Eminor3rd

WTF

This is just flat-out unwatchable.

Right, like -- we all liked him as a player, but he'd just be rolling the dice again as a manager.

Why do we all seem to think Omar Vizquel would be a good manager? We don't know anything about him. The only problem anyone has with Renteria is his tactical decision-making, and that's also the thing we know least about Vizquel.

I honestly didn't mind it either -- Machado is so much better than literally every other hitter in that lineup right now, it very well may have been playing the percentages correctly. It's like when Bonds got IBB'd like 200 times that one year because the entire rest of the lineup was garbage. When every matchup is a good one except one, why not avoid that matchup?

Why though? If he needs to work on his control, why not do that at the AAA level? With a hitter, I think it's a bit different. Sometimes the optimal approach against mediocre talent isn't the optimal approach against top talent, and you need to learn to use your tools against the best. But for Kopech, if it's a matter of consistency, or mechanics, or commanding a pitch, I can;t think of any reason that it doesn't make more sense to do that in the minors -- where there's less pressure, the games don't matter, and the service clock doesn't run.

It sounds like you're down on Madrigal for the same reasons I was down on Alex Bregman. But I have to admit -- Bregman has worked out nicely, despite the fact that the Astros had nowhere to play him when they drafted him, and he was a fast riser. Now, just because Bregman worked out, doesn't mean Madrigal necessarily will, but it is a significant point of data to support the idea that talented players will find a way to contribute -- or at least that having too much of a specific type of talent is a better problem to have than the alternative.

Tradeable assets are fungible in an open economy. Take the most valuable asset.

Greg just learned about Anthony Rizzo today

It does, though, because the young kids need playing time at the big league level. If you got veteran scrubs to push us up to.500, Moncada would still get his innings, sure -- but you wouldn't have given at bats to Matt Davidson, for example.

That's the other thing -- the trade market hasn't been kind to first basemen past 30. I've said it before, but I think he's more valuable to the White Sox than any other team.

Stay. He's a good bet to be a good hitter for another 3-5 years, and he can DH more as he ages. Good leader, popular with the fans. Good bat. Keep him.

I would think that if he fell to us, it would be for medical reasons, meaning we should be concerned about drafting him there too.

Everything I've seen says he'll be an easy plus defender at second, and the only thing keeping him from SS is questions about arm strength.

I subscribe to their version of mlb.tv (Pacific League TV), and I've found myself watching as much NPB as White Sox over the last couple seasons... for obvious reasons, lol. I would love to get Kikuchi, because I'm a fan of the NPB and that would be fun -- but I will tell you this: at the time he was posted, Tanaka was a substantially better pitcher than Kikuchi is now. If Kikuchi creates the same bidding war that Tanaka did, it will be a much riskier buy. It's impossible to guess how they may translate differently, but Tanaka was unbelievable in what turned out to be his walk year. I think he was literally 24-0 with a sub-2 ERA or something. Now, Tanaka has been a TOR starter over here when healthy, so that still leaves a lot of room for Kikuchi to be good. But just as a point of comparison.

Fujinami is a bust. Hard thrower, but no semblance of control at all, potential make-up issues, and already a ton of miles on the arm. Despaigne is like if Yasmany Tomas was 50 pounds heavier and was 30 already. Yamada is a monster but has a potentially chronic back issue, and he plays the one position we don't need (second base). His swing is incredibly powerful but also very long -- it's tough to know if it would translate to the majors. He's super fast, too, though. Very high-end talent but some real question marks. Tsutsugoh has been a monster slugger in the past and is still only like 26, but he's having a down year and is a below average corner OF. Seiya Suzuki is awesome but he ain't goin anywhere. If you want to start following a guy that we may have a legit chance of getting as soon as this offseason, look into Yusei Kikuchi, the Seibu Lions ace. High-three quarters delivery, sits like 91-93, can touch 95, has a plus splitter and flashes a plus slider. Solid command. Has been a famous prospect for a while but was disappointing until he finally broke out in a big way last year at age 25, almost winning the Sawamura Award (their Cy Young). The Lions have always said they they'd post him if he ever put together two good seasons in a row, and he's started strong this year, so everyone expects him to be made available. Tough to know how a guy like this will translate -- he doesn't have the elite velocity that's becoming common in the MLB, but we've seen guys with good splitters dominate for a while over here. Might have platoon issues with his delivery. He's probably a mid-rotation guy but he's young enough to be around for a long time.

I just feel like Singer seems like a great pick at like, #10 or so.

No matter how seriously you think it should be taken, the whole PED use/Hall of Fame/banned substance thing continues to be the absolute worst part of the baseball fan experience.

Definitely weird, indeed. It feels like the ballpark and arena were dropped in from the sky. Also, that factory beyond the fence is one of the worst backdrops for a ballpark I've ever seen, lol.

The season after that, I saw Casper Wells play for the now-defunct independent league Bridgeport Bluefish.

I was so pumped about Jeff Keppinger.

It's brutal. It sucks. As a fan, I've never felt anything like it. But It's year two of a rebuild. I suppose this is just what that feels like. It isn't going to be fun, but I don't think it's time to call for heads.

Super interesting -- I remember this study being referenced a lot in articles and podcasts at the time, but I don't think I ever actually read it. I think you're spot on with Lopez/Giolito. With Lopez, FIP should be referenced more as a snapshot than anything else -- by the time a trend sets in, his arsenal and skill will have changed the inputs.

It's not, I just made up an example of stats that seemed reasonable to illustrate that you can't make the conclusion because it isn't an apples to apples comparison. Just trying to find ways to illustrate its use.

I'm sorry -- it's the index versions of the stats that have the league/park factors. I misspoke.