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notin

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Everything posted by notin

  1. notin
    What are you basing that rather bold statement on?
  2. notin
    Point? The Sox starter ERA was 4.68. The NL Champion DBacks was 4.67. The DBacks starters had better fWAR, but the Sox had better xFIP. And the Sox staff as a whole absolutely crushed the NL Champion DBacks in bWAR, but I can’t separate starters from relievers. Given the difference was 17.3 to 10.4, safe bet the Sox starters were better using this metric. So was starting pitching what held the Sox back this year? A roughly equivalent staff is in the World Series…
  3. notin
    My only point was it’s no guarantee. It’s sometimes hard to separate the tanking teams from the low budget teams. Like I can’t call the A’s tankers. But the White Sox last year - they gave up on a list 2023, probably wisely so. We’ll see if it continues into 2024, but I have my doubts…
  4. notin
    That’s all the information you’re getting. Make the call…
  5. notin
    Why does what people thought matter? They were clearly not punting. If the W-L record wasn’t enough for some, they even added players at the trade deadline that year. The actual issue is lots of fans (myself included) get too caught up in thinking we understand what it takes to put together a successful MLB roster. And many think their way is the only way. For example, dozens of times over the years I’ve read people post about the importance of starting pitching and how you cannot win without it. Impossible. Can never be done. Then someone points out the 2015 Royals, whose SP sucked. Inevitably the response is “that’s different!! They had a great bullpen!!” No f***ing s*** it’s different. That was the whole point. No one said you’re starting pitching, along with the rest of your team can suck at baseball and still win a title. You do have to do something right; it just doesn’t have to be starting pitching. That’s just one way to win…
  6. notin
    You’re operating on the assumption that draft picks are the only reason teams tank. In MLB, the draft is too much of a crapshoot. It can be done for other financial reasons…
  7. notin
    They used Weber because he had the one skill they were looking for - the ability to pitch for around the league minimum. The Sox that year has a goal of resetting the luxury tax penalties. Doing so many cutting salary and getting below limit, which would definitely impact the team on the field. But yes, that is a form of tanking and the usual way it’s done in MLB. Some teams tie in the added wrinkle of trading away high priced talent. Betts and Price, for example…
  8. notin
    Tanking and throwing games are not (necessarily) the same thing. In MLB, the easiest way to tank is just field a cheap team that will struggle to compete. It doesn’t agitate give the draft success a team might want, but it will save money, which is also sometimes the goal…
  9. notin
    But MLB teams do tank. Did you see the 2020 Red Sox starting rotation? Ryan Weber was the opening day #3. You cannot tell me a team trying to compete if their best option to start the third game of the year was Ryan Weber. Ryan Weber is to starting pitching what White Castle is to fine dining. Simply put, he’s where you end up when you’re not even trying and only worried about money…
  10. notin
    The bottom line is with just a few simple additions, the team managed to unload their starting LF and go from joke cellar dweller to AL Runner Up in one season. Getting back a couple injured players also help, even if Sale’s contribution was minimal. But really, the Great Overhaul of the 2020 team was Whitlock, Kike, Renfroe, Ottavino and Richards. Granted, that’s nearly 20% of an MLB roster and 12.5% of the 40 man. But also worth noting, Richards didn’t even work out. There was a margin for error…
  11. notin
    I don’t think anyone is really disputing it…
  12. notin
    There isA difference between looking like punting and punting. The 2021 team was clearly not punting. And I do think fans can exaggerate what a team needs to compete. As much as the 2020 team needed a major overhaul, what big pieces did they really add that off-season? Renfroe, Whitlock, Richards, Ottavino. One would think there would be a bigger name in there somewhere. Was Kike the big add?
  13. notin
    The Old Sox. If Bloom was interested in him, it doesn’t mean Breslow is…
  14. notin
    In order to get traded from the Brewers, former shortstop Gary Sheffield used to make errors and strikeout on purpose…
  15. notin
    But there is a difference (to me) between the 1919 White Sox, who damaged the integrity of the game, and the 2012 Astros, who dialed back to regroup…
  16. notin
    Throwing games (re: intentionally losing) is a subset of tanking…
  17. notin
    In thought about it after I responded, and interpreted it the same way. But that wasn’t the question. Not all trying to lose is merely fielding a cheaper and less effective team for the purpose of garnering a better draft position. The 1919 White Sox, mentioned earlier, provide a new wrinkle. By then same token, not all cheating to win can fall into the same category as the 2017 Astros. Gaylord Perry, for example, cheated his way to 300 wins. As I said, it’s a thought-provoking question…
  18. notin
    Cheating to win. Always. But a valid and thought-provoking ethical question. Kudos…
  19. notin
    Technically Cora, not Bloom, does those lineups. Point being the Sox sent out one outfielder (Benintendi) and brought in an acceptable replacement (Renfroe). And did so without punting the season!!!
  20. notin
    Punted all the way to the ALCS. Benintendi was coming off a miserable (albeit abbreviated) 2020 and - and this is the more important part - the Sox had already acquired his replacement in Hunter Renfroe. If the Sox signed Josh Hader and then traded Kenley, would that be a punt?
  21. notin
    Not sure where this is going. Nowhere did anyone say “all losing is acceptable and legal and within the rules.” I mean, the Astros themselves cheated to win in 2017, does it out does it not count? A full separate question is “should it?” But bear in mind, you are the one equating legally assembling a cheaper and less effective team with intentionally cheating for financial purposes. And nobody knows why. Especially since you agreed to the exact same point when Dipre said it…
  22. notin
    People who get offended by the word “subset”?
  23. notin
    But that’s a personal choice. Honestly, I’d prefer a tanking team over one that made poor decisions. But a team that sucked due to rampant/key injuries might be understandable, albeit frustrating…
  24. notin
    Ok. How does that make tanking not a subset of sucking? I fully acknowledge making poor decisions is also a subset of sucking. And there are many other subsets. Rampant/key injuries and bad luck, for example…
  25. notin
    I’m not a huge boxing fan, but I am aware that the professional boxing world is rife with fighters whose sole job is to lose fights to bolster the records of their opponents. This is perfectly legal in that world. And the wins and losses count. The Astros admitting they ranked is legal, too. But no one has been saying they didn’t tank. My only point was they showed that it’s not always effective because of the complete crapshoot of getting even the overall number one pick. That they succeeded in other ways doesn’t change that fact…
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