He seems to be on plenty of Sox fans' radar judging from the cockamamie hypothetical trades they call in with for Dempster. Personally, I've never thought much of him since he got hurt in Philly. He's a pitcher. He's okay. I don't think he's a difference maker. If I've got the prospects to give up, I'm going after Hamels or Greinke rather than one of the Cub guys.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Better never proclaim yourself a baseball expert.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

because he would have padded his stats pitching against the Cubs.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Yeah but even an old W-L guy like yourself has to acknowledge that he deserves a better record this year. He's not giving up every lead....theyre just bad.

But he's also 57-44 with a 3.45 ERA since he returned to starting. I think those numbers are more important than wins and losses accrued during his days as a closer or before his last Tommy John surgery.

Remember, every TJ surgery is basically a brand new pitcher



Of course you dont give up a bunch of good prospects for him, but he could definitely help in a pennant race

You're the best, RFDC! Florida.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I dont think the Sox need a starter, though

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Well I'd take Greinke if they could get him. But that's pretty unlikely.

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It's kind of like how Sox fans don't know much about the Kane County Cougars. Some teams just aren't relevant.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I think they think they can get a bunch of good prospects for him. And maybe they can.

Baseball is a funny game. You know that. I'm sure that Ryan Dempster's career is going to be better than whoever he would replace in the Yankees or Tigers rotation. But they won't be buying him for his career. They're buying him for 15 games. And whoever the other pitcher is could easily produce results as good as Dempster will over those 15 games. So how much is he worth? I just don't see Dempster as a guy like Hamels who is going to be the favorite in almost every game he pitches for you.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Hamels is a bitch

But yeah, I wouldnt put Dempster up against a real good starter.

He's not a guy you get to pitch game 1 or 2 of the playoffs, but he might be a guy that makes you rotation a hell of a lot stronger by going in the 3rd or 4th spot.

To say the Sox don't have anything the Cubs want is beyond stupid. The Cubs have absolutely zero pitching in their entire organization while the Sox just keep bringing guys up who throw 95+. The Cubs would love to get a couple of those young arms though I wouldn't give them up for Dempster.

Still mad he welcomed your mancrush to the Show?

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Outside of Verlander and Valverde they do not. The other 4 starters have a combined ERA of 4.59, batting avg against of .285 with a WHIP of 1.42. That is not going to get it done in the AL. The entire rotation has given up 53 gopher balls which is a ton when you take into consideration how big Comerica Park is.

Even Valverde who has been good not great has a WHIP of 1.37 and an ERA of 4.11 so he has given it up too. Other than Dotel, the rest of the regulars in the pen have very pedestrian numbers at best.

As a team they have 56 errors as a team (8 by Miggy at 3rd base). By contrast, the White Sox have 35, the Cubs has 55 (13 by Castro ), and the Indians have 46.

So, yeah I guess these guys have the talent to perform but so far they are not. The Tigers appear to be about an 84-85 win club, and while that should be competitive I do not think that is going to win the AL Central. 88 or 89 might.

The Sox finished the first half going 11-5 against 3 (of the 5 they played) legit playoff contenders. The Sox schedule for the rest of July is not very kind either, though they have a ton of home and divisional games in Sept. They start off 3 @KC, 4 @BOS, 3 @DET, 3 vs MIN, 3 @TEX, 3 @MIN before they come home for a 9 game homestand.

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Yes.

That's a clown question, bro.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Actually, looking at the pitching, its pretty close to what their numbers were last year. (Verlander Dominant-Other 4 guys decent with ERA's in the low to mid 4's) Its the offense that has been the difference.

I think if the offense gets rolling they can go on a tear.

I think you put way too much value on defense, too.


EDIT: Non Verlander ERA last year: 4.29

When you have 4 starters that have an ERA closer to 4.5 and 5 than they do 3, you can't give the opposition extra outs. The Sox lost a lot of games last year because of poor defense, and have won some games this year because of good defense. Sometimes its not even errors that cost you. Alex Rios used to airmail the cutoff man all the time last year. That might not be an error, but it allows extra bases to be had, and ultimately leads to extra runs crossing the plate.

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He is saying this because he heard Len and Bob rave about his .997 fielding percentage, which of course, tells the whole story.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

He IS having a real good year with some amazing plays.

He doesnt hit enough to win it though

You have to hit well to win a gold glove?

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Pretty much. Unless you are Ozzie Smith.

Explain to me Derek Jeter winning it ever?

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1926-1931-1934-1942-1944-1946-1964-1967-1982-2006-2011

You shouldn't have to, but it always ends up that way.

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Yep. Its a reputation thing. Most guys that win are former or current all stars. Not many weak hitting great fielding guys win them.

That seems stupid as fuck. Baseball IS a funny game. Thatd be like saying the NBA All Defense team has to average 20 ppg to qualify and then trying to pass Blake Griffin off as a 1st teamer.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Rafael Palmeiro won a gold glove one year when he played a grand total of like 60 or 70 innings at first base.

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This is why I like this place. I learn shit. So basically the Gold Glove doesn't have any credibility to it.

Do you have to be an outstanding fielder to win a silver slugger?

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Well, it was 200 some innings but still pretty shady. He won the gold glove in '99 playing 28 games at first base (128 games at DH)

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Well, I think the same thing happens in the NBA, just to a somewhat lesser degree. Once a rep is established, it takes a lot for an overall lesser guy to overcome that even if his defense is superior. Its a lot tougher for Bill Hanzlik to make the all-defensive team than it is for Michael Jordan.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I know that LoHo was absolutely pissed off when the Yankees' Derek Jeter beat out the White Sox' Alexei Ramirez one year for the Gold Glove at SS.