 teams in baseball are all in the American League? No, I’ll amend the post and add the NL to it. I kind of spaced, but yeah the Dodgers and the Phillies are definitely above the Rangers, Rays and White Sox.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Aug 20, 2009 -> 01:40 AM) Cards won and everybody but the Fish in front of them for the WC won... Got to love that Milton Bradley taunted the fans after his HR and Aramis posed after his... nothing like losing ground in both races you're in during a series to a below .500 team and acting like complete jackasses! There was a pair of Cubs fans sitting right behind the Cubs dugout that was taunting and heckling him the entire game. It was pretty audible and his reaction was understandable

I wonder if they’d continue Ryne Sandberg up the minor league chain, or just give him the major league job outright. They might even be better served to given Brenley a two year deal, and see what happens down the road.

QUOTE (Dizzy Sox @ Aug 19, 2009 -> 10:16 PM) They are two different types of players, but why not a Getz/Nix platoon? If Nix is better on both sides of the ball, would it really serve either player to split playing time evenly?

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Aug 19, 2009 -> 07:56 PM) Corrected Nah, that slider still moves. His stuff is still great.

When healthy and playing well, we're absolutely in the discussion. In terms of best teams in the AL I'd put: 1 Yankees 2 Angels 3 Red Sox 4 Rays 5 Rangers 6 White Sox. Adding the NL to this list 1 Yankees 2 Angels 3 Red Sox 4 Phillies 5 Dodgers 6 Rays 7 Rangers 8 White Sox 9 Cardinals

Durham has some great prospects on it. Given that, Hudson's stuggles were logical. I'm actually fairly impressed.

M's get Bill Hall for minor league pitcher Dodgers get closer to landing Vincente Padilla

QUOTE (knightni @ Aug 19, 2009 -> 05:42 PM) Letting Crow go, costing them too much for Stras. General player suckage. The majority of that falls in Bowden's lap.

Peavy was at the ballpark today according to Cowley. Might have been their to talk to Coop about his progress.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 19, 2009 -> 02:37 PM) Looking at the speed of his pitches...man that guy is filthy. 96 mph fast ball followed by a 74 mph slider. He used to be able to slow his curve to 55 MPH with a massive break. He has video game stuff.

Whats that we won? But i thought this losswas a done deal? Beckham, Rios and Quentin are the perfect complement to the old core, but the old timers (looking at you Count) are looking pretty impressive themselves. Let's keep it going, boys.

The journey is far to schizophrenic for my taste, but the Jose Contreras and Bobby Jenks redemption tour is an absolute blast to watch when it’s on. I missed the game, but I got some jazzed up texts from my brother, and it’s nice to see this team can inspire such excitement after the agony of the last week.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 19, 2009 -> 12:19 PM) No, he can't. He has no arm and very limited experience in right. I'm not saying Pods is good in center, he isn't, but with the in-experience of Pods the best move is putting Rios in RF (whose a gold glove caliber RFer) with Pods in CF. Ozzie has done a very very good job handling the multiple outfielders since the Rios acquisition. I also give him credit for handling the Wise sitiuation like a pro.

Congrats to 1st year manager Joe McEwing. Most be cool for him to get this kind of reward only a year or two after retiring as a player.

For those of you wondering if Ozzie actually looks at the numbers from when AJ catches The Count and when Castro does. We have our answer. He doesn't.

Coop just said at least two more AAA starts for Peavy. Crap.

Pods in the field. We better hope the Royals don't hit anything to the wall, or in front of him, or to the side of him, or by him.

To all those who think Greinke is slumping, check his stats, he's just not getting any run support. This is going to be tough, but we can pull it off.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 19, 2009 -> 09:28 AM) Winston-Salem has zero offense. Yep, Seth Loman and Brent Morel are carrying that team. Now, that Loman is slumping they're averaging about 2 runs per game this week.

It's amazing that a kid like Everth Cabrera could just be plucked out of A ball and play like this at the major league level. It's a testament to the Padres scouting abilities.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Aug 19, 2009 -> 12:24 AM) Oh, please explain. What is plate discipline? Recognizing what a guy is throwing early enough to decide whether or not to swing? Ok, so does this mean a batter with great plate discipline can routinely recognize the difference between a fastball and a GOOD change-up or splitter or a curveball AND THEN decide to hold up his swing, or lay off of it, or time it well enough to square it up and pick up a hit? If that's the case, then Boston's OBP should be a lot higher than .348. Please think in terms of baseball, not calculations. If Freddy can find what he was doing for us in 2006 then he's capable of getting anyone out. Now that his fastball is where it was then, let's see if he can find that splitter and better control his curve. If Freddy can do that, then Boston, or any other team for that matter, is much better served to sit on his fastball and be aggressive early in the count when he's throwing it rather than sit back and try to hit the offspeed stuff that is dropping out of the zone. Now if Freddy can't locate the offspeed stuff well then it does *not* matter what the OBP is of any Major League team because he's still going to get hit. Kenny, I like you and I think we’re getting testy here. I’m sorry that my tone in my previous post was condescending, but I’m in a foul mood. My core argument is that the Red Sox are less likely to swing at some of Garcia’s bad pitches then the Royals were. Their numbers stand testament to it.

QUOTE (scenario @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 07:14 PM) Who's operating under 'feeling' here? Your analysis should say: "People don't learn better plate discipline at the major league level. Nix is who Nix is." Getz had more walks than strikeouts in his minor league career (165 walks and 142 strikeouts in 1428 at-bats). Nix had 302 walks and 675 strikeouts in 3250 at-bats. The small sample of major league at-bats you're using to make your point does not provide the basis for a meaningful comparison. It’s not an assumption, it’s a fact. Once ballplayers reach a certain point in their development, they simply don’t pick up plate discipline. They can learn to take more pitches, but ultimately, you can’t radically change a players approach at the plate when it’s been ingrained within them for years. Assuming that we’re taking Chris Getz on the team as a leadoff hitter, we’d have to take Nix in the lineup in a different facet. Because as you said, Jayson Nix is not a leadoff hitter. Now, the average OBP is .340 for a major league player. The baseline OBP for a good leadoff hitter is one of .375. Throughout his professional career Getz has averaged an OBP .361 of in the minor’s and currently sports one of .324 at the major league level. Getzs’ minor league track record shows an .OPB that fluctuates about .20 points between levels. but with a walk rate that remains fairly consistent at all levels. Assuming that Getz’s numbers from the minors can be extrapolated forwards on to his major league numbers, it’s logical that Chris Getz could end up with an .OBP of about .340. It’s clear from this that Chris Getz as a lead-of hitter, while not entirely unrealistic might not be the best fit for the kid. Now, Nix serves a different purpose, he has no business being leadoff, because his approach at the plate is fundamentally ill suited for it. This does not however compromise his value. Nix’s values lies in his glove and bat. Making him suited better for a position lower in the order. Furthermore, we haven't even touched on just what an asset Jayson's glove is to this team. Playing everyday he saves a handful of runs on average that Getz cannot. Furthermore, given Nix's superior power capabilities he also stands to be worthy of some value at the plate as well. Given his numbers at the minors it seems likely that Chris Getz could eventually evolve into a league-average everyday 2b. And that's fine, quite good actually, but Nix's potential looms slightly beyond that ceiling.