Rick Hahn on Tribune Live

[103 mph screwball]

Rick Hahn was on Comcast Sportsnet Trib Live show. Not a whole ton of new stuff, but here is a recap for those interested.

 

Pods workout routine went to full throttle last week and he aggravated an old injury on the right side of his groin that he had previous surgery on 3 years ago with the Brewers. Not the same injury as last year. 6-8 weeks, but since "speed is such a part of Scott's game, we have make sure that he is absolutely 100% healthy and confident in his ability or he's not going to be able to help us as much as all of us would like." They are going to be conservative with him. This was not discovered earlier because he didn't have a problem until he turned his workouts up to ten.

 

They hope to have something official in the next 24 hours with Erstad. He had a bone spur in ankle last year. He is working out without restriction now. He goes all out and his style of play will cause injuries. He's a grinder and he's being brought for 2 reasons. First, he adds outfield depth, versatility, and help develop Anderson, Sweeny and Owens. Second, the Sox were missing something last year. Hunger, desire, or whatever it is, "This guy (Erstad) is the poster boy, if we were missing something, this guy brings it." Not concerned with his lack of power, wants him to get on base.

 

Lead off, Iguchi, Erstad, Ozuna, Pods, whoever will get on base. If you can't get the jack rabbit leading off, get the guy that is going to get on base.

 

Competition for the fifth spot, Floyd, Haegar, Danks, Gio, Broadway, Phillips. No repeat of revolving door 2004 fifth spot. BMac traded because they feel real good with Danks and Massett and think they will both be impact players for a long time.

[maggsmaggs]

Thanks, Rick is a great asset for the Sox. I would be surprised to see him as the Sox asst. GM for much longer, somebody is gonna offer him a job.

[PHAT ALBERT]

Rick Hahn was on Comcast Sportsnet Trib Live show. Not a whole ton of new stuff, but here is a recap for those interested.

 

Pods workout routine went to full throttle last week and he aggravated an old injury on the right side of his groin that he had previous surgery on 3 years ago with the Brewers. Not the same injury as last year. 6-8 weeks, but since "speed is such a part of Scott's game, we have make sure that he is absolutely 100% healthy and confident in his ability or he's not going to be able to help us as much as all of us would like." They are going to be conservative with him. This was not discovered earlier because he didn't have a problem until he turned his workouts up to ten.

 

They hope to have something official in the next 24 hours with Erstad. He had a bone spur in ankle last year. He is working out without restriction now. He goes all out and his style of play will cause injuries. He's a grinder and he's being brought for 2 reasons. First, he adds outfield depth, versatility, and help develop Anderson, Sweeny and Owens. Second, the Sox were missing something last year. Hunger, desire, or whatever it is, "This guy (Erstad) is the poster boy, if we were missing something, this guy brings it." Not concerned with his lack of power, wants him to get on base.

 

Lead off, Iguchi, Erstad, Ozuna, Pods, whoever will get on base. If you can't get the jack rabbit leading off, get the guy that is going to get on base.

 

Competition for the fifth spot, Floyd, Haegar, Danks, Gio, Broadway, Phillips. No repeat of revolving door 2004 fifth spot. BMac traded because they feel real good with Danks and Massett and think they will both be impact players for a long time.

 

Thanks for the summary. They said on Interactive that Mike North was on with him too. Had to be brutal to sit through that.

[southsideirish71]

Caught the tail end of it.

 

What caught me is Hahn talking about the leadoff hitter. He basically said, "While it's not traditional, we are just looking for someone to get on base. If you can be disruptive on the basepaths like Pods is when healthy, thats a bonus, but just get on base, thats what we are looking for."

 

I have been preaching that forever, and I'm glad some in the organization are saying the same things. Hopefully Ozzie will start to think that way...

 

Last year we could of had Mack and Ozuna in a platoon in LF, and Anderson in CF and we would of probably had a few more games in the W column. But Ozzie wanted prancer in LF for whatever reason, and decided to kick Anderson to the curb and put a corner OF in CF. Ozzie is in love with the Marlins like Juan Pierre guy who cant really do much. My feeling is that he will do whatever he can to pull Owens into the mix, just because he is fast. He cant hit and all, but what does that matter. We get our Marlin model.

 

Hopefully Ozzie is learning, because if he keeps with the appendage based lineups then we are f***ed.

[IlliniKrush]

I have let my feelings on this know before, but just give me a leadoff hitter than can find a way to get the f*** on base.

Agreed. All you really need is a guy that can go from 1st to 3rd and 2nd to home, not necessarily steal a million bases. If he has that 'speed' and can get on base, I think you are set.

[Milkman delivers]

I think Haeger wins that last spot.

[Whitewashed in '05]

I think Haeger wins that last spot.

He should.

 

We all know what should happens sometimes doesn't. I think their going to give it to Floyd even if he has a really s***ty ST. Unless Haeger really dominates and really gives them no option. Floyd should be in AAA working on what Coop tells him to in ST. I just have a feeling their not going to send him to AAA just because of the fact that he was acquired for Garcia.

[witesoxfan]

10 SB's, .380 OBP>>> 55 SB's, .335 OBP

 

Depends a ton IMO.

 

Is that .380 OBP composed of a .380 SLG, or a .480? What is the second guy's SB% and SLG%? If his SB% is like 66% like Podsednik's, then he shouldn't be trying to steal that friggin much in the first place. If it's 80-85%, he's money. If his slugging is in the .450-.500 range, he's valuable too.

 

That's why I would have had no problem with Rollins as a leadoff hitter. He makes up for his low OBP by being in scoring position a ton.

 

However, I'm throwing variables into the equation. In almost every other example, I agree completely with you.

[effectivelywild]

Given Ozzie's love affair with speed, he would have loved Herb Washington

 

1+ years in the major as a pure pinch runner. With a 64% SB percentage.

 

But hey, not all that much worse than Pods last year, right?

[ptatc]

Depends a ton IMO.

 

Is that .380 OBP composed of a .380 SLG, or a .480? What is the second guy's SB% and SLG%? If his SB% is like 66% like Podsednik's, then he shouldn't be trying to steal that friggin much in the first place. If it's 80-85%, he's money. If his slugging is in the .450-.500 range, he's valuable too.That's why I would have had no problem with Rollins as a leadoff hitter. He makes up for his low OBP by being in scoring position a ton.

 

However, I'm throwing variables into the equation. In almost every other example, I agree completely with you.

 

Right out of a Bill James textbook. There are other factors. The stress of the pitcher throwing over to first if a guy has a reputation to steal. Believe it or not pitchers are human they can become distracted and worry about a guy threatening to steal. This has become more apparent in today's game because few players steal as much so the pitchers are uncomfortable when they see it.

 

both views have their advantages and disadvantages that's why I think a good mix is the way to go. One doesn't need to be stuck to one particular way.

 

But I do like the overall philosophy of there are many different ways that players can be useful, they just don't all boil down to numbers.

Edited January 25, 2007 by ptatc

[whitesoxfan101]

The ONLY redeeming quality of the Murph show on WSCR is the Rick Hahn interviews he has...probably 10 or so a year actually. They are outstanding, Rick is really a great asset to our organzation and an up front guy about things. I hope we don't lose him, but he seems like somebody that could be a GM rather than assistant GM sooner rather than later.

 

I have let my feelings on this know before, but just give me a leadoff hitter than can find a way to get the f*** on base. It's really very simple. For me, especially with the type of team we have(Power at 3-4-5)

 

10 SB's, .380 OBP>>> 55 SB's, .335 OBP

 

God Bless you sir.

[SoxFan562004]

I think Haeger wins that last spot.

I've posted this thought before, but I would LOVE to see Haeger win it. Wakefield has been a godsend to the Red Sox pitching staff. His ability to eat innings and fill in SP and relief can be used in so many ways. I am pulling for Haeger to have a great spring and take that spot, letting the young arms develop in the minors.

[whitesoxfan101]

I've posted this thought before, but I would LOVE to see Haeger win it. Wakefield has been a godsend to the Red Sox pitching staff. His ability to eat innings and fill in SP and relief can be used in so many ways. I am pulling for Haeger to have a great spring and take that spot, letting the young arms develop in the minors.

 

There are quite a few scouts out there who think Haeger is going to be THE next really good knuckler. God I hope they are right, that would make me feel a lot better about the future of our staff.

[WHITESOXRANDY]

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jan 24, 2007 -> 10:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have let my feelings on this know before, but just give me a leadoff hitter than can find a way to get the f*** on base. It's really very simple. For me, especially with the type of team we have(Power at 3-4-5)

 

10 SB's, .380 OBP>>> 55 SB's, .335 OBP

 

 

.380 OBP ? Yeah, that would be nice but with this Sox team the only chance you'd have of that would be if Thome were the leadoff hitter.

[Vance Law]

Right out of a Bill James textbook. There are other factors. The stress of the pitcher throwing over to first if a guy has a reputation to steal. Believe it or not pitchers are human they can become distracted and worry about a guy threatening to steal. This has become more apparent in today's game because few players steal as much so the pitchers are uncomfortable when they see it.

 

This is what I'd like to see statistics on. The effect of a base-stealer on the pitcher, the batter, and the game in general. What is the batter's batting average with a serious base-stealer on first w/ no outs/one out, etc? What is the pitcher's ERA, BAA, how many pitches does he throw, etc. ? How many thrown-away into right-field pick-off attempts did the base-stealer cause? How many throws into centerfield that allowed him to advance to third. Get on this, Bill James. Jerk.

 

This stuff seemed really noticeable when Pods was dominating in the first half of '05. I was just looking at the mlb highlight archive '05. Two games in one week in like May where Pods stole 4 bases in the game. Dang!

 

Totally different subject. James does have all of these manager statistics in the Handbook, but I wish he had 3rd base coach stats so we could see just how many times Cora sent AJ to get gunned-down easily.

[Kalapse]

This is what I'd like to see statistics on. The effect of a base-stealer on the pitcher, the batter, and the game in general. What is the batter's batting average with a serious base-stealer on first w/ no outs/one out, etc? What is the pitcher's ERA, BAA, how many pitches does he throw, etc. ? How many thrown-away into right-field pick-off attempts did the base-stealer cause? How many throws into centerfield that allowed him to advance to third. Get on this, Bill James. Jerk.

 

This stuff seemed really noticeable when Pods was dominating in the first half of '05. I was just looking at the mlb highlight archive '05. Two games in one week in like May where Pods stole 4 bases in the game. Dang!

 

Totally different subject. James does have all of these manager statistics in the Handbook, but I wish he had 3rd base coach stats so we could see just how many times Cora sent AJ to get gunned-down easily.

I believe Baseball Prospectus did a study on the effect of a basestealer on the pitcher and found that they don't make much of a difference.

[GreatScott82]

Some of the things i liked about that interview was he said "If someting was missing last year, Erstad definitley brings it" I agree with that. This team was missing that grinder mentality that we had with guys like Everett and Rowand. I think having a guy like Erstad on the bench can light a fire under Brian Anderson's ass as well as the rest of the team.

I also liked the fact that he said it will not be a revolving door to that 5th starting spot like in 2004. Everyone has said that its Gavin Floyd's spot to lose, but i would LOVE it if Danks or Gio have a spectacular spring training and wins that 5th spot. Imagine having 2 solid lefties in Buerhle and Danks/Gio?!? That could give the AL central some headaches.

[retro1983hat]

Thanks for the summary. They said on Interactive that Mike North was on with him too. Had to be brutal to sit through that.

 

 

Mike North, while annoying sometimes, went from a regular fan to a millionaire on sports radio and probably considered one of the top sports talkers in the country. The hating on him gets a little tired on this board sometimes.

[Kalapse]

Mike North, while annoying sometimes, went from a regular fan to a millionaire on sports radio and probably considered one of the top sports talkers in the country. The hating on him gets a little tired on this board sometimes.

Just because he makes good money doesn't mean he knows anything about sports, the man is an idiot.

[Hangar18]

They hope to have something official in the next 24 hours with Erstad. ...... He goes all out and his style of play will cause injuries. He's a grinder and he's being brought for 2 reasons. First, he adds outfield depth, versatility, and help develop Anderson, Sweeny and Owens. Second, the Sox were missing something last year. Hunger, desire, or whatever it is, "This guy (Erstad) is the poster boy, if we were missing something, this guy brings it." Not concerned with his lack of power, wants him to get on base.

 

 

Hmmmmm. I remember alot of people, on this board and Other Boards, saying something about the SOX missing Aaron Rowands "presence" ..............

[103 mph screwball]

Mike North, while annoying sometimes, went from a regular fan to a millionaire on sports radio and probably considered one of the top sports talkers in the country. The hating on him gets a little tired on this board sometimes.

 

I admire his accomplishments. However, during the Erstad discussion he blurted in the question about getting him something he could take to get his power back. Can he take some vitamins or something? Yea, North with steroids being such a negative issue to baseball, let's suggest Erstad take something to make him more powerful. I found myself wanting to tell him to shut up so that Hahn has the time to tell Sox fans real information. Murphy is much worse than North to me, however all of 670 AM is suspended from my dial for reasons I've explained in my Murphy rant a few weeks ago.

[Hangar18]

Murphy is much worse than North to me, however all of 670 AM is suspended from my dial for reasons I've explained in my Murphy rant a few weeks ago.

 

 

Murphy has been a topic of my rants for years .................

[Pants Rowland]

Mike North, while annoying sometimes, went from a regular fan to a millionaire on sports radio and probably considered one of the top sports talkers in the country. The hating on him gets a little tired on this board sometimes.

 

How can anyone even think of defending a colossal buffoon like Mike North. I really dislike Murph, but I have to confess I can tolerate him for short durations of time. I practically break my radio scrambling for the dial whenever I hear North's voice. Millionaire or not, he is an imbecile and always will be. You do not need to be a genius to make money. You just need to find the right audience for your schtick. Geraldo Rivera is even bigger proof of this fact.

[PHAT ALBERT]

Mike North, while annoying sometimes, went from a regular fan to a millionaire on sports radio and probably considered one of the top sports talkers in the country. The hating on him gets a little tired on this board sometimes.

 

Because he became a millionaire on sports radio, people shouldn't bash him? The man is a living testament to the fact that money doesn't care who owns it. The hating on him is completely deserved regardless of what his w2 says.

[Friend of Nordhagen]

Rick Hahn was on Comcast Sportsnet Trib Live show. Not a whole ton of new stuff, but here is a recap for those interested.

 

Pods workout routine went to full throttle last week and he aggravated an old injury on the right side of his groin that he had previous surgery on 3 years ago with the Brewers. Not the same injury as last year. 6-8 weeks, but since "speed is such a part of Scott's game, we have make sure that he is absolutely 100% healthy and confident in his ability or he's not going to be able to help us as much as all of us would like." They are going to be conservative with him. This was not discovered earlier because he didn't have a problem until he turned his workouts up to ten.

 

Again we hear that Podsednik needs to believe that he is fully healthy at all times. This goes far beyond his health; it's his state of mind. This is just all too fragile for me to have any confidence in.