OmarComing25

It's baseball, s*** happens, especially in October. Remember, we made the Royals look like a little-league team as recently as the beginning of September.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 01:23 PM) The word choke is just silly to me. So basically you guys are telling me that they were just fine in a do or die game, were able to take on their arch nemesis but then all the sudden the NLCS was too big of a moment for them? That just seems ridiculous to me. I can buy the fact that they possibly started to play a little bit tighter when they got down 0-2 but the Mets were just a better team just as the Cubs were just better than whatever the hell the Cardinals were throwing out there. Agreed

Still wouldn't do it for Montas, that contract plus the risk of his bat continuing to stay bad makes me want to stay away.

Not with that contract. He's not cheap anymore and he makes plenty of boneheaded plays, and he's now been pretty bad offensively in two of his last three seasons.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 12:25 PM) Are we sure Cooper is good anymore? The Sox were 3rd in the AL in pitching WAR this year (9th in the MLB) and 1st for SP. Samardzija was a failure, but you can't win them all.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 12:15 PM) This is probably too far but I feel like having Upton would be like the Alex Rios years all over again. If it was 2010 or 2012 Rios I wouldn't mind. Even 2013 Rios was decent. It was really just 41 games in 2009 and that horrific 2011 that was bad.

QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 12:10 PM) For the past 4 seasons Castro has had nearly the same K rate (~15%) and above average defense. He could stand to improve both a little, but neither is problematic. Compare this with the LF who is on his face every time the ball is hit to him and will gladly provide the 3 pitch strikeout at any time. According to DRS Castro's defense has been below average at SS every year except 2012.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 11:57 AM) Yet you mention wanting Castro? Russell also had serious contact issues this season (not saying I wouldn't want him).

QUOTE (southside hitman @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 11:29 AM) Dodgers lose in a game 5 of the NLDS and then can Mattingly while Sox announce Ventura back after second consecutive underachieving season... Was 2014 really an underachieving season? We had just lost 99 games the year before and didn't know what to expect from Abreu and Eaton, and with the rotation we were running out there it was pretty clear it was a rebuilding year.

QUOTE (fathom @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 11:13 AM) In retrospect, Maddon sure did run Arrieta into the ground this year. Never understood why they didn't back off his innings the last month of the season. Was a bit surprised that Maddon didn't get more criticism for that considering all the hell Baker took for how he handled Wood and Prior. It's not like the Cubs were in danger of not making the playoffs in September this year.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 10:25 AM) Thanks! I'm trying to learn analytics in baseball. This will help. As for the "rift" between Coop and Shark, has it been confirmed? Has Coop had rifts with previous veteran pitchers? http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=...=&players=0 This is another interesting link that shows how each team did against each type of pitch. Interestingly, we were the 2nd best offense in baseball against sliders, but got absolutely wrecked on changeups and curveballs and also fared quite poorly against fastballs. Looking back at 2014, we also fared poorly against curveballs but did quite well against changeups and decent against fastballs.

QUOTE (SouthSideSale @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 10:09 AM) I'm sure a combination of both. Vet pitching coach and vet pitcher. I want to see what his FB percentage is in relation to previous years and why he was using it so little. http://www.fangraphs.com/pitchfx.aspx?play...&position=P That has all sorts of numbers on his pitch selection, how hitters did against each pitch, movement on each pitch, batted ball data, and plate discipline data.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 09:29 AM) Samardzija sucked, but you are totally correct. I'm not denying he sucked, as even his FIP wasn't all that great anyway, but just saying he was far from the worst, there are some really BAD pitchers out there.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 09:26 AM) And he might get hurt next season, like Mike Sirotka or any number of top pitching prospects that came through the system from 1999-2002. First, we actually need a DH since we don't have one for 2017-2019. I can't imagine what Cubs' fans would say about Avi if that's your overall assessment of Soler. It's amazing the Cubs even won 80 games. Finally, Adam Eaton can't steal bases, listen to coaches, he pisses off all the veteran players in the clubhouse, he never throws to the correct base and always overestimates his arm, he only looked passable in CF this season because the corners were even more atrocious and his penchant for swinging for the fences from the leadoff spot won't be quite so helpful in the future when he's sacrificing contact and infield hits for power numbers. We can find flaws in every player if we so choose. Why would the Cubs want him when he didn't show up with the right mindset at the beginning of the season? The Cubs didn't win all those games because of Soler and Baez. Soler was replacement level, and even Schwarber only came up halfway through the year and was pretty bad the last two months of the season.

Saying that because Samardzija gave up the most earned runs means he was the worst just ignores all the pitchers that were rocked and sent down because they didn't have any staying power, like the Hector Noesis and Dallas Beelers of the world. But even ignoring those, here's my list: Kyle Kendrick Kyle Lohse Jerome Williams Jeremy Guthrie Matt Garza Chris Rusin Drew Hutchingson Michael Lorenzen Odrisamer Despaigne Alfredo Simon Chris Tillman Anibal Sanchez Rick Porcello Matt Boyd David Buchanan Shane Greene Keyvius Simpson Kyle Lobstein Sean O'Sullivan David Hale Eddie Butler Felix Doubrant Brad Hand Mike Foltynewicz Matt Cain Josh Collmenter Roberto Hernandez Vidal Nuno Mat Latos You get the idea (that's at least two dozen), but just because Shane Greene only pitched 81 innings before getting the plug pulled on him (meaning he didn't give up nearly as many runs over the entire season) doesn't mean he wasn't much worse than Samardzija this year. And again that ignores all the scrubs that pitched around the league that are not anywhere near good enough to get 30 starts, and if they had they would be on this list too. That also ignores all the damage our defense potentially did to Samardzija this year, considering his FIP and fWAR numbers.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 12:03 AM) Do you really think the Sox could offer the most money? I'm not saying the Sox are cheap but with the current roster the payroll is around 114/115M. A player like Cespedes would put them close to 140M without addressing the infield needs. Unless some Sox players improved upon their 2015 numbers, Cespedes only makes the Sox a .500 team. Sox need much more than one hitter. I'm not saying the Sox could or should offer the most money, but everything else is secondary to the amount offered, record of team be damned.

Players go where the money is. If a 76 win team offers the most money, 99% of players aren't going to give a s*** about the record.

.164 batting average by the Cubs, lowest in NLCS history.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Oct 21, 2015 -> 11:19 PM) I wouldn't mind any of them winning, honestly. The Royals winning to me just removes the excuse of, "well they sucked for a long time and havent won anything" argument that so many fall upon to justify us avoiding a rebuild. I like their team alot. It also places atleast added pressure when asked the question of, what will you do Hahn for the White Sox to compete against the World Series champion? I think any question that is answered with, "well we believe this team has what it takes to compete" is especially embarrassing. Now it probably won't alter their decision making, but it atleast makes our woes more pronounced. You know you can rebuild without doing a complete teardown right?

Google the word sweep and look at the first image.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Oct 21, 2015 -> 08:21 PM) Can you elaborate as to why you'd pass on that deal? Because Schwarber is basically a 1-tool player? He has no defensive value, strikes out a lot, and can't hit LHP for s***, something we already really suck at. He has had a good playoffs but was bad the last 6 weeks of the season. Quintana is really good, I'm not trading him for a one dimensional DH.

QUOTE (Baron @ Oct 21, 2015 -> 08:03 PM) People on Twitter are talking about Cubs signing Greinke,Zimmerman or Price. Hey if they want to give Greinke 8 years more power to them. Those three wouldn't have helped them this series if the Cubs can't hit the Mets pitching.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Oct 21, 2015 -> 07:55 PM) I could see a Q for Schwarber deal in the works. It would help both teams. Pass

QUOTE (ChiSox59 @ Oct 21, 2015 -> 04:44 PM) Yet dWAR hated his D. I go more by the eye test anyhow. How so? He was -0.1 with the Mets but 0.8 with the Tigers. He was positive last year as well.

QUOTE (GreenSox @ Oct 21, 2015 -> 04:24 PM) Acta was one of the earlier managers that embraced analytics, so the stats guys have enduring love for him. But his bottom line is miserable. I don't know if it's his fault, etc. I do want a manager who uses analytics. But there are a lot of those guys, and see little reason to take one that has a poor percentage. Plus, given that Ventura is coming back, unfortunate as that may be, it just doesn't make sense to have an experienced manager looking over his shoulder. That's not healthy. I'd much rather an Alomar type who at least can presume to be at a proper position of bench coach. Acta's team rankings by WAR 2007: 30th in pitching, 25th in hitting, 12th in defense 2008: 25th in pitching, 29th in hitting, 15th in defense 2009: 30th in pitching, 22nd in hitting, 28th in defense 2010: 28th in pitching, 25th in hitting, 26th in defense 2011: 20th in pitching, 22nd in hitting, 28th in defense 2012: 24th in pitching, 27th in hitting, 29th in defense Not hard to see why his bottom line is miserable, all of his teams have been f***ing terrible. I'm actually surprised he managed to win 80 games with one of them.