OmarComing25

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 24, 2016 -> 07:03 PM) Well yeah but he turns 33 this April. When 100% and in his athletic prime Pujols is #1 out of active players but time is undefeated. I understand that, but that's why I'm fine with his ranking. The nagging injuries knocks him down a couple spots. I don't think the Pujols comparison is fair because right now if they're both healthy Miggy is way better.

QUOTE (iWin4Ron @ Jan 24, 2016 -> 04:36 PM) How do people justify Sale over Greinke and Arrieta ? As stated previously, this is not about who would you pick to start your franchise or who to start your team with. This is about reality right now. Greinke and Arrieta should rightfully be a head of Sale in this ranking. Probably Price too. It's pretty easy if you can look past just one year of data and look at other stats besides just ERA. There's a reason Kershaw is the only SP who is projected to be better than Sale next year. In his career Grienke's ERA is roughly equal to his FIP, and his FIP last year was over a run higher than his ERA. His BABIP was 70 points lower than his career average, his LOB% was an absurdly high 86.5% and almost 12% better than his career average, and there was nothing in his batted ball profile to suggest he was giving up significantly softer contact than usual. Add in his age and it's easy to see why Sale should be above him. Arrieta is a bit of a different case. His BABIP and LOB% are also very likely to regress, but they weren't as extreme as Greinke's, and Arrieta does seem to have the ability to induce rather weak contact. The new Arrieta doesn't have as much of a track record, so he's a bit harder to predict going forward, but Sale certainly has a case there too, depending on your view of advanced metrics. xFIP and SIERA are both much better predictors of future performance than ERA is, and Sale finished 2nd to Kershaw in the MLB in both those metrics in 2015 (Arrieta finished 3rd and 5th). To me it feels like a 50/50 shot as to who will have a better year next season.

QUOTE (iWin4Ron @ Jan 24, 2016 -> 04:37 PM) I think Abreu should be one or two spots higher. I have my doubts about Miggy now. Nah, when healthy Miggy is #1.

Sale is better than Price and Greinke.

QUOTE (captain54 @ Jan 23, 2016 -> 01:06 PM) the fact that you actually calculated all of my total posts and then counted my posts on this thread and figured the percentage. is a little alarming… I'm sorry my recent posting trend doesn't meet your approval… Kindly off some tips on how I should post to insure I don't piss you off in the future.. That information takes less than 10 seconds to look up, that's alarming? Could you be any more of a drama queen? What's alarming is that this thread has reached 10 pages.

QUOTE (Big Hurtin @ Jan 23, 2016 -> 12:01 PM) I think I'm beginning to understand why Charlie Brown kept trying to kick that football all those years. I can't remember the last time one of your posts added to the discussion.

QUOTE (2005thxfrthmmrs @ Jan 23, 2016 -> 11:01 AM) I think there is definitely a notion that players don't want to play for the Sox, middle of the road team, lacking prestige as a franchise, bottom of the barrel in attendance, etc. But part of the blame is also the bombing of other FA signings, especially hitters in recent year. Had those guys, Dunn, LaRoche, and to some extent Melky, had performed better with the Sox than they did before, it would have been a more appealing case to attract other FA's. Again, just 1 year ago two guys signed here with higher offers elsewhere. I think the whole "players don't want to come here" is overblown.

QUOTE (CB2.0 @ Jan 23, 2016 -> 02:17 AM) What are the A's gonna pay Gray this year? What are the Sox gonna pay Sale? I said VALUE...not better, necessarily. The ole "bang for the buck". Sale '16 - $9.1M Gray - '16 - (Arb process - $512,000 base) Gray is SO MUCH MORE VALUABLE it's not even funny. Yeah that's not true. If they both put up their projections next year, Sale at $9.1M and 6+ WAR is still providing more surplus value than Gray at $512,000 and 3.5-4 WAR.

Can we stop acting like because we missed out on the Big 3 that all of Hahn's plans fail to come to fruition? He targeted Lawrie and Frazier and got those done. What was he supposed to do here? There was no way we were going to pry away Gordon or Cespedes unless we grossly overpaid, and Upton didn't want to come here.

QUOTE (CB2.0 @ Jan 23, 2016 -> 01:28 AM) The Cubs are overrating Soler so much, it's funny. They should include Schwarber (DH) call Billy, and polielty ask him what else do they want for Sonny. Give 'em Baez too. Move like THAT...would make me take them seriously. Gray is like Sale but even cheaper. He is the most VALUABLE pitcher in baseball. Let's not get crazy here. Gray's good, but let's see him put up one 4 WAR season first before saying he's "like Sale". The guy's peripherals are solid but far from spectacular. Sale is still easily the more valuable pitcher.

Even in a down year Desmond was more than 2 wins better than Alexei last year.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jan 22, 2016 -> 11:02 PM) -"Good defensive shortstop" is a bit of a stretch -Will hit 20+ HR? That's a huge assumption. He hit 19 last year and may struggle converting to the AL. Nothing is guaranteed. -He can be willing to play other positions all he wants, but his defense there will likely not be very good -Agree with your last sentence It's not a huge assumption that he'll hit 20 HR, he just had 19 in a clear down year.

QUOTE (South Sider @ Jan 22, 2016 -> 10:48 PM) I was unaware they actually had better offers. I must have missed that. I believe the Royals offered Melky a 4th year and the Astros offered Robertson more money.

QUOTE (South Sider @ Jan 22, 2016 -> 10:42 PM) It feels so crappy that no player would want to come here, though. It speaks volumes as to how this organization is viewed by players. IN the case of Upton, it seems like he pretty much told the Sox he wasn't interested. If players are doing that, things need to change. That is unacceptable. Robertson and Melky turned down better offers to come here just one year ago.

Nats did a great job upping the price.

When he opts out I hope we don't have another 400 page thread next year too...

QUOTE (Special K @ Jan 22, 2016 -> 06:47 PM) Dick was right. I just notice that he defends sox brass staunchly. The organization is struggling right now. If it's all KW, then JR needs to fire him or sell. We're in the 3rd largest city in the country and 0 playoff appearances in 8 years is pathetic. I agree with you, and I wish KW had been put out to pasture already, but I don't mind calling out weak criticism when it's warranted either.

QUOTE (Special K @ Jan 22, 2016 -> 06:15 PM) Dick is a staunch defender of sox brass. Any criticisms you have about the organization? They haven't made the playoffs in almost a decade. Somewhere in that organization something is going wrong, whether it be manager, front office or players. But even if you lay all blame on players, that's still a reflection on how selected them. Was anything Dick said wrong? Lip said no changes have been made and Dick listed several. He said there's no accountability for the players yet there's no position player remaining from Opening Day 2013. There are plenty of criticisms to be had for the Sox brass, but not cutting LaRoche "long ago" is not one of them. That seems like a major reach. There's nothing wrong with criticism, but at least be right when you do it.

QUOTE (captain54 @ Jan 22, 2016 -> 03:28 PM) For the record, and for those willing to spout an opinion (funny how people have opinions about everything, even "non-issues") without knowing what really happened with all of this… the Sox got wind of all the Cooper FB stuff and told him to shut it down.. if it was a non issue and inconsequential, why did they intervene? You're literally the only poster on this board who cares about this, that should be a sign of how much of a non-issue it is.

I know a lot of these guys won't stick at SS, but in addition to a lot of teams seemingly "set" at the position right now, 20 of the top 100 prospects in baseball are SS according to MLB.com. Anderson is rated #38 overall but is the 13th best SS prospect. Last year was the first year I really started following prospects, so is that normal or is SS just a really deep position right now?

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 22, 2016 -> 01:00 PM) That's what I was thinking and who even needs a shortstop? I just went through all 29 teams and couldn't find one team. Diamondbacks?

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Jan 22, 2016 -> 12:57 PM) Okay. Thanks. I could like the idea provided he's cheap. And based on what you've been saying, he could be relatively cheap. With the lack of contending teams needing a SS and the QO attached, the chances for getting him relatively cheap are high.

Sox were criticized in the recent past for sticking with Beckham and Viciedo for too long. I hope they've learned their lesson with Garcia. He's shown nothing positive so far aside from his arm.

QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ Jan 22, 2016 -> 10:23 AM) I am hoping the Sox have Navarro at DH and Avila behind the plate (and LaRoche very far away from the team) for much of the season. Not going to happen unless we grab a third catcher for the bench.

Someone did a breakdown of all the "impact bats" signed in FA since 2010. Yellow means they were traded during the course of the contract. Green means they lived up to the contract. Looks like he combined all of Cruz's contracts together. Doesn't look good outside of a few.