Eminor3rd

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Mar 4, 2014 -> 06:07 PM) That was the best vacation I've ever taken. Phoenix is beautiful. Camelback Ranch is an amazing facility. The weather is great. I hiked Camelback Mountain and it might have been the coolest experience of my life. And Old Town Scottsdale and ASU make for some fun nights. Legitimately depressed to be back in Chicago. Yeah man, I felt the same way last year. Such an underrated vacation experience. I'll go do that again before I ever go to LA or Orlando or whatever.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 4, 2014 -> 05:08 PM) This is about the one area where we disagree at all because I still think that Viciedo has a good chance to develop into a good hitter, but at his current numbers, he's a platoon partner. That was referring to Gordon Beckham, srry 4 confus But yes, I also do think nothing of Viciedo. I will (very) gladly eat it if he turns into something, but I don't think he can see the ball well enough to recognize what it's going to do. Hacker 4 Lyfe

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Mar 4, 2014 -> 04:52 PM) No, but I think Viciedo will be the DH and we need another OF for 2015. Gordan Beckham does not suck. Maybe compared to what was expected of him, but he is at least a big league average player. With Sanchez, Johnson, and Anderson in the wings and no OF prospects that can hit, I am not sure we need Semien more. But, yes there is probably no way that deal gets made, more wishful thinking on my part. He isn't average though, that's the problem. Career fWAR by season since his rookie year: 2.5, 0.6, 0.5, 0.9, 1.0 A league average player is 2.0 fWAR. He's been substantially below average for 4 consecutive seasons, making up 80% of his career. His career wRC+ is 86, or 14% below league average. UZR grades himout as about scratch on defense, and even if you think he's a little better than that, it's not nearly enough to turn him into an average player. EDIT: this is Gordon Beckham, for clarity. He is not just disappointing to those with high expectations, he is an all out bustaroo

Gordon Beckham sucks, and even though Pederson is better than Semien, we actually need Semien more. Unless you're ready to give up on Viciedo, which...

From the few at bats I've seen of Abreu (first game only), I'm very optimistic. They were good at bats, and he has demonstrated a level of strike zone patience that no one on our team has except Dunn. By contract, he made Viciedo look ridiculous.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 4, 2014 -> 11:48 AM) There was a time when I believed he was one of the better GMs in the game. He has been terrible to a Krivsky/Bill Smith type of bad over there. I read somewhere that basically he just gets players that he personally likes, dumps the ones that don't fit his "mold." Seriously, think about how embarrassingly bad they'd be right now if Goldschmidt hadn't randomly turned into a monster. And he had a lot of talent when he got there.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Mar 4, 2014 -> 01:01 PM) I think they are looking to move Gregorius and just say a "young SS" to make them not look desperate. I agree. I think they really like Owings. Which just makes the trade to acquire Gregorious even more baffling.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Mar 4, 2014 -> 11:15 AM) I'll be watching Hedges closely and hoping he performs well enough to make your scenario a reality. Will similarly be rooting for Max Stassi with the Stros'. And, will also be watching Trahan in the AZ system as thev'ye committed long-term to MMontero. We really need a lefty or SH in this position, with a modicum of power. AZ recently said they were thinking about trading a SS for a young C to come up after Montero, so I'd guess Trahan is probably either unavailable or very disappointing. Then again, practically nothing that Kevin Towers does makes sense to me.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 3, 2014 -> 09:04 PM) That's what happens when you need to win now. He's played all of 4 spring training games. That is insanity. I'm not buying this at all.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Mar 3, 2014 -> 05:29 PM) Jim Bowden says the Dodgers are poised to move on from Alex Guerrero and get a 2B that they feel can better help them to a WS. He then lists Dee Gordon, Chone Figgins, Justin Turner as internal solutions and Stephen Drew, Nick Franklin, Darwin Barney, Scooter Gennet or Rickie Weeks, Daniel Murphy, Beckham, and Danny Espinosa as external options. I'll add Uggla as an option for them as well. But thinking of the big picture, what about a Semien for Pederson deal? I know Pederson is more highly rated, but Semien can contribute right now. Which side says no? Wait, what? They are giving up on Guerrero, who they signed to a ~$30m contract like 5 months ago?

Sickels' schtick is that he "uses the numbers" to scout. Accordingly, his lists almost always deviate the most from consensus and it appears that everyone in the media takes him less seriously. There's usually some controversial guy he's trying to blow up. His biggest flop in recent memory was Nestor Molina right before we acquired him. I think last year he had Carlos Sanchez in the top 100 or something.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 1, 2014 -> 10:47 PM) I think we'll get the end products at some point. I'm not saying you're wrong, because I have no idea -- but why? I can't think of any reason for it to be made public. If it's ever public, then the teams wouldn't have to pay for it.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Mar 2, 2014 -> 12:37 PM) Law has an insider article noting that Beede is on track to be a top 5 pick. In this article he says that only Kolek and Rodon are obviously better at this point.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Mar 3, 2014 -> 05:07 AM) I love to see the Sox acquire Kevin Gausman from Baltimore, and I am praying to the baseball gods that Hahn can pry Gary Sanchez away from the Yankees Even the good lawd, Jesus Allen Christ himself, whose legacy has driven millions of hapless humans to fanatic slaughter for millennia, couldn't get the Orioles to send us Kevin Gausman. Unless you want to move Sale.

I don't think GMs care nearly as much for whether or not a guy has been a "closer" anymore. It's extremely unlikely a contender would be acquiring Boggs to be a closer anyway -- I think they'll hand the job to whoever pitches the best. Boggs may get that shot if someone else drops the ball.

I'll take the under. But not by a lot.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 1, 2014 -> 03:45 PM) More Game changer for the industry. Unfortunately we peasants will most likely never have access to it.

Here's something that just came out today and illustrates greatly the effect of context on GB pitchers: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/exceptional...uches-everyone/

Yeah I mean I like it when we get good players, but I can't come up with any reason this might happen.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Feb 27, 2014 -> 11:41 AM) xFIP doesn't do it. This really doesn't show a regression for pitchers. It will predict how many runs they will give up if HR or BABIP values change. For example if a pitcher gives up an abnormally high number of HR, you can predict the runs for the following year if you change the value. Same with BABIP. If it's high one year, you can predict the decrease in runs if you lower the BABIP to what the average pitcher had that year. The regression model just uses past variables to determine their weight in the dependent varible. You can use this to predict fututre performance. This is what I use to determine which applicants to our DPT program have a good chance to pass our license exam thus which applicants we accept. I see. Well go invent stuff! You should definitely read The Book and Baseball Between the Numbers to get a sense of what was done early on in DIPS so you don't end up repeating something unnecessarily. But this is an area where a breakthrough could definitely be made.

QUOTE (Dunt @ Feb 27, 2014 -> 02:54 PM) Links? I would actually be interested in reading up on that http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-Playing-Per...l/dp/1597971294 This is where the original research was done -- I haven't been able to find anywhere online that reposts it in its entirety. However, here's an oft-cited summary of the findings: http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2009/3/17...-your-lineup-by

QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 27, 2014 -> 05:16 PM) My favorite was when he cited Viciedo's speed as the reason he shouldn't DH. You have to wonder if he watches the games. There really is no reason he should have his job. I mean what does he really add? Lol

QUOTE (Dunt @ Feb 27, 2014 -> 01:14 PM) B/c the 2 hole is for the best situational hitter and he doesnt strike me as the best situational hitter. I challenge your assertion that the 2 hole is for the best situational hitter. I know that's the traditional mindset, but there's a ton of research showing that the 2 hitter should be among your best run producers, based on the types of RISP situations that are most common across all nine spots.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 27, 2014 -> 11:36 AM) Better yet, HEWHOSHALLNOTBESIGNED

QUOTE (Dunt @ Feb 27, 2014 -> 11:09 AM) Avisail should be batting 3 or 5 for the rest of his career. Putting him in the 2 hole is stupid. Why?