oldsox

4-5 days ago I made a simple, one sentence, non-combative statement saying that Sox trading Addison Reed didn't help the bullpen, or if he were still here it would be better, or something like that, and I was promptly villified by 3-4 posters, 2 of whom are mods, basically insinuating that I don't know what I'm talking about, calling me a troll and that our bullpen is fine without him, even telling us what the Sox bullpen ERA is vs Reed's ERA, etc. etc. as if his 26 saves are irrelevant to the discussion, or words to that effect. The fact is the Sox bullpen imploded this weekend, and Reed had a scoreless inning today with 3 K's, not that that makes any difference. I still say Reed would have helped this team this year. A lot.

Every team is going to have a few tough losses in a long season. RV mostly made ther right calls last night, especially on the bullpen side of things. just didn't work out this time. Not his fault Eaton got thrown out at second for the last out of the 8th. If I were to criticize Robin for last night, it would center around not using Sierra, other than as a pinch runner right before Eaton's out at second. Sierra is good defensivly and is hot, so play him, but if he were in the game, he prob would have been in right field, so the botched play by ADA in left in the 8th would not have been changed. Not Robin's fault ADA botched the play. It not only lost the game, it made Belly's numbers look worse than what they would have looked. The key plays were ADA's in left and Eaton's out at second and the fact that Suzuki got another big hit in the clutch. For the most part, other than Sierra riding the pine, RV had the Sox set up to succeed, not fail.

Great article, Northsider. You guys do good work. I hope you're right about Wilkins getting a call-up in September. He is not yet on the 40 man roster; hopefully that changes. Brewster was one of the Sox final signers from this years draft, not counting Rodon, of course. Since he pitched at Maryland, I bet he and Rodon competed against each other a few times. Now they're together at Winston-Salem. Thanks again.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 31, 2014 -> 03:54 PM) ERA+ 96, -0.3 WAR, That's a pretty small difference in ERA's, not where you can make a judgment on that stat alone. I do know that Reed has 26 saves for a lousy team, and that he is/was clearly better at closing than either Lindstrom or Belasario. Those two guys are much better set up men than closers, so it follows that if Reed were not traded. he would have been closing and those two guys would have been in their proper places in the bullpen, and just maybe we wouldn't have had to pitch Paulino at all, and voila the Sox are several games better. Does not seem very complicated. Better closing + better set up performances = a few more wins.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 31, 2014 -> 03:27 PM) This team is so weird. It seems like whenever I'm watching or paying attention, they are putting together a nice run or a win streak and they're in every game, yet they're 3 games below .500. Again, it's weird, but this team feels like it should be 5-7 games over .500 right now instead. They would be if the hadn't traded Addison Reed.

QUOTE (Capn12 @ Jul 31, 2014 -> 03:23 PM) Eaton is so grindy..thanks again Arizona. Ariz got Trumbo in that deal, right? A real stinker for them.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 30, 2014 -> 06:42 PM) Davidson now at least 3 for his last 38 with no homers. Hard to get excited about a prospect that has hit under .200 in 3 out of 4 months this year. Two of us here feel that way. He obviously has another month at Charlotte, and then will most likely be btought up in September, and we'll all be able to see him for at least a few games.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 29, 2014 -> 03:40 PM) Just an FYI, we do have a preliminary list ready. Regarding the time line, I think we're going to hold off on it until after the deadline in case the Sox make any additions that will need to be added. I bet you guys will never guess who's #1 99.9999% certain.

Hawk used to say, "I love to watch Ray run." I love to watch Eaton run. First to home, who is faster?

We are looking at a future MVP. He is so good and still improving.

I don't get all of you guys rating Davidson so high. I'm trying, but it just doesn't compute. He is hitting .200 with a ton of strikeouts and is clearly regressing from 2013, and those numbers were not so hot. This is his 6th pro season. He has 2650 at bats as a pro -- almost 3000 plate appearances. Not a small sample size. What do you guys need to see in order to put him further down on your list, or gone completely?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 29, 2014 -> 12:20 PM) I understand that, but it's still 19% of his total games pitched this year. You can't just cherry pick those out as if they didn't happen. If you take out 19% of Adam Dunn's worst plate appearances, you're removing 68 plate appearances. If, out of those 68 plate appearances, we take out 10 singles and 58 outs - a line of .150/.150/.150 - Dunn's line transforms into a thing of beauty - .254/.414/.522/.936. Do you believe Dunn is closer to a .254/.414/.522/.936 type of player, or the .229/.363/.435/.798 player we've grown accustomed to? How long did it take you to do the math?

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jul 28, 2014 -> 08:33 PM) He's been awful, he personally cost Peavy a couple runs the other day. Sometimes I wonder what these front offices are thinking, wishcasting Uggla or Morales as anything other than useless replacement level players at this point is beyond silly. I guess every GM thinks that in the right situation an older talented" player will turn it around. Heck, KW did it with Griffey when he was washed up. No one ever said that GM's were smart. It was another GM who gave that contract to Uggla in the first place.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jul 28, 2014 -> 08:33 PM) He's been awful, he personally cost Peavy a couple runs the other day. Sometimes I wonder what these front offices are thinking, wishcasting Uggla or Morales as anything other than useless replacement level players at this point is beyond silly. I guess every GM thinks that in the right situation an older talented" player will turn it around. Heck, KW did it with Griffey when he was washed up. .....and Manny.

I bet Eaton runs more next year.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Jul 27, 2014 -> 07:58 PM) Good idea to trade Reed, but a terrible move to waste 40 save value on such a flawed player. They were fooled by his semi-successful cup of coffee in the bigs - a 117+ wRC in AAA translates as a borderline MLBer. Bad scouting, I guess. Eaton trade looks good. RH will need to do better than 50-50 for the team to turn the corner, though. The word I got from the Phoenix Branch of my research staff is that the D'backs just did not like what they saw in his 2013 cup of coffee and were going to trade him to someone. The White Sox showed up on their doorstep, and the rest is history. Maybe Reed's velocity has gone down -- I don't know, but he is still a very serviceable relief pitcher. He came in to close a win Saturday and struck out the side. It looked like he was throwing pretty hard to me. I thinks he ranks well ahead of the likes of Lindstrom, Belisario, Webb, Paulino, et al in the relief pitchers' food chain. Then and now.

The Dodgers did the right thing. They immediately demoted their idiot hotheaded violent wannabe to a lower classification in the minors. Sent a message to their organization.

Flowers and his new glasses probably have as much trade value as any of these guys. Just sayin'.........

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Jul 26, 2014 -> 04:27 PM) I think regardless of who they call up I'm sure you and I as well as others will be happy to see some young blood in the lineup. I certainly won't complain if it were Semien. I like Semien too. Can't understand why he hasn't hit better at Charlotte.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jul 26, 2014 -> 04:39 PM) Yes, everything that is reported is true. I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I'm looking to unload cheap. It's been sold.

Peavy sailing in the 5th inning vs dodgers

QUOTE (flavum @ Jul 27, 2014 -> 06:28 PM) Need fathom to talk smack about Davidson. He's getting close to falling under .200 again. Bad, bad trade.

How can you NOT pull for Chris Sale to win?

Never saw the sucker punch, but the Jax Mgr should be suspended. No reason to keep it going that long.

A year ago Stone was telling us that Danks' velocity would go up a couple of ticks in the off season. Maybe he just had the wrong off season.