Jenkins for Freddy Garcia

[JohnBriggs12]

LF will be available for the White Sox. Podsednik could be non-tendered or traded. Come to think of it, does anyone out there want Pods back in CF and leading off for the Brewers?

He's been on one year, off the next and 2007 would be his on year.

 

But the front runner to play for Sox out there is rookie Ryan Sweeney.

[rluzinski]

Come to think of it, does anyone out there want Pods back in CF and leading off for the Brewers?

 

Clark is more valuable than Pods at this point. At least Clark get's on base.

[UWRyan428]

Well if and when Scotty Po gets on, he makes it a double, and as an added bonus, those who hit behind him tend to see a fair amount of high fastballs. And need I remind everyone of his postseason power? How many postseason home runs does our projected lineup for next year have besides the aged veterans Miller and Koskie? And he would be able to play both center (with experience at the Park) and left. Where do I sign up??? Truth be told, it would be nice to see him back in Milwaukee, as I truly believe we have enough power in the lineup and we sorely lack a base stealing threat, as Rickie still has to grow into his thievery legs, especially with the fact that we are set to have a NEW 1st base coach next year.

[Team Canada]

How many postseason home runs does our projected lineup for next year have besides the aged veterans Miller and Koskie?

 

I'm mentally restraining rluz right now...

[endaround]

As soon as the Brewers bring in Gomez they'll be set!

[rluzinski]

We are going to trade for Pods for his post season power? Good stuff.

 

As for his ability to steal, he's no longer anything special in that regard.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Podsednik?

 

The guy who hasn't had a .700 OPS in 4 years?

 

He got caught half the time stealing this year. That's a detriment to your offense.

 

No thanks.

[mothershipconnection]

We used to have Craig Counsell, a postseason legend, and where did he get us?

Pat Borders was once a gosh-darn honest-to-goodness world series MVP - did that propel the team to the series?

Why didn't WS MVP Rick Dempsey take the crew all the way?

Anybody can have a good couple of games, but they're small sample noise and bounce. I mean, Bucky Dent had a career .618 OPS - he was not a very good player, but we all know about that one time he hit a clutch homer to put the Yankees in the playoffs and his world series MVP award - never mind his .611 career playoff OPS.

 

Ernie Banks never even had a postseason AT BAT, but I'd take him over 1998 World Series MVP Scott Brosius, and I don't think it's a very hard decision.

[DuWayne Steurer]

We used to have Craig Counsell, a postseason legend, and where did he get us?

 

 

The funny thing about that is Counsell's post season OPS is .681, with a .245 batting average.

 

 

What it all basically amounts to is this. If you get a clutch hit in a key game in a playoff series, you can live off it forever.

[mothershipconnection]

Well if and when Scotty Po gets on, he makes it a double,

I think this merits a separate response.

I've been thinking about this school of thought quite a bit lately - the whole "it's like an extra hit". Obviously, it's not, because it's another probabalistic occurrence - so that doesn't make their OPS more valuable unless they steal at a valuable rate.

 

Here's my take - speed actually diminishes the value of OPS in some circumstances. For example, a double by Carl Crawford is not always as valuable as a double by Frank Thomas. The reason being, a speedster who stretches a single into a double is not hitting the ball as far and giving runners ahead of him as much time to run as a leadfoot who hits a double. That is, it's very possible for a speedster to hit a double but only move a runner from 1st to 3rd. When a slug hits a double, a man on first is more likely to score. I think this is another wrinkle people need to look at when assessing the value of speed.

[UWRyan428]

Am I to believe that you would rather have the Big Hurt on second than Carl Crawford? I understand that a double is slightly diminished in terms of RBI production, but it is made up for and then some in terms of RUN production. The Big Hurt isn't going to turn an infield single into a run. He very well may be punched out at the hot corner! And as for the jokes about Scotty Po's excellence, it was said in jest. However, he does have the value I explained. And he was a catalyst in the White Sox's run to the WS crown. As for the question of his availability, I believe the Sox are going to let him go this offseason, at least my FIB friends have been saying that as of late. In the end, I hope for better but I try to be realistic.

[mothershipconnection]

Am I to believe that you would rather have the Big Hurt on second than Carl Crawford?

Depends on whether there's another hit that inning. If it's 2 down and the next guy K's it doesn't matter. That's the thing with the whole speed issue - there's a "but" or "what if" for everything. Speed means a lot in some situations, and nothing in others.