Eminor3rd

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Aug 19, 2013 -> 04:35 PM) A true ace is going to guarantee anywhere from 10-15 wins even on a bad team. Based on what?

NOTABLE: according to Pitch F/X, Garcia's O-Swing since the trade is at just 27%, which is a touch better than league average (29.6%) and a billion times better than his previous ML career average (37%). I do not know if this is sustainable BUT this is an example of a successful major league hitting approach. His walk rates are ~5% where they always were, but it's fine because he's being selective in the pitches he swings at. Please, keep this up!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 19, 2013 -> 12:39 PM) League average with the bat though would be one of the best run-producing shortstops in the league. Alexei is about 10th in MLB in OPS at the shortstop position. Right, but this is in response to him as a cornerstone of the offense, or as someone put it "our most consistent hitter all year long." It's an 84 wRC+. It is nice out of the SS position but it is not a substantial part of a core offense.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 19, 2013 -> 11:29 AM) What took him so long? Hawk Harrelson, I mean Ken Harrelson, has said he has the power to hit it out to any field. That ridiculous shift would be on every single at bat and yet he'd still strike out or ground out or pop out into the shift. Fixed. It was never about his power, it was about his hit tool. If Dunn or his coaches felt there were legitimate questions about his ability to control the bat against pitches that are harder to hit, there would be a real risk of even moire strikeouts with even less power. Based on this, it sounds like the coaches thought he could do it but Dunn wasn't so sure. Nice that it's working

QUOTE (oldsox @ Aug 19, 2013 -> 11:29 AM) Defensive stats are very subjective. Official Scorers have their own agenda. Happened lat night. A one hopper hit to Pedroia, he muffed it, they gave the guy a hit because they wanted to keep Pedroia's error total down. Alexei would have gotten an error on same play. That's one of the chief benefits of UZR -- it's calculated based on BIS records about the location of plays being made or not made.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Aug 18, 2013 -> 11:30 AM) We should all definitely want the Sox to lose, but not at the expense of development. This season is a sunk cost in terms of winning, but some good can still come of it if the young guys can continue to learn and start connecting the dots. I'd love to get the #2 pick, but if a guy like Garcia or Viciedo goes on a tear and prevents that from happening I'll be even happier. Hopefully the bullpen and poor fundamentals will lose us a lot of games going forward though. THIS If we end up winning a bunch of games in September because our young players start taking legitimate strides forward in their development, then we'll take it. But the important thing here is that the WINS aren't what we need right now. We need the kids to have good numbers themselves. They don't need to lead to wins this year, those wins do us no good. So you can watch games and be really invested in the performance of the players but still shrug your shoulders when the team loses anyway.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Aug 19, 2013 -> 10:23 AM) What are your guys thoughts on "buying low" on Headley? I'm not sure if it would cost Q or Santiago but if it did would you do that? If he returns to his 2012 numbers that would go a long way towards contending. Would be great, but I don't think they'd sell low.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 19, 2013 -> 07:50 AM) Except in 2012, that wasn't the case with him. He finally cleaned up so many of those stupid, easy mistakes last year. That's the thing -- guys can have good years and bad years defensively just like they can at the plate. He's not as good as he was in 2012 and not as bad as he's been this year. He's a defensive asset at the end of the day, but he's an aging one with no surplus value on his contract. Useful for a contender, not useful for us.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 19, 2013 -> 12:57 AM) Lexi has been miserable defensively this season, right? He's only getting older. Not as bad as everyone thinks. He's still a +5 defender per UZR. He's made more errors this year but he still has great range. It's easy to take that for granted, I think.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Aug 18, 2013 -> 05:18 PM) LOL seriously? He's been the most consistent hitter all year on this team. .289/.312/.376 for a n 84 wRC+. Consistent? Perhaps, but consistently 16% below league average. Now, that doesn't mean he's not a solid player. If he plays the defense he's capable of, he's a 3 win guy, but it's not because of his bat. He's 32 and being paid market value, and we have a glut of MI prospects in AA/AAA that are going to need to get some consistent ABs as soon as next year. We've seen his best, and given we're the third worst team in baseball, we just aren't going to gain much paying him to play a little worse each year.

QUOTE (hi8is @ Aug 18, 2013 -> 07:14 PM) What do you guys think about trading Danks and taking a flyer on Josh Johnson for a 1 year to see if we could turn him around? How are you going to trade Danks?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 18, 2013 -> 11:16 PM) Addison Reed is so good on a bad team that it's scary. He's our team MVP by far, even ahead of Sale IMO. See greg, these are the posts that make everyone think you're a troll.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Aug 16, 2013 -> 05:34 PM) This looks like what we currently have. Haha I was going to say the same thing.

QUOTE (Hawkfan @ Aug 16, 2013 -> 12:50 PM) I'd like to see the sox hang on to him. I don't think he's done yet, and I'm unsure how everyone else has come to this conclusion. Well, mostly it's that he's 38, had several nagging injuries surface, and is in the midst of what is BY FAR the worst season of his career. The only season that came close to this bad was 2003. The difference between this time and then is that he is old now. On top of that, the guy has been hinting at retiring for years. He almost retired before he signed the contract he's currently on. He's got nothing left to prove -- he's not going to reach 500 homers, he's got his championship, and this team isn't likely to be a contender for the next couple years. It's a good time to hang them up. I'd much rather see it now than have him turn into an embarrassment like Griffey did.

Marc Hulet @ FanGraphs: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/prospect-st...cott-snodgress/

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 16, 2013 -> 08:10 AM) You spelled Troncoso wrong Probably more realistic if they alternate anyway, I suppose.

QUOTE (Jake @ Aug 16, 2013 -> 03:05 PM) You still retain team control like any other non-MLB player on these guys unless you explicitly release the player from that team control Right, that was the case with Viciedo, IIRC. It would be safe to assume though that if he were turning down extra years, he would have a clause releasing him from control.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Aug 16, 2013 -> 03:00 PM) I wonder if he will be more interested in a short term deal though. Maybe something like 3/27 with the team giving rights to arbitration away at the end of the deal. That way he can be a FA again at 30 and make his money there. If he goes for a long term deal he loses his chance to make a lot more money as he would be a FA until his mid to late 30's. 5 years would make him a free agent at 31. If he's making north of $12m per year, I'd be surprised to see him turn down extra years. Cespedes was a little different because he was only getting a guarantee of ~$8m per

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 16, 2013 -> 01:19 PM) Uh oh. I'm sensing somebody doesn't like Paulie very much. We'll never know how badly his injuries have been. My guess is they've been really bad. If so he'll probably retire. Come on, man. We all love Paulie. 38 year olds with back, knee, foot, and wrist problems are typically on their way out.

QUOTE (shakes @ Aug 16, 2013 -> 11:40 AM) He seems like he would be a great fit, but I just fear the bidding is going to get to crazy levels. The Red Sox and Rangers have needs at first base, and the Twins and O's keep hinting at going big in the international markets. The A's could jump right back in given their difficulties to attract free agents, and we haven't even touched on the NL. I feel like his contract will blow Puig's and Cespedes out of the water. If consensus determines he's a 60/60 hitter, I'd be comfortable going up to 5/80

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 16, 2013 -> 11:51 AM) I obviously hope he breaks out, but in order to keep my sanity I try and hold back on expectations on prospects that young. Heck, I'm still waiting on Juan Silveiro to finally make his way to the big leagues....what's that you say? Yeah, that's true. Probably better as a nice surprise that we forgot about

I hope Zapata breaks onto the scene and gives us something to be excited about next year.

I'm ready to say goodbye to Paulie. Great career, no reason to drag it down into zombie territory.

If he's 70/70, he's worth $20-25m a year. If he's 60/60, I'll still give him $12m without blinking.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 16, 2013 -> 09:21 AM) Not enough TWTW You really need to use TWTW+ to account for league and park factors.