2014 ehhhh maybe!

[Balta1701]

btw Balta just to be clear: not advocating dumping either Ramirez or Dunn just for the sake of it, if Sox have to pay most of their salary or part with a top prospect.

 

rather, if there's an ol' "out-of-town-stupid" GM out there, an opportunity presents itself to Hahn to free up some major payroll space with those 2.... go for it, Rick.

 

(And while it may not look like it now, recent history attests there is still plenty OOTS out there, hearing Tanaka may get 150 mill + posting fee or that Stanley Fischer may have to get appointed as Vice-Chair of Robinson Cano. Say what you will about Reisdorf, he was unto something; for the $$$ I'd trust Gavin Floyd's repaired elbow over Matt Garza's at this point.)

 

But yeah, if Dunn and Ramirez both show up in March in top shape -- Dunn smaller, Lexei bigger -- I'd have no problem with that either.

 

If that makes any sense.

I'd absolutely hate moving Alexei right now. By all accounts Davidson is a poor defender. maybe he gets better with time, but for right now we could seriously benefit from having a guy next to Davidson who has really good range and in fact probably plays a little too close to 3b anyway.

 

Davidson needs to learn to hit first. If he has a solid defender next to him, that should make things a whole lot easier.

[Quin]

Just as greg was our poem writer, we have found our essay writer.

[greg775]

If Shin Soo-Choo is turning down $140 million for 7 years from the Yankees, he's going to regret that one for a long time...watch, he turns around and gets signed for $150 million or $160 (which is what he believes he can get after the Ellsbury signing). I wouldn't go anything over $100 million, and that I would probably regret quickly.

 

Coming back to the AL, I just don't see him having another year like he did with the Reds last season.

 

Just when you think teams are getting fiscally responsible (well not responsible, but better) you see an offer like NY made Choo. What were the Yankees thinking? Seven years?? You know he'll be good to excellent maybe 2 of those 7 at best.

[hogan873]

Just when you think teams are getting fiscally responsible (well not responsible, but better) you see an offer like NY made Choo. What were the Yankees thinking? Seven years?? You know he'll be good to excellent maybe 2 of those 7 at best.

First, it's the Yankees. Second, Choo will be at least good for the majority of those years. He's been consistently good since 2009 (aside from 2011 when he missed a good chunk of the season). I'm not saying another team is going to offer him more than what the Yankees did, but a 5 to 7 year contract is probably a safe bet with him.

[Balta1701]

What were the Yankees thinking?

"We missed the playoffs last year and the last time we went on a spending binge we won the world series".

[ILMOU]

Loved your year to year evaluations of the consensus expectation. Accurate and telling.

 

I do think Lexi has improved as a basestealer. And, I'd really like to know more about his familial issues in Cuba, regarding that excuse being made for him. IF he returns to elite defensive status, he'll have plenty of value by mid-season or next offseason, and will be more asset than burden.

 

[Waygodai]

If Shin Soo-Choo is turning down $140 million for 7 years from the Yankees, he's going to regret that one for a long time...watch, he turns around and gets signed for $150 million or $160 (which is what he believes he can get after the Ellsbury signing). I wouldn't go anything over $100 million, and that I would probably regret quickly.

 

Coming back to the AL, I just don't see him having another year like he did with the Reds last season.

 

Thankfully even before Kenny was sidelined as the decision-maker, Sox were somewhat “naturally“ protected from the 150-200 mill contract madness. Baseball is not basketball; Yankees seemingly unlimited budget aside…… the only guy worth that money would be Bonds-on-THG or Bob Gibson during days of 4-man rotation or something.

 

Hek, as much as I liked Johnny Danks who, despite himself running on nothing but fumes by that point, refused to choke as the rest of his teammates under increased expectations down the stretch in 2008 (there’s that familiar aforementioned Sox choke-pattern emerging, btw….the Minnesota series, the Tampa series Danks was the only one who showed up aside from Wise)

 

the Danks contract extension was a mistake IMO even at the time. A maximum-effort thrower like Danks, with innings already piling up & that violent throwing-motion, was a shoulder injury waiting to happen. I know any pitcher can get hurt even with picture-perfect mechanics, which is kinda Reinsdorf’s point….but that was very predictable and is still hurting the Sox flexibility to this day.

 

It’s just that the rest of the market was so bizarrely skewed by the stupid GM, Danks extension may have seemed like a bargain. Maybe purely statistically it was.

 

 

[Waygodai]

I'd absolutely hate moving Alexei right now. By all accounts Davidson is a poor defender. maybe he gets better with time, but for right now we could seriously benefit from having a guy next to Davidson who has really good range and in fact probably plays a little too close to 3b anyway.

 

Davidson needs to learn to hit first. If he has a solid defender next to him, that should make things a whole lot easier.

 

I get what you’re saying though hate is a strong word, Balta let’s not get carried away here, lol. Let’s be honest Ramirez is not Quintana working on a rookie contract w. prime years likely still ahead.

 

Though we seem to agree on the dude’s upside, AR is facing a long road toward good graces… “fool me thrice” and all that. He’s not that young anymore to invoke the word ‘potential’. Gotta show me some major breakthrough when it matters to help the team get off to a fast start, build momentum to convince FO that Hahn’s strategy is working, thus maybe loosening Reinsdorf’s purse strings heading into 2015, if nothing else…

 

Balta you mentioned how in 2012 Ramirez seemed more focused being on a winning team. That sounds awfully like an excuse, but I’ll take your word for it since for a few years now I get to see so few games in real-time, and have to instead rely on bigger picture, general trends, “scouting” overview type of a snap-judgment…. Ok, but doesn’t that work both ways? Looking back to 2013, when it actually mattered, when Sox climbed back .500 heading into the cup-cake portion of the season starting with the Cubs series… seemingly poised to go 10 games over .500 possibly forcing managements hand to trade for a big bat at the Deadline as Sox tend to do in winning seasons --- how was Ramirez doing at that point? He was awful, on both ends. Only 1 HR in June if I recall (and even that may have been hit in so-called “garbage time”!)

 

I’d be interested to see if the Oakland hitting coach can somehow get through to Ramirez, or Viciedo, Gillespie types for that matter. As much as it’s fashionable to think hitting coaches don’t matter in general, I believe there are exceptions when it comes to certain talent-profile underachievers. Sometimes all it takes is that one spark of a realization, a light-bulb moment, a lil’ mechanical epiphany, if you will --- steakdinnerroofies-boom!

 

As for Davidson glove, until I see him play no comment on that, except to say didn’t scouts really doubt both Beckham and Gillespie glove at various points? Not just at SS, Becks looked awful early both at 3B and later at 2B on DP pivots, the usual rookie ‘deer-headlights game is too fast’ type of stuff. Then both settled down and made enough spectacular type of plays to at least be considered ‘decent’ at their respective positions…. sides, ideally I’d have Davidson start off in AAA.

 

Anyway Balta of slightly more importance is what do y’all think Hahn is working on now, because hearing him talk the other day, even the subtle vocal inflections, you KNOW he is up to something, can’t wait til next summer, hahaha!

 

 

.

[Balta1701]

Only 1 HR in June if I recall (and even that may have been hit in so-called “garbage time”!)

 

As for Davidson glove, until I see him play no comment on that, except to say didn’t scouts really doubt both Beckham and Gillespie glove at various points? Not just at SS, Becks looked awful early both at 3B and later at 2B on DP pivots, the usual rookie ‘deer-headlights game is too fast’ type of stuff. Then both settled down and made enough spectacular type of plays to at least be considered ‘decent’ at their respective positions…. sides, ideally I’d have Davidson start off in AAA.

 

Anyway Balta of slightly more importance is what do y’all think Hahn is working on now, because hearing him talk the other day, even the subtle vocal inflections, you KNOW he is up to something, can’t wait til next summer, hahaha!

 

 

.

First point, Alexei only had 1 HR in June, but that was during the time when he was mostly hitting 2nd. In my opinion, he made major adjustments to hitting in that position - cutting down on the power stroke and trying to make better contact, as a result of being in the position. His power re-appeared again more when he was taken out of that role in Agusust.

 

I'd really dislike having Davidson start in AAA and usually I'm the guy who likes to give people in the minors time to adapt. He's had his full year at AAA, he's had his cup of coffee in September already. He belongs in the big leagues unless he gets hurt.

[Waygodai]

Loved your year to year evaluations of the consensus expectation. Accurate and telling.

 

I do think Lexi has improved as a basestealer. And, I'd really like to know more about his familial issues in Cuba, regarding that excuse being made for him. IF he returns to elite defensive status, he'll have plenty of value by mid-season or next offseason, and will be more asset than burden.

 

Fair nuff, I’ll give the dude one more chance. If Beckham deserves one, so does the Missile.

 

Me? Before even knowing how high the upside of the Sox core talent is going forward, I’d like the whole organization, not just Ramirez, to display more – how to say in Swahili, ah yes: Fundamentals.

 

No, not the phony-hollow buzzword Ozzie & adoring media have been smugly throwing around all these years; not bunting for bunting sake, stealing for stealing’s sake…. “teaching Jon Garland or Gavin Floyd to be a mang” by leaving him out there at 120 pitches against Jason Kubel, when he’s clearly gased, rolling curveball after curveball…..or whatever the F’ else the Oney-Cowley braintrust thought the word ‘fundamentals’ stood for.

 

I mean, *real* fundamentals. That include but by no means are limited to:

 

**--real scouts vs. Dave Wilder flimflam men.

**--real minor league instructors vs. loyalty hires that warmedackles of Reinsdorf’s heart in ‘86

**--GM resourcefulness & due diligence to avoid being snookered by damaged goods like Jeff Marquez, Simon Castro, Felix Diaz, Nestor Molina, Zach Stewart, Tyler Flowers, et al

**--actual advance scouting b4 each series, so maybe other teams rookies bums don’t look like Cy Chen…while our pitchers, in turn, don’t end up throwing say Delmon Young or Wilson Betemit knee-high fastballs middle-in, time after time after time

**--hitting coach that understands value of drawing walks

**--footwork, technique, angles, routes, jumps, reads; blocking plate, straddling the bag; throwing to right base, cut-off man…that are at least ML average quality.

**--knowing which league & what ballpark, and what time of the year you are currently playing in. (ya know, stuff like maybe NOT bunting in the 1st inning off a Fly-ball pitcher at the Cell in July with 3-4-5 sluggers coming up…with Zach Stewart as the SP for your team)

**--Team leaders like Konerko, Peavy NOT being selfish by either hiding or insisting on “heroically” playing through a nagging injury that could be fixed through a relatively minor surgical procedure or prolonged rest.

**--Less than 15 throws to execute a basic CS or pick-off run-down.

**--not sleepwalking through coaches’ signs & otherwise botching hit-n-run

**--NOT having the opposing dugout pick your pockets Joe Nossek style every other game.

**--not letting the inmates run the mixed-metaphor convention, i.e. NOT letting Jake Peavy, John Danks or 75 year old Contreras, Colon talk the team into letting them come back 3 months early… and then almost right away having them throw 110-115 higher-stress pitches in a 3-run game while your bullpen is not only rested but is starting to get rusty, with Thornton not having pitched for a week

**--Don Cooper not being quite so stubborn & thin-skinned. Just take it down from ‘11’ to ‘9’, Coop.

**--generally being aware that baseball is basically about breaking down games into individual mini-games within a game, aka ‘innings’… which in turn are built through situationally managing of ‘outs’ & strikes-balls (say, on 2-0 Albert Pujols may be 1300 OPS beast, while on 0-2 is sub-700 OPS or whatever). That’s how you amass these mythical things called “rallies”.

**--OBP isn’t inherently evil, and your mistress #4 is not going to leave you if you take a walk with 2 out and 1st base open while down by 4 runs in the 9th when the opposing pitcher is visibly wild and refuses to give in....

**--AJ spending more time in film room & less time gawking at some Gators game.

**--actually bothering to properly position both OF and IF… and then --gasp! – calling for pitch sequence that actually takes advantage of that shift, rather than completely undermine it, LOL

**--Dunn not being fat, picking up a bat in the off-season, actually remembering LF-LCF exist.

**--Alexei eating something, lifting something, at least once in a great while.

**--#2 hitter NOT trying to pullevate pitches 2 feet outside the strike-zone to LF – all while the lead-off hitter is on base, the opposing pitcher seems distracted by his dancing over at 1st, is not very good pitching out of the stretch, the infield is pulled up at DP depth, thus creating a big hole on the right side through which even a semi-weak grounder would bounce for a hit….leading to a 1st & 3rd, no outs situation with the making of a knock-out rally

**--speaking of which, baserunners like Uribe and De Aza spending less time seemingly devising clever schemes of how to get thrown out on the pads in increasingly more clownish ways…. And more time actually paying attention to how many outs there are, the OF positioning, IF positioning, the identity of the opposing pitcher who’re sideway glancing at them, what year it is --- in order to be able to go from 1st to 3rd on a single up the middle; to score from 2nd with less than 2 outs, and other “unsexy” things that over long season win games.

**--Remembering that not only there is NO difference between a HR that is 450 feet and one that just baaarely makes it out at the 315 foot sign… but that shortening the swing, esp. with 2 strikes, esp. against a pitcher with big-time stuff, will make it far MORE likely that the sweet spot of the bat will find its way to the center of the ball juuuust as it’s crossing the plate….

**--no Mackowiak, Swisher, Rios, De Aza in CF. No Dunn in LF. No Dye potted plant or broken down Quentin in RF. No Konerko at 1B. No AJ or Flowers behind home plate. No Keppinger at 2B.

**--no Randy Williams, Will Ohman against Robinson Cano in a high leverage situation just because it’s lefty-on-lefty.

 

 

 

Those of you who watch a lot of Sox games, I am sure could add a lot more examples to the list.

 

Baseball Fundamentals or Smartball or ‘common freakin’ sense’ don’t sound glamorous or important….. but over the course of a marathon season, esp. in a fairly tight division race…. they really matter.

 

If Hahn succeeds in finally purging that old culture, we’ll see some real effin’ fundamentals result in some exciting times on the Southside. Hope springs eternal, yay!

 

 

 

 

[Eminor3rd]

Rallies. Huh, I forgot what those were. Man, those felt good.

[Waygodai]

First point, Alexei only had 1 HR in June, but that was during the time when he was mostly hitting 2nd. In my opinion, he made major adjustments to hitting in that position - cutting down on the power stroke and trying to make better contact, as a result of being in the position. His power re-appeared again more when he was taken out of that role in Agusust.

 

I'd really dislike having Davidson start in AAA and usually I'm the guy who likes to give people in the minors time to adapt. He's had his full year at AAA, he's had his cup of coffee in September already. He belongs in the big leagues unless he gets hurt.

 

(lol to be fair by August it was all over, empty stats in low-leverage environment; and IIRC there absolutely no visible "adjustments" in his swing, stance, approach. He stunk as did most hitters when it mattered most. (contrast with say his 2008). re: the #2 spot excuse, back in 2009-2011 Lexi had no particular difficulty hitting HR in that spot. You convinced me, I am willing to give him one last chance, Balta, if Flowers gets one, ya know... but let's not twist ourselves in pretzels trying to justify his horridness with the bat & glove last year or the apparent long-standing issues with preparation and underachievement in genera, k? Under Rick Hahn's regime, I hope all this excuse-making homerism )

 

I don't believe extra seasoning ruins legit hitting spects any more than a stint in the pen ruined Mark Buerhle or David Price. Talent wins out. Esp. if the defensive issues are true. Plus Gillespie deserves a real look, Balta if only to build his trade value. Davidson could change that by looking real good in ST, I am not talking about the meaningless Arizona stats, but the stuff coaches look for day in day out, work out in, work out out. Esp, if Gillespie doesn't look improved, then Davidson makes the team.

 

 

[Marty34]

Fair nuff, I’ll give the dude one more chance. If Beckham deserves one, so does the Missile.

 

Me? Before even knowing how high the upside of the Sox core talent is going forward, I’d like the whole organization, not just Ramirez, to display more – how to say in Swahili, ah yes: Fundamentals.

 

No, not the phony-hollow buzzword Ozzie & adoring media have been smugly throwing around all these years; not bunting for bunting sake, stealing for stealing’s sake…. “teaching Jon Garland or Gavin Floyd to be a mang” by leaving him out there at 120 pitches against Jason Kubel, when he’s clearly gased, rolling curveball after curveball…..or whatever the F’ else the Oney-Cowley braintrust thought the word ‘fundamentals’ stood for.

 

I mean, *real* fundamentals. That include but by no means are limited to:

 

**--real scouts vs. Dave Wilder flimflam men.

**--real minor league instructors vs. loyalty hires that warmedackles of Reinsdorf’s heart in ‘86

**--GM resourcefulness & due diligence to avoid being snookered by damaged goods like Jeff Marquez, Simon Castro, Felix Diaz, Nestor Molina, Zach Stewart, Tyler Flowers, et al

**--actual advance scouting b4 each series, so maybe other teams rookies bums don’t look like Cy Chen…while our pitchers, in turn, don’t end up throwing say Delmon Young or Wilson Betemit knee-high fastballs middle-in, time after time after time

**--hitting coach that understands value of drawing walks

**--footwork, technique, angles, routes, jumps, reads; blocking plate, straddling the bag; throwing to right base, cut-off man…that are at least ML average quality.

**--knowing which league & what ballpark, and what time of the year you are currently playing in. (ya know, stuff like maybe NOT bunting in the 1st inning off a Fly-ball pitcher at the Cell in July with 3-4-5 sluggers coming up…with Zach Stewart as the SP for your team)

**--Team leaders like Konerko, Peavy NOT being selfish by either hiding or insisting on “heroically” playing through a nagging injury that could be fixed through a relatively minor surgical procedure or prolonged rest.

**--Less than 15 throws to execute a basic CS or pick-off run-down.

**--not sleepwalking through coaches’ signs & otherwise botching hit-n-run

**--NOT having the opposing dugout pick your pockets Joe Nossek style every other game.

**--not letting the inmates run the mixed-metaphor convention, i.e. NOT letting Jake Peavy, John Danks or 75 year old Contreras, Colon talk the team into letting them come back 3 months early… and then almost right away having them throw 110-115 higher-stress pitches in a 3-run game while your bullpen is not only rested but is starting to get rusty, with Thornton not having pitched for a week

**--Don Cooper not being quite so stubborn & thin-skinned. Just take it down from ‘11’ to ‘9’, Coop.

**--generally being aware that baseball is basically about breaking down games into individual mini-games within a game, aka ‘innings’… which in turn are built through situationally managing of ‘outs’ & strikes-balls (say, on 2-0 Albert Pujols may be 1300 OPS beast, while on 0-2 is sub-700 OPS or whatever). That’s how you amass these mythical things called “rallies”.

**--OBP isn’t inherently evil, and your mistress #4 is not going to leave you if you take a walk with 2 out and 1st base open while down by 4 runs in the 9th when the opposing pitcher is visibly wild and refuses to give in....

**--AJ spending more time in film room & less time gawking at some Gators game.

**--actually bothering to properly position both OF and IF… and then --gasp! – calling for pitch sequence that actually takes advantage of that shift, rather than completely undermine it, LOL

**--Dunn not being fat, picking up a bat in the off-season, actually remembering LF-LCF exist.

**--Alexei eating something, lifting something, at least once in a great while.

**--#2 hitter NOT trying to pullevate pitches 2 feet outside the strike-zone to LF – all while the lead-off hitter is on base, the opposing pitcher seems distracted by his dancing over at 1st, is not very good pitching out of the stretch, the infield is pulled up at DP depth, thus creating a big hole on the right side through which even a semi-weak grounder would bounce for a hit….leading to a 1st & 3rd, no outs situation with the making of a knock-out rally

**--speaking of which, baserunners like Uribe and De Aza spending less time seemingly devising clever schemes of how to get thrown out on the pads in increasingly more clownish ways…. And more time actually paying attention to how many outs there are, the OF positioning, IF positioning, the identity of the opposing pitcher who’re sideway glancing at them, what year it is --- in order to be able to go from 1st to 3rd on a single up the middle; to score from 2nd with less than 2 outs, and other “unsexy” things that over long season win games.

**--Remembering that not only there is NO difference between a HR that is 450 feet and one that just baaarely makes it out at the 315 foot sign… but that shortening the swing, esp. with 2 strikes, esp. against a pitcher with big-time stuff, will make it far MORE likely that the sweet spot of the bat will find its way to the center of the ball juuuust as it’s crossing the plate….

**--no Mackowiak, Swisher, Rios, De Aza in CF. No Dunn in LF. No Dye potted plant or broken down Quentin in RF. No Konerko at 1B. No AJ or Flowers behind home plate. No Keppinger at 2B.

**--no Randy Williams, Will Ohman against Robinson Cano in a high leverage situation just because it’s lefty-on-lefty.

 

 

 

Those of you who watch a lot of Sox games, I am sure could add a lot more examples to the list.

 

Baseball Fundamentals or Smartball or ‘common freakin’ sense’ don’t sound glamorous or important….. but over the course of a marathon season, esp. in a fairly tight division race…. they really matter.

 

If Hahn succeeds in finally purging that old culture, we’ll see some real effin’ fundamentals result in some exciting times on the Southside. Hope springs eternal, yay!

 

That's a good list. I'd like to add that they need to fix fixable problems in a more timely fashion. I.E. don't waste six weeks hoping Viciedo can hit right-handers when you're in a pennant race or don't keep pitching Nate Jones when he isn't getting anyone out.

[Waygodai]

That's a good list. I'd like to add that they need to fix fixable problems in a more timely fashion. I.E. don't waste six weeks hoping Viciedo can hit right-handers when you're in a pennant race or don't keep pitching Nate Jones when he isn't getting anyone out.

 

 

Agree Nate Jones is still very much work in progress: while not young per se, still fairly inexperienced in different roles thrust upon him. Notwithstanding my belief that Sox should at least try him in the Hector Santiago, Alexi Ogundo, Daniel Bard starter role – I know in the minors he wasn’t great SP, but apparently that was before he physically matured, refined his curve which rarely needs as a reliever; proved his slider as major-league quality, displayed flashes of half-way decent change-ups against LH, and generally shown that he can sustain velocity for 3 innings (as he seemed to when I saw him).

 

Yes, he will 2-3 mph by being really stretched out in the rotation, but he’ll also gain some MPH and hopefully command, by pitching out of the stretch vs. wind-up. I think even at “only 94-97” with the natural movement that Jones generates, and potential of his 2 breaking pitches... should be more than enough.

 

I think like Santiago, temperamentally/mechanically Jones is not made for coming in on short notice in the 8th, in a tie or with Sox down by a run, with runners at 2nd & 3rd, no outs ---- and with basically no margin for error.

 

That’s been one of the problems with pitchers handling in general. The stale orthodoxy of leaving the starter out there until he’s hit the wall, esp if there is less than 100 pitches… I get that OzzieCoop wanted them to learn how to be “real mangs”, but often it ended in like a triple-whammy of bad, LOL:

 

-opposing hitters end up seeing the starter 3rd or 4th time through the order, which apriori gives them an advantage

-(the tiring) starter’s pitch quality & control suffer, which only exacerbates that

-the injury risk rises dramatically longer-term (2000 overuse leading to 2001, 2005 to 2006)

-even if the starter is pulled juuust before blowing the lead, with bases loaded, you’re putting guys like Nate Jones and Donny Veal into real tough situation

-while the opposing hitters are sitting pretty, licking their chops (confidence = success)

-by contrast, Jones and Veal try to do too much (in baseball, too much = exact opposite effect)

-inherited runs score, starter’s ERA suffers, and by extension his confidence going forward

-new inherited runners score, 1st reliever’s ERA suffers, and by extension his confidence

-rinse & repeat with 2nd reliever

-even if the fatigued starter avoids injury or blowing the lead and goes the distance, it results in under-used or inconsistently-used bullpen, which leads to rust and thus hurts longer-term performance.

 

I’d rather overuse bullpen because a decent reliever is MUCH easier to find than a good, healthy starter. It’s not like Sox have a bunch of Verlander-type workhorses, and even Verlander at some point gonna pay the price for Leyland’s “old-schoolness”.....

 

Jones as closer at least he will have his own inning, started from scratch as an advantage. No guarantee of success by any means, but it’s a start. Which is why I like Hahn getting a bunch of solid vets to improve the middle-relief depth, you never know with pens year-to-year. Those grizzled guys like Crain seem to handle the set-up role pressure better than Jones.

 

Re: Viciedo facing righties is tricky not only because often times some of this 'splits' issues are overblown because of sample size or some year-to-year fluky fluctuations..... but also because at the time he was and prolly still is considered a potential impact contributor to middle of the line-up. As such you HAVE to know what you’ve got with him, at age what? 22 when he smacked 25 HR; the ONLY way he can get better against righties is by.. actually playing against them. Learning, failing, adjusting, more failing…. No way around it, no short-cut. No specialized batting practice. Not simulated game. Not AAA, either. Majors. Sink or swim.

 

realize this may sound a little contradictory given that I wouldn’t mind to see Davidson start off in AAA so long as Gillespie shows signs of improvement in Glendale. I guess every situation & player is different. And yes, risking a pennant race by putting faith in learning curve of prospects, can backfire – and I say this as someone who’s constitutionally averse to the idea of ‘tanking’ by the way… Then again 2014 is not 2012, I mean I think and hope it is as competitive, but still a Reload year is not quite the same as All-in year. We’ll see more clearly by June one way or another.

 

I’ll also say this for Nate Jones, aside from Bobby Jenks he’s the only Sox pitcher whose stuff didn’t magically disappear on the plane-ride to Chicago. Think of the many Aaron Poreda’s over last few years: I guess all the Hoover Met reports of “impeccably spotted, heavy-sinking fastball at 99 mph, with unhittable slider”………were Yiddish for “straight-as-arrow 94, cement-mixer slider; couldn’t find the strike-zone if it told him his hair, uh, style was, um, interesting”

 

Or take Addison Reed. Kept hearing how in AAA or AFL or whatever, he was touching 98-99, lots of movement with this filthy slider. Saw him in 2nd half of last year, he was like 92, straight, very ordinary slider. Maybe that’s why Hahn was willing to part with Reed so readily.

 

Hey, it’s not just minor league readings that are unreliable. Even Fangraphs which is taken as gospel, doesn’t always tell the whole story (velo mid point vs crossing homeplate; high pitch low pitch; different guns, pitcher delivery; 4seam vs 2seam, tailing, cutting; count-variance,so on)

 

 

Aaaanyway. 2014 will be extra interesting when experienced through the awesomely homerific prism of the Hawkaroo: I know assorted hipsters, contrarian cranks & out-of-town haters love to feel so intellectually/culturally superior to Hawk..... but personally I found that as long as one filters out his well-known bias, tongue-in-cheek shtick & remembers that Hawk is a home-team announcer whose job is to first and foremost cater to younger, casual fans.... there are a ton of hilarious as well as seriously insightful gems.

 

On a national broadcast or in a radio setting where you need PBP to be just that, it would be different, yes... but those who want to run him out of town, will miss him when you get just another clueless JoshLewin3000 phony or

 

The few games I did manage to see more than highlights, I thought the Stoney-Hawk feud thing was overblown, too. So what if they sat far apart, big deal. Contrasting styles, conflicting personalities? Good. Both have encyclopedic knowledge of the game; wildly different tones & personalities can complement each other, I like tension & drama obviously hahaha! if Tom Paciorek sp? wants to occasionally drop by as part of a 3-man booth, why not?

 

.

 

[Waygodai]

If Shin Soo-Choo is turning down $140 million for 7 years from the Yankees, he's going to regret that one for a long time...watch, he turns around and gets signed for $150 million or $160 (which is what he believes he can get after the Ellsbury signing). I wouldn't go anything over $100 million, and that I would probably regret quickly.

 

Coming back to the AL, I just don't see him having another year like he did with the Reds last season.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2...illion/4156805/

 

[as one intensely moral & big-hearted, hyper-sexual, endearingly dorky detective... exclaimed upon learning that her supposedly uber-faithful supercop Dad effed a C.I.... while her beloved Mum hadn’t a clue]

 

 

-”Seriously?!”

 

 

 

 

Friggin’ GM’s... haha, good call Caulfield

 

[Waygodai]

Rallies. Huh, I forgot what those were. Man, those felt good.

 

Yes, rallies.

 

You’d be surprised what can happen when you DON’T give away outs left and right, both offensively and defensively/pitching-wise…. and actually make adjustments within an at-bat, managing balls-strikes, leveraging favourable counts, match-ups, conditions; taking extra bases at high %, KYP, that sort of thing. That’s my kind of Moneyball in a broader sense; that’s real “situational” baseball -- that is, not confined to some lazy, limited stat like RISP that is subject to so much random fluctuation.

 

(Which is NOT to say that intangibles like ‘clutch-ness’ or momentum don’t exist as per BP cubicle jedi’s swinging their metrics like sabers – they very much exist so long as baseball, or any other advanced endeavor for that matter, is played by wacky humans. But suffice it to say, clutch doesn’t exactly lend itself to easy definition let alone quantification, so in that sense, let’s invoke Justice Potter Stewart’s “I knows it when I sees it, kemosabe, mmkay?”)

 

So Eric Surcamp, huh? Hahn chugging along, nice. First Paulino, now this. If nothing else, more of the things I like: competition, SP depth. Just as improved Gillespie hopefully will push Davidson to be better, or a healthy Beckham – Samien in AAA, maybe even Ramirez at SS…..No reason for Rienzo to be handed the job without really *earning* it.

 

Gives Erik Johnson, or even John Danks something to think about, too in case they feel like strolling through Easy Street.

 

OTOH, wouldn’t put too much stock in Surcamp’s dominant minor league numbers necessarily, but on the flip-side no reason to get depressed at his slow fastball gun-readings, either, cuz, to paraphrase the underrated Hawk, velocity is in the mind of the hitter; his body language will tell you how fast the guy throws.

 

So a funky lefty who “hides” the ball well, keeps the hitter frustrated with off-speed arsenal, consistently works ahead, and just has some weird aura or mystique about him that makes hitters almost allergic when they step into the batter’s box ---- well, a letters-high 90 mph fastball on an 0-2 count from a pitcher like that, in an old-school ballpark probably *feels* much faster than, say, a 2-0 meatball at 93 mph from someone like Billy Koch or Felix Diaz at the Cell (where with that very hitter-friendly background, that same pitch would probably look like a beach-ball in slow-motion in comparison, mercy!)

 

Speaking of meatballs & batting practice… it’s always amusing to hear people say so-and-so had a good BP session, or watch for this guy in ST he really puts on a show -- like that’s supposed to mean something??? Uh lessi: in BP, a stiff like Joe Borchard gets straight 80 mph lollypops from his favorite coach, in his preferred rhythm, in predictable spot, with no pressure whatsoever --- i.e. nothing remotely close to what he would be facing in actual games. So of course he could conceivably fool coaches & scouts by looking like Mickey Mantle. This is where baseball in general is at a disadvantage as compared to other team sports where more emphasis is put on scrimmaging & recreating game conditions. Like in olden times, someone like Scottie Pippen could actually make Jordan better by his stifling defense, or full-contact hitting that used to go on in NFL practices that could be more vicious then real thing….

 

This, and putting too much faith in college or minor-league stats as predictors of ML success, is one of those popular misconceptions. Oh and another favourite that’s not baseball but sorta related to velocity debate: Jay Cutler. Like how he’s this great QB talent, super-arm, blablabla. Uh-huh, except he doesn’t see the field well, esp at night; has issues with decision-making & emotion-control esp. on the road; isn't accurate & routinely over-throws the ball in the red-zone – the equivalent of a baseball pitcher pumping 95+ mph fastball after fastball after fastball in the same location over heart of the plate only to be fouled off, when even a decent off-speed pitch would have gotten the hitter out….. So maybe pure arm-strength isn’t everything, ya think? LOL. Tangent over, sorry.

 

Say it ain so, Brent Morel. Pretty good bat-control, surprisingly strong despite type of swing arguably incompatible w. HR; could glove a bit too if I recall We’ll always have Sept 2010 or 2011 was it? Never got a chance to prove that power surge wasn’t a fluke; the body just wouldn’t hold up. I mean it’s one thing play through a torn labrum, but a structural spinal injury on top of it? Once a borderline talent like Morel got into the downward-spiral of missing games, demotions, heavy-duty painkillers, anti-inflammatories, epidural/cortisone, etc the fate was sealed. No chance. Of course most prospects fail because of the ol’ “light on talent, can’t handle the big city lights” thing, so we’ll never really know with Morel.

 

Lastly, let’s not discount the 2014 draft; does anyone know who to watch for? As fast as Beckham, Sale rose, and hell back in the day didn’t McCarthy, Daniel Hudson fly through the system as well?…. wouldn’t shock me to see the 1st rd pick in Chicago later in the year, haha.

 

Won’t be boring one way or another!

 

 

.

[Quin]

I think new guy's posts are as long as all of Balta's put together.

[The Ultimate Champion]

I loved the way Ozzie handled his starters. Relievers were different, but you have to give him a pass for a lot of that because it's pretty hard to make a bad bullpen look like anything other than a bad bullpen.

 

Ozzie with Garland was one of Ozzie's better moments with us. Also I can remember the ST when Gavin first got here & he looked everything like a major bust. He couldn't throw from the stretch even. Shaky as hell, not a chance at surviving in the Majors. What a turn around he had from his Phillies days, and Ozzie keeping him in there definitely helped him. My biggest complaints with Robin still to this day were his bulls*** handling of Q during his rookie year not letting him complete games he was dominating even though he was rolling. IIRC Robin lost 2 of them, and Reed was 1-for-2 in saving them.

Edited December 26, 2013 by The Ultimate Champion

[lasttriptotulsa]

I think new guy's posts are as long as all of Balta's put together.

 

The new guy might be the best poster on the site, but I'll never know because I skip any post longer than a couple short paragraphs.

[The Ultimate Champion]

The new guy might be the best poster on the site, but I'll never know because I skip any post longer than a couple short paragraphs.

Not caulfield though, he reads everything.

 

Right now caulfield is in some Chinese gas station bathroom deciphering the scrawl on the stall door while remembering the career of Chris Snopek.

[Quin]

Not caulfield though, he reads everything.

 

Right now caulfield is in some Chinese gas station bathroom deciphering the scrawl on the stall door while remembering the career of Chris Snopek.

 

[Waygodai]

Not caulfield though, he reads everything.

 

Right now caulfield is in some Chinese gas station bathroom deciphering the scrawl on the stall door while remembering the career of Chris Snopek.

 

caulfield like older than my father, so he better 've read some actual books, lol. Nah Caulfield posts are very informative, interesting duderino

 

me? I'm just a humble elitist know-it-all, bes' dey eez

 

 

 

Did miss this place I have to say, esp the GT insanity, so as we say goodbye, in the spirit of this thread to ref earlier post

 

 

(fie! Juilliard encouraging such language & lewd behavior, surely a joint of much ill-repute!)